Chocolate Affair

May 26th, 2010

So what’s the deal with chocolate? Why the sudden surge to prove that chocolat is a “healthy” food? Is it just a mere marketing gimmick cleverly designed to fool unsuspecting people into making chocolate magnates even richer or is there some truth in it?

Well the good news is that certain forms of chocolate are actually really good for health, they’re especially good for the heart and maybe, just maybe, in a few years, you’re not going to have to feel guilty for eating a teeny weeny bit of chocolate everyday! But this chocolate is very specific and the more unprocessed the chocolate, the greater its health benefits. Chocolate derived from pure, ground and roasted chocolate beans are the ones we should be looking at.

Did you know that for centuries this delicious dessert had been recognized as a “health food”? It is quite hard to imagine that now, in the present scenario where people who want to stay healthy avoid chocolate like the plague! But our (smarter) ancestors believed that consumption of chocolate was associated with a marked decrease in the risk of angina.

So what’s the big secret? Well, chocolate, which is derived from cocoa beans are beneficial simply because cocoa products have extremely high flavenoid content. In fact, the amount of flavenoid compounds present in a unit volume of cocoa is much higher than that present in any other plant based products of the same origin and this include everything from red wine, to cranberries and even the greatly promoted green tea!

Recent research has shown that dietary sources of flavenoids have a considerably important role to play in the prevention of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular diseases. The flavenoids present in cocoa stimulate the manufacture of the compound nitric oxide, within the body. This compound is in deed quite special since it helps to control and regulate blood flow, inflammation and even (hold your breath!) BLOOD PRESSURE!

However, most of the flavenoids- which are quite delicate compounds- present in these beans get destroyed due to the harsh processing conditions. At the end of processing, their antioxidant properties are depleted by almost seventy percent! So what sort of chocolates should you go in for, if you wish to avail of the immense health benefits of chocolates?

Dark chocolate. Why? This is simply because dark chocolates have a much larger amount of cocoa than other varieties of chocolates as a result of which, they retain a higher percentage of flavenoids after processing as a result of which, consuming dark chocolate on a regular basis can actually do your heart and body a whole lot of good! And you thought staying away from chocolates was all you needed to do to stay healthy, didn’t you?

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Michelle, Mysteries and More!

May 21st, 2010

Is it any surprise that Sandra Bullock’s husband, Jesse James is not even bothering to contest her divorce filing? What can a man do when he’s caught red handed? He doesn’t even mind that Sandra wants to raise their adopted son, Louis all on her own. One would understand since he’s probably not been the best father. Cavorting with Michelle McGee really does not count as a good example!

In case you were wondering about Michelle McGee, the old prune has been milking her status as “Jesse James’” mistress for all it’s worth! She’s been splashed all over magazine covers in itsy bitsy scraps of cloth. She has also gone on record to say how bad she feels for Sandra, whose domestic life she has wrecked. Right, we believe you Michelle, totally!

Michelle also went on to say that Sandra should absolutely not worry about the fact that she’s been warming James’ bed for quite some time now, since she believes that men are sort of programmed to be jerks! Oops, that’s not what she said, but something to that effect!

She said that men have this instinctive urge to “spread their seed” and women, should do their part by accepting that as part of their man’s nature. So basically Michelle sees nothing wrong in sleeping with a married man. Morals, anyone?

She also believes that people can totally and completely be in love with their partner and yet sleep with someone else. She believes that not only are love and lust mutually exclusive, people should actually act on their urges! She has gone on record saying that she believes that men can love their wives a hundred percent and yet stray! Right!

Michelle has also expressed a desire to personally meet Sandra and explain things to her the way she sees it. She wants to have a nice and friendly lunch with the woman whose husband she slept with. We totally see that happening!

So what has Sandra been up to all this while? Remember the huge photo shoot of her and her adopted baby Louis, which was spread all over the glossy pages of “People” magazine? It came as no surprise that James was not present, but according to a reliable inside source, during the photo shoot, James was right by Sandra’s side and was absolutely amazing with both the baby and Sandra!

