What Are Banana Peels Good For?

In today’s reuse, reduce and recycle world, people are always searching for new ways to make use of items that might otherwise be discarded. This money-saving approach to life is both environmentally-friendly and fun, as there are a surprising number of ways ordinary items can be used to restore, replace or revive things around the home. For example, the humble banana peel can be used for everything from feeding plants to cleaning leather.

In the Garden

Bananas and their peels are both rich in potassium, which is one of the three macronutrients required for healthy plant growth. To give heavy-feeders, such as tomatoes, peppers and rose bushes, an immediate nutrient boost, bury 1-inch pieces of banana peel near the base of the plant. As the peels decompose, they release potassium into the soil, helping nearby plants green-up by encouraging the growth of new leaves and stems. As a bonus, the banana scent produced by the disintegrating peel will help to deter aphids as they are put off by the aroma.

Around the House

The natural oils found on the inside of a banana peel can be used to polish dull silverware or to revive leather goods. Begin by scraping the peel with the edge of a spoon to remove any strings or pulp; once the skin is smooth, rub the peel over the material and watch the shine emerge. Work systematically, moving from one end of the item to the other, until the entire surface has been treated with banana peel, then buff the surface with a soft cloth to enhance the luster. This technique can also be used to brighten plant foliage. The banana peel gently removes dust and dirt from the leaves and restores their natural, glossy shine.


Beauty Aids

Banana peels are an old-fashioned remedy for unsightly skin warts. At bedtime, cut off a small piece of peel, place it on top of the wart so that the inside of the peel lies directly against the skin, then secure the peel with a piece of medical tape. Leave the treatment in place for at least eight hours, then remove the wrapping and immediately discard it. Repeat the process every night, until the wart is no longer evident. Some warts vanish in less than a week, but stubborn warts can take up to a month to remove. Alternatively, use banana peel to treat skin sores. Scrape the inside of the peel, then apply the stringy paste directly the sore. Cover the area with a piece of gauze and a strip of surgical tape. Leave the treatment in place overnight -- as you sleep the enzymes and sugars in the peel draw toxins from the skin and kill any blemish-causing bacteria. Remove the gauze in the morning and repeat if necessary.

First Aid

In addition to being a source of vitamins and nutrients, banana peels also contain a number of naturally occurring lipids and enzymes. When applied to the skin, these compounds can relieve itchy bug bites, soothe red rashes, and take the sting out of a sunburn. Additionally, banana peel can be used to draw a splinter from the skin. Place a piece of peel over the splinter and cover it with a strip of adhesive tape. Wait 24 hours, then remove the tape. The splinter should be stuck to the peel, though splinters that are deeply lodged may require multiple treatments.

Miso Soup & Weight Loss

Miso soup has a wide range of health benefits and can help you lose weight because it only has 25 calories per bowl. With those 25 calories, the soup also has 2 grams of protein. A few ingredients in particular make miso soup a good choice for a healthy diet. However, its high sodium content can be a concern.

B12 Complex

Miso soup contains B12, the best vitamin complex to take for energy-boosting needs. It helps encourage weight loss by speeding up the body's metabolic rate. The two factors are linked: The more energy you have, the more apt you are to exercise, which is essential to losing weight. Vitamin B12 also can prevent depression, which can lead to weight gain.

Protective Fatty Acids

Miso soup has a complex of protective fatty acids that come from natural fats and oils and can help keep weight off. The body can produce most fatty acids it needs, but it can't produce omega 3, which is in miso soup.


Fermented Soybean Paste

Miso soup is made from a thick paste of fermented soybeans, as well as various grains such as barley, rice or wheat. The soybean paste could be fermented anywhere from five days to five years. The longer the fermentation, the darker the substance. However, soybean paste is known for its large sodium content, which does not help weight loss.

Health Benefits of Miso Soup

The fermented soybean paste in miso soup can reduce the risk of breast cancer. The soup also helps balance out the female hormone estrogen, which can cause tumors. It also contains a variety of antioxidants and vitamin E, which is good for the complexion. The wakame seaweed in miso soup helps lower blood pressure and can even combat nicotine addiction. It's also good for boosting your immune system after an illness.

Bottom Line

Miso soup is a great small meal or snack that can encourage weight loss and fight illness. However, if your doctor has advised you to stay away from food with high levels of sodium, miso might not be the best choice for your diet.

How to Increase Vitamin B17 Intake

Vitamin B17 or laetrile was discovered in 1830. It has been said to prevent the growth of cancer, but this claim is not backed by the Food and Drug Administration. For this reason, B17 does not have a Recommended Dietary Allowance. Follow these steps if you are considering taking vitamin B17.

