Windex and Food: Imperfect Together!

As tempting as it may be to use, Windex or any similar type product can be a hazard to use in the vicinity of food products, particularly cutting boards. If you do not have the proper sanitizer available, a certain “secret” common household item will suffice. Please read on to find out how you can keep your guests safe!

Our web community for business flight attendants can be frequently found discussing proper food handling and food safety tips. One lively discussion a few years back surrounded the proper way of cleaning a cutting board. Might I add that the food preparing area of the typical business jet galley is about the size of a two-by-four? Thus, food can easily get into contact with the wrong products if extra care is not taken.

In the conversation, one of our members remarked that she had cleaned her cutting board with Windex. Well, the ensuing responses to her comment nearly caused an online riot as many of our veteran fliers responded by emphatically stating that products such <i>409, Fantastik, and Windex</i> can all be harmful if ingested. These and similar products contain high levels of white spirits or similar type toxins, something you never want your guests to come in contact with. These products typically carry warning labels that say something like the following, “Do not ingest even in small quantities. Non-food safe.”

Our beloved and uniformed newbie member was aghast, not at the replies, but at realizing that she had cleaned her cutting boards not once, not twice, but at the very least four or five times using Windex! Although no illnesses were reported because of her error, she quickly amended her cleaning methods from that point forward to use a special sanitizer designed for the safe cleaning of her cutting board. Naturally, all of our members were thankful that she was no longer a potential poisoner of the jet set crowd.

So, just what is that little “secret” common household item that can be used when the proper cleaning agent is no longer available? Actually, <b>there are two</b>: diluted white wine vinegar or . . . vodka! Yes, vodka can be used, but it does have the tendency of altering the taste of subsequent dishes . . . not necessarily a bad thing, but it does leave a residue. The recommendation, of course, is to have white wine vinegar on hand if a sanitizer is not readily available.

Please, please use the previously recommended cleaning agents only on surfaces that <b>do not</b> come into contact with food. You may not kill your guests, but you can certainly make them very ill by using the inappropriate products.

Why Vegetarianism Is Good For You And The Planet

Even the Utah Beef Council admits, “Several epidemiological studies indicate that vegetarians have lower morbidity and mortality from chronic degenerative diseases.” Today, vegetarians only make up about two percent of the population, but everyday more and more people give up eating red meat or try their first bite of tofu. Aside from ethics, what are the main reasons people are turning away from meat? Health and the ecology.

Lower rates of disease amongst vegetarians

Hundreds of different studies concur, showing that vegetarians who eat balanced diets have lower rates of coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity, and certain cancers. Registered Dietician Winston Craig says that meat eating costs Americans somewhere between $30-$60 billion per year in medical expenses for hypertension, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, gallstones, obesity, and food-borne illnesses associated with meat. Craig says that a vegetarian diet is associated with lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less obesity.

In 1997, the World Cancer Research Fund recommended a vegetarian diet for reducing the risk of cancer. Lifelong vegetarians have 24% less heart disease, while vegans have an astounding 57% less. A comprehensive study of a vegetarian religious group, the Seventh Day Adventists, found that they had half the rate of high blood pressure and diabetes, half the rate of colon cancer, and two-thirds the rate of arthritis and prostate cancer as other groups (2001). Furthermore, Cornell University reported that eating less meat did more to reduce osteoporosis than supplementing your diet with calcium.

Do you have to be completely vegetarian to benefit?

In 1999, a meta-analysis of several vegetarian and vegan mortality studies was conducted. The results of these studies were compared together and re-analyzed. The researchers concluded that even reducing meat in your diet had a significant effect on lowering your rate of disease. People who ate meat just once a week had a 20% lower rate of dying from heart disease, and their over-all mortality rate was reduced by 10%.

Those who ate only fish saw as much as a 34% reduction in heart disease death, while their over-all mortality was lowered by 18%.
In the same sense, the more you reduce consumption of animal products, the more you appear to benefit. Only 7% of the vegans studied died of cancer (lung, stomach, and colorectal). Alarmingly, 19% of over-all deaths in the US are from cancer.

Vegetarian diets are good for the planet

Every year, meat eaters contribute to the cattle farming industry. This industry uses farm lands that could be producing human food to make grain for cows. As most people know, cows produce large amounts of environmentally-toxic methane gas. Raising cows also uses precious water resources.

