NCTV BLOG

Sweet Potato Encrusted Hog Snapper   Recipe Ingredients 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon fresh ground black or white pepper 4   (approx. 1 1/2 lbs total of Hog Snapper fillets or other firm white fish such as Grouper or Orange Roughy   3/4   to 1 cup mashed sweet potato 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided Preparation Combine buttermilk, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place fish in buttermilk mixture, turning to coat; let stand 3–4 minutes. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Spread the mashed sweet potato onto a plate.   Press each fish fillet into the sweet potato, and coat both sides well.   Place 2 tablespoons butter in pan, then add fish; cook 4 minutes, turning once.   Place 2 tablespoons butter in center of pan. Turn fish (using spatula), distributing butter under each fillet; cook 3 more minutes or until golden and fish flakes easily.   Optional Cilantro Lime Sauce Cil...

Sweet Potato   Long a favorite at the Thanksgiving Table, the sweet potato has come a long way since the days of being seen at dinner once a year.   I know in our house it was always a favorite we all looked forward to every Holiday,   but for years, it just didn’t come to mind any other time. Thankfully, that's all changed, and we add the sweet potato to our meals often.   The Nutritional Value Of The Sweet Potato Not to be confused with the yam, which hails from The Caribbean and is not the same vegetable, the sweet potato brings a respectable amount of vitamins and minerals to our diet all on its own.   In fact one medium sized sweet potato gives us more than 400% of our daily requirement of Vitamin A, and over 30% of our daily requirement of Vitamin C.   The sweet potato also contains smaller amounts of iron and calcium, making an all around great side dish choice.   Sweet Potato Varieties   Three popular sweet potato varieties are: Covin...

Volcano Pose Instructions 1. Standing in Mountain Pose, and   turn your palms away from your body so your thumbs point backward.   Inhaling, sweep your arms out to the sides and up toward the ceiling. 2. If your shoulders are tight, stop when your arms are parallel to your body.   The next step is to put your hands together, base of palms first and lastly the fingers.   Make sure that your shoulders and shoulder blades remain lowered down your back. 3. Reach through your pinkies so your thumbs reach slightly down toward the crown of your head. Without compressing your neck, tip your head backward and look at your thumbs. 4. Your lower ribs should not protrude. Lift your ribcage away from your belly and press your tailbone toward the floor stretching your belly. Visualization:   You are an erupting volcano that is getting rid of all the negative energy you may be carrying within you.   Just like lava flows out of the volcano during eruption, all of your wor...

  My List Of 12 Healthy Foods For Women Almonds and walnuts Beans Spinach and other green vegetables Dairy, low-fat varieties, such as yogurt Oatmeal Eggs, or egg whites Turkey and other lean meats Extra Virgin Olive oil Whole grains Extra protein for snacks, such as slices of reduced fat cheese Blueberries, raspberries and other berries Salmon - this is one food you need to eat two to three times per week. Building your menus around these powerfully beneficial foods, your body will be fueled with good carbs, protein, fiber, and healthy fats.  Be sure to pay special attention to protein, because that is what builds the lean muscle mass that speeds up the fat burning process. This isn’t dieting.  That’s not how I roll.  It’s smart eating that’s in keeping with two things:  what you enjoy, and what your body requires. You can easily find ways to enjoy any one of the foods I have listed above, because they are all delicious and are common foods found in any superma...

  How To Perform Aromatherapy At Home The Oils You Can Choose From Cardamom One of my very favorite cooking spices is also a warm, stimulating, and even pain relieving oil. Cypress Tones the skin, cleanses and balances oiliness. Geranium Is skin hydrating, soothing to irritation and nourishing. Grapefruit Refreshing and energizing, this oil has cleansing, detoxifying and oil-balancing properties. Juniper This oil has stimulating, warming and detoxifying properties. It’s excellent for use on areas of the body prone to cellulite. Lavender Known the world over for its calming affect, this oil is also soothing, rejuvenating and even pain relieving. Lavender can help reduce if applied to recent cuts and scrapes. Lemon This tart-sweet citrus oil has antiseptic, toning and cleansing properties. Ylang Ylang Another lovely fragrance that is especially beneficial to oily skin, Ylang Ylang reduces oil while maintaining moisture balance, and rejuvenates the spirit. Methods To make ...