Eat Apricot seeds. Some companies manufacture naturally-dried seeds that taste like an apricot spice. It was thought 35 years ago that if one ate 7 apricot seeds a day, they would never acquire cancer for as long as they live. Some people still believe this theory today.

Include flax in your diet. Flax seed and flax seed oil are good sources of B17. Flax seed oil isn't good for cooking, but you can add it to salad dressing recipes and smoothies. Put flax seed in your bread and muffin recipes.


Eat barley to increase your B17 intake. Make barley soup and include barley in all kinds of other recipes from chicken to fish dishes to add a nutty flavor to your food.

Eat bitter almonds, not the common sweet almonds, garbanzo beans and lentils which also are good sources of B17.

Remember you can also choose to take a B17 supplement instead. Since B17 isn't acknowledged as a supplement by the FDA, you won't typically find it in most daily vitamins. You can find it in health food stores and online.

Eat foods rich in vitamin C, other B vitamins, vitamin A, manganese, magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Eating foods rich in B17 will help your body absorb B17 more efficiently.

How to Make Pizza Boats

As with many food ideas, this one sprang from good old leftovers. In this case it was left over meat sauce from a spaghetti dinner we had. We didn't want spaghetti again right away and it seemed a good idea to use our tasty meat sauce (we use ground venison and ground beef in ours) in another dish. So I created the "pizza boat". They're great little boats and many have been ship wrecked by sailing right into my mouth - the "straits of Clawmute". Served with a green salad. It's boarding house diner's rules - one foot on the floor at all times!

Every time I prepare these I am surprised at the simplicity and small amount of time that goes into them. Mainly I'm surprised at how tasty and filling they are. We just had them a couple of nights ago and I frequently take one to work for lunch & heat it up in the microwave.

These are so popular and tasty around our house that now we make up a batch of meat sauce especially for the pizza boats.

First hollow out your boats. I cut around the bottom (flat part) with a serrated knife, then scoop out the inside bread with a fork. Leave enough bread in the bottom so that your filling doesn't start to leak through when you spoon it in. If you can't find the pointed end "bolillio" rolls then the blunt ended hoagie roll type is fine, as long as they are thick enough to be hollowed out and have room for a filling.


Next lightly toast these hollowed out pizza boats to firm them up a little. Just barely brown is OK. Now cover the inside bottom of your boats with grated cheese and put them back in the oven toaster just long enough to melt the cheese a little. If you want, sprinkle the cheese with red pepper if you like it spicy.

Use leftover meat sauce or prepare from scratch meat sauce exactly like you do for spaghetti, with maybe a little more meat. We made up this batch especially for pizza boats just a couple of days before I wrote this article, and I am eating one as I type this!

Now ladle in your filling of well pre-heated pizza meat sauce, adding chopped onion, bell pepper and/or any other goodies. Top the filled boat with more shredded cheese and pop back in the oven for another ten minutes or so at about 375-425deg. or until the shredded cheese has melted and the bread is beginning to brown. Remember, the sauce needs to be pre-warmed so that you won't have to heat the filled boats until the filling is warm.

Let your completed pizza boats cool a little and then serve with a green salad and beverage of your liking. These will hit the spot. They stay hot for a long time so don't dig in too fast! These pizza boats sail straight from the shipyard onto your plate, but they won't be afloat for long.

How to Eat Healthy at White Castle

The words "healthy" and "White Castle" may not always go hand in hand, but if it's your only restaurant option, you don't have to ruin your diet to eat there. Planning ahead and knowing your best options before you order can make a big difference. It's important to note that the menu and nutrition information change, so check the website for the most current information.

Best Breakfast Options

The breakfast menu features a number of slider sandwiches, and this helps keep portions small and calories low. The breakfast slider with egg and cheese is the lowest-calorie option on the breakfast menu with 160 calories, 7 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 13 grams of carbs and 320 milligrams of sodium. The breakfast slider with hamburger and eggs is the lowest carb and sodium option with 190 calories, 12 grams of carbs and 200 milligrams of sodium, but it is a little higher in fat with 11 grams of total fat and 4 grams of saturated fat.

White Castle also offers wheat toast with 140 calories, 2 grams of total fat, 28 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber and 300 milligrams of sodium, and the maple and brown sugar oatmeal yields 160 calories, 2 grams of total fat, 32 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber and 230 milligrams of sodium. This makes it one of the healthier breakfast options on the menu.

You can also get a breakfast toast sandwich with eggs and cheese and request wheat toast to up the nutrition and make it more filling, but that's higher in calories, carbs and sodium, with about 230 calories, 9 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 29 grams of carbs and 500 milligrams of sodium per sandwich.


