Dog Food

How to Choose Quality Dog Food

When searching for quality dog food it is vital that you read the label
and have the knowledge to understand and interpret the information
you find. When reading the label, look for the first fat or oil that is
listed. All items placed above the first fat source are considered to be
the main ingredients along with the first fat source. The other items
shown on the label are typically added to the dog food for flavor, as
preservatives, to aid in the processing of the food or for health
benefits such as minerals or vitamins.

It is important that you check the ingredients for their nutritional value.
However, due to the names the manufacturers use for food items it can
be somewhat difficult to analyze the usefulness of the food
substances. It is difficult to know what quality grade of food items they
are placing in the foods as well as the quantity of the ingredients. 

Surf Manufacturer's Websites

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) does not
allow dog food manufacturers to place information on the labels
regarding the quality of the food substances. It is important to read
the information that is available on the websites of the various pet
food companies and carefully read the information they provide about
the quality of the ingredients they use in their products.

Protein

Protein is the most vital substance in your dog's diet and you want to
make sure the food you serve your pet uses quality sources of protein.
Quality dog foods usually have a meat meal listed as the first
ingredient on the label or a meat with the second ingredient being a
meat meal substance. Meat by-products are not high quality protein
sources. If the label mentions a specific type of meat meal, such as
chicken meal this type of protein source is not inferior to whole meats.
Avoid products that do not mention the specific animal the meat
source comes from.

Regarding fats look for chicken fat, herring oil canola oil, sunflower oil,
flax oil and other fat sources with specific names. See if the quality fats
such as Omega three and Omega six are on the label. Avoid dog foods
that contain nonspecific items such as animal fat, poultry fat, vegetable
oil and other nonspecific fat sources. 

Look for whole grains which may also be categorized as meal or
ground and also look for fresh vegetables. Avoid products that are
filled with too much grain fragments and flour. Also the quality dog foods
are typically preserved with natural substances such as vitamins. When
looking for quality food products that will keep your dog healthy make
sure you examine the label and read information provided at the
websites of the dog food manufacturers.

Cooking Equipment

Compliments To The Chef With Basic Cooking Equipment

It doesn't matter how talented you are—if you don't have the basic
cooking equipment, then you will not be able to cook anything! Cooking
equipment has changed over the years, and now it seems like there
are so many gadgets on the market. Some of these gadgets might
actually be useful, while others might just be something extra to have
on hand. Whatever the case, cooking equipment will allow you to take
your cooking talent and extend it to reach its fullest potential!

Pots And Pans Are All The Range!

Some of the most basic cooking equipment you can have comes in the
form of pots and pans.  There are so many different pots and pans,
each with a different purpose.  Saucepans are long handled pans that
come in different sizes (most people have more than one) and they
also come with lids.  Skillets, which can also be referred to as frying
pans, have low sides and long handles. These pans also come in
multiple sizes, though the 10-inch ones and 12-inch ones are the most
useful. Other useful pots and pans to have include: woks, griddles,
grill pans, omelet pans, kettles, double broiler, vegetable steamers,
and specialty pans.

Gadgets And Gizmos For The Kitchen

There are many different cooking utensils and equipment that come
in handy when you're cooking up something special. Some of them
are essential to most recipes. A good set of knives, for example, is
a great tool to have in the kitchen. Spatulas, whisks, and wooden
spoons are great to have in an assortment of different sizes.
Measuring cups and measuring spoons are crucial when you are
preparing most recipes.  

What's The Necessity?

Some cooking equipment is more necessary than others. For example,
saucepans and measuring utensils are important when you are cooking
just about anything—you wouldn't be able to cook without them!
However, many other types of cooking equipment are just extra things
that can be handy to have, but that are not actually necessary to the
cooking process.

Items like egg separators, skewers, and tongs can speed up the
cooking process greatly, or can accomplish a task with higher quality
results.  However, if you are shopping for your cooking equipment on a
budget, then it is best to skip over the extras and stick with the basic
items you will need.

Cook Like A Pro

Whether you have been cooking for years, or you are just learning how,
you cannot get anything done without a basic set of cooking
equipment, so purchase some quality tools today!

