Improving your diet to help lower your risk of coronary disease is easier, and tastier, than you may have imagined. Dangerous fried and over-processed fast foods have unfortunately become a mainstay of the national diet, but with a little bit of information and imagination, you can learn how to prepare your own delicious, hearty-healthy meals using the freshest products from the icy, unpolluted seas lining Alaska. Maybe you, too, can one day live with the hope of no more heart disease. 

Thanks to the high volume of essential vitamins and antioxidants and the lack of additives in wild Alaska seafood, you can battle not just heart disease, but also strengthen your immune system, help prevent cancer, and fight off psoriasis, asthma, depression, and arthritis. The unsaturated fats and generous levels of antioxidant E found in the numerous varieties of Alaska salmon, whitefish, and shellfish take on the coronary arteries. Heart-healthy Omega 3s are high in both fresh and frozen Alaska salmon, another excellent and delicious way to get on the road to no more heart disease. Looking to get the biggest dose? Try Omega 3-heavy sockeye salmon.  

Next time you fire up the barbeque with friends, toss a couple of thick Alaska salmon steaks on with the beef, and opt for the fatty acid choice, fish. Studies have shown that men, who are at a higher risk of developing heart disease, greatly increase their chances of avoiding cardiac failure by increasing their fish consumption. Simply eating fish as the main course twice a week will help improve your chances of being a part of the reality that there is no more heart disease.  

As for your other options? The Alaska Dietetic Association has compiled a long list of compelling recipes for heart-healthy meals. Try Alaska halibut chowder, curried black cod, or smoked salmon, quinoa, and asparagus salad. For something a little bit more exotic, give mango nectarine Alaska salmon or Thai coconut Alaska salmon chowder. Throwing a party? Whip up some delicious blue cheese Alaska crab melt and Alaska fish fajitas - you can even make them as spicy as you dare with a dash of cayenne pepper and chile powder.

Anyone with a pet dog knows that it is truly another member of the family, and requires the same love and care as any child. Of course, you want to shower your pet with treats, but not all doggie snacks are good, healthy options for your dog’s well-being. In fact, many have empty calories and harmful additives, providing little more than taste. Explore the possibilities of salmon oil for dogs to treat your pup and to improve the appearance and condition of its skin and coat while also strengthening the heart.  

Salmon oil for dogs is an Omega-3 fatty acid extract from wild Alaska salmon, harvested from the icy Gulf of Alaska throughout the year. In humans, the high Omega-3 levels found in salmon help prevent cancer, arthritis, and asthma, but are best known for battling and preventing coronary disease. Dogs can benefit from this as well, as the fat helps to strengthen their hearts, though the fatty acids are mainly used for skin and fur upkeep.  

Salmon is the richest source of Omega-3 fatty acids. There are five species of Alaskan salmon: the King, the Sockeye, the Coho, the Chum, and the Pink. Salmon that have longer spawning cycles and require more activity to swim upstream through freshwater to get to the sea tend to carry higher amounts of fat. Of all fish, the wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon claims the highest amount of Omega-3 at a level of 2.7%. Alaskan salmon are harvested responsibly by environmentally-minded fishermen, ensuring a sustainable habitat and large amounts of the fish for the future.  

The health benefits of salmon oil for dogs aside, your canine friend will love the tasty fishy treat that is served as an additive to its daily meal rather than in plant Omega-3 extract pill supplement form, as the body is more apt to absorb and use the fatty acids from the fish oil.

Apple picking makes for an enjoyable autumn afternoon. Apples are easily picked, and they can be frozen, canned, cooked or eaten fresh. Apples are free of cholesterol, sodium and fat, so they are definitely a healthy fruit for you to select. And a medium sized apple only has about eighty calories, so eat up!

Apples were originally grown in the Middle East, in an area near the Black Sea, more than four thousand years ago. The ancient Romans and Greeks loved apples. The fruit arrived in England in the late 1000’s and then settlers from England brought apples along when they came to America.

Here are some interesting tips about apple picking:

Many apple orchards have some handy dwarf trees, that are located close to the ground - all the easier for the picking!

Select apples that have no bruises, and that feel firm to the touch. The color may vary from dark red to bright red to orange, pink, yellow and green. Everything depends on the type of variety they are. Did you know that color doesn’t tell if an apple is ripe? As long as they are firm and crisp, they’re ready to be picked.

When you head off for an apple picking afternoon, ask the farmer which apples are ripe. He will always know which areas of the orchard are ready to pick.

