Mexican food is well loved all over the globe. There is plenty of variety when it comes to Mexican food and you can find combinations you have never tried before. A lot of people delight in the smell, taste of authentic Mexican recipes, and admire the great Mexican minds responsible for these tantalizing combinations.

A lot of the Mexican food available to day is based on traditional Mexican recipes, which the Aztecs and Mayas invented. There are also some exotic recipes featuring iguana, rattlesnake, and spider monkeys, which are not unheard of ingredients but are seldom used in modern Mexican cuisine. We have plenty more ingredients from all over the world to use in our recipes these days and Mexican food has evolved as a result of that.

In addition, Mexican food evolved more when the Spanish colonists arrived, bringing new cookery ideas, methods, and different ingredients to incorporate in existing Mexican food dishes. Chili pepper has been a staple ingredient in Mexican recipes for thousands of years and is still very popular. Some Mexican dishes, especially those originating from the Yucatan and Vera Cruz, have a Caribbean influence. Other Mexican dishes, such as bolillo, have a French influence. Bolillo is a popular Mexican bread.

Many Mexican foods are nutritionally well balanced. They contain plenty of vitamins and minerals and most dishes are low in calories and fat. Taco Bell does not use authentic Mexican recipes. America has added fats to traditional Mexican recipes, making them less healthy than they would be in Mexico if they were prepared in the authentic way. There are a lot of fresh vegetables used in Mexican food, such as peppers, beans, tomatoes, garlic, and onions.

Each Mexican region offers different Mexican food. A lot of this depends on the geography and climate of the region and its ethnic differences. In the north of Mexico, meat dishes are very popular. In the south, vegetables and chicken are widely used. The Mexican state of Vera Cruz produces a lot of seafood dishes because this state is long and tropical and there are lowlands running up and down the Gulf of Mexico. Fish such as grouper, red snapper, mojarra, and snook are easy to find. Mojarra is an especially delicious local fish. Lobsters, crab, and oysters are plentiful.

Besides the ocean, the state has more than 40 rivers that run through it. It has an endless supply of freshwater fish and shellfish. The food is prepared in a way that reflects unique dishes of the state. Seafood is very healthy for your body and can add a different taste to regular classic Mexican food dishes.

It is fascinating to realize that Mexican food differs all over Mexico and it is great fun to try new flavor combinations. With such a colorful history, Mexican food will always be popular and the number of Mexican restaurants springing up all over the world is a testament to that. The more you know about the history of Mexican food, the more interesting it will be to cook and taste a variety of Mexican food recipes.

A lot of us have fond memories of eating ripe cherries as children; but cherries are also a great treat for adults. As you may have heard, cherries are a great (and delicious) way to get antioxidants. Cherries help to ward off diseases and contain a wealth of vitamin C, beta-carotene, iron, potassium, magnesium, and folate. When a nutritional powerhouse like this tastes so good, it is no wonder that it is rapidly gaining in popularity.

It is easy to incorporate cherries into your diet. They are sweet and delicious eaten out of hand, but can be used in a variety of ways. For example, dried cherries make a great addition to your oatmeal or other hot cereal; they are also terrific in baked goods.

Dried cherries are less sweet than maple syrup or honey and are very healthy. Dried cherries are also a wonderful addition to trail mix, their color, and vitamin content being a welcome addition to the mix.

You will also find that cherries can also bring a lot of savor and sweetness to a beef dish, and the juice from the cherries can do a lot to keep the beef from drying out. You will find that the juice from one can of sweet dark cherries can be put into a saucepan with horseradish, tomato paste, shallots and some port and then brought to a boil over medium heat for about 12 to 15 minutes.

This will thicken slightly as it cooks; once thickened, remove from heat and strain, then cover. You can also sear the cherries and add them along with the sauce. If you want to create a more dramatic presentation, you can flamb the cherries.

When you are interested in adding cherries where you might not expect it, you can start with a cherry chili. Take 3/4ths a cup of fresh, chopped cherries, either tart or sweet, depending on your taste and add them when you add the beans. You will find that the cherries will add in texture as well as taste. This is a great way to introduce chili to kids or even to friends who have a taste for the new and interesting.

In addition, when it comes to jell-o, do you need to make an excuse to add cherries? Cherry jell-o is already one of the most popular flavors. You can make all sorts of desserts with your cherry-enhanced jell-o, including jell-o cake, where jell-o and white cake are layered.

