Staying Healthy: Travel Tips

Since Sherry gave everyone a great guide to eating healthy, I'm gonna talk to you about tips to staying healthy while traveling!

Traveling can be tiring, stressful, and very chaotic at times so health is not always the first thing on your mind. But getting sick can absolutely ruin your time traveling. No one appreciates anything around them if they're too busy throwing up or lying in bed with a fever, but this doesn't have to happen if travelers take several precautions...

Pre-Departure Precautions:
Become familiar with the place your traveling too and any measures that you will need to take. Make sure your insurance covers where you are going or need to get travel insurance to make staying healthy a little less stressful. Always, make sure to check (http://www.cdc.gov/) Center for Disease Control and Prevention, they have up to date reports on what diseases or health precautions are necessary per country and region so that you can decide what vaccines or medicine you should be bringing with you. It's recommended that if your traveling to the third world to bring along some antibiotics like ciproflaxacin or a z-pack so that if you do get really sick you can rely on those instead of being stuck in a random foreign hospital. So before your trip, research your destination, check with your doctor or CDC, and then get the necessary medications. 

While Traveling:
Drink plenty of water! Wether your in a hot climate or not, drinking fluids is vital for staying hydrated and stress free. Not staying hydrated is the leading cause hurting your immune system and becoming susceptible to health issues. 
Give time for sleeping. Although being in  a new city is exciting and you will want to stay up all night partying then walk around and see the sights the next day, your body will catch up to you eventually and you won't be able to do either. So party all night and sleep the day away or see sites all day and go to bed at a reasonable hour. 
Be smart. As long as your thinking straight and don't think that being in another country will make you invincible you should be fine. Don't drink another shot of absinthe, stop playing with the pack of stray dogs, and remember street food is both delicious and deadly. 
Traveling can be overwhelming and it's easy to forget about health, but with simple mindfulness most people are fine. 

Eating Abroad:
Firstly, know the water supply your tapping into. Chances are if your in a developing country then the tap water is no good. In this case, specify everywhere you go that you need bottled water, make sure things aren't washed with tap water, and when you buy bottled water make sure the caps are still sealed because a common scam is to sell tourists refilled bottled water. 
If your in Europe or North America then the food is probably delicious and mostly fine to eat. You may want to be careful of exotic dishes or raw seafood in many cultures which could upset your stomach, but you can largely play by the rules that you already to in the States. If your in a poorer country then you have to be very careful. Almost all street food is very dangerous, so it is advised that you only go to fairly reputable restaurants for your meals. A common rule is if it's not cooked, boiled, or peeled don't eat it. Therefore, fruits are good but don't eat the skin and make sure they are washed first.

 Despite the many precautions and wariness you may have eating in other countries the truth is that you can never completely be safe so don't get to hung up on it. Try new cuisines and traditions because not only is it good manners but if your traveling in a interesting place you want to completely immerse yourself in their culture to get the full experience. 

Hopefully with these idea's in mind, your next trip will be a little less sickness free. So don't let the idea of being unhealthy stop you traveling, it's something that is very avoidable and worth it for the overall experience. Happy Travels!

How to Keep your Body Healthy?

Hello everyone, after trying many recipes that I recommended to you, here comes a question: how I can stay healthy without put myself on a diet? Well the answer is, it is not necessary for you put yourself on a diet on purpose, the only thing you need to keep in mind is: try to eat low-fat food, which means control your daily calories under 1800. Science tells us that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so a daily calorie deficit of 500 should result in 1 pound per week fat loss. However, it depends on individuals' case. 

Here is one website for giving you suggestions about your daily calories needs: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Then, learning what do you eat and the calories of the food you eat is also very important for you to staty healthy, so here is one website that I would recommend you to know about food calories: http://caloriecount.about.com/
Right now I am also doing some excises to keep me burning calories everyday, I just started learning Yoga, and here is a very useful short lesson to teach you how to do Yoga for weight lossing, and I found it is really helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Wt9CFb-4s
Here are also some tips for you to keep your body healthy:
1. You have to eat breakfast!
2. Drink at least 7 glasses of water everyday! 
3. If you try to go a place that is not very far from you, choose to walk instead of driving or taking bus. 
4. Try not to drink alcohol, these are fat creators!
5. Do not stay up too late, go to bed around 11PM and wake up at 8AM. Perfect circle to keep you healthy!
6. Do some work-out! Like Yoga or Swimming! 
7. Do not eat anything two hours before you go to bed. 
8. Have a good attitude, and keep smiling :) 
Hope these tips help you work out! 

Some great Food Web for you to check out

I keep my Chrome menu "Baking and Cooking" at the top of the browsers, I collected many great food websites and blogs for me to check out whenever I feel like I need to try a new recipe. 
Here are some links: 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/ 

Oh right, everyone knows about food Network, but once you really get into there, you will find so many fantastic recipes and information about food. 
http://www.joyofbaking.com/

JoyOfBaking, this website created by a lady names Stephanie Jaworski and her husband, she is a master of Baking and invests many recipes by her own. I tried hugh amount of her recipes, and most of them taste awesome. And all of her recipes are free, and these are easy to make! 
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

America's Test Kitchen actually is a TV shows which created by a guy from Vermont named Christopher Kimball, he and his bakers and cooks always bring the best recipes that their Kitchen tested, they put a lot of work in there. But one thing about this website is their recipes are not free. I think it is reasonable because after I purchased 50 dollars per year, and tried their recipes and their knowledge about food chemistry and other science knowledge, it worths that price. 

