| Put high-fat ice cream on menu if baby-making
Women hoping to get pregnant might consider swapping low-fat yogurt for vanilla fudge ripple ice cream, a new study suggests. Harvard School of Public Health researchers who followed 18,555 healthy, married women without a history of infertility, found that those who consumed more low-fat dairy foods, especially yogurt, sherbet and frozen yogurt, were 85 per cent more likely than women who ate high-fat dairy foods -- notably ice cream and whole milk -- to experience anovulatory infertility, a common cause of female infertility in which women don't ovulate properly. American dietary guidelines recommend adults consume three or more servings a day of low-fat milk or equivalent diary products -- "a strategy that may be deleterious for women planning to become pregnant," the researchers report today in Human Reproduction, a European journal.
Mini raspberry tartlets with brown sugar pastry
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg in the bowl of a food processor. Add the egg and butter and pulse for 30-40 seconds or until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and bring dough together with your fingertips. Shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese and vanilla in a small bowl. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide pastry into 14 equal portions. Roll 12 portions into balls. Line twelve 30ml (1 1/2-tbs) capacity non-stick mini-muffin pans with pastry balls, pressing to line the base and sides. Roll the remaining dough portions together into a 5mm-wide log. Flatten slightly. Spoon 1/2 tsp of cream cheese mixture into each tart. Top with 2-3 raspberries. Cut pastry log into 24 strips, about 3cm long.
Barbacoa grows with fresh spin
Even though a large Mexican fast-food chain is advertising barbacoa-style beef as a new item, Barbacoa is an old favorite for many diners in the Salt Lake Valley.
The word "barbacoa" is used to describe slowly cooked meat. It is also the origin of the word barbecue. At Barbacoa Mexican Grill, a restaurant soon to have five locations in the valley, it is a recipe for fresh, healthy food with a kick.
"We are a little bit different, and we're proud to be different," said Tyson Cichos, president of the restaurant chain. "We have an active clientele who like their food fresh with lots of variety."
Since starting out in Holladay in 1998, the restaurant has attracted a loyal fan base. Company officials' commitment to thoroughly marinated and slow-cooked meats has allowed it to expand.
Little Havana Cafe fails to feed appetite for Cuban food
I've wanted to go to Cuba for my entire post-pubescent life, based largely on stories my grandfather told about La Habana before La Revolucin. Forays in and around the Caribbean and South America, plus our nation's policies regarding the island, only heightened my desire. Instead, I satisfied my curiosity with trips to Miami where the food and culture made an indelible impression, and almost 25 years later I can still taste the citrus bite of the mojo marinade on a piece of spit-fresh lechn, the Cuban homage to roasted pork. .
Report shows Minnesotans underusing food stamp program
MINNEAPOLIS - Nearly 40 percent of the Minnesotans who are eligible for federal food stamps aren't using them, in part because they aren't aware of the program, according to a report slated for release Tuesday.That figure, which represents about 189,000 people, puts Minnesota in the bottom third of states in food stamp usage and deprives the state's economy of more than $170 million a year in federal dollars, according to the report by the Legal Services Advocacy Project in St. Paul. “It's distressing," said Jessica Webster, who wrote the report. “We have this incredible federal resource within the state's grasp, and we're not using it."Many people don't know about food stamps while others are put off by cumbersome paperwork and logistics, the report said. For instance, recipients must fill out a 22-page general eligibility form and then file reports monthly.The eligibility form, which will grow to more than 30 pages next year with new federal requirements, is “really daunting, particularly for seniors," said Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions.Moriarty said the use of food shelves has increased by 45 percent in the past five years while state funding has remained flat at $1.3 million a year.Hunger Solutions reported last fall that food-shelf usage doubled in five years in some northern Minnesota areas and increased by as much as 500 percent in some Twin Cities suburbs.Legal Services and Hunger Solutions are slated to hold a news conference Tuesday at the Legislature to promote a package of bills to increase food shelf aid by 45 percent, simplify the application process, allow recipients to carry over food stamps for more than three months and to report eligibility every six months instead of monthly.Legal Services and other recent studies have also shown that:-One in 10 Minnesotans said they or someone in their family went to bed hungry during one month because of a lack of money for food.-More than 40 percent of parents who use food shelves said they had to skip meals sometimes.
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