Many herbals have centuries of proven therapeutic benefits, oregano is one. More than just a topping for pizza, oregano has a long history of use for relieving coughs and cutting excess phlegm.

A long time friend and herbalist suggested that my wife try oregano essential oil in a vaporizer. We didn’t have any oregano essential oil but found that oregano leaf worked just as well. You can make your own vaporizer, all you need is pan of boiling water, a small handful of oregano and a dishtowel. We grow basil, oregano, rosemary and other herbs as house plants and in our solarium for use in cooking and medicinally, and had lots stashed away in our herb cabinet.

My wife also commented that after using the vaporizer, her facial skin felt more hydrated, soft and pliable. We live in the desert and it takes a toll on any skin that’s exposed to the elements.

Oregano’s medicinal uses include respiratory infections, bronchitis, arthritis, rheumatism, colds, flu, general infections, sinusitis, asthma, emphysema, glaucoma, amenorrhea and hypertension.

Oregano is high in antioxidants and has antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-infection properties and can boost the immune response helping to ward of the flu and colds.

Make a boring sandwich fun by cutting shapes with cookie cutters. From peanut butter and jelly to chicken salad made with last nights leftover chicken, the kids will enjoy the fun shapes. Boost nutrition by using whole grain bread.

Do you have some leftover spaghetti sauce from last nights dinner? Spread it over lightly toasted bagels or English muffins, top with cheese and put in the oven or toaster oven at 350 until the cheese is melted.

Most kids love fresh fruit. You can cut up a variety of fresh fruit into bite sized pieces for a delicious fruit salad. Melons, grapes and berries are especially good in the Summer. Another great idea is to throw a few frozen berries, bananas and a little juice or soy milk in the blender for a healthy smoothie that the kids will enjoy.

It’s fairly well established that the first pizza as we know it today was created by a man named Raffaele Esposito from Naples, Italy. Esposito’s creation was designed to honor the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples in 1889, and he decorated it with the colors of the Italian flag, using white cheese, green basil, and red tomatoes (tomatoes, which had arrived from the west about 60 years earlier, were originally thought to be poisonous, but by Esposito’s time they were already embraced by Italian cuisine).

As the years passed and the turn of the century came about, Italian immigrants brought this recipe with them to America. The first pizzeria was opened in America in 1905. It remained popular almost exclusively among immigrants until the end of World War II, when American soldiers returned to their home soil and brought back a love of the pizza they had discovered overseas. With that, the pizza boom in America began and this food became a mainstream meal instead of an underground Italian snack.

The concentration of Italian immigrants in New York in those olden days explains the fact that many people feel you must visit New York to get true pizzeria-style pizza. It’s where the pizza got its American start, after all. And nobody who has experienced New York style pizza can disagree. New York is famous for its pizzerias, where a true slice of pizza consists of a thin, wide crust loaded with plenty of toppings and marinara and smothered in heady Italian seasonings. A side of garlic bread and some heady pastas and tortellini’s usually round out the menu. Pizzerias in New York are not for the faint of heart.

The food of Romania is diverse. Food choices and cooking styles are influenced by Balkan traditions as well as German, Hungarian, Turkish, Russian and those of the Near East which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordon, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

Some of the traditional Romanian dishes are stuffed cabbage leaves known in the Romanian language as sarmale. Other vegetables cooked and served are stuffed bell peppers (ardei umpluti); green beans (fasole verde); carrots sote (sote de morcovi); roasted peppers (ardei copti); eggplant salad (salata de vinete); and tomato salad (salata de rosii). Potatoes are popular in Romania and are served very often. They are cheap to buy and are sold everywhere in the fall, both in markets and along the streets and highways in front of private homes. There are vegetables and fruits of all kinds and many of them are raised in the country itself.

Both the simple and complex mortgage calculators can give you an excellent idea of how much you can afford to pay on a mortgage and the best deals for you respectively. Using the mortgage calculator is very simple and it will take just five minutes of your time to get a good luck at the products that will suit you. This is an extremely important point because too many people settle for the cheapest or the most popular mortgage products when they do not necessarily suit everyone. By giving you a little personal attention and determining your needs in advance, you can be sure that you will get the best match possible.

The Philips 390 Mobile has TFT-256 K color display with the resolution of 176×220 pixels, measuring 2 inches and has 4-way navigation key. A nice wine high resolution picture would look great on it.

The Philips 390 Mobile comes with the 64 channels Polyphonic, MP3 customized downloadable ringtones. The mobile has phonebook memory, call recording and card slot option with 64 MB’s user memory. It also has USB for data connectivity.

The Philips 390 Mobile comes in Black color. The camera of the mobile is 1.3 MP with the resolution 1280×1024 pixels. The mobile also has some other features such as MP3 player, international converter and video recording.

The Philips 390 Mobile has standard battery of Li-ion 620 mAh. The battery has stand-by time upto 250 hrs and talk-time upto 3 hrs.

1. Get ready to cook stuff at first. This will help you get the hang of things and such stuff is easy to cook. Whether it is boxed noodles or pre fried potato chips. Anything is a good start.

2. Seasoning to your food is a good thing. Guys must learn how to add spices and herbs to their meals for better taste.

3. Cookware is important. Pans and ladles are as important to make a good meal as the recipe is. Make sure you have things in order.

One thing, however, that can make almost everybody happy, is a gift hamper - back in the good old days it was the only real way of showing somebody your abject appreciation (together with a festive thank-you note, of course); nowadays replaced by Interflora via email. The modern penchant for being unconsciously impersonal thanks to the ease that technology brings us needn’t be an obstacle to you: fill your Christmas hamper with gourmet food and hand it over with a smile, and even the most hardened cynic would have to summon a salivating smile.

Smoked salmon is a traditional favourite amongst hamper stuffers, able to turn the most humble picnic hamper into a hamper that oozes opulence and luxury. Fill the rest of the space with a nice wine accompaniment, a cheese selection, maybe even some foie gras, if you’re into gavage - soon you’ll have a hamper overflowing with luxurious foodstuffs that would raise the eyebrows of even your rich, eccentric uncle.

So, whether you’ll be enjoying a simple turkey or an extravagant three bird roast this Christmas, don’t forget that nothing makes that Boxing Day cold lunch more special than a hamper of luxury accompaniments to yesterday’s turkey and ham. And it sure beats socks.

Resources:

Food Hampers - Christmas Gifts

* To get your vegetable servings in when you’re rushed for time, try this: Sauté a some frozen, mixed stir-fry vegetables in a bit of chicken broth. When they’re completely thawed and warm to the touch, stir in some prepared, low fat stir-fry sauce. Toss until heated through. This is wonderful over rice or by itself. And it’s finished in minutes.

* Microwaved sweet potatoes are quick, nutritious, filling, and tasty. For added flavor, after microwaving, slice in half lengthwise, then drizzle honey over and add a dash of cinnamon and/or nutm

* Sauté sliced peaches, nectarine, apples and/or bananas in a nonstick skillet with a drop of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg for a change of pace. Add a few drops of orange or pineapple juice for extra flavor.

* As soon as you get home from your grocer’s, wash your blueberries, strawberries or other fruits and put them in a bowl in the refrigerator. Grab them for a snack during the day, or sprinkle them on your cereal in the morning. When you’re hungry during the day, or busy in the morning, you’re much less likely to take the time to wash and prepare them. So keep your fruits (and vegies) clean and accessible.