My friend Anita sent me this picture today.  I guess everyone shoots for the stars in New York.  A budding entrepreneur?  I bet he made more money with that sign, it certainly made me smile.

As I said in previous post, I made this soup last week when I was sick. I have not made ramen noodles in years, but it was actually really good. This could become a dorm room staple and the beginning of many budding cooks? Click on the photo for the other pictures of this “faux recipe” Basically, you take a chicken breast and boil it in 4 cups of water for 5- 10 minutes until cooked through, take it out of the water to cool, and add some chopped vegetables, and two packets of ramen noodles. If you like it more soupy, then add the seasoning of both packets, but the noodles of one. Boil for a couple of minutes, shred the chicken and add. Top with chopped cilantro, bean sprouts, and lime. Oh yeah, its good! This only took me 20 minutes or so start to finish (and I was sick). Oh, and I added a little sliced jalepeno for kick, the skies the limit- fish sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, ginger, star anise……

I flew in to Florida yesterday and getting ready for some cooking the next couple of weeks. I saw these individual wood planks at Whole Foods, and thought it would make a cool presentation. It is an easy way to cook Salmon. You soak the wood plank in water for at least an hour, place it on your grill for a few minutes, turn it over, place the seasoned salmon fillet on top, cover for 5-6 minutes, and voila! I think it would make a different presentation for plated or buffet, of course you could use a larger plank, and a larger piece of salmon.

I have had a cold this week, which is pretty rare, so I can’t complain. I don’t usually eat soup, but have been craving it since I feel like it is making me feel better, and Tamra even included it in her latest article, which is timely to say the least. I have specifically been craving Pho, since I have had Won ton a few times this week, and it’s not cutting it. Pho is a Vietnamese beef soup (there’s usually a funny squiggle over the o), but with my luck, we have every ethnic restaurant around here except Vietnamese. I made a quick version with chicken, and took some pictures; it was really good; I will do a post with a recipe in the next day or two once I figure out how to import the pictures from my new account. Here is Tamra’s article, the soup I made is perfect for this, and is real easy.

A Diet to Fight the Common Cold

By Tamra Hammett RD, LDN

The common cold is caused by any of a number of viruses that can involve the upper respiratory tract. As your body fights the attacking virus, you get the symptoms of a cold, including nasal congestion, sneezing and sniffles.

How well protected are you against the common cold? Colds are a fact of life every winter, but your best defense may be right on your dinner plate. In fact, you can strengthen your immune system’s infection-fighting ability by eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting enough rest. Good nutrition is also essential for recovering from a cold, and you can reduce the duration of one and also decrease the aggravating side effects such as stuffy nose and sore throat simply by eating right. Here’s how:

· Fill up on a nutrient-rich healthy diet to build your immune system and fight inflammation during a cold.

· Drink plenty of cold and hot liquids. Water, caffeine-free tea, fruit juice, or broth based soups. When you have cold, liquids thin and loosen mucus and help get it moving out of your body. Also chicken soup (well, really any hot liquid) helps move viruses and germs out of the nose more quickly.

* Avoid caffeine. The diuretic effect of caffeine in fluids like coffee, tea, and soda drinks make them less helpful than water or decaffeinated beverages when you have a cold.
* Avoid dairy products including cream based soups, ice cream, or milk as they increase the production of phlegm.

· Consider a whole-food supplement such as Juice Plus to ensure you are receiving a wide range of antioxidants and phytonutrients that you may not be getting through your diet.

The Cold Menu

Breakfast

* Oatmeal (made with water) topped with mixed berries
* Whole-grain toast
* Orange juice
* Hot decaffeinated tea

Lunch

* Chicken vegetable soup (or any non-dairy soup)
* Tomato Juice
* Mandarin orange sections
* Mixed green salad
* Hot decaffeinated tea

Dinner

* Chicken noodle soup (or any non-dairy soup)
* Steamed mixed vegetables
* Whole-wheat pasta with tomato sauce
* Applesauce
* Sliced Fruit
* Hot decaffeinated tea

If your symptoms get worse after five or so days you could have strep throat, sinusitis, bronchitis, or some other bacterial infection, and you should see your doctor.

I just opened an account to manage my blog photos (they are taking up too much room on my laptop). The picture is of a breakfast buffet we do down in Florida.

I told you that I would post some pictures from my balcony. It is way to cold to spend any time out there, but once the weather warms up I need to get some furniture and enjoy. You can see the upper East Side/Harlem in be picture on the left.

