This is from the cookbook my company produced from recipes contributed by employees. It's really tasty and it was really easy to make!
Chicken Tortilla Soup
24 ounces diced canned tomatoes with Juice
1 1/4 lbs diced cooked chicken (deboned roated deli chicken works well)
1 small chopped onion
30-35 ounces chickenbroth
1 cup medium salsa
1 cup corn, optional
1 tsp cumin, or to taste
1 tsp chili powder, or do taste
1 tsp salt
3/4 garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup flour
tortilla chips
Put first 12 ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Prepare roux of butter and flour over medium heat, boiling for 1 minutes, stirring. Add to soup and stir until mixture thickens. Garnish with lightly crushed tortilla chips.
Preparation time is about 15 minutes, cooking time is 35 minutes.
I topped it with cheese as well and would have used some lime and avocado if I had any. Yummy!
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Why I always get bitten!
I always seem to get bitten by mosquitoes, even when other around me are being left alone - I guess I am just not stressed enough!
Finding Smells That Repel
By SHIRLEY S. WANG
If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.
Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.
Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.
"Mosquitoes fly through an aerial soup of chemicals, but can home in on those that draw them to humans," says James Logan, a researcher at Rothamsted, one of the world's oldest agricultural-research institutions. But when the combination of human odors is wrong, he says, "the mosquito fails to recognize this signal as a potential blood meal."
The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others.
Rothamsted's Dr. Logan says the answer isn't to be found in attractant chemicals. He and colleagues observed that everyone produces chemicals that mosquitoes like, but those who are unattractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that repel them.
Misguided Mosquitoes
"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.
Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.
Currently the most effective repellents on the market often contain a chemical known as DEET, which has been associated in some studies with potential safety concerns, such as cancer and Gulf War syndrome. It also damages materials made of plastic. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined that DEET, when used as directed, is safe.
The Rothamsted team set out to get the mosquitoes' viewpoint. The researchers separated human volunteers into two groups—those who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put each of the volunteers into body-size foil bags for two hours to collect their body odors. Using a machine known as a chromatograph, the scientists were able to separate the chemicals. They then tested each of them to see how the mosquitoes responded. By attaching microelectrodes to the insects' antennae, the researchers could measure the electrical impulses that are generated when mosquitoes recognize a chemical.
Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual's hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren't motivated by the person's smell to fly at all.
The chemicals were then tested to determine their impact on actual biting behavior. Volunteers put their arms in a box containing mosquitoes, one arm coated with repellent chemicals and the other without, to see if the arm without the coating got bitten more.
Significant Repellency
The group's latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with "significant repellency." One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.
Dr. Logan declined to comment about the specific chemicals because of proprietary concerns. He says the findings have been patented and the group is working with a commercial company to develop the compounds into a usable insect repellent. One issue that still needs to be resolved: how to develop a formulation of the repellent chemicals that will stay on the skin, rather than quickly evaporating as they do naturally. The hope is to get a product to market within a year or two, he says.
Some of the chemicals researchers identified are believed to be related to stress, Dr. Logan says. Previous research has shown that these particular chemicals could be converted from certain other molecules and this could be as a result of oxidation in the body at times of stress, he says. However, it's not clear if the chemicals observed by the Rothamsted researchers were created in this way, and research is continuing to answer this and other questions.
Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and "not a good quality blood meal." Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.
Other Research
Other research includes an effort by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, who published a paper in the journal Nature last week identifying a recently discovered class of molecules that inhibit fruit flies' and mosquitoes' ability to detect carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide emissions from long ranges, so turning off the ability to detect the gas, perhaps by releasing the inhibiting molecules into the environment, may be a way of keeping the bugs at bay, the researchers suggest. Another team, at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is launching a study into whether the taste of human skin and blood are related to the insects' interest in biting certain individuals.
Finding Smells That Repel
By SHIRLEY S. WANG
If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.
Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.
Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.
"Mosquitoes fly through an aerial soup of chemicals, but can home in on those that draw them to humans," says James Logan, a researcher at Rothamsted, one of the world's oldest agricultural-research institutions. But when the combination of human odors is wrong, he says, "the mosquito fails to recognize this signal as a potential blood meal."
The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others.
Rothamsted's Dr. Logan says the answer isn't to be found in attractant chemicals. He and colleagues observed that everyone produces chemicals that mosquitoes like, but those who are unattractive to mosquitoes produce more of certain chemicals that repel them.
Misguided Mosquitoes
"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.
Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.
Currently the most effective repellents on the market often contain a chemical known as DEET, which has been associated in some studies with potential safety concerns, such as cancer and Gulf War syndrome. It also damages materials made of plastic. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined that DEET, when used as directed, is safe.
