Fall Family Favorite: Pork and Apple Stew

Faith and Family is sponsoring a giveaway contest where you can win a prize for sharing a tasty fall recipe. Fall is one of my favorite times to cook and and two of my family's favorite foods during this cool season are pork and apples. Here is a tasty dish that you can cook in the crock pot so it's ready to go when you are. As Julia Child always said, "Bon Appétit!

1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder (butt) roast, cut into 2-inch cubes, trimmed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 chopped onions
2 carrots, pared, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork cubes and brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 5 minutes. Transfer pork to plate, season with salt and pepper.
2. Add onions, carrots and apples to skillet and cook, stirring often, until onions begin to brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker and top with pork cubes.
3. Add apple cider, thyme, allspice and sage to skillet. Bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits on bottom of skillet; add to the slow cooker.
4. Cover and slow-cook until pork is tender, 6 to 7 hours on low.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a serving bowl, cover to keep warm.
6. Skim off fat from surface of cooking liquid. In food processor or blender, puree cooking liquid and solids until smooth.
7. Pour sauce over meat, stir gently and serve immediately.

Serves 6.

Soda increases the risk of heart attack

Does sugar harm your heart? Well.........................................

"You sit at a fast food restaurant with your cheeseburger, fries and cola, knowing full well that the fatty, cheesy meat and oily fries aren't good for your ticker.

When researchers recently examined 88,000 women participants in the decades-long Nurse's Health Study and controlled for a fatty diet (along with smoking, obesity and other known cardiovascular risks), they discovered that sweetened soda pop causes trouble all by itself. Drinking even one 12-ounce can of regular soda daily boosts your risk of a heart attack by 24%; with two or more servings, the danger is further increased, by 35%, says lead author Teresa Fung, ScD, associate professor of nutrition at Simmons College , in Boston .

Fung was surprised at how quickly problems developed among the study participants. "We think of heart disease forming over a long period of time, but sugary beverage consumption increased the relative risk after just a few years," she said."

~ Via MORE Magazine July/Aug 2009, page 139.

H/T: Beth LeDune, RN – cardiac unit

Eat These Great Cancer - Fighting Grains for Good Health

Here’s a list of foreign-sounding words that may help reduce your risk of cancer: kasha, quinoa, millet, and spelt.

Yep, a recent study revealed that whole grains -- and those are all fine examples -- may have yet another health benefit. They may help reduce your risk of cancer of the small intestine.

Gutsy Grains
Not too worried about getting cancer down there? Although it’s less common to get cancer there, your small intestine actually isn’t very small -- or insignificant. It makes up about 75 percent of your digestive tract! And in a large-scale study of adults, those who reported eating the most whole grains at the start of the study were 41 percent less likely to have developed cancer of the small intestine 7 years later. Researchers believe that certain nutrients found in abundance in whole grains -- like B vitamins, fiber, minerals, and phenols -- may be responsible for the protective effect. Find out why whole-grain foods can also make your skin glow this summer.

Recipe Corner
Ready to venture beyond your wheat bread and Cheerios? Give a few new grains a try with these delicious and easy recipes from EatingWell:

• Become friends with buckwheat (also known as kasha). This healthful cafe-style treat will make introductions easy: Buckwheat Crepes with Apple Compote.
• Meet millet. Serve these hearty little pancakes alongside breakfast, lunch, or dinner: Savory Millet Cakes.
• Get cozy with quinoa. Settle a serious appetite with this substantial salad: Toasted Quinoa Salad with Scallops and Snow Peas.
  

Learn more about staying healthy here.

The Future of Food: Watch What You Eat!

There is a revolution going on in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America, a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

To view the entire film log onto www.thefutureoffood.com .

H/T: Patrick Madrid

Fruits, veggies slash breast cancer risk: U.S. study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Certain breast cancer survivors who load up on fruits and vegetables, eating far more than current U.S. guidelines, can slash their risk the tumors will come back by nearly a third, according to a U.S. study released on Monday.

