David asks…
Is it really unhealthy to use aluminum cookware? What should you use instead – cast iron?
Someone told me that aluminum cookware can ultimately contribute to dementia. That sounds a little extreme and I don’t know if it’s true (hopefully not because I’ve been using that kind of cookware since 1990…)
But if you go with an alternative, should it be teflon coated? Old fashioned cast iron cookware? What (if anything) would be a healthier option?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Old-fashioned cast iron or steel pans would be best.
I use tephon coated for frying, but hardly fry stuff anymore. I had a hard time trying to find stainless steel cookie sheets, had to buy them online.
Http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3864.htm
Aluminum Cookware
Aluminum is in air, water, soil, plants, animals, foods and household products. More than half of all cookware sold today is made of aluminum, usually coated with nonstick finishes or treated in some way to harden the structure and make it more scratch-resistant.
There is no evidence that aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease as was once suggested by researchers. However, for those who would like to avoid exposure to aluminum, the best way would be to avoid antacids containing aluminum and to use deodorants (which generally do not contain aluminum) rather than antiperspirants.
Many over-the-counter medicines contain aluminum. One antacid tablet can contain 50 milligrams of aluminum and a buffered aspirin tablet may contain about 10 to 20 milligrams of aluminum.
In contrast, a person using uncoated aluminum pans for all cooking and food storage every day would take in an estimated 3.5 milligrams of aluminum daily. However, storing highly acidic or salty foods such as tomato sauce, rhubarb or sauerkraut in aluminum pots may cause more aluminum than usual to enter the food and is not recommended. (These foods will also cause pitting on the pot’s surface.)
Anodized Aluminum Cookware
The anodization process hardens the surface of aluminum cookware making it non-stick, scratch-resistant and easy to clean. Manufacturers claim that a final stage in the anodization process seals the aluminum, preventing any leaching into food. This cookware doesn’t react to acidic foods, so these pots and pans are top choices for cooking rhubarb and sauces with tomato, wine and lemon juice.
Cast Iron Cookware
This all-time classic is strong, inexpensive, and an even conductor of heat for browning, frying and baking foods. Cooking with cast iron also provides a source of an important nutrient. Foods cooked in unglazed cast iron may contain twice the amount of iron they would otherwise.
Cast-iron utensils should be handled differently from other utensils. To prevent rust damage, the inside of cast iron cookware should be coated frequently with unsalted cooking oil. It should not be washed with strong detergents or scoured and should be wiped dry immediately after rinsing.
Http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/ask_treehugger_16.php
Aluminum exposures from cookware, of which more than half is made of aluminum, is not well studied, but is thought to be a relatively minor source of aluminum exposures. Exposures to aluminum through food can occur when aluminum leaches or otherwise dissolves from the cookware into the food. Leaching is most likely when the foods being cooked or stored are highly basic (like baking soda) or highly acidic (like tomato sauce, lemon juice, oranges, or vinegar). For example, tomato sauce has been shown to contain 3-6 mg aluminum (per 100 g serving) after cooking in aluminum pans, which translates into about one-tenth of the typical daily intake. This leaching of aluminum with acidic foods does not happen with aluminum cookware that is anodized, or electro-chemically processed to seal the aluminum in the cookware. Clemson University Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center tested different cookware types, and found anodized aluminum cookware to be safe. Regardless, it would probably be wise to store tomato sauce and other acidic foods in something other than an aluminum pot.
Sharon asks…
What salad would be a good compliment to a pasta dish?
Making a special dinner with pasta, but I would like to add a salad on the side too.. Any suggestions?
Making a special dinner with pasta, but I would like to add a salad on the side too and would like to get out of the regular salads, I want to impress my guest!!.. Any suggestions?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Panzanella
This is an easy salad recipe which is a wonderful way to use up stale bread, and expresses the Tuscan mentality of simplicity with the use of fresh, ripe, ingredients. You must use coarse textured good quality bread, as most bread from the grocery store will become gummy. The Tuscan saltless bread is ideal for this recipe, and holds up really well.
