Protect from unwanted vampires

I hope that you have had an excellent weekend, hopefully yours didn't fly by as fast as mine has.

Do you feel you are being followed by the vampires from your favorite novel, and want to protect yourself? Would you like to reduce your risk of heart disease? How about protecting yourself from various cancers? Are you constantly being bitten by mosquitoes?
If your answer to any of these questions is YES, then garlic is for you!

Research shows that the chemicals which are released from garlic help to relax your blood vessels and increase blood flow! Although it can cause unpleasent breath, it helps to reduce the risk of heart disease as well as colon, breast, and prostate cancer. Garlic, has 1% of the potency of penicillin and can ward off many types of bacteria. Even more exciting is that you cannot build up a tolerance to it! Garlic can even by used to keep mosquitoes at bay. One source suggests that garlic's repelling of mosquitoes could be the origin of the notion that garlic scares off vampires. Not only is garlic excellent for your health, it tastes delicious and will add flavor to many dishes.

When cooking with garlic it is recommended that after preparing the garlic, you should allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before incorporating it into your dish.

I have noticed that my use of garlic in my meals has significantly increased. You can buy a bulb of garlic for very cheap (69 cents for a bulb) in your grocery, its right next to the tomatoes in the produce section. And the flavor that just one clove will add to a dish is phenominal!

In parting I will leave you with a healthy, garlic filled, recipe for my most recent dish of choice - hummus.

1 can of garbanzo beans
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of tahini**
1/4 -1/2 cup of vegetable broth
2 tsp cayenne pepper

1. dice cloves of garlic and let sit (for a more blended flavor mash into a paste)
2. drain the juice from the can of garbanzon beans and rinse
3. combine beans, tahini, half the vegetable broth, pepper, lemon juice and garlic in a food processor and blend till consistancy is a smooth paste. use the vegetable broth to thin the paste further if needed.
4. let chill for 10-15 minutes and serve in a wrap, or with pita bread
5. Enjoy

** half cup roasted sesamee seeds, fourth cup of vegetable oil. place together in food processor and blend to a paste.