The apples ripen from those the furthest from the tree trunk toward the ones in the center, so you want to select apples from the outside of the tree, unless those are gone. When you are apple picking, roll the apple off the branch and twist it just a bit. Don’t pull it straight off, and don’t shake the limb or the tree.

Depending on what you plan to use your apples for, you may want to look at different types of apples available at any given time, in your area. Some are better for eating fresh, while others seem to hold their taste more readily for applesauce, baking or cooking.

When you pick apples, don’t throw them into the baskets - put them in gently so you don’t bruise them.

Don’t wash your apples until right before you’ll be using them, to avoid them spoiling.

Apples should be kept cool after picking, to keep them ripe longer. If you have a cool basement, that is ideal, but you can use the fruit and vegetable drawer of your fridge, too. If you keep them cool, fresh apples will stay good for weeks. Yellow and Red Delicious apples are tasty, to be sure, but they don’t keep as well for as long as Rome and some other varieties do.

When you think of French cooking, you probably think of steak frites, frog legs, or broiled chickens. You also probably think of a cuisine that does not typically offer many choices when it comes to vegetarian-friendly fare. However, with these French vegetarian recipes, you’ll be dreaming of traveling to Paris and enjoying a gourmet meal at a local French bistro.

One type of food that has dozens of variations of French vegetarian recipes is the crepe. While you might think of a crepe as being served only for dessert, you can actually make delicious savory crepes as your main course. Crepes are easy to make, especially if you have a crepe pan or an omelet pan. Otherwise, a small skillet will work, too. All crepes start out with similar recipes. Mix together some flour, baking powder, and salt, and then beat in some eggs, milk, and water. Add a small amount to a hot skillet that you have sprayed with a little bit of cooking spray, and quickly swirl the pan around so the batter spreads out thinly across the whole pan. After the bottom turns brown-less than a minute-flip the crepe and cook the other side. You can make a bunch of these at one time and just stack them on a plate until you are ready to build your dinner crepes.

When it comes to filling your crepes, the sky is the limit. There are a huge number of great vegetables that you can steam or roast and place inside of your crepe. Try green beans, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, cauliflower, and asparagus in your crepe. You can even scramble some eggs or sprinkle with cheddar or Swiss cheese before you roll up the crepe. After you’ve rolled up your crepes, you shouldn’t be afraid to try out a variety of toppings that go with your crepe fillings. Try a fresh pesto and walnut sauce, some melted cheese, or even a sauce made of roasted red peppers. If you want to warm up your crepe, place in a baking pan and bake for just a few minutes.

Another kind of French vegetarian recipes that you can try is French onion soup. Traditionally, French onion soup is made with a beef broth that vegetarians are unable to enjoy. However, you can create your own vegetarian French onion soup that is just as good as the original. Sauté some thinly-sliced onions and salt in some butter at the bottom of a Dutch oven until the onions are soft. Then, add some mustard and thyme, cover, and simmer for at least half an hour. Remove the lid and add some vegetable stock, soy sauce, white wine, and pepper. Let this simmer for another ten minutes to allow the flavors a chance to combine.

Finally, spoon the soup into oven-proof individual serving bowls. Top with a slice of stale or toasted French bread and grated gruyere cheese. Place the bowls of soup on a baking tray, and then place this in the oven under the broiler. Broil the bowls of soup for a few minutes or until the cheese starts to turn brown. If you are serving this dish to guests, they won’t even know that the French onion soup is vegetarian unless you tell them because this dish is just as rich and savory as the real thing.

We all like to think that we invented barbecue. The truth, however, is that different cultures in different countries throughout the world have their own homegrown styles of barbecue grill, some of which go back thousands of years. Any fan of barbecued meat that avoids these other styles is missing out on learning some new techniques and eating some great food. This article will give you a brief, whirlwind tour of different barbecue traditions and techniques across the globe.

To appreciate other styles of barbecued grill, we’ll have to leave behind some comfortable American notions about barbecue. When we think of barbecue, we think of pork and beef cooked low and slow over indirect heat for some truly fine tender and juicy meat slathered in a sweet and spicy tomato-based sauce. Barbecue grill in other cultures, however, cook lots of other meat in addition to beef and pork, and use their own native spices and sauces. And while we see an important difference between grilling and barbecuing indeed, may even come to blows over it after a few beers in a Texas roadhouse, few other cultures make such a distinction. So for this article, we’ll have included grilling as part of barbecue.

