We were invited to attend a birthday dinner last night and of course, I offered to bring a side dish. At about 1 pm, I started to realize I wasn’t going to get any more hours in my day and I had better start thinking about a game plan. (more…)

My husband went to pick up some fresh fish from Catalina Offshore Products here in San Diego and came home with a bag of seaweed. “So, we’re having seaweed for dinner?” I asked pointedly. (more…)

Have scientists finally discovered the secret to the Mediterranean diet’s health-promoting powers? Maybe. (Spoiler alert: It’s the not the red wine. Alas.)

It’s the olive oil. Olive oil may lower the risk of heart disease at least in part because it helps maintain healthy blood flow and clear debris from arteries, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation.

The oil helps “good” cholesterol do its job, according to researchers.

“A Mediterranean diet rich in virgin olive oil improves the function of high-density lipoproteins, HDL, popularly known as ‘good’ cholesterol,” lead study author Dr. Alvaro Hernáez of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute in Barcelona told the Huffington Post.

For the new study, the researchers examined data from 296 older adults (average 66 years old) at risk for cardiovascular disease who were randomly assigned to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet supplemented with one liter per week (about four tablespoons daily) of extra virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with 30 grams (1 oz.) of nuts a day, or a low-fat diet. They followed their assigned diets for one year.

The blood tests and lab work showed better HDL functioning in the group who ate the Mediterranean diet with extra olive oil.

How does the olive oil help? “Our hypothesis is that these dietary antioxidants may bind to HDL particles and protect them against different kinds of attacks,” Hernáez said. “As HDLs are more protected, they can perform their biological functions more efficiently and, therefore, they are able to remove cholesterol from arteries or contribute to the relaxation of blood vessels for longer.”

Olive oil may not be the only reason the Mediterranean diet is so helpful, Dr. Daniel Rader of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia writes in an editorial that accompanies the Circulation article. Even though the exact reasons behind the diet’s benefits remain elusive, following it still makes sense for heart health. In one study, the diet cut the risk of heart disease in half for a group of adults followed over 10 years, compared to a similar group of people who did not follow the diet.

Repost from NewHopeBlogger network with permission –http://deliciousliving.com/special-diets/med-diet-s-secret-revealed?cid=nhbc

I am a candle freak. I burn candles on a daily basis, and as a result I have many candles container ‘bodies’ left over. These glass containers as spacious and usually come with their signature extinguishing lid. I recently learned of a new easy trick to clean them, so I decided to use a few waxy empties as sundae topping containers. Easy right?

Cleaning the Jars

When left with a candle jar that will no longer burn (about ½ inch of wax remaining), simply place the jar in your freezer overnight. The wax will easily and cleaning crack out of the container. You can use a spoon or butter knife to carefully crack the frozen wax.

A little hot soapy water will get rid of any remaining sticker and wax residue. I spray painted my lids so everything would be matchy-matchy for my sundae bar. However, you could leave plain metal lids as is and use them in the bathroom to hold cotton balls and Q-tips!

I had three jars that I cleaned up as I felt that was the perfect matching set.

Here’s Where I Screwed Up

When cleaning the jars, some Bath & Body candles and other brands have metal wick bottoms that are glued to the bottom of the glass. It’s hit or miss, as I noticed some of their production locations do NOT glue them down so they come out with the cracked frozen wax.
The metal tabs are usually easy enough to remove, but sadly some are really stuck in there. When trying to remove a stubborn one with my brute force, I split a glass jar container open with my hand. No injury, but I was pretty irritated to say the least. Ok, well I had two left.

I filled both cute pink top glass containers candy – one with M&M’s and the other bright glossy gummy bears. As I was carrying a container to the table to set-up my photo, I slipped on an unseen trail of ‘water bowl drool’ left by my dog. I landed hard on the kitchen tile and watched my adorable jar take flight and shatter into a million pieces of glass embedded in gummy bears. Wah!

My husband told me I should take a picture of the mess. In retrospect, I should have because the little bears looked all blinged out with the glass embedded in their little bodies. However, I’m certain a laser beam shot from my eye as I yelled, “Absolutely, not!” So much for my cute jars! Stupid sundae bar! Sundaes are stupid! Did I mention this whole sundae bar concept was for my daughter’s birthday party? Oh, wow – sorry, kid.

Lesson Learned

Again, I burn candles endlessly. I will soon have another supply of jars ready to be cleaned out and converted into cute storage. However, as we’re dealing with glass, the tricky step is getting those darn metal wick bases out. I must also watch where I’m going when precious cargo is in hand!

Update

Here are few jars I repurposed to hold Easter Candy! I didn’t break ANY this time! Woo!