Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Easy Peezy!

Melt chocolate chips and I used a little 1/2 & 1/2, since that is what I had on hand for the bread pudding in a double boiler and dip strawberries or other fruits.

St. Patricks Day Dinner

We celebrated with the family last night and had a delicious corned beef dinner.
I bought the corned beef at Costco and boiled for 3+ hours. A new twist that we all love is to take the corned beef out of the boiling water and place on a foiled lined pan and cover with a brown sugar, catsup, mustard, horseradish glaze and bake in a 325 degree oven for the last 20 minutes. The glaze makes a huge flavor difference. The other good thing is you can hold it in the oven on warm if you need more time.
We served it with the usual boiled potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and turnips. For dessert I made chocolate covered strawberries and Irish bread pudding with caramel whiskey sauce. Yummy!
My changes are in parenthesis.

	Photo: Oxmoor House

Irish Bread Pudding with Caramel-Whiskey Sauce

Yield:  12 servings

1/4 cup light butter, melted
1 (10-ounce) French bread baguette, cut into 1-inch-thick slices(cubes)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
1 3/4 cups 1% low-fat milk(1/2 &1/2)
1 cup sugar(brown sugar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated skim milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten(3 eggs)
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Caramel-Whiskey Sauce
Whiskey Sauce:
2 cups heavy cream(2 cp 1/2 & 1/2)
1/2 cup whole milk(leave out)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup bourbon or other whiskey
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a 1-quart saucepan set over medium heat, combine the cream, milk, and sugar. Place the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the bourbon in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend and make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the cream mixture and bring to a boil. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.( you can add more milk or whiskey to make a thinner sauce, if desired). Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and stir in the butter and the remaining 1/2 cup of bourbon. Serve warm.



Preheat oven to 350°.
Brush melted butter on one side of French bread slices, and place bread, buttered sides up, on a baking sheet. Bake bread at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes, and set aside. (I cut into cubes and poured butter over them, then toasted them.)
Combine raisins and whiskey in a small bowl; cover and let stand 10 minutes or until soft (do not drain).
Combine 1% milk(1/2 & 1/2) and next 4 ingredients (1% milk through eggs) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add bread cubes and raisin mixture, pressing gently to moisten; let stand 15 minutes. Spoon bread mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over pudding. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until set. Serve warm with Caramel-Whiskey Sauce.
Note: Substitute 1/4 cup apple juice for the Irish whiskey, if desired.

CALORIES 362 (17% from fat); FAT 6.7g (sat 4g,mono 2.1g,poly 0.6g); IRON 1mg; CHOLESTEROL 57mg; CALCIUM 155mg; CARBOHYDRATE 66.7g; SODIUM 269mg; PROTEIN 8.1g; FIBER 0.9g

Cooking Light, MARCH 1998

Unpleasant Find on Grocery Carts

This is a very 'gross' thought but good to know and that is why we need to wipe down the carts with the antibacterial wipes. This gives me the creeps, think about everything else out there that we touch. Wash your hands often!

Fecal Bacteria on 72% of Shopping Carts

Fecal bacteria — that is, germs from poop — can be found on 72% of shopping carts, MSNBC reports.
It’s yet another icky finding from University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba, PhD, sometimes called “Dr. Germ.”
In his latest report, Gerba reportedly found traces of fecal bacteria on the handles of 61 of 85 shopping carts tested in four states. Half of the 36 carts subjected to further testing yielded evidence of E. coli bacteria.
Some strains of E. coli can cause severe infections.  But before you start to shun your local grocery, note that no disease outbreaks have (yet) been traced to shopping carts.
Gerba has correctly pointed out that most of the infections people get come not from airborne droplets, as we tend to think, but from germs we’ve picked up on our hands and transferred to our mouths, noses, or eyes.
In recent years, Gerba has warned of bacterial and/or viral contamination in reusable shopping bags, airplane bathrooms and seat-back trays, airport kiosks, ground-floor elevator buttons, bachelor pads, water fountain toggles, pencil sharpeners, keyboards,  faucet handles, desktops, faucet handles, paper towel dispensers, shared touchpads such as iPads, cutting boards, shoes, well water, playground equipment, and just about anything touched by children.
It might (or might not) make all this seem less of a gross-out if we stop for a moment to think of our bodies not as hermetically sealed but as part of the seething microbiology of the world. Our guts, for example, carry a vast bacterial ecosystem that is crucial for our health.
That said, Gerba’s main point is a very, very good one: Wash your hands. Often.
– Daniel J. DeNoon, Senior Medical Writer, WebMD

Colon Cancer Update

(Berkeley Wellness) 

Colon Cancer: The Diet Connection

By far the most important way to prevent colon cancer is to get screened. The next most important step is to not smoke. Can diet help, too?

