Going gluten-free has become a popular trend. More and more gluten-free products are taking up space on the shelves in grocery stores, yet at the same one, many people remain in the dark when it comes to the benefits of a gluten-free diet.
Let’s begin to address that by describing what gluten is and what it actually does. Gluten is a protein found in such foods as wheat, cereal, and certain grains. One of its main purposes is to retain the elasticity in foods during fermentation. It makes bread chewable and prevents certain foods from having a doughy-like, sticky texture.
Worldwide attention:
With an increase in people being diagnosed with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, gluten-free diets have received a lot of attention from physicians from all over the nutritional spectrum, including dieticians, bariatric physicians, and weight loss physicians.
There’s a good reason for that. There are a number of health benefits which can be had from a gluten-free diet for anyone who has a gluten intolerance, such as improving energy levels, better digestive health, and decreasing cholesterol levels. Moreover, going gluten-free, even if it’s for a little while, can help detox your body from wheat and processed carbs in general, too.
Restaurants, too:
It isn’t just grocery stores that are helping their customers go gluten-free. There’s little point in eliminating gluten from your shopping list if you’re feasting on it when eating out or ordering in. Although those two options are becoming increasingly seamless with services such as Deliveroo continually adding more gluten-free restaurants to its platform. Celiac-friendly eateries available to order from include Uncle Pete’s, with a customizable pizza on the menu, so going gluten-free doesn’t mean that you can no longer enjoy the foods you love.
Whether buying from a shopping list or ordering from a restaurant, if you decide to embark upon a gluten-free diet, you’d only be eliminating foods from your diet that are unhealthy, anyway. For example, most fried food would be immediately off-limits, due to the breading. The same would be true of many desserts.
Reducing health risks:
By eliminating gluten from your diet, you’re reducing the risk of health-related conditions, such as certain cancers, and heart disease. It can also help you to fend off germs and viruses, as many of the foods you will eat contain essential mineral and vitamins, as well as antioxidants.
This will also mean minimising your intake of processed foods. Many processed foods that can be bought off the shelves contain high amounts of gluten, which is unhealthy, due to the fact that they contain artificial flavors and chemicals.
Weight loss, too:
Most foods on a gluten-free diet can help with weight loss, especially if you have a healthy balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. If you combine a gluten-free approach with the right proportions and combinations, however, and choosing gluten-free starches like quinoa, sweet potatoes, and brown rice, you’ll be eating healthier and more likely to lose weight.
Bear in mind that you’ll need to exercise caution when it comes to reading food labels. Many packages state that their food is gluten-free when it may not be the case. There will always be replacements in unhealthy goods that contain gluten with other unhealthy gluten-free varieties. That’s especially true of high-carb foods, such as bread. So just be sure to go in with your eyes open.
I enjoy writing and I write quality guest posts on topics of my interest and passion. I have been doing this since my college days. My special interests are in health, fitness, food and following the latest trends in these areas. I am an editor at Content Rally.
Are you that lucky cocktail party host this weekend among your friends? If you are, then you must be wondering what exception you can make this time that people will love.
We know that you can manage the ‘cocktail’ part. So, we have gathered seven delicious & exotic snacks for your next cocktail party that will win the hearts of your guests and makes you the star host of the month!
However, these snack ideas are so overwhelmingly good that people may request you to make them again and again. Here, you will find quick and easy dishes to prepare, although you may need to visit the supermarket to get the ingredients.
Without further ado, let’s get started with the recipes so that you can pick which snacks you want to prepare and make the list of ingredients.
1. Salmon Tartines for Fish Lovers
Recipes with Salmon and avocado are always a delicacy; when you prepare it with wasabi, it will deliver a heavenly feel with your fast bite. And guess what, you need only 15 minutes to make it.
Ingredients:
To prepare this dish, you have to gather the following ingredients:
Puff pastry,
Sashimi-quality salmon,
Mirin,
One avocado,
Low-sodium soy sauce
Ginger,
Lime juice,
Caster sugar,
Rice vinegar, and
Wasabi paste.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius and cut the pastry according to your preferred shape; place them on a lined tray over the baking paper and bake for 10-12 minutes till golden in color and allow them to cool down. Your tartine base is ready.
While baking, process the avocado with wasabi. To do that, take a small pan and dissolve sugar in water over low heat. When it cools down, take an avocado, wasabi, lime, and sugar in a blender, add salt or any other seasoning if you want, and set aside.
Prepare a dressing by mixing mirin, vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger in a small pot.
After you have prepared everything, take a pastry base and place avocado, salmon, and cress. Serve with a drizzle of dressing.
