Back to School Healthy Lunch for Kids - Seaweed Suprise?

It’s back to school time and moms everywhere are looking for healthy lunches to pack for their kids. This year one brain boosting food is making a comeback – seaweed! The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the nutritional benefits of seaweed and how parents can get their kids to eat seaweed. The nutritionist quote in the article, Mary Gocke from the Center for Health and Healing in New York, offers these reasons for why sea vegetables such as seaweed make for the perfect, healthy food:

1.       Sea vegetables contain minerals, more minerals that any other food! Interestingly, they are exactly the same minerals that are found in our blood. They are excellent sources of calcium, iodine, and sodium.  They are good sources of folic acid, magnesium, iron, potassium, riboflavin and pantothenic acid.

2.  Sea vegetables contain iodine which is crucial for making thyroid hormones that regulate our metabolism, growth and development.  Child who are born iodine deficient have lower iQs, therefore, it is essential that women include sea vegetables as part of their food plan pre-conception, during pregnancy and while breast feeding.  Infant formulas contain iodine.

3.  Sea vegetables contain the plant compounds lignan and fucans that have cancer-protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

You might not think your kids will be very interested in seaweed, but you trying these recipes below just might change the whole family’s mind…

·         Nori Omelette – You don’t have even have to wait until lunch to feed your kids a brain boost meal, start with a nori omelette breakfast! Key ingredients: eggs, carrots, nori and onion. (v) (gf) (Nori seaweed comes pre-packaged and ready to eat in thin sheets and is commonly found in grocery stores nationwide)

·         Seaweed Pizza – who says pizza is unhealthy? Be creative with a nori pizza! Key ingredients: Whole wheat pizza crust with your choice of seafood, mozzarella cheese and sprinkled nori

·         Nori Wraps – A quick snack for your kids during recess. Key ingredients:  Nori, hummus, carrot stick and turkey and lettuce (gf)

·         N.A.T. (Nori, Avocado, Tomato) – BLT’s healthy cousin with the same satisfying saltiness and crunch. Key ingredients: multi-grain bread with tomato, avocado, nori, and low-fat mayonnaise (v)

·         Seaweed Soba – Children love spaghetti and meatballs, and they’ll love cold seaweed soba too (they can even eat with it with their fingers)! Key ingredients: cha soba, shredded nori and spring onion, make a sauce to accompany with soy sauce, ginger, and shitake mushrooms (v)

WITI Announces Event Schedule for Annual Women and Technology Summit September 12-14, 2010 in San Jose, CA

WITI (Women In Technology International), the world’s leading professional organization for professional tech savvy women will truly inspire “Collaboration, Strategy and Growth” through hands-on presentations and panel discussions at the Annual WITI Women and Technology Summit in San Jose, CA, September12-14, 2010.

 

Top technology and business leaders in Clean/Green Tech, Cloud, Mobile, Search, Social Media, and Business teach WITI Summit attendees how to capture and target more customers, build stronger relationships with existing customers and take advantage of the applications and tools to build a stronger web presence, increase revenue and streamline costs for their companies.

 

WITI represents the ideal market for business networking – CIOs, executive women and men, as well as leaders in technology from around the world converge at WITI’s Annual Women and Technology Summit to discuss and collaborate on innovative solutions to common business challenges, and explore new business opportunities.

 

Highlights of the Annual WITI Women and Technology Summit include:

o   Keynote Speakers

·      Sandy Carter, VP, SOA & WebSphere Strategy, Channels & Marketing, IBM

·      Bernadette Nixon, SVP Global Field Marketing, CA

·      Nilofer Merchant, Entrepreneur, CEO & Chief Strategist, Rubicon Consulting

·      Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC

o   The 15th Annual WITI Hall of Fame Awards

·      Honoring key women innovators from science and technology on Monday, September 13^th. This year’s honorees are: Sandy Carter of IBM, Dr. Ruth David of Analytic Services, Inc., Dr. Adele Goldberg, Dr. Susie Wee of Hewlett Packard and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Katie Boehret, Reporter for The Wall Street Journal, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

o   WITI NextGen

·      At this Young Women’s micro conference on September 13, 2010, leading women from technology will teach, mentor and share with 20 middle school and high school girls to encourage the pursuit of careers in technology. The day will feature career, leadership and mentoring panels and workshops, as well as the opportunity to share and have lunch with distinguished WITI Hall of Fame Honorees.

