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Free Health Screenings in Seattle

You can get a free cancer screening from the Seattle King County Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health through their county-and state-wide services if you meet the criteria. The Breast, Cervical and Colon program is a free health screening service for men and women between the ages of 40 and 64 who have no or limited health insurance, low-income or are unemployed.

Eligible men and women between the ages of 50 to 64 can receive colorectal cancer screenings. In addition to this screening, women may get a clinical breast exam, mammogram, pap test or pelvic examination. Treatment and case management services are available breast or cervical cancer.

To enroll in this program, you must contact the contractor working for King County. Her contact information is provided on the Washington State Department of Health's website or the Seattle King County Public Health's website. You may also call the Community Health Access Program (CHAP) at 1-800-756-5437 to find out if you qualify to receive one of these screenings and get a referral to a clinic near you.

Free HIV and STD testing

Contact the Center for MultiCultural Health by calling 206-461-6910 ext 217 for an appointment for free and anonymous HIV testing . Walk-in appointments are available for Tuesdays,10:30am – 12:00pm, and Thursdays,12:00pm – 1:30pm . The location of the center is 105 14th Avenue Suite 2C .

Free HIV and syphilis testing is available at the Gay City Health Project for men who have sex with men. The location is 511 E Pike Street and hours of the clinic are Tuesday-Friday, 3:00pm – 8:00pm and Saturdays, 1:00pm – 5:00pm.

For HIV and STD treatment call the HIV/AIDS Program 206-296-4649.…

Is There a Health Risk of Consuming Too Much Aspartame?

As obesity becomes an epidemic in a high proportion of the worlds developed countries, many people search for an easy way to lose weight. There is no easy way and many of the diet drinks that promise massive weight loss contain large amounts of aspartame. The dangers of aspartame are proven to cause different illnesses and complaints that could have drastic results. It is for this reason that before becoming a victim of the hype that surrounds the marketing of these drinks, a person must become aware of the dangers of aspartame.

Aspartame is an additive used in dry goods and carbonated beverages. The approval of this was given back in 1981 but since then it is proven that over 75% of adverse reactions in the foods that are eaten can be attributed to aspartame. There are a great number of complaints that are proven to be caused by this additive namely, joint pain, memory loss, vertigo, tinnitus, loss of taste, slurred speech, anxiety attacks, breathing problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, problems with vision, insomnia, depression, fatigue, nausea, rashes, headaches and migraines, dizziness, muscle spasms, numbness, weight gain and irritability.

The dangers of aspartame have become evident to the sufferers of these many health conditions but over time continued consumption has far more serious consequences. Continuing research is proving that aspartame can play a large part in the onset of illnesses such as epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson's disease, hypoglycemia, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease; to name just a few. It should also be noted that pregnant women, children and the elderly who are not in the best of health could become more vulnerable to any of these illnesses.

Further research has highlighted the dangers of aspartame and the damage it can have on the brain. Regular consumption of aspartame, over a long period of time, can result in a number of emotional disorders. Coupled with this the fact that the diet drinks that contain this additive can become addictive and result in acute depression, mood swings and schizophrenia. So if a person wants to lose weight the only way to do so is the natural way. Becoming a victim of the hype that surrounds the diet drink industry can ensure that you end up another victim of the dangers of aspartame.…

Tazo Tea

Only 10 years after the time the company was founded, Tazo Tea appears to be on its way to taking over the tea world. It’s the featured tea at all Starbuck’s locations (the company is owned by Starbuck’s) and appears on the courtesy trays at the better hotels. With its distinctive packaging and names such as Envy, Om, and Lotus, Tazo has made tea the drink of hipsters rather than spinsters.

Tazo Tea is sold in five formats: bagged, whole leaf, latte (a.k.a. chai), bottled, and pitcher-sized bags for iced tea. Teabags are available in six varieties each of black and green teas, and nine kinds of herbal teas. Their whole leaf tea comes in bags or in tins with a stainless steel infuser in the top section. Five flavors are available at Starbuck’s and at some upscale and organic markets.

Tazo Tea is imported directly from the growers and blended according to recipes created by the founder, Steven Smith. This ensures that no inferior teas have been incorporated into the blend and that conditions at a blending facility have not adversely affected the tea. The result is a superior, if pricey, tea. One variety goes for almost $50 a pound, but true tea connoisseurs won’t blanch at that.