Vegetarianism and the rain forrest

What you may not know though is that eating meat also contributes to the destruction of the rain forests. In an effort to make a cheaper Big Mac and Whopper, companies are growing cattle in Central America, where labor and other costs are lower. Eager Central Americans are slashing and burning their native rain forests to make room for the beef industry.

Vegetarianism and carbon dioxide emission

Estimates show that a vegetarian diet saves 1.5 tons of greenhouse gas per person per year. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that producing one calorie of animal protein requires ten times the fossil fuel as producing one calorie of plant protein. Wow! Furthermore, eating a vegan diet reduces more carbon dioxide emissions than driving a hybrid car, according to the New Scientist.

Vegetarianism and water reserves

What’s more disturbing is that every hamburger that originated from a rain forest cow required the destruction of roughly 55 square feet of rain forest. Furthermore, studies show that one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water. The water used to produce one hamburger patty is enough for two-week’s worth of daily showers.

Why so many states are legalizing ?

There are currently 13 states that have legalized gambling and they have over 450 casinos between those states, and they bring in 72 billion dollars a year.

From this money states get extra money for road repair, schools and many other things that a state needs money to fix and maintain.

In the last 10 years there have also been a large number of Indian casinos being granted licenses in states that do not have legalized gambling, which means the only place t gamble in those states is in the Indian Casino, and they do not pay taxes on that money.

Many states are waking up and realizing that there is a very profitable business out there that they are not getting any revenue from, and not only does it bring money into the state it also creates thousands of jobs for each casino that opens. So for a state with a high unemployment rate this means more people are working and less of the stats money needs to be spent on these people, again a win for the state and the people.

It also means more money for the state to feed kids a hot meal at lunch and the money to put new books in the classrooms and maybe to build more schools. This money is also used in some states to hire more police officers.

Legalized gambling besides bringing in more money to the government in taxes also brings money into the community gamblers will use services such as hotels, restaurants and other local attractions while they are in the area. This can bring a major boost to a small starving economy separate from that of the casino.

Another reason why many states are pushing to make gambling legal is to attempt to wipe out the illegal gambling business. Many people feel that if gambling is legalized there is no reason for people to go to sleazy and dangerous back room casinos.

These type of places are becoming harder and harder for the police to find and as soon as they do find them, they will either pack up and change locations or another will just take their place. Another bad thing about illegal casinos s that there is no one monitoring to make sure the casino is not cheating their players.
In many cases police have raided illegal casinos and found that all the table and card games are rigged for the casino to win, and if this is ever discovered the casinos operators have in the past committed murder to keep their secrets, and most people fear for their lives and refuse to cooperate with the police.

Legalized gambling is monitored to make sure both the player and the house are playing an honest game.
Do not let all of this make you think that gambling has no downside. A lot of this money has to go to treatment for people, who develop gambling addictions, and most cities with a casino do usually see a rise in crime in those areas, so more police officers are not just a luxury it is a necessity.

Why Marijuana Should be Legal

Many Americans feel that Marijuana is helping fund the war on terror, but making a war on drugs and keeping Marijuana illegal has not stopped millions of Americans from smoking pot everyday. So what is the answer?

First, why is Marijuana illegal? In the 1930's William Randolph Hearst, who had significant financial interests in the timber industry testified to congress on the evils of marijuana, saying things like it make people insane and commit acts of cannibalism? at this time very few even knew what it was and to stop people from going insane Congress decided to make it illegal.

The truth is many paper manufacturers were thinking of changing from using trees to make paper to using hemp because it was cheaper and easier to grow and better for the environment, and Hearst stood to loose millions so he used his influence and testimony to help get marijuana banned in the USA.

So now that we know why it was made illegal, we can realize that not only would making it legal in the United States stop terrorist from smuggling it into the USA, but would give us another option to cutting down of millions of trees every year for paper products that can be made better from hemp.

Hemp has thousands of uses that we are unable to exploit because of its illegal status.

During WWII hemp was used for the rigging on parachutes as well as rope and material for uniforms.

Nowadays Marijuana can be used to relieve pain and some of the effect of cancer treatments and old age.

