Yogurt

Hear those school bells ringing? It's time to start packing -- lunch, that is. For these warm first days, your student might appreciate a little cool relief in his lunch, like applesauce, fruit or yogurt. Come winter, a cup of soup takes off the chill. A good insulated storage container should keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. We bought three 10-ounce containers and tested their performance on yogurt and soup. The yogurt went into the containers straight from the refrigerator at about 37 degrees; the soup was boiling at 212 degrees.

This week's menusEach day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost- cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyPrepare...

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless or ``less meat'' dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyYou'll be spending more time with the family when you prepare easy Mustard Lamb Chops (see recipe)

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health temporarily closed a restaurant because of emergency circumstances discovered during inspections between Aug. 16 and Aug. 31.Everything Yogurt and Salad Cafe, 174 Annapolis Mall, was closed for part of a day Aug. 16 because of a refrigeration problem.Everything Yogurt was faulted for workers not practicing effective hand washing and not holding food at the proper temperature.Health workers inspected 158 restaurants and other food service establishments during the period and found 29 with critical food safety violations that were immediately corrected.

I WAS GETTING ready to board an early American Airlines flight out of Miami, and they announced that it was going to be "bistro service." "Please pick up your `bistro' meal from the cart as you board the plane," they told us.I honestly wasn't sure what "bistro" meant, but it sounded French, which I thought was a good sign. French food is pretty tasty, except for the snails, which I do not believe the French actually eat. I believe the French sit around their restaurants pretend ing to eat out of empty snail shells and making French sounds of enjoyment such as "Yumme!"

A handy spoon for yogurt eatersIn the "why-didn't-somebody-think-of-this-before" category, Colombo has attached a snap-out plastic spoon in the lids of its 8-ounce yogurt containers. The two-piece spoon is easy to pop out and assemble, and extremely handy. No more frantically searching for a utensil.Being neighborly with zucchiniIf zucchini is taking over your garden and kitchen, help is on the way. Sunday is "Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night." Really. Thomas Roy, an avid gardener in Mount Gretna, Pa., started the celebration several years ago. Now, it's catching on around the country.

Recently an out-of-towner asked me to name Baltimore's four-star restaurants, and I was tempted to mention the Helmand. But I knew what he expected: expensive places with elaborate decor, posh food and a big wine list. So I didn't.The Helmand is that rarity, a restaurant that does what it sets out to do superbly. Of course, if Afghan food with its emphasis on vegetables and stews and flavors of yogurt, mint, cardamom and garlic doesn't appeal to you, then read no further.Although it's not haute cuisine, the quality of the Helmand's food remains at a consistently high level.

Why buck the system: the luscious flavor system of potatoes-meet-dressing?Potato salad is too delectable to relegate to an occasional picnic side dish. Too irresistible to be just a sandwich sidekick.Augmented with slivers of cooked meat, chicken, fish or beans, it turns into a weeknight main course. At my house, it's often a Monday night special, incorporating leftovers from a weekend of feasting. Protein-rich tidbits add a spark of flavor. And in just the few minutes it takes to cook the potatoes, lackluster leftovers become luscious entrees.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyFor an easy family meal, prepare Honey-Soy Glazed Pork Chops (see recipe)

Creamy dips don't have to carry a heavy burden of fat - not when there are low-fat and fat-free alternatives to traditional dips laden with mayonnaise, sour cream and oil.Nonfat plain yogurt and low-fat ricotta cheese are long-standing staples for lightening up dips. Blending either of these products (or a mixture) with a puree of fresh vegetables or fruits gives light-hearted dips an entirely new dimension: gorgeous color.Another invaluable ingredient for lighter dips is soft (silken) tofu, a soy product with a delicate, pudding-like texture.

