Inexpensive Outdoor Programs For Troubled Teens

Outdoor activities are considered therapeutic for troubled teens. Teens become troubled when they feel they are worthless. Outdoor activities give them a sense of self worth that starts the process of turning their life around.

Outdoor activities with family will help a withdrawn teenager come back to his or her family fold. Hiking, biking and gardening are some of the inexpensive outdoor activities that families can do together and help their teen get over his or her problems. Volunteering for charity sponsored outdoor activities as a family can help the teenager focus on something more than negative thoughts.

When families are unable to manage the teen on their own, inexpensive wilderness and other outdoor camps specially tailored for troubled teens will help them change for the better. These camps have experience field instructors who teach troubled teens new skills while weaning them away from negative habits. The number of teens recruited for these camps are few and the instructor can deal with specific problems on a one to one basis. Troubled teens work as a team with other troubled teens. They help themselves and others to change their ways for the better. The camps involve outdoor activities work and discipline that are proven therapeutic methods to help troubled teens. Some camps are sponsored by grants and charge a low fee or help teenagers for free.

Troubled teens are argumentative, defiant, disobedient, and unmanageable and lack motivation. Outdoor programs like wilderness camps teach them to work against the elements with others who have the same issues. They are cut off from society and learn to fend for themselves with other teens. They learn new skills and this increases their self confidence. Wilderness camps include many activities like hiking, mountain climbing and river rafting. These camps sometimes offer a troubled teen an outdoor interest that endures for life. Some camps address specific issues that trouble teens like ADD/ADHD or weight loss.

Troubled teens turn their life around while participating in group physical activities. They learn responsibility, cooperation, participation and to deal with consequences of their actions. They learn to take responsibility for their actions, to overcome hurdles and to solve problems. The instructors are usually experienced counselors. They help the teen find goals and values at the camp. They organize workshops to increase the communication skills of the troubled teen. The group setting helps teens understand that they are not alone and they have peers who want to change their ways just as badly as they do.

Before sending their teens to these wilderness camps, parents need to check the credentials of the organizers and the qualifications of the counselors. The organizers should have a reputation of helping teenagers. They should not be a vehicle of abuse. Parents should check the testimonials of those who have attended the camps. Parents should also check if there are any complaints about the treatment of troubled teens at the camp. The object of camps should be to help teenagers and not demoralize them.

Parents should encourage troubled teens to participate in outdoor activities to help them focus on activities that have a positive effect on their behavior.

Pinto Beans and Cornbread - Using Leftovers to Feed Your Family Delicious Meals For a Week

In tough economic times, we all need ways to save money. Stretching your food dollar is an excellent way to save money and eat well.

Two huge money wasters regarding food are eating out and wasting leftovers. It is not uncommon to spend $10 on a sandwich, fries, and a drink. My first thought is to imagine what I could have purchased at the grocery store for $10.

I can feed my family several meals for $10. I also imagine how healthy, or unhealthy, the meal is that costs $10. Fast food meals are typically loaded with calories, fat, sugar, and cholesterol.

Meal planning is very important to my family. Here is an example of a weekly meal plan designed to stretch your food dollar. Dried beans are very inexpensive. On Sunday, I will cook a large pot of pinto beans. I will also cook some chicken breasts in water and store the shredded meat.

You want to cook enough beans to last several meals. This will vary according to the number of people you are feeding. I save electricity and time by cooking my beans and chicken at one time rather than at each individual meal.

The Sunday meal will consist of a bowl of warm pinto beans topped with chow-chow or ketchup. I make a pan of cornbread, and serve the meal with a cold glass of buttermilk or sweet white milk. A green onion is a nice side addition, or a hunk of sweet Texas or Vidalia onion. Fresh sliced salted tomatoes, when available, are a tasty treat. My husband enjoys crumbling the cornbread in the bowl and ladling his soup beans on top. A side salad is optional.

Cornbread is a great breakfast or lunch staple. You can serve it warm with fresh honey, or crumbled in a glass of milk or buttermilk. Tortillas are great breakfast treats filled with scrambled eggs and cheese or warmed with honey inside.

On Monday, plain tortilla chips are spread evenly in a casserole dish for nachos. These are topped with a bed of shredded cheese, then layers of beans, shredded chicken, and jalapeno peppers. This is baked at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. The cheese base helps support the other additions. Add shredded lettuce to the top after baking, along with salsa and sour cream.

