How to keep salad fresh?!
How to keep salad fresh?
I love Caesar salad (romaine lettuce, caesar dressing, grated cheese) and would probably eat it every day if I could just make up a big batch of it and keep it fresh somehow. Any suggestions to keep the lettuce from wilting after it is mixed with the dressing? Can I freeze it?
Answers:
leave it in the garden and only pick this stuff right before you intend to eat it..lol OK no garden? Only buy what you need no more than three days in andvance. AS far as dressings go. Bad news. All that healthy eating is going down the toilet if you are not careful what you put on that salad. I was really bad with House, Ranch and what ever sugared, salted, fat impregnated coatings I could put on it. The VERY BEST is balsamic vinigarette. or just stright balsamaic vinigar.. Heres a rant on raw food for ya. Why a rant? I was 338 lbs one year ago. I am still overwieght at 220 5'11" but I am still losing wieght. How did I do it? read the rant.
Processing ones foods kills most of whats good for you in it. Cooking, freezing and otherwise handling the foods we eat kill the live enzymes that promote optimal health and digestion. Ever wonder why acid is such a problem lately?.. Do you remember anyone having acid problems of the magnitude that we do nowadays?. weeeeeell, way back in the good old days when we had time to buy fresh foods and prepare them we were MUCH healthier. Today we have a plethora of health problems that are directly related to DIET!. No not diet as in wieght loss. I'm talking about eating habits period. Here's a good example of just how wierd the food has gotten.
Go into the produce section. Pick up ANYTHING. DO you see any bugs or evidence of insect activity? ( I can hear you saying YUCK but..) No you don't. Ever wonder why? No one wants to eat a bug right? But you'd be better off walking outside and eating a bug than you would eating anything you find at the supermarket!. This is scary. No bugs on the veggies.. OK? Not really. If the bugs won't eat that apple or what ever it is you've picked up to look at..WHY WOULD YOU?... There are no bugs because of pesticides and other chemical processes that kill the bugs with POISON!. Would you knowing eat poison? Of course not, but many many many DO! This is one of the reason we in teh USA cannot export our produce, dairy and meat products.
OK, so your not into veggies, you should be but you think you need meat. The myth that you need meat protein is poppycock from the cattleman's association. There are far better sources of protien. But you are not about to give up meat!. OK but at least buy free range meats. You can find these if you look. You will most likey find them in the good old fashioned butcher shop (shivers).
Why should you be into veggies?.. Not just veggies but RAW veggies?. Raw foods are the best you can hope for. They contain everything the body needs for vitality on the cellular level. Everything you eat (including that pestacide) winds up in your cell tissue! So why eat it.
The less your foods are processed the better. I'm not saying don't cook anything. But you might want to rethink your food intake if you want to reduce your body fat, feel more energetic and experience a healthier life all around. Check this out.
During the past century, medical science has added wondrous treatments and technologies to its disease-fighting arsenal. For all these innovations, however, the most amazing and effective tools for fighting disease may be growing in our own backyard gardens or nestled in the produce section of the local fruit and vegitable stand.
Organic fruits, nuts and vegetables. Countless generations of children have been beguiled, prodded, and bribed by their parents to eat them, and for good reason. Edible plants, full of nutrients, vitamins, and fiber, are essential for good health. But there's more to these foodstuffs than just basic nutrition (and fixings for a really great pizza).
Folk wisdom has long regarded plants for their medicinal and protective qualities. Only recently, though, has science established that plants play a more comprehensive role in the human diet. Phytochemicals, naturally occurring biochemicals that give plants their color, flavor, smell, and texture, help prevent diseases that are responsible for over 60 percent of all deaths annually in the United States.60%!
In 1900, the top three causes of death in the United States (31 percent of all deaths) were pneumonia/influenza, tuberculosis, and diarrhea/enteritis. Between 1900 and 1940, that statistic changed dramatically. Public health measures (sanitation), improved nutrition, and the development of antibiotics tremendously reduced the number of deaths from those diseases. The incidence of pneumonia and influenza, which caused nearly 12 percent of all deaths in 1900, declined significantly. Although they are still the sixth leading cause of death, by the mid-1990s, these two diseases accounted for only 3.6 percent of all deaths per year -- a 70 percent reduction.
Since the 1940s, most deaths in the United States have resulted from a completely different category of diseases -- heart disease, cancer, and stroke -- and at much higher percentages. In 1900, only about 20 percent of all deaths occurred from those three killers. By the late 1990s, that number had jumped to over 60 percent.
To be sure, much of that increase is due to the fact that fewer people have been dying of the previous group of killers. Consequently, people are living longer and are more vulnerable to chronic diseases. There is increasing evidence, however, that the exceptionally high death rates from heart disease, cancer, and stroke are preventable and can be lowered with changes in diet, lifestyle, and environment.
The Phytochemical Evolution
Phytochemicals, by the strictest definition, are chemicals that are produced by plants. Currently, the term is being used only for those plant chemicals that may have health-related effects but are not considered essential nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins).
