Alternative Uses For Peanut Butter

Chunky Skippy is my favorite peanut butter.  I can eat it with a spoon, right out of the jar.  I do this frequently.  But, there are other uses for peanut butter, and for all of these creamy peanut butter would be more suitable.

1.  Remove gum from hair.  You've probably heard this one, as it's been around for years.  It really does work.

2.  Shaving.  Technically, it works.  The oil in the peanut butter acts as a lubricant, and you can shave your face, underarms or legs.  However, it does clog up the razor and is difficult to clean.

Remove stickers from products you've bought.  This does work, but you need to use a little elbow grease.  The last bits of stickiness still need a fingernail or some sharp object to remove the final bits.

3.  Personally, I will continue to use peanut butter in the form for which it was intended, eating.  I love it any way, PBand J is still one of my favorite sandwiches.  An apple spread with peanut butter is one of my favorite snacks.  My favorite, though, is still a spoon of peanut butter right out of the jar.  That's one of my go to snacks late at night when I just have to have something.

Peaceful Demonstrations

My first introduction to peaceful protest was when I was a 17 year old freshman at UCBerkley.  We called it the Free Speech Movement, led by activist Mario Savio.  Marches were held often.  I'm not sure I even knew why I was marching then.  It was the thing to do, and it was exciting.  Then came the Civil Rights movement, which I never got involved in.  I would watch Martin Luther King, Jr. on TV and was proud of what he was doing, but never got involved.

Then came Vietnam.  Again, I strongly supported the anti Vietnam movement, but I was a young married woman with a full time job, and marching didn't fit into my schedule.  I watched our young men and women come home in body bags, knew it was a war that should not be, but I did nothing.

Now we have another chance to march.  The Women's March, the day after President Trump's innauguration, was a perfect chance to show my support for the progress that women have made in all areas of life, and to show that I'm for our nation having an agenda to make life better for all citizens.  Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Women's March in San Diego.  To me that means I will try harder to attend the next march.  There will surely be more.

The hundreds of thousands of men, women and children that showed up to march on January 21 were there to support an agenda that includes health care for all, affordable health insurance, equal rights and pay for equal work, climate control, and good education for all.  They were supporting a tax system that is fair, and where the wealthy do not reap the majority of the benefits.  They were also there to find strength in numbers, and to talk to others who shared their hopes.  I stood with them, even though I was not there.  I know there will be more marches.  I hope to be present at the next one.

What Is The Paleo Diet?

The Paleo Diet is based upon everyday, modern foods that mimic the food groups of our pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer ancestors. The following seven fundamental characteristics of hunter-gatherer diets will help to optimize your health, minimize your risk of chronic disease, and lose weight.

• Higher protein intake – Protein comprises 15 % of the calories in the average western diet, which is considerably lower than the average values of 19-35 % found in hunter-gatherer diets. Meat, seafood, and other animal products represent the staple foods of modern day Paleo diets.
• Lower carbohydrate intake and lower glycemic index – Non-starchy fresh fruits and vegetables represent the main carbohydrate source and will provide for 35-45 % of your daily calories. Almost all of these foods have low glycemic indices that are slowly digested and absorbed, and won’t spike blood sugar levels.
• Higher fiber intake – Dietary fiber is essential for good health, and despite what we’re told, whole grains aren’t the place to find it. Non-starchy vegetables contain eight times more fiber than whole grains and 31 times more than refined grains. Even fruits contain twice as much fiber as whole grains and seven times more than refined grains.
• Moderate to higher fat intake dominated by monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with balanced Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats – It is not the total amount of fat in your diet that raises your blood cholesterol levels and increases your risk for heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, but rather the type of fat. Cut the trans fats and the Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in your diet and increase the healthful monounsaturated and Omega-3 fats that were the mainstays of Stone Age diets. Recent large population studies known as meta analyses show that saturated fats have little or no adverse effects upon cardiovascular disease risk.
• Higher potassium and lower sodium intake – Unprocessed, fresh foods naturally contain 5 to 10 times more potassium than sodium, and Stone Age bodies were adapted to this ratio. Potassium is necessary for the heart, kidneys, and other organs to work properly. Low potassium is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke – the same problems linked to excessive dietary sodium. Today, the average American consumes about twice as much sodium as potassium.
• Net dietary alkaline load that balances dietary acid – After digestion, all foods present either a net acid or alkaline load to the kidneys. Acid producers are meats, fish, grains, legumes, cheese, and salt. Alkaline-yielding foods are fruits and veggies. A lifetime of excessive dietary acid may promote bone and muscle loss, high blood pressure, and increased risk for kidney stones, and may aggravate asthma and exercise-induced asthma.
• Higher intake of, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant phytochemicals – Whole grains are not a good substitute for grass produced or free ranging meats, fruits, and veggies, as they contain no vitamin C, vitamin A, or vitamin B12. Many of the minerals and some of the B vitamins whole grains do contain are not well absorbed by the body.