You can make an exciting layer for a jell-o cake or even a dessert in its own right by mixing cherry jell-o and fresh chopped cherries, then chill and fold in whipped cream. This can be whipped into a sort of icing for your jell-o cake if you can resist eating it right out of the mixing bowl! Another great dessert idea is to add some dark cherries to a bowl of vanilla ice cream or plain or vanilla yogurt delicious!

Delicious and healthy, cherries are a great treat all of us should indulge in more often. They can be added to so many different dishes that you can eat them every day of the week - if you don’t just eat them all fresh on the way home from the store, that is!

No doubt, about it, Mexican food is one of the most popular foods in the United States. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas are just some of the fare that grace many an American table. Mexican recipes are spicy, colorful, and full of flavor. However, what may seem to be quintessential Mexican is not always the case. A little Mexican food history will reveal that things are not always, as they seem.

Although the Mayan culture is often credited for giving Mexican food its roots, the strongest influence came from the Spanish when they invaded Mexico in 1521. Cortez, the Spanish explorer, along with his followers, introduced many new foods into the Mexican culture. Pigs, cows and sheep as well as herbs, dairy products and various spices such as garlic had never graced a Mexican table until that time.

While Cortez introduced many new foods to Mexico, he was also, in turn, introduced to some new foods. Peanuts, chocolate, vanilla, beans, avocados, coconuts, tomatoes, corn, and squash were among the “new” foods that Cortez encountered. It was a well-balanced trade of regional delicacies and palate pleasing foods.

According to Mexican food history, many of the traditional Mexican foods have roots in other cultures as well as the Mexican culture. For instance, quesadillas, a mainstay in Mexico and considered to be authentic Mexican food actually not only have roots in Mexican traditions, but in Spanish as well. The corn tortilla, thought to be quintessential Mexican, is actually native American.

The cheese, pork, beef, and lettuce that grace so many of our favorite Mexican dishes, including the quesadilla, are Spanish. The hot sauce that is made from chili pepper, though, is indigenous to Mexico. However, it is a little known Mexican food history fact that many of the spices thought to be Mexican are actually Spanish in origin. Black pepper, cinnamon, coriander and oregano are several spices that are often used in Mexican cooking but are not native to the country.

In addition to the Mayans, Native Americans and Spanish influencing Mexican food, the French also left their mark. When Mexico was briefly under French occupation in the 1860’s, popular dishes such as chiles en nogado, a dish of stuffed chilies in walnut sauce, was a result. These dishes sport a distinct French flair, but have become a standard part of Mexican culture.

Perhaps one of the best known influences on Mexican food comes from the Southwest United States, Texas to be exact, called “Tex-Mex.” This part of Mexican food history has had a huge impact on not only how Mexican food is prepared and served in the United States, but also how it is perceived. Tex-Mex is a delightful cultural combination of northern Mexico and Southwestern Texas. In fact, it is actually Tex-Mex that is served in many Mexican restaurants today as opposed to authentic Mexican food.

When exploring Mexican food history, it is important to keep in mind the many, varied cultures that brought about these popular, delicious dishes. As the various countries and cultures melded to create such culinary delights, popularity has soared the world over. Moreover, it just keeps getting better and better.

Enjoying good food is not just the area of those lucky people who do not have diabetes, today there are plenty of superb diabetic recipes to make this condition more bearable. Checking your diet can be the key to lowering the risk of diabetes as well as improving your symptoms if you are already affected by this disease people often refer to as “the silent killer”. The situation today is much simpler than it used to be as there are particular diabetic recipes available which make the task of arranging a diet much simpler.

One of your first goals with your new diabetic diet should be to lose some excess weight as this is not only serious in preserving your health but may have been the cause of the condition to start with. Consuming food from the four main food groups and sticking to your diabetic diet will help you with your diabetes. For a diabetic, eating healthily and sticking to their diabetic diet program entails that they will usually lower the chances of coronary illness and stroke which are two complications associated with their condition. By creating a healthy, reduced-fat diet, using diabetic recipes, many of the symptoms of diabetes have been reduced including unclear vision, thirst and at the same time rising energy levels and lowering fatigue.

Eating healthy involves eating a wide assortment of foods that encompass the whole diet spectrum with the help of the diabetic menu containing the food pyramid of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, non-fat dairy products, beans, lean meats, domestic fowl, and fish. If you are limited to a -carbohydrate diabetic diet then you may discover that the vegetables you are allowed to eat include, avocados, carrots and kidney beans along with fish, cheese, eggs, poultry and meat. Saturated fats and cholesterol are a problem if you are a diabetic so you would need to abide by diabetic recipes that cut down on foods like this and eat skinless poultry as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.