2. Elk Jerky Cheeseboard for Slow Eaters
How about serving an Elk Jerky cheeseboard at your cocktail party? This cheeseboard is a great addition to the food you can serve because it not only has a posh vibe but also serves a unique version of your regular charcuterie board due to the gamey elk.
Elk goes well with many reds including Cabernet Sauvignon, which can complement this strong-flavored jerky with its earthy notes. You can also pair it with lighter-style cocktails made from scotch, gin, or tequila, as they go well with these types of dried meat.
You can add a variety of cheese to such a board, including emmental, brie, gouda, and blue cheese.
3. Carrot Muffin for Sweet Tooths
If you want to prepare a carrot muffin for your cocktail party ahead of time and you love baking, then this dish is a must for you to try.
Ingredients:
This dish is easy to prepare and only needs eight ingredients.
They are:
Yogurt (Greek style),
Ready mixture for making carrot cake,
Carrots,
Pecans,
Eggs,
Aperol,
Pure cane sugar, and
Vegetable oil.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
First, you will make a labneh. Take a bowl and set a fine sieve over it. Put the yogurt inside, wrap it with the sieve, and hang it over the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.
Preheat the oven to make muffins at 170 degrees Celsius.
Grate the carrot coarsely and mix it with the cake baking mix. You can add pecans to the mix.
Take the muffin glasses, and bake them for at least 35 minutes. To make sure they are evenly baked, insert a skewer in the center, and if it comes out clean, your muffins are ready.
If you want to soak the muffins with Aperol syrup, place water, sugar, and Aperol on a small pan and keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved over medium heat.
Place the muffins in a line and pour syrup over them. Let the muffins soak in the syrup for 5 minutes.
Add the icing mix with labneh to make frost, and use your creative ideas to décor the muffins.
4. Four Crispy Buffalo Wings for Savory Hunters
Nothing can beat the taste of chicken wings. And the crowd will devour it within a minute if you can make it extra crispy outside and juicy inside. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
To make Buffalo wings, you’ll need the following:
Chicken wings (defrost if frozen),
Baking powder,
Salt,
Butter,
Franks hot sauce,
Sugar.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
Tap the wings with tissue paper to absorb the extra water after washing. Toss the wings with baking powder and salt; it will absorb the extra moisture from the chicken's skin, making it crispier.
We are not using hot oil in this recipe as we are going to bake the wings. The science behind baking the wings and making them crispy is to start baking using low temp at first and increasing the temp after a few minutes. Set the tray on the lower shelf of the oven at 250F/120C.
Low temperature will melt the fat first, and high temperature will make the skin super crispy when you place the wings on a higher oven shelf at 425F/220C.
5. Sausage Rolls for Meat lovers
You know that your friends love meat. But you don’t want to worry about arranging a bbq in the backyard. So, prepare these bite-size sausage rolls to calm the meat cravings of your guests.
Ingredients:
To make sausage rolls, you’ll need:
Pork,
Onion & Garlic,
Breadcrumbs,
Puff Pastry,
Bacon,
Fennel Seeds,
Salt & Pepper.
Cooking Methods:
Follow the easy-peasy steps below to cook off sausage rolls:
Take a pan and cook bacon, onion, garlic, and celery,
Mix with the pork,
Place the puff pastry, put the mix on it, roll it over, and cut it into small portions.
Place them on a baking tray and brush with egg.
Bake them for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.
This snack serves its best when you are keeping the option of exciting games at your party. Whether it’s a two-player board game or a multiplayer one, people can have more fun when they have something delicious to eat.
6. Coconut Shrimp for Peaky Eaters
Every party has those guests who will not eat anything that’s too oily or too sweet. To tackle those peaky eaters, you can cook coconut shrimp, which will go well with whiskey cocktails.
If you are not hiring any bartenders and decided to become one for the day, check out these whiskey cocktail recipes for home bartenders!
Ingredients:
You will need the following items for this quick bite.
Jumbo Shrimp,
Flour,
Shredded coconut,
Beaten egg,
Pepper,
Pranko breadcrumbs,
Garlic powder,
Oil and salt to taste.
Cooking Method:
Follow the steps below to have the best shrimp dish of your life.
Wash the shrimp and season them in a bowl with pepper and salt,
Take two flat dishes. Mix flour and garlic powder in one of them; in the other, mix coconut and breadcrumbs.
Take one shrimp and dredge it in the flour mixture; after that, dip it in the beaten egg and dredge again in the coconut mix. Follow the steps for each shrimp.
Refrigerate for an hour (or overnight if you want to prepare the night before and serve hot the next day).
