Healthy portions

So, how can we squeeze eating such a wide range of foods into one day? Lydia Kelly, a specialist registered dietician who works for the NHS, advises: “Try to base meals on starchy carbohydrates such as bread, pasta or potatoes. Include a range of different fruit and vegetables in your diet and try to have at least one to two portions with every meal. Including a moderate serving of protein-containing food is also important. Then choose adequate calcium sources, aiming for three portions of low-fat dairy or dairy alternatives daily.”

Whilst a small amount of sugary foods each day is acceptable, she warns, “eating sugar too frequently may increase risk of tooth decay. Weight gain may also occur if sugar in the diet provides more energy than we are using up”.

And many dieticians agree there’s no such thing as a ‘superfood’. The overall balance of the diet is what really matters, and guides such as the Eatwell Plate can be helpful. No single food will provide all the nutrients we really need. And neither can one meal – so the plate of food above might be one healthy option, but a good diet should include a wide range of foods from each of the different food groups.

Don’t forget the fluids…

Fluids are also vital to help our bodies perform their functions effectively, and the best fluid of all is water. Two-thirds of a healthy human body is actually made up of water. It’s necessary to help our blood carry nutrients and waste around the body and to help the chemical reactions that occur in our cells.

Let’s talk about friendship and relationship with friends

Songs, poems and proverbs about friendship are common and can be found in all languages. It is so because friendship has a great value in our life. It is good to have a friend in the family, but it’s more common when we have our best friends among our classmates or people of the same age.

You know, I’ve learnt not long ago that there is a special day to celebrate friendship. International Friendship Day was traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday of August each year. However, in 2011 the United Nations declared July 30 to be the new International Day of Friendship.

Everyone knows the proverb “A friend in need is a friend indeed” – according to the old saying a good friend should always help us in difficulties, cheer us up and raise our spirits when we are down, troubled or when nothing is going right. However, experience shows that good friendship is based on a delicate balance. That is why friendship must be cherished to become stronger and stronger, it must be “planted like a seed”. Trust is the most important aspect of any relationship. It takes time to establish trust with people and it’s essential that you make establishing trust a priority in your friendship. And, most importantly, once that trust has been established, don’t break it. Once trust has been broken, it can be very difficult to get it back.

The best of friends totally love and support and trust each other, and bare to each other the secrets of their souls, and run – no questions asked – to help each other, and tell harsh truths to each other when they must be told.

It’s true. You can tell a person by the company she keeps. Our friendships not only tell a lot about who we are — they make us who we are. You will know a friendship is true when it brings out the best in you.

1. What’s your best friend like?

I’d like to tell you about my best friend. Her name is …. I have known her since our primary school. From our appearances we are total opposites. She has blond hair, hazel eyes, full lips, a snub nose and a broad smile. ….is tall and slim, because she goes in for sports. I wouldn’t say the way we dress is not very different, but of course we have some special preferences in our clothes. I think her clothes are a little bit funky. As for her personality she is outspoken and outgoing. Nevertheless she is quite reasonable. It’s her best quality, I think. Besides she’s got a good sense of humor. She always has a witty joke for a situation. So we always have fun. She is the kind of person that likes to start the party. She is very kind and always ready to give me a helping hand.

Our hobbies are along the same lines. We love sports, music, good films, reading fashion magazines, hanging around with our friends, surfing the Internet and that sort of stuff. And with a friend that’s all that really matters, I mean common interests. I feel she is my true friend and I’m happy to have such a good friend.

2. Can you rely on your best friend? Why (not)?

Everyone knows the proverb “A friend in need is a friend indeed” – according to the old saying a good friend should always help us in difficulties, cheer us up and raise our spirits when we are down, troubled or when nothing is going right. Trust is the most important aspect of any relationship. I believe I can trust my best friend and rely on him/ her.

Only being a good friend yourself you may understand the meaning of friendship.

3. What questions do you usually ask when you want to get acquainted with someone?

The questions may be like these:

1) Where are you from?

2) Where do you study?

3) What is your hobby?

4) What is your favourite writer?

5) How do you usually spend your holidays?

4. What can you advise a teenager who has no friends?

Frankly speaking it’s not a usual case. Probably, a person with such problems needs advice on behalf of a psychologist. But if someone asks me to help, I will recommend her or him to join some kind of a club or a society to meet people with the same interests.

