Tag: Ice cream

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Environmental Pollution

Reduce Your Trash & Save The Earth

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Are you worried that you’re hurting the environment by producing too much trash? Here are some methods you could use to cut it down:–

1. No soda in cans
2. No water in plastic bottles
3. No coffee in disposable cups
4. No throwaway plastic razors and blade cartridges
5. Using non-disposable feminine-hygiene products that aren’t bad for women and are good for the planet
6. No Indian food in throwaway takeout tubs
7. No Italian food in plastic throwaway tubs
8. No Chinese food in plastic throwaway tubs
9. Taking your own reusable containers to takeout joints
10. Buying milk in returnable, reusable glass bottles
11. Shopping for honey and pickled veggies and other goods in jars only from merchants who will take back the jars and reuse them
12. Returning egg and berry cartons to the vendors at the farmers’ market for reuse
13. Using neither paper nor plastic bags and bringing your own reusable bags when grocery shopping
14. Canceling our magazine and newspaper subscriptions and reading online
15. Putting an end to the junk mail tree killing
16. Carrying a reusable cup and water bottle
17. Carrying reusable cloths for everything from blowing your nose to drying your hands
18. Politely asking restaurant servers to take away paper and plastic napkins, placemats, straws, cups and single-serving containers
19. Pretending McDonalds and Burger King and all their paper and plastic wrappers just don’t exist
20. Buying no candy bars, gum, lollypops or ice cream that is individually packaged
21. Making your own household cleaners to avoid all the throwaway plastic bottles
22. Using baking soda from a recyclable container to brush your teeth
23. Using baking soda for a deodorant to avoid the plastic containers that deodorant typically comes in
24. Using baking soda for shampoo to avoid plastic shampoo bottles
25. Keeping a worm bin to compost food scraps into nourishment that can be returned to the earth instead of toxins that seep from the landfills
26. Switching to cloth diapers
27. Not buying anything disposable
28. Not buying anything in packaging
29. Shopping for food only from the bulk bins and from the local farmer’s market where food is unpackaged and fresh
30. Forgetting about prepackaged, processed food of any description
31. Giving your second-hand clothes away to charities
32. Offering products you no longer need on Freecycle instead of throwing them away
33. Using old clothes for rags around the apartment instead of paper towels

Sources:  No Impact Man July 18, 2007

Related Links:

Get Rid of Your Trash and Save the Earth

Bag Wars — Paper vs Plastic: The Real Truth

Our Oceans are Turning Into Plastic

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Categories
Positive thinking

Inner Child Meditation

Treasures From Our Past ….
Deep within each of us lives the child we once were. For most of us, our inner child lies hidden beneath the layers that we’ve put on in order to become adults. In our rush to put on grown-up clothing and live adult lives, we may have forgotten the wisdom and innocence that we possessed when we were children. In meditation, we can connect with our inner child and reclaim what we have forgotten.

You can start by finding a photo of yourself as a child that you can look at for a few moments. School photos often work well to help you connect with this part of you. Sit in a relaxed position, close your eyes, and start taking deep breaths. Set the intention that you are going to connect with your inner child. Wait for an image of yourself as a child to appear in your mind’s eye. See your grown-up self hugging your inner child. Listen to what your inner child has to say. Perhaps your inner child wants to give you the answer to a question that you’ve been mulling over. After all, you never needed to look outside yourself when you were a child to know how you felt or what was true for you. You always knew the answers. There also may be an ache from a childhood wound that you can now heal by talking to your inner child and offering them the wisdom and perspective that comes with maturity. Or maybe you’ve merely forgotten how to see the world with childlike wonder and hope! , and your inner child would like you to remember how. Tell your inner child that you love them and will keep them safe. Embrace your inner child and tell them that you are always there for them. Allow your inner child to always be there for you.

Connecting to your inner child in with meditation is a very useful tool, but you can also connect with your inner child even when you aren’t in meditation. Treat yourself to a play date, ice cream, or a walk in the park. Let yourself laugh and play more. Give yourself permission to be as wise as your inner child so you can stop focusing on what isn’t important and start living as if every moment is precious. Your life will be filled with more laughter and fun.

Sources: Daily Om

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Categories
Fruits & Vegetables Herbs & Plants

Passionfruit

Botanical Name:Passiflora edulis
Family:Passifloraceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Genus: Passiflora
Species: P. edulis

Other Names: Passiflora edulis, passion fruit.It is locally called Sohbrab in Meghalaya in India
Habitat: It is native to South America and widely grown in India, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Brazil, Ecuador, California, southern Florida, Hawaii, Australia, East Africa, Israel and South Africa. It’s cultivation has been extended to some areas of North-eastern region like Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim.