Even more interesting is the fact that the pictures were taken just two days after Sandra won her Oscar and just a few days before James’ affair came to light. Sandra was supposedly blissfully unaware of his exploits with Michelle, at the time. So where are those pictures of Louis and James? Were they edited out on express instructions from Bullock? One can only wonder!

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Sinful Lasagne

May 15th, 2010

Who can resist Lasagna? This perfect recipe from the shores of Italy always makes even the most determined dieters break their diet just for a day. After all, its lasagna and it is amazing.

Granted that eating it on a regular basis can land you into a lot of trouble, you may find that you have to buy a whole new set of clothes soon, but the occasional indulgence never hurt anyone, especially if you compromise by working out in the gym.

After all, there is something to be said of endorphins! We only get one life, making ourselves happy throughout the duration of our life should be our main goal! Just picturing a piece of Lasagna, with all the most delicious, creamy, gooey, cheese all over it makes your mouth water and your stomach growl, doesn’t it? So without much further ado, here is the recipe for the most sinful pasta!

Ingredients

Lean, ground Beef – 3/4th Cup
Canned Tomato Sauce – 2 (they should weight about 6.5 ounces each)
Can of Crushed Tomatoes – 2 ( It should weight about 28 ounces)
Minced Onion – ½ Cup
Sweet Italian Sausage – 1 pound
Canned Tomato paste – 2 (they should weight 6 ounces each)
Crushed Cloves of garlic – 2
Ricotta Cheese – 16 ounces
Lasagna Noodles – 12
Sliced Mozzarella Cheese – 3/4th Pound
Egg -1
Grated Parmesan Cheese – 3/4th Cup
Italian Seasoning – 1 teaspoon
Fennel Seeds – ½ teaspoon
White Sugar – 2 tablespoons
Fresh parsley, chopped – 4 tablespoons
Salt – ½ teaspoon + 1 tablespoon
Ground black pepper – ¼ teaspoon
Water – ½ cup
Dried Basil leaves – 1 and ½ teaspoons

Method:

  1. Put in the ground beef, the cloves of garlic, the sausages and onion, in a Dutch oven and cook on a medium flame until the onions turn a brownish golden color. After the color has been attained add the tomato, the tomato paste and the tomato sauce along with the water, stirring all the while.
  2. Thereafter, season the mixture with the Italian seasoning, the fennel seeds, sugar, table spoon of salt, basil, two tablespoons of the parsley and the pepper. Let this mixture simmer for about an hour and a half and keep it covered during this duration.
  3. In a large pot, add some lightly salted water and boil it. Cook the lasagna noodles in this water for about ten minutes and then remove from heat, drain the noodles of all the water and thereafter rinse them with cold water. In a mixing bowl, add the egg and combine with the ricotta cheese, remaining parsley and the half teaspoon of salt. In the meanwhile, preheat your oven to a temperature of 375 degrees.
  4. In order to assemble the ingredients, spread out 1 and1/2 cups of the cooked meat sauce in the bottom of an appropriately sized baking dish and arrange six of the cooked noodles lengthwise over the sauce. Then spread about one half of the ricotta cheese mixture on the sauce and top it up with one third of the mozzarella slices. Then spoon another 1 and ½ cups of the sauce and follow this up finally with one-fourth cup of the Parmesan. Repeat this process for the remaining six lasagna noodles.  Then cover the noodles with foil to prevent sticking. Make sure to grease the foil too.
  5. Thereafter, bake in the oven for about half an hour. Remove the foil and then bake for another twenty-five minutes. Cool before serving.

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Dangerous Liaisons

May 9th, 2010

The claws are out between the home wreckers! These ladies can make wrecking homes look like a bad play on stage. I mean really, who are they trying to fool with their publicity tricks? Joslyn James, Tiger Woods’ erstwhile mistress, who he wanted to choke, pummel and spank (definitely kinky stuff!) at one point in time, has been accused of making a name for herself by using her exploits with Tiger to come into the public eye by none other than Rachel Uchitel!

Funny though, since Rachel herself publicly discussed her affair with David Boreanz in Times Magazine just recently! Now if this isn’t a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, then what is? How can anyone, who has gone and done the very same thing, assume a self-righteous attitude? Beats me, and I’m sure a whole lot of other people are scratching their heads over this one too!