Cooking Contests

Secrets For Winning Cooking Contests

Cooking contests are a fun way to see if everyone else likes your
recipes as much as your family does. Food and cookware companies
use cooking contests to promote their products, and the prizes are
well worth winning. Whether you enter a new recipe or a family
favorite in a cooking contest, whether your thing is barbeque or
dessert, you can find a cooking contest that appeals to you.

Healthy Cooking Contests

Everybody knows that good health and healthy eating are interrelated,
and healthy cooking contests encourage healthy eating. One example
of this type of contest is the healthy college cookbook contest, where
the winner gets their recipe published in a cookbook, gets a copy of
the cookbook, and a $25 cash prize if the recipe is one of the top 25.

Another healthy cooking contest is the Get Fresh With North
Carolina Sweet Potatoes Recipe Contest, which awards $500
prizes in each of four categories: soups, salads, sides, and sweets.

Dessert Cooking Contests

Who doesn't love dessert? If you make a mean pecan pie, a creative
coconut cake or a bodacious batch of cookies, a dessert contest is
your chance to shine. Hershey's Cocoa has sponsored a classic
cake-baking contest for the last twenty years. Cakes and frosting must
be made from scratch and must use Hershey's cocoa. Cash prizes are
offered for the winning entries, but the best prize is bragging rights for
winning this prestigious competition. The Annual Sesame Street Cookie
Baking Contest is another popular cooking contest. This one was
featured in the 1979 Cookie Monster Storybook and, according to
legend, the Cookie Monster is one of the judges of this fun cooking
contest.

Vegetarian Cooking Contests

Want to win an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii? Of course you do;
who wouldn't? The Blossoming Lotus restaurant in Kauai hosts a
contest called, "The Most Remarkable Vegan Recipe Contest In History.
"The winner of this cooking contest, which requires entrants to use a
recipe containing no animal products whatsoever, wins a one week trip
for two to Hawaii, all expenses paid. 

You can find contests to enter in magazines that specialize in food,
menus, and recipes. Enter local contests first, to build your confidence.
Local contests don't attract nearly as many entrants as nationwide
recipe contests. Once you have a few local contests under your belt,
go ahead and start entering national contests. 

Read food articles in magazines and newspapers to stay current on
trends, and incorporate those trends into recipes you submit for
contests. Examples of recipe contest trends are meals that can be
prepared quickly, low-fat meals, and meals with trendy ingredients,
like sundried tomatoes or figs.

Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels

Monitoring Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels Can Save Your Life

Diabetes and blood sugar levels are two phrases which you will hear
almost every day of your life when you are diagnosed as a diabetic.
Although there is a diabetes that is a result of the brain not being
able to handle it's brain insulin, it's so new that not much is known
about it, let alone monitoring yourself for it. This is about Types 1
and 2 diabetes, where your blood sugar levels will become as
necessary to monitor several times a day.

Normal Levels

Be sure your doctor lets you know what your normal blood sugar
levels should be before and after each meal. You could write them
down on a chart or an index card and stick them either with your
blood glucose meter or on the refrigerator. The point is – put it
where you can see it and compare your normal levels to what is on
your meter several times a day.

The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
(I am not kidding about the name) has put out a chart of normal
blood sugar levels for diabetes patients. Double check these
number ranges with your doctor before you start using them as
your basis of blood sugar normality. Also know how to use your
blood glucose monitor, because you will have to do the tests by
yourself many times a day.  You will soon get the hang of it with
practice.

After feeding your blood glucose monitor a drop of blood from your
finger, it will blink and then flash a number at you. You don't have
to know exactly what the numbers represent in order to keep track
of blood sugar levels for diabetes patients. These are the normal
numbers of blood sugar levels for diabetics:

Before breakfast (when you wale up): 80 to 120
Before meals: 80 to 120
Two hours after meals: 160 or less
At bedtime: 100 to 140

If these blood sugar levels for diabetes patients are way off, you
need to act FAST.  Do whatever your doctor says you should do
in this situation – usually eat something and sit down. You might
have to give yourself an emergency insulin injection. If you are
unsure, call the hospital or call for help right away. A usual
symptom of problems with your blood sugar levels is disorientation
and confusion, so don’t try to take care of it all by yourself.