The finding only held for women who did not have hot flashes after their cancer therapy, the researchers said -- a finding that suggests fruits and vegetables act on estrogen.
Their analysis suggests an explanation for why some studies have shown that eating more fruits and vegetables lowers the risk that breast cancer will come back, while others do not. It may depend on the individual patient, they report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"Women with early stage breast cancer who have hot flashes have better survival and lower recurrence rates than women who don't," said Ellen Gold of the University of California Davis, who helped lead the study.

Several studies have shown this. And this study showed that women who had hot flashes after treatment for breast cancer had lower estrogen levels than women who did not.

As estrogen drives the most common type of breast cancer, this suggests that eating extra servings of fruits and vegetables -- above and beyond the five servings a day recommended by the U.S. government -- may lower harmful estrogen levels in cancer survivors, the researchers said.

"It appears that a dietary pattern high in fruits, vegetables and fiber, which has been shown to reduce circulating estrogen levels, may only be important among women with circulating estrogen levels above a certain threshold," said John Pierce of the University of California San Diego.

The researchers took a second look at data from 3,000 breast cancer patients in a study aimed at seeing whether a diet low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables might keep their cancer from coming back.

Such a diet has been shown to lower overall risk of ever getting breast cancer in the first place.
The women were on average 53, and half were told to double their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 servings a day, eat more fiber and lower fat intake more than government recommendations. "We compared the dietary intervention group to a group that received '5-a-day' dietary guidelines," the researchers wrote.

About 30 percent of the original 3,000 breast cancer survivors said they did not have hot flashes -- a common side-effect of breast cancer treatment.

The researchers looked at the data on these women specifically and found that only 16 percent of those who doubled up on fruits and vegetables had their tumors come back after seven years, compared to 23 percent of those merely given advice on food guidelines.

Women who had been through menopause lowered their risk by 47 percent if they loaded up on salads, fruit and other plant food.

Chewing Gum Can Help Your Improve Your Gums and Teeth

Here are a few good reasons for chewing (sugarless) gum, but remember it must have this in it...

Does Your Gum Have Vitamin C?

Snapping and popping gum remain image busters -- just ask Britney Spears watchers. But here's a good excuse for discreet chewing: less blood at the dentist's office.

If your gums bleed a lot during cleaning -- a sign of subpar dental health -- your dentist may urge you to floss more. But chew gum more? It could help. In a recent study, gum chewers experienced less gingivitis-like bleeding than non-chewers, but only if their gum of choice was enriched with vitamin C. Better yet, they didn't have to chew for a long time to get the benefit. Dentists have been concerned that too much direct contact between tooth enamel and vitamin C leads to a breakdown in tooth structure, but there was no problem with erosion in this study.

And gum chewers didn't need to chew long -- only for about 15 minutes -- to release nearly all of the vitamin C in their sample gum. But they did chew daily -- about five times each day, in fact -- to achieve the benefits.

Sound like a lot of chewing? Consider this: The benefits didn't stop at just healthier gums. Chewers also had less plaque and tartar on their teeth.

Tooth and gum trouble begins when tartar forms on the tooth near or under the gum line, causing gum inflammation and possibly periodontal disease. Daily brushing and flossing and regular professional cleaning will remove the troublesome substance. And although gum chewing isn't a substitute for good oral care, vitamin C-enriched gum did appear to help minimize tartar and plaque in this study, particularly in people whose mouths tended to produce lots of the stuff.

Chewing sugarless gum helps you in other ways, too. It sweeps away the sugar and nasty by-products of bacteria lurking in your mouth. Go for vitamin-C enriched sugarless gum and your pearly whites may be in even better shape. Look for gum that contains vitamin C at health food and supplement stores.

Healthy Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes

Check out these delicious recipes from Eating Well:

Apple-Shallot Roasted Turkey
Herb-Roasted Turkey
Lemon-Garlic Roast Turkey & White-Wine Gravy
Roast Turkey with Madeira Gravy
More Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes

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