Yesterday there were reports on recent studies of overweight children. They have found the majority of them have the arteries of 30 yr olds with advanced arterial damage. What a frightening thought. These kids are at risk of heart problems at a very early age, in their 30s or so. How can people get through a) to the parents and b) to the kids themselves. I have a friend who has two enormous children, they are technically adults now, but the pair of them are huge and no-one ever did anything about it. I believe they were fed too much when they were young, but they are now old enough to make their own decisions and neither of them appear to be doing anything about it. If you want to read more about this
click here for the GMA article. Of course obese children are also at risk for diabetes and a host of other major illnesses caused by overweight. Having struggled with weight all
my life, I am very concerned with this problem.
Another fascinating segment on GMA this morning, was about a school
which is making great strides with autistic children. Again if you want to read the article
click here. They are giving the autistic children a way to communicate. Unfortunately it is a private school and costs quite a bit to send kids there. It is a wonderful programme apparently and really does wonders for these children. The young man in the picture is one of their students. They work by getting into what the children are interested in and not structuring their education.
I wasn't too well yesterday, I developed a cough and ended up getting very little sleep on Monday night. Matt didn't get much either unfortunately. Then several other things got to me yesterday so I didn't go to my volunteering job but just stayed at home mollycoddling myself. I am better but not 100% today. So send good vibes my way please. I haven't got a cold exactly, but that picture shows how I was feeling.
That's nice, just to cheer me up, they are testing the fire alarm bells this morning, this will probably go on all day so I think we will have to find a reason to leave.
OK I will put my money where my mouth is and give you a Weight Watchers Recipe from their New, Complete Cookbook.
Roast Beef Salad with Arugula
A perfect recipe for making use of leftovers from a Sunday roast.
Makes 4 servings
1 red onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 cup ice water
10 sun-dried tomato halves (not oil packed)
1 cup boiling water
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
8 cups arugula, thick stems removed
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 lb thinly sliced roast beef, cut into strips
cracked black pepper to taste
1 lemon cut into 4 wedges
Soak the onion in the ice water 1 hour; Drain and pat dry. Soak the tomatoes in the boiling water 2 mins; drain and pat dry then finely dice
To prepare the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper; whisk in the oil, a little at a time, then add the tomatoes and beat in 1 Tbs water.
In a medium bowl, toss the arugula with 1 Tbs of the dressing, divide among 4 plates. In the bowl, toss the onion and mushrooms with another Tbs of the dressing. Divide amonth the plates. Toss the roast beef with the remaining dressing and place on top of the salads. Sprinkle with the cracked pepper and serve with the lemon wedges.
This is 4 points per serving.
Have a great day.
t method of plugging the oil leak has been partially successful but is not apparently the final solution. There is an article here http://tiny.cc/6h3q7 which is interesting to read and also says that the oil may have, already, reached the loop current in the gulf which could eventually take the oil into the Atlantic and on up the coasts of eastern America. This would really mess with the fishing industry not to mention all the wetlands and aquatic animals which would be affected. BP are reiterating that they will pay for everything, as I understand their costs so far are equivalent to something like 6 day's profits, I guess they aren't going to run out of money any time soon despite the millions of dollars this is costing. The picture of the oil gushing out of the broken pipe is a really scary one in my book. I have just seen a headline saying Offshore spill won't happen to Canada, huh!!! Our prime minister says it couldn't happen because of the federal government's strong offshore drilling rules. I just hope he is right, but sounds a tad cocksure to me. GMA has a good picture of the pipe insertion too by the way.
Talking of GMA they are doing segments on who inspired them (the hosts that is) and this morning, Sam Champion talked about his sister who has an autistic son and has been working hard all his life to raise money to assist with autistic children. However, the main problem there seems to be that at a certain age, all the programmes cease and older people with autism are not looked after - there are no programmes in place for them. Apparently autism is on the rise, a lot because of improvements in detection, they are not yet sure if there is an actual rise in the disease. There is some talk of heavy metals, pesticides and childhood vaccines, but at the moment there is no definite answer as to why autism occurs. Such discussion reminds me of a lovely book by Elizabeth Moon called The Speed of Dark which is about people with autism. She knows, as she has an autistic son. There was also the wonderful movie Rainman with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
I have to go to Barrie Bros. Farm today as I am out of asparagus. That will never do. Here is yet another recipe I have found. But as usual from this source, no pictures.
Asparagus Almandine 
Asparagus Recipes
2 lb of fresh asparagus.
¼ cup of slivered almonds.
¼ cup of butter.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
½ teaspoon of salt.
Cook the asparagus; then drain. Melt the butter in a skillet. Cook the almonds over a low heat, stirring frequently, until they turn golden brown (takes about five mins). Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and the salt.P our over hot asparagus. Serve.
Have a great day