Things have been crazy here on Wall Street the last week or so.  Bear Stearns just got bought out by JP Morgan for a bargain basement price.  Amazing, considering they have over 14,000 employees, and a billion dollar building in Manhattan.  Alex Rodriguez’s new contract with Yankee’s is worth more, and as I suspected there is a yacht worth more.

Within the next month I will be sending out free weekly newsletters, they will have a recipe by me, an article by our personal trainer, and timely article by our dietitian that specializes in your specific needs. Judy Fischer is our expert Dietitian for the Diabetes Menu Plan; it is a coincidence that she lives in Charlotte (not that I spend much time there these days), since the other dietitians live in Ohio, Georgia, and Illinois. I give them very loose guidelines for their weekly articles, so it is fun for me to read as well. I have been learning a lot! This is the second article I have received recently about calcium and weight loss, so let’s pay attention! You can check out Judy’s website here, if you live in the Charlotte area and know someone with diabetes who needs to be put on the right path, she’s your lady. Sorry to say I still haven’t given up my white chocolate mocha’s yet Judy!

The Calcium and Weight Loss Connection

Is weight loss easier with dairy products? Recent studies say, yes! Keeping 1200 – 1600 milligrams of calcium in your diet, mostly from dairy products will not only take off pounds more quickly but take those pounds off around the waist. Remember, abdominal fat causes insulin resistance and inflammation to the body. Calcium supplements will help but not as well as dairy products. These are the conclusions from emerging research looking into the effects of calcium intake and weight loss.

Dr. Michael Zemel performed a 24-week clinical study with 32 overweight adults who were placed on a weight loss diet to enable a 1# weight loss each week. The control group received a calcium supplement of 400 – 500 mg/day. The second group received 1200 -1300 mg/calcium supplement/day and a third group received 1200-1300 mg from dairy products only. The results were very impressive!

The dairy calcium group lost 70% more than the control group! Two-thirds of the dairy group’s weight loss was in the abdominal region compared to 20% of the control group. The research suggests that a hormone called calcitrol acts as a “switch” to control fat metabolism and is signaled by calcium levels in the blood. When calcium levels are too low in the blood, the body thinks it is being starved and it slows down fat metabolism to protect its fat stores. Adequate levels of calcium seem to reduce calcitrol activity, allowing the body to burn fat more quickly. Researchers believe that dairy products have active components to enhance calcium effects in the body explaining why consuming dairy is more effective than supplementation alone.

A successful weight loss plan consists of reducing your overall calorie intake while consuming at least 1000 mg calcium from dairy sources. Remember, your body can only absorb 500 mg/at a time, you will need to eat three to four servings per day of calcium rich foods.

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, lets see, I spent a week down in Florida cooking my butt off, settled in to my new place here in New York, and have been working with the developers to get the website live. It’s looking like some time in April; the good news about that for all of the people missing my posts is that I will be doing a lot more of them since I want my new members to get to know me, and what I am up to. I have always wanted a driver holding up my name when I got off a plane, well now I do, I just need to get them to spell my name right. I saw some butterflied shrimp in the store while down in Florida and made some great appetizers out of them, and like all of the food that I cook, the recipe’s easy. If you can find peppadew peppers that makes this recipe even better because they have a kick and are sweet.

Shrimp Broiled with Goat Cheese and Roasted Peppers

Serves 4

16 Shrimp butterflied, with the tail on

1/4 cup goat cheese, softened

1/4 cup dice roasted peppers, drained

Mix or puree the goat cheese and peppers, spread evenly over the shrimp and broil on a baking pan for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through and bubbly on top.

I was in the upper west side buying some stuff for my new apartment. The store had an escalator for your cart, it was really cool. The checkout was under the escalator and a big curtain rod fell out of one of the carts and hit a lady, she was totally fine, and received 20% off her purchase, I was joking that it also grazed me but they weren’t buying it. The cashier said that it had happened a few times already that morning, sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen! I stopped by Bouchon Bakery on the way home and got a ham and cheese baguette that reminded me so much of the sandwiches I loved in France. I also got a chicken soup (not so good), and a coffee éclair (it’s fun to splurge once and awhile). It is owned by the same chef that runs the French Laundry, so I guess you have high expectations. If you can find a good bakery then you should make the sandwich, it is one of those things that you wouldn’t think of making, but really is good. All that you do is take a freshly baked baguette, spread it with dijon mustard or butter, good quality sliced ham, and good quality swiss cheese. It is so simple, but depends on the quality of the ingredients as to how good it is.