Dining Destinations in Maine

Seafood, bars, and classic grills.
That's exactly what the state of Maine is known for. From fancy dining to rustic seaside bar and grill atmospheres, Maine has some of the best eateries around. With a high volume of lobster and clams, Maine's seafood cuisine tops seafood restaurants along the coast. In fact, Maine is so well known for its seafood, that shoppers and restaurant-goers can now track when and where their fish was caught off the coast of Maine. From the sea to the plate, Maine's cuisine is like no other.

Here are some of the best restaurants to visit while in Maine to experience this kind of unique dishes in a completely exclusive environment.

40Paper - An Italian Bistro and Bar
This Maine restaurant dubs itself both a traditional bistro and modern bar. With hand-made pasta and European influences, 40Paper provides an elegant yet fresh experience with Italian-style dishes. This restaurant teams up with farmers and and local growers to supply quality ingredients. 40Paper relies on a healthy, relaxing dining experience for its guests.

The dinner menu includes items ranging from pasta and pizza to steak and ribs.

Long Lake Sporting Club - A Restaurant and Lounge
This is a family-owned restaurant of 35 years and strives for an excellent dining experience for its guests. Like any great sports bar and grill, Long Lake Sporting Club serves steak, ribs, clams, shrimp, jump lobster and much more for the seafood-enthusiast.

Pai Men Miyake - A Japanese Restaurant
This restaurant in Portland focuses on ramen with broths with pork, chicken, and vegetables. This is a much more casual dining option in Maine but with great food nonetheless. With classic Asian dishes ranging from shrimp gyoza to sashimi, this eatery is suitable for the cultured-eater.

Walter's - A Classic Portland Restaurant
If you can't decide a style of food to eat, this restaurant has unique dishes from land to sea. Inspired to cook Asian, Mediterranean and Caribbean dishes, the chef and owner strives to use fresh and global ingredients for his seasonal menus. The dining experience has a classic, elegant mood, perfect for Portland.

Some of the key dinner menu items are Forbidden Shrimp, duck, and Brick Chicken.

About the Author: Kelly is a guest contributor of Hartstone Inn and Dockside Guest Quarters, relaxing bed and breakfast destinations in Maine.

"SuperFoods" That Aid in Weight Loss

According to Health.com there are some foods that have been labeled as "Superfoods" or foods that are naturally high in nutrition. These superfoods  can aid in building bones, preventing chronic diseases, improving eyesight, improving your mind, and most interestingly keeping you slim.

Black Beans

Black beans are a great alternative for vegetarians and carnivores alike. A cup of black beans contains 15 grams of protein, but doesn't contain the saturated fat found in other protein sources, like red meat.

Oats

In terms of fiber, oats really are super! Just a half cup of oats has 4.6 grams of resistant starch, a healthy carb that works to boost metabolism and burns fat. 

Avocados

Avocados are known for being fatty, but the right kind of fatty that benefits your body rather than hurts it. Rich in oleic acid, avocados may trigger your body to actually quiet hunger and also contain large amounts of fiber and protein. 

Salmon

Salmon is a great example of a lean source of protein that helps you feel full, but doesn't add fat to your body. Salmon is rich in MUFAs with have been proven to increase weight loss.

Blueberries 

Blueberries are a great snack or treat, with one cup only equaling 80 calories. Blueberries also help you feel full with 4 grams of fiber. 

Broccoli

Broccoli is known for it's cancer preventing properties, but is also very full of fiber and is less than 30 calories. 

Brown Rice

Brown rice a healthier, more fiber packed alternative to its counterpart, white rice. A half cup serving contains 1.7 grams of resistant starch, that boosts metabolism and burns fat. Brown rice is also low in calories but is heavy to make you feel full. 

Pears

Pears are full of fiber, just one pear equals 15% of your daily recommended amount of fiber. However, avoid peeling your pears because the skin is where all the fiber is located! 

Wine

Consumed in moderate amounts, wine has actually proven to increase weight loss. Resveratrol, the antioxidant found in grape skin stops fat storage. Studies have shown that wine drinkers have narrower waists than liquor drinkers and that downing a glass can boost your calorie burn for 90 minutes.

Grapefruit

Studies have shown that eating half a grapefruit before each meal has helped people lose up to a a pound a week. A compound in the fruit can lower insulin, a fat-storage hormone, leading to weight loss. It is a good source of protein and is good at filling you up while being 90% made up of water. 

Kidney Beans

Kidney beans offer protein and fiber, more than 5 grams per serving and are also very rich resistant starch!

About the Author: Susan is a guest contributor from The Center for Optimal Health, a center for integrating healthy life style habits with the best of conventional and alternative medicine. 

Breakfast Places for Breakfast Lovers in Davidson NC

For students at Davidson College, breakfast is served when they get out of bed—which could be 2 am or 2 pm. That’s why when you visit this charming town of Davidson half an hour from Charlotte, it’s oozing with all-day breakfast places serving eggs cooked in different varieties and greasy bacon and sausage  to satisfy any cravings. Breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day especially with the delectable dishes lovingly prepared at these restaurants.

Careers in the Food Industry

Many people are passionate about food. So passionate that they decide that they want to make a career out of it. While there are many different types of career options for someone who wants to work in the food industry, we've highlighted a few that we think might catch your attention.

Chef

This one would be difficult not to mention when talking about careers in the food industry. Chefs can come from all different backgrounds. Many go through extensive training at culinary schools, where competition can be pretty tough. Many other chefs find ways to make it on their own with little external training, or learning from a mentor. Depending on the type of chef that you want to become, you may want to consider some form of culinary school from a respected institution.