Tazo Tea Is Available Online

You can always find Tazo Teas at your local Starbuck’s, but for the most complete selection, shop online. Many websites carry not only single varieties, but also assortments and gift baskets. A basket full of high quality Tazo Teas would be a welcome gift for any occasion.…

How to Save Money on Food Bills

INTRODUCTION

When our money supply is low, hopefully there is no shortage of leftovers. If it's still good, don't toss it out. For example, if bread is a bit dry, it can still be used to make french toast.

Here we will learn about easy ways to save money using leftovers to reduce our food bills. Actually, there are some real good recipes for using leftovers.

Things You'll Need:

  • A little imagination in the kitchen.

INSTRUCTIONS

Leftover Bread – Use slices for french toast. Use dry crumbs for brown betty, croquettes, and fried chops. Use soft crumbs for meat loaf and stuffings.

Leftover Cooked or Canned Fruits – Use for fruit cups, fruit sauces, jellied fruit, quick breads, shortcake, upside down cake, and yeast breads.

Leftover Cooked Meats, Poultry, or Fish – Use in casserole dishes, hash, meat patties, meat pies, salads, sandwiches, and stuffed vegetables.

Leftover Egg Yolks – Use in cakes, cornstarch pudding, custard or sauce, pie fillings, salad dressing, and scrambled eggs.

Egg Whites – Use in custard, fruit whip, meringue, and soufflés.

These are just a few examples of how you might save money on food bills by using leftovers creatively. Do you have some innovative ways to use leftovers to make inviting meals? Please take a moment to leave a comment, and share your ideas with others.

Check out my recipe for a "No Cook Marshmallow Frosting." Thank you for visiting!

TIPS & WARNINGS

  • Shop wisely and save on other household goods and services.

Braised Rabbit with Mushrooms, Shallots, and Fresh Herbs

Lean, mild rabbit pairs well with savory vegetables and fresh herbs. This easy, one-skillet meal is full of flavor and very inviting. And it's low in fat.

Traditional game meat such as rabbit is becoming more popular on the tables of non-vegetarians who want to enjoy both meat and a light, healthy diet. Rabbit is leaner than red meat and poultry, and it has a mild flavor often compared to chicken.

Most rabbit you find in markets today is farm-raised and may be sold whole-dressed or in pieces—usually just the legs, which contain the bulk of the meat. If you buy a whole rabbit, ask your butcher to cut it into serving pieces or cut it up yourself into drums, thighs, and loin and breast halves.

Brining Option for Braised Rabbit

Lean, sinewy meats like rabbit benefit from brining before being cooked, but it's not necessary in this recipe since the pieces are small and braising tenderizes them. Braising the meat slowly brings out its juiciness and helps break down its firm, muscular texture.

If you choose to brine the rabbit, simply dissolve 1/3 cup of salt and 1/4 cup of sugar in about 12 cups of water in a large bowl. Throw in some peppercorns, dried chiles, a bay leaf, or other aromatics, if you like. Place the rabbit in the brine and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Braised Rabbit with Mushrooms and Shallots

Ingredients

(serves 4)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 3-lb. rabbit, cut into 8-9 serving pieces
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 oz. crimini or button mushrooms, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
  • 3 lg. shallots, sliced into thin rings
  • 1 lg. garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs, such as a mixture of rosemary, basil, oregano, and Italian parsley, plus more for garnishing
  • 1 bay leaf

Preparation

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the rabbit pieces and season with salt and pepper. Sear 5 minutes on one side, then turn and sear 5 minutes on the other, until the rabbit begins to brown.
  2. Remove the rabbit to a plate. Do not wipe out the skillet.
  3. Add the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to the skillet and saute 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and most of the liquid from the mushrooms is absorbed.
  4. Return the rabbit and any accumulated juices to the skillet and add the wine and broth. Re-season with salt and pepper, if desired.
  5. Bring to a slight simmer, then reduce the heat to low and stir in 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs.
  6. Cover and braise 45 minutes, turning about halfway through, until the rabbit is tender and juicy. Remove the bay leaf.
  7. Serve the rabbit and vegetables with pan juices spooned on top and sprinkled with additional fresh herbs.

The Real Health Quiz

It is a common belief that the thinner you are the healthier you are It has been proved however that body size has nothing to do with how healthy you are. Healthy just depends on how well you take care of your body. However there are some people with weight issues that they need to watch and they need to watch their diet and exercise so as to keep their body healthy.

