To Bee or Not to Bee

Greetings all!

A friend recently told me about a bee therapy house she visited in Russia. Bee house? Of course, I had to do a little research!

Image from https://healthywithhoney.com/sleeping-above-beehives-another-way-of-treating-ourselves-with-bees-help

Apitherapy uses products from honeybees to treat various ailments and goes back to Ancient Egypt and China. Well, there is using the bee products and then there is sleeping with the bees! Apparently, bee houses are popular in Canada, Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, and Korea as an alternative therapy to self-heal the body.

WATCH HERE (2-minute video): https://1-tube.ru/watch/MMWf4nuayWs

According to https://healthywithhoney.com/sleeping-above-beehives-another-way-of-treating-ourselves-with-bees-help/, “There have been numerous cases reporting positive effects in rheumatic, dermatological, urology, gynecology, cardiology, endocrinology, respiratory systems and musculoskeletal system. Some say it cures chronic diseases, normalizes potency in men and eliminates insomnia… It facilitates detoxification, normalizes metabolism, eliminates excess weight and tendency to overeat.” 

It seems you actually do not come into direct contact with the bees but instead reap the benefits from your proximity to beehives: 

• Light vibro-massage from bees fanning their wings
• Clean ionized air
• Aromatherapy
• State of meditative trance from bee buzzing

Sounds interesting! I would be willing to try if there were a bee house nearby!

As always, talk to your doctor before using any alternative or new therapy as some side effects might be permanent (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43513817)!

EXTRA RESOURCES:

https://www.healthline.com/health/apitherapy

https://vmegre.com/en/events/38361/

https://www.docbee.com.ua/en/magazine/beehive-therapy-the-new-direction-in-apitherapy

What did you think? Drop me a line!

Thought of the week - Joy

Greetings all!

Here is an inspiring thought for the upcoming week (from http://www.deeshan.com).

Hope you have a great week! Drop me a line!

Pomarola – Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce

Greetings all!

Anthony Bourdain said, “An ounce of sauce covers a multitude of sins.” Since I try to keep my posts short, today’s topic will not be sins – but a recipe for one of my favorite sauces - Pomarola - shared by a friend many years ago!

(If you shop at Trader Joe's, these are the products I use!)

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb (~500g) of canned crushed tomatoes
• A splash of olive oil
• Garlic (3 frozen cubes or several cloves minced)
• Basil (3 frozen cubes or several fresh leaves torn)

Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients and simmer for 15-20 minutes
• In the meantime, cook your favorite pasta
• Combine pasta and the sauce and simmer for 1-2 minutes

Variations:

• Use fresh tomatoes instead of canned
• Add hot pepper flakes for spiciness
• Add onion
• Add sugar
• [MY PERSONAL FAVORITE] Add meatballs and simmer for another 30-45 minutes; then add pasta

Bon Appetit!

Darwin Awards: Chlorinating The Gene Pool

Greetings all!

Recently a friend mentioned Darwin Awards, and since we were talking about the recent climate changes, I thought he was referring to something scientific. In fact, he was talking about the awards given posthumously to people who take themselves out of the genetic pool.

Of course, I was intrigued! I googled “Darwin Awards,” and the first hit in the search results was exactly that, “Darwin Awards. Chlorinating The Gene Pool.”

Home page at https://darwinawards.com/ summarizes it nicely: “Natural selection deems that some individuals serve as a warning to others. Who are we to disagree?” 

Image from https://darwinawards.com/

The site is pretty funny, “In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival… The dark humor, engaging stories, and mordant social commentary have made the Darwin Awards one of the most popular humor sites on the web.” The site founder does warn that some people might be offended.

One of the 2018 winners is from the entry “ Mind The Cone Zone”: (8 March 2018, New Jersey) A Wanaquer man died in a vehicle fire after he drove around barricade cones and onto live power wires in Franklin Lakes. A good son, Anthony G. was en-route to his father's house to shovel the driveway.  After the second nor'easter storm in a week, hundreds of thousands were left without power. Utility crews worked overtime to deal with downed trees and electric lines. Traffic snarls and frustrated motorists were everywhere. Anthony did not want to lose time to a detour! According to police, our winner simply navigated around bright orange traffic cones warning motorists of a hazardous downed wire on Route 208. Responding to calls, officers arrived at 9AM to find the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. A live power line was sputtering in the roadway near the vehicle. The fire totally gutted the car, and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Ironically this Darwin Award winner was employed as a New York City electrician.

Another featured category is At-Risk Survivors:  “The stupidity displayed by the participants in the following tales stops short of the ultimate sacrifice, but we salute their spirit and innovation.”