On Tuesday, more leftover pinto beans are mashed up to create refried beans for chicken bean burritos. Flour tortillas are warmed and spread down the center with the mashed beans. Add shredded lettuce, chicken, cheese, salsa, diced onions, jalapeno peppers, and roll up burrito style. Microwave the burritos quickly to melt the cheese. You can prepare burritos ahead of time and store in plastic wrap for quick re-heating later.

On Wednesday, I take fresh corn tortillas from the refrigerator and fry up crispy tostada shells. These are drained on brown paper bags. Refried beans are spread along the surface of the fresh cooked shells. Add shredded chicken, lettuce, salsa, cheese, sour cream, hot jalapeno peppers, and black olives. Now you have tasty pinto bean and chicken tostadas. These fresh shells are so much tastier than boxed, ready made tostada shells.

On Thursday, what happens next depends on what's left. Shredded chicken can be used in chicken stew, chicken salad sandwiches, or in crock-pot chicken barbecue. My family loves my chicken barbecue on hamburger buns served with coleslaw or potato salad.

We keep a jug of fresh tea in the refrigerator, and water is always available. Fresh lemon slices in a glass of ice water are refreshing. Soft drinks are okay in moderation, but they are expensive and unhealthy. Kool-Aid has a delicious pink lemonade drink mix. Real lemon juice also makes simple and tasty lemonade; the recipe is usually on their label. Tea and lemonade contain sugar, but they are certainly tasty and affordable alternatives to sodas.

I do not cook the same meals each week. This is just an example of a Mexican style menu for one week. There are many other alternatives that include fresh ground beef, sirloin steak, red beans, potatoes, other bean varieties, and rice dishes. If you use a bit of imagination, you can come up with many ideas of your own to stretch your food dollar during tough times by simply planning your meals in advance.

Spicy Chili Recipes - Tuna Chili Curry

This is for all of you out there who love spicy chili recipes. I created this Mouth-watering recipe by chance, due to the fact that I'd been ill and had not been shopping and therefore was practically out of food.

I had a quick look through my kitchen cupboards and found the ingredients that I have put together to create this magnificent spicy and delicious chili recipe, which I am now sharing with you.

One of the chief benefits, aside from being totally healthy and easy and quick to cook is the fact that it is really as cheap as chips to make.

If you like any kind of spicy chili food, then you are going to love this - I promise you.

So get your chili taste buds ready for this one. I'll be very surprised if you don't make this one of you spicy favorites. If you like it hot, like I do, then simply add more chillies or chili powder.

I call it Spicy Chili Tuna Curry and it is ideal for anyone, but especially for students and the like who are living on a small budget.

Spicy Chili Tuna Curry.

Ingredients:

One Large Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
1 Inch of fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
1 flat teaspoon of garlic granules (use fresh garlic if you prefer)
1 large green pepper (roughly chopped)
1 large red pepper (roughly chopped)
3 - 6 table spoons olive oil
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400 gram)
1 tin of tuna in spring water (200 gram) drained
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
3 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons of sugar (Optional)
2 heaped tablespoons of Patak madras curry paste
4 - 6 tablespoons of vinegar
2 flat tablespoons of salt Fresh ground black pepper Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 teaspoons of extra hot chili powder (Use less if you prefer)
Rice cooked

Method:

Fry the onions until medium to dark brown. Add garlic and ginger. Add peppers and stir-fry on high heat for 5 minutes. Stir in curry paste. Fork in your Tuna and mix well. Add tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. Add salt, pepper, chili powder, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice and stir well. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes once it's boiling.

Dish up on a bed of rice.

This meal serves four to six good helpings!

I kid you not, this is one of the best tasty and yet inexpensive spicy chili recipes.

Spanish Food and Drinks: Tapas, Gazpacho, Paella, Cava, Sangria, and Rivers of Red Wine

Spanish food and drink - Spanish cuisine, if you will - is quite different from how it may be perceived in the United States. In fact, when most Americans think of Spanish food they tend to think of dishes that hail from Mexico rather than Spain. Tacos, tostadas, enchiladas and such are, however, wholly Mexican creations and the tourist will be hard pressed to find them in Spain unless Taco Bell manages to open a franchise there.

Like most things in modern Spain, traditional Spanish food tends to differ based upon the region that it comes from. The Southern city of Seville, for example, offers cuisine that is reputed to be very delicious while also being very simple to prepare. Here you'll find the cold soup Gazpacho, which is a vegetable cream that includes tomato, cucumber, garlic, paprika, olive oil, and vinegar. This is usually served with bread or even with tomato-bread.