Joslyn, not one to keep quiet, retaliated by saying that she found it extremely laughable that Rachel was choosing to do some public bashing in this regard, by saying that Joslyn is making a career for herself by using her affair with Tiger to gain publicity, since she was apparently PAID by Tiger to keep her mouth shut! That’s rich Rachel, isn’t it (pun intended!)?

Oh and just so you know, both ladies are fighting it out with facts! Joslyn also went on to say that she found it quite hilarious how Rachel said that she was quite “well known” before her affair with the golf champion came into the limelight! She also said that she had never even heard of her before!

Joslyn herself was quite err “well-known”, but then again this depends on your definition of well known. Joslyn calls herself an actress and a dancer – maybe an artist of sorts; we say she is a PORN STAR! Joslyn says that she had given up her career since she had been fooled into thinking that she actually had something special with Tiger, once she came back to reality, she merely went back to doing what she had been doing all along – read starring in porn movies! Also, her “comeback” was even more special since she made a “Tiger themed” porn movie too!

Rachel on the other hand says that the text messages which were exchanged between her and David Boreanz was all a lie and they had been fabricated by some very nasty people. By way of justification she said that that is not how she talks and definitely not how the two spoke to each other!

She may even have a point because in all the text messages, David’s wife’s name was spelt wrong and he definitely knows how to spell her name (or one can hope he does at least!), so why would he repeatedly keep making the same mistake? Or was it just because he wanted to do away with the unnecessary parts since things were getting quite heated in his sexts?

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Healthy Food For Healthy Hair

May 3rd, 2010

Your hair is a part of you and keeping it healthy is your duty! Healthy hair is not only the ultimate accessory; it can make you look stunningly beautiful! On the other hand mousy, dirty hair makes for an extremely unattractive sight! So what should you do to keep your hair healthy, the natural way?

There are products galore flooding the market, all promising to give your hair a makeover and give you that beautiful head of shining, lustrous locks which you’ve always longed for, but most of them are really not worth the expenditure! The bottom line is, shampoo and conditioner and just not enough to keep your hair healthy and beautiful, you need to eat right!

Yup, that’s right, in order to have perfectly healthy hair, you need to provide it with all the nutrients it needs – not through shampoos and conditioners, but through the right foods. Here are some of the foods which will help you get those beautiful, shining locks:

Green Vegetables: Did you know that green vegetables, which are loaded with Vitamin A and Vitamin C are extremely good or your hair? This is simply because these two micro nutrients help your body to produce sebum, which is actually your body’s natural conditioner for your hair. Now we all know that nature’s way is the best way, so why not give your system a little push?

Salmon: This is rich in omega three fatty acids, which are the “wonder” fats. They not only help to give your immune system the healthy boost and kick, it needs, they also help you to maintain your hair health. Salmon also contains a lot of Vitamin B12 and Iron, coupled with a lot of first class protein. Could anyone ask for a more complete food? More importantly, could your hair ask for more?

Poultry: All you chicken lovers listen up because there’s a whole lot of good news for you. All that protein and iron, which is present in these meats, go a long way in promoting hair health. Moreover, the Iron present in poultry is in an extremely bioavailable form!

Nuts: Brazil Nuts are not only delicious; they are also a rich source of Selenium, which is an important mineral where your hair is concerned. Other nuts such as walnuts also contain omega three fatty acids, which, yet again, go a long way in maintaining hair health!

Oysters: never thought you’d see this one on the list, did you? Oysters are an extremely rich source of Zinc, which acts as a powerful antioxidant and in the process, helps you grow that thick head of hair which is sure to turn heads!

Good luck with those shining tresses!

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Are You A Divorcee? Do You Want To Start Dating Again? Read On

April 27th, 2010
Sometimes getting over a divorce can be very hard to do. A harder thing to do would be to start dating again. After all you have probably been wounded by the previous marriage and you probably can’t trust anyone anymore.

If you have children then it’s even more difficult to start dating again because you have to think of whether your children are going to like the new man in your life or not. Pick up these strategies and your work will become easier for you.