It’s a myth that if you exercise you will be healthy. If you exercise the right way you will be healthy. Exercising involves getting the whole body to respond to everything that you do. Exercising can be in different styles, to tone your body or to keep your body fit. Most physicians will always tell you to exercise so that your body can be strong enough to combat diseases and enjoy better health. How do we know how much exercise is recommended and what types of exercise are recommended? It’s time to visit your general doctor and find out.

Everywhere we look there is always a warning about our health and most of the time it depends on the kind of lifestyle that we live. The lifestyle that we choose will be a direct contributor to the diseases that we get. For instance, just from smoking you can get about two types of cancer, throat cancer, lung cancer and the same activity can accelerate the rate of some cancers such as breast cancer.

Being healthy or wanting to be healthy does not mean that you give up everything you love, you can stick to a low fat diet. This generally means that you watch what you eat. If you don’t want to eat the low fat foodstuffs of the shelf, just reduce the amount of servings of food you have every day. All along make sure you exercise at least three times a week. It is always fun to do things by twos and not by ones, so recruit a friend to join you at the gym, flaunt it and you will be amazed at how your body feels and you will be shocked to find out that exercise also relaxes your mind.

No matter how young and vibrant you are, you have to know if you are really healthy and get an annual checkup. Just because you feel nothing is wrong with you doesn’t mean you are A okay. You have to know if your cholesterol level is okay and if your bodyweight is average. Have the power to control your body, by maintaining the ideal weight and taking good care of it by taking time off to relax. Learn to have healthy eating habits, watch what you eat. No food will cause weight loss without some effort so it is healthy to have a meal that will keep you satisfied. Do not just eat anywhere, learn to restrict where you eat, make time for meals. Drink lots of water, this not only helps in digestion, but …

Fish Stew – Healthy and Flavorful

This totally simple preparation will make dinner seem elegant and flavorful.  It works with frozen fish fillets as well as fresh, and works surprisingly well in a crock pot.  All you need is rice or couscous and a salad.  Try a glass of wine with it too, yum!  It is a low calorie, low fat feast, using the intrinsic flavors of the simple ingredients to make a delicious dinner.  It’s so simple you can cook it on a weeknight.  If you do it in the crockpot on the weekend, you can take it out and heat it up several nights in a row.

4-6 fresh or frozen fish fillets, cod or something similar

1 quart vegetable stock, homemade or packaged

1 bunch scallions, washed and chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 T. olive oil

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

2 fresh lemons

Heat the oil in a sturdy pot or fry pan.  When the oil is hot, add the pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the stock to the oil mixture.

Put the liquid into your crock pot or stew pot.

Add the fish fillets and the scallions.

Slice the lemons, taking out the seeds.  Put the slices, skin and all, into the pot with the other ingredients.

Heat and then simmer until the fillets are cooked through and flake with a fork.  Frozen fillets will tkae longer, of course.  In the crock pot, allow several hours on high for frozen fillets , two hours on low for fresh.  On the stove, allow an hour for frozen filets and 30 minutes for fresh; make sure not to overcook and not to boil them too vigorously or they will fall apart.  Fish is delicate and needs to be cooked gently.

While this is cooking, cook your rice or couscous and make your salad.

When the stew is done, serve over the rice or couscous in bowls.

This is good with a glass of red or white wine!…

Stinging Nettles Have Been Used Used for Tea, Twine and Tincture

Stinging nettles are likely familiar to anyone who spent time as a child camping in the wild. Brush against them or unwittingly grab a stem and the experience won’t be quickly forgotten. They’re covered with tiny needle-like hairs that cause a painful stinging or burning sensation and leave a rash.

The plants are widespread throughout most of Europe and North America.

The scientific name, Urtica dioica, sounds appropriate for a plant that “hurts” when touched. The genus name (Urtica) comes from a Latin word meaning “to burn.” The species name refers to the fact the plants are dioecious, having separate plants for male and female.

Despite the sting, nettles are attractive plants that typically grow in stands in damp woods, disturbed areas, or almost any moist ground where they can get a foothold. They grow to about 4 feet tall with delicate toothed leaves growing opposite each other on slender stems. Clusters of tiny greenish flowers hang from the leaf axils during the summer. Plants are perennial, although the stems die back to the ground in winter. They spread by underground rhizomes, and can become pest where they’re not wanted.

The sting comes from several chemicals in the hairs, including formic acid.