European countries have had their own types of barbecue grill for centuries. Before refrigeration, smoking was one of the standard ways to preserve meat for the winter. Europeans smoke just about any animal that walks, swims, or flies. Central and Eastern European countries are famous for their sausages smoked over oak or hickory wood. Ireland smoked meat over peat instead of a charcoal or wood grill, creating a distinctive flavor in the process, and the Irish make a mean smoked potato. France, Italy, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries have a tradition of meat delicately seasoned with persillade (garlic and parsley), brushed with olive oil to seal in the juices, and smoked over grapevine wood.

The Asian barbecue tradition evolved completely separately from western barbecue grill over thousands of years. The kamado cooker burns lump charcoal, and is tightly sealed to keep in moisture, the ceramic cooker walls radiate the low, indirect heat all around the meat for hours. Southern China serves Char Sui, pork marinated in soy sauce and honey and grilled in long narrow strips. Korea sports Bulgogi, thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and chili pepper, and is grilled right at the table. Japanese barbecue is marinated in soy-based sauces such as their famous Teriyaki, and sport some of the world’s finest techniques for barbecuing seafood and vegetables. They even barbecue fried noodles, known as Yakisoba. The southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam boast the world famous Satay, meat skewered on bamboo, BBQ grilled over charcoal, and marinated and basted with a thick, gooey curry-peanut sauce.

There are many other barbecuing traditions across the globe that merits at least a brief mention. In the Middle East, the world-famous Persian grill kebab is deeply entrenched with many regional variations. In South Asia, the Indian Tandoori barbecuing grill tradition marinates chicken and lamb in yogurt and spices, then cooks it in a charcoal-fired clay oven. In the Pacific Island style of pit-smoking, of which Hawaiian Kalua is perhaps the most famous, salted pork is laid in an earthen pit lined with banana or Ti plant leaves and filled with hot stones, then covered in more leaves and burlap, then reburied to steam all day. Lechon barbeque from the Caribbean and Philippines roasts a slowly turning pig on a spit over charcoal.

Thanks to the glories of the internet, exotic new barbecue recipes, cooking instructions, and even barbecue equipment from around the world can be found within seconds from our homes and offices. Any barbecuer worth his salt can learn a new trick or two from the different cooking and seasoning styles of other cultures, and would do well to take advantage of this vast and ancient resource.

Soul food restaurants around the country continue to face a major challenge that’s growing everyday. The challenge is causing many restaurants to go out of business. That challenge of providing tasty, satisfying dishes like fried chicken, peach cobbler and other southern cuisine favorites - without the health risk.

“The term healthy soul food continues to flow from the growing number of health conscious customers coming into my soul food restaurant “.says one challenged restaurant owner. I’m constantly looking for new ways to prepare my signature dishes in a healthier way without losing the taste and feeling of satisfaction my customers demand.

The badge of honor soul food recipes have always had was for the tasty, satisfying and filling qualities it possessed. This gave a sense of value to many of it’s African American cash strapped customers, because the food stayed with the person eating it longer than the average food did.

The draw back of many of the soul food menu items was the health risk of consuming the tasty southern food. Many who over indulged in the popular African American recipes fell into obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes other health ailments.

Because of the health risk, soul food restaurants experienced a drop in business over the last few years, according to a recent restaurant industry report. To reverse this trend, more restaurants are looking seriously into preparing more healthy soul food to it’s patrons. Restaurants are starting to realize if they want to stay in business they’d better find a way to not only serve tasty, satisfying food, but they’d better find healthier ways to do it.

Although this presents a problem to many restaurant owners, this can also offer open door opportunities to creative minded entrepreneurs in the food industry. Restaurants who can’t or won’t adapt will quickly be replaced by those who can and will. That’s the quiet revolution taking place in the business now.

African Americans continue to have the largest number of health related ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, all attributed to diet.

Soul Food restaurants are also discovering if they want to attract the younger crowd to their establishments and keep them coming back, they’ll have to serve healthier meals. That’s the challenge, because when you think healthy you automatically think tasteless and bland. That’s the marketing challenge facing restaurants who specialize in food for the soul, as many fans affectionately call it.

Healthy soul food seems like an oxymoron, but more and more creative cooks continue to turn this daunting challenge into a pleasant and health preserving reality for more people. The reward for their trouble? The sound of their cash registers ringing.

There are a number of muscle building foods that you can add to your diet especially if you feel that you need a bit of help in that department but there are two misconceptions that you should try to avoid at all times. One: subscribing to an all protein diet. And two: favoring prepackaged diet foods in favor or real food.

