Quick and healthy breakfast ideas

Breakfast

Variety is the spice of life as the old saying goes. Healthy breakfasts should be a consistent part of your life, but that does not mean that they should lack variety. These breakfast recipes are unique and easy to prepare, and all of them are super healthy and filling. So here are three quick and healthy breakfast ideas.

Breakfast parfait
A little low fat dairy and some vitamin-rich fruit and you've just started your day right, nutritionally speaking.

Ingredients
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese, or low-fat plain yogurt
1 cup pineapple chunks, papaya chunks or cling peaches
2 teaspoons toasted wheat germ
Method
Place cottage cheese (or yogurt) in a small bowl. Top with fruit and sprinkle with wheat germ.

Cranberry muesli
There may be as many versions of muesli as there are breakfast cereals, but this one's modeled after the original Swiss wake-you-up—a combination of overnight-soaked grains, nuts, dried fruit and yogurt. Make it the night before and you'll have breakfast ready when you are.

Ingredients
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened or fruit-juice-sweetened cranberry juice
6 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats, (not quick-cooking or steel-cut)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon wheat germ
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Method
Combine yogurt, juice, oats, cranberries, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, honey, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Herb and onion fritata
This Italian-style omelet is delicious with just about any herb combination; try parsley, dill, chervil or marjoram.

Ingredients
1 cup diced onion
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons farmer's cheese, or reduced-fat ricotta
Method
Bring onion and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cover and cook until the onion is slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the water has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Drizzle in oil and stir until coated. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Pour in eggs, beaten, reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the egg is starting to set, about 20 seconds. Continue cooking, lifting the edges so the uncooked egg will flow underneath, until mostly set, about 30 seconds more. Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle herbs, salt and pepper over the frittata. Spoon cheese on top. Lift up an edge of the frittata and drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon water under it. Cover and cook until the egg is completely set and the cheese is hot, about 2 minutes. Slide the frittata out of the pan using the spatula and serve.     

21.

 Question: "How to kill an ant?"
Asked in an exam for 10 marks!
Student:
Mix chilli powder with sugar,
&
Keep it outside the ant's hole
After eating,
ant will search for some water near a water tank.
Push ant in to it!
Now ant will go to dry itself near fire,
When it reaches fire, put a bomb into d fire!
Then admit wounded ant in icu!
And then
remove oxygen mask from it's mouth and kill the ant :-|

Need control on alcohol, diet to curb cancer: Doctors

Health

Two-thirds of the cancer cases in India can be prevented either by making effective policies or better implementation of the existing ones, say experts. What's more, a grip on alcohol consumption and obesity can help prevent a large percentage of cancer.

According to the World Economic Forum, cancer is among one of the three greatest risks to the global economy. This may be due to escalating cost of care, the threat to productivity from death and disability, and the effects of costs on household impoverishment. But this year's theme of World Cancer Day: "Dispel damaging myths and misconceptions about cancer" can help change the situation, say experts.

Last year, representatives from 117 countries converged at the United Nations to address the prevention and control of cancer and non-communicable diseases and declared four key strategies: control tobacco, unsafe use of alcohol, obesity and encourage better nutrition. While improving the nutritional status of a 100-crore population nation is an uphill task, control on tobacco, areca nut, alcohol and junk food is well within the reach of policymakers, say experts. "There is awareness about the cancer-causing properties of tobacco, but most people are still unaware of the harmful effects of alcohol, areca nut and obesity," said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, oncosurgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital.

"Alcohol is causally related to cancers of the mouth, oropharynx, liver, oesophagus and breast. The risk becomes much higher when tobacco is consumed along with alcohol," he said.

Another cause of worry for oncologists is obesity. A study, using National Cancer Institute surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data, estimated that in 2007 in the US, about 34,000 new cases of cancer in men (4%) and 50,500 in women (7%) were due to obesity. This analysis also found that if every adult reduced their Body Mass Index by 1%, which would be equivalent to a weight loss of roughly 1kg for an adult of average weight, this would actually result in the avoidance of about one lakh new cases.

Head of Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr Rajan Badwe said an unhealthy diet is one of the major contributors in cancer among the obese. "Adolescent obesity is known to produce diabetes, hypertension and cancers like those of breast, ovary and uterus among women and stomach, kidney and colon among men in the later years," Dr Badwe said.Worrying numbers

* There are about 30 lakh new cases of cancer in India at any particular point of time

* About 5 lakh deaths a year in the country are due to cancer.

* 40% of cancer cases are due to the use of tobacco

* The leading sites of cancer are the oral cavity, lungs, oesophagus and stomach among men and cervix, breast and oral cavity among women. Cancer accounts for more deaths worldwide than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

* As per the World Health Organisation Report 2005, the estimated number of cancer deaths in India will increase to 7 lakh by 2015     

20.

Santa has to sell his dog. Banta wants to buy it.

Banta: Is this dog faithful ?

Santa: Yes, I have sold it 3 times earlier also. It is so faithful, everytime it returned back to me.