In the Northern region of Navarre you may find many specialties of meats and fish, with one original recipe consisting of a delicious trout stuffed with cured ham. Many dishes here include the local beans Pochas de Sanguesa, and of particular interest are the vegetables like asparagus and Pimientos del Piquillo, a mild red pepper dish. This Region is also famous for his Tapas.

In addition to traditional regional fare, the nation of Spain does have some delights that are enjoyed nationwide. For instance, many like to snack on quick Tapas, prepared bite sized snacks that may include pieces of fried squid or octopus, spicy sausage, cheese, squares of fruit, or even sweet candy with almonds. Tapas is literally everywhere in Spain and is often enjoyed during siesta as opposed to a full meal. Prices for Tapas vary slightly from place to place, but it is often a very inexpensive treat. In some places you can get a Tapa for as little as one Euro and in others that same one Euro will get you a glass of red wine and a Tapa. No wonder many Spanish stop at the local bar, for a meal.

Another well-known Spanish food is Paella (pronounced paeya) delicious mixed dish that consists of rice combined with many different types of meat and Seafood. Paella, is perhaps the most famous dish to come from Spain and, although it originates from Valencia, it can be found and enjoyed pretty much everywhere in the country, from the north to the south.

Spanish drinks are not quite as varied as the foods, but there are some particularly enjoyable specialties. Spain, like France, is a wine-drinking country and is famous for its various forms of Sangria, a sweet red wine that is combined with any number of other wines, liquors, and fruits. Sangria recipes differ based upon who is doing the mixing, so it's not uncommon to find sangria that includes apples and bananas in one bar or restaurant and one that contains grapes, white wine, and oranges in another. Tinto verano is very similar to sangria, and is very popular at the south, were it is drunk during pestival. Wine is available everywhere in Spain and costs very little, starting for 1 euro for a glass. The wine loving tourist will have little to complain about when visiting Spain. Moreover, the prices of alcohol are cheaper in Spain that in any other western european country.

Spanish wines differ from region to region but most share two common traits: they are delicious and very inexpensive. The region of Catalunya, for example, offers wondrous Red wines from Peralda, Alella, Priorat and Tarragona, and the famous sparkling wine known as Cava. The region of Galicia offers several fine wines as well. Here you will find the remarkable Ribeiro, and other favorites include Fefinanes, Betanzos, Rosal, Valdeorras, Ulla and Amandi. Talking of Wine, you can't escape Rioja, which come from a region with the same name and is a lovely, greattasting, inexpenssive popular wine. They even have their own Wine festival in the end of summer, where red wine is splashed everywhere.

It is important for the tourist, visiting Spain to note that Spanish libations are typically much stronger than those they may be accustomed to in the US. In fact, a Spanish drink may be as much as three times stronger than a similar drink made at home. Some experts advise that the visiting American count three rounds for ever one actually ordered. Also popular with the Spanish and visitors to their country are Horchatas, which are frozen drinks made with milk and a variety of crushed and chopped nuts. Heralded for both their taste and the fact that they are rich in vitamins, Horchatas are enjoyed in every area of the country and differ only slightly from region to region or recipe to recipe. In the hot summer, their popularity is on top.

Coffee and hot chocolate round out the staple of Spanish drinks. These are enjoyed daily by most Spaniards, including children who often receive chilled coffee topped with ice cream as a treat. Coffee and hot chocolate are often drunk for breakfast and lunch and are enjoyed with churros, a pastry that is comparable to a fritter. Many tourists, however, complain that the Spanish coffee taste more like the american mild one, and not like the rich french/italian coffee.

Advantages of Meat

Meat has always stayed as a rich source of food in terms of taste, nutrients and also medicinally at times. The advantages of having meat are helpful to younger people in the process of growth and they reach the elder ones as well. The invaluable source of food, the meat (the tissues under animals' skin) has been serving the people from times immemorial. The alarming sources of the health, nutrients etc can find answers in meat eating. Out of a large number of health benefits of eating meat, its contribution as a fabulous source of high quality proteins is remarkable and it is to be noted. This cannot be given or substituted by even a single vegetarian food. Meat holds all the required amino acids that the body needs to maintain a balance.

For growing children, small amounts of meat are absolutely important for the growth purposes. The children when they turn to adolescence by attaining puberty, the essential amounts of albumin are needed for the overall physical growth, which will help them in the future (probably for better PRODUCTIVE reasons). The child can be enriched with meat for his/her building up of albuminous tissues and thereby growing better. The adults also suffer from the loss of albumin, which can be provided by meat.

