Diet Friendly Fast Food

Day 352.

This is the easiest hot drink Ive ever made, and the kids liked it the most. Tristen, who is going through finals right now (good luck, Tristen!), found it in the Taste of Home magazine.

The Ingredients.

4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups pineapple juice
1/3 cup hot tamales or red hots candy (hot tamales are on the GF candy list)
1 cinnamon stick

thats it!

The Directions.

This serves 6. Combine juices in your crockpot, and add hot tamales or red hots. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 4-5. Stir. The candy will pretty much dissolve, leaving just a hint of cinnamony-flavor.

Ladle into mugs, garnishing with an extra cinnamon stick if desired.

The Verdict.

My kids loved this. They each drank 2 mug-fulls after school, and another after dinner. I really liked it a lot, too, and had 2 mug-fulls while watching Oprah. Adam only got a taste; he should have come home earlier!

more fun beverages:
wassail
peppermint hot chocolate/peppermint mocha
pumpkin spice lattes
mulled wine
chai tea lattes
gingerbread latte

Day 356.

11 days to go until 2009. Im going to cry.

Today is the first day of Hanukkah, and there are only a few days left until Christmas. If youre entertaining for the holidays, or need any last-minute hostess gifts, these peanut clusters rock. And they make A LOT. You could easily feed the entire neighborhood on one batch, or make yourself very, very sick.

I, um, have eaten too many. Much too many. Its Susan and Amies fault. I had to change Susans original recipe because I live in one of the few places in the world without a Walmart, and couldnt find Chocolate Bark. Nor did any of our grocery stores know what chocolate bark is/was. So I improvised, and am quite pleased with the results. My waistband, not so much...

The Ingredients.

3 (16-ounce) jars lightly salted roasted peanuts (lightly salted is important!)
2 (4-ounce) boxes German Bakers Chocolate
1 (8-ounce) box Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate (there are 2 in the picture. that was wrong.)
1 (24-ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla (not pictured because I didnt know I wanted/needed it until after the photo)


The Directions.

Use a large crockpot. This makes about 150 peanut clusters. Spray the inside of your crock with cooking spray, and place the unwrapped baking chocolate, and bars of German chocolate in the bottom. Add all the peanuts. Pour in the chocolate chips, and add vanilla. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours, or high for about 1.5. While the chocolate is melting, lay out a bunch of parchment paper on your counter top or kitchen table. When time has elapsed, stir well, and remove from heat. Use a small ice-cream scoop to plop out bite-sized piles onto the parchment paper.

Let cool before eating---this takes a long time---hours. Itd be best to leave them overnight so you dont pick at them. Unless you have much more will power than I do, then I suppose it would be okay. But I sort of hate you.

Package up and give away as soon as possible.

The Verdict.

These are addictive. The chocolate flavor is quite rich, and tastes dark. If you arent a fan of dark chocolate, use milk chocolate chips. The salt flavor from the nuts is subtle, but is there, and it makes your tongue itch for more.

and more.


I was thinking about nut-allergies during the night. I think you should turn these into pretzel clusters. Definitely.

Difficult to escape the detox! Under this banner, fits a successful market from an impressive array of vegetable juices with patches to stick under the feet, through the fasting cures (with or without forced marches), ionic devices or infrared and enemas. All designed to get rid of toxins responsible for all our ills and our pounds. Are we all really addicted?

Where toxins come from? 
External attack ...
A real toxin, what is it? A substance produced by a microorganism, a bacterium or a fungus (microscopic), which can be toxic and thus cause serious and / or pathological disorders sometimes fatal disease. The most deadly example is the bacterium called botulin, widespread in the earth, and develops the most virulent toxins, because it causes paralysis of the entire body. Many other bacteria that secrete toxins sometimes very nasty causing food poisoning or other diseases tetanus genre.

... or internal disorders? 
Furthermore, our produce many different metabolisms waste those of oxidation, urea and uric acid, lactic acid, etc. It is not strictly speaking toxins.

natural detox 
Besides some real toxins are destroyed by gastric juices, we are equipped with an immune system that, when they come squatter our body develops antibodies, antitoxins and will immediately go to war against them. This battle takes place in the digestive tract, kidneys and liver, real factory cleaning our body.

The bodys natural mechanisms to eliminate
Dirt are eliminated in the urine and feces. As well as the balances of different metabolisms. Our bodies are remarkably equipped to transfer the bulk of foreign molecules.

All this happens naturally when one is healthy and when it was a relatively balanced way of life. If one suffers from a disease affecting the liver or kidneys or disrupting our metabolisms, these cleaning systems are so overwhelmed and sometimes ineffective. But in these circumstances it is not to dive into a detox ridiculous but to heal.

Detox, disposal, purification 
Where does this madness of detox? United States, it seems, where more than 15,000 centers would exempt care, where we can not count the detox products nor peoples who indulge. She won Europe. And although the genre nutrition claim "clean body" is now prohibited, these products are always a hit. Is to eliminate the agenda: get rid of slag left by both food as environmental pollution, those generated by stress, etc.

Exaggerated fear of toxins
It is therefore necessary to purify hoping to erase pimples on the buttocks, bags under the eyes, swollen stomach and gurgling, cellulite and rolls of fat, while it is obviously due to the monstrous pile of toxins . But also to erase the guilt of not eating, drinking and moving as it should. Lent Catholics was the precursor of the detox!

Delusions expensive detox 
Sold on the Net, there patches that sticks underfoot and will absorb excess water and harmful waste during the night (50 € box 10 ...). Evidence of their effectiveness? They became dark brown in the morning because the toxins miraculously through the body. In fact, it is the sweat that changes their color. In the same vein, there are also foot baths in water where the electrodes generating a small current. Also exist very expensive devices (200-300 €) issuing frequencies, waves, supposed ions neutralize toxins and regenerate the body.

Dangers of detox 
Many potions more or less thick, greenish or marronnasses, diuretics and / or laxatives, also sold on the Net.

Side effects of detox cures 
Manufacturers often take pains to warn that during the course of detox, the need to urinate is frequent stools will change, bloating and flatulence will move as minor skin symptoms, fatigue, dizziness, etc. All this is normal since the process of removing toxins is on the way! In other words, the cure detox makes you sick at first but its good for you because you detoxify.

Dangers of colon hydrotherapy
One can opt for enemas, euphemistically called "colonic irrigation" or "colon hydrotherapy" it injects laxatives, herbs and then rinsed. The side effects (cramping, bloating, vomiting, hydroelectric imbalances) of this dangerous practice have been reported by doctors at the University of Georgetown.

Fasting: no unsupervised
There are also fasting, of course, not always without danger, especially when it is practiced in several days of treatment involving intense physical effort and it is not supervised by a physician or health practitioner recognized.

Detox daily 
It is in the power of everyday lies the best detox: consuming the right amount of fruits and organic vegetables, so less loaded pesticides, drinking enough water as to facilitate the work of kidneys, respecting its needs sleep and regularly granting forest walks at the seaside or in the countryside, away from air pollution.