Many dieters trying to lose weight often feel as though they must miss out on the good things in life. This often means they miss out on desserts and treats in an effort to lose weight and cut the calories. The problem is – the more you deprive yourself of the things you like, the more likely you are to go out and binge on exactly those things you were trying to avoid.

Dieters have some amazing choices for low fat desserts that won’t stack on the pounds but will allow you to continue your diet at the same time as enjoying a sweet treat at the end of the day. Obviously the lowest calorie dessert options are fruits. A giant fruit salad is not only sweet and refreshing, but it’s easy to make and won’t ruin your diet. The recipe is simple: choose your favorite fruits, chop them up and away you go.

Another excellent low fat dessert option is rice pudding. You can buy low fat rice pudding desserts from stores, but you’ll find that making it yourself takes only a few minutes and there’s a lot less calories in the home made recipe. It’s also possible to find plenty of low fat cakes, muffins and cookies recipes, but always keep in mind that you can eat more dessert if you reduce the amount of calories you eat with your dinner.

Logically, if you choose to put a large side-salad with a lean piece of chicken or steak for your dinner, then your total calorie count will be low enough to include a large slice of low fat cheescake or any of your choice of low fat desserts! Who said dieting had to be difficult?

Besides, Halloween, Thanksgiving is probably the scariest of holidays! Cooking a turkey can be really scary! Maybe it’s the huge size of the turkey or the expectations of having to cook a great meal for lots of friends and family. It doesn’t have to be so scary. The cooking can be done if you follow some pointers that are listed and featured below. Think about it, this Thanksgiving tradition has been around for many, many years. If it were really so difficult to roast a turkey, the tradition would not have lasted so long.

Here are some tips for you when cooking this year’s Thanksgiving turkey:

1. Don’t get too ahead of yourself and attempt to deep fry a turkey. Even though these taste great and are really trendy and popular, it’s also a very dangerous undertaking and can be disastrous unless you’re positive you know what you’re doing.

2. Cook a turkey that is fresh. Do not even think of buying a frozen turkey. A frozen turkey can take a very long time to defrost, days even! And surely won’t cook as well as a good, fresh turkey.

3. Cover the turkey with a marinade or with melted butter on the surface of the turkey to achieve a beautiful golden brown color when it is cooked. It will make your turkey look great and taste great too!

Over the last few years green tea has become very popular and is available in most stores and caf©s. It is also used in all kinds of products such as shampoo, face cream, candles and many other daily items. Oolong tea is produced from the same plant, which is called Camellia Sinensis. The difference is that Oolong is a semi-fermented brew whereas green tea is unfermented.

The fermentation process is carried out by a skilled worker who can ferment the tea to many different levels to create different varieties. The leaves are stimulated until the oxidization process reaches the desired level and then cooked to finish the process.

The leaves are further processed after the fermentation to enhance the smell, texture and the flavor. This is done by rolling and rubbing the tea. It it possible to achieve many different levels of tea, and when the processing is over a knowledgeable master of Oolong will check the leaves and give them a grade.

The history of Oolong tells us that it was first produced in Fujian province in China. Some of the finest tea still comes from this area although it is now also produced in many other places including Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand.

One of the reasons that green tea has become so popular is that there are believed to many health benefits which can be obtained by regular drinking. These benefits are also reported to exist in Oolong and are retained even after the tea is processed. Some of the common benefits claimed are the stimulation of the metabolism and the ability to enhance the digestion.

If you are interested in trying some Oolong then it is recommended to find a quality supplier. There are many sellers on the Internet who can supply good tea and many who can supply not so good tea. The stuff in the local Chinese store tends to be of very low quality and not worth buying. Look for a specialist tea merchant and try a few different ones to find the best quality.

Some of the more popular varieties include Gao Shan, Tie Guan Yin, Vietnamese Golden Buds and Formosa Oolong which comes from Taiwan. Don’t be afraid to get stuck in and try a few varieties. I can tell you that a good Oolong is really a great tea so if you are not impressed with what you buy then shop around for another merchant because the good stuff is out there.

Rob Jameson is a writer and tea lover. For more information please stop by at this web resource for www.chineseoolongtea.com.

The United States Department of Agriculture, known as the USDA, inspects and grades meats based on nationally uniform Federal standards of excellence. These standards are applied by USDA graders, who then are monitored by supervisors who travel throughout the United States to make sure that all graders are applying the standards in a uniform manner. A cut of meat with USDA approval must meet the same grade criteria no matter where or when you buy it. Each USDA beef grade is a measure of quality. There are eight USDA grades, Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner.

Prime, the highest grade of meat, is of course the most expensive. Prime grade beef is supreme in tenderness, juiciness and taste. It is rich with marbling — flecks of fat within the lean — which enhances both flavor and juiciness. Prime roasts and steaks are unexcelled for dry-heat cooking such as roasting and broiling.

Choice grade beef has less marbling than Prime, but is of very high quality. It is easier to find at your local market and is a little easier on your wallet. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy and flavorful and are suited to dry-heat cooking. Many of the less tender cuts, such as those from the rump, round and blade chuck, can also be cooked with dry heat.

Select grade beef, sometimes known as Good grade, is very uniform in quality and somewhat leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. Only the tender cuts should be cooked with dry heat. Other cuts should be marinated before cooking or cooked with moisture to obtain maximum tenderness and flavor.

Standard grade beef is from low-quality young animals, with a very thin fat covering and virtually no marbling. The youth of the animals gives the grade a bland flavor and tenderness cannot be counted on. Use moist heat cooking methods only.

Commercial and Utility grade beef comes from old animals. Maturity and fat content give these grade good flavor but are tough, even when cooked properly.

Cutter and Canner grades are seldom, if ever, sold in stores but are used instead to make ground beef and other meat items such as frankfurters.

Besides being graded, meats can also be marked with another USDA stamp, the Yield number. The Yield number indicates in increasing proportion from 1 to 5 the amount of excess fat content or waste. The usual yield number available in most stores is Yield 2. When buying meat the smallest percentage of bone and fat make the best buys and the price per pound may go down for bonier cuts with more fat.

The USDA will also inspect meat and label it as Kosher, or “clean” meat. This means the jugular vein has been removed to drain the blood of the animal at the time of slaughter. The Kosher stamp will also guarantee the freshness of the meat, as ritual demands, it needs to be eaten within 72 hours after the slaughter.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Food