Mini Squash Shepherd's Pie

Who doens't like Shepher's Pie? It includes most "comfort food" ingredients!
This one has a little twist to make it less caloric and more nutritiousl Great (easy) recipe for the weekend!


Mini Squash Shepherd's Pie

Servings: 4 portions

• 2 teaspoons extra-virginolive oil
• 1/2cup chopped onion
• 12ounces 93%-lean ground turkey
• 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1tablespoon tomato paste
• 1cup water
• 6ounces baby spinach, chopped
• 3/4teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2teaspoon garlic powder, divided
• 24oz cooked winter squash, pureed (or you can use frozen winter squash) 
• 1/3 cup finelyshredded Parmesan cheese

Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, stir in turkey, flour and tomato paste, and cook, stirring, until the turkey is mostly browned, about 3 minutes. Add water, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in spinach, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; cook until the spinach is just wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Place squash in a fine-mesh sieve and gently press on it to extract excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Divide the meat mixture among four 10-ounce broiler-safe ramekins. Top each with about 1/2 cup of the squash. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet.

Broil until heated through and bubbling around the edges, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and broil until it is just melted, about 3 minutes more.

Source: based on recipe from Eatingwell.com

RECALL ALERT: Papaya with Salmonella

The federal Food and Drug Administration is banning imports of all papayas grown in Mexico because of widespread and ongoing salmonella contamination, the agency announced Thursday.
More than 15 percent of fresh papayas entering the U.S. from Mexico were contaminated with the foodborne bacteria, an FDA investigation between May 12 and Aug. 18 found. That included papayas from 28 different firms and included all the major papaya-producing regions in Mexico.
Affected papayas were distributed nationwide and to Canada through retail stores and wholesalers.


Source: foodsafety.gov

Sunless Tanning: Safe?

What is your take on sunlesstanning? It has been advertised as a very safe option (compared to tanning bedsand massive sun exposure), but I haven't been able to find any detailed reporton the chemicals behind self tanning. 

The most common formulascontain dihydroxyacetone (DHA) as the active ingredient. DHA is not adye, stain or paint, but causes a chemical reaction with the aminoacids in the dead layer on the skin surface, turning it darker. Someproducts use erythrulose combined with DHA. Erythrulose works identicallyto DHA on the skin surface, but develops more slowly. The two chemicals usedtogether may produce a longer lasting sunless tan.

Many self tanners usechemical fragrances which may cause skin allergies or maytrigger asthma. Furthermore, some of them contain parabens. Parabensare preservatives that can affect the endocrine system.

For the 24 hours afterself-tanner (containing high DHA levels, ~5%) is applied, the skin isespecially susceptible to free-radical damage from sunlight, according to a2007 study led by Katinka Jung of the Gematria Test Lab in Berlin. Forty minutes afterthe researchers treated skin samples with high levels of DHA they found thatmore than 180 percent additional free radicals formed during sun exposurecompared with untreated skin.

Sources: various, including wikipedia

Bacteria and Safe Foods: A Guide

I've always been a bit curious about the sanitary benefits of boiling foods. Does it kill all bacteria and make the food safe?

Here is some clarifying information from a New York Times report. "Bacteriathat cause illness inevitably end up on nearly every ingredient we cook with,and even boiling won’t kill all of them.

Boiling does kill any bacteria active at thetime, including E. coli and salmonella. But a number of survivalistspecies of bacteria are able to form inactive seedlike spores. These dormantspores are commonly found in farmland soils, in dust, on animals andfield-grown vegetables and grains. And the spores can survive boilingtemperatures.

After a food is cooked and its temperature dropsbelow 130 degrees, these spores germinate and begin to grow, multiply andproduce toxins. One such spore-forming bacterium is Clostridium botulinum,which can grow in the oxygen-poor depths of a stockpot, and whose neurotoxincauses botulism.

Once they’ve germinated, bacteria multiplyquickly in nourishing stock. They can double their numbers every 90 minutes atroom temperature, every 15 minutes at body temperature. A single germinatedspore can become 1,000 bacteria in a matter of hours, a billion in a few days.