The Rothamsted team set out to get the mosquitoes' viewpoint. The researchers separated human volunteers into two groups—those who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put each of the volunteers into body-size foil bags for two hours to collect their body odors. Using a machine known as a chromatograph, the scientists were able to separate the chemicals. They then tested each of them to see how the mosquitoes responded. By attaching microelectrodes to the insects' antennae, the researchers could measure the electrical impulses that are generated when mosquitoes recognize a chemical.
Dr. Logan and his team have found only a small number of body chemicals—seven or eight—that were present in significantly different quantities between those people who were attractive to mosquitoes and those who weren't. They then put their findings to the test. For this they used a so-called Y-tube olfactometer that allows mosquitoes to make a choice and fly toward or away from an individual's hand. After applying the chemicals thought to be repellant on the hands of individuals known to be attractive, Dr. Logan found that the bugs either flew in the opposite direction or weren't motivated by the person's smell to fly at all.
The chemicals were then tested to determine their impact on actual biting behavior. Volunteers put their arms in a box containing mosquitoes, one arm coated with repellent chemicals and the other without, to see if the arm without the coating got bitten more.
Significant Repellency
The group's latest paper, published in March in the Journal of Medical Entomology, identified two compounds with "significant repellency." One of the compounds, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, is a skin-derived compound that has the odor of toned-down nail-polish remover, according to George Preti, an organic chemist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who is involved in a separate line of research into insect-biting behavior. The other, identified in the paper as geranylacetone, has a pleasant odor, though there is some question about whether the chemical is formed by the human biochemical process or is picked up in the environment, Dr. Preti says.
Dr. Logan declined to comment about the specific chemicals because of proprietary concerns. He says the findings have been patented and the group is working with a commercial company to develop the compounds into a usable insect repellent. One issue that still needs to be resolved: how to develop a formulation of the repellent chemicals that will stay on the skin, rather than quickly evaporating as they do naturally. The hope is to get a product to market within a year or two, he says.
Some of the chemicals researchers identified are believed to be related to stress, Dr. Logan says. Previous research has shown that these particular chemicals could be converted from certain other molecules and this could be as a result of oxidation in the body at times of stress, he says. However, it's not clear if the chemicals observed by the Rothamsted researchers were created in this way, and research is continuing to answer this and other questions.
Dr. Logan suggests that mosquitoes may deem hosts that emit more of these chemicals to be diseased or injured and "not a good quality blood meal." Proteins in the blood are necessary for female mosquitoes to produce fertile eggs, and Dr. Logan says it might be evolutionarily advantageous for mosquitoes to detect and avoid such people.
Other Research
Other research includes an effort by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, who published a paper in the journal Nature last week identifying a recently discovered class of molecules that inhibit fruit flies' and mosquitoes' ability to detect carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide emissions from long ranges, so turning off the ability to detect the gas, perhaps by releasing the inhibiting molecules into the environment, may be a way of keeping the bugs at bay, the researchers suggest. Another team, at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is launching a study into whether the taste of human skin and blood are related to the insects' interest in biting certain individuals.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Pork
I made this for dinner and it definitely is worth sharing. So yummy! Please excuse my low res cell phone pic. I didn't find it too spicy, just a nice little kick. If you aren't a fan of spicy food at all just half the Sriracha or leave it out completely.
A bed of coconut rice is an ideal accompaniment.
Combine 1 cup uncooked basmati rice, 1 1/4 cups water, 1/2 cup light coconut milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 16 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 (8-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup prechopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup slivered green onions
A bed of coconut rice is an ideal accompaniment.
Combine 1 cup uncooked basmati rice, 1 1/4 cups water, 1/2 cup light coconut milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 16 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 (8-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup prechopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup slivered green onions
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Place almonds on a baking sheet; bake at 400° for 4 minutes or until toasted. Set aside.
3. While almonds cook, combine pork, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; toss well to coat. Drain pineapple in a sieve over a bowl, reserving juice. Combine juice, remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, vinegar, and next 3 ingredients (through Sriracha), stirring with a whisk.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup onion, ginger, and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in pineapple and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with almonds and green onions.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)CALORIES 347 ; FAT 11g (sat 1.9g,mono 6g,poly 2.3g); CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 54mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.9g; SODIUM 582mg; PROTEIN 27g; FIBER 3g; IRON 2.5mg
Saturday, July 18, 2009
When life hands you limoncello
I have somehow ended up with 3 large bottles of limocello in my freezer and no idea what to do with them. For those of you familiar with limoncello, you know it's not something you drink in large quantities. It could easily take years to go through a single bottles. So what on earth am I to do with so much of it?! I'll tell you what....make Limontinis! I am going to have to start making these whenever people come over until I am down to a single bottle. My freezer just isn't big enough to have so much limoncello! I made a batch tonight and not only are they a refreshing summery cocktail, they are a beautiful garnet color!
 |
Submitted By: KLEINLA
|
"This is a fun, trendy cocktail with an innovative twist on the classic martini, enjoy!"