The dressing ingredients are really just an approximation as you really need to taste your salad to see if it needs more vinegar or oil. The bread acts like a sponge, soaking up the tomato juices and dressing and depending on the texture of bread you use, you may need a little more dressing than suggested.
Serves 4 to 6
8 oz. Stale Italian Bread Cut Into Cubes
3 Medium Ripe Tomatoes, Chopped
4 Scallions, Chopped
Small Cucumber
1 Small Bunch of Fresh Parsley or Basil
10 Pitted Black Olives, Chopped
2 Teaspoons Capers
3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
3 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
1/3-Cup Olive Oil
Break the bread into pieces, and soak briefly in water until moistened. Carefully squeeze dry. Place the bread in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well.
I absolutely LOVE this salad with any pasta dish that I’ve made and believe me, I eat pasta about 4 times a week, sometimes I forego the capers and add in roasted red peppers, it depends on what I have in the house that week, I’ve also put this on top of Spinach, Romaine, Garden Greens Blend, Arugula, or whatever salad greens you may have. I hope this helps you out today to add enjoyment and taste to your already fabulous dinner!
Steven asks…
How do you start your own online business?
If any ideas, please help.
You can e-mail me if you want to tell me something personal(like a story or something).
I will be glad to read it and learn someting new.
Thanks a bunch.
Your friend.
GardenersCardiff answers:
I am sure you have an idea or product or service in your mind. According to the marketing genius, Seth Godin, everybody is an expert in some field. I have successfully started my online business on Squidoo. It is the best place for anybody to show his talent or to sell anything plus it gets good traffic if one follows the instructions and advice.
Read what Seth has to say:
” People are looking for you.
It’s easy.No IT department. No programming. No credit cards.
It’s all about the community.
You can generate income and traffic
You can raise money for charity
You can sell stuff
You can sell stuff from eBay too
The Best Reason of All :
Your lens can show people the way
You can use your lens to share your expertise and light a path for people looking for something online.
You can highlight the best websites
You can teach people about a concept
You can do a poll to gauge what people think
You can highlight an eBay auction
You can point people to political action opportunities
You can establish your identity
You can make a difference ”
All it takes to make a Squidoo Lens (i.e., website) is hardly 5 minutes!
You can consider one of these topics:
Cars
– Buying
– Insurance
– Loans
– Repair
– Audio Systems
– Car Rims
Dating
– Internet Dating
– Dating Advice
– Attraction
– Seduction
Dogs
– Breeding
– Grooming
– Ownership
Finance
– Student Loans
– Grants
– Home Mortgage/Loans
Food
Gardening
Gambling/Online
– Gaming
– Poker/Texas Hold’Em Home
Remodeling
Home Business Ideas
Interior Design
Medicine
– Alternative Medicine
– Homeopathic Medicine Travel
Las Vegas
Vacation
– Family Vacations
– Hotels Video Games
Weddings
– Dresses
– Planning
– Invitations
It normally takes 2 to 3 months to start getting a decent traffic to your lens. You get paid monthly depending upon the performance of your lens. There is no limit to the number of lenses you publish.
The following tips deserve attention:
1. Choose your lens name carefully. Try Google’s Keyword Tool for help since there should be good traffic for your chosen niche. Check with Word Tracker too for traffic count.
2. Use tag cloud generator to find appropriate tags or keyphrases.
3. Estimate Keyword Difficulty with SEO Tools.
4. Get keyword / keyphrase synonyms using Google & Yahoo Suggestions. Check their traffic with Word Tracker.
5. Build your lens using good title – 5 to 7 words starting with the niche keyword / keyphrase.
6. Write a good intro starting with niche keyword / keyphrase in bold and other major / minor keywords / keyphrases.
7. Split the content into different sub-topics.
8. Use relevant ads from eBay, Amazon etc. (which are available as modules in any lens).
9. Use Plexo links using relevant quality content.
10. Start a blog on the same topic on Blogger, Word Press etc. And regularly update them with link to your lens.
11. Use promotional tools like Flickr and some social bookmarking / networking sites.
12. Use OnlyWire to ping your blog.
13. Write articles on the same topic and publish in ezines like EzineArticles, GoArticles etc.
14. Not but not the least join relevant forums and keep inter-acting without spamming.
I think this should solve your difficulty.
