SALT
Crystals of sodium chloride (NaCl) used as a seasoning and preservative. Salt is available as sea salt or rock salt. Sea salt is more highly prized than rock salt, which is mined from underground and needs to be further refined for cooking salt and table salt.
BLACK PEPPER
Black pepper comes from a climbing vine, the fruits of which - small round berries - ripen from green to red and finally to brown. Black pepper corns are actually berries that are picked when they're just turning red. They're then dried whole before being sold. Pepper corns can be green, white or black, depending on when they're harvested. Pink 'peppercorns', however, aren't true pepper.
Pepper corns can be used whole, or crushed or ground to add heat and flavour to cooking. Used whole, they can be added loose to stews and soups or used as part of a bouquet garni. You'll often find whole pepper corns spicing up salamis or sausages.
Freshly ground peppercorns have much more flavour than ready-ground pepper, so buy fresh whole peppercorns and invest in a pepper grinder. Freshly ground or crushed black pepper adds a flavour of its own to dishes, as well as enhancing the taste of other ingredients. Lightly crushed or cracked peppercorns can be used to spice up creamy sauces or to coat fillet steaks or chicken breasts.
Good hygiene
Your hands can easily spread bacteria around the kitchen and onto food. This is why it's important to always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water at each of these times:
- before starting to prepare any food
- after touching raw meat, including poultry
- after going to the toilet
- after touching the waste bin
- after touching pets
Don't forget to dry your hands thoroughly, because if they're wet they'll spread bacteria more easily.
Often bacteria can collect in places that you might not expect them to. Anything that's touched by food or by people's hands could be covered in bacteria. Common bacteria hot-spots include: Fridge/freezer handles, tap handles, telephones and pens, work surfaces, chopping boards, bin lids and can openers.
Cloths used to clean dishes and surfaces, and tea towels, can also spread bacteria. Make sure you wash and dry them thoroughly and replace them regularly, particularly when they're worn or damaged.
Preparing and storing safely
Raw meat and poultry can contain harmful bacteria that spreads very easily to anything it touches, including other food, worktops, chopping boards and knives. Always keep raw meat and poultry separate from ready-to-eat foods such as salad, fruit, cooked meats and bread, as any bacteria that get onto the foods won't be killed by cooking.
To help stop bacteria from spreading, remember the following points:
- don't let raw meat touch other foods
- never prepare ready-to-eat food using a chopping board or knife that you have used to prepare raw meat, unless they've been washed thoroughly first
- always wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw meat and before you touch anything else
Bacteria
Bacteria need food, warmth, moisture and time to grow. Bacteria reproduce by multiplication, so one bacterium becomes two and then two become four, and so on. In the right conditions one bacterium could become several million in eight hours and thousands of millions in 12 hours.This means that if food is contaminated with a small number of bacteria, and you leave it out of the fridge overnight, it could be seriously contaminated by the next day. Then just one mouthful could make someone ill. If you put food in the fridge, it will slow down the multiplication of bacteria.
Since you can't see, taste or smell bacteria, the only way that you can be sure that food is safe is to follow good hygiene practices at all times.
Food poisoning
Food poisoning occurs when people eat food that has been contaminated with harmful micro-organisms (bacteria and viruses) or with harmful substances (toxins deriving from micro-organisms, plants and fish, chemicals and metals). Many bacteria are dangerous for humans, such as those that cause food poisoning. However, there are forms of bacteria that are associated with good health and it is important to know that not all bacteria are harmful.
Because the bacteria enter the body via the digestive system, symptoms will generally be in this part of the body - nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea. The length of illness can vary from several hours to a week or more, but usually it lasts for one or two days. In some cases, food poisoning can cause very serious illness or even death.
YOUR BALANCE
Grains
Make half your grains whole. Eat at least 3oz. of whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice or pasta every day. 1 oz is about 1 slice of bread, about 1 cup of breakfast. Cereal or ½ cup of cooked rice, cereal or pasta. Eat 6 oz every day
Vegetables
Vegetables
Eat more dark-green veggies like broccoli, spinach and other dark green leafy greens. Eat more orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes. Eat more dry beans and peas like pinto beans, kindly beans and lentils. Eat 2 ½ cups every day
Fruit
Eat a variety of fruits. Choose fresh, frozen, canned or fried fruit. Go easy on fruit juices. Eat 2 cups every day.
Milk
Go low-fat or fat-free when you choose milk, yogurt and other milk products. If you don’t or can’t consume milk, choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources such as fortified foods and beverages. Get 3 cups every day, for kind aged 2 to 8, it’s 2.
Find your balance between food and physical activity
Be sure to stay within daily needs. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes most of the week. About 60 minutes a day of physical activity may be needed to prevent weight gain. For sustaining weight loss, at least 60 to 90 minutes a day of physical activity may be required. Children and teenagers should be physically active for 60 minutes every day, or most days.
Know the limits on fat, sugars and salt (sodium)
Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts and vegetables oil. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening and lard, as well as foods that contain these. Check the nutrition facts label to keep saturated fats, trans fats and sodium low. Choose food and beverages low in added sugars, added sugars contribute calories with few, if and, nutrients.
