Truth Behind the Energy Bars

Many people may be short on time for the preparation of the traditional breakfast, lunch, or even dinner. As a result, he/she may grab a snack. On many occasions, this is the energy bar.

Why the energy bar? For the obvious reason, it gives us energy, right? Originally, the energy bar was meant to increase the athletes' physical stamina, but the thing is that athletes are not the only ones that eat energy bars.

But in reality, energy bars has turned into many different versions of protein bars, cereal bars, snack bars, and the list goes on. This goes beyond the physical fitness purpose. It is trying to suit individuals on a diet who are focused on the low fat to low carb craze.

People do not realize that Americans usually spend more than $1.4 billion a year on these energy bars. This is due to the fact that many marketing campaigns are promising people that this stuff will make them have more energy and a physically fit and trimmer waist.

Energy bars are classified into three categories: higher in protein, moderate in protein and carbohydrates, and higher in carbohydrates. A couple of examples of the higher in protein energy bars are Atkins Advantage and Balance. Then there is the moderate in protein and carbohydrates, which will be Ultra-Slim Fast and Power Bar. The higher carbohydrates are the Power Bar and Power Bar Harvest.

There are some energy bars that are mainly focused on people on certain weight loss plans, in which there are a few advantages. These particular bars have automatic portion-size control. In this way, eating an energy bar can prevent people from becoming very hungry.

Are energy bars a healthy choice in terms of snacks? In terms of snacks, energy bars do have a one-up nutritional edge over candy. People should use his/her common sense with these bars. As with any type of food, individuals should not rely solely on bar foods for supplementation of high-quality nutrition. Most of these bars have not so healthy calories to qualify for a full-course meal. Fruits, vegetables, or low fat yogurt or cheese should be the healthier food snack. If anyone need an extra energy boost through the day, these bars will not solve the problem; in fact it is short-lived.

The bottom line is that individuals should not eat energy bars as if he/she are eating an entire bowl of spinach. These bars do contain a great amount of sugar along with some of those sixteen letter chemicals.

Source:

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/healthy-living/diet-nutrition/healthy-foods/energy-bars-705/index.htm

The Yogurt Story

Yogurt: a fermented slightly acid often flavored semisolid food made of milk and milk solids to which cultures of two bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) have been added.

The vast majority of people in the world do not know that yogurt has been eaten and created for approximately 5,400 years. That is a very long time for yogurt to be in existence.

Like anything else that lives on our planet, yogurt has its story. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, it was considered to be the “common food” to the populations in locations, such as in the Russian Empire, Western Asia, Southeastern Europe/Balkans, Central Europe, and India. Yogurt madeits steps in to the United States in 1929, thanks to Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who were Armenian immigrants.

The Colombosians founded Colombo Yoghurt, which was originally centered around the New England region on a horse-drawn wagon. The word that was on the wagon was “madzoon,” which is Armenian for yogurt, which was later changed to the word that we know today as yogurt. But during that time period, Turkish was the language of the area which included other immigrants that lived in the area.

In modern times, yogurt has become a common and a popular American food item. Sadly, Colombo Yogurt was marketed in 1993 to General Mills, who would later discontinue the brand in early 2010.

Not only yogurt has a very good taste, it also has some health benefits. Some of the unique health benefits are that it contains calcium, vitamin B6, riboflavin, or vitamin B2, and vitamin B12. It is also protein-rich. There is good news for people who are lactose intolerant. Individuals that are somewhat lactose-intolerant can eat yogurt without having a sick feeling due to the majority of the lactose that are present in the milk is changed to lactic acid in part of the bacteria culture.

Other yogurt's health benefits include aiding an individual from having diarrhea that is accompanied by the use of antibiotics. Yogurt may also play a role in having healthy gums due to the presence of lactic acid.

Recently, a visit to the supermarket was long overdue for yogurt. As I was searching for the perfect yogurt, Activia is the one that was purchased. In this case, the vanilla was the flavor of choice. The ingredients that are in this little plastic cup are as follows:

Cultured Grade A reduced fat milk, fructose syrup, sugar, contain less than 1% of fructose, whey protein concentrate, corn starch, modified corn starch, kosher gelatin, natural vanilla flavor, sodium citrate, malic acid.

If yogurt will improve the digestive system, then this will be the choice over Pepto-Bismol—at least it has a must pleasurable taste!

Sources:

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yogurt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoghurt

The Arrival of Winter

Winter has arrived
at the very perfect time.
Happy holidays!

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving
is the biggest shopping day
of the year.

Why do the retailers
call it Black Friday?
I am guessing that
people get a chance
to spend his/her
entire paycheck.

But what is so black
about Friday? I mean
it is not a moody one;
the clouds do not
turn black on the
Friday after Thanksgiving.
In fact, it is just the
opposite.

There are so many sales
deals that people are
willing to become a
pack of wildebeests
just to claim their
prize (or not).

Right now, I am flipping
through the sales ads
in the local newspaper.

Finally, there are certain
items that I want to
purchase; I think to myself,
should I go and buy the
items with a pack of
blood-thirsty hyenas or
should I keep my sanity?

I will wait until a blizzard
hit my town; it will give me
an excuse to max out
my credit card--without
standing in line!