You may be interested to know that one lensmaster made $ 1000 in a month only from one lens!
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John asks…
Suggestions on flowers in flower garden?
I have decided that I would like to start my own flower garden for beauty as well as to put together bouquets and give them to people and sell them. Here are the flowers I have decided I would like to put in the garden.
1. Lilies
2. Gladiolus
3. Roses
4. White daisies
5. Sun daisies
6. Maybe carnations
7. Maybe sunflowers
Does anyone have any suggestions to add to my list that are popular, beautiful flowers that you would buy? Thanks in advance.
GardenersCardiff answers:
Hi!
You have a lot of pretty flowers listed already. From the ones you’ve noted, it looks like you have a sun garden. The first thing to do is come up with a garden plan that will allow you to manage when things bloom, how large the plants get, which are tall and short (so you’re not planting the tall things right in front of the short ones and obscuring the latter ones)–things like that–so when the plants come up and bloom, you’ll have pretty display throughout the growing season.
Here’s a plan that might give you a place to start. I’m assuming you’re in a planting zone that allows bulbs and perennials as well as annuals–and that you have mostly sun, but maybe a bit of partial shade (ferns, for example, will definitely need shade).
So at the front, you could plant low-growing phlox that blooms in early spring and is low-growing. Or candy tuft is another really pretty one (white flowers), also low growing. In the middle of the bed, you might have peony bushes (perennials) which are pretty easy to grow (plant in fall) and the good news is you can find varieties that bloom in early, mid, and late spring. They’re medium height–sort of like your daisies. The in back, you can plant foxglove which grow tall–these are biennials, so you’ll want to buy plants that are in bloom next spring–that way you can enjoy them the first season.
That’s just an idea about how to think about planning a garden, You can add in spring bulbs that come up before all this stuff, and then sedums (Autumn Joy is beautiful in fall) and chrysanthemums that bloom in fall. That way you’ll have early to late pretty flowers.
You can put in your daisies, too, but be sure to leave room for them, because they’ll really spread. The lilies are bulbs, so you can also plant them for mid-to-late spring blooming (depends on what you get). Sunflowers are annuals, and you can get large and small varieties, so decide where you want them, then buy the sort for where you site them.
As the previous answer suggested, roses are fairly tricky and since you mention just starting this garden, maybe they’d be challenging to tackle right off the bat.
Oh, and if you do have some shade, hostas are great. Impatiens (annual flowers) are beautiful–and both are easy to grow.
Look at some online sites like Bluestone perennials, WhiteFlower Farms, John Scheepers (bulbs) and get some great ideas!
You’ll have a great time–half the fun is planning it all.
Virginia
http://www.container-gardening-made-easy.com
David asks…
How to make Meatballs that taste like restaurant quality?
I have made Meatballs numerous times but can’t seem to make it quite as good as in a restaurant, like Olive Garden, etc. Whats the secret? Is it just because that their meatballs are more bread based that they taste better?.. or do they just load them up with spices.., or marinated for a long time before cooking? I don’t know. Chefs, please tell us your meatball secret!
GardenersCardiff answers:
I love the below meatball recipe, but it is made with turkey rather than ground beef:
1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground dark turkey meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
26 ounces Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store-bought marinara sauce
Directions:
Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.
Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups.
Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Transfer the meatball mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with toothpicks.
Simple Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
4 to 6 basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.
Yield: 6 cups
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Betty asks…
Where did the third person present singular indicative verb conjugation in English come from?
Does anyone have any information about the origin of adding “s” or “es” to the end of a verb?
Is there really a need for it? or is it just some arbitrary rule?
Saying “He play tennis.” may sound strange to a native speaker, but it’s still easy to understand.
