A healthy and refreshing recipe for your day 

Yield: 6 servings

What You Need
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
8 ears corn-on-the-cob (Use thawed, frozen corn instead of fresh corn.)
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small zucchini, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves 
What to Do 1. Combine vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise, garlic and Italian seasoning in small bowl with wire whisk. Season, if desired, with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Bring large saucepot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add corn and cook 3 minutes; drain and cool. Remove kernels (about 4 cups) from cob with knife. Combine cooled corn, onion and 1/4 cup vinaigrette in medium bowl. Gently fold in tomatoes, zucchini and basil. Drizzle with remaining vinaigrette. Serve at room temperature.

Source: rdasia.com

Most people blame weight gain on the chocolate shakes or burgers they have been eating. And while consuming those foods will undoubtedly add inches to your waistline, new information shows that there may be chemicals within the body that are also to blame.

Obesogens. They are endocrine disruptors and they are natural and man-made chemicals that alter the regulatory system that controls your weight. Obesogens increase the amount of fat cells you have while at the same time decreasing the amount of calories you burn. In addition, they change the way your body manages hunger.

New research studies are being conducted on the effects of obesogens on the body. To understand what obesogens are and how they are making people fat, you first need to know how these chemicals work.

Obesogens interfere with the body’s natural hormones. Hormones are responsible for just about every function in the body, including metabolism and fat burning. Obesogens disrupt hormones by either copying their natural action or by preventing them from functioning properly.

When Obesogens mimic hormones, it can cause an influx of reactions as the body tries to compensate for too much hormone. When Obesogens block hormones form functioning properly, those hormones cannot do their job, which in turn affects systems in the body. Again, this includes metabolism and fat burning.

These chemicals cause the body to store more fat. What’s worse, they can actually alter cells in the body, reprogramming them to become fat cells. Some obesogens interfere with the production of leptin and prevent it from being released into the body. Leptin is the hormone that send the signal to your body that you are full. Without it, you are likely to overeat.

Obesogens can make the liver become resistant to insulin. When this happens, the pancreas go into overdrive trying to produce more insulin. The excess amount of insulin in the body results in energy being converted to fat.

Wonder where these hormone disruptors are hiding? Unfortunately, they are everywhere.

Foods

If you’re not eating fresh, whole foods, you’re probably consuming obesogens every day. These hormone-disrupting chemicals can be found in just about every grocery store aisle, thanks to high fructose corn syrup. As you know, this artificial sweetener can be found in everything from drinks and snack foods to breads and condiments. High fructose corn syrup, one of the main sources of Obesogens, is so sweet that it interferes with insulin levels and hunger levels.

This is what happens…..

-Obesogens make the liver resistant to insulin
-The pancreas start making more insulin
-Hunger increases and you eat more
-The excess insulin turns all that extra food into fat

Tap Water

Pesticides affect a lot more than just the insects they are designed to control. These powerful chemicals seep deep down into the soil and remain there for years. As they accumulate, they find their way into our faucets and show up in our drinking water. The main obesogen in tap water is called atrazine. It is a pesticide that is banned in Europe but not in the United States. Atrazine slows thyroid hormone metabolism. Another source for obesogens found in your faucets is called tributylin. This fungicide is used to paint the bottom of boats to prevent fungus growth. When ingested, it stimulates the production of fat cells.

Water Bottles and Cans

Bisphenol-A (BPA) has been shown to increase insulin resistance in animal studies and is most commonly found in the lining of cans and sports water bottles. BPA is a synthetic estrogen that is used to harden plastics. Even though it has been banned from some plastics, such as baby bottles, it is still present in many others.

Use these rolled-up snacks as afternoon or evening finger food for yourself and friends. 

Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 10 min. + chilling
Number of Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS

1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into flat panels (about 4, depending on shape of pepper) 
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon plain fat-free yogurt 
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil 
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest 
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 
2 teaspoons water 
Pinch salt 
1 spinach-flavored flour tortilla (8 inches; salad plate size) 
1 cup mixed salad greens

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat broiler. Broil pepper pieces, skin side up, 4 inches from heat, until charred, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

2. Combine chickpeas, yogurt, sesame oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, and salt in food processor and puree until smooth.

3. Spread mixture evenly over one side of the tortilla, leaving 1/2-inch border all around. Top with salad greens and roasted peppers. Roll up jelly-roll fashion.

4. Wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, no more than 4 hours. The roll will get softer and easier to slice as it sits in the refrigerator before serving. The longer it's in, the softer it gets. But too long isn't good. Unwrap and slice crosswise into 8 pieces (1 inch wide) to serve.

Nutrition Per Serving: Per serving (1 piece): Calories 45, fat 1 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 0 mg, sodium 75 mg, carbohydrates 8.5 g, fiber 1.5 g, protein 1.5 g

Tips: Cook's Clue These pinwheels make an impressive party food, and they're ideal for busy cooks because they're easy to assemble and best if made ahead (slice the rolls just before serving). They're also perfectly portable if the party's not at your house. You can multiply the recipe to serve a big group.