Colon cancer usually begins with polyps, small benign growths in the inner wall of the colon. Age is a risk factor; environmental factors­—particularly smoking—also play a role. People with chronic inflammatory bowel disease are at higher risk, as are those with a family history of colon cancer. The role of diet is less clear, but here’s the latest thinking.
What You Eat
• A diet rich in fruits, whole grains, and vegetables appears to lower the risk of many cancers, including colon cancer. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and other members of the cruciferous family may, in particular, help prevent colon cancer due to their sulfur-containing compounds, called glucosinolates.
• Fiber, however, is no longer deemed important in preventing colon cancer. A high-fiber diet helps prevent constipation, and the theory was that this might reduce exposure of the intestinal wall to carcinogens. But several large studies have failed to find a protective effect. And there’s no known link between constipation and colon cancer. Fiber is hard to study—it isn’t just one compound but many.
• A high-fat diet, particularly one high in animal fats and red meats, has been blamed for increasing colon cancer risk, but the jury is still out. Dietary fat, in itself, is no longer regarded as a factor in colon cancer. If red meats do increase the risk—and some evidence suggests they do—it may be because they are often cooked at high temperatures, so that potential cancer-promoting chemicals are formed.
• Calcium and vitamin D may reduce the risk of colon cancer, whether you get these nutrients from food or supplements. In a 2008 review article, a high intake of dairy products, especially milk, was associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer, perhaps because of their calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients. And a 2009 study suggested that the combination of daily calcium and vitamin D may help normalize growth of colon cells in people with a history of colorectal adenomas.
• Omega-3 fats from fish may reduce the risk of colon cancer, though the evidence is preliminary. In an analysis of data from the Physicians’ Health Study, those who ate the most fish were nearly 40% less likely to develop colon or rectal cancer over 22 years than those who ate fish less than once a week. Omega-3 fats in fish may reduce the chronic inflammation that has been implicated in colorectal cancer.
• Folate, a B vitamin, may also reduce the risk of colon cancer. But research is mixed, and some studies have suggested that 1,000 micrograms of folic acid (the form used in supplements) may actually increase polyp growth. A more recent Harvard study, however, found that this same high dose did not prevent or promote the growth of polyps in people prone to them; in fact, people with initially low blood levels of folate seemed to benefit. To be safe, you should avoid high intakes of folic acid from supplements and fortified foods.
• If you drink alcohol, keep your intake moderate—no more than two drinks a day for men, one for women. There may be a link between high alcohol intake and colon cancer.

More About Walking

 (Medicinenet.com)

What are the top 10 reasons to walk?

1. Walking prevents type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%. 2. Walking strengthens your heart if you're male. In one study, mortality rates among retired men who walked less than one mile per day were nearly twice that among those who walked more than two miles per day. 3. Walking strengthens your heart if you're female.Women in the Nurse's Health Study (72,488 female nurses) who walked three hours or more per week reduced their risk of a heart attack or other coronary event by 35% compared with women who did not walk. 4. Walking is good for your brain. In a study on walking and cognitive function, researchers found that women who walked the equivalent of an easy pace at least 1.5 hours per week had significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walked less than 40 minutes per week. Think about that! 5. Walking is good for your bones. Research shows that postmenopausal women who walk approximately one mile each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk shorter distances, and walking is also effective in slowing the rate of bone loss from the legs. 6. Walking helps alleviate symptoms of depression. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression as measured with a standard depression questionnaire by 47%. 7. Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer. Women who performed the equivalent of one hour and 15 minutes to two and a half hours per week of brisk walking had an 18% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with inactive women. Many studies have shown that exercise can prevent colon cancer, and even if an individual person develops colon cancer, the benefits of exercise appear to continue both by increasing quality of life and reducing mortality. 8. Walking improves fitness. Walking just three times a week for 30 minutes can significantly increase cardiorespiratory fitness. 9. Walking in short bouts improves fitness, too! A study of sedentary women showed that short bouts of brisk walking (three 10-minute walks per day) resulted in similar improvements in fitness and were at least as effective in decreasing body fatness as long bouts (one 30-minute walk per day). 10. Walking improves physical function. Research shows that walking improves fitness and physical function and prevents physical disability in older persons.

