La Vignarola

Fresh broad beans are in season at the moment, and being one of my favourite vegetables usually just have them boiled and served with lemon juice and olive oil and some fresh bread. Feeling that I needed  to be a little more adventurous I checked to find any interesting recipes and came across this absolutely delicious Roman dish call La Vignarola….not only uses my favourite broad beans but also a few more of my favourites, leeks, spinach and artichokes!! I made this a couple of days ago, served it with some pasta and parmesan and had some left over the next day to enjoy as a main dish with some garlic bread…it truly is a beautiful dish and I found it so easy to make too, it's one of those that I shall be making very often…Enjoy!!

Ingredients

6 artichoke hearts (you can use frozen)

500g fresh broad beans

1 large leek, washed and sliced

1 small bunch spinach, washed and roughly chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

300g peas, fresh or frozen

4 thick slices prosciutto ham

Olive oil

1 small bunch mint, chopped

1 small bunch parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

300ml chicken stock

Method

Fill a large pot with water, add some salt and bring to the boil. Add broad beans, artichoke hearts and leeks and boil until everything is cooked, add the spinach for a few minutes until just wilted. Drain and set aside.

In a large pan, big enough to hold all the ingredients add a good slash of olive oil and cook the onion very gently until soft. Add the chicken stock and peas and bring to the boil. Now, lay the chopped prosciutto on top of the peas and simmer gently until the peas are cooked.

Add the drained vegetables and bring to simmering point and allow the vegetables to stew together for about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, stir in the chopped herbs and add some more olive oil.

You can toss La Vignarola  in some cooked pasta, topped with thinly sliced parmesan or as a side dish, but is so delicious served in its own too with some garlic bread.

Androulla xx

 

Natural Healing with Miranda Tringis

Where: Body Soul Space (Before Jumbo turn at car showroom /end of road)

When: Wednesday 30th April

Time: 8pm -9.30pm

Tel: 96585496

With more and more people turning to Alternative Healing LPN in conjunction with CyHerbia will be looking at how we Parents can use a more natural way to heal our children & ourselves by using less harmful substances.

Miranda Tringis is resident Herbalist at Cyherbia herb gardens in Avgorou, where she organically cultivates Mediterranean herbs and makes her own herbal products such as teas, extracts, creams, essential oils and salves. Cyherbia is a wonderful place for a day out in nature, where visitors can take a stroll around the 9 theme gardens, test their skills in the Maze and chill out in the Tea Room overlooking the gardens.

This is a Sponsored event brought to you by Larnaca Parents Network and CyHerbia www.cyherbia.com

SEMINAR ABOUT PREGNANCY - BIRTH & BREASTFEEDING

 

Sunday the 11th of May at the Hilton Hotel, 

Event Link here, join for more information:https://www.facebook.com/events/638164979604938/
Aimed to provide pregnant mothers and their partners with an upbeat and wide range of knowledge and choices.

Speakers and subjects:

• Dr Andreas Mavrides - Obstetrician & Gynaecologist - Fertility Specialist Reducing C-section rates in Cyprus – (VBAC) Vaginal birth after Caesarean – Benefits of natural birth – (ECV) Rotating breech babies into head down position for birth 
• Dr Paris Iacovides - Paediatrician - Specialist Paediatric Cardiologist
• Childbirth and how it affects your baby – Paediatric observation and care 
• Dr Christos P. Demetriou, MD FRCA (English version) & Dr GEORGE FOTIOU, MD (Greek version)
• Anaesthesia in pregnancy & childbirth, the anaesthetist's role and the mother's choices. 
• Dr Emily Joseph (English Version) Paediatrician, (IBCLC)
• & Dr Irene Paphiti-Demetriou (IBCLC) - (Greek version) – Moments after birth – Skin to skin & Breastfeeding

Entrance fee is 5 euros per person. This will be donated to the Cyprus Breastfeeding Association (Gift of Life)

BELLY & BABY SHOW : Before and after the talks come have some fun meeting our unique ISIS team, visiting leading baby care companies, testing products, getting goody bags, fun activities and much more.

To RESERVE a place on the day please email your name and number to the following address:
info@isisclinic.com

English Presentation will be held from 9.00am till 12.30pm
Greek Presentation will be held from 2.00pm till 5.30pm

Parents Survival Tips to Exam Stress

1). Remain Calm

Remember it’s not you, it’s them!! It’s perfectly normal for Parents to become anxious and worry for your kids in the lead upto exams - especially if it’s the first time a major exam, such as the Leaving or Junior Cert is ‘in the household’. The best way you can help your child is to remain calm yourself! It’s very important not to transfer any additional anxiety onto your kids. This can happen unintentionally.

2). Get out yourself & relax

Whilst it is important to be supportive and present for your child during this time, experience suggests that some ‘time out’ for parents is as important as it is for students.

3). Try to keep a normal household

 Exams can bring stress that can have a ripple effect on everyone in the house. Being practical - keeping noise and distractions to a minimum during study time is very useful. Keeping regular sleep patterns is essential during this period. If your child is having difficulty getting sleep, try a copy of Exam Buster  as it helps students release physical tension and builds positive self belief and exam strategy.

4). Feed the Mind 

Have plenty of healthy snacks in the fridge – fruit! Make sure everyone in the house starts the day on a good breakfast! Ideally a slow releasing energy cereal eg brown bread with an egg or porridge / muesli. Minimise high sugar snacks (chocolate, fizzy drinks) - have plenty of healthy alternatives. Provide alternatives to caffeine drinks – have decaff alternatives on tap!

The impact of facebook on children's psychology

1). Facebook and other networking sites “are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a short attention span and live for the moment”. There is hardly any concentration skills required in participating in these social networking sites, and these train the brain to have poor attention span.

2). Kids are detracted from learning to communicate in the real world. There are reports from teachers that social networking is affecting kids’ comprehension levels. Also, if kids communicate primarily through the screen they do not learn the subtleties of real life communication - such as body language, tone of voice, and subconsciously sensing the molecules that other people release.

3). Social networking sites make kids more self-centered. Since Facebook and other sites give kids their own page which is about them, it leads some vulnerable kids to think that everything revolves around them, a precursor for emotional problems in their later life. This might also result in inability to empathize.
These sites make kids prone to sensationalism.

4). Pedriatricians observe that some teens suffer from "Facebook depression". After spending a lot of time on Facebook and other popular social networking sites, some teens become anxious and moody. Also, a vulnerable teen may suffer from depression when he reads great things happening to his friends, and his life is not so great in comparison. Teens who experience "Facebook depression" usually have trouble with social interactions in general.