Do you live away from the ones you love? Do you want to be a part of their holiday season? You can be. Bright and cheerful holiday food gifts in creative baskets, delivers your merriest wishes in a most delightful way!

Festive and fun edible delights in fruit baskets, cookies, chocolate truffles, or cheeses, stone wheat crackers, summer sausages, wafers and more food gifts are special ways to send your love. Saying Happy Holidays with creative baskets is almost as much fun, as being there with them.

Imagine lovely gifts arriving at the door, with love from you to mom and dad, daughter or son, brother or sister, grandparents or friends. Festive creative baskets overflowing with goodness just for them, is sure to be a pleaser.

Multiple gifts in one, the specialty gourmet goodies are pleasurable to give and simply delightful to receive. Many holiday food gifts can be found online for easy shopping and fast delivery. Five examples of the festive creative baskets can help you make a decision, about the gifts you would enjoy sending to the ones you love.

1. Holiday celebrations with sweet and savory treats lets your families celebrate the holidays in festive fun. Holiday food gifts are all dressed up to suit any family or friend.

2. Gourmet nuts and chocolates are delightful gifts for brothers and sisters. They are quality ways to let them savor delicious bites dipped in joy from you.

3. Gourmet chocolate gift baskets are treats for the chocolate lover. The holidays would not be right without the option of enjoying delicious silky smooth chocolates in gorgeous wraps.

4. Gourmet coffees in creative baskets are always a treat and superb gift ideas for mom and dad or our grandparents. Treats of pastries, chocolates, cookies and more treats are dressed up for the holiday season.

5. What would a holiday season be without fruit? The delicious and healthy fruit baskets with edible delights are sure to pleasure for the family you love.

Festive holiday food gifts are a celebration of your love. Their bright and cheerful messages are fun for your loved ones to receive. When you are wishing you were with them, send creative baskets to let them know you are there in heart and mind.

By: Shirley Bass

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Seasonal Treats chocolate

With the release of the new food group pyramid, there are officially five food groups. Oils and butters are now included as a food group; but for the purpose of this paper, we are still going to consider ourselves to have only four. The four food groups are grains, fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy. Let’s take a look at each food group and discuss a few of the more important points from each group.

Grains cover a broad range of food: breads, cereals, rice, and pasta. That’s quite an array of food. Breads come in so many varieties; pita, rye, white, and wheat are the more popular varieties. Cereals are so numerous there’s not enough room on fifty pages to discuss the varieties offered. Rice and pasta are a little more limited in their offerings, but are still quite varied. Almost every choice we make in this group will have vitamins and minerals added for our nutritional supplementation. That’s a good thing, since most of us won’t consume our recommended dietary allowance, or even get close without the fortification of our milk and grain food group.

The next food group to be discussed is the vegetable group. Okay, here is the opportunity to score real nutritional “brownie” points, since it’s almost impossible to make a bad choice, or even overeat. The only members of this food group that we must be careful to not overdo are the starchy vegetables. These vegetables have a tendency to turn into sugar once consumed, and we usually don’t need an excess of sugar.

Fruits are a healthful category, so long as we remember to watch our consumption of fruits that provide too much sugar. Most fruits contain naturally occurring sugars; although these occur naturally in the food, it doesn’t mean we need to consume uncontrolled quantities. A healthy daily allowance of fruit includes about 4 servings.

The meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and eggs food group contains the protein your body needs in order to develop properly. Without protein, your brain and many other body organs do not properly develop. If not properly developed, they will not work properly. Protein is one of the most important pieces of our growth and development needs. The down side in this food group, would be the fact that animal meats have naturally occurring cholesterol, and although some cholesterol is good for us, too much is unhealthy.

The last food group we’re going to discuss is the dairy food. Milk, yogurt, and cheese belong to this food group. Again, one of the most important vitamins we need can be found in this food group. Calcium is essential to the optimal functioning our cell processes, and the growth of our bones. Calcium has a tremendous effect on the health of our heart and other vital organs. Inadequate consumption of calcium can lead to long-term life altering consequences. Osteoporosis is the leader among crippling of post menopausal women, and it is simply due to a lack of needed calcium during the earlier years.

It is absolutely necessary for everyone, children and adults to understand the importance each of these four food groups plays in our healthy development, from childhood to old age.

By: Michael Bens

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Kansieo.com

Eating one large sandwich at a fast food chain take pack on enough calories and sodium for an entire day. Luckily, restaurants and fast food chains are now offering more fruits and vegetable choices on their menus, making it easier to eat healthy while dining out. But their best sellers are still fat laden foods in large portions that you should try your best to avoid. These suggestions will help you select the most nutritious and low fat foods when dining away from home.