Source: rdasia.com

Delight your guests with a special side that's perfect for the holiday season 

Ingredients

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 pound large fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter, divided
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 cup milk
1 cup (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon saltDash pepper

How to make it

1. Place spinach in a greased 8-in. baking dish; set aside.

2. Remove stems from mushrooms. Set caps aside; chop stems.

3. Sauté chopped mushrooms and onion in 2 tablespoons butter; spoon over spinach.

4. Sprinkle with bacon.

5. Top with mushroom caps.

6. Melt remaining butter; brush over caps.

7. In a large saucepan, combine the milk, cheese, mustard, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until cheese is melted; pour over the top.

8. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Serves 6.

Source: rdasia.com

Source: JamichTV

Let go of your grudge for better health 
To forgive may be divine, but no one ever said it was easy. When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your grudge. But forgiveness is possible -- and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health. 

"People who forgive show less depression, anger and stress and more hopefulness," says Frederic Luskin, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good (HarperCollins, 2002). "So it can help save on the wear and tear on our organs, reduce the wearing out of the immune system and allow people to feel more vital." 

So how do you start the healing? Try following these steps: 

Calm yourself. To defuse your anger, try a simple stress-management technique. "Take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, someone you love," Luskin says. 

Don't wait for an apology. "Many times the person who hurt you has no intention of apologizing," Luskin says. "They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. So if you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time." Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person who upset you or condoning of his or her action. 

Take the control away from your offender. Mentally replaying your hurt gives power to the person who caused you pain. "Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you," Luskin says. 

Try to see things from the other person's perspective. If you empathize with that person, you may realize that he or she was acting out of ignorance, fear -- even love. To gain perspective, you may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender's point of view. 

Recognize the benefits of forgiveness. Research has shown that people who forgive report more energy, better appetite and better sleep patterns. 

Don't forget to forgive yourself. "For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge," Luskin says. "But it can rob you of your self-confidence if you don''t do it." 

Source: rdasia.com

1. Clear clutter
Oftentimes, chronic stress and indecision go hand in hand. What's the connection with clutter? People who accumulate clutter tend to have trouble deciding what to do with their stuff (“I'll keep this catalogue/insurance form/magazine article until I can find the time to deal with it”). In one study, when compulsive hoarders and nonhoarders were asked to make decisions about whether to keep or discard an item, MRI scans showed much more activity in brain areas that regulate decision making, attention, and controlling emotions in the hoarders. In other words, they had a much harder time deciding.

Keep a handle on your clutter and you'll likely discover a greater sense of control over your life. Conquering clutter is a constant battle with no finish line-you must continue to make those decisions, and not put them off, if you want to stay on top of things. Make it easier by getting rid of stuff you don't need. 

2. Learn to focus and calm your thoughts
To quiet down the chatter in your mind, simply close your eyes and focus on your breath, “watching” it flow in and out of your nostrils. If thoughts pop up about the groceries, the bills, or the state of the economy, notice them and then redirect your attention to your breath. Keep doing this for 5 minutes. At first you might spend 20 seconds truly focused on your breath and 4 minutes and 40 seconds redirecting your thoughts away from your worries, but that ratio should improve with practice. This little 5-minute exercise-which, by the way, is mediation, though you don't have to think of it that way-has been shown to lower heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, anxiety, pain, insomnia, and the production of cortisol-pretty much a one-stop shop for stress reduction. 


3. Listen to hypnosis CDs.
Hypnosis may sound like quack medicine, but some research shows that it can be tremendously useful. One Yale University study found that hypnosis cut presurgery anxiety in patients entering the operating room by more than half. Other research suggests that hypnosis may be even more helpful at relieving anxiety than cognitive behavioral therapy. To find a licensed psychologist certified in hypnosis, ask your family doctor or your regular psychologist for a referral. Be sure to discuss the different methods of hypnosis available, and which may be best for you. You might also consider investing in a hypnosis CD that your psychologist recommends. 


4. Keep a gratitude journal.
If your worry book is a strictly functional memo pad, make your gratitude journal a beautiful, hardbound book with luscious paper-an object you love to look at and feel in your hands. Write in this journal for 5 minutes a day, jotting down the top three things you are grateful for that day. Make them detailed and specific. Instead of writing “I'm grateful for my family,” write “I'm grateful that my granddaughters came for dinner tonight. I love to watch them learn how to use proper manners. I'm grateful they live nearby so I can watch them grow up.” Over time, doing this routinely will help you start to notice the beauty and grace of each day as it happens. 

Life gets better when you adopt a gratitude attitude 

On day one of my self-proclaimed Month of Gratitude, my five-year-old son woke up “bored” at 5:15 a.m., I spied a speeding ticket in my wife’s purse, and our water heater sputtered to its death as I was getting into the shower. Ordinarily, I would have started grousing and the day would’ve been off to an ugly start. But this day was different. How cute my child’s dimples are even at this ungodly hour. How fetching my wife’s taste for adventure. Only 29 days to go.