Diamond Dog Food

Diamond Dog Food Contains Aflatoxin That Could Even
Kill Your Dog

Of late, Diamond dog food has been in the news for all the wrong
reasons because this particular brand of dog food has been linked
to more than one hundred canine deaths mainly because it contains
Aflatoxin that is a potentially harmful toxin. This Aflatoxin is quite
like Vomitoxin that is also toxic and which came to the public’s
attention as being part of the brand of dog foods called Nature’s
Recipe.

Liver Trouble And Possible Death

The problem with Diamond dog food is that because it contains
Aflatoxin, it can lead canines to suffer from liver failure and also
liver trouble and it may even cause them to die as a result of
having consumed such dog food. In fact, there have been five
formulate used in various Diamond dog food products that have
needed to be recalled because they involved the presence of
Aflatoxin, and there were also as many as twenty-four states in
the country and twenty Diamond dog food products that were
adversely impacted by such recall.

However, it should not be assumed that all Diamond dog foods
are contaminated because in fact this recall is more of an isolated
case and is the first recall affecting Diamond in more than
thirty-five years of its operation though there is certainly reason
to be concerned by the recall of Diamond Pet Food because it
only helps to highlight how important is the need to feed your pet
dog with the proper quality of dog food.

In case you have fed your pet dog with Diamond dog food and it is
beginning to show clinical signs of Aflatoxin, you must immediately
stop feeding your pet with such food and also consult a
veterinarian for more advice on the matter. Some of the symptoms
that may be seen after your dog has eaten Diamond dog food are
abrupt and strange loss of appetite, discoloration of urine and
becoming feverish as well showing yellow in the whites of the eyes,
and more.

The major problem with some Diamond dog foods is that they
contain Aflatoxin that is a natural chemical byproduct which occurs
because of the growth on corns and some other crops of a fungus
named Aspergillus flavus. There are serious consequences for your
dog if he is fed Diamond dog food that contains Aflatoxin since,
according to scientists, as many as seventy-five percent of dogs
that are affected by this toxin will die as a consequence of the
symptoms of this toxin.

So, if you have Diamond dog food, play it safe and stop feeding
your pet with any of it and switch over to a safer dog food instead.

Diabetic Dog Food

Dealing With Dogs With Diabetes: Diabetic Dog Food

Although a lot of people are not aware of it, dogs can get many
of the health conditions and diseases that humans do.
This includes diabetes, and actually there are quite a significant
number of dogs around the world that are presently suffering from
the disease. There are in fact two canine diseases that are known
as diabetes, which are diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. 

Insulin is usually required for diabetes in dogs, but while this is
what will help manage the diabetes and keep it under control, you
will also need to focus on their diet and exercise regimes. 

Diet plays an important role in keeping your pet’s diabetes well
regulated. This is especially true because insulin requirements
change depending on the amount and type of food that is eaten
by your pet. 

Diabetic Dog Food

There is specially formulated dog food out there known as diabetic
dog food, which has been specially designed to provide the
essential nutrients and vitamins to dogs suffering from diabetes.
Most of the top brands of dog food offer at least a remote
selection of diabetic food to choose from, and it is important that
you take time to choose the one that is going to be best suited
to your dog in particular. 

Once you have chosen the diabetic dog food, there are a few
things you are going to want to keep in mind. The general
recommendation is that your dog should be fed smaller, more
frequent meals throughout the day if they are diabetic. This gives
their bodies more time to break down the sugars and thereby
blood sugar levels are more stabilized.

If you tend to feed them larger, more frequent meals, what
typically happens is they will experience a large insulin spike,
and then it will drop down significantly as well, and when blood
sugar drops too low, it results in hypoglycemia which is a serious
condition. 

Diet is truly an integral part of the treatment for diabetes, and it is
important that you feed a maintenance diet to your dog which is
going to meet their individual caloric needs and which varies as
little as possible. By feeding your dog diabetic dog food and
combining this with plenty of water and exercise, you will be
ensuring that their dog will live as long and healthy a life as
possible. 