An all protein diet was promulgated during the mid-1980s, most of which runs in the vein of literally drinking 6 to 12 eggs per day. But that diet is so passé, especially now that eggs are considered to be too calorific to be taken more than once a week. In other words, an all protein diet (or egg rich diet, for that matter) is not a very good option to take if you want to build up muscle mass.

Likewise, a diet consisting of prepackaged diet foods has been proven to be detrimental to body building as well. These foods are packed with sugar, salt, extenders and preservatives just to make them slightly palatable. At the same time, portions are severely limited so as not to make the person gain weight. The best muscle building foods still remain those that are fresh and those that have undergone as little processing as possible. As such, here is a list of a couple of muscle building foods that Mother Nature has provided.

1. Fish oils. Not all oils are bad for the diet. Natural fish oils are usually rich in Omega 3 compounds which can even lower bad cholesterol. You can get these by eating oily or fatty fish like wild salmon and tuna. Make sure though that you prepare these yourself, and cook as lightly as possible. You can eat raw tuna, you know. Eschew the canned meats. Smoked salmon meat would be a better alternative to the canned ones, and the frozen tuna meat (no marinade) would serve the same purpose as well. Three servings per week are recommended, but you can always increase more as a great source of protein as well.

2. Red and white meats. Speaking of proteins, you do not have to strictly adhere to a vegan diet, or a fish diet to gain the proteins you need. Choose from a long list of red and white meats available. Most people prefer white meats from poultry products, but a few servings of red meat trimmed off its fatty layers can have the same benefits. Again, it is important to prepare these on your own, and cook with as little artificial flavorings as possible. Use home made marinades, and ditch the condiments altogether. Grill your meats, or boil them in stews (while removing the fatty oil in the water.)

3. Berries, nuts and seeds. Piddling as these are, berries, nuts and seeds contain all the necessary elements that can promote body building. Most berries contain high levels of antioxidants. Seeds are especially rich in fiber and protein as well. Nuts can contain everything from fiber, healthy fats, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, and zinc. Make sure though that the berries are fresh, and the seeds and nuts are salt and sugar free.

Even though it has a larger size and an outer skin with fuzz, the kiwi fruit is really a berry. Chinese khans in ancient days used to consider the kiwi to be an aphrodisiac. Kiwis aren’t bothered by very many irritants, so crops don’t require much pest control. Kiwi pickers in California wear cotton gloves so they don’t bruise the kiwis.

The original name of the kiwi was the Chinese Gooseberry. It was originally grown in China, over seven hundred years ago. Later on, it was introduced to New Zealand, and then California. California kiwi were first grown in about 1960. The average kiwi fruit is about three inches long, and weighs about 2.5 ounces. Nearly ten percent of kiwi grown in California are grown organically.

The vines of the kiwi are deciduous. They will remain dormant from November until March, and the foliage falls off, which makes the pruners’ job easier. All of the pruning on a kiwi plant is done by hand. New leaves start coming out in March. The canes of the dormant kiwifruit are great for flower arrangements.

Kiwis grow like grapes, on shrubs like vines, which are trained to grow on trellises. Their height ranges from five and a half feet to six feet. The vines of the kiwifruit drink in water in the summertime. Each vine drinks about forty one gallons of water a day, in the growing season. Kiwi fruit continue to grow after they are picked. It will ripen as it heads off to the sales markets.

The kiwifruit was originally found in Northern China, in the Yangtze River valley. Missionaries took seeds to New Zealand in their travels, at the turn of the century. It became a popular plant there, and several vines were sent to California. Those very vines are still growing in the Chico Plant Introduction Station. Kiwi are also grown for resale in areas like Chile, South Africa and Italy.

The kiwi plant needs a relatively long growing season, including at least two hundred and forty days without frost. Therefore, there are many areas in the United States where it is not possible to grow them. When the kiwi vine is in its dormant stage, in the winter, it can withstand temperatures as low as 10 degrees F. But they need to be acclimated to the cold slowly, not hit with it all at once. If a sudden and deep freeze hits, the freezing may cause the vines to split, and the plant will die.

Temperatures in the freezing range will kill any kiwi fruit buds that are exposed, so care must be taken to select an area with a mild winter season.

Don’t be tempted to buy cheap knives for your kitchen, they are a waste of money and, in some instances, dangerous to use.