The paleo diet seems to be similar to the Atkins Diet.  High in lean meat, low in carbohydrates, milk products and fruit.  You see the paleo diet mentioned on restaurant menus and food items in grocery stores these days, so I thought you might like to know what it is, and why it's so popular.  It's the hunter-gatherer diet of our ancestors, and I never saw many overweight hunters.  The lack of processed food and junk food might have something to do with their overall health and fitness, too.  It's a bit extreme for me, but it's food for thought.  I hear it's great for diabetics or pre diabetics.

Brian Turns 50!

When I first met Ron in June of 1969, his son Brian was 2 1/2 years old.  I feel like I've known him forever.  I am reminiscing about the past because Brian just celebrated his 50th birthday last Friday!  I wrote this blog as we were getting ready to leave for LA.  Brian planned a family dinner at Il Fornaio in Beverly Hills for that evening.  Rain or shine ( and it was raining) Ron and I would be there.

A lot has happened in the past 48 years since I first met Brian.  In the beginning, we only had the pleasure of his company on weekends.  We would take him to visit Ron's parents, Anita and Bill often.  They adored him.  We'd take him to the  pony rides in Beverly hills, the park, or to my parents house, for a game of hide and seek.  He loved playing  hide and seek.  As he got a little older, Ron got involved in Little League at Rancho Park, which gave us an opportunity to spend more time with him.  I think we all remember  our afternoons, either as player, coach or fan, fondly.  Those were great times.  When Brian was in middle school, Judy and Ron decided that it would be best if Brian came to live with us.  I was thrilled at the idea, and so, for the next 10 years I had three boys at home.  Our home was always busy with friends from school, baseball team parties, and sleepovers.

After college Brian was busy with his career, so dating and marriage was put on the back burner until much later.  Finally, at age 40, Brian met match, Beth.  They married soon after they met, and Ryan and Spencer came along a few years later.  With the family complete, Brian and Beth bought a home in Woodland Hills and settled down to raise a family.

In between there have been births, deaths, illnesses, vacations and so much more.  What a great time we've had together, and here's to many more happy years, Brian.  I hope I will be around for most of it!

What Do You Worry About?

There's lot's to worry about these days, especially for those of us who are concerned about the capabilities and temperment of our new president.  International relations, climate change, health care, education and protection of journalists freedoms to report the truth, are just some of my many concerns.

There have always been world issues to worry about.  During my childhood we worried about the cold war, building bomb shelters and practicing bomb drills at school.  Money, health and a good job are just some of the things adults may worry about.

Does worrying about ANY of these things help?  No, most of these issues are out of our control.  Can I honestly do anything about do about whether Trump cozies up to Putin or not?  No!  I did my best to work to elect representatives that reflect my desire for the direction of this country and lost.  Now I can only hope that reason will prevail.

