“It’s a new year and time to start new healthy goals,” says Lili Hong Zhuang, owner of Zeng Natural Health. “High on almost everyone’s list after the holidays is weight loss.” With this in mind, Zeng Natural Healing is offering a 20 percent discount on a customized weight loss program to help participants keep their New Year’s resolutions.
The Orange County Land Trust (OCLT) has obtained 46 acres in the Town of Cornwall in Orange County. Located just outside of Black Rock Forest, the 46 acre parcel was donated by local developer Raffaele Leone and is visible from Schunnemunk Mountain State Park, Black Rock Forest and Storm King Art Center.
There is an exchange between us and everything we encounter in our lives. One might call this exchange a relationship. From passing stranger to our dearest friends and loved ones, to the earth we share, all life exists in relationship to one another. Relationships typically fall into two general groups: healthy relationships and toxic relationships. Healthy relationships are often seen as life enhancing while toxic relationships are destructive. People naturally seek the former and avoid the latter. It sometimes can be a difficult endeavor to find a perfectly healthy relationship while successfully avoiding a toxic relationship.
“Did your New Year’s resolution involve food? Did you promise to eat more veggies and whole grains?” asks Nyack Farmers’ Market manager Pam Moskowitz. “If you’re like many, you may have vowed to eat more healthy meals with less sugar, less fat and less salt. Consider committing to be more aware of where your food comes from.”
Randi Colton, founder of FitChick CPR, recently found out that a student who took her CPR/AED class had to use the life-saving skills he’d learned. “He administered CPR and used a nearby AED and was able to save a person’s life,” she says. “The student knew exactly what to do; in fact, he pushed so hard and fast while doing chest compressions that he ended up breaking several ribs of the patient. A small price to pay since the alternative would have been death.”
"Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer: the secret of redemption lies in remembrance." Richard von Weizsaecker
Grief is felt and experienced by the grieving person. It is an organic process engaging our deepest feelings, memories, beliefs and judgments. While some have identified stages to grief, the individual process often is less like linear steps on a path and more characterized by the spiraling of a cyclone.
Here are two easy yet satisfying desserts to share with others. Both happen to be gluten-free. Enjoy.
Chocolate Crème Brulee
One of my favorite desserts is crème brulee. It is such a simple yet elegant dessert. Here is a twist on the classic for all you chocolate lovers.
4 servings
2 cups of heavy cream
5 egg yolks (room temperature)
5 Tbsp of sugar (plus more for topping)
3 oz of chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tbsp of chocolate liquor
Heat heavy cream in a saucepan over low to moderate heat until milk begins to simmer. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the sugar and egg yolks. Temper the heavy cream and egg yolk mixture by slowly pouring heavy cream mixture to egg mixture while whisking constantly. Strain custard through a fine sieve.
Pour the custard into ramekins and place in a large baking pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of ramekins. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the custard is just set. Remove from water bath and let cool for 15 minutes. Cover ramekins and refrigerate for 4 hours.
Sprinkle sugar on top of custard before serving and then place ramekins on a cookie sheet pan and place under the broiler for 5 minutes or use a kitchen torch.
Cannoli-filled Strawberries
This is a healthier indulgence for when you crave a cannoli but want to skip the guilt.
4 servings
12 strawberries
½ cup of ricotta
2 oz mascarpone
3-4 Tbsp of powdered sugar
Your choice: 1 drop of vanilla and 3 teaspoons of semisweet chocolate or a little lemon zest and a squirt of fresh lemon juice
Wash strawberries, cut off the stem and scoop out the center to make room for the filling. In a food processor or mixer blend ricotta, mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla or lemon zest and juice. Blend until smooth. Put the cannoli filling in a zip lock bag and cut one corner to pipe filling into the strawberries. Top with mini chocolate chips and shaved chocolate. If using lemon, omit the last step.
Kelly Harris is the co-owner of Hudson Valley Cakery, located at 495 Kings Hwy. in Valley Cottage. They bake everything from scratch using all natural ingredients and offer gluten-free, dairyfree and egg-free options. For more information call 267-CAKE or visit HudsonValleyCakery.com.
Life Science Pharmacy in Harriman is committed to providing superior quality supplements, compounds and customer service. In addition to their extensive inventory of supplements, they stock many homeopathic remedies, liquid herbs, a wall of protein powders and other sports nutrition products, as well as a protein shake bar with a variety of fresh, delicious made-toorder protein shakes. They are excited to now offer wheatgrass shots as well.
Ahh, February. The shortest month of the year and the only month that celebrates a special day about love. We should not, however, be so busy in our lives that we need to be reminded about love, and in particular about giving love to ourselves. To quote Louise Hay, “Loving yourself is the foundation for living the life you want.”
Tommy, an adorable 4 year old, had been diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder PDD-NOS at 2 years old. Tommy was a terror at home. He was fully verbal but could not sit or stand still for more than a moment. He had no interest in childhood play or toys and could rip his parents’ home to pieces with just a blink of an eye. Interventions including speech therapy, OT, and ABA helped his behaviors and skills, but due to his hyperactivity he still could not be left without supervision for even a minute. At this stage, Tommy came to the A+ Center for an evaluation. The evaluation took much longer than expected, since Tommy kept running out of the room and made a mess of the entire place. However, after six months of following a comprehensive full spectrum of therapy using the FOSA approach his behavior totally transformed. Tommy now is a full time student in a regular mainstream school and is doing great.