Diabetic dog food is important to include in any diabetic dog’s diet,
and will help not only to manage their condition but make them
healthier in general. 

Diabetes Association

Learn About The American Diabetes Association

With children and adults being diagnosed with one of the two
different types of diabetes, it is important to know that there is
help out there and that there is an organization dedicated to
answering questions and raising money. The American diabetes
association is a nonprofit organization that is focused on providing
the public with different information and research on diabetes.
This diabetes association was founded in 1940 and their programs
can be found in all of the fifty states and also the District of
Columbia. 

The American diabetes association is clear on its mission, which is
to cure those currently suffering from diabetes and to prevent
future problems with this deadly disease. The diabetes association
is set on making the lives of those who suffer with diabetes better.
This organization can be contacted through their site, by mail, or
by phone and all of their contact information along with their yearly
report can be found on their website. They are a very open
organization and do not hide behind red tape as they are truly a
nonprofit group who is out there to make a difference.

What They Do

The diabetes association is out there everyday providing information
to those who have diabetes and their families. They also do a lot in
order to fund research and help to publish the findings for the public
to find and understand. By opening their support center, the
diabetes association was able to help more then 350,000 people last
year alone. These people who they were able to assist all had
questions about diabetes or were in need of support and
management help. If they weren't there, we can only wonder where
those 350,000 people would have ended up getting their information,
if they would be even able to find any at all.

By allowing others to volunteer, they are able to help raise money
through charitable events and memberships. While they do accept
donations in order to help the fight for a cure, the diabetes
association also has an online store in which the purchases made
from there go to help fund diabetes research. Even though it seems
that what they do is what anyone would do, the diabetes
association is always in need of financial assistance and volunteers.
Every effort that can be put in will be put to good use and is greatly
appreciated as the life that you save may very well be your neighbor,
your mother, or even your own.

Cooking Channel

Cooking Channel—Inspiration For Aspiring Chefs

We all love to see professional chefs at work.,  It is amazing to
watch their creativity, skill, technique , and innovation in action,
whether it is right in front of you or on a TV screen.  Because of
the many cooking channels that have now made it onto television,
it is possible to watch professional chefs whenever you want.
Additionally, because the entire channel is devoted to cooking,
different programs provide different methods and cuisine types.
Watching your local cooking channel allows you to gain experience
in many different areas by watching expert chefs.

Hungry Viewers Love The Television

One of the most popular cooking channels is the Food Network.
The Food Network provides a variety of programs that hold appeal
for many different aspiring chefs. To find out the specific time
that your favorite program comes on, you should check your
local listings.

Cooking channels like the Food Network offer programs that appeal
to chefs from all disciplines.  For example, chefs who just want to
learn basic recipes might find 30 Minute Meals a helpful program.
30 Minute Meals, hosted by Rachel Ray, offers quick, delicious
options for those with minimal cooking experience. It is a great
option for busy moms and those who are just learning how to cook.

For those macho men out there, Boy Meets Grill might be an
appealing program. Boy Meets Grill offers recipes and tips for all the
grillers out there—and the fun doesn't just stop with meat!
The show offers tips for grilling fruit, nuts, vegetables—even
cocktails and margaritas!  For those cooking for creative ways
to grill, your local cooking channel will have the answer.

Cooking channels also provide options for people looking to focus
on a specific type of cuisine. Are you experimenting with
Japanese food?  Do you want to get in touch with your Italian
roots?  Then your local cooking channel will have the program for
you! Television shows such as Everyday Italian, which features
many popular Italian recipes like Penne a la Carbonara, Turkey
Bolognese, Chicken Saltimboca, and Veal Marsala, provide the
ideal opportunity to become more knowledgeable in a certain
area of cooking.

Made Possible By The World Wide Web

The Internet is a wonderful thing. The revolution has even
affected cooking channels around the world. Now, thanks to the
Internet, the programs on various cooking channels have the
ability to post their recipes online, making them more accessible
to viewers and chefs.  This leaves no excuses—get cooking
today!