The Benefits of Wine

Your red-wine habit also happens to come with some happy health benefits. Check out these eight reasons why winding down with a glass of vino is a good call all around.

The Benefits:

-Promotes Longevity

-Reduces Heart-Attack Risk

-Lowers Risk of Heart Disease

-Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

-Lowers Risk of Stroke

-Cuts Risk of Cataracts

-Cuts Risk of Colon Cancer

-Slows Brain Decline

Come to Brunos and enjoy a glass of beneficial wine with your meal!

The Benefit of a Salad

Did you know eating a salad almost everyday can be one of the healthy eating habits you can have! Eating salads is a convenient way to work in a couple of servings of vegetables and/or fruit. Green salads are always on the menu of almost every restaurant. You can even buy a side salad (with Romaine lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, available with fat-free or reduced-calorie salad dressing.) Most people enjoy eating salads, even kids! You can even make them your own.

Here are some reasons to start eating your greens today:

Fiberous: Salads contain alot of fiber since there maybe different kinds of fruit. Eating salads that are high in fiber can help lower cholesterol levels and prevent constipation.

Getting your daily dose of Fruits and Veggies: We are always told to eat more fruits and vegetables because of the nutrients that helps our bodies. When you are eating more greens, you'll likely have more levels of powerful antioxidants (vitamin C and E, folic acid, lycopene, and alpha- and beta-carotene,) especially if your salad includes some raw vegetables.

Helps you feel satisfied with your diet: If you are on a diet, start with eating salads. Studies have shown that eating lower calorie foods (Like salad) can give you the feeling of being full. The bigger the salad the better, just add less dressing and more veggies.

Use good fats dressing: Good fats are the ones that are found in olive oil, avocado and nuts. These good fats help your body absorb protective phytochemicals. In a recent study, it has been said that a diet that includes plenty of olive oil and raw vegetables is linked to reduced mortality.

Salad is a great starter for meals everyday!

All About Pepperoni

Pepperoni is a cured-sausage product that became popular in the United States even before the establishment of the nation's leading producer of pepperoni, Hormel Foods, in 1891. The origins of pepperoni are in Italy, but the name "pepperoni" does not refer to the same food in Italian as it does in English.

Ingredients

Pepperoni typically is made from a combination of pork and beef trim, spices and cultures. Pork and beef pieces might be blended with salt, paprika, white pepper, cayenne pepper, anise seed and allspice. Cured sausages may also be made from a combination of other meats, including turkey and chicken. Meat, spices and preservatives are combined through grinding, chopping and mixing. Another option is to inject spices and preservatives in a water solution into the meat that will be cured.

Hormel Pepperoni

Established in 1891 by George A. Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, Hormel Foods produces the nation's top-selling pepperoni. Hormel produces a variety of pepperoni products for direct consumption and for inclusion in other products, such as calzones, pizzas, sandwiches and salads. According to Hormel, its pepperoni sausage is "medium-chopped and seasoned with red pepper and fine spices."

Curing Pepperoni

Pepperoni is a cured sausage that is not actually cooked. Sodium nitrite is most often used to cure meat because it "greatly delays development of botulinal toxin (botulism), develops cured meat flavor and color, [and] retards development of rancidity and off-odors and off-flavors during storage." Table salt and other spices are also used in curing meat.

Fermenting and Drying Pepperoni

After the meat mixture is cured, the meat is also fermented and dried to reduce the moisture inside the mixture, making it more difficult for bacteria to grow and spoil the meat. Fermentation involves converting carbohydrates in meat into alcohols or acids. In pepperoni production, fermentation offers another way to protect against bacterial growth. In the final step, the pepperoni is dried.

Meat Safety and Regulation

Curing pork is safe when proper safety standards are followed, according to the American Meat Science Association (AMSA). In the U.S., meat packers and processors follow the standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for curing meat.

Roots in Ancient Italy

The history of the pepperoni dates to ancient Roman times. The Roman civilization was notably the first society to regulate pork production, and they cured pork products into useful forms of salami and sausage because they couldn't refrigerate meat.

Pepperoni lovers would have to ask for a spicy salami in Italy to come close to the taste of American pepperoni.

