Cow or Almond?

  
   
    I have recently started researching the numerous alternatives to whole cow's milk and have stumbled upon a great find, almond milk. In terms of nutrition Almond milk is filled with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, iron, fiber, zinc, and calcium. This puts Almond milk at the top of the list in terms of milk substitutes because it is healthier than cow's milk itself. It only has 40 calories per eight oz. serving and low in fat. To make it even more appealing to the general population it is also lactose,gluten,casein and cholesterol free. So even those of you whom are lactose-intolerant can reap the benefits of this delicious substitute.

    Almond milk also has other benefits compared to cow's milk such as high levels of antioxidants and no saturated fats. The high levels of antioxidants can help to prevent many types of cancer and slow the signs of aging. Who doesn't want to stop those wrinkles crow's feet? The only downside to Almond milk is the fact that people with tree nut allergies should avoid drinking this product because of dangerous allergic reactions that could result.

    So in a full comparison Almond milk is a healthier choice do so its high nutritional value and low amounts of calories, cholesterol, and saturated fats. Those that are suffering from heart problems would benefit tremendously by switching from cow's milk to almond milk. The only thing nutrition wise that cow's milk has over almond milk is protein. However, you get all your daily recommended amount of protein from other sources, so having it in your milk isn't a necessity.

    Now with the technical mumbo jumbo out the way many of you are asking yourselves, what does it taste like? The best answer I can give you there is that sweet tasting milk that you get at the end of eating a bowl of cereal. However, just don't take my word for it. Try it yourself....

Effectively Using Social Networks

   


    This past week has been a crazy learning experience for me in terms of blogging. It seems the biggest obstacle with and beginning blogger is building up your audience. I have achieved more page views than I thought I would but the numbers are just clearly nowhere near where I want them to be. So, I started a Twitter account and got connected with a lot of like minded profiles to see if I can pull some traffic for it. I am still in the beginning stages of that but from what I can tell if I use Twitter correctly then I should see some traffic from it. I must also produce more of my written word so I can get an audience whom is interested in what I have to say. So I will be adding more content daily and hoping for the best.

A Lesson in Leaving.

   


    I was in a kind of critical thinking mode today and so today's post will be unlike the many other random post that you have seen here on my blog. I have stated several times that I wanted to be more known for my writings than the content of my blog which is to not demean the support for social issues that I exhibit. However, many of the randomness comes out of hope for monetary compensation for my words. Getting paid to do something I love and support a cause, why not right? So I leave you today with a written though on regret, enjoy!   

"Have you ever rethought a certain action or lack there of? I personally believe that many of us do, and the only thing gained from the experiences are the lessons learned from them. You could say that it is very easy to pull the handle on that door and walk right out of a situation, but saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do. The realization that what you ended up with is not the product of desire, but the product of life. So i urge everyone, to think twice before walking out that door, because sometimes when you leave there is nothing left to come back to."-Mr. Jay

Globalization of Young Children

As a new parent one of the many things that has peaked my curiousity is the ideology that you can teach a child as young as 3 months a second language. Many parents even go the extra mile and teach their children multiple languages. One of the reasons they are able to do this is their unlimited innate ability to learn and distenguish the differences in the languages. Making your children global children also creates less room for intolerance and allows your children to accept the many differences among culture. Here are a few tips to get your youngster on the path to becoming a biliguial baby!

• Start now. Two- and 3-year-olds are not only increasing their vocabularies, they're starting to recognize the speech patterns they've been hearing since birth. The earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds. The ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3, and we lose the capacity to hear and produce certain sounds if we aren't exposed to them early on. So just hearing a television show, listening to music, or learning a few words in a second language will give your child essential tools for appreciating it now and learning to speak it later.
• Create a casual learning environment. The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for him to hear people speaking it fluently. If he's exposed to conversations, he'll begin to pick up the sounds and the natural accent. Choose a language that is spoken in your neighborhood, on a television show your child can watch regularly, or one that is offered in classes or playgroups in your area. Two- and 3-year-olds love to mimic what they hear, and soon they'll begin to understand the meanings of short words and phrases.
• Teach a word at a time. If you don't want to do formal lessons, you can introduce bilingual basics by pointing out to your child that objects can have two names -- one in each language.
• Have reasonable expectations. Of course, a child won't learn to speak another language fluently from hearing words, watching videos, or singing songs. But simply being exposed to a language will help her understand phrases when she hears them. So even though you probably won't be having a French conversation with your child very soon, if you say "bonne nuit" every night at bedtime, she'll figure out what you mean.

