148 Uptown Newsletter May 2017


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MaY 2017

12 Tricks to Keep Food Fresh Longer Americans typically throw out 21% of their food, mostly uneaten leftovers and food that has gone bad. That waste costs the average American family of four between $1,350 and $2,275 a year. To help prevent and reduce the amount of wasted food in your kitchen, here are ways to perform CPR (Culinary Preservation and Resuscitation) on some popular grocery items. These tips work well for us. AVOCADO Never put an unripe avocado in the refrigerator, because it may never ripen. But once it is ripe, put it in the refrigerator drawer or vegetable bin and it should stay fresh for about two weeks. To save half an avocado and prevent it from turning brown, put lemon juice or a thin layer of mayonnaise on the exposed avocado meat and then cover it with plastic wrap. Another option is to put it in an airtight container with a piece of cut-up onion and refrigerate. The sulfur that makes

you cry when you chop onions banana bread. also works as a preservative. BEER Incidentally, it's a myth that Keep beer flavorful by placing leaving in the pit will help prevent cans or bottles upright in or out of browning—it will prevent the refrigerator. When beer is on browning only on the area directly its side, more of its contents are exposed to the oxygen in the under the pit. container. Oxygen depletes the BAGELS Bagels last about two months in beer of flavor. the freezer. Cut them in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap before freezing. But don't microwave a bagel when it's time to defrost. Microwaving will dehydrate a bagel and make it hard to bite. Instead, warm a bagel in a toaster.

COCONUT To revive shredded coconut that has dried out, let it soak in whole milk for about a half hour. Drain, then spread it out on paper towels and pat dry. You may want to use the leftover coconut-flavored milk when baking or in a smoothie.

BANANAS By the time little brown spots appear on the peel, a banana is getting close to being overripe. Put a ripe banana in a plastic bag (with the peel on), and keep it in the refrigerator's fruit bin. The peel will turn black, but the flesh of the fruit will be fine for several more days. If a banana is too ripe for your taste, wrap it—peel and all—in plastic wrap and freeze. When you're ready, defrost it and add the flesh to smoothies or pancake or muffin batter or make

CORN If you buy too many ears of corn, you can freeze them with the husks on. Break off the handle of the corn from the bottom end. From the other end, the top, cut off the flopping-over silk tassels. Place the corn in a freezer bag— about six full-sized ears fit into a gallon-size freezer bag. Once you've squeezed out as much air as possible, seal the bag securely. The corn will stay good for up to six months. When you're ready to (Continued on page 4)

Once again it is May when we observe two very important occasions. Memorial Day, which will be observed this year on Monday, May 29th, is a day Dr. Jerry Shapiro to remember all the men and women who have fallen while serving in the country’s armed forces. This should be a time to reflect on just how fortunate we are as compared to many others around the world who don’t get to enjoy the same freedom and liberties as we do in our wonderful country.

Let’s Talk

Just a few weeks prior to Memorial Day on Sunday, May 14th, we celebrate Mother’s Day. This is the day in which we cele brate motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. Did you know that more than 40 other countries have a similar day to honor mothers as well? At Uptown we try to do our part to honor these special ladies…mother, mother-inlaw, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law or anyone else you wish to acknowledge for having that “motherly touch” that can brighten your day. We will have an assortment of unique gifts. The store will be stocked with the gifts that have made us famous in the downtown area plus many new items for you to peruse. Our gift department staff would be happy to help you select from our diverse inventory. Don’t forget to get the right card! As always, we are certain that you will find that special card to accompany any gift. Back in November I wrote about a

new program that would be tied into our point of sale (register) system that will alert you if one of your medications has a tendency to deplete nutrients your body needs. We are excited to report that this month it is now fully up and running! Each time we scan one of your prescriptions our system can now print literature for you about these nutrients. Some of the more common drugs that cause depletion are birth control pills, statins for high cholesterol, proton pump inhibitors (Nexium®, Dexilant, Protonix) and Metformin. While prescription drugs are essential, they often have side effects that can, over the long-term, adversely affect your health. However, please note that we do not not recommend that you stop taking these important medications. At Uptown we believe that there are multiple areas needed to maintain optimal health and some side effects can be managed. Please read over the print out and we encourage you to discuss this with one of our Pharmacists.

STRESS REDUCTION EXERCISES 1. Clasp your hands together behind your back, squeeze your shoulder blades together and begin to lift your hands as you simultaneously lower your head--go over as far as you can--hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. 2. Make a fist, keep arms straight and lift your shoulders up to your ears and squeeze very tightly. Take a deep breath in and squinch your face into a small ball and hold for 30 seconds. Exhale deeply and let go of your face, shoulders and fists. Repeat 3 times. 3. Take 3 deep breaths and then just hang loose like a rag doll.

New Products…We have two new Products products in stock. · One is called ClearEars®, which helps reduce the pain of ear aches – particularly in children. · Another is called Nexafed®, which is a “modern decongestant” pseudoephedrine to relieve nasal congestion due to the common cold, hay fever or other upper respiratory allergies. It is known to be as effective as Sudafed® yet is unique in that it was created with “methdeterring technology” (cannot be converted to methamphetamine). This makes it safer to buy and a better product for our community.