· Be cautious of any item with the words jumbo, giant, super or deluxe
· Stay away from any entrée with a “special” sauce
· Choose mashed or baked potatoes instead of french fries
· Ask for Mexican dishes with less guacamole, sour cream and cheese
· Ask for mustard or low fat dressing on wraps, subs and sandwiches
· Fill up on egg drop, miso, wonton, or hot & sour soup before your Chinese meal
· Order pasta with tomato based sauce instead of butter or cream based sauces
· Avoid Italian dishes with names like alfredo, carbonara, parmigiana, lasagna, and stuffed manicotti
· Choose steamed rice instead of fried rice
· Choose baked or grilled fish instead of battered or deep-fried fish
· Dress your salad with oil and vinegar instead of rich, creamy dressings
· Limit your intake of complimentary tortilla chips or bread sticks served before your meal
· Select thin-crust pizza with onions, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli and spinach
· Order chocolate milk instead of a chocolate milkshake
· Try to eat the same amount of food that you would at home

By: Kathleen Mary

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Caffeinated Content

Can’t get to sleep at night? Rolling around in the sheets? Wake up in the morning feeling like you need to go back to sleep? Your stressed and Spokane spas are your answer.

Mention the relaxation and rejuvenation aspects of Spokane spas and it can sound like a bunch of hippie mumbo jumbo. It isn’t. Your body gets out of whack over time like a car slowly going out of tune. If you don’t tune it back up, the body can eventually break down just like a car. To take care of it, time at a spa is well spent. Treatments are designed to release the stress in your body. Back hurt? Tight hamstrings are often the cause and spas know how to get things fixed. Trust me. Try just one session and you will notice an immediate difference.

One of the top Spokane spas is the Spa Paradiso, located in the lower level of the historic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane. Some of the main services include Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, hydrotherapy treatment bath, prenatal massage, cranial massage, foot massage, reflexology, La Stone massage, Ayurveda Shirodhara, Shirodhara Abhyanga, raindrop therapy, Reiki massage therapy, butter scrub, mineral salt glow, body bronzing, seaweed wrap, herbal reduction wrap, mud wrap, express facial, deluxe facial, skin purifying facial, European facial, glycolic facial, La Stone facial, customized cell renewal, firming eye facial, multi-vitamin power exfoliant facial, micro-current rejuvenation, spa manicure, spa pedicure, and waxing. Moxie Salon and Spa, located at 10 South Post Street, Spokane, WA. For more info about the spa or for an appointment, dial 509-747-3529.

Next on the list of popular Spokane spas is the Moxie Salon & Spa, located at 1507 W 5th Avenue, Spokane. The spa services include Basic facial, Multi-vitamin facial, Classic European facial, Deluxe European facial, deep cleansing, microdermabrasion, makeup application, waxing, chair massage, table massage, stone massage, hand and foot massage, sculptured acrylic nails, manicure, deluxe pedicure, maintenance pedicure, hair straightening, and haircuts. Moxie Salon & Spa offers several packages, which are priced between $80 and $135. To make an appointment, call 509-747-1554 or 866-882-3420 (Toll Free).

Another one among the fabulous Spokane spas is the Highlights Salon & Spa. The spa offers several services which include pregnancy massage, sports massage, deep tissue massage, Swedish massage, eastern massage, Cranial-sacral massage, relaxation massage, injury rehabilitation massage, waxing, makeup application, microdermabrasion, back treatment, and clinical facial. Highlights Salon & Spa is located at 1812 N Washington, Spokane WA. For more info about the spa and it schedules, dial and 509-325-4278.

No list of Spokane spas is complete without a mention of the Strata SalonSpa, located at 902 North Monroe, Spokane. This premier salon and spa stands out from the rest for its professional services and excellent customer care. Its service list includes relaxing massage, deep tissue massage, cranial-sacral massage, hot stone massage, reflexology, non surgical face lift, deep pore cleansing, tissue desensitizing, problem skin healing and cleansing, cellular anti-aging, manual dermabrasion, multi-vitamin c antioxidant, chocolate fix, body contouring treatment, post sun hydration, aromatherapy, back facial, capillary calm, moisture boost, and tissue toning. For appointments and more spa details, dial 509-327-1125.

By: Richard Rspad

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Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

Nowadays there are so many different types of chocolate on the market, that we are literally ’spoiled for choice’.

With so much publicity on what we should and should not eat, many people are now eating plain chocolate. Not only does plain chocolate have less sugar than other types, but it also contains a high proportion of cocoa solids. These are formed of pure chocolate and cocoa butter – a hard, white fat. The percentage of cocoa solids is always listed on the wrapper of the chocolate. Some percentages are as high as 75% or even higher, indicating the chocolate is exceptionally smooth and of high quality.

The most popular chocolate of all is milk chocolate. Most children adore it. Sweeter than plain chocolate it has extra sugar, full cream milk, and vanilla added to it.