A story for Passover

A good Passover story should always involve cakes. Austrian baker Manfred Klaschka is the subject of this year’s story. He was in the news because of his most recent catalogue of cake designs; Klaschka is a pastry specialist. Of course, Austrian pastries are famous the world over. Now, pastry baker Manfred Klaschka’s most recent catalogue of such tasty delights was in the news this week because it included cakes decorated with swastikas – as well as one with a baby raising its right arm in a Nazi salute.  Herr Klaschka insists he is not a Nazi. After the news story broke, he even met with a Holocaust awareness group, and apologized for what he had done, and he then baked a cake to say he was sorry – a cake with Jewish and Christian symbols. The point of the story – the bit I found interesting – is Herr Klaschka’s explanation for what he did. "I see it was a mistake, anyone who knows me knows what kind of person I am. I am no Nazi", said Klaschka, who had earlier said he was just a pastry maker fulfilling his customers’ wishes. Fulfilling his customers’ wishes? There is a market in Austria in 2011 for cakes with babies raising their arms in Nazi salutes, cakes with swastikas on them? There are parties where people serve such cakes? Maybe birthday parties for babies?

f course there are such people, and there are such parties, and because of that, there is a market – there is consumer demand – for swastika cakes. Which is why Herr Klaschka was happy to bake them. And not only in Austria.
You may remember the case of the Campbell family from New Jersey.


When Kurt Waldheim was exposed as a war criminal his popularity rose. The neo-Nazi Freedom Party headed by the late Jorg Haider, won 27% of the vote in the 2000 elections and became part of the coalition government – the first time since 1945 that Nazis had sat in a European government.

But this never happened in New Jersey – which is why I want to talk about the Campbell family. The Campbell family in New Jersey made the news back in 2008 when they tried to get a birthday cake made for their son — they have a son and two daughters — at the local Shop Rite in Holland Township.The store refused their request. And the reason was that Mr. Campbell wanted the cake to read "Happy birthday Adolf Hitler". Because, you see, his son’s name was Adolf Hitler Campell. One of the daughters is named is named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell. Well, you get the point.
When I read about the Austrian baker Manfred Klaschka, I thought – here was a marketing opportunity for him. He would have happily baked a cake for the Campbell family. So what does all this have to do with Passover? This week, when we are forbidden to eat Sachertore or Linzer tort or even the delightfully named Punschkrapfen, we might want to pause and think about something we say every year at the Passover seder: 'In every generation it is the duty of man to consider himself as if he had come forth from Egypt'. Because in this generation, as in all others, there are those who order custom-made swastika cakes. There are those who name their children after Adolf Hitler. And there are others who fire anti-tank missiles at school busses with Jewish children in them.


Because there are those who are building nuclear weapons, having told the world that their intention is to wipe the Jewish state off the face of the earth. Because people like that make Pharaoh look like a nice guy. Because getting out of the house of bondage, out of slavery in Egypt, was not the end of the story for the Jewish people, but was the beginning. It is a story of a never-ending struggle for freedom, for dignity, for respect, for human rights, that has universal resonance and meaning — for all people, everywhere, always.  

BlackBerry 10: What BlackBerry needs to do in India

Black Berry 10

Research in Motion must chart a tough course in its two key emerging markets of India and Indonesia: quickly launch cheaper handsets to woo lower-end subscribers while restoring its tattered brand among the countries' status-conscious.

The company, which is rebranding itself BlackBerry after its best-known smartphone, has won millions of followers in these two Asian countries, mostly by selling cheaper handsets and offering service packages as low as $2 a month. So it's unlikely that the Z10 model introduced last week, which operators in India expect to sell for around $750, will appeal to the users it must reach if it is to build market share.

"It's clear that not only are India and Indonesia among the largest markets but in terms of future smartphone growth, they're amongst the ones with the most potential," said Melissa Chau, senior research manager at technology research group IDC in Singapore. "But the two devices that have been launched are not well aligned to the needs of these two markets."

While the company does not break down its sales by country, data from IDC shows that Indonesia was BlackBerry's biggest market outside the United States and Britain last year, while India was ninth.

ABI Research said that BlackBerry accounted for nearly half of Indonesia's smartphone shipments in 2012. Compare this with a global share of just 5.3 percent. In India, the world's second-largest mobile phone market, BlackBerry ranks third after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Nokia.

In both countries, young people are drawn by low-cost handsets allowing them to communicate for free on the BlackBerry Messaging Service (BBM). Almost all carriers offer services for the device. Indonesia's XL Axiata Tbk PT, for example, saw a 45 percent jump in BlackBerry subscribers last financial year after offering packages for as little as 20 cents per day.

But this picture is changing rapidly.

The rise of messaging services such as WhatsApp that are not confined to any single operating system and the proliferation of cheap Android devices have diluted the BlackBerry's appeal.

Mickey Nayoan, a 32-year old product designer in Jakarta, swapped his BlackBerry for a Samsung phone six months ago and isn't missing it.

"I survived without BlackBerry because there's WhatsApp," he said. "More and more people use it and so I don't need BBM anymore."

At the same time, higher-end users have deserted what is increasingly seen as a low-end brand.

Zebrafish stem cells could heal human retinas

Zebrafish

Stem cells from zebrafish, the staple of genetic research, could regenerate damaged cones in retinas and restore eyesight to people.

Rods and cones in the eyes are the most important photoreceptors. In humans, rods provide night vision, while cones offer a full-colour look at the world during the day.

It was not known, says University of Alberta researcher Ted Allison, whether stem cells could be instructed to only replace the cones in its retina. This could have important implications for human eyesight, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reports.

Almost all success in regenerating photoreceptor cells to date had been limited to rods, not cones. Most previous experiments were conducted on nocturnal rodents, animals that require good night vision and have far more rods than cones, according to an Alberta statement.

“This is the first time in an animal research model that stem cells have only repaired damaged cones,” said Allison. “For people with damaged eyesight, repairing the cones is most important because it would restore day-time colour vision.

Researchers say this shows some hope for stem cell therapy that could regenerate damaged cones in people, especially in the cone-rich regions of the retina that provide daytime/colour vision.

Allison says the next step for his team is to identify the particular gene in zebrafish that activates repair of damaged cones.