o   The WITI Foundation Executive Auction and VIP Reception

·      Provides an opportunity to network and bid on one-to-one meetings with the top executives of companies such as GEICO, Symantec, eBay, Genentech, McKesson and Charles Schwab. Auction items include packages such as an executive lunch or dinner meeting with Mr. Randy Spratt of McKesson at a Bay Area restaurant of the winner’s choice; plus an iPod Nano, American Express gift card and tickets to the September 16 San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Executive Auction is the WITI Foundation’s annual fundraiser and closes the Annual WITI Summit on the evening of September 14, 2010.

o   The World Café

·      Led by Dr. Anne Adams, a world-class Coach and Leader, this event is a transformative process, using everything learned about catalytic process technologies, designed to help identify collective intelligence, co-creativity and discover new solutions to challenges.

 

“The 2010 WITI Women and Technology Summit and WITI Hall of Fame Awards together underscore the many significant contributions to the advancement of technology made by women through out the world,” said Carolyn Leighton, Founder/Chairwoman of WITI.

WITI’s Annual Women and Technology Summit will be held September 12-14 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, CA. The 15^th Annual WITI Hall of Fame Awards Gala will take place Monday, September 13, 2010 at 6pm.

 

To learn more about the WITI -Women in Technology Summit, group rates, and to register for this event, please visit:http://WITI.com/Summit

 About WITI

WITI is the world's leading trade association for professional women committed to using technology, resources and connections to advance women worldwide. With a global network of talented leading women across all sectors of the technology industry and a market reach exceeding 2 million, WITI has established powerful strategic alliances and programs to provide connections, resources, and opportunities within a supportive environment of women committed to advancing each other. WITI's mission is to empower women worldwide to achieve unimagined possibilities and transformations through technology, leadership and economic prosperity. For more information, please visit http://witi.com.

Speakers and Panelists include (more will be added):

·      Carolyn Leighton, Founder/Chairwoman, WITI

·      Anne Adams, Ph.D., President, ACS

·      Vanessa Alvarez, Industry Analyst, Frost & Sullivan

·      Brian Bershad, Site Director, Google

·      Anne Bezancon, Founder & President, Placecast

·      Colleen Bisconti, Marketing Program Director, IBM

·      Marie Bjerede, Vice President of Wireless Education Technology, Qualcomm

·      Dr. Cheemin Bo-Linn, Chief Executive Officer, Peritus Partners

·      Cathy Brooks, Founder, otherthanthat.com

·      Sandy Carter, VP, Software Business Partners, IBM

·      Emilie Choi, Corporate Development, LinkedIn

·      Kathy Chou, VP, PSG Americas Sales Strategy & Operations, Hewlett Packard

·      Laura Anne Edwards, Founder Alura Entertainment

·      Lauren Flaherty, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Juniper

·      Lisa Garza, Market Manager, Service Provider Mobility Marketing, Cisco

·      Wanda Gass, TI Fellow / DSP Architect, Texas Instruments

·      Bernard Golden, CEO, HyperStratus

·      Nat Goldhaber, Managing Director, Claremont Creek Ventures

·      Ayalla Goldschmidt, Program Director, Application Infrastructure Marketing, IBM

·      Melody Haller, CEO, Antenna Group

·      Christine Herron, Principal, First Round Capital

·      Sally Jenkins, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Symantec

·      Duy Loan Le, Senior Fellow, Texas Instruments

·      Sophia Lopez, BPM Product Marketing Manager, Process Modeling, IBM

·      Melendy Lovett, President, Education Technology, Texas Instruments

·      Joel Makower, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com

·      Nancy Margulies, Co-Developer, The World Café

·      Melinda Matthews, Software Executive Channels, IBM

·      Laurie McCabe, Co-founder and Partner, SMB Group

·      Amanda McConnell, Director, User Experience & Product Marketing, ReachLocal

·      Chirag Mehta, Office of the CEO, SAP

·      Nilofer Merchant, Entrepreneur, CEO & Chief Strategist, Rubicon Consulting

·      KL Moore, Image Consultant, KL Image Group

·      Bernadette Nixon, SVP, Global Field Marketing and Programs, CA Technologies

·      Adrian Ott, Author, CEO & Founder, Exponential Edge, Inc.

