Thursday, December 14, 2006
Easy recipe time!
Roasted Winter Vegetables
1 bag "Golden Nugget" or other fingerling (tiny) potatoes
1 bag pearl onions
1 sweet potato
1 butternut squash
1 bag parsnips (giant white carrots)
optional: 1 small box brussels sprouts, if you're not a supertaster who hates them
olive oil
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
Scrub the potatoes, but you don't have to peel them. Peel the outer layer off the onions. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 1" cubes. Peel the butternut squash and cut it into 1" cubes. Scrub and peel the parsnips, cutting off the tops, and cut them into 2" long segments at the thin end, 1" long segments at the thick end. Remove any wilted leaves from the brussels sprouts.
Place all the veggies in a large baking dish or casserole dish. Bloop a few tablespoons of olive oil over them, and toss till everything has a very slight touch of olive oil on it. Now strip the leaves from 4-5 branches of rosemary, and from 4-5 branches of thyme, and sprinkle them over the veggies. Toss the veggies again, so that the herbs are distributed throughout. Roast, uncovered, in a 350° to 375° F oven for about one hour, or until a fork stuck in a potato or cube of sweet potato goes in easily. Serve hot. This makes a lot - 8 people or so's worth - so if there are leftovers, they taste just fine rewarmed the next day.
The even easier version of this recipe:
Instead of all those kinds of veggies, just get one bag of the Golden Nugget potatoes and one bag of some other kind of tiny potatoes - "new potatoes" or "fingerlings" or anything else where each potato is only golf-ball size. Do the same bit with the olive oil and the herbs. But you don't have to do all that peeling and cutting. Same baking instructions.
Roasted Winter Vegetables
1 bag "Golden Nugget" or other fingerling (tiny) potatoes
1 bag pearl onions
1 sweet potato
1 butternut squash
1 bag parsnips (giant white carrots)
optional: 1 small box brussels sprouts, if you're not a supertaster who hates them
olive oil
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
Scrub the potatoes, but you don't have to peel them. Peel the outer layer off the onions. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 1" cubes. Peel the butternut squash and cut it into 1" cubes. Scrub and peel the parsnips, cutting off the tops, and cut them into 2" long segments at the thin end, 1" long segments at the thick end. Remove any wilted leaves from the brussels sprouts.
Place all the veggies in a large baking dish or casserole dish. Bloop a few tablespoons of olive oil over them, and toss till everything has a very slight touch of olive oil on it. Now strip the leaves from 4-5 branches of rosemary, and from 4-5 branches of thyme, and sprinkle them over the veggies. Toss the veggies again, so that the herbs are distributed throughout. Roast, uncovered, in a 350° to 375° F oven for about one hour, or until a fork stuck in a potato or cube of sweet potato goes in easily. Serve hot. This makes a lot - 8 people or so's worth - so if there are leftovers, they taste just fine rewarmed the next day.
The even easier version of this recipe:
Instead of all those kinds of veggies, just get one bag of the Golden Nugget potatoes and one bag of some other kind of tiny potatoes - "new potatoes" or "fingerlings" or anything else where each potato is only golf-ball size. Do the same bit with the olive oil and the herbs. But you don't have to do all that peeling and cutting. Same baking instructions.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
This week's article:
Magnets may interfere with pacemakers and ICDs
Dec 08 (HealthCentersOnline) - Certain types of magnets that are becoming increasingly popular in clothing and jewelry may interfere with the function of pacemakers and other implanted cardiac devices, according to new research.
Implanted in the chest, pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) are two types of battery-powered devices that monitor and, if necessary, correct an abnormal heart rhythm by sending electrical charges to the heart.
Researchers in Europe recently evaluated several types of magnets to see if they were capable of interfering with pacemakers and ICDs that had been implanted in patients.
The study found that while traditional magnets commonly found in the home and office are not dangerous, other types of magnets can be. Specifically, the research found that powerful magnets made from neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) are capable of interfering with cardiac devices implanted in the chest.
NdFeB magnets are becoming increasingly popular in office products, toys, jewelry and some clothing. Because of this, the researchers urge the manufacturers of the magnets to place warning labels on their products.
The study included 70 patients, 41 with pacemakers and 29 with ICDs. Each of the patients was tested with two spherical magnets that were 8 and 10 millimeters in diameter, as well as a necklace made of 45 spherical magnets. In every instance, the magnets interfered with the implanted heart devices of the patients. After the magnets were removed, the devices all resumed their normal function.
"Physicians should caution patients about the risks associated with these magnets. We also recommend that the packaging include information on the potential risks that may be associated with these types of magnets," explained Thomas Wolber, a cardiologist at the University Hospital of Zurich in Switzerland and lead author of the study, in a recent press release.
The results of the study were published in the December 2006 issue of the journal Heart Rhythm.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
This week's article:
Possible cause found for deadly rapid heartbeats
Nov 30 (HealthCentersOnline) - A recent study may help researchers to better understand the mechanism involved in a certain type of heart failure.
Heart failure is a chronic condition in which at least one chamber of the heart is not pumping well enough to meet the body's needs. This leads to congestion in the lungs or pulmonary blood vessels and may cause fluid backup or swelling in the lungs, legs and ankles.
Ventricular tachyarrhythmia is a type of tachycardia, or abnormally rapid heart rate, that originates in the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. Ventricular tachyarrhythmia can lead to ventricular fibrillation and/or heart failure.
Researchers from Germany may have found an explanation for why ventricular tachyarrhythmia occurs in some instances. Using mice and heart muscle cells from rabbits, the researchers were able to find a possible molecular reason for the abnormal heartbeats.
The study showed that a substance known as an "effector" for a protein called calmodulin may be improperly regulating the influx of sodium ions into the muscle of the heart. Previous research has shown that genetic problems with the regulation of the sodium ion influx puts a person at increased risk for ventricular tachyarrhythmia.
The researchers suspect that the disruption observed during the study may be a contributing factor to the onset of dangerous ventricular tachyarrhythmias that are associated with heart failure.
The results of the report were published online on November 22 in advance of its print publication in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
