Your Daily Dose of Useful Stuff

      It's the holiday season once again friends and what does this mean?  We are all guilty of one thing, over-eating.  It seems that food becomes irresistible during the holidays.  No matter how hard we  try, we just cannot resist the urge to try the food that is offered by friends whether in the office or in the department stores.  There are many free-tasting of new products introduced in the market everywhere like ham, and etc.  They just materialize everywhere during the holiday season.  Food becomes just so tempting that we can't resist buying and eating.  It seems that the holidays is the excuse to eat the things and drink the beverages that we skipped the entire year.     Of all the things that you eat and drink during the holidays (or even in ordinary days), you should not forget to drink one important item, wine. Wine is healthy as it does wonders to your system. Here are the benefits that you get from ...

     In the Philippines, natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes are very common.  The Philippines get over 20 typhoons annually.  Some of these typhoons could be only Signal No. 1, the weakest type, but some could really be destructive just like the holocaust-like "Typhoon Yolanda" which damaged not only properties, but also killed thousands of people in the Visayas region, especially in Tacloban, Leyte.    Some people would have their own list of things to bring and do during emergency situations.   I guess that depends on what each one would prioritize.  It really does not matter, as long as people prepare for eventualities and most of all, as long as they have the presence of mind to get the things that they ought to get before tragedy happens.     I n preparing for emergency situations, there are two basic steps a: what to prepare in case a calamity strikes and what to do after the calamity, while in th...

            P umpkin is one of the underestimated vegetable, but it is one of the abundant ones in the Philippines.   Slowly however, pumpkin is gaining serious recognition as a very versatile vegetable.  I have seen it prepared in different ways.  The Japanese would grill it.  Koreans would make it into croquettes and sometimes healthy kinds of juices.  And there would be more in  the future. All one needs is a little creativity.        I discovered my own recipe when I tried to find a way to utilize a medium-sized pumpkin. What i did was I sliced the pumpkin into smaller slices for easier mashing.   And then I placed them in a kettle with water not more than the amount of pumpkin.  Just enough to soften the pumpkin and be mashed easily. Once it is soft and can be mashed, you can prepare the following: tofu - diced into small pieces ground meat (for the vegetarian, you can skip th...

One of the things that women agonize about is their hair.  They take pains in keeping it shiny, soft, clean and smelling good.  They would go to any lengths just to find that perfect shampoo and conditioner that will match the nature of their hair.  They even go to a hairstylist regularly, paying lots of money just to keep that mane in perfect condition.  Many women envy other women who have gorgeous locks that attract the opposite sex.  Let's admit it, some men really do get attracted to ladies with nice, well-maintained hair.  Somehow it adds to the total appeal. And we all know of course how shiny, healthy, no-misplaced-strand hair enhances the appearance of ladies.  This obsession with great-looking, head-turning hair has made shampoo production a major industry as far as beauty products is concerned.  I have heard various stories regarding the magical effects of coconut milk to a woman's hair.   According to regular users th...

Do you believe that vitamins make us live longer? This is a tough question really because if vitamins wouldn't give us that additional help to prolong our lives, then what will?  When we were in elementary school, we were taught that having sufficient and the right vitamins  in our body increases our resistance to diseases and prevents us from seeing our doctors frequently. Remember the adage:  "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"?  Well, it has since been replaced by:  "A banana a day keeps the doctor at bay."  Apparently, potassium is an important mineral and many doctors have recommended banana in the daily diets of a lot of children, and even adults for additional source of potassium.  So let's go back to the issue we have here.  Do vitamins really help us live longer?  Or are vitamins just a small portion to the equation leading to a totally healthy body ? What components do vitamins have that are beneficial to our physical heal...

  This is probably a subject that is so off-tangent.  What does Miley Cyrus got to do with a simple lifestyle ?  Na da, but she is newsworthy and whether you agree with me or not, Miley Cyrus has an enigmatic personality, bordering on extremes.  She is pragmatic on one hand yet, bold and daring on the other.  No wonder her fans adore her and her critics, well, you just have to think of a way to compete with her effectively.  We have to give Miley credit for her courage and bravery to perform stunts that totally breakaway from her wholesome image.  She knew that she would be criticized for her racy, almost pornographic performances, but she proceeded and gave a performance that people will never forget, well, people are still talking about her VMA stint after a month that she did that never-to-be-forgotten number, if that is not an achievement and a huge marketing success, I do not know what is.  You can criticize Miley for appearing on st...

     In some cultures in Africa, honey is considered, "yellow and sweet gold."  They consider honey to be a precious commodity.  Indigenous groups would climb very tall trees, endangering their lives in the process just to provide their families with this "yellow and sweet: gold." They actually eat honey straight from the comb, beeswax and all, after all, wild and raw honey is ready-to-eat.  What could be more natural than eating it straight from the honeycomb that it was taken from.  Honey is believed to be the healthiest food ever known to man.  The fact that it has no expiration date is an indication that it has components or elements that makes it long-lasting and makes it withstand all season and temperature. Imagine what benefit a teaspoon of honey brings to our body and imagine the kind of fortification you can get from honey.        Well, according to research, eating a spoonful of honey at least once a day wi...