America's Encounter with Cheesecake

Someone may decide to make a stop at the Cheesecake Factory or anywhere where cheesecake is sold just to grab a couple of slices of cheesecake for twenty dollars. There are so many varieties to choose from, which is a good thing.

But for the curious minds, he/she may ask how did cheesecake get its start. How did the name for this dessert come about, cheese + cake? It is obvious that it is a combination of cheese and cake; that is only part of it.

Well, the most basic ingredient in any cheesecake is cheese. Obviously. But the types of cheese that are mainly used in the formation of cheesecake are cream cheese, Neufchatel, cottage cheese and ricotta.

This is not even the start of the story. Before cheesecake became a phenomenon in the United States, it was proven to be a popular dish in ancient Greece. Not many people know that the Roman name for cheesecake was placenta, which had its similarities to the cheesecake dessert that we know today. It was placed and baked on a pastry base, or occasionally inside a pastry case.

Now that a brief history of cheesecake is known, here are the distinctive flavors of a few types of cheesecakes:

The New York cheesecake: This cheesecake will get the taste buds talking pretty loud!. It is the result of the combination of pure cream cheese, cream, eggs, and sugar. The purpose of the egg yolks are to make it become richer and smoother. This cheesecake is baked on a particular five to six inch springform pan in a number of bakeries and restaurants. In some cases, the New York cheesecake use cottage cheese and lemon for that very noticeable flavor and appearance. In addition, it may be showered with chocolate drops or a dash of strawberry sauce, or in any type of sauce or confection of personal choice. It is heavy cream heaven!

Sour Cream Style: Well, it is obvious why this got its name. It consists of sour cream rather than heavy cream. This allows this type of cheesecake to have more elasticity. As a result, frozen cheesecakes are formed.

Philadelphia Style: Unlike the New York Style cheesecake, the Philadelphia-style cheesecake is much tighter in terms of texture, but it has a bit of a rich flavor and taste.

Lactose-free cheesecake: Here is a cheesecake for those individuals whose digestive systems cannot tolerate lactose. This could be made with lactose-free cream cheese or an imitation that uses ingredients that contains non-dairy cream cheese alternatives. A variety of lactose-free ingredients can also be used.

There are some cheesecakes that are known to one particular region. One example of this type of cheesecake is the Gooey Butter cake. The Gooey Butter Cake is originated from St. Louis, MO. This is basically a regular cake with a cheesecake top.

The recipe consists of a layer of butter on the bottom as well as the yellow cake. For the top layer, it is made from eggs, cream cheese, and almond extract. And just to add some jazziness to the Gooey butter cake, there is a sprinkle of sugar that is spread upon the cake prior to being served.

Many people may think that all cheesecakes have the exact same taste, but in reality, it comprises of so many different flavors that all have its distinctive taste. Mark your calender: July 30 is National Cheesecake Day!

Sources:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Cheesecake.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesecake

http://www.food.com/library/ricotta-cheese-291

http://www.bigoven.com/glossary/Neufchatel%20cheese

For the Peanut Butter Lovers

The majority of people throughout the United States and around the globe have eaten this very common snack in one form or another. This common snack is known as peanut butter.

Not many people know that November is recognized as being the National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. This may come as a shock for consumers that are a giant fan of peanut butter that a month has been set aside to pay homage.

Some of us may like our peanut butter creamy and others may like it with a little rough surface, in other words, chunky or crunchy. It really depends on who is speaking.

But before peanut butter comes into existence, they must come in the form of peanuts. There are a few interesting facts about peanut butter that many people do now know:

-Peanuts are the usage mainly for the formation of peanut butter in the United States.

-No one would ever guess that approximately five hundred forty peanuts would create a twelve-ounce peanut butter jar.

-Peanut butter made its debut in the United States at the Universal Exposition in 1904 in St. Louis. C.H. Sumner had sold $705.11 of this peanut sensation at his concession stand.

-In the majority of American household, which is approximately eighty-nine percent, eat peanut butter.

-At the world's largest peanut butter factory, it makes at least two hundred fifty thousand jars on a daily basis.

-With the popular concept on peanut butter, many women and children like creamy over chunky, while many men go for chunky rather than creamy.

-It takes two grindings for the formation of peanut butter. The heat produced from one, long, grinding will cause the Peanut Butter flavor to be non-existent.

-Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter implanted to the roof of the mouth.

-The amount of peanut butter that is eaten within a year's time could wrap the planet Earth in a ribbon of peanut butter jars at least 1 1/3 times.

-Did you know that many of the American people spend approximately eight hundred billion dollars a year on peanut butter alone.

As an avid peanut butter eater, I did not realize how much control that this light-brown peanutty spread have in the typical American household. This is some pretty powerful stuff--in more ways than one. After we prepare our peanut butter sandwiches in our own special way (yes, many of us need the lovely company of jelly, whether it is grape, peach, apricot, or strawberry), we sink our teeth into our creation. All of the sudden, the peanut flavor takes over the taste buds. The temptation for a peanut butter sandwich is really increasing--at least for the buds. I should stop while I am ahead!

Next time when we decide to make and eat peanut butter, we should think about the "trials and tribulations" that these beautiful peanuts must go through. Power to the peanuts!

Source:

http://www.nationalpeanutboard.org/classroom-funfacts.php

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