A diabetic is not just about eating the right foods, as it is also serious that the amount consumed is correct to ensure the calorific intake is not too high, so weighing the food will become second nature. Using the food labels in the supermarkets will also become second nature when you are preparing your diabetic recipes as they contain useful information, usually based on a diet of two thousand calories per day. When on a 2,000 calorie diabetic diet program, the ideal breakfast should consist of two slices of bread or two rice cakes or half a cup of pasta, one cup of skimmed milk or a cup of sugar-free yogurt, one egg in any form, boiled or poached or scrambled and surely a serving of one’s favorite fruit. However, if a lower 1,800 calorie per day has been advised for your diabetic diet plan then your diabetic recipes book might advise something like a cup of skimmed milk, a tablespoon of cheese, a couple of slices of bread and a serving of fruit.

The mid afternoon snack can consist of a fruit, two to three crackers, and half a cup of tea or coffee made with substitute sweetener. Knowledge of your diabetic diet will mean that even small meals like this can be varied so that instead of tea or coffee, sugar free yogurt or a cup of fat free milk could be a suitable replacement. There is no grounds for you to believe that you can no longer enjoy your food if you’re restricted to a diabetic diet, because diabetic recipes are designed to have plenty of choices.

The MonaVie drink is quite a popular drink because many people are now realizing the health benefits of the acai berry which is the number one ingredient of the MonaVie drink. How much acai there is in the MonaVie drink is not published. I have tasted MonaVie drink before but I have no part in selling it in any way.

One thing that many people complain about MonaVie drink is how expensive it is. For an average person with average income, it is hard to afford to drink the MonaVie drink regularly. Each bottle of MonaVie drink costs about $50 or more if you include taxes and shipping charges. There are two types of MonaVie drink. They are called MonaVie Active and MonaVie Original. The MonaVie Original is cheaper but still expensive.

You would think that for $50 a bottle, the drink will last a while. No, you would be wrong. In fact you are supposed to take about 2oz. of MonaVie drink in the morning and 2 oz. at night. That’s 4 oz. a day and each MonaVie drink bottle only has 25.36 fl oz of the drink in it. You can do the math. Each bottle will last 6-7 days give or take. That means, if you start drinking MonaVie drink, you will be spending about $7 a day on it.

If you want to drink more MonaVie drink than just once or twice, you will need to buy it by the case. Each case of MonaVie drink has 4 bottles in it and costs about $150 - $160 and remember that you have to pay taxes and shipping so the whole order of MonaVie drink will end up costing almost $200.

But the MonaVie drink tastes very good though. Not only MonaVie drink tastes good, it has great health effects. Once you start drinking MonaVie drink, you can feel the effects of it pretty much instantly. So, most people who try it end up drinking it daily and therefore spending a fortune on MonaVie drink.

If you are used to buying health drinks in retail stores, you will be disappointed because MonaVie drink is only sold directly by independent distributors, just like you cannot buy Mary Kay cosmetics in stores but have to find a Mary Kay consultant or cannot buy Pampered Chef knives in stores but have to find a demonstrator. MonaVie drink is a product of a direct sale company called MonaVie Inc. The business model is an MLM or multilevel marketing model.

To buy the MonaVie drink at a discount, you can enroll as a MonaVie distributor yourself. This will allow you to buy MonaVie drink at between 10% to 50% discount depending on how much you buy. The more of the MonaVie drink you buy, the more discount you receive on buying more in the future. Many people enroll as a distributor to get the discounts on the MonaVie drink for themselves. If you want to start taking the MonaVie Drink yourself, this is clearly the best way to proceed.

Cauliflower pakora and tomato chutney are a delightful combination of flavors and textures. And they’re a great informal snack or buffet itme because they’re for dipping and eating with your fingers! (You can make almost any vegetable into pakoras with this recipe. Be sure to cut the veggies small enough to cook through, but large enough to hold up during cooking.)

Cauliflower Pakoras:

1 head of cauliflower 1 cup gram flour (chick pea) flour 1/2 teaspoon asafetida 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon turmeric 3-6 cups of ghee for deep frying in a wok or a sauce pan with a thick bottom.

Start warming ghee over medium heat.

Mix spices and flour; then add water until it makes a smooth batter. Cut the cauliflower into florets and dip into batter so they are completely covered.

Slip a few at a time into the medium hot ghee to avoid splashing. If you put too many they will stick together as they cook.