Waiters/Waitress

Many people who start a job as a waiter or a waitress will often find themselves to be great at their job and they keep finding new opportunities to expand and develop their skill set. A talented waiter or waitress will need to understand everything the restaurant or food venue offers and should be able to make food and beverage recommendations based on a customer's needs. They also need to be able to communicate very effectively with chefs or anyone preparing food, as they will be the ones held responsible for the quality of the food served. While many waiters or waitresses learn from experience, many aspiring waiters or waitresses can attend hospitality schools to make themselves stand out from others on the market.

Food Quality Specialist

If you ever wonder how your food and beverages are consistently safe for you to consume, then you should thank a food quality specialist. They are responsible for making sure that food and beverages are safe to consume something as small as a restaurant chain to a region of the United States. There are plenty of positions available at the moment. Just go to a job search site like Foodsafetyrecruiter.com and use their job search tool for finding a job opening in your regional area.

Hospitality Manager

From deciding the structure of a menu for a restaurant, to how a food venue may be set up and designed, a hospitality manager will be in charge of a great deal of items related to the food service of a business or an organization. Hospitality managers are often found in hotels but will work in any environment that prides itself on providing excellent customer service as well as food or beverages.

The Importance of Cleaning Produce

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a little kid, I loved fruits and vegetables. If you put an apple and a piece of cake in front of me, I’d go for the healthy option, which seems crazy, especially in today’s society. Since I would often help myself to fruits and vegetables, my mom always made sure that she has clean produce readily available. As I grew up, she showed me how she would clean the produce and cut it if necessary, which I have continued to do over the years, but I don’t think I ever really understood the importance of cleaning produce until recently.

Up until yesterday, cleaning my fruits and vegetables was something I did because my mom taught me to. I always knew that fruits and vegetables may have pesticides on them. After reading and article about the most commonly contaminated produce, which you can read here, I started to be more selective when it came to what I bought. But pesticides are just one reason why it is important to clean your produce, as well as make it important for homes to have a deionized water system, such as these, though.

Aside from the fact that a lot of produce come in contact with pesticides, I never really thought about how many germs are on the fruit and vegetables from other people's hands before I bought them. I understand that the produce needs to be packaged, shipped, and displayed in order to be bought, but how many other shoppers touch the produce before you are the one to buy it. I will admit that I have always been very selective about the produce I buy and am guilty of putting items back if I don’t think they are the best quality. I’m guessing I’m not the only person that does this either, making it very likely that multiple people have gotten their hands on the produce you are bringing home, and who knows where their hands have been! Ewwww, it makes me cringe so be sure to always clean your produce when you bring them home! 

Related articles

• Organic or Not?
• Meet the "dirty dozen": Produce with the most pesticides
• Tips for cleaning fruits & vegetables

How Environmental Services Help Businesses

Ever wonder what’s going to happen to that abandoned warehouse in your neighborhood, or who’s going to turn that gas station that went out of business into a new and thriving business that will give back to the local community? Environmental Consulting businesses provide a vital step in helping new business owners reclaim old and potentially hazardous land and make good use out of it. Here’s how it all begins.

When a business or bank realizes that there’s a high potential that the area they’re investing in could be contaminated, they hire an environmental consulting firm to conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. An example of a business that does that can be found here. Once the firm conducts a series of groundbreaking tests on the property, they can report back to all the stakeholders to identify what risks are present and the costs of repairing or cleaning the property.

These assessments give banks and businesses a clear and accurate picture of what they may be getting themselves into, and it helps promote business growth in areas where no business activity was seen to be possible.

Myrtle Beach: Adventurous Eco-tours

Eco-tourism. It’s a buzzword making its way into our vacation vocabulary. But what exactly is eco-tourism? Put simply: eco-tourism is traveling responsibly to natural areas and environments. It also can tie into both cultural and historical tourism, as it encourages the preservation of cultures and environments. Myrtle Beach is one of the best vacation spots in the world to discover this experience. There’s plenty to learn about the wildlife there as well as the history of the culture that began developing there long ago. The best part is that you can enjoy all of these adventures in total comfort. Just put on your most comfy clothes and get out into the fresh air. Feel the perfect combination of the ocean breeze and the sun on your face as you explore all that the nature of Myrtle Beach has to offer.

One fun way to explore the coast of Myrtle Beach is go to deep within the winding creeks, rivers and marshes that run off the ocean. Kayak tours are a great way to get exercise, observe nature and have some quality family fun all at the same time! One great river to explore is the Waccamaw River. It looks a bit different than most rivers, as it’s called a “black water river”. You’ll pass under majestic cypress trees and beautiful, native birds. And lurking in the water are small crocodiles and snakes, so you’re sure to have some close, but safe encounters!

Another fun, but different way to get a good look at the wildlife of Myrtle Beach (assuming you want real wild life and not a more commercial Myrtle Beach wildlife experience) is to take a safari Jeep tour. If you’re leery of the water and would rather be driven around in a super cool Jeep, this option is the one for you! You’ll be educated on the nature, ecology, history, wildlife and even the ghost lore along a wide range of environments, from old farm plantations to the coast, to rivers and to historic structures. You’ll see alligators and a variety of bird species as you journey through the tour with your expert tour guide. You’ll also visit a graveyard and hear great stories about the most haunted spots in Myrtle Beach. And you’ll even get to visit the coasts where pirates once dominated, while also learning about the salt marsh.