Then there is white chocolate, which contains only cocoa butter, milk, sugar and vanilla. Because of the added milk, both this type of chocolate, and also milk chocolate, need melting with care over a gentle heat. Otherwise they will thicken, and although edible, will not re-melt.

Chocolate drops (or nibs, as they are sometimes called) are easy to melt. They can be used as a decoration on cakes or as an ingredient in the popular chocolate brownie cakes.

Chocolate is used in the spectacular ‘chocolate fountains’. These make an eye-catching image for a special occasion, with the melted chocolate continually flowing like a colored waterfall – just ready for guests to dip marshmallows, strawberry’s and other small fruits, into the ‘fountain’. It is a good idea to have plenty napkins around to catch the drips!

Those who are diabetic often complain about how restricted their diet is, but at least they can have a piece of chocolate. Diabetic chocolate is on sale in various outlets, and has a lower percentage of sugar than other chocolate.

Apart from chocolates and bars of chocolate, we can also buy chocolate flakes, these contain both cocoa butter and vegetable oil. The butter adds flavor, and the oil helps give the flake its crumbly consistency

Some specialist shops sell blocks of cocoa butter, which can be melted, mixed with cocoa powder and used to paint sepia colored pictures onto cakes or plaques.

Vermicelli is yet another type of chocolate. These tiny strands are used for coating truffles and cakes. Occasionally the name can becomes confused with Italian vermicelli – fine strands of pasta!

A current fashion is to decorate a wedding cake with curls of chocolate, standing like tall rods around the sides of a cake. They can be home made but it is a time-consuming job and it is not easy to make them all a similar size. So it is a good idea to buy from a specialist shop, when you can be sure they will all be an equal length and thickness

Another type of coating used by confectioners is known as Ganache. This mixture of cream and chocolate is very versatile. Melted and flooded over cakes, it is delicious to eat, and sets with a gloss. The higher the quality of the chocolate used, the greater the sheen on the coating. Alternatively, Ganache can be left to firm and then piped on cakes, or made into truffles.

Modeling chocolate another commodity which can either be bought or home-made. This consists of liquid glucose and chocolate. The glucose makes the paste pliable and easy to model – chocolate roses are particularly popular.

And finally, we come to a type of ’so called chocolate’ which can cause confusion. Packaged under various headings it is often called Chocolate Flavor Cake covering, or Chocolate Flavored Coating. But whatever the title they all have one thing in common – although containing cocoa powder, the cocoa butter has been extracted and replaced with vegetable fat, which is why the manufacturers cannot call it chocolate.

The addition of vegetable fat makes the ‘chocolate’ easier to melt and work with. But it has a drawback – because of the lack of cocoa butter it does not have the same eating quality as pure chocolate.

By: Pat Lock

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Sweet Delights

Did you know that more and more research is showing that dark chocolate has many health benefits? Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants that help combat free radicals in the body. Free radicals have been linked to the development of diseases like arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease.

Research has also shown that these antioxidants, much like the ones found in cranberries, wine, and tea, can lower both blood pressure and cholesterol. Dark chocolate even stimulates endorphin release, which has a positive affect on your mood.

Many people laugh at the possibility that chocolate could be healthy. That’s because most of the chocolate we eat is mixed in with lots of sugar, caramel, and other flavors that dilute it’s healthiness (like candybars).

But chocolate itself is a very good thing. Specifically, we are talking about dark chocolate. Very dark. Dark chocolate is rated by it’s cocoa content.

Most chocolate candy has just a little cocoa and a ton of sugar. Dark chocolate has a lot of cocoa and a little sugar. You will find it in the grocery store in the candy aisle, and it will usually be marked with a number denoting the percentage of cocoa used to make it.

Naturally, the higher that number, the more cocoa, and that means more antioxidants. However, cocoa is also bitter, which is why they need to add at least some sugar.

If you’ve never had dark chocolate, don’t go right for the super dark right away. It will probably be too bitter. Your taste buds expect chocolate to be sweet. To start with, look for something that is about 40-50% cocoa, like Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate. It’s darker than a typical Hershey’s bar, but not too bitter.

If that goes well, then try one that’s 60%, then 70%, and even 80% if you’re brave (don’t do this all on the same day). The goal is for you to find the highest percentage that you can handle.

Ghirardelli and Lindt both make delicious chocolates in the 70% range. As you taste more and more, you’ll start to appreciate dark chocolate for it’s flavor, not for it’s sugar content.

There isn’t a consensus on how much you should eat per day, but I recommend that you use it as a substitute for junk food. If you feel the urge to eat an unhealthy snack, just grab a square of chocolate. Let it melt in your mouth and savor the flavor. You’ll satisfy the urge to snack, and you’ll be doing something good for your health, too.

By: Mike D. Ross

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Kansieo.com