Deep fry for a few minutes, then turn each over for a few minutes to cook evenly. Remove with a slotted spoon or turning fork and let cool on paper towels to drain excess ghee. They should be crisp and golden brown. Serve hot. Serves 8

Tomato Chutney:

6 ripe tomatoes (chopped small) 1/2 teaspoon asafetida 2 tablespoons ghee 1 teaspoons mustard seeds 1 teaspoon whole cumin 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 stick cinnamon 4 cloves 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger 2 minced green chilies 2 teaspoons ground coriander 3/4 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 2 bay leaves 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 table spoon raw sugar or molasses Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Prepare a masala by heating ghee. Add mustard, fennel and cumin seeds. When they turn light brown, add the cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves, chillies, ginger and powdered spices. It will be a slightly pasty, bumpy texture in the ghee.

Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes. Let the mixture cook down for 20-30 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning and clumping.

Finish by adding salt and sugar. Pour into one lare or several small dipping bowls, then garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serves 4

There are some serious dangers about being overweight and obese, but the worrying thing is that the majority of people who are either overweight or obese are not aware of them! Only about thirty per cent are actually aware that they are at increased risk of developing cancer. There was some interesting research done in the USA recently which uncovered the fact that even if you had never smoked, if you were overweight or obese, your risk of developing cancer at some time in your life increased by up to 30%. That’s a very alarming statistic.

‘Cancer is not a fate, it is a matter of risk and you can adjust those risks by the way you behave’ - a comment from Professor Martin Wiseman of the World Cancer Research Fund.

In a report by the fund, it made clear that there were no fewer than six cancers that are linked to body fat. The writing is clearly on the wall and it’s down to all of us to take note. If you’re in the ‘It’ll never happen to me’ camp it’s probably time you wised up.

Meanwhile in London scientists have been taking a look inside the body using MRI scanners to see what they can find. At the Hammersmith Hospital they have discovered that many of us have too much fat round our major organs - specifically the heart, liver and pancreas. Up to forty percent of us could have this problem.

The scientists at Hammersmith Hospital in London used MRI scanners to have a good look at what was going on inside the body. Although it was already known that we have fat around out major organs such as our liver, heart and pancreas, it came as some surprise to find that some of us - maybe up to 40% - have between six and seven times the amount of fat on the inside than we should have. The standard amount is 2 pints. Seven times that amount is a lot of ‘fat on the inside’.

Little wonder that ‘fat on the inside’ is now being cited as a risk factor in heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

What can you do about ‘fat on the inside’? It’s really very simple. Have a healthy, well regulated food intake and take regular exercise. Essentially it’s what we all should do. This simple solution cures ‘fat on the outside’ and ‘fat on the inside’.

As Prof Wiseman pointed out, we can adjust risk by adjusting our behaviors. Cancer is not a fate and we can get rid of ‘fat on the inside’ and ‘fat on the outside’. All we have to do is to understand our past behaviors and learn new habits - slim habits - and we’ll be able to enjoy a happy, healthy life.

After a long day it’s good to look forward to a drink, isn’t it? A cool beer goes down a treat. Contemplating the day sipping a glass of wine is very enjoyable. Alcohol has the effect of making us relax, and we all need time to think over the day and to have a time to wind down. Alcohol also changes our mood. Slowly we begin to feel better. The drama of the day starts to seem trivial and unimportant - at least until we begin to drink too much - things then become very different indeed. Reality has the habit of becoming even more real and our take on this new reality tends to be distorted. The unimportant gets a new lease of life and confusion reigns. Come the middle of the night, we wake to find all our troubles lined up in front of us each one bigger and more terrible than it was before. When we chose to drink alcohol and we should expect to suffer the consequences.

How do we make decisions? We consider the choices available to us and take a decision based on the information we have. The problem is that most of us take decisions on very little information. In fact we take decisions based on 5% of the available information, and that’s a big worry.

Let’s take alcohol. We all think we know all about alcohol, after all we know what it feels like to enjoy it and what it means to have too much, but do we know what it does to our body? Do we really know if it makes us fat? It is a common belief that it does, but is it true?

The most important thing to realize with alcohol is that it contains a lot of calories - which is probably why people believe it makes you fat. Alcohol is a nutrient like, protein, fat and carbohydrate, and as such it provides us with energy, lots of it. It contains nearly the same number of calories per gram as fat. Fat has 9 and alcohol has 7. Protein and carbohydrate have 4.

The problem with alcohol is that the energy it supplies cannot be stored by the body. The reason is that it contains no carbohydrate. Unable to store the energy, the body converts the alcohol into something called acetate.