So, these are my three top choices. Leave any comments to me about your thoughts. 

Recipe 5: My favorite Recipe overall: Chocolate Cake

Now it is the time to back to our traditional American baking recipe, YES, today I am going to teach you how to make a moist and tasty Chocolate Cake. Personally, I have been trying over 10 different recipes for making a perfect Chocolate cake, the good news is, I found it!

Ingredients 

Butter, for greasing the pans 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans 

1 3/4 cups sugar 

3/4 cups good cocoa powder 

2 teaspoons baking soda 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup buttermilk, shaken 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. 

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. 

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. 

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. 

Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. 

Chocolate Frosting: 

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate 

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder 

Chop the chocolate and place it in a bowl and melt it with simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. 

Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. 

On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. 

Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake. :) 

Let me know after you tried this recipe, and remember to tell me how good does it taste! BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe, keep that in your pocket, and enjoy it :)

Restaurant Review: Pho Hong

Pho Hong Restaurant

For my review, I decided to to analyze the most popular Pho and Vietnamese joint in the Burlington area. 

Albeit there is not much competition for pho and I would not label it the best Asian restaurant, in respect to Burlington, Pho Hong has hands down the best big bowl of Vietnamese soup. There are several other Vietnamese places such as M-Saigon, Pho Pasteur and Dang Vietnamese but in my experience, Pho Hong's soup is a better quality for cheaper.

So the first question in reviewing a Restaurant is what criteria are they being based off. When looking at a Pho restaurant there are three primary aspects that need to be taken into account; taste, authenticity and price. Then there are many other lesser judgements that should also be raised but are not imperative, these include service, ambiance, location among others.

 The Taste of Pho Hong is what really stands out at first. Large servings of steaming, rich broth that are seasoned extremely well overtime with a wealth of ingredients inside, it is easy to see that they use the authentic method of simmering large cauldrons of broth then adding the noodles right before serving. The pho is also complimented with several sauces as well as the usual limes, basil, and sprouts so that you can manipulate the flavor to your choosing. The Pho's taste speaks for itself with the authenticity of a recipe but I cannot speak for the rest of the menu. There were several other things I saw on the Pho Menu that I would not expect to see under Vietnamese cuisine which made me doubt how true the recipes were besides Pho. Moving on, the price of Pho was just about what I'd expect it to be, gloriously cheap. A large bowl is just over six dollars and will make you feel nauseatingly full for the rest of the day, for better or worse. Besides, Pho everything seemed very reasonable but then again the other dishes did not seem to at the same level as their Pho. The ambiance to the restaurant is very low key and friendly so it's perfect for a relaxed date or college friends but not the best place to bring a first date or your grandparents. The location is a bit out of the way but easily accessible by car or city bus and in my opinion every bit worth it. 

Overall, I would review Pho Hong as an 8.6 out of ten. Since as a primarily a Pho restaurant if really delivers the goods but there are a couple lacking characteristics such as menu diversity and punctual service. Although the place may seem inauthentic compared to China town's bustling restaurant's, its bowl of Pho could be served in Hanoi without a second thought.

So if your looking for a good bowl of Pho in Burlington, look no further then Pho Hong. It may not boast the most complete menu or an awe-inspiring authentic ambiance but it will deliver you a deliciously created bowl of soup. If you are a fan of Pho or cheap vietnamese food this is a must visit in your future. 

Current Event: Palestine Conflict

Palestine:

The region of Palestine may finally be on it's way to fully legitimate statehood after the United Nation's General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of accepting the territory as a nonmember observer. If you have not seen the news, ThinkProgress gives a great review of the conflict and recent vote. (http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/11/29/1259401/palestine-un-vote/?mobile=nc )

So now the question is what does this new status entail and how it will alter Palestine's role vs Israel and within the International Community?

 Ryan Boudwin, the author of an insightful "Rant Political" blog (http://rantpolitical.com/2012/12/02/un-recognizes-palestine-what-does-it-mean/) raises four or five important ramifications. First, it represents an important victory for Abbas who leads the political party in search of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict instead of the more extreme party of Hamas. In relation to the U.N it shows that there is extreme support for statehood and furthermore Palestine now can be apart of important global institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC could be influential in trying both Palestinians and Israelis army officials who have resorted to radical means of violence. In conclusion, although this recognition will now dramatically change anything on the ground it represents an important symbol for change and Palestine legitimacy. 

For the sake of this blog theme, the next question to ask is what constitutes the culture and cuisine of Palestine that make it unique?

Palestine largely represents a melting pot of cultures due to its geographically conflicting location, and this is emphasized within its culture. The primary language of the territories is Arabic but Hebrew and Armenian speakers are also very prevalent. Palestine has overtime forged a muslim influenced culture that is closely knit with it's neighbors Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This influence of neighbors and history also is illustrated through their food's. Palestinian cuisine consists of typical muslim dishes but with a lasting Persian and Ottoman influence. Two staple foods include the "Kibbeh" and "Taboon" bread. Kibbeh is a made of burghul, minced onions and ground red meat, usually beef, lamb, or goat. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb.While Taboon bread is a flatbread wrap that Taboon bread is sold as street food, stuffed with hummus, falafel or shaved meat.

If you have further interest in the culture of Palestine and the ongoing conflict check out these sources that I drew from:

1.) http://www.mapsofworld.com/palestine/society-and-culture/

2.) http://www.science.co.il/History-Palestine.php

3.) http://travel.mapsofworld.com/palestine/cuisine-of-palestine.html