  Potato Bread Recipe Bake this wonderful bread as an accompaniment to a big bowl of homemade soup. It’s an awesome dinner on rainy days or any time you want to eat well but don’t have lots of time to spend in the kitchen. And, you can make both ahead of time and put in the freezer. This recipe makes a very flavorful white bread anyone would love. It’s moist and fine-textured, it's wonderful for sandwiches and toast, and it doesn't crumble.  A bread lover's dream! Long rising time is the key here. The longer a batch of dough rises, the better its flavor will be. And the taste of this bread is superb! The combination of potato, butter and eggs produces just a bit of rustic flavor in the final product.... so, let's get going. **Makes 3 loaves in 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 size pans, or 8 mini 6 x 3 inch loaves. Potato Bread Ingredients 1 tablespoon dry yeast 9 tablespoons (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups lukewarm (110°F) potato water (water in which potatoes hav...

    Spine Stretch Instructions Sit up tall with your best posture. Imagine your shoulders are directly over your sit bones so that you are neither leaning forward nor back. Your legs are extended about shoulder width apart, and your feet are flexed. If you are positioned on a yoga mat, your feet should land just outside of it.    Lengthen the back of your neck and reach the top of your head to the sky. Your shoulders should stay relaxed while your waist draws inward and upward.Inhale and extend your arms out in front of you, shoulder height.  The palms face down and your fingers lengthen forward. Be certain to keep your arms directly in line with the shoulders and to maintain a fixed width between the arms.   Exhale as you lengthen your spine into a large C-shape curve forward. Your objective is a high arc in the spine, a deep curve in the abdominal and, over time, reaching the crown of your head toward the mat.    Work to keep the legs engaged an...

About The Pelvic Curl Prepare Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Make sure that your feet, ankles, and knees are aligned and hip-distance apart. This exercise starts in neutral spine. In neutral spine, the natural curves of the spine are present so the lower back is not pressed into the mat. Begin Sequential Breathing Inhale. Bring your breath into your chest, then belly, and down to the pelvic floor. Exhale. Release the breath from the pelvic bowl, the belly, and then the chest. Inhale. Exhale Do a pelvic tilt by engaging the abdominal muscles and pulling your bellybutton down toward your spine. Let that action continue so that the abs press the lower spine into the floor. In the pelvic tilt position, your back is very long against the floor and the pelvis is tilted so that the pubic bone is a little higher than the hip bones. Inhale Press down through your feet allowing the tailbone to begin to curl up toward the ceiling. The hips raise, then the ...

Skin Care Treatments For Under Eye Circles Inflammation is one of the biggest dark circle factors, so you have to make sure that you don’t have inflamed skin to diminish dark circles. Black Tea Bags – Tea reduces irritation on your skin and can also de-congest the sinus area. If you choose to use tea bags which are heavily caffeinated, it can also help lessen visible veins through your skin. Massage – The use of massaging helps to reduce the water that can get trapped beneath the lower eyelid. Gently massage the entire eye area with a small amount of either serum or lotion, that’s formulated for use in the eye area, and you’ll see a wonderful improvement. Be sure that you apply the product in a circular motion, and move your fingers very lightly around your eyes. Hydration – Dark circles get worse when your skin is unusually dry, because that tends to make your skin thinner. Be sure you use a thick-textured eye cream or oil. Instead of rubbing it in, let rest on the skin for 10-...

  The Relaxation Technique Details Breathing correctly acts as a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system, and so it goes that the deeper you breathe, the calmer your mind and body become.  Acquiring the ability to relax is something very few people truly achieve without making serious effort, but, the benefits of practicing relaxation techniques can stand you in good stead for coping with all of life's day to day issues. Standing in a supermarket line, or waiting at a stop light, will not seem quite so irritating once you have learned these simple relaxation exercises.  That's not to say that you won't have the odd lapse into impatience now and again, but, you will find that you have fewer and fewer times when you even come close to blowing your cool. The Method Set the mood first by creating a home oasis.  This is something you will be able to do with some creativity and even some ingenuity added if needed.  You'll need to get the lights down low, and get t...