Meat and Chicken Sliders

As is the case with breakfast sandwiches, the size of the White Castle sliders helps keep calories low. The key is to try to limit how many you eat. Whether you're watching calories, carbs or sodium, the simpler you keep your slider, the easier it is to stick to your diet. One Original Slider contains 140 calories, 6 grams of total fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 13 grams of carbs and 360 milligram of sodium. Unless your White Castle is in New York or New Jersey, the carbs and sodium in your Original Slider increase to 15 grams of carbs and 410 milligrams of sodium.

The plain Savory Grilled Chicken Slider makes the best choice no matter what you're counting. One of these sandwiches contains 180 calories, 7 grams of total fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 13 grams of carbs and 570 milligrams of sodium.

Veggie Sliders

White Castle offers meat-free options too. The Plain Veggie Slider with 150 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 20 grams of carbs and 270 milligrams of sodium is the lowest in calories, carbs and sodium.

Also, to really save on calories, consider the traditional bun with cheese option, which has 90 calories, 3 grams of total fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 12 grams of carbs and 260 milligrams of sodium.

Sides and Drinks

The White Castle menu does not offer any nonfried side options, making it difficult to round out your meal. Like your burgers, your side order should be small, without any extras, to save on calories and carbs. On a positive note, the french fries at White Castle are low in sodium, but they're high in fat and saturated fat. One small order of fries contains 330 calories, 21 grams of total fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 32 grams of carbs and 50 milligrams of sodium. The clam strips are low in carbs and the lowest calorie side option with 210 calories, 17 grams of total fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 grams of carbs and 620 milligrams of sodium.

Unsweetened iced tea and water make good drink choices to go with your White Castle meal. The restaurant also offers 1-percent-fat milk, a low-calorie source of protein and calcium.

Ideas for Snacks for a Work Meeting

Providing snacks at a work meeting is much less challenging than catering a full meal for hundreds, but it still deserves some serious thought. Rich and heavy foods can leave your participants sleepy and unproductive, exactly the opposite of how you want your co-workers at a meeting. Spicy foods can create uncomfortable indigestion, and sloppy foods pose a staining hazard to business attire. Providing light, varied and enjoyable snacks that avoids all these pitfalls requires a degree of creativity.

Vital Information

Before you jump into the planning process too deeply, it's always a good idea -- if possible -- to circulate an e-mail ahead of time asking whether your participants have any dietary constraints. These considerations include food allergies, cultural or religious prohibitions, vegetarianism, or a simple preference for healthy or low-carb options. If that information isn't available, be mindful of common issues and provide options that are vegetarian, gluten-free and minimize the common allergens.

Finger Sandwiches

Meetings that run through the heart of a morning or afternoon can be tough on those who haven't eaten properly, so a tray of tiny, finger-sized tea sandwiches are a boon. At their simplest, these are ordinary sandwiches cut into quarters or even eighths, though some caterers offer pinwheel sandwiches and other dainty variations. They're diminutive enough to eat in a single bite, keeping fingers clean and minimizing the risk of dropped sandwich filling.

Variations on the Theme

Many caterers offer sandwiches made by tightly rolling fillings inside a wrap, then slicing the resulting cigar-shaped cylinder into sushi-esque, finger-friendly rolls. These are attractive and a lower-carb alternative, and they can be made with gluten-free flatbreads if necessary. Whichever type of sandwiches you choose, provide some with meatless or all-vegetable fillings for those who need them.


An Upscale Offering

If you're hosting potential clients or senior management, adding even a small quantity of an upscale alternative can elevate the appearance of your entire table. It doesn't take much. A small tray of wafer-thin smoked salmon on a bed of ice, with a caper garnish and whole-grain crackers, serves admirably, as do good-quality shaved Italian prosciutto or Spanish jamon, with finger-sized rolls or wedges of artisanal bread.

Vegetable Trays

Vegetable trays are a meeting-day staple -- and for good reason. They're light, they're nutritious, and their bright colors lend visual appeal to the table. Ordinary platters can look rather humdrum, but a few simple changes improve their appeal. Specify fresh-cut carrots sticks rather than shaped "baby" carrots, for example, which often look unpleasantly dry. Vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, celery and sweet bell peppers can be sliced into long strips and served vertically in water goblets or wine glasses, rather than sitting out on a plate.

Do the Dip

Ranch dressing is the usual dipping option for vegetable trays, but you don't have to abide by tradition. Tzatziki, the Greek dip of plain yogurt and cucumbers with fresh dill, is a refreshing and lower-fat option. Not only that, its minimal fat content means it's less likely to cause a greasy stain if dropped on a shirt. Another alternative is hummus, which is thick enough not to drip and is also high in protein. It's also gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan-friendly.