Dorchester County gets funds for water projects Dorchester County will receive a $3 million injection of federal stimulus funding to help build water and sewer lines and a stormwater management facility at a technology park in Cambridge, federal officials said Friday. The federal Economic Development Administration grant is expected to help create jobs and encourage private investment in the area, officials said. The project was made possible due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

As the bus lumbered up the snowy road, winding higher and higher toward the top of the mountain, my only thought was, "What has he gotten us into?" "He" was my uncle, and the bus was climbing to the top of Grosse Scheidegg, a 6,434-foot peak in Switzerland, where passengers would hop off the bus and sled back to the bottom of the icy road. At one point, the driver stopped to put chains on the tires before continuing to drive at a steep angle through blind twists and turns, making the idea of sledding back down (and possibly encountering the next bus)

Ah, twice-a-week garbage collection. It was nice while it lasted - 55 years, apparently - but it's time to give up this municipal luxury. It's time to hold our noses and pry this one out of our cold, Hefty Cinch Sak'd fingers. As the city looks to slash spending - Mayor Sheila Dixon on Friday projected a $65 million gap in fiscal 2010 between what the city will take in and what it will spend to provide the current level of services - going from twice- to once-a-week garbage pickup is an idea whose time has come.

Both Yoplait Kids Lowfat Yogurt and Stonyfield Farm's YoKids Organic Lowfat Yogurt have less sugar (each has 13 grams) than some regular kids' yogurt brands. But there are differences in calories and fat between the two. You'll save 20 calories, 1 gram of saturated fat, 4 grams carbohydrate and 5 milligrams cholesterol if you choose the 4-ounce serving of Stonyfield Strawberry Vanilla over the same size Yoplait Kids Strawberry Vanilla (which does advertise 16 milligrams of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids per serving)

Here is the first thing I see the other night when I turn on the TV: Jamie Lee Curtis rubbing her belly and shilling for Activia yogurt. "First the bad news," the commercial begins, "87 percent of this country suffers from digestive issues like occasional irregularity." Eighty-seven percent! No wonder the economy's in the tank and we're getting nowhere in Iraq. People are miserable! All they can think about is finding a bathroom. To emphasize the horror of this national calamity - only 13 percent of Americans are unburdened by digestive issues!

Maybe the last time you used that cream on your face, ate that power bar or fed your dog that food from China, you thought about the unnatural stuff inside and wondered if you were doing yourself any good. Here are some new items that were on display at the 2007 Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore recently that are made from ingredients you probably can pronounce: 1. Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops Price: $2.50-$2.80 for a bag of 15 lollipops Where to get it: Amazon.com or YummyEarth.

Hear those school bells ringing? It's time to start packing -- lunch, that is. For these warm first days, your student might appreciate a little cool relief in his lunch, like applesauce, fruit or yogurt. Come winter, a cup of soup takes off the chill. A good insulated storage container should keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. We bought three 10-ounce containers and tested their performance on yogurt and soup. The yogurt went into the containers straight from the refrigerator at about 37 degrees; the soup was boiling at 212 degrees.

It sounds downright risky, but snacking on billions of live bacteria can actually improve digestion, support the immune system and bolster overall health. Called probiotics, these "friendly" microbes with health benefits are found naturally in breast milk and fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, aged cheese, miso and certain pickles and sauerkraut. They work by keeping intestinal flora balanced and preventing not-so-friendly bacteria from taking over and causing disease. But during the past 50 years, the increased use of antibiotics and a changing diet low in soluble fiber and high in refined carbohydrates have produced an "invisible epidemic of insufficient probiotics," said Gary Huffnagle, professor of internal medicine and microbiology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Why choose a "whopper" when a "slider" will do? White Castle's mini-hamburgers make sense -- as long as you can resist ordering (and eating) a sackful. Experts refer to our inclination to super-size as "portion distortion," a clever phrase that describes how the amount of food we eat has ballooned over time. Linda Gassenheimer, author of The Portion Plan, points out that in days gone by a 3-ounce hamburger that contained 300 calories was considered a standard serving size. But today the average is closer to a 6-ounce burger with 600 calories.

What it is -- A new Indian-style, bite-size snack What we like about it --These snacks are light and crispy, but not oily or salty. The creamy yogurt dill flavor isn't overpowering, and the small chips are tasty when eaten plain or dunked into French onion dip. The all-natural papadums are trans-fat free and available in three other flavors. What it costs --$2.69 for a 4-ounce bag Where to buy --Available at Whole Foods Market in Harbor East, David's Natural Market in Columbia and Gambrills, and Roots Market in Clarksville Per serving (1 ounce from a 4-ounce bag)