5. They say: “A person has just one true friend”. What do you think about this?

In the reality there are very few true friends. There is no shortage of acquaintances with whom you have superficial relationship. A real friend, on the other hand, is usually one person who shares your life. A friend can bare his inner feelings to you, and will support you unconditionally through thick and thin. And you can rely on your friend to tell you the truth, even if it’s not always fully pleasant. There is no envy and there are no such hidden agendas between friends. True friends are hard to find, and are worth holding on to. They are worth more than gold.

Let’s talk about Belarusian national cuisine

Food is obviously a very important part of peoples’ culture and if you want to understand the nation it is important to try national food.

Belarusian cuisine consists mostly of vegetables, meats and breads. The foods that are considered to be staples of Belarus include pork, cabbages, potatoes and bread. Traditional cooking methods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed food.

But the most popular Belarusian dish is draniki with machanka. Machanka is used as a traditional Belarusian sauce for draniki or blini. Most often it is made with pork, sausage, sliced onion, sour cream and flour.

Kvass is a type of soft drink that is made from either brown bread or rye flour that has been malted. Kvass can also be combined with sliced vegetables to create a cold soup called okroshka.

I think all these dishes will be rather tasty and unusual for a tourist.

1. What can you tell me about eating habits in your family?

Everybody knows we are what we eat. It is very important to include various products into your menu, such as diary products, starchy products, fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs to ensure your body gets all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Usually people call it a healthy well balanced diet. You can improve your diet by eating smaller portions, especially at night.

But nowadays trying to follow all the necessary recommendations of our doctors we face one more problem – genetically modified food and products made of trans-fats, artificial ingredients and pesticides, which are very harmful for our health.

Not long ago I came across one more interesting fact about food: the food you eat can have a drastic effect on how you feel. For example, chocolate can lift your spirits and make you feel happier. The high fiber food can make people feel positive, energetic and think quicker. Nevertheless there is food that can make us sad, anxious and prone to panic attacks. This group of products includes coffee, eggs, sugar and something else which is used in unreasonable quantities.

My mother is a wonderful cook and her dinners are always delicious and various. To begin with we usually have some salad – tomato and cucumber salad or mixed salad. For the first course we have some soup – noodle, mushroom or cabbage soup, or maybe some fish soup for a change. For the main course we have meat, chicken or fish dishes, for example, steak or fried fish, spaghetti or potatoes (boiled or fried). We also have a lot of vegetables – green peas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers. I prefer meat to fish but my mother makes me eat fish from time to time. She says it’s good for my brains. For dessert we have some fruit, fruit juice or a cup of tea with a slice of cake. Not very often we may eat out. But it usually happens for special occasions.

2. Do you like cooking? Why (not)?

Maybe yes. But it doesn’t happen very often because I’m very busy now. If I have a chance to spend time cooking I prefer to cook some special and tasty things: pizza, pancakes, stuffed cabbage, chops, roast chicken, hot pot (тушёное мясо с картофелем, овощами), biscuits and what not.

3. What questions will you ask a friend who has invited you to a pot-luck party?

I have never been to a potluck party. It’s probably amazing. Of course I will have to find out some things beforehand:

- What is the theme of your potluck party?

- How many people have you invited to the party?

- Are you going to make a list of dishes?

1. Which cafes would you recommend to visit in your place? Why?

A very popular pastime is eating out in a restaurant or a café. In most towns there is a wide variety of restaurants, a number of bars and cafes where you can get sandwiches and other snacks. So is in Grodno. You may go to the center of the town and walk along a central street. You will see a number of cafes. It will be up to your taste what to choose, because they are rather different.

5. What is your favourite Belarusian national dish? What is its recipe?

Draniki is a traditional Belarusian potato pancakes recipe.

It is a traditional belarusian dish still very popular in present day Belarus. There are many variations of this simple recipe, on of them we present here.

Ingredients (2 servings):

5 Large potatoes;

1 Egg;

1 medium Onion;

Black pepper 0.5 tea spoon;

Salt to taste;

Sunflower Oil 7-8 tbl. spoons;

Cooking Instructions:

First of all you will need a grater to grate potatoes and onions. Be sure that you use appropriate side of grater as shown on the picture so you don’t grate potatoes into strips but rather into liquid mass. That what makes draniki unique.