·      Jean Pawluk, Chief Architect, Visa 

·      Michelle Price, CEO, A Third Mind Digital Media

·      Melissa Jun Rowley, Cause Correspondent, WhatGivers!?

·      Dr. Miriam Reiss, DSS, MCC, SpiritedMarketing.com

·      Michelle Robbins, Director of Technology, Third Door Media

·      Patricia Santamaria, Smart Work Demand Program Marketing Manager, IBM

·      Paula Satow, Founder, Satow Strategies LLC

·      Ann Saydah, General Business and Channel Sales, IBM

·      Judy Shaw, Director, Advanced Module Development External Development and Manufacturing, Texas Instruments

·      Becky Swain, Program Manager, IT Risk Management, Cisco

·      Joey Tamer, Consultant, Expert, JoeyTamer.com

·      Chenxi Wang, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.

·      R "Ray" Wang, Partner for Enterprise Strategy, Altimeter Group

·      James Watters, Sr. Manager, vCloud Solutions, VMware

·      Ghennipher Weeks, Co-Founder, Applied Connectioneering, Inc

·      Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar, Google

·      Lizzie Widhelm, Vice President of Sales West Coast, Pandora

·      Lorie Wigle, General Manager of Eco-Technology, Intel

·      Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC

·      Teresa Zobrist, President & CEO, Zobrist Consulting Group

JEC Report Highlights Economic Progress Made by Women in Past 25 Years

As the nation celebrates the 90^th anniversary of women’s right to vote, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released a new report today analyzing how women’s economic conditions have changed since Geraldine Ferraro shattered the political glass ceiling 25 years ago and ushered in a new era of political leadership for women.

The report finds that women, who now make up nearly half of the labor force, have made significant strides in the past quarter century and are poised to be the engine of economic growth as the United States recovers from the Great Recession.  However, challenges remain for women, including a stubborn pay gap where the average full-time working woman earns 80 cents for every dollar earned by the average full-time working man.

Entitled “Women and the Economy 2010: 25 Years of Progress But Challenges Remain,” the report is the first in a series of reports and hearings the JEC will do this fall to provide a comprehensive understanding of women’s economic situation and to identify additional actions that are needed for women to achieve economic equality.

“Women have come a long way since Geraldine Ferraro’s ground-breaking candidacy,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Chair of the JEC.  “This report shows that as women have gained political power, they’ve gained economic strength.  Women work more, earn more, and are more educated than they were 25 years ago.  But, women still earn less than men.  In addition, women still shoulder most of the burden of care-giving responsibilities at home but families are still dependent on working wives’ incomes to make ends meet.”   

The JEC report findings include:

Women’s Share of the Labor Force Has Increased

• In 2009, 59.2 percent of women were in the labor force, up from 53.6 percent in 1984.
• In 2009, women made up 49.8 percent of the workforce, up from 44 percent in 1984.

Women’s Educational Attainment Surpasses Men

• In 2009, 87 percent of women had at least four years of high school education, compared to 73 percent in 1984.  By contrast, in 2009, 86 percent of men had at least four years of high school education, compared to 74 percent in 1984.

Women’s Membership in Unions Has Grown

• In 2008, women made up 45 percent of all union members, an increase from 34 percent in 1984.

Families Depend on Women’s Earnings

• In 1983, wives’ incomes comprised just 29 percent of total family income.  By 2008, wives’ incomes comprised 36 percent of family income.
• Between 1983 and 2008, married couples with a working wife experienced average annual income growth of 1.12 percent, while married couples with a stay-at-home wife saw their average annual incomes decline by 0.22 percent per year.

Healthy Lunch Menu Monday-Friday

Thirty million children nationwide rely on lunches served by school cafeterias. Although the buffet of chicken nuggets, fries and pizza is convenient; it is a contributing factor in the child obesity epidemic. Wellspring Camps, the leading weight loss organization for young adults and families across the U.S. suggests that children bring their lunches to school to avoid the cafeteria calories. With school starting on the horizon, Wellspring offers this healthy lunch menu to keep your brown bag lunch from being boring.