Things that one might worry about that they can actually do something about include getting a better job by getting a good education and working hard, keeping one's body healthy by diet and exercise, but this only goes so far.  You can't do much about rare unknown diseases, even if you do your best to stay healthy.  Does worrying about whether you will get some disease help?  No, it will just make you nervous and upset.  I remember a line from a Tom Hanks movie last year.  It was the movie where he works to release the Russian spy.  Tom Hanks asks the spy if he is worried about what will happen to him.  The spy answers,  "Will it help?"  I have used  this line so many times in the past year when people tell me they're worried about a particular thing that might happen.  My answer is "Will it help?"  The answer is always "No," and shows  how important it is to concentrate on worrying about things you can actually change.

Microwaving Your Food In Plastic Containers: Is It Really Harmful?

A few of us were out to lunch in December and got to talking about reheating leftovers in the microwave.  Several women were adament about NOT doing this.  Using plastic containers and plastic wrap in the microwave was toxic, they said.  I said I thought this might be an urban legend, so I went home and looked it up.  I used WebMD as my main source, but several articles said the same thing.

The legend says that a component of plastic, dioxin, can leach into your food when heated in the microwave, and cause all sorts of health problems.  Dioxins are unwanted byproducts, primarily of incineration, so when we burn trash, we involuntarily produce dioxins.  Because of waste incineration  and forest fires, dioxins are found pretty much anywhere in the environment.  They are an environmental contaminant.  So, dioxins are already in our bodies, hiding in the fat tissue.  They can cause a long list of health problems.

The bottom line is that it is completely safe to use any plastic container that says "microwave safe."  This does not mean that other plastic containers are not safe.  It just means that they have not had the serious inspection of those that are deemed safe.  Many other plastic containers, like used butter containers, etc. have been tested and are found to be safe.  Just avoid using old containers that are cracked.  Also, it's ok to use plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave, if you vent it.

Whew.  I'm so glad I found out that what I've been doing for years isn't going to kill me!  It's important to check out the validity of urban legends such as this one.  Especially with all the fake news we're seeing these days.

Brunch In LA At Superba

I had heard about Superba, a somewhat new restaurant in LA for some time, but had never had the chance to go there.  I was there in December on a Sunday, around 12:30pm, so we could have had breakfast, brunch, or lunch.

I opted for lunch, my mom had breakfast.  Everything was delicious.  I had the prosciutto tartine.  Two wedges of delicious artisan bread topped with a generous portion of sliced prosciutto, arugula and olive oil.  That's all it was, but it was so good.  My mom went for the huge (about 8 inches in diameter) many grain pancake with real maple syrup and butter.  She loved it.  Other delicious choices included kale toast (sunny eggs, avocado, kale and chili oil) and avocado toast (smashed avocado with seasonings and tomatoes), all the rage in Los Angeles.  Cheesy eggs, marbled eggs, ham and cheese quiche and croque madame were also on the menu.  The lunch items included numerous salads, quiches, a burger and a fried chicken sandwich.

Superba also has a coffee bar.  Some people come in just to order coffee drinks, but those that are dining at Superba also order from the coffee bar.  It's bustling, and the coffee is great.  They have a bakery as well, with wonderful looking bread, croissants, tarts, cakes and bars.  We did not indulge, but everything looked great.

Juice drinks are also popular at Superba.  They offer a red juice (beets and several other veggies), a green drink (spinach, kale, and other veggies). and some fruit drinks.  Everyone seemed to be drinking some kind of juice, so I can only surmise that they're good.

Superba is located on Lincoln Blvd in what looks to be an old warehouse.  They have another location on Sepulveda Blvd in El Segundo.  The food is fresh, interesting, and delicious.  There was a very young crowd of customers.  We were the oldest people in the restaurant by far.  Most customers were in their 20's, 30's and 40's.  If you're in the Marina area of LA, give this place a try for breakfast or lunch.  Lots of interesting choices, all served by friendly staff.  Try it.

