The Benefits of Water You Didn’t Know

Written by. Chalise Macklin

Toss that soda to the side and grab a bottle of water. There are endless benefits to making water your beverage of choice – like, did you know that water makes up approximately 70% of a human’s body weight. Water possesses tons of hidden gems, some of them may surprise you.

It is highly publicized that water helps the skin, slows the aging process, and corrects digestion issues. But water has so many more benefits such as: fluid balance, calorie and mood control, and eliminating bad breath. The latter may have shocked you. It is not enough to just brush your teeth, floss and use mouth wash. Medical experts say drinking plenty of water helps flush the mouth and clean off the tongue, which reduces the possibility of bad breath.

Love Guac? Easy and delish recipe you gotta try

Written By: AbsolutViolette

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! I know, you may not be Mexican, and neither am I, but who turns down a reason to party? Food + Margarita (cause me and tequila is no bueno). Sounds like a good time to me.

Image courtesy of Momtrends.com

Did you know that Americans celebrate May 5 more than Mexican’s do? It’s not even a national holiday in Mexico outside the city of “Puebla” where the battle (during the Franco-Mexican war) was won. So yeah, May 5 is not Mexico’s independence day, FYI.

Another interesting fact is that according to the California Avocado Commission, American’s consume up to 81 million pounds of avocados on May 5 every year. Now that’s a lot of guac. Just in case you happen to have a few laying around in the kitchen, and you love chipotle (who doesn’t love chipotle?) here’s a easy and delish recipe you gotta try.

Image courtesy of Gingersnapjordan.blogspot.com

Chipotle Shrimp and Guacamole Tostada Bites

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Small to medium shrimp
• Chipotle or BBQ dry seasoning
• 1 T. olive oil
• Round tortilla chips or scoops
• Guacamole (your favorite homemade recipe, or store bought – no judgement)
• Creme fraiche
• Chipotle hot sauce
• Cilantro

Directions:

1. Toss raw shrimp with chipotle seasoning
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute shrimp until just opaque and cooked throughout. Remove from heat.
3. Top each tortilla chip with a dollop of guacamole, one shrimp, and a leaf of cilantro.
4. Mix chipotle hot sauce into creme fraiche until desired level of flavor is achieved. Add mixture to a Ziploc bag and trim one small corner to pipe onto tostadas.

Enjoy!

SoCo: So Jazzy, So Brooklyn, Oh so good!

A serious adventurer and foodie, I make it my business when traveling to never eat at the same place or somewhere I can eat at home. So, during my quick trip to NYC this weekend my heart but mostly my stomach, craved a meal of depth and substance. And that is exactly what I got. After battling the traffic and finding myself in tunnel after tunnel, I landed at SoCo restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.

SoCo specializes in Southern Fused Cuisine with a tagline of So Jazzy, So Brooklyn. Walking through the door I was ready to absorb the “ SO Brooklyn” atmosphere, but was stopped in my tracks as 3 of my guests were asked to remove their hats due to a, “No Hat” policy.Although I understand the desire to create an upscale atmosphere, the idea of adults having to do anything when patronizing an establishment slightly rubbed me the wrong way. But after everyone briefly debated rather they were going to comply or keep it pushing we decided to stay, nappy heads on display and all.  

While being walked to our table, our bad hair day thoughts quickly dissipated as we heard familiar hip hop tunes being recreated by violinist/dj Phear None. As we were seated and throughout the night he would go on to play hits from: Drake, Wale, Young Thug, Tory Lanes and more. It completely set the atmosphere giving you what you know but reaching you in a way you hadn’t expected. It was dope. We were set at a very beautiful large wooden table overlooking the restaurant in a way that made us feel nothing less of VIP. As I looked across the room, all guests were dancing, singing, laughing and eating- these were definitely good signs.

Looking across the menu with black and white photos of icons such as Brooklyn’s own Notorious BIG, I was pleased to see the culture being celebrated and executed in a unique but not gaudy way.The inside of the menu intrigued me even more. It was filled with cajun/creole, barbecue, soul food and everything in between. I didn’t know where to begin. After taking entirely too long to decide, I finally chose the lobster, shrimp and grits. I am actually hailed for my cover of shrimp and grits that includes clam meat so I can be very picky when it comes to the flavors. Needless to say, flavor was no issue here. As our plates arrived, ( within a very good time frame) our excitement heightened. My plate, not only with satisfying portions of lobster and shrimp,  was also dressed with fresh herbs and spices for days. The grits were perfectly prepared with a excellent balance of cheese and perfect texture. This was truly the best shrimp and grits interpretation I’ve ever had. They receive a Ms. White stamp of approval 10 stars for that dish.

 

My companions had blackened salmon, bbq chicken and another had chicken and red velvet waffles. Each person non-verbally gave the same review clearing their plates in record time.We were so stuffed but greed took over as we dared to go towards dessert. One friend had a strawberry shortcake rendition that was one for the books. A small mason jar was filled to the top with cake, strawberries, whipped-cream and ice cream. Another one ordered the banana wontons. This was beyond phenomenal with a perfectly flaky shell all on a small pool of hot caramel that melts your soul. One word to sum up the food at SoCo, delicious!

