Ingredient of the month: Pomegranate

Native to the landmass from Iran to the Himalayas in Northern India, this newly popular fruit was cultivated and naturalized around the world due to its excellent health properties. Pomegranate has earned its popularity because it is believed to help support the body’s natural defences against Alzheimer’s disease, various cancers, coronary and heart disease, arthritis and many age-related ailments.

Pomegranate is the second leading fruit in anti-oxidants, after Goji berries. Find out more about the Goji berry in next month's "Ingredient of the Month".

Products:

• Pomegranate fruit (which you can buy at selected groceries),
• Booster Juice’s Pomegranate Passion (add a Warrior Boost and Women Boost to really add  energy and calcium to this choice),
• The Republic of Tea’s Pomegranate-Vanilla Red Tea (which you can find for a hefty price at Chapter’s)(this tea in particular is a caffeine free Super-Tea Cocktail of anti-oxidants),
• English Tea Shop’s Pomegranate Tea (which you can find at some Winners),
• Pomegranate-Blueberry Tea (which you can find almost anywhere).

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“The Pomegranate was often used as a herbal remedy to lengthen life and restore vigor, these qualities often made it a symbolic link between the living and the dead.



To the Romans, the pomegranate signified marriage, and brides decked themselves in pomegranate wreaths.


Pomegranate seeds appear in the famous Greek myth of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter, Persephone...

"One day, Persephone was picking flowers in a field, when Hades, the King of the Underworld, seized her and carried her to his dark underworld to be his wife. Grief-stricken, her mother, Demeter, killed every living plant on earth and refused to let new crops grow. To prevent man-kind from starving, Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone. However, before she was released, Hades tricked her into eating seven pomegranate seeds, "The Fruit of the Underworld", this condemned her to life in the underworld for four months out of every year. For those months (winter), the world is plunged into a dark cold emptiness, but when Persephone returns to her mother each year, the earth again begets flowers, fruit, and grains."

"A single fruit grew on that tree, a bright pomegranate fruit. Persephone stood up in the chariot and plucked the fruit from the tree. Then did "he" prevail upon her to divide the fruit, and, having divided it, Persephone ate seven of the pomegranate seeds." - The Golden Fleece by Padraic Colum (1881-1972).

In Greek myth, Orion's wife was very beautiful, even rivaling the beauty of Zeus's wife, Hera. For her daring to compete with Hera, her children were killed and she was persuaded to believe herself the culprit. In agony, she threw herself from a cliff. The location of her blood was where the first pomegranate tree grew.



In the modern-day traditions of many Greeks, it is customary to adorn the holiday table with pomegranates. The Greeks consider the pomegranate to be a symbol of abundance; a fruit that spills over in plenitude and good luck. They are set out in honor of the fertile land and its bounty. Pomegranates also make an appearance during weddings, funerals, and New Year celebrations.



Pomegranates in China are associated with fertility. One of these fruits, shown half-opened, is often a wedding gift, it means a hundred seeds, or more completely, a hundred sons. The word for seed and sons in Chinese is "zi", it is also the word for "sons."



Religious Symbolism
 To the early Jews, pomegranate seeds were an affirmation of their faith. Each pomegranate was believed to contain exactly 613 seeds, a number that corresponds with the number of commandments in the Torah. This belief was once so strong that the Old Testament calls for the pomegranate's image to be woven into priestly robes. The pomegranate may also be the original fruit from the Garden of Eden, making it the representation of all that is forbidden. One taste of its ripe seeds and all knowledge of death, sex, and sin are suddenly clear. However, this didn't stop early Christians from idolizing the fruit. Christian art, often depicts the Virgin Mary with a pomegranate, either in her hand, or nearby. This was to symbolized the Virgin Mary's power over life and death, as well as the seed that bore the Son of God.



Ancient Arab women used pomegranate seeds to predict their own fertility. The pomegranate was dropped on the ground, in the center of a circle. When it broke open, the number of seeds that landed outside the circle, was the number of children she would have.” – Squidoo.com

Pomegranate is also a sign of fertility to the Chinese, and makes a great wedding gift.

For those of you who are of legal drinking age, try the Pomagrita!

Source: Boston Pizza

Cool off with these simple mocktail recipes!

Sorbet Lemonade Cooler

Ingredients:

•           8oz. of bottled lemonade (preferably organic)
•           4 scoops of lemon sorbet
•           Thin lemon & lime slices
•           Mint sprigs
•           (Optional) crushed ice

For each glass of Sorbet Lemonade Cooler, place four scoops sorbet in a tall glass and add lemon/lime slices. Top with lemonade, using the mint sprig as a garnish.