Prepare ingredients. Peel potatoes and onion.

Grate potatoes and onions into a bowl

Add salt, pepper, egg and mix together. The substance should not be liquid, and should not be too thick, drain excess potato juice or add some flour to achieve required level of liquidity.

Heat the frying pan, pour 1 tbl. spoon of sunflower oil onto it.

Dump a full table spoon of mixture form the bowl onto the frying pan and from a small about quarter inch thick pancake. Cook on high for 2-3 minutes and then flip over.

Cook another 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

Serve hot with sour cream.

Enjoy your meal!

Let’s talk about national cuisine of an English-speaking country

I’d like to tell some words about British food. Traditionally English people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large breakfast takes a long time to prepare and is not very healthy. Nowadays,Britain’s most popular breakfast consists of cereal, toast with marmalade, juice and yogurt with a cup of tea or coffee. Lunch is a light meal. Most people have no time to go back home for lunch so they eat at school, cafes, pubs or restaurants. The main meal is dinner, which is usually between 6 and7 p.m.A typical evening meal is a meat dish with vegetables and dessert. The most important meal of the week is the Sunday dinner, which is usually eaten at1 p.m.The traditional Sunday dish used to be roast beef, but nowadays pork, chicken or lamb are more common. On Sunday evenings people have supper or high tea. The famous British afternoon tea is becoming rare, except at weekends.

Some people criticize English food. They say it’s unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips” then stop. It is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition inEnglandof eating in restaurants, because the food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with reasonable prices. In most cities inBritainyou’ll find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. InLondonyou’ll also find Indonesian, Mexican, Greek… Cynics will say that this is because English have no “cuisine” themselves, but this is not quite the true.

1. What do you know about a very English custom of having tea?

Everyone knows that tea is the most popular drink inBritain. It’s even more popular than coffee, which is favoured throughoutEuropeandAmerica.

Nowadays, throughout the homes, tea shops and hotels ofBritain, the custom of tea-time continues. Tea inBritainis brewed in a teapot. Then the one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot is added. Most people inBritainprefer a rich, strong cup of tea with milk and sugar is sometimes added to taste.

The whole art of tea-taking is a very elegant and a very English thing to do.

The Ritz hotel is one of the most famous hotels inLondon. The Ritz is especially well known for its wonderful teas but taking tea at the Ritz is not an everyday event – it’s usually reserved for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary. And it’s not just a cup of tea either – it’s almost like having a 3 course meal.

There are finger sandwiches – these are small sandwiches filled with a variety of different things. Finger sandwiches have been a part of the traditional English afternoon tea for a long time. In the middle of the tier there are scones which are small round cakes which are often eaten with jam and cream which is known as a cream tea. And finally, at the top of the tier there are various cakes and sweet pastries.

But it’s not so easy to make a proper cup of English tea. The most “crucial” thing about tea making is to make sure that the water is “piping” hot – it is very hot and has just boiled. Then after pouring the water onto the tea leaves you let the leaves “stew” or absorb the water to make the tea. If you hear someone talking about “stewed tea” they are describing tea that has been left too long in the tea pot before being poured and tastes strong and bitter.

Well at the Ritz the etiquette – or the accepted way – is to add the milk afterwards so that the guest can decide how strong or weak they would like their tea.

The Ritz is so famous in fact that its name now appears in the dictionary as an adjective. If something is described as “ritzy” it is expensive and fashionable.

2. Scientists say that fast food is unhealthy but teenagers can’t stop eating it. What do you think about it?

Obviously, a diet of junk food is not the best thing for your health. In today’s fast moving world, people have less and less time to spend eating, let alone cooking. It’s probably for this reason that junk food has become so popular. Teenagers should know that people who prefer burgers and chips, crisps and hot dogs tend to become overweight. Besides, fast food is high in saturated fat. This type of fat is associated with a greater risk of cancer. Nevertheless, healthy eating habits do not mean giving up all your favourite food; it is all about choosing food wisely and preparing meals in a healthier way. The best advice for those who cannot live without hamburgers and chocolate bars, is to limit the amount of junk food they eat. A little now and then will probably do no harm.

3. What questions can you ask a British friend about their eating habits?

- How many meals a day do you have?

- Have you got lunch at school?

- What is your favourite dish?

4. Can you give a recipe of any traditional British dish?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14