Celebrating A Birthday

I never know what to get as a gift for friends that have everything.  I was faced with this situation recently, and decided to get creative and do something different.  A Starbucks card, a box of candy, or another lunch at a fancy restaurant was not what I was looking for.  I came up with a spa day and lunch, on Convoy Street.

I rounded up 5 friends of the birthday girl, to help celebrate.  We started the day with a one hour reflexology/massage at Happy Buddha, on Convoy St.  This is one of the oldest reflexology businesses in the area.  Reflexology is a Chinese practice, done for thousands of years, which uses pressure points in the feet to relieve stress and pain.  At the end of the hour, several of us had actually fallen into a deep sleep.  The massages are all done by big, burly men, who push and knead you and put you in a happy place.  A glass of water or tea at the end of the session is offered, with the advice to continue drinking more water than usual for the rest of the day.

After our massages, we walked a few steps across the shopping mall to Jasmine, our go to restaurant for dim sum.  We had a feast of little plates of pork baos, shu mai, pot stickers, sesame balls, pork ribs, fried shrimp and more.  Grand total for the 5 of us was $60!  Lots of fun, lots of laughs, and very happy feet when we left Happy Buddha.  It's a great way to celebrate a birthday, or just spend time with friends.  A birthday lunch is great, but this was a memory we won't soon forget.

Rosina's Italian Restaurant: Worth The Drive

After enjoying a delicious Italian meal at Rosina's in Oceanside recently, I decided to find out more about the background of the restaurant and the people involved.  It is a family run restaurant, with matriarch Rosina at the helm.  Her two sons create magic in the kitchen, while Rosina runs the front of the house.  She's friendly and welcoming, and I can't wait to go back again.

I discovered that Rosina and her family were the owners and operators of one of my favorite restaurants in the area (gone for the past 10 years), When in Rome.  The food at When in Rome was excellent, so naturally Rosina's would be good too.  Rosina's is in a small shopping center, close to the Oceanside Senior Center.  As soon as you enter, you feel as if you're in someone's home.

Prices are moderate, and all the regular southern Italian dishes are on the menu.  Each night the chef creates several specials, which are not to be missed.  We enjoyed a warm vegetable tower, with goat cheese in between the layers.  Eggplant, zucchini, peppers and onions were perfectly prepared, and with the goat cheese spread, it was a delicious starter.  I enjoyed fusilli with wild mushrooms and peas, in a very light cream sauce.  It was fantastic.  Ron ordered a seafood stew, another winner.  Laura opted for cannelloni stuffed with a veal mixture and topped with cheese and cream sauce.  Richard ordered pasta with large, delicious meat balls.  Most entrees were around $20.

The family runs another restaurant in Santa Luz, so depending on where you live, find your way to one of Rosina's restaurants.  I used to love When in Rome, and I'm so happy to have found this restaurant, run by the same family, but even better!

What To Do About Fake News

The hot new issue, both nationally and internationally, is the problem of fake news being disseminated on the Internet.  Companies like Google and Face are being urged to censor such articles and punish alleged violators.  Also, teams of supposedly "responsible" news providers and technology giants are being assembled to police this alleged problem.  Therein lies the problem.  Who gets to decide what is real and what is not?  Propaganda is propagated on all sides.  How do we decide if some item is the truth?

It is the responsibility of journalists to check and double check their sources, and make sure that the information that is being disseminated is the truth.  So, who are the responsible journalists who should regulate what the world's public gets to see and hear?  A kind of Ministry of Truth has been set up by Google, called the First Draft Coalition, which touts itself as a collection of 30 major news and tech companies, tackling fake news and deciding which stories are questionable and which ones aren't.

>P>Some false stories are always going to get pushed in the heat of political campaign and wartime.  It is up to journalists to fact-check as best they can.  There is potentially a greater danger when media insiders arrogate to themselves the power to dismiss contrary evidence as unacceptable.  It's even more dangerous when these self appointed arbiters of truth combine forces with internet search engines and social media companies to essentially silence dissenting opinions by making them difficult for the public to locate.