Monday:

• Greek Chicken Pita: Baked chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, fat-free feta cheese, fat-free Balsamic dressing
• Whole pieces of fruit                            

Tuesday:

• Chicken Salad Sandwich: Chicken salad from canned light chicken in water, fat-free mayo, chicken salad seasoning, and shredded vegetables, on Whole Wheat Weight Watchers Bread with lettuce and tomatoes
• Low-fat string cheese singles

Wednesday:

• Hummus Wrap: Guiltless Gourmet Hummus, Fat-free flour tortilla wrap, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, cucumber, celery
• Fat-free pudding snacks

Thursday:

• Mexican Wrap: Spread Guiltless Gourmet black bean dip over a fat-free tortilla, top with fat-free sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, fat-free shredded cheese, and a sprinkle of taco seasoning, and roll up
• Leftover brown rice turned into a cold salad (add fat-free dressing, chopped vegetables, and fat-free feta, etc)

Friday:

• Tuna Sandwich: Whole Wheat Weight Watchers Bread, canned light tuna in water mixed with fat-free mayo, relish, celery, etc, with lettuce and tomato
• Pretzels

BBB Warns Against Five Scams Targeting Senior Citizens

Fraud targeting senior citizens by scammers is an ongoing concern. The Better Business Bureau encourages families to keep the lines of communication open with their elders regarding finances and to recognize some common cons aimed at senior citizens.

According to a June 2010 survey by Investor Protection Trust, more than 7.3 million senior citizens—roughly 20 percent of Americans aged 65 or older-- have “been taken advantage of financially in terms of an inappropriate investment, unreasonably high fees for financial services, or outright fraud.”

“Having a serious conversation with your elderly parents and relatives about how they are managing their money is not easy, but it is extremely important in order to help protect them from criminals,” said Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. “It’s extremely important to keep the lines of communication open so that you can identify suspicious spending habits, as well as educate your elder family members on recognizing the red flags of common scams.”

The BBB warns against the following scams where seniors often fall victim:

Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams –Typically, the victim receives a letter in the mail stating they have won a lottery or sweepstakes; it might even claim to be from Publisher’s Clearing House or Reader’s Digest. The letter instructs the victim to deposit an enclosed check and then wire a portion back to the company to cover taxes or administration fees. While the funds will initially show up in the bank account, the money will be removed when the bank determines the check is fake. The victim loses whatever he wired back to the scammers—often amounting to thousands of dollars.

·         BBB Advice: Never wire money to someone you don’t know. You should never have to send money to receive any winnings from a lottery or sweepstakes. Be suspect of winning from something you never bought a ticket for or entered.

Medicare Scams – Navigating the Medicare system isn’t easy and some scammers will look for any opportunity to take advantage of the confusion. Commonly, a scammer will claim to be with Medicare and ask for personal information such as Medicare, Medicaid, social security, credit card or bank account numbers. The victim might be given any number of excuses to provide this information including that an error needs to be fixed, that he or she is part of a survey or eligible to receive free products or can sign up for a new prescription drug plan.  

• BBB Advice: Remind your elderly family members that Medicare will never call to ask for sensitive personal financial information. If you suspect fraud contact your local police or the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Bereavement Scams – Scammers will often try to take advantage of the increased vulnerability of senior citizens who have recently lost a loved one, such as a spouse; one common method is by scouring the obituaries and call looking to claim on the deceased person’s debts.

• BBB Advice: Offer help to elderly family members if they have recently lost a loved one and are inexperienced in managing finances and personal affairs. If you are uncertain about owing a debt when collectors call, ask for written confirmation.

Deceptive Professionals – While many scams targeting senior citizens might not have a face, some scammers will be invited in the front door including technicians, contractors, chimney sweeps, air duct cleaners and other services. Some professionals will lie about the extent of the problem or claim safety issues and then inflate prices for unsuspecting senior customers.

• BBB Advice – Find professionals you can trust by checking out www.bbb.org  Always research a company with the BBB before you hand over any money and report any deceptive services to your BBB, local law enforcement and Illinois’ Attorney General’s office. 

