Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Have you heard of organic goji berries

organic goji berriesReal Mexican Food - It May Be Different From What You Expect

Everyone in the US has spent many enjoyable meals in the local Mexican restaurants in their town or city, but if you live in Mexico or make an extended visit, you'll find some delightfully tasty dishes you never experienced back home.

As you would expect, the national cuisine is flavorful, colorful, and contains lots of spices. If you're adventurous and willing to take part in the local culture, you'll find many dishes that never make their way into Mexican restaurants up north, and you'll enjoy experimenting with new tastes and ingredients.

Many of the items you'll find in grocery stores and in restaurants are an ingenious combination of the original Aztec and Maya ingredients of corn, chilies, squash and beans, usually with a Spanish twist. Many of the foods we now consider staples in our own households in the US, Canada and Europe were originally found in the land that became Mexico and Central America.

You'll notice many differences in the way food is prepared - sometimes an item that you think you know will be different in Mexico. For instance, quesadillas, a flour or corn tortilla filled with cheese, may have cheddar or jack cheese when found in a US restaurant, but in Mexico it is likely to be filled with a soft farmer's cheese like Queso Fresco. You can find this cheese in some larger US groceries if you'd like to see what it's like. Add some shredded pork or chicken and a chili sauce, for a special treat.

If you find yourself in the Mexican interior, or if you are just more adventurous than most tourists, you might find dishes made the way the original people of the area cooked, before the Spanish conquest. If you look hard, you might be able to taste such unusual ingredients as rattlesnake, monkey, lizard and even some kinds of insects. These dishes are unlikely to be found in the more popular tourist hot-spots like Cancun or Puerto Vallarta, and are not for the faint of heart.

Just like in the United States, the food changes from one area to the next. The culture of Mexico is diverse and interesting, and the food reflects the differences in climate, culture and tastes.

One item you'll find served in many Mexican restaurants and homes is the traditional enchilada. This dish is made from a corn tortilla (often hand-made on the spot) that has been briefly softened in hot oil and then dipped in enchilada sauce. The tortillas are then filled with a variety of ingredients, such as chicken, vegetables, pork or beef, and even eggs or bananas. In some areas a filling made of potatoes and cheese is popular.

After being rolled up they are placed together in a dish, and more sauce is spooned on top, along with other ingredients like cheese, onions and olives. The sauce is almost always spicy, and will contain the traditional chili peppers and other seasonings. Mole sauce, made with chili peppers, ground nuts or seeds, and unsweetened chocolate is also common and worth trying.

Another very simple dish you may find in your travels is the "sope", a traditional dish originating in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. It is considered a snack or "street food" in Mexico.

Sopes are made by placing refried beans and crumbled cheese, onions, red or green salsa and sour cream on top of fried masa. Masa is the specially prepared ground corn that is also used to make the thinner tortillas that most of us are familiar with.

Another item you'll find in some areas of Mexico, but which is rarely on a US menu, is chilorio, a pork dish popular in the Mexican State of Sinaloa. This dish can be prepared in a number of different ways, but most recipes include tender pork that is fried in a chili sauce. To make the pork tender it is slowly simmered for hours. It is then broken into small pieces and fried in lard, and then cooked again in chili sauce. The ingredients in the sauce usually include onions, cumin and garlic.

If you have a chance to live in Mexico or visit for an extended time, be sure to sample the varied and delicious traditional dishes. Visit the markets and experience the incredible variety of vegetables, spices and meats that make up the traditional Mexican cuisine. You'll discover that this nation has far more to offer in the way of variety and tastes than you'll ever find in a Mexican restaurant back home in the States.

Thinking about buying a house in Mexico for a second home or retirement? Find local real estate experts to help you find the perfect Mexican home, and to help you make your purchase safely and legally. Visit http://www.find-real-estate-in-mexico.com



What Is A Healthy Diet?

What is a healthy diet? It�s not about counting calories, measuring portions or cutting carbs. You won't really find a healthy diet on the lite menu at your favorite restaurant and you certainly won't find it at the local fast food joint. A healthy diet is all about what you eat rather than how much you eat.

If you think the latest fad diet is your panacea to health, you are in for a big surprise. Losing weight, staying healthy and getting back into shape after many years of diet neglect is not about fads or eating in some radical new way for six to twelve weeks and then going back to the way you used to eat.

The best thing you can do to keep yourself healthy is to eat a healthy diet�all the time, not just when you want to lose weight. Eating healthy is a long-term lifestyle choice, something you need to do for your entire lifetime.

But what is a healthy diet? Is it what we have been lead to believe � milk for strong bones and teeth, protein in the form of lean beef or chicken and maybe a �healthy� microwave dinner if we are �on the go.� Unfortunately this diet is what is identified as the Standard American Diet or the SAD.

And what's so wrong with the SAD?

Well, has it made us a healthier people? Are we better off as a nation because of it?

With all of the health studies, advanced health care, the war on cancer dating back to the 70�s, and the most advanced technology available on the planet we have to ask ourselves why do we still need to spend $1.3 trillion a year on health care in the United States. Why aren't we getting any healthier?

Other pertinent questions about your health beg for answers such as, why after more than 30 years since the �War On Cancer� was declared, do we still have an increasing cancer rate. Yes, we have many more people surviving, cancer but the rate at which people are getting cancer is increasing. We have come a long way in taking care of sick people, but we haven't made any progress as a nation in preventing those people from getting sick.

Why do more than 15 million people in the United States have diabetes? Why do we still have more heart problems today than we did 30 years ago? Why is more than 50% of our population on some kind of prescription drug?

We spend more per person on medical care than any other nation in the world. Why is this happening in a country that seems to be able to solve nearly any technological problem? Why can't we solve our medical problems? How would life be different for us if we were to be a nation of healthy individuals?

The secret to a healthy diet and a healthy life is living food � fresh vegetables, fruit, juices and green leafy salads. The answer to a healthier you is summed up in three words, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's not a secret, it's a lifestyle.

Living a healthy life and having a healthy family is all about eating a healthy diet, every day of our lives!

Alan LeStourgeon along with his wife Jean run the web site http://www.ezHealthyDiet.com where they explore what it means to eat a healthy diet, have a healthier home and live a healthier life.




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