Scanners and Blog Books, New Words, Cholesterol.

We had to go to Staples for some computer paper yesterday and I had a quick look at scanners. What I ought to buy was about $70 before tax, what I wanted was about $100. However, we have kind of decided to wait until we are on vacation to see what is available in North Carolina. The one I was interested in had the ability to take negatives and print pictures from them. I saw one similar when I bought my previous scanner, I would like to get one – ve shall see!!

Talking of paper, I didn’t tell you about the dumb thing I did the other day. I mentioned quite a while back about Blog2Print or Shared Books. You can get them to make books from your blogs which they will then print for you in hard cover, very expensive, soft cover, still expensive, or you can download and print yourself, cheaper. The other day I printed up the latest and once I had finished all 300 some pages, I realised I had already printed it before and it was the wrong book. What a waste of paper, ink and time. Grrrrr. I print the pages on pre-punched paper which makes life easier and that’s what we had to get yesterday. I can’t believe I was so stupid. Until I started printing these books, I had no idea just how much I waffled on in these blogs. So my thanks to all of you who follow my bletherings. (Good old Scottish word).

That reminds me, I heard something about the Oxford Dictionary announcing new words to be added to the dictionary, I gather staycation is one and I believe twitter (in the electronic sense) is another. I see vuvuzela has also been added, how funny. This is the link to the Times list of all the new words and phrases. http://newsfeed.time.com/new-words-in-the-ode/

Although we are now out of asparagus season, I came across this recipe yesterday which is part of a recommendation to eat more nut fats for cholesterol fitness. Basically the article said to eat more nuts of all kinds to help lower cholesterol and clear out your arteries. I wonder if Nutella counts.

Roasted Asparagus with Pine Nuts

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_asparagus_with_pine_nuts.html

From EatingWell:  Spring 2003, The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook (2005)

Roasting is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to cook asparagus. Here we give it an extra flourish with a quick sauce of reduced balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts.

4 servings | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons pine nuts

1 1/2 pounds asparagus

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt, divided

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread pine nuts in a small baking pan and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.
2. Increase oven temperature to 450° F. Snap off the tough ends of asparagus. Toss the asparagus with shallot, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet with sides. Roast, turning twice, until the asparagus is tender and browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring vinegar and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, swirling the pan occasionally, until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 tablespoon, about 5 minutes. To serve, toss the asparagus with the reduced vinegar and sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Nutrition

Per serving : 112 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 12 g Carbohydrates; 5 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 150 mg Sodium; 491 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 1 fat (mono)

Have a great day