• Have a good time when you go out. Don’t look at a man and think of if he is marriage material or not. The man you are dating might just not become your next spouse so looking at him critically won’t really help you out. Simply go out with him and make sure that you have a good time.
• Make sure that you get to know the person with whom you are going out with before you actually introduce the person to your children. Sometimes right after their divorce, people start speed dating. During the process they also land up introducing all of their dates to their children which isn’t a very good thing to do. If you decide after sometimes that, that man is not the right man for you then your children will be heartbroken if they see that you are not dating the same person anymore. So for the sake of the children you must try not to do this.
• Make sure you get to know the person carefully before you start dating him. This way you will know if you will last in the long term or not. Also if it turns into a long term thing, then only can you introduce your date to your children. This way they wont be heart broken when you think you have made a mistake with the person.
• For a first date go to simply a public place. Don’t try and get the person over to your place for “coffee”. This way the man might just get the wrong vibes and might get frightened. This will also show how lonely you are and will give the impression that you are just waiting for affection from the man. Also never talk about your ex on the first date.

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Idol Gives Back but It’s the End of the Journey for One

April 21st, 2010
Wednesday night Idol was all about giving back to its viewers but then they also took one of their contestants back. Their show was held so that they could benefit poverty and the disease fighting charities which are found in Africa and the US. So it wasn’t an entirely stone cold elimination at the end of the night.

The show included a lot of testimonials from Jennifer Garner, Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck. It also included musical performances from Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood and the Black Eyed Peas. Also Russell Brand and Jonah Hill managed to get their imaginary friends Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and also “both hot guys from Twilight” to get to answer their phones.

They even went off to Slash, Jim Carrey and Octomom but just so that they could kill time for the final results of Lee Dewyze, Crystal Bowersox, Aaron Kelly, Casey James, Siobhan Magnus, Tim Urban and Michael Lynche. Now by the time they had announced the final three the show was around the 2 hour mark and everyone was waiting for Elton Johns finale performance of “Your Song”.

But then finally Tim was the one to go home this week. Although according to Simon he turned from “zero to hero” he couldn’t help himself with Better Days last night. But the sad part was that Tim couldn’t say his final words since the show ran longer than expected, the show had to be closed.

Joining Tim was Aaron and Casey in the bottom three. Casey got was sent to the bottom three for the first time ever this week. This is how he got rewarded for all of his efforts. According to Simon, Casey’s performance wasn’t authentic or inspirational and that he had been getting quite lazy and he needed to pick it up.

Now during the show, Simon was actually voted back to England by “guest judge” George Lopez who said, “But since there’s a huge cloud of volcanic ask preventing people from travelling, Simon, you are safe”. He even roasted all the other judges and Ryan, he expressed his admiration for Seacrest for the power and said he must feel tall when he’s holding the results. He said, “You much fell, like, 5 feet tall.” To that Ryan said, “Erik Estrada” and applauded. Next week Shania Twain is the one who is going to be their mentor.

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Ways to Parent a Child with ADHD

April 16th, 2010
When parents get to know that their child has ADHD, it is quite the emotional ride for them. It might just be a real challenge parenting a child who is special but then as a parent you can always do it.
ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a behavior which you find in a lot of children.

Children having ADHD have trouble with their concentration; they cannot pay attention in school or even at home. This will decrease their speed of learning and hence it becomes difficult to deal with them.

You will find that if your child has inactive ADHD he or she will have the following symptoms

• The child wont be able to follow instruction properly
• The child will not play at school or even at home
• They will start losing things at school and also at home
• They will appear not to listen to what you tell them
• They wont pay any attention to details
• They will seem very disorganized
• They wont be able to perform those tasks which need a bit of planning
• They will forget what you tell them or things in general very easily
• They get distracted very easily

You will also find that those children who have hyperactive ADHD have symptoms like

• They are fidgety all the time
• They will climb up or run around inappropriately
• They wont be able to play peacefully and quietly
• They will start blurting out answers
• They will interrupt a lot of people
• They wont be able to sit in one place quietly
• They will keep talking
• They will always be “on the go”
• They will not be able to wait for their turn

Now the first thing you need to do after knowing this is stay positive no matter what. Make sure that you are willing to make the little compromises and that the small little things like your child not completing his or her homework strike a nerve. Make sure that you have complete faith in your child. Learn to trust your child and believe that your child will mature and change and succeed in life. Also make sure that you have goals set and then you can achieve these. After you do this, you are going to feel a lot better.

