2 lbs. beef, cut into cubes
Sea salt
Light olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup fresh pearl onions, trimmed, peeled
3 good sized hefty gold potatoes, peeled, cut up
3 good sized carrots, peeled, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup dry red table wine
4 cups beef broth
A dash of balsamic vinegar
1-2 teaspoons dried Italian or French herbs, to taste (thyme, sage, rosemary, basil, etc)
1 bay leaf
Ground pepper, to taste

First- salt the cubes of beef on all sides. Turn on the Crock Pot to High. Heat a dash of light olive oil in a deep heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef cubes on all sides to sear in the flavor, using long tongs to turn the pieces. This doesn’t take but maybe five minutes, or so. Remove the beef and add it to the Crock Pot. Add in the garlic, pearl onions, potatoes, carrots and celery. Pour in the wine and broth. Stir. Add the balsamic, herbs and ground pepper. Cover and let the magic happen. The stew is ready when the beef and vegetables are tender- about 4 to 5 hours if cooked on High. Remove the bay leaf. Taste test the broth and adjust for your taste buds- does it need a tad more salt? More ground pepper? The flavors should be balanced, warm and inviting.

Serves 4 to 5.

Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Fourth and fifth grade classes in RSU 20 recently attended a district-wide health fair called, “Tobacco Free…A Passport to Health.” Among the things they did was to sing and dance to the words below, designed to increase their self-esteem and refusal skills.

RSU 20 music teacher Amy Gardner talks with students about the song they are about to learn.

My Mind is Mine

Some people in the world

Are messin’ up their minds,

They’re messin’ up their lives with

All that JUNK! The stuff

Is in control, It’s takin’ all the

Souls of people who were once like

YOU and Me. Got to stand my

Ground. Lookin’ all around.

Pressure comes from people

Not my Real Friends.

I’m in charge of me. No one else

Can be. Smokin’ is Stupid.

Say no! (No!)

My mind is mine (5x) I respect myself.

My mind is mine (5x) I respect myself

My mind is mine (5x) I am in control. NO!!!

The second annual fair was based on the tobacco/drug unit from the Great Body Shop curriculum used in the school. During the day, students visited seven stations that focused on various aspects of tobacco and on ways to make healthy choices. Those stations were:

• Health effects of tobacco
• Addiction
• Tobacco advertising
• Second- and third-hand smoke
• Smokeless tobacco
• Empowering students through music
• Raising self-esteem through art

Elementary Guidance Counselor Cynthia Martell discusses how candy cigarettes are used by advertisers to try to start young people on the road to smoking.

Brandon Hurd of the Waldo County YMCA and Barbara Crowley RN of Healthy Waldo County ask students about ways to protect yourself from secondhand smoke as posted behind the students.

Linda Hartkopf, the school health coordinator in RSU 20, said, “The timing for the fair is perfect. Recently, reports were released about tobacco usage among Maine youth. The numbers are alarming and climbing. The State of Tobacco Control 2009 report shows that between 2007 and 2008, self-reported rates of smoking in Maine adolescents and teens rose from 14 percent to more than 18 percent, which is the first increase since 1997, when the rate was more than 39 percent. We look forward to providing students strategies for making good, healthy choices around tobacco.”

Dave Cross, the District Tobacco Coordinator, tells students about the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

Carrie Walker of Searsmont runs her leg of a relay race wearing a weighted vest and carrying weights to feel how smoking affects a person’s lungs.

Waldo County General Hospital is offering an American Red Cross CPR and standard first aid class that is open to the public. The class will be held on Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Hospital’s Education Center on Northport Avenue in Belfast and will cover adult CPR and first aid techniques.

Lonie Brown, a certified American Red Cross Instructor, will conduct the course which is ideal for day care providers, care givers or any interested persons. Participants will receive a certification card upon successful completion of the class.

Call the hospital’s education department at 338-2500 extension 4154 to register and pick up the CPR book. The fee is $55 and should be paid when picking up class materials.

