How To Add Natural Flavor To Your Water

With the many high end gadgets around you today, it should no longer be new and surprising to you to find one innovation after another. Well, from classroom instruction materials and office technology to your own household items, you can find several advancements that have made your life way easier than before. After all, that is basically what Science is for: to enhance the quality of life.

The most common ones are normally found at home. Imagine how your living room would be without a TV to entertain you. Imagine how a bedroom would be without an air conditioner to make you feel comfortable.

Or perhaps, imagine a kitchen without an oven, a heater, or even just a water bottle to make cooking and dining a pleasurable experience. Yes, you can now find water bottles that are creatively and intelligently designed to innovate the way you quench your thirst.

One really good example is a flavor infuser water bottle.

As simple as it sounds, but having this type of water bottle can make a lot of difference to how you hydrate yourself every day. Surely, you can go on with water alone but that would get boring eventually to the point that you may forget drinking sometimes. Mainly, the bottle allows you to drink in fashion by enabling you to infuse flavor in your water. You do not only stay hydrated but also healthy for having the ability to energize yourself with flavored water.

You can actually choose the naturally flavored water. This is a lot safer than choosing the processed one because the processed flavored water has high sugar content with chemicals and food coloring that are not only safe for you but may also keep you from flattening your belly. Get the right amount of sugar and with your fresh ingredients to refresh you according to your preferences for taste.

With the bottle, personalizing your drink can go crazy but fun as you can create a concoction of flavors, fruity in particular. Choose from the citrusy ones which include oranges, lemon and lime. You may also go with coconut water and kiwi for a more tropical taste. Try mango, limes and mint to get that mojito taste instantly.

You need a water bottle that has BPA-free plastic and leak-proof lid for its features. Double check if it is easy to use and secure. Again, you can be very creative with your mixes and explore different spices and ingredients to add to your water, refreshment and enjoyment.

Good Lunch Tips With Margarine

Packing sandwiches for your lunch break or kids' midday energy boost can seem like a challenge, especially when you're trying to keep it healthy and interesting. But never fear! Here are some great tips on how using healthy margarine in your lunches can help keep you and your family happy and well.

When lunches are dull it's tempting for the kids to sneak off to the local fast food restaurant around the corner, or even the sweet shop. Using margarine as a spread in your everyday sandwich is an enticing incentive to get munching and is a great way to ensure your kids are getting some extra goodness into them at school.

Margarine is high in the good fats our body need, but can't make by itself such as omega 3 and 6. It also contains extra vitamins such as A and D, for healthy eyes and bones.. Furthermore, it has less saturated fats than butter and only traces of trans fats. Simply making some basic changes in your eating habits could have a major impact on your lifestyle as well as making sure your little ones are getting more of the goodness they need.

Replacing your mid-afternoon chocolate bar with a healthy snack, such as fresh vegetables with hummus and a thick slice of bread lightly spread with your favourite margarine blend is the ideal way to beat the blues and to avoid that sugar crash we've all come to expect at 3.00 in the afternoon! Swapping the kids' crisps for cereal bars for healthy margarine-and-jam sandwiches is a good way to keep their energy up and their tummies full.

But lunches aren't always about sandwiches. In the winter it can be such a treat to heat up a bowl of fresh, home-made soup. There are oodles of recipes that'll do just the trick, such as creamy leek and potato soup with a bit of a difference.

Vegetarian and margarine lover Kim shared her day healthy, home-cooked food with us and her Turnip Greens and Caramelised Onion lunch recipe from My Recipes is just divine:

Just melt 2 teaspoons of margarine over medium-high heat. Add 4 cups of sliced onion then sauté for about 7 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and ½ a teaspoon of pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 20 minutes. Make sure you keep stirring frequently. Remove onion mixture from the pan and set aside. Place a pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Gradually add you 2lbs of chopped turnip greens, and cook until wilted, stirring frequently. Add onion mixture to turnip greens and stir gently. If you're feeling daring you could try a dash of hot pepper sauce to add excitement!

Five Easy and Healthy Recipes From the Japanese Cuisine

Japanese cuisine is vastly different in Japan from what you may see in America. In the U.S. it has been westernized and that can be fattening for you. Getting back to the basics of proper cuisine for the culture, here are five recipes that will introduce you to Japanese cooking in a healthy way.

The main staples of a Japanese diet are rice, fish, vegetables, soy, fruit, noodles and the famous green tea. That gives you a lot to choose from when it comes to preparing your meals. Most recipes can be adapted to different tastes. For example, if you don't like radishes, substitute shiitake mushrooms or bamboo shoots.

Recipe 1 - Miso soup

This soup is a basic staple of the diet. It is made with soy paste that has been fermented. The soy paste is mixed in a broth called dashi. It can be made from various fish or seaweed. You could probably buy dashi stock along with the miso at any Asian market. Create it at home and add other vegetables that you like to adjust the taste. Soups are eaten at all three meals. The soy provides protein with very little fat.

Recipe 2 - Beef and broccoli

This is not the type that you are used to seeing in America. The beef is lean and cut into thin strips. Using a sharp knife and a frozen piece of meat allows you to cut as thin as you need and remove all excess fat. The meat is cooked with very little oil. The broccoli is steamed. The beef is laid over the rice so that it can soak up the juices.

Recipe 3 - Vegetable sauté (kinpira)

Any vegetables can be added to this dish. The main two are burdock and carrots. Burdock is a root vegetable much like carrots. They can be purchased as an Asian market. Both are cut into matchstick slices for ease and thorough cooking. The addition of soy sauce, sesame seeds and sake help to give the vegetables a rich flavor. Serve with rice.

Recipe 4 - Stir fry

This recipe requires very little oil in the wok. You can use a variety of vegetables: mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini, broccoli, carrots and more traditional Japanese vegetables. One of the sauces they love to add is soy sauce. It infuses the food so no additional condiments are needed. Eat with rice only or add seafood like shrimp.

Recipe 5 - Poached fruit

Dessert is usually a simple dish of sliced fruit. You can take an Asian pear and poach it in green tea infused with ginger and almond. The pears are poached in boiling tea with the added spices and sugar. You can serve this alone or with some green tea ice cream or sorbet.

It doesn't have to be difficult to add the Japanese staples to your lifestyle. Adopting some simpler ways of eating can help keep you healthy and excite your taste buds.