What scares me the most is that for many people, the only news they get is something they've read on the internet, which might be fake.  They will likely believe it!  I've always been a skeptic, but now, more than ever, one must read new stories with a skeptical eye.  This will likely be discussed a lot in the future, and will get into topics like control of the internet and censorship.  I have no idea how they will sort this one out, but it should be interesting.

Just be careful.  Now, more than ever, don't believe everything you see or hear.

The Future Of The Automobile

There is plenty of talk these days about self driving and autonomous vehicles.  There are differences between these types of vehicles, but basically they each drive themselves.  The accident rate is predicted to drop substantially, as you will not have distracted or intoxicated drivers on the road.  The autonomous vehicle does not require a human to be in the car.  The self driving car, at this point in time, does require a human to give the car instruction.  How will this effect the future?  Well, in ways we can't even imagine.

First, experts say that children born in 2016 may never drive a car.  By the time they are of driving age, all cars will driverless., or so they predict.  Second, think about this.  At the moment most cars are used only 4% of the time.  Why not use them more?  For example, right now, most families own two cars.  With a driverless car, only one car might be necessary.  Father would drive to work in the morning, then send the car home for mom.  She would take the kids to school, run errands, then send the car to dad's office for his use.   If you have a long commute, take a nap on the way to your destination.   If one car is till more than your family needs,  several families could share one car.  This would save money for everyone.  Insurance would be less, and parking problems would be a thing of the past.  After dropping you off at the shopping mall, the car would drive itself to an off site parking structure until it was summoned to pick you up.

Does this sound like science fiction?  It's not.  This technology is already here, on the road in some places, and being tested to get out the final kinks.  Experts expect this technology to be mainstream in a few years.  You might see self driving transport trucks on the roads.  The days of long haul truckers may be gone.  This is all happening so fast, that we aren't sure of the unintended consequences of all this.  Would it eliminate traffic jams, parking problems and accidents?  Experts think yes.  I think this is all very exciting.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of having a self driving car take me to my destination.  I love to drive, and it sounds like my driving days may be numbered.

New Foods To Try

I was in Boulder in early November to visit Phil, Deborah, Lennon and Elsa.  As usual, I had a memorable time.  Cooking together was one of our most fun activities.  Phil loves to cook and I do too, so we enjoyed that activity together, and the kids joined in on the fun.  We made two dishes I had never had, bim bim bap and kim chi.

Bim bim bap literally means "mixed vegetables."  In this dish, sushi rice is placed at the bottom of the bowl, and it is topped with any or all of the following items:  sauteed veggies, like bean sprouts, zucchini, broccoli, chili pepper paste (not for me), fermented soybean paste, fried egg or sliced meat.  Phil marinated firm tofu, cut it in pieces, and pan fried it.  He got a nice crust on the tofu, and it was absolutely delicious.  We did not use meat, but topped the dish with a fried egg.  Mix it all together and enjoy.

Phil is a big fan of kim chi, so he added that to his bowl.  I said no to kim chi, but the next day, I helped Phil make some home made kim chi.  It's made from cabbage, sprinkled with salt and allowed to sit for a while, then rinsed, and additional ingredients are added:  lots of garlic, soy sauce, lots of chili powder, carrots.  This is all mixed together.  Then the kim chi is put into big glass jars and allowed to sit for several days before refrigerating.  During this time it ferments, and you can actually see bubbles in the mixture.  Phil and Deborah loved the finished product.  I took one small taste and knew it was not for me.  They said it's an acquired taste.  Not for me.