All You Need to Know About Pasta

Pasta Nutrition

-In response to dietary guidance urging Americans to include more whole grains in their diets, manufacturers have introduced nutritionally enhanced pasta varieties such as whole wheat, whole grain and pasta fortified with omega-3 fatty acids and additional fiber. Some varieties of whole grain pasta can provide up to 25% of daily fiber requirements in every one cup portion. There are now more options than ever for consumers to enjoy healthy and economical meals the whole family will love.

-Pasta is the perfect foundation for a healthy, delicious and satisfying meal. As an ideal “delivery system” for other nutritious foods, pasta meals can easily become nutritional all-stars. (Be sure to keep an eye on portion sizes to keep calories at bay. A one-cup serving of cooked pasta is roughly the size of your fist).

-Overly-restricted diets take the joy out of eating. With so many options for building lower calorie, nutrient-rich pasta meals, you’ll never get bored or feel limited while eating pasta.

-Avoiding or limiting carbohydrates can leave you feeling sluggish, tired and unable to concentrate. Complex carbohydrates like pasta provides the optimum type of “fuel” to power your muscles and brain, as it is digested more slowly, it provides a slower release of energy to keep you going throughout the day.

-Pasta is an ideal partner for other nutritious foods that are essential to a healthy diet. It’s great to pair with fiber-filled vegetables and beans, heart healthy fish and oils, antioxidant-rich tomato sauce and protein-packed, poultry and lean meats.

Pasta Facts & Figures

-The average American consumes 20 lbs. of pasta annually. This makes it the 6th highest food per capita in the country.

-As of March 2012, the average price an American pays for pasta is $1.45 per pound! This makes it one of the most affordable meals.

-24% of the global consumption of pasta is by Americans – the largest of any country in the world. Americans consume 6 billion pounds of pasta each year.

-The United States produces 4.4 billion pounds of pasta annually, making it the second largest pasta-producing nation.

Stop by Bruno's and try our amazing pasta dishes!

The Olive Facts

Olive tree is a type of small tree that belongs to the Oleaceae family. There are 6 subspecies of olive trees and hundreds of cultivars, produced via selective breeding. Olive tree originates from the coast of Mediterranean sea and western Asia. Due to popularity of the fruit, olives can be found in the temperate and warm areas throughout the world. Olives prefer hot weather and long periods of sun during the day. Even though they can survive on different soils, limestone offers the best conditions for fruit production. Olives are prone to fungal diseases and they are often targeted by various insects which lay eggs and destroy plant's tissue. Luckily, olives are still numerous both in the wild and in the culture. They are not on the list of endangered plants.

-Olive tree is evergreen plant. It can reach 26 to 49 inches in height. Crown is well branched and rounded in shape. Largest type of olive tree is called "donkey olive", and the smallest type "bullet".

-Olive tree has oval-shaped, elongated leaves. They are leathery, grayish green on the upper side and whitish on the lower side.

-Olive tree has small, white flowers arranged in clusters. Flowers have feathery texture and nice odor.

-Olive tree produces small, egg-shaped fruit that usually reaches 0.6 to 0.8 inches in length. Fruit contains large seed that is known as pit, rock or stone.

-Olive tree starts to bloom after 4 years. First harvest can be expected after 15 years.

-Color of the fruit depends on the maturity of the fruit. Unripe fruit is green. Ripe fruit is dark purple to black in color.

-Olives cannot be consumed directly from the tree. Harvested olives need to be processed with brine before they become tasteful.

-Olives are rich source of oils, minerals and vitamins A, E, K and B.

-Olive can be used in the form of oil or as table olives.

Out of all harvested olives, 90% will be turned into oil, and only 10% will be used as table olives.

-People around the world consume 2.25 million liters of olive oil each year. This oil is much healthier and has more delicate flavor compared to the regular vegetable oils.

-It takes 7 liters of olives for the production of one liter of oil.

-Olive branch is a symbol of peace. People were using olive branch during the history to declare truce by giving it to their enemies. Olive branches were also used for crowning of the champions on the Olympic Games in the past. This tradition was revived during the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

-United Nations and four states in the United States have olive branch on their flags.

-Olive trees can live from 300 to 600 years. Several trees managed to survive couple of thousand years. Some of them still produce fruit.

We hope you liked Olive these facts!

It just keeps getting better!

Bruno’s Combo Pizza – Our Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, black olives, diced red peppers, & Bruno’s own rich blend of cheeses.
$12.50 Small 8″ $17.95 Large 12″

Happy New Year