Ten ways of Pimiento

1.     Stuff into large Spanish olives for a non-cook popper.

2.     Serve with sliced, tart Granny Smith apples.

3.     Make the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich and add cooked bacon slices if you dare.

4.     Spoon onto hot fried green tomatoes for a crowd-pleasing appetizer.

5.     Spoon onto grilled hot dog in a bun. Top with chili and onions.

6.     Dollop on saltine crackers and top with a dash of Asian Sriracha hot chili sauce with sweet-hot pickle chips.

7.     Spread on toasted baguette slices, and top with a dollop of strawberry jam along with sliced green onions.

8.     Stuff into a seeded jalapeno pepper, wrap with bacon, and smoke slowly on a grill over 300 degrees to 350 degrees heat.

9.     Smear on a graham cracker or gingersnap for a little sweet and savory treat.

10. Enjoy a post-game sami. Spread on white bread and pack in your cooler to munch on after the game.

What is Pimiento Cheese?
To the uninitiated, it’s little more than grated cheese, chopped pimiento peppers, and a little mayonnaise. However, to those fans who rank pimiento cheese right next to cold fried chicken and deviled eggs as essentials at any proper country picnic, it’s much more. To devotees, pimiento cheese becomes a must-have—elevating an ordinary grilled cheese to something heavenly and dramatically raising the bar on cheeseburgers and omelets.

What Cheese is Best for Pimiento Cheese?
Admirers agree that sharp Cheddar cheese is pimiento cheese's backbone. High-quality mayonnaise, such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s, is also a given. But here’s where the opinions begin to fork off. On the issue of texture, Southern cookbook author James Villas shares common questions such as should the cheese be grated or mashed? If grated, coarse or fine? If mashed, is the fork or the modern food processor the best tool?

Basic Pimiento Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 (4-oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. finely grated onion
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1 (8-oz.) block extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded
1 (8-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in cheese. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

Are Diet Drinks Harmful

We all consider that diet drinks to be better for us than regular drinks, however, that is not the case. Instead of sugar, diet drinks are sweetened with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin or sucralose. Diet drinks are calorie free, which technically should help people lose weight and prevent sugar-related diseases like metabolic syndrome and diabetes. However, studies show that diet drinks slow down the metabolism and can cause type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors for disease that often occur together and raise your risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

It is defined as having at least three of the following:

• Abdominal obesity (belly fat)
• High fasting glucose
• High triglycerides
• Low HDL cholesterol
• Elevated blood pressure

Drinking “calorie free” beverages instead of sugary ones does not appear to be helpful against the metabolic syndrome. In a study published in the journal Circulation in 2008, which followed 9,514 people for 9 years, drinking artificially sweetened beverages was associated with a 34% greater risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. Another study found a 36% increased risk of metabolic syndrome and a drastically increased risk of diabetes in diet soda drinker Observational studies show a correlation between diet soda and the metabolic syndrome, which can lead to serious diseases.

There is an association between diet soda and depression In a study of 263,925 adults aged 51-70, individuals who drank soda were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with depression over a period of 10 years. The link was stronger for diet soda than regular soda.

Diet soda is also associated with preterm delivery. In a study of 59,334 pregnant women in Denmark, one serving per day of diet drinks was associated with a 38% increased risk of preterm delivery. 4 servings per day increased the risk by 78%. Diet soda consumption is strongly associated with both depression and preterm delivery.

Type II diabetes has increased at an alarming rate in the past few decades and now afflicts about 300 million people worldwide. This disease is highly associated with obesity and sugar consumption, so some would argue that replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with calorie-free drinks would help. A study of 6,814 individuals aged 45-85 years of age, daily consumption of diet soda was associated with a 67% increased risk of type II diabetes.

Data analysis from two large Harvard studies revealed that diet drinks raised diabetes risk in women, but not men. Each daily serving increased the risk of a diabetes diagnosis by 6%. The association between diet soda and diabetes is very strong, especially in women. One study showed more than a doubling in risk.

Without doubt diet drinks can be more harmful than what people perceive. The health problems cannot be overlooked with one of the big killers Type II diabetes lurking behind what you intake like diet drinks.