Here is a 2009 At-Risk Survivor from “Locker Room Humor”: (17 July 2009, Germany) Unexpected odds and ends are always turning up in train station lockers, but this is the oddest yet. After a night spent carousing with friends, squeezing into the Ludwigshafen train station locker had seemed like "an amusing idea" to the man. He shut himself in a suitcase locker for fun, but the laughter faded as the oxygen supply dwindled. His companions were unable to open the locked door and free the 20-year-old. With time running out, police broke open the door and dragged the groggy prankster to safety.

What did you think? Drop me a line!

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning [book by Margareta Magnusson]

Greetings all!

Recently at lunch a very young colleague of mine mentioned that she told her friends what flowers and music to have at her funeral [hopefully at some very distant future]. While a bit morbid, she thought it would be considerate towards her friends so that they did not have to think about those things during their time of grief.

As I was pondering this, I came across the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to free yourself and your family from a lifetime of clutter.” The main message is to “remove unnecessary things and make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet.”

Image from www.cartoonstock.com

In my opinion, most of us have (and continue to acquire) a lot of possessions that unnecessarily crowd our physical and mental space; and it is a nice idea to declutter periodically, regardless of where you are in your life journey.

Here are some of my favorite passages:

“..It is rewarding to spend time with these objects one last time and then dispose of them. Each item has its own history, and remembering this history is often enjoyable.

Death cleaning is not about dusting or mopping up; it is a permanent form of organization that makes your everyday life run more smoothly.

Don’t start with photographs – or letters and personal papers, for that matter.

Life becomes more pleasant and comfortable if we get rid of some of the abundance.

It is not the amount of clothing that makes a person well-dressed. [It is] all about choosing clothing carefully and then organizing it well. [My note – I love this! This is so Marie Kondo, the Spark Joy lady!!!]

Mess is an unnecessary source of irritation.

Sometimes the smallest changes can have amazing effects.

To hunt for misplaced things is never an effective use of your time.

A loved one wishes to inherit nice things form you. Not all things from you.

This cycle of consumption we are all part of will eventually destroy our planet – but it doesn’t have to destroy the relationship you have with whomever you leave behind.

To know something will be well used and have a new home is a joy.

If you think the secret will cause your loved ones harm or unhappiness, then make sure to destroy them.

When I find things …that have absolutely no value to anyone else, but enormous value for me, I ... get my “Throw Away” box. Once I am gone, the box can be destroyed.”

I think this paragraph from the book sums it up nicely, “Death cleaning is also something you can do for yourself, for your own pleasure. One’s own pleasure, and the chance to find meaning and memory, is the most important thing. It is a delight to go through things and remember their worth. And if you don’t remember why a thing has meaning or why you kept it, it has no worth, and it will be easier for you to part with.”

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was wise and philosophical in a gentle and humorous way and gave some good tips and ideas on decluttering!

What did you think? Drop me a line! 

Thought of the week - Opportunities

Greetings all!

Here is an inspiring thought for the upcoming week (from http://www.deeshan.com).

Hope you have a great week! Drop me a line!

Easy Smoked Sausage Skillet Recipe [Dinner Ready in 20 minutes]

Greetings all!

One of my favorite quick dinner recipes is Easy Smoked Sausage Skillet.  

Image from https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/245932/easy-smoked-sausage-skillet/

Ingredients:

• 1 package Smoked Sausage (1lb or 1/2/ kg), diagonally cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
• 1 Large Red Bell Pepper, sliced thin (yellow and orange bell peppers work as well but green bell pepper is not as sweet)
• 1 Small Yellow Onion, sliced thin
• 1 package Frozen Broccoli, thawed (fresh broccoli works too!)
• 1/2 cup Chicken Broth (or water)
• 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce
• 2 cups Rice 
• 1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (other cheeses work great too)

Instructions:

• Heat olive oil and crushed garlic, stir in smoked sausage slices and cook until smoked sausage is browned.
• Add pepper, onion, broccoli, chicken broth and tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender and the liquid is absorbed.
• In the meantime, cook rice according to package instructions. Stir rice into the skillet, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Variations:

1. Try another type of sausage (hot, sweet, etc.) or shrimp (beef, chicken, etc.)
2. Try pasta or pearl barley instead of rice. I usually pre-cook and freeze so have it on hand!
3. Try different vegetables (e.g., mushrooms, corn, etc.)
4. Add beans (skip sausage for a vegetarian option)
5. Try different spices
6. Instead of tomato sauce, use fresh or canned tomatoes or salsa

Recipe source: https://www.hillshirefarm.com/recipes/dinner/easy-smoked-sausage-skillet 

Bon Appetit!