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Need to unwind from a busy day?
Chamomile tea will soothe your nerves and rest your mind.

Chamomile is one of the oldest garden and the safest medicinal herb. It has a mild honey-flowery aroma, golden yellow hue, and a delicate semi-sweet smooth taste. The name chamomile is derived from the Greek kamai-melon, meaning ground apple.

Chamomile tea is a naturally caffeine-free tisane (herbal tea) and has a comparable amount of health benefits to its cousin, green tea. One of the safest medicinal herbs, chamomile is a soothing, gentle relaxant that has been shown to work for a variety of complaints from stress to menstrual cramps.

Benefits of Chamomile Tea
Best known as a muscle relaxant and antispasmodic, chamomile also has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory capabilities.

Health benefits are:

Can you enjoy healthy eating? Some people seem to think that healthy eating is some kind of punishment. On the contrary, it’s a pleasure!

There are so many delicious dishes that can be made with less fat and sugar. It’s a new world to discover. When I go out for dinner or cook in my own kitchen I often choose a vegetarian meal. There are lots of different ingredients to choose from and the combination possibilities are almost endless.

Sometimes I just pick a few products in the store without having any idea of what to do with them and then I surprise myself with a new tasty dish. It’s fun! Use your imagination. Eat what you enjoy and enjoy what you eat! You don’t have to exclude meat in your food, but we all need much more vegetables. We should try to see the vegetables not just as accompaniments, but as a meal in itself, with its own value.

Relax!

Try to give yourself time in the kitchen. You need to slow down and be free from stress to be able to enjoy eating. Think of your time in the kitchen as an important part of your day. Make your kitchen a place where you can relax and feel comfortable. Make it nice, put a cloth on the table and some flowers. Light candles. Many people seem to want to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible. If you feel that way, you won’t be able to enjoy your meal. Be present, focus on the meal, don’t watch TV or read any paper or magazine while you’re eating. Enjoy the food, see how it looks, feel the appetizing smell and taste of it.

Eat slowly!

When you are enjoying something you want it to last long, right? Eat slowly, take your time to enjoy every bite. Chew it well. When you eat slowly like this you will notice that your body will tell you when it’s time to finish. You will know when you are content and you can avoid eating too much. Stop eating when you feel content even if there is still food on your plate.

Make a small lifestyle change!

When you go to a restaurant next time, order something new that you haven’t tried before. Next time you go to the store, buy some low fat or light products that you haven’t tried. Find out if they really are as boring as you might think they are. Maybe you’ll be surprised. Maybe you will find new favourites and get new ideas for delicious meals to enjoy! Then you have made a small lifestyle change. And all major achievements start with the first step.

About The Author

Ingela Berger started her own Internet business Lifestyle Plans in 2003 out of a desire to inspire and encourage others to make reality of their dreams of a personal, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. Ingela has studied theatre directing, acting, history of art, history of ideas, health communication and leadership psychology. After some years working with art exhibitions and the theatre she went back to college and is now a health and lifestyle consultant.

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Pasta has to be Italy’s greatest contribution to world cuisine. Most people usually associate pasta with noodles, but pasta actually refers to a wide assortment of flour and grain concoctions that come in a variety of shapes. Macaroni is one such pasta that is not in noodle form. The word pasta comes from the Italian word for paste or dough.

Pasta also refers to dishes that have pasta as the main ingredient and which are usually spruced up with sauce or a type of seasoning.

There are two ways to cook pasta- by extrusion and by lamination. Extrusion mashes the ingredients through a die, which is a plate with holes. Lamination calls for the dough to be kneaded and folded, later rolled to achieve a thick mixture before it is cut with the use of slitters. Fresh pasta is easy to cook and is ready quickly but it spoils easily as well since its content is mostly water. Dry pasta lasts longer because it has only around 10% moisture.

There are now Italian pastas as well as American pastas. The Italian pasta, which has a yellow color and a chewy texture, comes from durum wheat semolina. American pastas are made from farina and semolina, with a texture and flavor that are inferior to Italian pastas and are used mostly in casseroles. There are also Asian noodles, which are thinner than pasta and come from wheat flour.

The most popular pastas are certainly the noodle-type pastas such as spaghetti and vemicelli. Macaroni is the most popular short tube pasta, followed by penne. Fettucine and linguine are pasta that are shaped like ribbons. There is also pasta made from tiny grains such as couscous and orzo as well as pasta made from large sheets like lasagna. Ravioli, tortellini and manicotti are an entirely different pasta group, as they are hollow pasta that is filled with stuffing.

Here’s a little known fact about pasta. Did you know that it was Thomas Jefferson who first brought macaroni to America? Upon returning to the US in 1789 after a stint as the ambassador to France, Jefferson brought with him a macaroni machine, which was the first such recorded contraption in the United States.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Cooking, Home Improvement, and Outdoors

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