Ingredients:
1 fluid ounce vanilla flavored vodka 1/2 fluid ounce limoncello 1 1/2 fluid ounces pomegranate juice | 1 dash fresh lime juice 1 lemon twist, for garnish ice cubes |
Directions:
| 1. | Measure the vanilla vodka, limoncello, pomegranate juice and lime juice into a cocktail shaker. Add several ice cubes, seal the lid and shake until frosty. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist. |
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
White Sangria
I've been making a lot of this white wine Sangria lately and gotten a lot of compliments on it. It's also been referred to as "Devils Juice". It is easy to forget there is alcohol in it, until you've had a few glasses and then try standing up. Try it, you'll love it!
White Sangria
8 oz. of apple juice
8 oz. mango nectar (Kern's mango nectar)
2 oz. of triple sec (any orange liqueur will do)
2 oz. of brandy
24 oz. Sauvignon Blanc (or other white wine)
Fruit (cherries, lemons, strawberries, watermelon, lime, pears and melon)
Juice of one lime or to taste
Juice of one orange or to taste
Mix all ingredients in a container or pitcher that is large enough to allow stirring. Stir well and refrigerate until cold, at least two hours.
Makes four servings
You can use this recipe to make red sangria just omit the brandy-enjoy!
White Sangria
8 oz. of apple juice
8 oz. mango nectar (Kern's mango nectar)
2 oz. of triple sec (any orange liqueur will do)
2 oz. of brandy
24 oz. Sauvignon Blanc (or other white wine)
Fruit (cherries, lemons, strawberries, watermelon, lime, pears and melon)
Juice of one lime or to taste
Juice of one orange or to taste
Mix all ingredients in a container or pitcher that is large enough to allow stirring. Stir well and refrigerate until cold, at least two hours.
Makes four servings
You can use this recipe to make red sangria just omit the brandy-enjoy!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Stars
Ever since moving to the east coast I have been fascinated by the metal stars I see all over the outsides of old buildings. I've always wondered what they were for since the placement seemed totally random. I had done a google search before but never really came up with an explanation. When Tiff came out to visit the curiosity was renewed and she actually had a successful google search and found the explanation on the ny times site:
Q. On brick buildings in old industrial areas of the city, I see metal stars placed at intervals on the outside. What are they for?
A. They keep the building from falling apart.
Called star anchors, and common in the 19th century, they’re more than decorations. They are end pieces of wrought-iron bars that run through the wall and are bolted to interior masonry walls or wooden crossbeams. The bars, known as tie rods, literally tied the walls to the interior and prevented the walls from buckling.
To keep the tie rods from being pulled through the brick walls, they were connected to star anchors, rosettes or “S” anchors on the outside.
“As a precaution, tie rods and anchors were sometimes included in original construction, but their more normal use was their addition when an outer brick wall began to lean or buckle,” David Look wrote in the 1992 book “Metals in America’s Historic Buildings.” The damage was already done, and adding a tie rod couldn’t pull the wall straight again, but it kept the wall from moving farther.
In Lower Manhattan, buildings with star anchors can be seen around Coenties Slip, Peck Slip and Pearl Street.
A. They keep the building from falling apart.
Called star anchors, and common in the 19th century, they’re more than decorations. They are end pieces of wrought-iron bars that run through the wall and are bolted to interior masonry walls or wooden crossbeams. The bars, known as tie rods, literally tied the walls to the interior and prevented the walls from buckling.
To keep the tie rods from being pulled through the brick walls, they were connected to star anchors, rosettes or “S” anchors on the outside.
“As a precaution, tie rods and anchors were sometimes included in original construction, but their more normal use was their addition when an outer brick wall began to lean or buckle,” David Look wrote in the 1992 book “Metals in America’s Historic Buildings.” The damage was already done, and adding a tie rod couldn’t pull the wall straight again, but it kept the wall from moving farther.
In Lower Manhattan, buildings with star anchors can be seen around Coenties Slip, Peck Slip and Pearl Street.
What would we do without the internet!? I was so glad to finally learn what those stars were all about! Here are a few of my MANY photos of some of the stars I've spotted in Alexandria and Annapolis.
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