Description:
The purple passion fruit (P. edulis) is a woody perennial vine with robust climber. The stems, tendrils and leaves are clear green without any trace of reddish or pinkish colour. The fruit is round or oval, 3 to 5 cm in diameter and deep purple when ripe. The yellow passion fruit (P. edulis f. flavicarpa) vine is much like that of the purple variety but is a more vigorous grower. It is distinguished by the suffusion of reddish, pinkish or purplish colour in stems, leaves and tendrils.The flowers have the scent of heliotropes.

click & see the pictures

The passion fruit is round to oval, yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be grown to eat or for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma.

The two types of passion fruit have greatly different exterior appearances. The bright yellow variety of passion fruit, which is also known as the Golden Passionfruit, can grow up to the size of a grapefruit, has a smooth, glossy, light and airy rind, and has been used as a rootstock for the purple passion fruit in Australia. The dark purple passion fruit (for example, in Kenya) is smaller than a lemon, with a dry, wrinkled rind at maturity.

The purple varieties of the fruit reportedly have traces of cyanogenic glycosides in the skin, and hence are mildly poisonous. However, the thick, hard skin is hardly edible, and if boiled (to make jam), the cyanide molecules are destroyed at high temperatures.

Cultivation details:
Requires a well-drained soil with plenty of moisture in the growing season, otherwise it is not fussy.

Plants are not very frost tolerant and are best grown in a greenhouse. However, the roots are somewhat hardier and can survive the winter outdoors in many areas of Britain if the soil is prevented from freezing. If plants are cut down to the ground by frost they can regenerate from the base. There is also the possibility of growing plants on rootstocks of P. caerulea which might make them hardier.

This species is often cultivated in warmer climes than Britain for its edible fruit, there are some named varieties. The fruit can be freely produced in Britain in hot summers.

Roots of outdoor grown plants should be restricted to encourage fruiting.

Any pruning is best carried out in the spring.

If fruit is required it is best to hand pollinate, using pollen from a flower that has been open for 12 hours to pollinate a newly opened flower before midday. The flowers open in sunny weather and do not open on dull cloudy days. The flowers have the scent of heliotropes.

A climbing plant, attaching itself to other plants by means of tendrils that are produced at the leaf axils.

Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.
Propagation:
Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow late winter or early spring in a warm greenhouse. If sown in January and grown on fast it can flower and fruit in its first year[88]. The seed germinates in 1 – 12 months at 20°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. It you are intending to grow the plants outdoors, it is probably best to keep them in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Mulch the roots well in late autumn to protect them from the cold.

Cuttings of young shoots, 15cm with a heel, in spring.

Leaf bud cuttings in spring.

Cuttings of fully mature wood in early summer. Takes 3 months. High percentage.

Uses
*A glass of passion fruit juiceIn Australia, it is available commercially fresh and canned. In addition to being added to fruit salads, passion fruit is commonly used in desserts, such as the topping for the pavlova (a meringue cake), cheesecake, and vanilla slice. It is also used to flavour soft drinks such as Passiona and cordials.

*In the Dominican Republic, it is used to make juice, jams, the chinola flavoured syrup is used on shaved ice and it is also eaten raw sprinkled with sugar.

*In Puerto Rico, where its called Parcha, it is widely believed to lower blood pressure. This is probably because it contains harmala alkaloids and is a mild RIMA.

*In Brazil, passion fruit mousse is a common dessert, and passion fruit seeds are routinely used to decorate the tops of certain cakes. Passion fruit juice is also very common.

*In Indonesia it is eaten straight as a fruit. Nevertheless, it is common to strain the passionfruit for its juice and cook it with sugar to make some sort of thick syrup. It is then mixed with water and ice to be drunk.

*In Hawaii, where it is called lilikoi, it is normally eaten raw. Hawaiians usually crack the rind of the lilikoi either with their hands or teeth and suck out the flavorful pulp and seeds. Lilikoi can also be cut in half and the pulp can easily be scooped out with a spoon. Lilikoi flavoured syrup is a popular topping for shave ice. Ice cream and mochi are also flavoured with lilikoi, as well as many other desserts such as cookies, cakes, and ice cream. Lilikoi is also favored as a jam, jelly, as well as a butter. Lilikoi fruits are not widely available in stores, so most of the fruit eaten comes from backyard gardens or wild groves. They however can be found in farmers markets sprinkled throughout the islands.

*Passion fruit juice or syrup is an essential ingredient of some cocktails, particularly the hurricane and the Peruvian maracuya sour.

*In South Africa passion fruit is used to flavor yogurt. It is also used to flavour soft drinks such as Schweppes Sparkling Granadilla and numerous cordial drinks.

Passion fruit juice can be boiled down to a syrup, which is used in making sauce, gelatin desserts, candy, ice cream, sharbat, cake icing, cake filling, etc. There is a preference for the purple variety as fresh fruit and the yellow one for juice-making.