One word to describe the entire experience…I can’t think of one. But one sentence would be; excellent food and dope atmosphere. Customer service was on point although they do fast talk you into purchasing large bottles of water for your table. Clearly not regulars we didn’t know, so when offered a bottle of water or tap we quickly said bottled. We later realized we were the only ones with the $6 name brand water on our tables while all other patrons had what the waiter called Tap water in a similar glass bottle. Other than that small observation this establishment gets 5 stars.

You Look Like What You Eat

Written by: Barrie Ladipo

Now let’s face it, as women, scratch that, as human beings we face so much adversity that obtaining healthy skin is last of our priorities. Most of us are lucky enough if we make it to work — late! With some much going on in our world on daily basis, we all still try to maintain beauty and radiance through our looks and our skin needs have a good foundation to obtain that. So that golden rule, “you are what you eat” plays a significant role in our skin. Kimberly Snyder, celebrity nutritionist and author of the best-selling The Beauty Detox Solution informs us the importance of his our diet really affects the way we look in her book. Here are five foods Synder shares that will certainly make a drastic improvement to skin’s health.

Cucumber

Not only for a great spa day, but cucumbers are filled with hydrating enzymes which is essential for beautiful skin. Vitamin B, C, zinc, iron, folic acid, calcium, magnesium and potassium are the major components in cucumbers.

Papaya

Papaya automatically look like they contain juices that help maintain beautiful skin sigh that beautiful orange palette it embodies. Papayas carries properties that help digestion and advocates fir brighter skin and eyes.

Lemon

Lemon are always cute in a martini, but also comes with Vitamin C and enzymes that advocates skin collagen.

Cabbage

Cabbage already look like strong vegetable. They are extremely high in fiber and carries compound sulfidaphane, the key to the anti aging antioxidant movements in the body.
fry.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are already snacks that carries Vitamin B and biotin, the essential component to healthy hair, skin, and nails. They also have zinc that decreases the growth of acne.

If You Haven’t Eaten Here, You’re Missing Out!

Written by: LoveJFab 

I’ve been on this clean eating kick pretty seriously off & on. (I know that sentence is an oxymoron, don’t.) But most recently, I got hype to all the amazing documentaries about food, on Netflix. I watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Food Inc., Supersize Me (I saw this originally in middle or high school, just needed to be reminded that McDonald’s is trash.) and Forks Over Knives. These documentaries had me glued to my TV for 3 days, and they had me seriously contemplating making the clean eating change sooner than later. I’ll go into deeper detail on my next post, today I want to share with you a local gem in the city that I found.

KALE ME CRAZY

  

It’s an amazing superfood cafe in Atlanta, there are 4 locations open now and 4 more under construction. I went to the 300 N. Highland Ave NE location. This place is amazing, to say the least. The atmosphere is very simplistic and clean, I was going to grab something to go but the feel of the place made me sit down and enjoy my meal. It was a perfect solo lunch date, just me & the sunshine coming through the big glass window in front of me…

Read the rest of my experience & what happened when I met the CEO, all right here! 

Holiday Crockpot Foods: Weenie Wraps

Christmas is quickly approaching, and you have yet to figure out what you’re going to bring to the family Christmas Eve Party. You’ve thought about bringing chips, or a cake–or maybe even a punch, but that’s the norm. Rotel dip is already on the menu, so now you’re thinking long and hard. Search no further, weenie wraps would be the perfect dish for any holiday gathering.

Wrapped in bacon and marinated in brown sugar, these little weenies are delicious. I’ve had them on plenty occasions, and every time I do, the whole pot gets gone. Nothing like a sweet and savory snack to end the night off!

Get the deets on how to make this dish below

Things you will need:

Crock Pot

Big Spoon

Toothpicks

Pack of Hotdogs (Jumbo) or Cocktail Weenies (This dish can be made with both. Whichever you choose is fine)

Pack of Bacon (Any kind)

1 Box of Dominos Light Brown Sugar

Now that you have the essentials and ingredients you need, lets make some Weenie Wraps!

1. First take each hotdog  and cut them into 3 pieces. (if you are using cocktail weenies, you will NOT need to cut those)

2. Take the bacon slices and cut each of them in half. Wrap each piece around your weenies.

3. Stick toothpicks in the middle of each weenie wrap. The toothpick should make the bacon stay.

4. Now put your weenies in the crock pot. Make sure its not too many in the pot. If you overload the pot with them, the bottom ones will cook faster than the top ones.

5. Pour a whole box of light brown sugar over the weenie wraps. The more your pour the sweeter they will be. If you would like them to be very sweet then you could extend the sugar to about a box and a half.

Okay, you’re all set. It’s time to cook! These weenie wraps could be done TWO ways. 

– Cook overnight

Cooking them overnight will eventually lead to better results, because the wraps have time to simmer and marinade in the brown sugar sauce. The longer you cook them, the more savory they will be!

Set your crock pot on LOW so they can slow cook.

Also, be sure to keep your weenie wraps throughout the night so they won’t potentially burn.

– Cook For 6 Hours

If you’re in a rush, and don’t have all night to cook the dish, this is the easiest and quickest way to make them. Although I prefer cooking them overnight, they are still very tasty this way as well.

Set your crock pot on HIGH so they can cook faster.
Written by: Ashley Blackwell (@ashleytearra)