Fresh Fruit 

Fresh fruit offers similar advantages, with the added benefit of quickly boosting your participants' blood sugar. For meeting participants sagging in the mid-morning doldrums, they can be a lifesaver. Providing disposable forks -- or at least toothpicks -- is a good idea, because your participants won't want to keep wiping their fingers. Even worse, many berries can stain their fingers for hours afterwards. Grapes are an excellent option, because they're neatly self-contained.

Or Dried

Don't overlook the high-energy virtues of dried fruits, either as a complement to fresh varieties or in their stead. Dried apples don't brown like fresh apples. And dried cherries or blueberries don't stain fingers, yet their flavors are as full and concentrated -- sometimes more so -- as their fresh equivalents. Sweet options such as dried figs or dates provide a healthier surrogate for the traditional cookies and doughnuts.

Crunchy Nibbles

Often the people sitting around your table won't want to really eat but simply have something to nibble on as the meeting progresses. Crunchy vegetables can sometimes fill this role, but it's useful to provide a few alternatives. Bowls of nuts are a good option, unless you have food allergies to contend with. Whole-grain, low-sodium corn chips and multi-grain pretzel sticks are also good choices. Gluten-free pretzels are readily available, and their texture is good enough to appeal even to participants who can eat gluten.

The Beverages

Brewing -- and often wasting -- large pots of coffee or tea isn't always necessary. If you furnish your meeting room with one or two single-cup brewers, you can provide excellent coffee in varying roasts or flavors on an on-demand basis. Shun sugary sodas, which can cause a disconcerting sugar "crash" late in long meetings; instead, offer chilled fruit juices and plenty of cold water.

How to Eat Healthy at Red Robin

Eating healthy at restaurants is tough, but Red Robin offers some relatively diet-friendly options. The casual dining restaurant offers an interactive tool called The Customizer that helps you modify meals to fit your diet plan. While using the tool requires you to do a little work before your visit to Red Robin, it may help you enjoy your dining experience more.
Menu items and ingredients may change, which may affect nutrition information.

Burger With Adjustments

If you're trying to eat healthier, the Keep It Simple or Simply Grilled may be your best burger-style option at Red Robin. The Simply Grilled Chicken Burger is lower in calories than the Keep It Simple Burger but is high in sodium and carbs.

One serving of the Simply Grilled Chicken Burger without margarine has 355 calories, 6 grams of fat, 51 grams of carbs and 985 milligrams of sodium. To save calories, carbs, fat and sodium, order the chicken burger without the bun. The bunless chicken has 115 calories, 2 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs, 19 grams of protein and 495 milligrams of sodium.

For comparison, the Keep It Simple Burger without the bun, margarine or Red Robin Seasoning has 306 calories, 20 grams of fat, 4 grams of carbs, 27 grams of protein and 304 milligrams of sodium.

Customize a Salad

Like the burgers at Red Robin, the Simply Grilled Chicken Salad makes a good choice when trying to eat healthy. Make some modifications to lighten the calories, carbs and sodium content by asking for the salad without the garlic bread, croutons or cheese. This customized salad has 324 calories, 6 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fiber, 31 grams of protein and 628 milligrams of sodium.

The Avo-Cabo Salad without the bacon, blue cheese or garlic bread also makes a good choice, especially for carb counters, but it is high in fat and sodium. One order of this customized salad has 327 calories, 17 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fiber, 30 grams of protein and 535 milligrams of sodium.


Soup and Side Salad

Consider making a meal using the Soup and Side Salad menu at Red Robin. A cup of either the Chicken Tortilla Soup or Chili make low-calorie choices, although they are high in sodium.

For example, a cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup with a House Salad without dressing has 378 calories, 18 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, 20 grams of protein and 1,160 milligrams of sodium.

You can save a lot of calories and fat and a little sodium if you omit the sour cream and cheese from your order. Soup and salad without the sour cream or cheese has 249 calories, 6 grams of fat, 12 grams of protein and 974 milligrams of sodium. For your salad, ask for the low-cal or fat-free dressing on the side.

Order the Right Side

Burgers typically come with french fries, but if you're trying to eat healthy, you're better off skipping them. In addition to a side salad substitution, Red Robin also offers Steamed Broccoli as a side, which has 32 calories, 6 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein and 31 milligrams of sodium.

Or to satisfy your sweet tooth, consider the Freckled Fruit Salad, which has 110 calories, 31 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein and 2 milligrams of sodium.

Both of these side dishes are fat-free.