Deep fry in a pan full of oil till golden brown color and season with salt and pepper after the whole batch is done. Place them on a baking sheet with a cooling rack so that they can absorb the dripping oil.
Serve it with sauce or mango salsa.
7. Salsa for Lazy Hosts
When it comes to cocktail parties, you need easy, quick recipes that will take less time to prepare so that you don’t get stuck in the kitchen while others are enjoying the evening, and this salsa will take only two minutes.
Ingredients:
Here goes the items you need to get together:
Crushed tomato,
Coriander leaves,
Green chiles,
Garlic,
Lime,
Jalapeno,
Cumin, and
Sugar.
Serve with tacos, fajitas, burritos, nachos, or quesadillas. You can buy them at any store.
Cooking Method:
All you need to do is blend all the ingredients mentioned above. However, make sure to use good quality canned tomatoes, if not fresh ones. You need to blend for a few seconds and see the consistency. Keep blending if you like it smoother.
But don’t blend too much if you like it chunky.
Conclusion:
With this list of seven delicious & exotic snacks for your next cocktail party, you will be able to welcome your guests with warm hearts and warm food on the counter.
Even though cocktails are the main stars of your party, these bite-size, easy-to-prepare snacks will make your evening even better alongside the drinks. Prepare the snacks while ensuring the recipes have variety, such as spicy, sweet, savory, vegetarian, and non-veg options.
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14 Whiskey Cocktail Recipes For Home Bartenders
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A Rudraksha means-‘tears of Rudra’ in Sanskrit. It is a sacred bead, which is fashioned into rosary in Hinduism. Hindus regard the Rudraksha with great reverence and believe that it bodes good health and prosperity. It can be worn as a bracelet or as a chain.
The 3 Mukhi (face) Rudraksha consists of three natural lines on the surface. It is a symbol for Agni- the fire, which consumes everything. It helps the wearer handle and overcome any situation.
The ruling planet is Mars and days of wearing are Monday and Thursday. It is recommended for:
Children suffering from chronic fever
Gallbladder and liver disease
Stress and depression
Control of blood pressure
Influence on body organ is throat
Other Benefits of 3 Mukhi:
Just as fire destroys everything, this Rudraksha destroys one’s Karma.
It is believed that all past sins of the wearer are forgiven. It is a way of attaining Moksha.
It removes obstacles faced by a person due to past Karma.
It provides remission from the sin of committing an abortion.
It helps attain purity of soul and to live a life, free of guilt.
Protects from all sorts of diseases, accidents and blood poisoning.
Mantras:
Shiva Purana: Om Kleem Namaha
Padma Purana: Om, Om, Namaha
Skanda Purana: Om Dhum Dhum Namah
Om Namah Shivaya
Mode of Wearing:
Take the beads. Wash them with sacred Ganga water or unboiled milk.
Wear in the neck, chanting Mantra.
Who Should Wear?
Those who want to avoid the malefic effects of Mars.
Those suffering from the disease.
Those who are weak, lazy and have an inferiority complex
Those suffering from stomach disorders, skin diseases, eye defects.
Those who are depressed and need a boost of self-esteem.
Rules to Wear:
Wearers and devotees of Rudraksha enjoy peace, good health, and prosperity. But one must take some precautions:
The Rudraksha must be worn only after Siddhi (purification rites and chanting of Mantras).
Rudraksha mantra is to be chanted 9 times daily, after removing at night and wearing in the morning.
It must be kept in the Puja room at night and worn after the bath in the morning.
The wearer should not consume alcohol or non-vegetarian food.
He must speak only truth and visit Shiva temple.
Rudraksha must not be taken while visiting a baby or to the cremation ground.
Women must remove it during menstruation.
Keep Rudraksha clean and tidy. Pores of the beads can attract dirt and dust. Clean this with any soft material with fine bristles. Change the thread if it becomes dirty. After it has been cleaned, wash Rudraksha with holy water. This is to maintain its sanctity.
Keep Rudraksha constantly oiled. After the beads and chord have been cleaned, periodically apply oil and treat with incense. This is crucial when you have kept the Rudraksha in storage for a long time and want to use it again.
These are some safeguards for wearing and maintaining Rudraksh chains and bracelets. Since it is a sacred ornament, most Hindus are not affected by 3 Mukhi Rudraksha price. Don’t be confused by the shape and size of the beads. One has to buy the beads according to one’s gut instinct.
When it comes to the workings of these wondrous human bodies of ours, we truly reap what we sow. What we choose to put into our bodies has a profound effect on how it chooses to support us and perform for us. Our modern convenience food diets are riddled with acidic and overly processed foods that are harmful to our health. Things that we may have grown up with---meats, dairy, and coffee---are robbing us of our strength and vitality at every meal.