About the Month of May Holidays May Day—May 1 National Teacher Day—May 2 Cinco de Mayo-–May 5 Mothers Day—May 14 Victoria Day—May 22 Memorial Day—May 29 National Physical Fitness and Sports Month Asian American Heritage Month Jewish American Heritage Month Skin Cancer Awareness Month National Bike Month

Zap garlic cloves in the Do Traffic Signals Use Red, Yellow, and microwave for 15 seconds and the Green Lights? Why Is the Red Light on Top, skins slip right off. •

Use a meat baster to "squeeze" Green Light on the Bottom, and the Yellow your pancake batter onto the hot Light in Between? griddle—perfect shaped pancakes Traffic signals actual predate every time. the existence of the automobile. • To keep potatoes from One was installed outside of British budding, place an apple in the bag Parliament in 1868. This signal (and some ear ly American with the potatoes. • Sweeten whipped cream with variations) had two semaphore from confectioners' sugar instead of arms, like a railroad signal, that granulated sugar—it will stay fluffy acted as a physical impediment to oncoming traffic. and hold its shape better. The English device was designed to control the • For easy "meatloaf mixing", flow of pedestrians, and some feature was needed to combine the ingredients with a potato masher. make it functional at night. The easiest solution was to To easily remove honey from a measuring spoon, first adapt the system used for railroad signals—red and coat the spoon with nonstick cooking spray. green gas lamps would signify when one could Mash and freeze ripe bananas, in one-cup portions, for proceed (green) or had to stop (red). The first signal use in later baking. No wasted bananas (or you can was installed on Elucid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio in 1914. freeze them whole, peeled, in plastic baggies). Although the traffic signal's colors might have To quickly use that frozen juice concentrate, simply been arbitrarily lifted from the railroad's, there is an mash it with a potato masher—no need to wait for it important safety reason for the consistency of the to thaw! configuration today. As recently as the 1950's, many Spray your Tupperware with non-stick cooking spray traffic signals were displayed horizontally rather than before pouring in tomato-based sauces—no more vertically. The current vertical design with the red on stains. top was adopted in order to aid color-blind individuals Transfer your jelly to a small plastic squeeze bottle—no who might be confused by different layouts. The red in more messy, sticky jars or knives! This also works well traffic signals has some orange in it and the green has some blue in order to make it even easier for the color for homemade salad dressing. blind to distinguish them. If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato—it absorbs the excess salt for an instant "fix me up". •

Hints

JoAnn















WHY

This is a good idea if you’re doing any on-your-knees gardening, cleaning or just crawling around on the floor. Take that old, comfortable-but-less-thanflattering pair of pants out of the thrift-store donation bag. Sew a patch on each knee, leaving the top side of the patch open…as though you’ve sewn a pocket on each knee. Then, in each pocket, place a sponge…or a substantial shoulder pad…or a piece of foam rubber. These protective pads will make a big difference in your on-the-knee gardening or cleaning endurance.

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have corn, put the frozen ear of corn, husks on, into the microwave and zap it for about four minutes before serving. COTTAGE CHEESE Once you have opened a container of cottage cheese, the oxygen layer where bacteria grow is exposed to the air. After you take a portion of cottage cheese, close the container and store it in the refrigerator upside down. That way, you create a vacuum, eliminating most of the oxygen layer and preventing bacteria from proliferating. This upsidedown trick will allow the cottage cheese to last an extra week or more. This also works for sour cream. CREAM When you have cream left in its container, you can prolong freshness for several days by adding about one-eighth of a teaspoon of baking soda to the

container (this small amount will not affect the taste). The baking soda is safe and will neutralize the lactic acid that builds up and causes the cream to sour. Or you can freeze cream in an icecube tray (and use one cube in your morning coffee each day). Once the cubes are thoroughly frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag to save space.

keep for one to three months. If you want to keep any flour longer, put it in the freezer. When you're ready to use it, let the flour thaw to room temperature.

EGGS Keep eggs in their original container. Eggshells are porous, and if they are not in a closed container, they will absorb refrigerator odors. If you go on vacation and want the eggs in the fridge to be edible when you get home, seal the eggs' pores by coating the shells with a thin layer of vegetable or mineral oil.

POTATOES When you bring potatoes home from the store, keep them in a paper bag and put a small chunk of gingerroot in the bag with them. It will prevent the potatoes from sprouting.

LETTUCE, CARROTS, CELERY Place the limp veggies in very cold water with a few slices of raw potato—it shouldn't take long for them to crisp up. We are not sure why the potato works, but it does!

People spend 8% more at restaurants when the menu omits the word “dollar” or the FLOUR If you keep white flour in an $ symbol. The word or symbol airtight container and in a cool, reminds customers they are dry place, it will last about 15 spending money and triggers months. Whole-grain flours will negative feelings linked to paying.

Prevent ID theft after a loved one dies Send copies of the death certificate by certified mail to the three credit-reporting bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax), and request that a "deceased alert" be placed on the credit report. Mail copies to banks, insurers and other financial firms, along with a request to close the account or change it to joint ownership. Report the death to the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213...IRS at 800-829-1040...and Department of Motor Vehicles. In the obituary, don't include the deceased person's birth date, last address or most recent job. Check the deceased's credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com for suspicious activity starting one month after the death and continue to do so for about one year.