Store It Foods

When the flu season arrives, are you going to be ready to handle the flu?

There are some simple precautions that can be taken to at least lessen the chances of your contracting the flu.

1. Wash you hands frequently and well.  A five second wash does not do the job.  Take time to make sure you have done it right, and. believe it or not, doing it right does not include using an anti-bacterial soap. Contracting the flu means you have contracted a viral infection, not a bacterial infection.  Regular soap and warm to hot water is a better bet.
2. Carry an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Use it when necessary and appropriate.
3. Shaking hands is a great way to share the flu virus, but it will not give you the disease.  Once again, washing and sanitizing are great preventatives.
4. When using public washrooms, use a paper towel to turn taps on and off.  That is also a good procedure to use when opening the washroom door to exit.
5. If you need to cough, cough into your sleeve rather than your hand. And remember that not all people are going to wise enough to do that.
6. Try to eliminate the practice of touching your nose or mouth with hands that might be carrying unwanted viruses.  Rubbing your eyes should also be avoided.
7. That hard to clean computer keyboard, especially if it is accessed by numerous users, is a great place for germs to accumulate.  Please keep that in mind.  Light switches, door handles, and other such objects are also likely to receive the touch of many hands, some of which might be carrying the flu virus.
8. A cold is not the flu.  The flu generally strikes suddenly, not with a gradual build-up of symptoms.  If you do get sick, please go home.  Don’t spread your illness to others.
9. Prepare ahead.  If your day care provider takes ill, or you have a youngster coming home because the school is closing, will you have anything in place to provide alternate care?
10. Make sure your food storage contains some easy to cook nutritious foods.  If you take sick, you are unlikely to want to prepare elaborate meals, or visit the store to do a bit of grocery shopping.  In fact, you may not be able to do so.  Yet, you will still need to eat.
11. Wash those raw fruits and vegetables.  This is a good practice at any time, but is especially appropriate when flu season strikes.
12. Pay attention to advice being provided by your doctor and other health care professionals.  Guidance will be there if you need it.

Most people will not get drastically sick with even the H1N1 virus, but why take chances.  It is no fun being sick even when the infection is relatively mild.

My grandfather grew up on a farm in the Midwest, where he became intimately familiar with the breadmaking process. He and his parents would sow the seeds, till the earth and eventually reap the wheat. They would then take their grain to a flour mill or occasionally use their own grindstone and mallet to grind the flour from scratch. That hard work and painstaking attention to every detail of the process really inspired me.

I opened a small boutique bakery several months ago, eager to set myself apart from the competition. Remembering my grandfather’s commitment to excellent food, I purchased a grain mill and set about grinding my own flour for baking. While I don’t have the time or resources to plant the wheat, it still makes me feel like I’m connected to a long tradition of dedicated bakers.

What makes up a good food storage container?

The answer to that question varies, depending upon what your specific needs are at that specific point in time.  If you have some leftover peas or carrots that you want to save until the next day so that they might be popped into a pot for reheating, an empty margarine container or something similar would work just fine.  It would also serve the purpose for protecting and storing a few cookies, or some raw veggies for inclusion into tomorrow’s bagged or boxed lunch.

It might not be quite so good for long term storage.  It is probably also not advisable to use that margarine container for reheating in a microwave.  There are also potentially better choices for refrigerated storage.

Did you know that there are some food storage containers that actually incorporate nano technology?  It’s true.

Kinetic, a manufacturer known for its innovative storage products, is able to point out that their “containers are infused with nano-sized particles of silver that reduce the growth of mold, fungus and bacteria allowing foods to stay fresher longer than conventional plastic food storage containers.”

These and other hidden features of food storage containers are worth considering when it comes time to decide what to do with those leftovers.

In many homes a glass of fresh orange juice is a morning favorite and it is certainly one of the most nutritious beverages available — assuming all of the nutrients are there. If they are, you can be assured that you are consuming something that is truly an excellent source of vitaming C (containing more than 10 times a much vitamin C as apple juice). It is also rich in potassium, folate and thiamin. Compared to many other juices, orange juice is usually higher in protein, vitamin A. B-vitamins, calcium, iron and potassium, placing it front and foremost in the list of nutritious fruit juices. Drinking an 8-ounce glass can be counted as one of your five necessary fruit and vegetable servings for the day. As far as taste is concerned, whether you are juicing oranges, limes, lemons or grapefruits, or whether you are using a reaming juicer or a citrus press, you are producing the best tasting orange, lime, lemon or grapefruit juice. Fresh, indeed, is best. You’ll also find that fresh juice straight from your citrus juicer to be at its nutritious peak. Tests have shown that thos freshly squeezed juices are best used within minuts of squeezing.I does not take long for some vitamin content to be lost and it can be lost by just sitting there.

The worries about a possible Swine Flu Pandemic may be overblown.  On the other hand, maybe they’re not.

How well are you prepared?  If the government  says you must stay home in order to prevent spread of the disease, how capable are you going to be of doing that?  Quarantine was very much a part of the famous influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, and it could be of the next one.

Once again, this fall’s flu season may not be even remotely like the one of 90 years ago, but it might be wise to check out your food storage  If for safety reasons you are either forced or choose to stay indoors away from points of possible contagion, for how long could you do that?  Do you have enough food and water to last a day or two, or perhaps a week or two, or perhaps even longer?

It may be time to consider the possibilities.