Nutrition
Fresh Passion Fruit is known to be high in vitamin A, Potassium and dietary fibre. The Yellow variety is used for juice processing, while the Purple variety is sold in fresh fruit markets. Passion fruit juice is a good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
Medicinal Uses: There is currently a revival of interest in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in Europe, in the use of the glycoside, passiflorine, especially from P. incarnata L., as a sedative or tranquilizer. Italian chemists have extracted passiflorine from the air-dried leaves of P. edulis.

The pulp of the fruit is stimulant and tonic.
In Madeira, the juice of passionfruits is given as a digestive stimulant and treatment for gastric cancer.

You may click to see also:->
Details of Passion fruit

Growing Passion Fruit, Flowers In Phoenix Arizona

Passionfruit PlantFiles: Passionfruit, Granadilla, Qarandila, Maracuja
Giant granadilla
Sweet granadilla

Granadilla

Passion Fruit

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_fruit
http://gbpihed.gov.in/envis/HTML/vol13_1/nrai.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Passiflora+edulis
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/passionfruit.htm

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Categories
Herbs & Plants Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Vanilla

Botanical Name:Vanulla planifolia

Family: Orchidaceae

Subfamily: Vanilloideae

Tribe: Vanilleae
Subtribe: Vanillinae

Genus: Vanilla

Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Asparagales

Habitat :Central America, West Indies, Northern South America
Mostly Cultivated In:Madagascar, Comoros Islands, Reunion, French Polynesia, Tahiti, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, Guatemala, Mexico.
Description:
For many people in countries where quality ice cream is readily available, vanilla is the most popular of the non-pungent spices. It has been regarded as one of the most expensive spices along with saffron, cardamon and green peppercorns. The cost of vanilla reflects its historic importance as a flavor used in the royal drinks of the Mayans and Aztecs that were based on chocolate. The Aztecs called vanilla tlilxochitl, and they used it with chile peppers to flavor their drink.

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Vanilla is found in the seeds of the orchid vine, Vanilla planifolia (V. fragrans), which is native to Mexico. The Spaniards likened the bean pods to a little sheath or vaina, which is derived from the similar Latin word, vagina! Obtaining the flavor can be a several month long process, resulting from slowly fermenting the beans, which contain many small seeds; the ground-up bean is then used in similar fashion to coffee. People who enjoy the strong vanilla taste want to use freshly cured bean, while others accept the commercial extract. True vanilla in ice cream contains tiny dark flecks resulting from the presence of the seeds. However, the vanilla flavor, which is mainly due to vanillin, can be readily chemically synthesized from eugenol or guaiacol, or from lignin derived from tar, wood, or tonka beans. This product lacks the quality of the natural vanilla flavor that develops during the curing of the best beans when glucosides are converted to vanillic aldehyde, which is vanillin, since other aromatic chemicals are also produced.

Vanilla trees are grown in Mexico, Central America (Guatemala and especially Costa Rica), and in some Caribbean islands (especially Jamaica). However, it is difficult to grow since it is only pollinated by native bees and hummingbirds. It requires artificial fertilization outside its natural habitat, but it can be cultivated through the use of cuttings. Following its introduction to the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, a method of hand pollination was introduced in 1841. Reunion is still an important site of vanilla production; the variety is called Bourbon vanilla, after the former name of the island. Madagascar is now the major producer of Bourbon vanilla.

When vanilla became popular in 17th century Europe, it was used for many indications, varying from stomach ulcers to sedation. As was the case with many spices, it was extolled as an aphrodisiac. Today, it may fulfill its latter function when used in high quality baked goods, confectionary and desserts, although most users regard it more prosaically as a delicious flavor that may help digestion. Vanilla is used to flavor tobacco and as a fragrance in the cosmetic industry. It is of interest that sensitive workers in the vanilla industry may develop vanillism, resulting in headaches and skin rashes.

Artificial vanilla (containing vanillin and ethylvanillin) is acceptable to most tastes, and therefore the export of true vanilla may continue to decline, since the culture and manufacture of the quality product is expensive and relatively non-competitive. Moreover, its value as an exotic medicine is no longer accepted. Thus the role of the vanilla bean has declined in significance, with over 95% of the world’s supply of vanilla flavor being synthetic.
Useful Parts:
The cured, dried fruits of the plant impart the flavor.
Medicinal Properties:
Vanillin is in the class of vanilloids, that includes – surprisingly – capsaicin (8-methy-N-vanillyl noneamide) from chile pepper and eugenol from cloves, cinnamon and other spices, and zingerone from ginger. The vanilloid receptors of the central and peripheral nervous systems bind with these compounds, resulting in different sensory effects. Thus, capsaicin can cause a burning sensation while eugenol results in mild anesthesia; vanillin itself is neutral.

Historical View :
“Vanilla is an aromatic stimulant, with a tendency towards the nervous system. It has also been regarded as an aphrodisiac. It has been employed as a remedy in hysteria, low fevers, impotency, etc. But its use as a medicine is obsolete in this country, although still sometimes employed on the Continent and elsewhere.”

You may click to see :Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews)

Source:Medicinal Spices

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_(genus)

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