The body uses acetate as a source of energy as it would the stored glucose and fat in your body - but here’s the rub. It uses the ‘acetate energy’ before and in preference to your stored glucose and fat. The truth is that alcohol doesn’t make you put on weight, it prevents you from losing it.

Another fact to remember about alcohol is that it stimulates your appetite. This is not something that you welcome when you are trying your very best to lose weight. You will also have noticed that it also reduces your resolve. Can you stop yourself from having another slice of apple pie and cream? Alcohol makes it more difficult to say ‘no’.

If you can get into the habit of not drinking alcohol you will be doing your weight loss efforts a lot of good. If you want a positive outcome to your weight loss program, it’s worth the effort to either stop drinking alcohol or to reduce the amount you drink. You can be slim. All you have to do is make sure all your habits are good ones.

Mix 1 T. each of whole cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, steep for 5 minutes in 3 cups of hot water. Strain it and add honey or stevia to sweeten to taste.

This tea is balancing to the digestive system. It supports the absorption of nutrients in the body and balances samana vata. Samana is known as the stabilizing air; once it is out of balance the other energies in the body quickly suffer.

Ayurveda Health Retreat Morning Smoothie

Ingredients:

Advantage lean protein powder

12 oz almond milk (original)

1T Fresh ginger

1T Bee pollen

8 soaked almonds w/ skins removed,

1/4 T cardamom seeds

1 cup fresh or frozen organic raspberries or other seasonal berries

2T Dr Shultz’s Super Food (greens foods concentrate)

1T ground flax seeds

Place all ingredients in blender for 30-60 seconds. Enjoy, relax, energize!

Wake every morning and start your day with Ayurvedic Tea and Morning Smooth. You’ll be enveloped in a gentle sense of peace and serenity that is integral to healing.

Because Ayurveda is a holistic approach to healthcare, it embraces the whole person rather than treating symptoms. Cleanse your body completely and start back on the path to feeling complete again. Learn how to live in harmony with your life and how to treat yourself well again. Let Ayurveda help you rediscover yourself.

Many of the studies have revealed that obesity has become a major challenge especially to the western countries where in it is estimated that roughly there are around 60 million overweight people in US alone & this number is expected to climb sharply in the coming years. The only solution to this problem seems to be adopting to low carb diets that not only are tastier but helps us to control obesity in a phased manner.

Most of the health gurus have proved that carbohydrates are pretty much essential to our body since they provide major requirement of energy to our red blood cells & the brain. Meaning that carbohydrates are very much necessary ingredient in our food. The fact is that we have a wide variety of foods available to us in form of fast foods & restaurants who provides us with a lot of processed foods rich in carbohydrates & consuming them will surely result in massive weight gain rapidly. The possible solution is to adopt our selves to low carb diets helping in our goal to lose weight & control obesity by step-by-step process.

Carbohydrates are broadly classified as simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Honey, sugar, flour & candy are some of the popular simple carbohydrates and the main negative effect of consuming such type of stuff is that they reduce the energy levels rapidly as soon as they are consumed. Similarly, the negative effect of using high carbohydrate foods like the rice, potatoes, corn, wheat & grains is that they are absorbed in the body slowly when they are consumed.

Most of the simple carbohydrates do not offer any nutritional value after they are taken in but in turn provide us the negative effect like the cavities & the tooth decay in the long run. On the other hand, low carb diets have high protein & mineral contents along with low fat levels. They are as well very tastier & nutritious and can be adopted as our permanent diet plans.

It is pretty safe to gradually migrate to low carb diets as the perfect solution to our weight loss problem. Many diet programs are followed by millions of people like the Dr. Atkins’ diet, South beach diet, high protein diet, zone diet, etc to name a few & most of these programs follow their own specifications with regard to foods & recipes that are to be considered on a daily basis & it depends on the particular program chosen by an individual for his own diet plans.

Meat & eggs, pork, lamb, salmon & hard boiled eggs are some of the Foods that are prescribed under the low carb diet plans or recipes & these are considered safe for consumption to achieve our final objective. These are some of the suggested low carb diets that most of the health gurus wants us to adopt.

Low carb weight loss diet plans always propose for vegetables that have high protein levels. Few of the low carb diet recipes include eggplants, spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes to name a few. You can always try vegetable salads along with crumbled bacon, boiled eggs or mushrooms that can be garnished with them which form the main vegetarian carb meals since they are proved to be healthier foods.

To conclude, the real secret of being healthy in our middle ages as well as in the long term demands us to migrate to low carb diet plans which also relieve us from major health hazards like the high blood pressure & cholesterol. Apart from this, you will be able to maintain healthy weight through out your life span.