I forgot to mention the beautiful brunch we had one morning in their backyard, in the middle of November, and so hot we needed umbrellas.  We began with a green smoothie, made from soy milk, lots of green veggies, and bananas and strawberries.  Delicious.  Then we had country fried potatoes, nice and crispy, thick sliced bacon, scrambled eggs, avocados, and a delicious banana bread (Cook's Country recipe), hot out of the oven with lots of butter.  Five adults and two children ate the whole loaf.  Even with a nice walk that I took on Monday, I did not lose weight on this trip.  Food is always an important part of our time together, and this trip was no exception.  Thank you to Phil and his family for making my trip so memorable.

How Much Screen Time Is Too Much?

I'm glad I'm not raising kids today.  When my kids were young, I had to drag them in from outside every night.  They were riding their bike, building a fort, or playing some other  game they had created with neighborhood friends.  Today, parents are trying to find a way to get their kids outside, away from the TV or IPad.  This is a problem for many families, and there is no right or wrong answer.  My feeling is that common sense must prevail.  If your 10 year old is spend 8 hours a day in front of a screen, that is probably excessive.  As with everything, balance and moderation should prevail.

I think we also have to look at ourselves.  Our children are watching, and if we, as parents and grandparents, are spending large amounts of time in front of the TV or on our phone or IPad, we are setting this as an example for our children.  It's hard to tell your kids not to play video games all day when you are doing the same thing.

Some parents think that limiting  screen time to 2-4 hours per day is reasonable, others feel there is no need to limit screen time if the child's grades are good.  My feeling is that more screen time means less interaction with real people, which means a child's interaction with others  may suffer.  Here is my thought.  Set aside an hour or two when all electronic devices will be turned off.  This could be every night, or just a few nights a week.  It's a great time to talk to each other with out any interference.

2017 Predictions

Everyone, regardless of their political position, expects 2017 to bring many changes to our country.  Whether they will or will not be good for the country remains to be seen, and depends on your point of view.  When we listen to our president-elect talk about what he plans to do, I have noticed that many of the ideas he talked about in the campaign, are not being talked about any more.  Also, his position seems to have changed on a variety of topics.  Although he doesn't want to call himself a typical politician, he is in fact a politician, which means that he will flip flop on many issues, and promise things that he has no possibility of delivering.

During the campaign he promised to lock up Hillary, build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and have them pay for it, round up and send back 11 million illegal immigrants, and repeal and replace Obamacare.  None of these things are going to happen.  Hillary is not being locked up, the wall may at most be a fence on part of the border, some illegals that have been convicted of crimes will be sent back to their country of origin, and now Trump is talking about the many areas of Obamacare that he likes.  His plan is to change some of the things he doesn't like.

One area that I worry about is education, as that is where are future leaders, scientists, and inventors lie.  Our education system is in need of a complete overhaul.  Trump has appointed a woman to head education that is not a friend of public education.  States are going to have to pay more to keep programs going, as money will surely be moved from public to private schools.  I worry about Planned Parenthood, something all women should be concerned with.  Abortion is such a small part of what this great organization does, that to talk about Planned Parenthood and abortion together is ridiculous.  For many women, especially those without insurance, a doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic may be the only doctor she sees all year.  Pap smears and mammograms are critical preventive tests all women should have access to.  We must keep these clinics open.  Remember, no federal funds are used to pay for abortions.
Finally, let's talk about climate change.  95% of  recognized scientists say that climate change is real, and that we can do something to prevent it from destroying our planet.  For Trump to say that it doesn't exist makes him sound ignorant.  Again, it seems like individual states are going to have to lead on issues of climate change.  Luckily we live in California, where many climate change issues have been addressed and dealt with.  We are going in the right direction.

So, what do I predict for next year?  For the most part, gridlock will continue in Washington as usual, although with the Republicans controlling all branches of government, they may have an easier time getting bills pass that they favor.  Things will change, but slowly.  I am concerned about the international scene, and whether or not the leaders we have in charge of such things will keep us safe and out of war.  We must all hope that our leader will keep a cool head and get good advice in this respect.  We'll see.