Any activebacteria are killed by holding food for a minute at 150 degrees or above,and botulism toxin is inactivated by 10 minutes at the boil. But quickly reheating a contaminated food justup to serving temperature won’t destroy its active bacteria and toxins..."

Source: NYTimes

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The Bacteria Colonies in our Pillows

According to Glamour Magazine, who reported on a study from SleepBetter.org, that looked at pillows and mattress pads from 50 college students around the country and found that they had, on average, "350,000 potential live bacteria colonies and 91,000 potential live yeast and mold colonies. 


And the mattress pads? 2 million potential bacteria colonies and 330,000 yeast and mold colonies."Germ expert, Dr. Lisa Shives, says that for most people, these levels of creepy crawlies is pretty normal, and isn't likely to pose a health risk, but for others it may."Most of these microbes are part of the normal human condition, so if you're 25 and healthy as a horse, then this probably won't affect you," she says. "But for the millions who deal with conditions like chronic sinusitis, allergies or asthma--this is data that they should pay attention to and get rid of their old pillows and mattress pads, anything over one year old."You can also cut down on bacteria and skin cell buildup in your pillow by showering before bed, she adds. 


Personally, I like to put our pillows in the sun for a couple of hours on a weekly basis. In the Winter, I throw them in the drier for about 30 minutes. It doesn't hurt!


Source: Glamour Magazine

Night Club Dancing

There are many variations of dance on the local Night Club floors of Oahu. And there are definite differences in the dancing for the young and for the "not so young." That part most everyone is aware of. And we also should accept that the young are more likely to go for the fad dances.

"People cannot discover new oceans unless

they are willing to lose sight of the shore."

The older dancers, through experience have gone that route, They accept that they will never get into a competition and finally settle down to the most comfortable way of moving to the music of their choice.  Fortunately, that enjoyable set has already been easily learned from the American and International Styles of dance.

Eclectically, they have Waltz, Foxtrot, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha and Swing as the most basic for an evening out on the town. They can add, Line dancing, Tango, Merengue, Mambo, Salsa and even Bachata if the dancers require it. That can be very easily determined by the promoters.

Then there are preferences in the kind of dancing. There are places where a Swing club can have a "swinging" good time and the music will be most appropriate. And other places can have the "Salsa" strain to include Merengue, and Bachata as their preferences too. And a place for Tango?

There is a growing movement on Oahu for the music and dance of the 50s and 60s. which is mostly, Foxtrot and Swing. Those were the days. So now they add a little Walta, and a little Rumba and Cha Cha Cha maybe not da reel teeng but you "can" dance to it.

"Tangerine" by Jimmy Dorsey

Latin dance will take on an added value specially for those bands and DJs that can play "Latin" music that goes with a "Latin" dance. The only fly in the ointment has been the tendency to play something that you  "can" dance Rumba or Cha Cha Cha to it.

It definitely is not the same as you "gotta" dance Rumba or Cha Cha Cha to it. It will take a while to sink in. But the Night Club in West Oahu that can do it, will surely be the berries.

These dances include a wide range of dances originating in Latin America, and the Caribbean. I believe that sooner or later, most of these dances will be taught for the masses under the guise of the American Style on West Oahu. And the nice part is that they do not require an acre of dance floor. Most are spot dances or can be danced in a fairly spot fashion.

"Begin The Beguine" by Artie Shaw

Known for its sensual hip action and sexy flair, Latin dance is gaining popularity on dance floors everywhere. Movies about Latin dancing, ones that portray the beauty of the art of Latin dancing, seem to be favorites among dancers and non-dancers alike.

Besides being a staple in the ballroom, many Latin dances are also being taken to country-western dance floors, though the music is lacking that certain sound. Learning Latin dances is fairly easy, as most of the dances are made up of the same basic foot steps. And the big secret is not to push it, just let the body go as it wishes.