Just a week earlier, as I struggled with the feeling that I’d been put on this earth to load and unload the dishwasher, I’d decided it was time to end my reflexive complaining. But it wasn’t simply the little things that were gnawing at me. All of a sudden, my friends were dealing with bad news—cancer diagnoses, divorce, job loss. Shouldn’t I be celebrating my relative good fortune?

I’d heard about the feel-good benefits of a gratitude attitude. What was less clear was how to move from griping to gushing. Hoping for tips, I called Robert A. Emmons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who pioneered research on the benefits of positive thinking. Emmons quoted new studies that indicated that even pretending to be thankful raises levels of the chemicals associated with pleasure and contentment: serotonin and dopamine. Live as if you feel gratitude, he said, and soon the real thing will come.

He recommended keeping a log of everything I’m grateful for in a given week or month. One major study showed that people who wrote down what they are grateful for felt 25 percent happier after ten weeks than those who did not. They even felt better about their jobs and exercised an hour and a half more per week.

I was sold, but my first attempts at keeping a gratitude list were pretty weak: 1. Coffee. 2. Naps. 3. Caffeine in general. As my list grew, I found more uplift: 114. Freshly picked blueberries. 115. The Beatles’ White Album. 116. That I’m not bald.

By day three, I was on a tear, thanking every grocery bagger and parent on the playground like I’d just won an Oscar and hanging Post-it notes to remind myself of the next day’s thank-you targets: the mailman, my son Sebastian’s pre-K teacher. But soon, the full-on approach started to burn me out. Researchers call it the Pledge of Allegiance effect. “If you overdo gratitude, it loses its meaning or, worse, becomes a chore,” Martin E. P. Seligman, the author of Authentic Happiness, told me when I mentioned my slump. Be selective, he advised, and focus on thanking the unsung heroes in your life.

Then Seligman suggested a “gratitude visit.” Think of a person who has made a major difference in your life and whom you’ve never properly thanked. Compose a detailed letter to him or her that expresses your appreciation in concrete terms, then read it aloud, face-to-face. “It’s very moving for the giver and the receiver,” Seligman told me. “Be prepared for tears.”
I immediately flashed on Miss Riggi, my eighth-grade English teacher. She was the first one to open my eyes to Hemingway, Faulkner, and other literary giants. She was the first to encourage me to write. To this day, I am guided by her advice (“Never be boring”). But had I ever thanked her? Had anyone? I made some quick calls and discovered she was still teaching in the same school district, after nearly 40 years. I booked plane tickets to my hometown, Scranton, Pennsylvania, for Sebastian and me.

Thickening soup with potato gives a velvety smooth result without adding the fat used in other traditional methods. Served either hot or chilled, this soup is ideal as a dinner-party starter all through the year. 

• 1 litre (2 pints) vegetable stock, preferably home-made
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) carrots, finely diced
• 100 g (4 oz) potato, peeled and finely diced
• 100 g (4 oz) leeks, chopped
• 2 strips of pared orange zest
• 4 tbsp orange juice, or to taste
• salt and pepper

To garnish

4 tbsp single cream; 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 1 strip of pared orange zest, cut into fine shredsPreparation time: 15-20 minutes, plus cooling and 4 hours chilling if served cold. Cooking time: about 25 minutes

1 Pour the stock into a large saucepan and add the carrots, potato, leeks and orange zest. Bring to the boil over a high heat, skimming the surface as necessary, then reduce the heat to moderate and leave the soup to bubble for about 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are very tender.

2 Remove and discard the strips of orange zest. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth.

3 If serving the soup hot, return it to the rinsed-out saucepan. Reheat and add the orange juice, then adjust the seasoning. Ladle the soup into bowls and add a spoonful of cream to each, drizzling it over the surface. Sprinkle with the parsley and shredded orange zest and serve at once.

4 To serve the soup chilled, leave to cool, then chill for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, stir in the orange juice, then adjust the seasoning. Garnish and serve as for the hot soup.

Plus points

• Making soup is an excellent way of preserving all the water-soluble vitamins - the B group and vitamin C - which are otherwise lost when the cooking water from vegetables is discarded.
• This low-fat soup is made with leeks instead of the usual onion. Leeks are a useful source of several water-soluble vitamins, including C and folate.

Each serving provides

kcal 100, protein 2 g, fat 4 g (of which saturated fat 2 g), carbohydrate 16 g (of which sugars 12 g), fibre 4 g

Some more ideas

• To make a filling broccoli soup, replace the carrots with 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) broccoli florets. Sprinkle each serving with a little grated nutmeg and top with about 1 tbsp crumbled blue cheese, such as Stilton.
• Make a green bean soup using this basic recipe. Replace the carrots with 450 g (1 lb) green beans, trimmed and chopped. Omit the orange zest and add 30 g (1 oz) finely chopped fennel. Depending on the choice of beans, this soup may need sieving to remove fibres after pureeing the mixture - this is particularly important if using runner beans. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped fresh fennel leaves (from the bulb) or dill.