Professional knives, such as those from Forschner, Wusthoff, Henckel, F.W.Dick and Chicago Cutlery, will give many years of services, are comfortable to use and value for money.

A sharp knife makes meat cutting easier and safer, keeping this basic tool of the kitchen sharp makes the task of cutting meat efficient and less tiresome.

A sharp knife cuts through meat with less force making it easier to control and less likely to accidentally cut the user.

The following is a rule followed by professional meat cutters.

If, as they were cutting a steak or roast, someone yelled stop…they should be able to stop cutting in mid stroke instantly.

Selection and Use

Select an appropriate knife for the task.

Select a knife of quality construction.

Learn how to use appropriate sharpening tools.

Keep knives clean and sharp.

Store knives in appropriate holder, NEVER throw knives in a drawer with edges unprotected.

Most knives are made from carbon steel, stainless steel, forged, stamped and titanium.

Carbon steel is cheaper than stainless and remains sharper longer, they can tarnish and are susceptible to rust.

Stainless steel, it needs to be top quality steel which costs more.

Lower quality steel is hard to sharpen and keep sharp may be too thin, thereby susceptible to breakage.

Forged metal is treated to enhance its hardness, density and flexibility. Forged knives are often heavier and better balanced. They are easier to keep sharp, and if well taken care of, can last many years.

Stamped metal is cut or stamped out from flat metal.although lighter in weight, are usually not well balanced and not as comfortable to use.

Because the metal is not as dense as forged knives, they don’t hold their edge as well.

Titanium

Very lightweight and durable, they stay sharper longer than steel and are relatively easy to sharpen.

Stay away from Titanium coated knives, they do not have the same quality as those made wholly of titanium and do not last long, the coating wears off rapidly.

Knife Parts:

Knives are made up of four parts.

1) Bolster

An important part of good knives, is thick piece of metal between the handle and the blade, adds weight and balance to the knife making it comfortable to use.

2) Tang

This is the part that runs from the bolster into the handle. good knives have a full tang, it is visible on the top, back and bottom of the handle, usually held securely by 4 to 6 rivets. A half tang is less preferable, visible on top and back of the handle, but not on the bottom.

Sealed-handled knives are the exception.

3) Handle

Mostly made of wood, plastic, composite of both , or metal.

With wood you get an excellent grip but it requires regular care, it should not be soaked in water and needs some mineral oil application to keep it from drying out.

Plastic gets brittle as time goes by and is slippery to grip.

Composites are similar to wood, last longer and need a lot less care.

Metal lasts longer, adds extra weight, but can be slippery to grip.

4) Back

This is thick on most knife types to provide strength to the blade.

Knives used for carving or slicing meat have thinner backs.

Recently more and more people are becoming aware of all the myriad of health benefits of drinking raw milk, which is unpasteurized milk straight from the cow or goat. This is contrary to and despite all the all the warnings from the “officials” of public health who are actually either not well informed or choose to simply ignore the more likely dangers of consuming the pasteurized counterpart.

What they fail to mention is you are far more likely to become sick from pasteurized milk than by drinking raw milk, assuming you are obtaining your milk from a healthy cow.

But why, in light of so much contention, is raw milk becoming so popular? Frankly, people are becoming more health conscious and they are demanding this milk and even going to great lengths to obtain it.

But again - why? Well, for one thing, raw fresh milk has more nutrients including vitamins, enzymes, and friendly bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. It is also an outstanding - maybe the finest - source of calcium. Forget all your fancy super vitamins that are costing you a fortune every month and just drink a glass of raw milk daily.

But why are these vitamins and enzymes and so forth readily available in fresh milk but not in store-bought pasteurized milk? This is because, during the pasteurization process, which is simply heating the milk and holding it at that temperature (about 150 degrees) for approximately a half hour, the nutrients in the milk are destroyed, leaving you with basically a dead beverage lacking in health benefits.

The other reason some people are wanting to avoid pasteurized milk is due to the antibiotics, pesticides, and growth hormones that most likely are residing in every glass of store-bought pasteurized milk. You see, there is no reason for the dairies to keep these away from their cows since they know the milk is going to be pasteurized anyway.

But I for one don’t want to be drinking pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones. Ever wonder why kids are reaching puberty so early these days? You might look closer at that glass of milk they drink every day.

Last but not least, people love the taste of fresh milk. They love it so much that they are willing to go to great lengths to find a source of milk in their area.

With all of these benefits, it’s no wonder “real” milk is making such a comeback.