Dangers of acidic foods:
Our bodies strive to maintain a delicate PH balance throughout the day; this eliminates the acidic ash that can take its toll on bones, tissues, and organs that might otherwise function to support us. A body that is placed in a chronic, highly acidic state is more prone to disease, weight gain, and even a shorter life span.
An alkaline diet rich in fresh, whole, organic foods becomes the very lifeforce of the body as it rebalances the PH and gives the body a chance to heal and regenerate itself. While it may seem at first that making the switch from acidic foods to alkaline foods is going to saddle you with culinary limitations and all sorts of unpleasantness, the feeling you will experience when you give your body a chance to "sigh" will be worth any comfort foods that you will be giving up for this new lifestyle. Whether you have been recently diagnosed with a chronic illness, or you simply want to improve your quality of life you owe it to yourself to give alkaline foods a chance. Here are some ways they can benefit you and your marvelous body:
1. Alkaline foods eliminate fatigue issues:
An excess buildup of acid in the body depletes its natural store of oxygen; as a result, the body feels fatigue and so do you. Cells don't function as they should, and every system is working harder than ever to dump toxins and breathe once more. Switching to snacks that are alkaline in nature will reduce acidic buildup and release life-giving oxygen back into your system once more.
2. Alkaline foods strengthen the immune system:
An imbalance in your PH levels weakens your body's ability to fight off disease and infection. Bacteria and viruses thrive in an anaerobic, or low-oxygen environment. Increasing your intake of alkaline foods brings more oxygen back into the body, battling disease and viruses and strengthening all systems.
3. Alkaline foods reduce inflammation:
An acidic body is an inflamed body; when you have a buildup of acid in your body, you are prone to the development of chronically acidic and diseased states such as heart disease, arthritis, and even cancer. Bringing alkaline rich foods into your diet will reduce your risk for the development of these diseases and bring inflammation under control.
4. Alkaline foods strengthen bones and tissues:
As we age, our bodies naturally pull calcium and other minerals from bone material to balance our body's PH. As a result, we grow gradually weaker and more prone to illness and injury. Consuming alkaline foods puts much-needed calcium back into our bodies and restores our strength and vitality in natural and healthy ways.
5. Alkaline foods can prevent the occurrence of cancer:
Cancer cells thrive in an anaerobic environment, and by bringing alkaline foods into your diet, you increase the healing properties of vitamins, minerals, and vital oxygen that makes it difficult for cancer cells to multiply and grow. When you give your body the natural tools that it needs, the wonderful self-healing mechanisms present in your makeup go to work on their own, bringing your body into a state of balance once more.
6. Alkaline foods can help you lose weight...and keep it off:
Giving your body the vital nutrients it needs through nutritious, whole foods is always preferable to the Standard American Diet, or S.A.D., for short. When you replace high-calorie acidic items like pizza, chips, cookies, and soda with high-quality fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, the equation is so simple. You'll experience permanent and lasting weight loss and you'll feel great!
7. Alkaline foods improve your quality of life:
There are the whole brain, whole body benefits to eating alkaline foods--they heal and repair body tissues at a cellular level, they help to flush out harmful toxins that might slow you down, and they provide the energy necessary to lead a healthy and active life well into your later years. Alkaline foods can improve how you look, how you feel, and what you experience as your body gives back to you based on the wonderful, life-giving foods that you feed it with.
Is An Alkaline Diet Right For Me?
No matter what diet you choose to follow, it has to be manageable and sustainable in order for it to work. If you are going to derail yourself two weeks after starting an alkaline diet with a cheeseburger and fries, then perhaps going all in isn't for you right now. Making small, deliberate changes to your diet and assessing how you feel will help you create healthy habits for long term success. Many people become overwhelmed at the thought of having to replace everything in their diets; finding some tried and true alkaline diet snacks that you can use for a quick and healthy pick me up in between meals is one way to begin establishing new habits that will move you toward better health. Examples of healthy alkaline snacks include:
fresh veggie sticks and hummus
celery sticks with almond butter
avocados with fresh salsa
green juices
smoothies
nuts, seeds, and berries
lara bars
chia pudding with fresh berries
Once you see how tasty and filling these new foods can be, it will become easier and easier to incorporate healthy, life-giving foods into your diet.
Are you ready?
Get ready! You are about to embark on an exciting journey to delicious food and better health. You'll experience vibrant energy, improved mood, and you'll feel better than you have in years. Don't look at all the things that you "can't" have on your new journey, focus instead on how much better you'll look and feel with a few simple changes and a whole new positive outlook on your health. Best of luck to you on your alkaline journey!
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