It has been proven to slow down the spreading of Alzheimer's, relieve the pressure behind the eyes from glaucoma. It also helps relieve migraine headaches and the side effect of cancer treatment.

But until the United States realizes how much money can be made from legalizing it, it will remain illegal.

This is much like the situation with online casinos in the USA. America was sending billions of dollars out of the country and the government needed to do something to keep the money here, so they banned <a href="http://www.online-casinos-789.com">Online Casino</a> and just like online casinos and online gambling I believe one day the government will learn to take advantage of these things instead of just banning them.

Eventually the USA will realize that the best way to stop the flow of money out of the country is not to ban marijuana or online casinos, but to enter the market and compete.

If the USA did what Amsterdam has done the government would make not only billions in Taxes from the sales of Marijuana, but the economy would boom from all the tourism that it would bring in from all over the world.

The truth of the matter is that legalization is inevitable. The attitude of people has changed so drastically over the last 30 years, that eventually when the younger generations start to take over marijuana will eventually become legal because they understand the truth, and that is banning something only makes the market for it stronger.

Your Guide To Quick To Fix, Easy Low Carb Recipes

Everyone these days wants to find easy, low-carb recipes to build a healthy diet that is low in carbohydrates. With the recent low-carb craze, dieters can find information all over the place. Here are some guidelines to help you get what you want out of the low-carb phenomenon.

Whether you are searching the Internet, paging through a cookbook or digging through a friend’s pile of recipes, you need to keep in mind what it is that you want out of this diet. You should desire low-carb recipes that appeal to you, that will help you lose weight healthily, that you want to eat and that you can prepare without too big a headache.

Just because foods are low-carb and diet-friendly doesn’t mean they have to be bad or boring. You can find easy, low-carb recipes without sacrificing foods you enjoy. You can easily find recipes focusing on meat, poultry or seafood. You can find dozens of great ideas for breads, pastas, sauces and dips, as well as low-carb desserts and snacks. You can even have low-carb beer and other alcoholic beverages.

When preparing meals containing meats, be sure to choose carefully. As you make an effort to avoid carbohydrates, you will naturally move toward foods higher in protein. Many of these high-protein foods are our favorite meats, but many of these meats are also contain large amounts of fat. To get the best out of your diet, choose easy, low-carb recipes that call for lean meat, poultry or seafood. Even lean cuts of pork are better for you than meats like bacon and beef.

Breads are another area of interest in a low-carb diet. People are often surprised to learn that cutting breads out of their diet entirely is unnecessary. With an assault on carbohydrates in their diets, many people see breads as off limits. Books have even been written discussing how to live without bread.

Breads themselves are not bad, but some can certainly not low in carbohydrates. Many easy, low-carb recipes are available that allow you to enjoy sandwiches, burgers, toast or muffins. These recipes use a slightly different list of ingredients, but they yield healthy, tasty breads. Also, breads contain fiber, which is important to include in your diet.

Many recipes targeting a low-carb audience will specify nutritional information for the food, especially carbohydrate, protein and fiber content. This information is provided for a reason: as you probably know, foods low in carbohydrates and high in protein are central to the Atkins and other low-carb diets. Fiber is also a big part of the equation; simply put, you can have more carbs in your diet if they are in the form of fiber. Also, foods high in fiber are generally full of “good carbs,” the type of carbohydrates you don’t need to eliminate from your diet.

This brings up another good point: you don’t need to completely eliminate carbohydrates from your diet. Keeping some carbs in your diet is healthy and does not negatively affect your diet. Most low-carb recipes have at least some carbs. Instead of cutting out all carbohydrates, you should focus on minimizing or eliminating “empty carbs,” carbohydrates that come from foods with little or no nutritional value. Soft drinks and candy bard have empty carbs; fruits and vegetables, for example, have good carbs.

An important part of a low-carb diet is variety. You’re trying to limit carbohydrates, but that doesn’t mean you should eat eggs every day and avoid bread like the plague. Abide the guidelines for a healthy, low-carb diet: limit but don’t eliminate carbs, get plenty of fiber, make sure your protein-rich meats are not too full of fat.