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Fruitini

Ingredients:

•           3oz. apple juice
•           3oz. orange-pineapple juice (pre-mixed)
•           1oz. cranberry nectar
•           Handful of crushed ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth (1-2 minutes). Pour into glasses and serve.

Source: Seventeen

Fight off diseases with a veggie & shrimp stir fry! Yummy recipe...

This yummy super meal has omega-3s and antioxidants that can help protect you against everything from colds to cancer.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked brown rice, prepared according to package
• 3 oz. shrimp
• ½ cup frozen broccoli
• ½ cup frozen red or green pepper strips
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

Directions: 

Pour oil in a wok pan (or medium-sized frying pan) and heat on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for about 3-5 minutes, flipping shrimp occasionally. Toss in frozen broccoli and pepper strips and cook for another 5 minutes or until veggies have thawed, while adding in low-sodium soy sauce. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Source: Seventeen

Have a happy period with cheese sticks! Yummy recipe...

This snack is perfect for satisfying the after-school munchies, and research says that the calcium (in the cheese) may make your menstrual cramps less painful.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices whole-wheat bread
• 1 oz. slice part-skim mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup low-sodium marinara sauce

Directions: Toast bread, then place the cheese between the two slices. Stick the sandwich into the microwave for a few seconds, or until cheese is melted. Cut the sandwich into four, finger-sized sections and enjoy! Use marinara dipping sauce for extra flavor. (It’s kind of like a healthier version of your favorite restaurant app!)

Source: Seventeen

Want your skin to have an "Apple Glow"? Check out this mocktail recipe!

Apple Glow


(P.S.: This drink is great for your skin!)

Ingredients:

•           4oz. chilled apple juice
•           4oz. white grape juice
•           1/2 honey dew melon
•           Apple slices (garnish)

In a blender, combine apple juice, grape juice and the honey dew. Blend 1 minute or until honey dew and juices are smooth. Pour into chilled martini glasses with apple slices for garnish.

Source: Seventeen

Teens, eat yummy, healthy food for a whole month!

Try the one-month Seventeen challenge here.

(P.S. You don't have to be a teen to try this!)

10 year old "Vogue" model... Too young to be promiscuous? (Tell us what you think).

"Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau is 10, but an issue of French Vogue, in which she wears heavy makeup, stilettos and a come-hither look has stirred up an adult-sized controversy.

The images of Thylane, which appeared in the magazine's December/January issue but were brought back into the spotlight in a "Good Morning America" segment on Thursday, are firing arguments about the sexualization of young girls. Some see it as part of an overall recent trend toward younger models. (Although one might argue that it is hard for a young girl to get a break, given all the fortysomething movie stars hogging covers nowadays.)

Still, two young film stars have recently gone the modeling route: Elle Fanning, at 13, is the star of the Marc by Marc Jacobs fall campaign, and 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, the wholesome-looking star of "True Grit," signed a deal with Miu Miu. Actresses Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried and Lindsay Lohan also started their careers as young models. And just this week Kardashian sibling Kendall Jenner, 15, landed a swimsuit modeling contract.

More photos: Young models

And of course there are other children making their marks, with teen blogger Tavi Gevinson and seamstress Cecilia Cassini (who was 10 when she ventured into the public eye) stirring up fashion waves behind the scenes.

Thylane, who already has an impressive modeling portfolio, is the daughter of Patrick Blondeau, a former soccer star, and Veronika Loubry, a former French TV personality and the source of Thylane's great cheekbones.

Perhaps we've seen this all before (think Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby") but the outcry over Thylane's Vogue photo shoot -- with comments of outrage sounding on the Internet -- has refreshed the debate.

In Britain, which recently implemented a government initiative to restrict the sexualization of children in the media, a spokesman for the Mothers' Union reacted to the Vogue shoot, telling the Daily Mail, "Photo shoots requiring her, a 10-year-old-girl, to dress in full make-up, teetering heels and a dress with a cleavage cut to the waist across her pre-pubescent body deny Blondeau the right to be the child she is." 

There's something more than ironic about all this, coming as it does just after an international crackdown on child pornography led by the U.S. Justice and Homeland Security departments.

It's unlikely that then-Vogue Paris editor Corinne Roitfeld (since replaced by Emmanuelle Alt) would think this is porn, but it is very likely she and guest editor fashion designer Tom Ford wanted to be provocative ... and succeeded.

What do you think? Should children be featured in sexy high fashion shoots?" - LA Times