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Top Greek Recipe – Baklava

April 11th, 2010
Baklava

Ingredients:

  • Phyllo Dough – 1 package
  • Chopped nuts – 1 pound
  • Butter – 1 cup
  • Ground cinnamon – 1 tsp
  • Water – 1 cup
  • White sugar – 1 cup
  • Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
  • Honey – ½ cup

Method:

Make sure that the oven is pre heated to around 350 degrees. The bottom and the sides of a baking pan should be buttered. The pan should be 9X13 inches in size. chop up all of the nuts and toss it along wihth the cinnamon. Set this mixture aside and then unroll the phyllo pastry. The entire stack should be cut into half so that you can fit it in the pan. Cover the phyllo roll with a dampaned cloth so that you prevent this from drying up while you work on the rest of the baklava. Place two of these dough sheets into a pan and then put the butter on it thoroughly.

Keep repeating this process until you have managed to get 8 layers of these buttered properly. Now you need to sprinkle around 2 to 3 tbsps of the mixture of nuts on top of this. Now you need to top each sheet of with dough then butter then nuts and then keep layering this up in this process as you keep on going. When you reach the top layer you should have layered around 6 to 8 sheets by then.

After this comes the part where you need to cut the pastry out. Use a knife which is very sharp and then cut out the pastry into diamond or even square shapes. This cut out should be made till the bottom of the pan.

You can even try and make the cut outs in diagonals in 4 long rows and then you can cut it out diagonally. This is easier to do. Now this should be baked for around 50 minutes till it becomes crisp.

Then you need to make the sauce. Boil the water and the sugar till you see that the sugar gets completely melted. Then you add the honey and the vanilla to it and let this mixture simmer for around 20 minutes. Then you take the baklava out of the oven and pour the hot sauce onto it. After this cools you can serve it in cupcake papers. Make sure that it is uncovered or else it is going to get very soggy.

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Is Papaya the Number One Food in Your Diet?

April 5th, 2010
Everyone knows which fruit papaya is. It’s the one which look like a melon when it comes to appearance but is very sweet and is also very delicious. This is the healthiest fruit for your body.
Christopher Columbus called this fruit “the fruit of angels”. It consists of antioxidants, minerals and also vitamins which are good for your body. If you consume this fruit on a regular basis you have many health benefits like:

• Your digestive health will improve. You must eat a minimum of 4 to 5 servings per day. This is like a tonic which is beneficial to your stomach and even your intestine. The fruit will consist of a digestive enzyme which is called papain which helps with your process of digestion. The fiber in the fruit will also prevent you from getting constipation.

• The skin of the papaya along with the leaves and the fruit can help you in the case of burns and other wounds. The healing of burns and wounds will get accelerated if you use papaya based medication. This fruit has qualities which are anti bacterial and anti inflammatory.

• These seeds help to get rid of the intestinal worms which are present. You need to take two teaspoons of these seeds per day, chew it very thoroughly and then add a little bit of honey to it and then swallow it. They might be a little bitter but then the honey makes these edible. Make sure you have these seeds thrice after ever meal and then you will be free of intestinal worms.

• If you feel nauseous then you can have papaya. It prevents morning sickness as well as motion sickness. If you have the recommended servings then your discomfort will be reduced.

• Papaya is rich in Vitamin C, this helps to protect your body against diseases like inflammatory polyarthritis which is a special form of rheumatoid arthritis. This happens in two or more than two joints.

• Papaya helps in the proper functioning on the immune system. this is because it consists of a supply of Vitamins A,C and E along with anti oxidants. It also helps in improving the health of your skin. It is very rich in Vitamin E which helps to delay your ageing. This happens since your wrinkles are minimized and your skin gets a healthy glow.

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