Marijuana, Poppies and Terrorists.

I watched a documentary on The Nature of Things last night in which they provided overwhelming evidence that marijuana causes schizophrenia in a large number of users. If I were a user, that would stop me cold. They had all kinds of patients, their families and their doctors all talking about it. Research has been done in several countries which has conclusively proved the connection. I have always been anti pot, Mary Jane, cannabis, or whatever you want to call it, and this confirms my opinions. Drugs of any kind are dangerous, even those prescribed by your doctor have all kinds of side effects which are monitored and controlled but obviously so called recreational drugs are not monitored.

Talking of drugs, British Columbia have just found a poppy field which is ready to be harvested. They are now wondering how many more there are that they haven’t found yet. The pictures of the field showed it to be absolutely huge, I don’t know how much product you can get from one field mind you. Possibly not a lot. In my opinion people who use drugs need their heads examined.

Canada has just arrested three suspected Islamic terrorists on our soil. Now the other Islamis are worried about retribution and retaliation from the general population. A taxi driver in Toronto was slashed with a knife this week because he stated his religion was Islam. They have arrested the young man who did it and are puzzled as he has been involved in meetings promotion religious tolerance. Its not so much the religion as the militant branch of it which terrifies people and how, generally, do you know who is militant and who is not?

I have been having computer problems again this week, for various reasons I had to make a couple of changes and now my laptop will no longer talk to my desktop or vice versa. Its supposed to be a very simple set up, really? I have tried everything I can think of, and I am in email touch with the young man who built my new PC,  but haven’t solved the problem so far. I have a new thing to try today, so will do that later. I have been sharing the printer for a couple of weeks now, but no more.

I love shrimp, I love white beans, what’s not to like in this low cal healthy recipe?

Grilled Shrimp Skewers over White Bean Salad

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

From EatingWell:  July/August 2010

Fresh herbs make all the difference in this light, summery bean salad that in turn makes an aromatic bed for the easy grilled shrimp. The shrimp and salad are wonderful together but you could also make them separately. Consider skewering and grilling scallops as another delicious option.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons packed fresh oregano, minced

2 tablespoons packed fresh sage, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed

12 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 cup finely diced celery

24 raw shrimp (21-25 per pound; see Note), peeled and deveined

Preparation

1. Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, oregano, sage, chives, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the dressing in a small bowl. Add beans, tomatoes and celery to the large bowl; toss well.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high or place a grill pan over medium-high heat until hot.
3. Thread shrimp onto 6 skewers. (If using a grill pan, you don’t need to skewer the shrimp.)
4. Oil the grill rack (see Tip) or the grill pan. Grill the shrimp until pink and firm, turning once, about 4 minutes total. Serve the shrimp on the white bean salad, drizzled with the reserved dressing.

Nutrition

Per serving : 239 Calories; 8 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 6 g Mono; 115 mg Cholesterol; 22 g Carbohydrates; 22 g Protein; 8 g Fiber; 575 mg Sodium; 298 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 1/2 lean meat, 1 1/2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the salad and shrimp separately for up to 1 day. | Equipment: Six 8- to 10-inch skewers

• Note: Both wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp can damage the surrounding ecosystems when not managed properly. Look for shrimp certified by an independent agency, such as Wild American Shrimp or Marine Stewardship Council. If you can’t find certified shrimp, choose wild-caught shrimp from North America—it’s more likely to be sustainably caught. Shrimp is usually sold by the number needed to make one pound. For example, “21-25 count” means there will be 21 to 25 shrimp in a pound. Size names, such as “large” or “extra large,” are not standardized. In recipes calling for a specific count, order by the count (or number) per pound to be sure you’re getting the size you want.
• Tip: To oil a grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Muslim Demonstrations, Canadian Food Recall