-Mr. Jay

Douche of the Day- Ron Brown

Goodmorning all! I'm starting today off with a story out of the great state of Nebraska, pictured right is a picture of the assistant couch Ron Brown whom is currently under fire for anti-gay rights comment. The sports community as a whole has made some efforts to move away from the bias about professional sports and lesbians/gays. Professional sports in the past years could be viewed as highly homophobic but with a lot of things in this country that is changing. For example the "It Gets Better" project and "You Can Play" initiative are all projects and films created with the goal of viewing gay rights as human rights and to show that discrimination against lesbian and gay players are wrong. However, the douche of the day believes that by professional teams doing so they are taking a step in the wrong direction. Speaking in an Omaha City Council hearing against an anti-discrimination ordinance being extended to protect gays and lesbians he stated his firm belief that homosexuality is a sin in Christianity. Furthermore, after receiving many request for the university coach to be fired he told the associated press he would be "honored" to be fired for his religious beliefs. “To be fired for my faith would be a greater honor than to be fired because we didn’t win enough games,” Brown told The Associated Press. “I haven’t lost any sleep over it. I realize at some point, we live in a politically correct enough culture where that very well could happen.”

So far the university has declined to take any action against Brown, stating that his views are not the views of the university. However, having someone in a powered position where he has influence over others (university students), I personally believe that he should be fired from his position as assistant coach. Many advocacy groups have jumped aboard to get this issue handled, but it will take a large group to speak out against Ron Brown.

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So that is the story on the douche of the day, how do you all feel the university should handle this situation? Do you believe that the sports world as a whole is taking proper initiative to ban or lead away from homophobic rhetoric?

Fixing a Struggling Economy

With the 2012 Presidential Election just right around the corner, many Americans are asking themselves about the solutions to fixing the economy. Among many aspects of the modern economy, the housing market is one of the biggest products of a failing market. The stock market has also experienced several losses not made any better by a struggling global economy. With government spending in the trillions, and many Americans losing their homes and jobs, what do you propose to fix the current situation?

Recipe of the Day- Lo Mein Noodles

Many Americans enjoy that local Chinese restaurant but with tough economic times it is sometimes hard to afford that restaurant expense. Dining out is one of the many areas within a household budget that can be cut out completely or lessened to yield a high monthly profit. Some interesting figures about dining out:

• The average American household spends almost half of its food budget on eating out — out of about $6,000 US Dollars (USD) spent on food a year, about $2,700 USD goes to eating out. Alcoholic beverages alone contribute almost $500 USD to that budget

• More than 75 percent of Americans eat out at least once a week, and a full fourth eat out every two to three days. Some studies suggest that, on average, Americans actually eat one out of every four meals and snacks outside of the home.


• Atlanta seems to be the top city for eating out — residents of Atlanta spend about 60 percent of their food budget on eating out. Those in Austin, Texas, spend the most money on food purely in terms of dollar amount, though — they spend almost $13,000 USD a year on food, pretty much equally distributed between eating out and eating at home.


• The most frugal cities in the U.S. when it comes to eating out are Detroit and Chula Vista, California. Those in Florida City spend the biggest portion of their budget on home food — about 70 percent.

So with that said, let's cut back our budgets by learning to prepare some of our favorites right at home!

 

Lo Mein Noodles

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 lb. flat noodles
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. scallion, chopped
1 tbsp. oil (sesame preferred)
Soy sauce
Pepper
Garlic powder

Directions:

Cook and drain noodles. Saute scallion for a few minutes. Add noodles and seasonings to skillet. Toss. Add soy sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

 

I hope this meal brings great fortune to your family...