Apart from being the richest sources of iron, meat also supplies phosphorous which can be easily digested. This is less available in any of the vegetarian diets and cereals and legumes.
The meat also serves as a rich source of nuclein, which is the important component of albuminous diet. The intestinal activities if impaired can be rectified with albumin and nuclein, which comes abundantly from meat.

Boer goats serve as a biggest source of goat meat and the goat supply essentially means supply of nutrients and taste of rich culinary usage. By eating meat, the action of certain duct-less glands like the thyroid, is stimulated, and the increased activity of this gland has a protective influence against infectious diseases, as tuberculosis. Meat is medicinally important too, and this forms the foundation for goat sales and goat supply in a higher pace. Meet the nutrient requirements with meat.

How to Cook the Best Pasta the Real Italian Way

Most people think cooking pasta is really easy. Just throw some noodles in boiling water and drain it when it is soft enough, right?

Sorry to say, that is wrong. What is hopefully true is that the secrets I am going to reveal to you will make pasta one of your favourite dish to prepare and enjoy by yourself or with your dear ones.

First of all, allow me a short digression. To a serious pasta lover the name "noodles" is plain simply dreadful. Noodles is a very good name for Chinese pasta, or Japanese, or Thai, or any other nationality pasta, but not for Italian pasta. Calling Italian pasta "noodles" would be like calling American baseball or English cricket something like "Stickball". That is just sad.

Yes, pasta is easy to cook, *if* you have the right ingredients, *if* you know the right way of preparing it, and, above all, if you have the right attitude. "What is this?" - I hear some of you gasp - "I now have to be like a zen archer or a samurai warrior just to prepare a bowl of noodles?" Let's proceed in order, one secret to the next (by the way, didn't we agree never to call pasta noodles again?)

PASTA SECRET #1: ATTITUDE

Let's start with the most important aspect: attitude.

If you feel your guest swooning in delight over your steaming pasta is a good thing, you have to take cooking seriously. Cooking, and especially cooking pasta, is an act of love and self-sacrifice. It requires your personal energy, your prana, your inner and outer purity, and your uninterrupted concentration. Without these elements, cooking is not cooking anymore, but just cold, mechanical, heartless food preparation. Would you feed such food to your dog?

Before even start preparing your utensils, stand in your kitchen, facing the stove and get inwardly ready to cook. Silence around you and inside you is needed. A short meditation would be even better. Soulfulness is essential.

Feel inside you and visualise in front of your mind's eye the final pasta dish you want to prepare. Feel the aroma of the pasta, the looks, the sound the moist pasta strands do when stirred together, even before they are cradled by the sauce. Imagine the joy on the face of the friends that soon will be enjoying it.

Then, act with determination and precision but never with hurry.

Quality Kitchen Knives - More Important Than You Think

Cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing and cleaving - a mere glimpse into the everyday responsibilities of the kitchen knife. Around the world, in all continents there is the same universal use for a kitchen knife, and the preparation of food is unlikely to go away any time soon.

The kitchen knife market is totally saturated, but that does not mean that this huge array of choice is a good thing. The likes of CostCo and Walmart in the US, and Tesco and ASDA in the UK produce or import kitchen knives that you can pick up at rock bottom prices; entire knife blocks with eighteen kitchen knives can cost you less that USD$20, and people gladly by them. Then, they buy another set two years later, and another and another.

This is because cheap kitchen knives are a false economy. In this example, a false economy means that people are attracted to buy poor quality knives because they are very affordable; however, this affordability is not real, because the poor quality knives have to be replaced fairly regularly. In their lives, consumers have the option of buying one set of high quality, expensive kitchen knives, or they have the option of buying a new inexpensive set every few years which ultimately turns out to be far more expensive.

Not only are cheap knives a false economy, but they can be a real danger to your fingers. Obviously a higher quality kitchen knife is going to be sharper and pointier, but they are very solidly built. The cheaper alternatives can have very week blades that are made out of a single piece of steel. This blade can easily flex when it is put under a small amount of cutting pressure, which means it could easily flex out of position and over a supporting finger - leading to a pretty unpleasant accident.

In extreme examples - and something that has been seen before - the blades can actually snap and leave an even sharper edge exposed; the knife then needs replacing and is a hassle to dispose of properly.

Although the upfront cost is somewhat greater to buy quality kitchen knives (such as Global, Shun, Zwilling/J. A. Henckels, Cutco, Wusthof, etc.), the peace of mind you get from knowing they are not going to break, and will serve you well for decades far outweighs the price difference. In some instances you will be paying more for the brand and label of a good knife forger, but with this comes many layers of tightly folded steel, properly engineered ergonomic handles and decades of experience in the business of forging kitchen knives.