When plants first evolved, there was little free oxygen in the atmosphere. As oxygen levels increased, a direct result of plant metabolism (plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen), their environment became polluted. Over time, plants acquired new antioxidant compounds, which afforded them protection from molecules of highly reactive oxygen. These plants survived the oxygen pollution and slowly evolved into today's oxygen tolerant plants. Biochemical defenses against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and damage to cell structures, especially DNA, also became part of the plant world's arsenal.
As animals species evolved, many were able to "borrow" some of the protective phytochemicals from the plants composing their diets, saving these species the trouble of having to manufacture all their own chemical defense mechanisms. This, of course, happened to the human animal as well.
The Phytochemical Revolution
Since the 1970s, increasing numbers of studies are finding associations between the food people eat, their health, and their life expectancy. In the '70s, concerns focused on the role of dietary cholesterol in causing heart disease and cancer. Although the importance of cholesterol in the human diet turned out to be relatively unimportant (high blood levels of cholesterol can be dangerous, but they are not caused by eating cholesterol.) it did help to shift the focus on health from treatment to prevention.
Another discovery has focused attention on the importance of phytochemicals. Pregnant women with diets deficient in folic acid have a higher incidence of babies with spina bifida and other neural tube defects. These devastating birth defects result from incomplete development of the fetal brain, spinal cord, skull, or spinal column, yet the majority of cases are completely preventable with a healthy diet.
During the 1980s and 1990s, numerous laboratories began studying phytochemicals to "mine" plants for bioactive substances that might be used as medicines (nutriceuticals) or for other chemical applications. Many compounds are showing great promise as disease fighters in the body, boosting production or activities of enzymes, which then act by blocking carcinogens, suppressing malignant cells, or interfering with the processes that can cause heart disease and stroke.
As an example, homocysteine is an amino acid produced by the body, usually after eating meat, which has been established to cause atherosclerosis, a build-up of fat and other materials on the inside of arteries. Research has proven that diets deficient in folic acid, and vitamins B-6 and B-12, are associated with higher blood levels of homocysteine and a higher incidence of heart disease and stroke. Adding nutritional supplements or foods (such as beans, potatoes, bananas, and broccoli) can reduce elevated homocysteine levels, lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke.
While many laboratories have been searching for and studying individual phytochemicals, other scientists have been conducting epidemiological studies (studies of diseases in populations) to see what effect different diets have on people. Significantly, they've been able to contrast and compare genetically similar people in different dietary environments; e.g. comparing the health of Japanese eating a traditional diet in Japan versus Japanese-Americans eating a conventional American diet.
Hundreds of studies from around the world have established that diets high in plant-based foods are associated with lower rates of cancer and heart disease, sometimes astonishingly so. One analysis of data from 23 epidemiological studies showed that a diet rich in whole grains and vegetables reduced the risk of colon cancer by 40 percent. Another study demonstrated that women who don't eat many fruits and vegetables have a 25 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer.
Phytochemical use comes with a caution sign, however. These compounds aren't always beneficial under all circumstances or in high doses. Certain biochemicals and vitamins, at least as provided in supplements, have been found to encourage the growth of cancer cells and their use is being discouraged in patients undergoing cancer treatments. And, although it has many benefits in other circumstances, high doses of beta-carotene supplements are associated with an increased risk of lung cancer in male smokers. smokers..imagine that!..lol
As they occur naturally in plant foods, phytochemicals promise to create an entirely new philosophy of "functional foods," eating not just to sustain minimal basic health but also eating to prevent disease. In the future, we may tailor our diets to include the foods that will best address our personal health problems and risks as well as maintain optimal health.
PhytoWHAT?.. You really don't need to worry about that IF you are eating right and getting some exersize, try to break a sweat for 30 minutes a day AT LEAST!.
Here's partial list of things you should be eating. If you do you won't be seeing as much of the doctor, the dentist or the pharmacy. And really think about this. Who really wants to visit a proctologist when just eating right to begin with will almost gauretee you'll never be looking for one in the first place!..
Garlic, Allium sativum, is a member of the lily family that has been cultivated by humans as a food plant for over 10,000 years. It has been the bane of fictional vampires for hundreds of years and a folk remedy for thousands of years. Since the 1980s, science has been discovering that garlic does, in fact, have numerous medicinal properties. Ironically, one of those properties is that it acts as a blood thinner.
Ajoene, an unsaturated sulfoxide disulfide, is the principal chemical responsible for garlic's anticoagulant properties. It is a component of allicin, a sulfinyl compound that gives garlic its strong odor and flavor. Ajoene is currently being developed as a pharmaceutical for the treatment of blood clotting disorders. As a naturally occurring "nutriceutical", this potent phytochemical might reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease.
In addition, ajoene also has been found to have effective antimicrobial properties, inhibiting the growth of both bacteria and fungi.
