Immunity Boosting Foods

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With cold season coming down on us we all know that exercise helps our immune system fight off a cold or flu but do we know what the best foods to help actually boost your immunity are?  It may be surprising but one of the best immunity boosting foods is actually garlic.

Garlic contains both allicin and sulfides which are infection fighting compounds.  Garlic stimulates the production of white blood cells that fight infection, and it also helps to eliminate toxic free radicals from the bloodstream.

Vitamin C is a common supplement that most people think of taking once they are sick but taking it regularly will be a great way to build up your immunity levels to prevent you from becoming sick in the first place.  There are always the typical oranges, and berry fruits that are packed with vitamin C but the highest rate per serving are actually red and green hot chili peppers.  Red beans have the highest level of antioxidants per serving.

Antioxidants help restore cells in your body to keep your body functioning properly while helping prevent the onset of sicknesses.  Fish is another great immunity boosting food.  Each type of fish has its own different properties that are great for your body but they all contain a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids that are natural anti-inflammatories.

By increasing airflow to the lungs, many respiratory infections can be cleared up more quickly while providing some amount of relief to inflamed mucous membranes.  There are many more great immunity boosting foods out there but these are some of the best.  A simple immunity boosting meal would be fish tacos containing garlic, red beans, chili pepper, and a side of fruit.

Consume these foods and more of the immunity boosting foods and you won't have to worry about catching that cold that nags you for several weeks!

Fall Series Cardio

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Everyone has their own lineup of shows that they follow very closely. With summer at its end, that means less time outside and more time inside the house and/or gym because of the weather becoming cooler. This is the time of year that new TV series start back up and grab our attention like never before. Now how can we watch our favorite shows and get that extra cardio outside of our workouts in? Simple, something I like to call Commercial Cardio!

 If you have a DVR system, simply record your shows ahead of time. When you are finally ready to watch them, simply set up a TV in front of either your treadmill or elliptical, press play, and crank up the level on the elliptical or the incline on the treadmill and start walking on your treadmill or going at a steady pace on the elliptical. Keep that up until the commercials, and when they come on, turn the level or incline down, and start moving faster or running until the show is back on. Proceed to go back to your original speed or level once your show is back on. Repeat until your show is done.

A typical 30 minute show will have 22 minutes of the show playing, and 8 minutes of commercials. Now if your show is an hour long, then that makes out to be about 42 minutes of show, and 18 minutes of commercials. Since no one really pays much attention to the commercials, it will make it easy for you to really push yourself during them, so you can pay attention to the actual show when it comes back on. As you progress in your endurance, you can mix it up with the speed and incline/level on your equipment. This even works at the gym since many pieces of cardio equipment comes with a little TV on top of them. Try it out, and see how far you can get during your show. It will make watching TV a lot more tiring and worthwhile.

Slow Cooker Recipes!!!

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I'll be the first to admit, there are some days where I want nothing to do with cooking.  In fact, it is the last thing on my mind after a long day of work.  I am sure most of you can relate to this.  Well, I have for you, 2 easy, unique recipes you can put into your slow cooker and have ready for you when you get home from work.  It doesn't get much easier than this.
Take a look below and tell me what you think.

Curry Chicken

Ingredients 
4-6 chicken thighs or boneless skinless, chicken breasts
2 peaches, skinned and sliced into 1/4 inch slices, reserving 8 slices for garnish
1/3 cup raisins
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 tablespoons olive oil
fresh ginger root - thinly sliced - 4 slices
2 cloves garlic - crushed
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
salt and pepper
lemon juice
Hot cooked jasmine rice

Directions 
1.Rinse, dry, and season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2.Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the chicken to lightly brown, about 3 minutes per side.
3.Transfer chicken to slow cooker and top with peaches, raisins and shallots.
4.Reserve the remaining 8 slices of peaches and toss with lemon juice to coat and refrigerate.
5.Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, whisk to combine and pour over chicken.
6.Turn slow cooker to High and cook for 3 – 3 1/2 hours.
7.Serve over jasmine rice. Top with the reserved peaches as a garnish.
Serves: 4-6
Size: 3-6 quarts

Wild Mushroom Beef Stew

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 small white onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced

Directions
1.Put the beef in the slow cooker. Mix together the flour, salt and pepper and sprinkle over the meat; stir to coat each piece of meat with flour. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix well.
2.Cover; cook on LOW 10 to 12 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours. Stir the stew before serving.
Tip
You may double the amount of meat, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, onion and celery for the 5, 6 or 7-quart slow cooker.
Note
This classic beef stew is given a twist with the addition of flavorful shiitake mushrooms. If shiitake mushrooms are unavailable in your local grocery store, you can substitute other mushrooms of your choice. For extra punch, add a few dried porcini mushrooms to the stew.