The list goes on, but if I continued, there'd be no time for you to start walking! Suffice to say that walking is certainly good for you!

All About Walking

 Here is good information about the benefits of walking...

Dr. Dean Ornish, a clinical professor of
medicine at UC San Francisco:

"All things being equal, you will burn more calories by running an
hour than walking an hour. It is true that walking a mile will burn
more calories than running a mile -- although it takes longer to do
so. When you run a mile, you're burning mostly sugar, or
carbohydrates, which is how your body gives you fast energy in bursts.
When you walk a mile, it gives your metabolism time to switch from
burning carbohydrates to burning fat."

WebMD - Dean Ornish, MD Q A:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/3079.883

How many calories you burn depends on a variety of factors such as
fitness level, metabolism, weight and the intensity of the workout.
"Larger people burn more calories than smaller people, 
particularly with activities like walking or stair climbing where they
have to carry their own weight," says Robert McMurray, professor of
exercise and sports science at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
iVillage - "How Many Calories Are You Using -- and Other Burning
Questions" by Carol Krucoff:
http://www.ivillagehealth.com/interests/healthy/articles/0,11299,165839_125472-1,00.html
As far as how intensity affects a workout, according to an example
from the The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, if
you were walking briskly for one mile and your friend was jogging,
you'd burn about the same number of calories if you walked for 15
minutes and he jogged for eight and a half minutes.

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports - "Walking for
Exercise and Pleasure":
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/walking/walking.htm
As far as a being better on the joints, walking is, without a doubt,
the better exercise. It's one of the safest exercises you can do and
it provides great cardiovascular benefits without all of the stress
that running puts on the body.

Yahoo! Health - "Walking Workouts" by Carol Krucoff:
http://health.yahoo.com/health/nutrition_fitness/fitness_tip.html

According to Dr. Ann Gerhardt, a Sacramento, CA doctor who was forced
to walk for exercise after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament
while skiing:

"The other plus about walking is that if you do the technique
correctly and put as much effort into walking as you would running,
you can get the same aerobic benefit. You are moving almost every part
of your body."

Top Grains

(HealthCastle.com) We all know that white flour, white bread, white rice, etc., are nutritionally bankrupt, and that their whole grain counterparts are great sources of fiber, magnesium, Vitamin E, folate, and antioxidants. Although all whole grains are superior to their white or refined counterparts, the various whole grains do differ in nutrient density.

How Dinner Whole Grains Stack Up Nutritionally

(per 1 cup cooked serving)

• Highest in Protein
  1st Place: Spelt
  Grains not only supply carbohydrates to fuel our bodies, they can also be a good source of plant-based protein. For example, one cup of cooked spelt provides 10.7 grams of protein and quinoa has 8.1 grams.
  
  
• Best Source of Fiber
  1st Place: Bulgur
  Whole grains enjoy a well-deserved reputation of being great sources of fiber. Some contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, while others only provide mostly insoluble fiber. The best contender, bulgur, has 8.3 grams of insoluble fiber. Spelt is a close second with 7.6 grams of insoluble fiber. Barley, on the other hand, supplies both soluble and insoluble fiber, totaling 6 grams per cup, while quinoa has 5.2 grams of the combination.
  
  
• Top Magnesium
  1st Place: Quinoa
  Magnesium is an important mineral that may help prevent and control hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Quinoa made it to the top with 118 mg of magnesium, while runner-up spelt has 95 mg per 1 cup cooked serving.
  
  
• Full of Folate
  1st Place: Quinoa
  Folate is most known for its role in preventing neural tube defects in babies when consumed during pregnancy. Again, quinoa tops all other whole grains with 78 mg folate per 1 cup cooked serving. Wild rice is a distant second with 43 mg.
  
  
• Biggest Supplier of Vitamin E
  1st Place: Quinoa
  Certain whole grains are also rich in Vitamin E, a potent antioxidant. The nutrition powerhouse quinoa takes 1st place with 1.17 mg of Vitamin E, while spelt and wild rice also made it to the top 3 with 0.5 mg and 0.39 mg Vitamin E respectively.
  
  

The Bottom Line

Despite the fact that only a few kinds of whole grains made it onto the above list, all whole grains are exceptionally nutritious and can add variety to your dinner table. Quinoa and spelt are especially stellar in many nutrients, so be sure to try them instead of your boring white rice if you haven't already done so!