Boiling Deactivates the Stinging Hairs

The stinging may seem an unlikely start for a plant that has been woven into fiber and swallowed as medicine for thousands of years.

Today nettles are a favorite of wildcrafters and wild food enthusiasts. They’re harvested using gloves then immersed in boiling water to deactivate the sting.

Over the ages, nettles have been used in folk medicine for a variety of ills, including colds and as a general tonic. A compress of nettles was used for muscle and joint aches. Today, nettle tinctures, as well as dried nettle for making tea, are sold in health food stores.

Some of the benefits associated with nettles are often attributed to high nutrient levels contained in the leaves.

Wild food enthusiasts have numerous recipes for preparing nettles to eat, including simmering in soups and sautéing, once the initial cooking has removed the sting. Young leaves are collected from the plants in the spring before the flowers appear.

A Fiber for Clothing and Fishing Nets

Many people throughout the ages have used the inside stems of nettles as a fiber for clothing. The outside bark would be removed for use in basketry, while the inside fibers were softened and processed for weaving. The inside stems can also be separated and twisted into cording. Native Americans used nettle fiber for snares and fish nets.

The rhizome and roots of nettles are bright yellow and have been used to produce a yellow dye.

For anyone who enjoys rural or woodland walks, learning to recognize stinging nettle can help avoid accidental contact and the resulting sting and rash.

Guidance with positive identification and preparation of plants from specific locations should be sought before attempting to collect any wild plants to eat.…

The Health Benefits Of coffee

Most of us love nothing more than a nice cup of coffee to kick starts our day.

But what about the effects of coffee on our health?

Coffee has been in the news again recently after a study involving students at the university of Durham found that caffeine could be responsible for increased incidents of hallucinations and could in fact be responsible for people claiming to see ghosts. The study concluded that people with high caffeine intakes are three times more likely to see or hear things that are not there. The study found 3 or more cups of brewed coffee or seven cups of instant coffee increased the risk of hallucinating.

before we all down the coffee mugs through fear of making contact with the dead me should take into account some of the health benefits that coffee has to offer.

So what are the positive effects that coffee can have on our health?

Some studies have shown that moderate coffee consumption can actually be beneficial to our health. The benefits reported include, lower risk of diabetes, lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and lower risk of colon cancer. According to one study six cups of coffee per day could lower men’s risk of diabetes by 54% and Woman’s by 30%. However it was not clear as to whether they meant instant coffee or brewed coffee.

It has also been reported that drinking coffee can help reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s by about 80%. This is down to the caffeine content in coffee rather than the coffee itself.  This protection may be down to the fact that caffeine can block adenosine receptors in the brain, which then helps to increase dopamine levels in the brain.

Enjoying as little as two cups of coffee today could lower the risk of colon cancer by as much as 25%.  This could be because caffeine stimulates the colon and increases bowel movements, meaning that any toxins are passed through more quickly. Regular coffee drinkers are also 80% less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver and half as likely to develop gallstones.

Studies have also shown that coffee can also offer some protection to people who smoke and drink. It has been shown that coffee consumption in heavy drinkers can lower the risk of liver and heart disease compared to those who smoke and drink but do not consume coffee.
Asthma sufferers may benefit from regular coffee consumption as caffeine can help to control asthma attacks.
Other benefits of coffee drinking include, boost in mood, prevention of cavities, headache cure, increased concentration and alertness. Athletes have reported increased athletic ability while gym users have reported increased stamina and endurance, especially during strenuous exercise such as body building/weight lifting.

Although all these benefits seem very positive to our health and give a great argument for our favourite pick me up, it is important to remember that moderation is the key. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than others and …

Food recipe: how to make orange chicken

You will need the following ingredients to begin making the recipe: boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes Marinade: tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry,tablespoon cornstarch Sauce, orange juice,

dark soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, chile paste,clove garlic, minced, slice ginger, minced oil Cut chicken into cube. Add sauces to marinate. Wait for 30 minutes to marinate.
Leaving the chicken to marinate , now prepare the sauce ingredients , garlic and ginger. Put Wok on heat and add oil. Stir fry garlic and ginger until good cooked.

Now stir fry the marinated chicken, Sweep it up to the wok and add sauce to the middle of the wok. Then combine them together. Stir fry for another minute and serve hot. Add oj juice to lighten the orange taste. The oj factor is important to make it really good so you have to add accordingly.…