photographed by Karen Hanrahan
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Monthly Archives: August 2009
Black Beans And Rice
I get a hankering for beans.
Maybe that’s weird, but I love them!!
I have been trying to replicate the black beans I ate in Costa Rica and have yet to find the taste I recall so affectionately. However I recently tried this recipe and loved it.
I completely neglected to bookmark the site where I found this recipe – I should be ashamed really.
Whoever you are ….thank you!!
I think from now on I have to soak 1/2 lb beans versus a full lb of beans. As a single person I had too many beans this week. I froze some for future bean hankerings but this week ended up being a tad tooooo beany!!
Soak beans overnight. Drain. Cover with water, add two inches more water and boil for three hours. Simple. I simmered my beans with several links of cajun chicken sausage. I thought it might make the beans taste spicy and smoky, but it didn’t. The sausage cut up was superb in the rice. I think a ham hock works best for adding flavor to beans
What makes this particular recipe is the rice.
Simmer 3 T of chopped cilantro, 1 red pepper, an entire sweet onion, and 3 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Very aromatic. Add 2 cups raw rice. I used Basmati and simmer gently. Be sure that the rice is well covered in oil. Add 2 cups chicken broth and one cups black broth from the cooked beans. This gives the rice a sortof dirty look!! I had never done that before. Bring to a boil, cover and then simmer. The time depends on the needs of your rice. Mine was a quick cook rice so in 15 minutes it was ready.
I added the chopped cajun sausage and leftover turkey ham chopped.
Top the rice with beans and enjoy. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro if you have any left.
Later in the week , I mashed my beans and added cumin and coriander. I made a fresh pico de gallo and had quesadilla’s with grilled chicken
With the left overs of all of that I made beans and rice, topped with a poached egg and the leftover pico
All very yummy – Can you perhaps see why I might be a tad beaned out ??
my experience in CR was very similar, beautiful cloud forest flickr image
Killer Cells Aren't Choosy
The summary below was shared in a field email sent from our highly regarded sales leader and Professer of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill Dr. Stephan Chaney
While clinical studies are the gold standard for determining the effectiveness of a drug or a nutrient, it is sometimes difficult to avoid animal studies if you want to determine how that drug or nutrient works. Those those basic “mechanism of action” studies are often a necessary prelude to the clinical studies.
That is why my companies commitment not to use any animal studies in the testing of their products is so important.
If you are passionate about reducing the use of animals in research, you will be particularly impressed with my companies latest research project.
My company wanted to do some basic research on how our natural interferon works to prevent viral infections in the lung. So they contacted scientists at Cornell University to do those experiments.
They contacted those particular scientists to do the experiments because they were world experts in thefield of immunology, and they were world experts in the development of model systems that can be used in the place of animal studies.
The scientists asked our company if they would first support their research in developing an animal-free model system for determining how the airway epithelium (in layman’s terms this refers to the layers of cells that line the lungs and windpipe) responds to viral infections.
We of course agreed to support the research at Cornell in developing a model of the human airway epithelium – even though that research itself did not involve any of our wellness products and was, therefore, of no direct benefit to our company.
The Cornell scientists have published their first paper using this human airway epithelium (HAE) model system.
(Palmero et al., Journal of Virology, 83: 6900-6908).
That particular paper showed how the lungs respond to a particular type of parainfluenza virus that is responsible for croup and bronchitis in children
Our companies support in the development of the HAE model system was acknowledged in that paper and will be acknowledged in all future papers using that model system.
Of course, the research didn’t stop there. Our company also supported a research project by the same scientists to
determine how our natural interferon helps the lungs resist infection by flu viruses.
I can’t release all of the results of that study yet because the study has not yet been published. But I can
tell you that the study showed that our natural interferon activates “natural killer cells” when a flu virus
infects lung tissue.
This is a significant finding because, as their name suggests, natural killer cells play an important role
in “killing” the flu virus. We already knew that our natural interferon helped fight viral infections, but we didn’t
know how. This research is an important part of the proof that our product is effective.
In Summary:
1) My company has supported fundamental research at
Cornell University into the development of a model
system that allows scientists to test how human lung
tissue responds to viral infections – and without the
use of animals.
2) This study is significant in itself because it will
allow scientists across the world to answer important
scientific questions that can not be addressed in
clinical trials – and the lives of many thousands of
laboratory animals will be spared in the process.