GardenersCardiff answers:
I like studying languages so im gonna tell you my thoughts on that, without having official knowledge on linguistics.
In many languages verbs are conjugated by adding several suffixes in the end, which determine the subject. For example, ‘je joue’ but ‘tu joues’.so suffixes are there to differentiate among the different subjects (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they).
Now, while in English and French (as I gave the example above), it is absolutely necessary to keep the personal pronoun in the sentence (or any other subject you may use: *Tina* is playing in the garden, *Economy* is in crisis nowadays) in order to make sense of the subject of the verb, in other languages (e.g., Greek) you may omit the subject and still make sense of whether the verb is conjugated in the first person, or the second etc.
So, in English you are obliged to say ‘We play the guitar well’ in order to differentiate from ‘You play the guitar well’, while in Greek and in some other languages which use suffixes, you can say ‘Play the guitar (and it’s clear that it’s ‘we’ who Play the guitar well: ‘Παίζουμε κιθάρα καλά’, while ‘Παιζουν κιθάρα καλά’ shows that it’s them who play it well). Mind you, other languages (I think Arabic) use different suffixes in the verbs to differentiate between ‘he’ and ‘she’!
So English may have used suffixes imitating other older languages on the use of preffixes.
Hope this has made sense to you!!
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Sandra asks…
Diary Of A Blonde Newlywed! see if you like it?
Dear Diary,
Monday: Now home from honeymoon and settled in our new home, it’s fun to cook for Bob. Today I made an angel food cake and the recipe said, “Beat 12 eggs separately.” Well, I didn’t have enough bowls to do that, so I had to borrow enough bowls to beat the eggs in. The cake turned out fine.
Tuesday: We wanted a fruit salad for supper. The recipe said, serve without dressing.” So I didn’t dress. But, Bob happened to bring a friend home for supper that night. Did they ever look startled when I served the salad.
Wednesday: I decided to serve rice and found a recipe which said, “Wash thoroughly before steaming the rice.” So I heated some water and took a bath before steaming the rice. Sounded kinda silly in the middle of the week. I can’t say it improved the rice any.
Thursday: Today Bob asked for salad again. I tried a new recipe. It said, “Prepare ingredients, then toss on a bed of lettuce one hour before serving.” I hunted all over the garden by my mom’s. So I tossed my salad into the bed of lettuce and stood over there one hour so the dog would not take it. Bob came over and asked if I felt all right. I wonder why?
Friday: Today I found an easy recipe for cookies. It said, “Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat it.” Beat it I did, right over to my mom’s house. There must have been something wrong with the recipe, because when I came back home again it looked the same as when I left it.
Saturday: Bob went shopping today and brought home a chicken. He asked me to dress it for Sunday. I’m sure I don’t know how hens dress for Sunday. I never noticed back on the farm, but I found a doll dress and some little shoes. I thought the hen looked real cute. When Bob saw it, I wondered why he counted to 10.
Sunday: Today Bob’s folks came to dinner. I wanted to serve roast, but all we had in the icebox, was hamburger. So I put it in the oven and set the controls for roast. Must be the oven, because it still came out hamburger.
Good night, Dear Diary. This has been an exciting week. I am eager for tomorrow to come, so I can try a new recipe on Bob.
Sorry people i know it is too long.
GardenersCardiff answers:
NO don’t be sorry it’s long. I enjoyed every sentence. Thanks for making my day.
Donald asks…
Can my dads 2nd wife take half his property, even though he bought it 15 yrs before they were together?
My parents bought a property together over 15 yrs ago. They have since divorced and my dad has now been remarried for about 3 yrs. The marriage is not going well and my dad is thinking of divorce.
His new wife hasnt made any financial contributions towards the property but has remodelled the garden and painted the inside of the house (& I must say the work she did has decreased the house value!)
Im curious to know, if they divorce, how much of the property is she entitled to? They have no kids together, but she has a daughter from a previous relationship living with them. He is not a legal guardian. She also moved her 2 sons (in their 20’s) into the house.