In 2007, a small University of Virginia study of 34 students yielded some interesting results about friends and physical challenges. Participants stood at the base of a hill wearing a weighted backpack. Some of them were all alone. Others were paired up with a friend. Researchers then asked them to estimate how steep the hill in front of them really was. The students who stood with a friend estimated that the hill was less steep than students who stood alone did. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared to them.…

 
We could easily apply these findings to a wide range of workouts. Simply being with a friend can make the physical challenge of exercise seem less daunting to you—especially if you’re doing it with one of your best friends. This actually makes me think back to my Grand Canyon hiking trip last year. Surprisingly, I never viewed the multi-day excursion (also with weighted packs!) as very challenging, despite the grand scale of the trails we climbed. Could that be because I took the journey with my very best friend of almost 7 years?…

 
Besides making exercise seem easier, here are three more reasons to try working out with a buddy—at least occasionally.

1. Working out with a buddy makes exercise more fun. As long as you’re a somewhat social person, I think this is true. Whether it brings out an inner competitiveness that helps you work harder and pass the time, or helps you maintain a lighthearted attitude about Zumba class (at least you two will feel like fools together), exercising with a friend can help freshen up your routine when you’re feeling bored.
2. Working out with a buddy lets you multitask. My aforementioned best friend and I both exercise regularly, although usually not together. Often, when we’re craving friend time and need to catch up, we do so by working out together: running, walking or hiking. We also tend to do this when one of us needs to vent, so talk about multitasking: spending time with friends, getting things off your chest, reducing stress (via that connection and the exercise), and meeting our fitness goals. That sounds like a win-win-win-win to me! Bonus: Being able to carry on a choppy conversation is a good indicator that you’re working at the right intensity level!
3. Working out with a buddy provides accountability. While I don’t think it’s wise to always rely on someone else to stay motivated yourself, it can work in a pinch. I tend to be motivated to work out most days. But when I’m not, I’ll call up a friend. Then my workout is more like an appointment that I have to keep because I don’t want to cancel or let the other person down. This is a great technique to try on occasion, but I also think it’s important to make a habit of finding ways to stay motivated on your own—without always needing to rely on someone else.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2-3 teaspoons red curry paste (Thai Kitchen makes a good one, available at Hannaford), to taste

1 teaspoon cumin

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 head white or purple cabbage, shredded

2 large carrots, peeled, sliced or chopped

1 large sweet potato, diced

2 apples – 1 tart, 1 sweet – cored, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup raisins

1 14-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 cups broth, more if needed

 

 

To add in later:

 

 

1 cup light coconut milk, more if needed

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

A squeeze of fresh lime  to taste

Chopped fresh cilantro, to taste

 

 

Pour the oil in the bottom of the Crock Pot.Add the garlic, onion and spices. Stir to coat. Add the rest of the ingredients in the first list. Stir briefly to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for six hours or until the vegetables and potato are tender. I stirred the curry once during the afternoon to make sure all the veggies were moist and mingled.

 

 

Before serving, add in the coconut milk, seasoning and lime. Add some chopped cilantro. Taste test and adjust seasonings, balancing the sweet tartness with the fiery creaminess. If you need more liquid, add broth or coconut milk.

 
Cover and heat through an additional 15 minutes or so. Serve spooned over rice.

 

 

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

–1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
–1/2 large red onion, chopped
–1 cup carrots, chopped
–2 celery stalks, sliced
–2  large cans diced tomatoes (and juice)
–1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
–1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
–4 cups beef broth
–1 large can tomato sauce
–2 tsp oregano
– Tabasco sauce or red pepper flakes to taste
–1/2 tsp salt
–1/4 tsp black pepper
–1/2 cup dry pasta, to cook and add to each serving

Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.

Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the  crockpot towards the end of the cook time ( I like them with a little crunch).

I cook the pasta separately and add to individual bowls as desired…otherwise it gets mushy in the soup.

Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you like