Investment and Work at Home Opportunities - Promises of easy money often target older adults because they may be looking to supplement their income. The pitch might come in the form of an investment opportunity that promises big returns, or as a way to make money at home for an upfront cost. Regardless of the specifics, the victim is offered what sounds like a great opportunity but the extra income never materializes.

• BBB Advice: Always research any work at home opportunity with the BBB prior to agreeing or sending money. Beware of investment or money-making offers that seem too good to be true or use high pressure sales tactics to get you to sign up immediately. Ask a trusted family member or friend to review anything that requires an advance fee be paid.

For more advice on avoiding scams and fraud visit: www.bbb.org

Learn How to Maintain Fertility, While Getting Rid Of Uterine Fibroids

Join UCLA professor Bruce McLucas, M.D. (http://www.fibroids.com) and women across the country for a free live one-hour webinar about fibroids and fertility, Saturday, August 28th, at 10 a.m. PST.  Dr. McLucas, a leading fibroid expert, will discuss how women with fibroids can maintain their fertility.  Fibroids affect 40 percent of women (50 percent of African American women).  Women hoping to conceive might not know that there are alternatives to a hysterectomy, including a non-surgical option called embolization.  The doctor will also discuss how fibroids affect the ability to conceive and how to manage fibroids during pregnancy.  Questions from those participating in the webinar are encouraged.

Dr. McLucas is a Los Angeles-based OB-GYN who practices at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  One of the pioneers in developing uterine artery embolization, Doctor McLucas has had a career-long interest in minimally invasive therapy, serving as president and charter member of the Society for Minimally Invasive Therapy.  Dr. McLucas founded the Los Angeles-based Fibroid Treatment Collective 12 years ago, and his team performed the first embolization in the United States at UCLA in 1994.

For more information and to register for the seminar, visit www.fibroids.com and click on webinar registration at http://bit.ly/cnuo57 or call 1.866.362.6463

Sunscreen Tips for Kids Going Back To School (how to protect them when you’re not with them):

Summer vacation may be over, but that doesn’t mean kids will be out of the sun.  Data suggests that the majority of sun exposure in a person’s like occurs before the age of 18.  So… how can you be sure to protect your children when they are back at school and out of your sight?  Kavita Mariwalla, MD, Director of Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt and Beth Israel Medical Centers, suggests following these simple rules:

    

-       If your children play sports, pack water-proof spray-on sunscreen in their backpack. Make sure you tell them tospray it on while getting ready for practice or the big game (30 minutes before sun expDear Faten  Abdallah,osure). The spray version is easy to apply and they don't have to feel shy about asking a team mate to help them out.

-       Consider washing your child's practice clothes and uniforms with Rit Sunguard. Available on-line and in most grocery stores, the easy to use powder can be washed in with clothes in the laundry and confers added SPF to t-shirts, shorts and socks - good for multiple washes.

-       Buy empty lotion bottles (travel size) and fill them with sunscreen to pack in your child's backpack. That way it is easy to transport and easy for you to monitor their use.

-       Don't forget sunglasses. Beyond a fashion accessory, sunglasses protect your child's eyes from harmful UV rays

-       Encourage wearing a hat. Though most children are resistant to wearing a broad-brimmed hat, baseball caps are better than nothing. Just remind your child to put sunscreen on their ears and the back of their neck!

-       If your child is in tournaments lasting the whole day in the fall, designate a "sunscreen parent." Just like the "snack parent" who provides nourishment to keep the kids on the field, the "sunscreen parent" can keep them safe and free from sunburns. Making this part of the sport environment creates healthy habits early on.

What is the data to support the importance of sunscreen use?

Data shows that basal cell skin cancer is rising in people under the age of 40. In addition, a study done in 2000 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that children who wore sunscreen consistently developed fewer moles than those who did not. The same study showed that sunscreen use is even more important for children with freckles because it decreased the number of nevi or moles they acquired by up to 40%. An epidemiologic study completed in 2009 showed that male children are at higher risk than female and additional risk factors for developing moles include spending 5 - 6 hours /weekly/ between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm outdoors. That's not a lot of time considering most sports practrice at least 1 - 2 hours a day. And don't forget those soccer tournaments!

So, if your child is playing sports when school gets back in session, remember these tips and keep them protected even when they are not under your watch.