Celery, The distinctive smell and taste of celery and celery seed does more than enhance our experience of soups and salads. Scientists have discovered a natural ingredient that may also protect us against cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Native to Mediterranean areas and the Middle East, celery (Apium graveolens) is a member of the carrot family and has been cultivated for thousands of years. Historically, celery has been used as a flavoring agent and for medicinal purposes, and was even used as an award for sporting events in ancient Greece. It wasn't until the 1600s that celery was actually used alone for food.
Research is showing that the early use of celery as a medicine was not unfounded. 3-n-butyl phthalide, one of the components that gives celery its characteristic smell and taste, is especially potent as an anti-tumor agent. Along with the compound sedanolide, an aromatic ingredient also found in celery, 3-n-butyl phthalide significantly reduces the incidence of tumors in laboratory animals. Other studies suggest that this and other phthalides may also help reduce high cholesterol.
Even though it's high in sodium (as vegetables go), celery is also proving to be effective at lowering blood pressure because 3-n-butyl phthalide has been demonstrated to relax the smooth muscles that line blood vessels.
Pickles?? YUP! That snappy crunch in your lunchtime pickle may also be secretly improving your health. Research has shown that calcium pectate, a pectin fiber that adds crispness to fruits and vegetables, has potent cholesterol-lowering properties. During digestion, calcium pectate binds to bile acids. This interaction induces the loss of small amounts of the acids, which are made from cholesterol. The body then removes cholesterol from the blood to make more bile for digestion.
Calcium is an essential mineral nutrient for all living organisms including bacteria, animals, and plants. Combined with pectin, the "glue" that holds plant cells together, calcium forms a pectate salt that helps keep the cell walls sturdy and rigid. Calcium pectate is found in all of the fruits and vegetables we eat. From apples and carrots to cabbages and onions, this essential phytochemical is responsible for the characteristic crunch that helps make vegetables so delicious...interesting you don't need cows milk for calcium.. factoid: Cows milk is the WORST source of calcium you can get.
CHILI PEPPERS!! If you like it hot, capsaicin is your ticket to a mouth-blasting, sweat-breaking spicy cuisine. Of the six capsaicinoid compounds produced by chili peppers, all of which contribute to the spiciness of the pepper, capsaicin adds the most wallop. And while capsaicin is popular -- and occasionally worshipped -- for its mouth burning, eye watering, and breath-taking effects, scientists are learning that this phytochemical offers more than just culinary delights. It's actually good for you. No pain, no gain, some aficionados of the heartwarming pods would say.
Chilies (genus Capsicum), the only plants that contain capsaicin, are natives of South America, but have achieved worldwide distribution and popularity since the Spanish introduced them to Europe over 500 years ago.
Capsaicin has been found to possess several beneficial health qualities. It has antibacterial properties, which may help people with conditions such as stomach ulcers, rather than injuring them further as doctors have traditionally thought. It's also a general digestive aid, increasing secretions of saliva and gastric juices, and promoting intestinal activity. In studies with animals, cancer researchers have found that capsaicin keeps certain carcinogens from binding to DNA, giving it merit as a potential anti-cancer drug.
Currently, the best-known medical use for capsaicin is as a topical painkiller, fighting fire with fire as it were. The very quality that causes the burning sensation also causes nerve endings to release mediators, chemical substances that inform the brain about pain or inflammation. When applied directly to an area that is causing pain, capsaicin empties the stores of inflammatory mediators from the nerve endings, so they can no longer transmit pain signals to the brain. Pepper creams with capsaicin have been developed and are being used as painkillers for conditions such as herpes (shingles), arthritis, and neuralgia.
Capsaicin is also used for defense in pepper sprays, such as Mace, but there are questions about its safety in that application. There have been reported cases of victims developing respiratory problems after being sprayed. In some instances, deaths have even occurred from respiratory arrest.
Raspberries and strawberries (who doesn't love them) contain a natural pesticide called Ellagic Acid, this phytochemical fights cancer in humans. Be they look even better now!
Spinach, Popeye, the popular cartoon character known for his timely consumption of spinach, was correct in his assumption that this unpopular vegetable is healthy eating. So was mom. Ounce for ounce, spinach contains more than twice as much zeaxanthin and more than 60 times as much lutein as yellow corn.
The list just goes on and one here. Raw vegitables, nuts and fruits are the BEST preventitive medicine you can buy!
Lettuce does not freeze - it totally turns to mush.
You can rip up the lettuce and grate the cheese, but leave off the dressing till you eat. C'mon - it does not take that long to put dressing on!
Yes you can freeze it. I suggest using zip lock bags to store it in.
Get a salad spinner. This spins the salad in a bowl so all the water comes off of it which makes it stay fresh for longer.
This is a site where you can buy them:
http://www.fantes.com/salad.htm...
Hope this helps!
Use zip lock bags ... but do not freeze ... do not add dressing ... keep at 35 degrees ... make 3 day supply at a time and that works for me !!!
put some salt on it and wrap it with a cellophane paper tightly
if u hhave a fridge then keepi in it