Would it be easy for him to kick them all out of the house?
What can I do to help him?
She doesnt deserve any of my dads property, she has previously taken 3 partners to the cleaners, the gold digging so & so!
Not 1 of our family members or my dads friends like her.
What options do we have to get rid of her & so my dad doesnt go broke divorcing her & losing his property?
If it was in mine & my sisters names as well as dads, can she take it? Im pretty sure were named on the papers…..or in a will or something.
Please help me! Anyone!!! Im scared my dad will suffer dramatically from this woman & her money hungry ways!!!!!
GardenersCardiff answers:
It depends upon what it says in their prenuptial agreement.
Didn’t have one? Then it’s rare that a judge will say, “She gets the house/he gets the cars.” Generally the lawyers (who are the only ones who win in a divorce) will arrive at an amount of money she will get in a settlement, and one way or the other, through cashing in investments or agreeing on an amount of alimony or whatever, your dad will have to cough up that amount.
He should avoid filing for divorce. HOWEVER, he can make her want to leave and file. NOT by being cruel or abusive (and it sounds like he wouldn’t do that anyway) but by making it less fun. Cut her off from money. She has her own assets from her previous guys, right? Don’t fund her shopping sprees or other spending habits.
Since he’s not connected to any of the children legally, if she has her own assets, he might be okay because he can easily prove he owns the house, he’s always made all the payments, and while she might recoup some of what she may have spent on the garden, if it is extensive, paint is cheap.
He probably would be okay. However, if at all possible, he should wait it out for her to decide to leave and file for divorce so he can say, “She left me. Since that’s what she chose, she should live with the consequences of that decision.”
If he has an emotional connection to the daughter, and she is a minor child, he might agree to pay her a nominal lump sum toward her future education and wish her well. If all the “kids” are snotty to him, then it’s not necessary.
Betty asks…
Overwhelmed with tomatoes!?
My tomato garden is overwhelming me! I have never grown tomato before and certainly didn’t expect the plants to give me so many. I have made a few salads and used them in sandwiches but I’m not sure what else to make. I would give some away, but I don’t necessarily like my neighbors much and friends and family aren’t near by. Any great, easy recipes or ideas?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Not sure if you’d consider this a “salad” but, I do love Tomatoes, Mozzerella, and Basil. What you do is you cut a few slices of tomatoes, and some mozzerella. If you also have fresh basil in your garden, use that, but if you don’t, it should be pretty easy to find it in a supermarket. Then what I do is I place the mozzerella on the tomato, then the basil on top, and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and crushed black pepper. You can also make Gazpacho, it’s a delicious soup, usually served cold, but sometimes I warm mine up. You cook the tomatoes, like you would a soup, and add heavy cream, oil and I like spices and herbs such as white pepper, salt, rosemarry, and thyme. Then, puree it! It’s so good! Also, a romaine salad! Chicken, chopped/diced tomatoes, romaine/iceburg lettuce, and ranch dressing. Yum! Or, a grilled plate, grilled chicken breast, with a grilled tomato slice, and tomato sauce, and a side of rice. You could also bake some fish with pomegranite and tomato sauce, just puree some tomatoes and pomegranite seeds (those little niblets) and add salt, and pepper, then cook and pour over the baked fish when done. This is really good with Tilapia and other white fish. Pasta is another thing– cook some tomato sauce with meat and cheese (in the sauce) and then pour over the chosen pasta. As for sandwiches, put it on white bread. Put a deli meat, cheese, tomatoes, and any toppings and/or veggies on white bread, then put it in a panini maker. You could also can them by boiling and peeling them. And then putting them in cans. Or, you could make a grilled veggie plate by seasoning them with salt, pepper, and oil. Or there’s always the classic tomato soup with grilled cheese–just make the gazpacho recipie, heat it up, then make some grilled cheese-or with saltines OR crackers or chips. Or just eat them fresh! =) hope I helped!
Xox,
Massie <3
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