  Italian Wheat Rolls Recipe Ingredients 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon salt 2 cups boiling water 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 2 eggs 2 cups whole wheat flour 4 cups bread flour Directions In a small bowl, combine olive oil, white sugar and salt. Add boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar; let cool to lukewarm. In another small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. When sugar and water mixture has cooled, add yeast mixture, eggs, whole wheat flour and 2 cups bread flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Divide the dough into twenty four equal size pieces and form into rounds. Place the rounds on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doub...

  Tips For Making A Healthier Minestrone Soup Select organic product companies as much as possible.   Opt for an expensive extra virgin olive oil  Use low sodium or salt-free canned foods  Make your own croutons using your favorite breads, rolls, or English muffins.   Minestrone Soup Recipe  Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 leek, sliced 2 carrots, chopped 1 zucchini, thinly sliced 4 ounces green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock 1 pound chopped tomatoes 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 (15 ounce) can Cannellini beans, with liquid 1/4 cup elbow macaroni or any pasta you like Freshly grated cheese sea salt and ground black pepper to taste Directions Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add leek, carrots, zucchini, green beans, garlic and celery. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Stir in the stock,...

  About Using Flower Water Toners After cleansing, it is important to tone the skin using either a water-based or alcohol-based product. This removes any last traces of both makeup and cleanser, and it refreshes and hydrates the skin. Toners also help to reduce the size of enlarged pores and improve the surface texture of the skin. There are many commercial preparations on the market, so again it’s important to your know your skin type to ascertain that you’re using the formula that’s right for you. In this post I’ll be discussing flower waters which are very pleasant to use, gentle on the skin, and effectively tone and hydrate the skin. Many of these products need to be refrigerated, so check the label, and also must be used within three months of purchase.   Flower Waters Orange Flower Water   This a by-product of the distillation process that produces orange blossom essential oil. Exquisitely perfumed, it contains minute traces of the oil. Orange Flower Water soot...

  Potatoes are better for you than you may think! Potatoes really do get a bad rap. Too much starch, is what some nutrition pros consider to be the problem.  They are loaded with calories, others say. However, the facts about the humble and incredibly versatile potato may surprise you if you’ve come to think that they’re not a healthy choice. Nutritional Facts About Potatoes First of all, let me tell you one very important benefit you get from potatoes: they help lower your blood pressure. Containing more than 600mg of potassium in a medium potato, your blood vessels are more likely to be relaxed (as opposed to tense and constricted) and the flow of oxygen and nutrients is better carried to your entire body. Keeping your circulation flowing is essential to life itself, and certainly the quality of that life as well. My family has a long history of HBP, and I’ve spent 64 years avoiding it myself – so far successfully – and I eat baked potatoes including the skin as often as pos...

  Where Do Extra Calories Come From? One place where extra calories sneak into our diets is in what we drink. Many of us think of beverages as totally harmless. Since they’re liquid, they couldn’t possibly have a significant number of calories, right? Wrong. Actually, many people consume 1,000 calories or more every day just by drinking high-calorie beverages. When you consider that the average person’s daily caloric intake is roughly 2,000 calories, you can see what a big problem our drinks are. Calories in Soda The most obvious culprit when it comes to high-calorie drinks is soda. For example, one 12 oz can of Classic Cola contains about 140 calories. In a 20 oz bottle of cola that you might purchase from a vending machine, there are 250 calories. Just two of those per day is already 500 calories, or the equivalent of one average serving of Beef Stroganoff. Diet soda can provide a low-calorie alternative, but diet soda is not harmless. These drinks often contain artificial sweete...

I t's a Smart Thing To Do Drink one to four cups of freshly brewed green tea every day - your skin will be glowing in no time! In addition to a radiant complexion, green tea has so many health benefits, such as strengthening the immune system.   The following teas may not be familiar to you, however, if you are luck enough to have a specialty tea shop in your town, you will surely find one or all of these.  Otherwise, there are many good sources on the internet.   How To Brew Green Tea Overall Method Use 1 teaspoon of tea for every 8-12 ounces of water. Only brew the amount of tea you will consume immediately. If you brew 20 ounces of green tea and pour a 10-ounce cup, come back 20 minutes later and pour a second cup, the second cup will be bitter.   Water temperature and brewing time per variety: Sencha After you have brought the kettle to a boil allow the water to cool for about 3 minutes. The water should be hot, but not boiling, about 79 to 87 degrees Centigrade...