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You may have done food drives or clothing drives in your office. Here is a humorous example how one office ran their clothing drive.  Clothing Drive

Ed

If you’re looking for a place to get away for a little R & R, check out  The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.

A friend of mine just returned from an amazing spa weekend with her girlfriend.

Take a peak and see what you think.

The perfect soup for a cold winter day.  And…. healthy to boot!  Why not include it in your next newsletter?

Makes 10 (1.5 cup) Servings

1 cup dried pinto beans
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained, chopped
1 medium potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1 cup thinly sliced zucchini
4 ounces coarsely shredded cabbage
2/3 cup coarsely chopped leek
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
2 cups no-salt-added vegetable juice cocktail
2 cups water
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup small shell pasta
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley.

1. Place dried pinto beans in large glass bowl; cover completely with water. Soak 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain beans; discard (I followed the quick soak method on the package)
2. Heat oil in large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook and stir until onion is tender.
3. Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. Add tomatoes to saucepan, mix well. Add pinto beans, potato, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, leek and celery. Stir in vegetable juice, water and reserved tomato liquid. Add basil, sage, bay leaves and black pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Add pasta to saucepan 15 minutes before serving. Cook, uncovered, until soup thickens. Remove bay leaves; discard. Top with Parmesan and parsley.

Nutrients per serving:
Calories – 162
(11% from fat)
Total Fat – 2g
Saturated Fat – 1g
Protein – 9g
Carbohydrate – 29g
Cholesterol – 2mg
Sodium 146mg
Dietary Fiber – 7g

(recipe taken from Easy Home Cooking, No-Fuss Meals)

I don’t know about you, but for me and many others, January and the New Year always brings a sense of having to re-organize our lives, our time and our space. Not necessarily a New Year’s Resolution but a New Year’s Re-Organization.

Having recently helped my sister and her husband pack up thirty years of “stuff” to move from Wisconsin to South Dakota, and now facing the task of packing up seventy+ years of mom’s “stuff”. I feel an increased need to take a look at my own “stuff” and get it organized now.

The same is true for office space. Is your work space efficient the way it is currently organized? Is there “a place for everything and everything in it’s place”?

Whether you feel the need to organize or not, cleaning out the clutter and changing things up in the office can give you a fresh look and attitude towards your work day. Often times patients will even notice the change and enjoy the fresh “makeover”.

Here are some tips to help you get started today: Link

Clinical psychologist Wendy Walsh spoke to Harry Smith about successful resolutions in the new year and gave some tips on how to stick to a changing lifestyle.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

The Chinese use the lunar calendar for celebratory events which includes the New Year. This falls somewhere between late January and early February. The cycle of twelve animal signs originates from Chinese tradition as a way of naming the years. The animals follow one another in an established order and are replicated every twelve years. The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig are the twelve animal signs. Every animal has particular characteristics and people born in a specific year are believed to take on these characteristics. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, which commences on February 14, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011.
Read the rest of the story:http://www.yearofthetiger.net/

You’ve been asked  to bring the turkey for Christmas dinner and doc has you working all week.  What are you going to do?

No need to sweat… this Make-Ahead Turkey recipe  will put you ahead of the game and keep you out of the kitchen on Christmas Day!

Roast Turkey:

Salt and Pepper outside

Fill cavity with:

2 cups chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Roast as usual. (Cooking bags are fool-proof) Let cool.

Put juice from turkey and celery/onion in large roasting pan or in a Nesco. Add 3 to 4 chicken bullion cubes and 3 cups of water. Simmer.

Slice turkey and add to liquid. Refrigerate or freeze depending how far ahead you are making it. Simply reheat to serve.

*This is a GREAT recipe.  The only thing is if you are having a full-blown sit down dinner, you would have to make the stuffing separately and either use a jar gravy or skip it since you’re using the juices for the sliced turkey.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus

Hummmm………Santa looked a lot like daddy, daddy looked a lot like him………

Yep, it’s that happy holiday time of year when all the jolly guys around the world get our their garb and don their red suits and black boots.     Here’s a few we found at Sketchy Santas but none of them seem to look like my dad?  Which one resembles your Santa?

More than 175 ways to alter human perception and consciousness (without drugs or alcohol).

Link

Total frickin’ awesomeness from Olan Mills, Sears and other fine portrait studios.
(Some rough langauge. Funny though.) link