Stephen Lau asked:

In contemporary living, weight control is difficult: nowadays, the busy and hectic lifestyle demands so much of your time and energy that you may frequently skip your gym sessions, or easily grab something in lieu of a proper nutritional meal on your way to work or on the road.

Dieting is indeed a difficult endeavor. Without dieting, weight control is even more difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Without proper planning, your food and fitness choices will be more limited, making your dieting difficult to follow through.

Therefore, to be successful in dieting or weight control, you should not leave healthy eating to chance. This is where food planning plays a pivotal role in weight loss. Planning means taking time to prepare your meals in advance. Even for snacks, you should get them ready at your office desk or in your car, so that you will not be munching cookies or chips. Good food planning takes away the daily stress, which often contributes to binge eating.

Supermarkets are designed in such a way to entice you to shop longer and spend more. Some grocery stores’ layout requires you to navigate through aisles of tempting food items. Good food planning means you shop with a list, so you would know exactly what to buy – or what not to buy. You need not browse through different shelves to get what you want. Never shop when you are hungry. Resist the temptation of items displayed on the check-out lanes, which are either sugary or loaded with fat. Always plan ahead in your grocery shopping to reduce the number of trips to the supermarket to save you money as well as to help you lose weight.

Prepare your meals at home rather than eating the packaged food items, which are often loaded with calories and chemicals. If you cook your meals yourself, you can make them healthy and control how much you are going to eat. This is an important component in any weight-loss program.

Break the habit of eating only certain types of food at a certain time of day. A bowl of oatmeal can be your lunch too! If you don’t have time to sit down for breakfast, you can have a turkey sandwich with whole grain bread and some fresh vegetables both for breakfast and lunch. That saves you time and hassle.

Planning meals ahead of time (do your planning on weekends) helps weight control. Decide what you want to eat for the whole week, and then go to the supermarket to get all the ingredients you need for the week. Prepare your meals in advance. Store and freeze your leftovers in individual containers.

Having food cravings is not uncommon. Prepare yourself for your cravings for sugary and salty food by planning ahead and having healthier alternatives available, such as low-fat soy crisps (120 calories), an apple (80 calories), and a bag of skittles (250 calories). Always include a healthy treat into your weight-loss plan, so you would not feel deprivation or hunger. Plan to have ready-to-eat food items, such as a bag of baby carrots, strawberries, or grapes. Plan to have foods which provide some protein, fiber, and good fats within the 200 and 250 calorie range.

Food planning means you keep a list of healthy foods, snacks, and meals

you enjoy. Plan to have several options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Good food planning provides you with more freedom and variety to make dieting a joy not a pain.

Stephanie Larkin asked:


Food processors started to make their appearance way back in the early sixties. Since then this product has steadily grown in popularity up to a point where the food processor has become an essential component for many modern cooking methods. Chefs have created countless delicious recipes through the use of this appliance. The food processor is a kitchen aid that no cook can do without.

A necessity in every kitchen

Considering how much time and labor is spent when using the traditional methods of chopping, grating and kneading, it has become very difficult indeed for the modern parent to prepare a decent home cooked meal. As most parents opt for having careers rather than staying at home, cooking time has become very limited. The repetitive action of chopping, shredding, pureeing or slicing is enough to make any working person disgruntled and run off to the nearest fast food outlet.

The food processor has virtually eliminated all the labor involved and has cut down on the preparation time. Modern chefs make extensive use of food processors. The appliance has become such a necessity that it can no longer be seen as a showpiece item that will only be used occasionally.

Virtually every single food program on television will show the chef armed with a chef’ s knife and a food proce

ssor. This has increased the usage of the appliance even more as most of these dishes are designed for the home cook. The creation of wholesome, nutritious and delectable dishes have become a breeze and done in no time at all. This is precisely what the home cook requires and is difficult to achieve without the use of a food processor.

How does it work?

A food processor is an electrical appliance that is made up of a mixing bowl and a range of blades and disks. The mixing bowl would ideally be able to hold 9 cups as the processing of liquids just about cuts the capacity in half. The feeding tube on the lid should wide enough for larger pieces of food. The processors are fitted with a safety feature and will only start processing once the lid and bowl is locked and sealed.

These safety features are a requirement and apply to all makes of food processors. Some of these appliances are fitted with suction pads at the base to prevent the machine from moving around during processing. There are basically two types of blades that come with the processor. The essential ones are the s-shaped stainless steel blade and the plastic blade. The stainless steel blade can be fitted at the bottom of the bowl to allow for easy chopping, shredding, mixing or blending of vegetables and meat. The plastic blade is mainly for mixing bread and pizza dough. The two disks that usually come with a food processor are designed for slicing and grating purposes.

The slicing disk has various thickness settings. Disks used for grating purposes also come in different sizes. The processor is usually fitted with more than one speed option. The pulse controls come in very handy when making bread or pizza dough, as it will help to create a perfect texture and not over mix it. A citrus press for juicing oranges, limes or grapefruit and an egg whip that can be used for baking purposes are other essential attachments. Some food processors have extra or optional features and attachments that could be useful for certain people depending on what their requirements are.

A mini processor that can be used for grinding spices like cardamom and cinnamon stick is quite a nifty attachment. It can also be used for chopping smaller quantities of vegetables, fruit or herbs. Appliances fitted with touch pad controls prevent any liquids from entering the panel and can therefore be easily cleaned. Another handy option is the chute that leads to another bowl. Large amounts of food can be processed without stopping as it simply enters into another bowl when the main one starts filling up.

Be selective when purchasing a processor

These options are useful but not always necessary as it can affect the price when purchasing a food processor. Investing in a good quality food processor can become a costly affair, but a food processor can save time and help to create healthy and delicious dishes in no time. If you do have a family and prefer home cooked meals then a food processor will be a worthwhile investment.

If you do not have a family to entertain on a regular basis, then you will be able to prepare gourmet dishes at a fraction of the cost with a good food processor. The range is wide and varied and will certainly meet all requirements for the ardent home cook.