I have been getting emails which I thought were spam or hate mail. It turns out they are all too disturbingly true. I checked with Snopes.com. For some reason these pictures of demonstrations in London have not been shown in North America so someone started circulating them by email. If you would like to read about it and see the rest of the pictures click here and see what Snopes has to say about it all. I don't understand this. If you ever read the Koran, which I did many years ago, its message isn't really that much different to the Bible. It does seem to me that maybe Immigration people should think twice about letting such people into our countries if this is the kind of attitude they bring with them. The pictures are really quite scary. Some of them show messages saying Islam will take over the world starting with Britain. We watched a good movie last night, Just Cause which starred Sean Connery. In fact we had seen it before but had forgotten the ending. On Glenda Larke's page (Tropic Temper this page) we have been discussing villains and I would certainly select Ed Harris playing Blair Sullivan as a good villain - he was the mass murderer already on death row. You begin the movie by feeling sorry for Bobby Earl and hating the two southern cops. Sean Connery is a lawyer turned professor who is asked by Bobby Earl to help him because he is about to be executed. Lawrence Fishburne plays one of the cops we hated right from the beginning. Old movie but still a good one. We ate marinated pork tenderloin from M & M's Meat Shops last night. Can't give you a recipe and if you don't have an M & M's in your area, sorry, but it is good. This is the second one we have had and we will be buying some more. Makes a nice easy meal with a few veg. We don't usually bother with potato, rice or pasta, unless the dish really cries out for it. The only potatoes I really feel are worth eating were the ones grown on the island of Malta. European potatoes aren't bad, North American potatoes are the pits. In my opinion of course. The nearest we can find to a good potato is a Yukon Gold which has a golden tinged flesh, but they are not as good as some of the potatoes of Europe. My opinion of course. We have a big scare on in Canada at the moment, one of our deli meat producers, Maple Leaf, have recalled hundreds of their ready to eat products due to some of them being infected with listeriosis (often called just listeria) which can make you very ill and has already caused six deaths which have been confirmed. This is going to really hurt the company, they are already losing millions of dollars and of course the trust they have built up over the years has all been blown away. There are more suspect deaths but they are not yet confirmed as part of the listeria problem. Having done a bit of reading last night, it appears my packet of Canadian bacon is OK as it isn't being recalled, nor is it something one eats straight from the packet - it has to be cooked. Matt says I should ditch it anyway, but why waste money if it isn't necessary, besides, I enjoy my Canadian bacon for breakfast. The picture shows one of the many lunch meats processed by Maple Leaf Co. If you are interested, and particularly if you are a Canadian buyer of Maple Leaf processed foods, there is an extensive list in PDF form on the Maple Leaf website. Now how about a recipe with nice processed meats in it? LOL. I basically don't use them anyway so you're OK. Anyway, I'd better get cracking, its my afternoon at the Canadian Diabetes Association today so I had better stop rabbiting on. I have a third filling for crèpes which came with the original recipes I posted the other day, so I thought you would like to have it. Soufflèed Spinach Crepes Serves: 6 Source: Cooking Light - May 1994 1/4 cup plus 1 tbs grated Parmesan, divided 3 tbs fine dry breadcrumbs 1 tbs margarine or butter, melted 2 tsp margarine 1/2 cup minced onion 1-1/2 tbs flour 2/3 cup skim milk 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp white pepper 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained. 1 egg yolk 3 egg whites 1/3 tsp cream of tartar 12 Parmesan crepes Pam Combine 3 tbs of Parmesan, breadcrumbs and 1 tbs margarine; stir well and set aside. Melt 2 tsps margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute 2 mins, or until tender. Add flour and cook 1 min stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Gradually add skim milk, stirring constantly. Cook 1 min or until thickened. Stirring. Add remaining parmesan, salt, white pepper and nutmeg. In a food processor put sauce and spinach, process until smooth. Add egg yolk; process til smooth. Beat egg whites (at room temp) and cream of tartar at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir in a quarter of the egg white into the spinach. Gently fold remaining egg white into spinach. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into each crepe, fold in quarters. Arrange in baking dish coated with pam. Spread breadcrumb mixture over evenly. Bake uncovered at 375 for 20 mins. Serve with sliced tomatoes. Have a great day.