3) This is yet another example of our companiescommitment
to supporting research that advances scientific
knowledge - not just research that can be used in the
marketing of their products. This commitment to true
science is unique among food supplement companies.
4) These same scientist went on to use this model
system to show that our natural interferon protects human lung
tissue from viral infection by activating natural
killer cells which destroy the virus.
5) This provides even stronger evidence of the
effectiveness of our product by showing how it works.
P. S. I’m sure that some of you are going to ask me
about the swine flu.
This study was not done with swine flu virus, so it
does not provide direct evidence that natural inteferon will
protect against the swine flu.
However, you should know that natural killer cells are
not particularly choosy. They destroy every virus that
they come across.
Thus, I consider our natural interferon to be an important part of
everyone’s health plan to reduce the risk of coming
down with the swine flu.
Why Take Echinacea For Seasonal Allergies Or The Flu?
One of my absolutely favorite herbal nutritional products is Echinacea.
Taken intermittently in times of stress, changes in weather temperature or when exposed to something germy.
( Like travel or exposure in your child’s kindergarten class or family gatherings. )
I feel it gives my body the bit of kick it needs to fight that stuff off.
Our superb Echinacea product additionally has black elderberry, larch tree and zinc in it.
This herbal multiplicity supercharges the immune system giving you the maximum cold and or flu fighting power.
If you have these symptoms or concerns Echinacea can help:
Colds and Flu
Sore Throat and Cough
Swollen Glands
Wounds and Ulcers
Bacterial Infection
Viral Infection
Fever
Herpes
Boils and Skin Eruptions ie: poison ivy
Tonsillitis
Look for these benefits when taking Echinacea:
Stimulates the body’s natural resistance
Pumps up the immune response
promotes production of white blood cells
stops viruses from duplicating
anti-inflammatory
anti-cancer properties
attacks foreign invaders
Our high quality safe and effective herbal product can be swallowed, crushed, made into a soothing tea or sucked on for relief of a sore throat, without comprimising the benefits of the herb
Echinacea should not be taken daily. Children 4 years or older can also benefit from this product.
Not all herbal products have standardized extracts. We do, giving you consistent beneficial dosages each and every time
the above was sourced from nutrition and you
Are you ready for Cold and Flu Season? Stock your natural medicine cabinet now! 
echinacea – purple coneflowers flickr image
K a r e n H a n r a h a n
Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant
Mentoring YOU to Health Success
708.482.0678
Websites:
Nutrition
Weight Loss
Why Take Beta Carotene For Seasonal Allergies Or The Flu?
When one thinks of anti-oxidants they typically think of the super trio Vita C, E and Beta Carotene.
I have always known Beta Carotene to be the all mighty carrot!
We all know carrots are good for you.
However, as nutritional sciences advanced so did the advent of anti-oxidant discoveries.
While Carrots or Vitamin A are wonderfully valid, they were found to be even more significant paired with carotenoids!
Perhaps you have heard of your lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, alpha caroten, and astaxanthins.
These carotenoids are found in richly pigmented fruits and vegetables. They are of great benefit to your health.
Our product is the only product on the market to offer this optimum blend of nature’s carotenoids.
These fat soluble antioxidants have been implicated in the long term health of the eyes, prostate, cervix, lungs and heart
Caratenoids working together support a strong immune system
Woman with low levels of beta carotene double the risk of developing breast cancer.
If you are not eating 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily than this product is for you.
You may be in need of carotenoid supplementation if you have:
age related macular degeneration
are involved in a high stressed life
have a diet that isn’t well balanced
have lung problems
are at risk for prostate cancer
cervical dysplacia
a body full of toxins
heart problems
are exposed to the sun
have a family history of cancer
Benefits include:
promotes proper night vision and eye health
is an anti-oxidant – contributes to overall wellness
increases immunity
reduces risk of heart disease, prostate and cervical cancer
promotes lung health
aids in the detoxification of the liver
above sourced from nutrition and you
Your mucousal lining, also known as your inside skin is made up of carotenoids, when you have issues with your sinus’s often we look at strengthening your inside skin with therapeutic dosages of carotenoid supplemention.
!
eat your carotenoids flickr image credit
Karen Hanrahan | wellness educator and consultant | writer
nutrition ~ green clean ~ inch loss ~ anti-aging