Again, to easily sustain a healthy, low-carb lifestyle you should eat foods you enjoy. Low-carb foods should not be a burden. The list of diet-friendly choices has enough variety to make even the pickiest eaters happy. You have plenty of delicious, easy, low-carb recipes to choose from.

World’s Hottest Hot Sauce - Blair's 16 Million Reserve

Blair Lazar is the man responsible for one of the biggest culinary explosions ever with his creation of the hot sauce. It is an ultra-refined version of chili powder, which can easily satisfy all the masochistic heat-eaters. The sauce is a spicy mix of vinegar and chili pepper or extracts of chili.

Lazar’s career as a hot sauce maker began in the most bizarre fashion. He introduced free chicken wings dipped in a yummy homemade hot sauce to drive away all the drunkards from his bar. And since then there was no looking back, he is presently the owner of the creator of sauces like “Mega Death", “Original Death”, “Sudden Death”, “After Death” and more.

His latest creation Blair’s 16 Million Reserve is the hottest collection that only chemistry can create and is available for sale online at www.InsaneChicken.com. Believe it or not it is eighty times hotter than the Tabasco sauce and about thirty times than the Red Savina. Quoting Lazar, it would be best to say that a little taste of the sauce is a ‘pure heat’ experience.

Lazar’s taste buds are almost immune to the heating sensation of his creations but he still remembers his first taste of the incredible ‘16 Million Reserve’. He declares that the pain was unbearable and in his words it was like the hammer was brutally hitting his tongue. More so his tongue had swelled up for days to come. If you might be wandering how the name for the above creation has derived then you must know that the inspiration came from pure capsaicin, which has a heat score of 16 million units.

Hot sauce ‘16 Million Reserve’ requires 1-lb of capsaicin, which is obtained from several tons of fresh peppers. Lazar's creation "2am Reserve" at the beginning of his career was hotter than any other chili product available in the market. The other hot sauce that comes to mind is the “6am Reserve” even hotter with stronger chili extracts.

The hot sauce should not be used for flavors at any cost. They are well known for their heat value. Even the stupidest of all, would not dare to consume an entire bottle. Factually speaking, a single grain into a pan of tomato soup can spice up the taste to such an extent that you will die out of heat. The heat of the hot sauce is excruciatingly unbearable as most tasters suffer from constant perspiration and tears till half an hour. However, it must be borne in mind that this burning sensation is merely a chemical reaction with the body’s neurological system and is inflicted by the capsaicin.

Wine Bottling

The ideal utensils to use for wine making and boiling ingredients & juices are those of good quality enamel. Those sold under a brand name are most reliable. The utensils must not be chipped.

It is almost impossible to pour clear wine from one bottle to another without stirring up the lees. Because of this, it is a good plan, to siphon off the clear wine when rebottling it.

Using about a yard and a half of surgical rubber tubing or plastic tubing, siphoning is a very simple operation. First, put the bottles or jars of wine on a table and the empty bottles on a stool or box on the floor. Next, put one end of the tubing in the first bottle of wine and suck the other end of the tube until the wine comes; pinch the tube at your lips and - holding on tight - put this end in the empty bottle and then let the wine flow. As the level of the wine falls, lower the tube into it, being careful not to let it touch the lees. When nearly all of the wine has been transferred, pinch the tube at the neck of both bottles, put one end into the next bottle and allow the wine to flow again.

In this way a constant flow is maintained and you have bottles of crystal-clear wine. The sediment from each bottle may be put together; this will clear in time to leave a little more wine.

Most of you will already have heard of one or other home-made wine and will have decided which to make. For those who have not yet decided, preference for a 'port* or 'whisky' may be the deciding factor and this must rest with yourselves.

I would advise you only in this: make, say, a gallon or a half-gallon of a variety of wines and then decide which you prefer over a period of time. I have whittled my own preference down to nine different wines which I brew regularly according to season, leaving the dried fruit for the time when fresh fruit is not available and when roots - potatoes, etc. - are too fresh for wine-making purposes.

NOTE:

Different recipes will call for slightly different approaches, but it must be remembered that whatever else has to be done, the brew must be kept in a warm place throughout the fermentation period, and that the process after fourteen days* fermentation in the tub is the same with all recipes.

Now select your recipe and go ahead with your wine-making, bearing in mind all that I have warned you about.