COZY AUTUMN WILD RICE SOUP

For those dáys when you’re cráving á cozy, creámy, comforting bowl of soup…I háve the perfect new recipe for you.

It’s á riff on the clássic chicken ánd wild rice soup of my childhood.  But in lieu of the chicken (which you’re still welcome to ádd if you’d like), I’ve loáded this soup up insteád with lots ánd lots of seásonál veggies.  Ánd ádded in some bolder sávory seásonings.  Ánd lightened it up á bit by using milk insteád of heávy creám.  Ánd the result?

Básicálly the most delicious, heárty, sweet-ánd-sávory, thick-ánd-creámy, comforting soup á girl could ásk for.

INGREDIENTS:

·         6 cups vegetáble stock (or chicken stock)

·         1 cup uncooked wild rice*

·         8 ounces báby bellá mushrooms, sliced

·         4 cloves gárlic, minced

·         2 medium cárrots, diced

·         2 ribs celery, diced

·         1 lárge (ábout 1 pound) sweet potáto, peeled ánd diced

·         1 smáll white onion, peeled ánd diced

·         1 báy leáf

·         1 1/2 táblespoon Old Báy seásoning

·         3 táblespoons butter

·         1/4 cup áll-purpose flour

·         1 1/2 cups milk

·         2 lárge hándfuls of kále, roughly chopped with thick stems removed

·         Kosher sált ánd freshly-crácked bláck pepper

DIRECTIONS:

INSTÁNT POT (PRESSURE COOKER) METHOD:

1.     Combine vegetáble stock, wild rice, mushrooms, gárlic, cárrots, celery, sweet potáto, onion, báy leáf ánd Old Báy seásoning in the bowl of án Instánt Pot pressure cooker.  Stir briefly to combine.

2.     Cover ánd set vent to “seáling”.  Cook on mánuál (high pressure) for 25 minutes.  Let the Instánt Pot rest there for án extrá 10 minutes (náturál releáse).  Then cárefully turn the vent to “venting” ánd releáse the remáining pressure (quick releáse).  Remove lid ánd discárd the báy leáf.

3.     .....

4.     ......

5.     ..........

FULL INSTRUCTION : gimmesomeoven.com

It took Congressional Republicans nearly seven years to devise a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, but summing it up takes just three words: cruel, costly, corporate. The proposed bill also includes an odious whiff of China’s one-child policy, a shift in costs that will burden investors and taxpayers, and the destruction of any notion that Republicans believe in personal responsibility because the proposed replacement encourages what economists call free riders – people who enjoy a benefit, but avoid paying for it. In this case, it will enable people to not pay for health insurance until they need it, leaving a pool of insured Americans who are poorer and sicker than average. The bill is cruel because the Republicans propose a mix of shrinking subsidies and modest tax credits that will put healthcare beyond the reach of millions of people who today are treated by doctors thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare's official name. Under the proposed bill, companies could take unlimited tax deductions for healthcare spending on their executives and directors while eliminating or reducing coverage for the rank and file. The ACA, on the other hand, requires large companies to insure their workers and taxes so-called Cadillac healthcare insurance for executives who often have no out-of-pocket costs. The bill is costly because it will drive federal budget deficits higher while adding costs elsewhere, as Congressional Budget Office reports warned this year and in 2015. If people don't have insurance there will be more premature deaths, the most serious cost of all. The prospect of 44,000+ more Americans dying each year is great news for the Grim Reaper The bill is corporate because its guiding principle is propping up health insurance companies, an utterly superfluous industry that America should sweep into the dustbin of history. In economic terms, the bill comes from Happy Go Magic Land, a place where fantasy overrides facts. Consider Section 202, the “provision of financial assistance” for “high-risk individuals who do not have access to health insurance coverage offered through an employer." That’s an official euphemism for people with pre-existing conditions who no insurance company wants to cover because big medical bills are virtually certain. To subsidize these “high risk pools” Congress would let the states divvy up $15 billion in 2018 and in 2019. Then, the federal subsidy would be slashed by a third to $10 billion annually through 2026. Does any rational person believe healthcare costs for the already sick will fall by a third in three years? In the real world, the cost will be paid either by higher state taxes or by more suffering in the form of pain, disability and death. Let’s call this legislation what it is: The Create More Orphans and Widows Act of 2017. Designed to Fail? The replace legislation is so economically illogical, politically unrealistic and tilted in favor of the rich that it seems designed to fail. Democrats will never vote for this bill. And unless a solid majority of the far-right House Republicans in the Freedom Caucus abandon their opposition to federal subsidies for healthcare, this bill will not be able to get the 218 House votes needed to become law. Writing the bill so it will fail to become law makes political sense in 2017 Washington, where the far ends of the spectrum favor ideology over pragmatism, and delusional thinking is spreading from the Oval Office to the Capitol rotunda. By leaving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in place and not fixing its flaws the Republicans can blame higher healthcare costs on the former president and Democrats. Think of this as avoidance of political responsibility, a companion concept to the GOP theme of personal responsibility. From Mandates to Tax Credits In all fairness, it's important to point out that having a national healthcare plan designed to prop up health insurance companies didn't start with this GOP replace bill. It was part of Obamacare, as well, which embraced which had been a Republican idea. It's worth remembering its history. The Affordable Care Act grew out of proposals from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups to require everyone to have health insurance. That deals with the free rider problem where people don’t pay for insurance until they need it. A key element is requiring everyone to buy health insurance, just as states already require all motorists to carry car insurance. The Republicans were for mandates before they came out against mandates– and that shift happened because some Democrats, notably Barack Obama, bought into their idea and used it to frame what Republicans dubbed Obamacare. But let’s not confuse the facts with logic. Instead of requiring insurance, the Republicans’ replacement offers their universal carrot: more tax breaks. People would get tax credits to help pay for health insurance. The credit would be $2,000 for those under 30 and rise with age until it tops out at $4,000 for those aged 60 and above. That means more out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, at least for those who could afford care, given that the credits are woefully inadequate. But in return for giving older Americans higher tax credits, the plan also frees insurance companies to charge older people considerably more for coverage under the replace plan. Under Obamacare, richer people were charged more (because they didn't qualify for subsidies that helped pay insurance premiums), but companies were able to charge their oldest customers no more than triple what they charged the youngest ones. The new plan would allow them to charge five times more, with states given the option to set their own ratios. If the new plan is enacted as currently described, older Americans not yet covered by Medicare could expect their premiums to rise. According to the AARP and other groups, "people in their 50s and 60s could see premiums rising by $2,000 to $3,000 a year or more: increases of 20 percent to 25 percent or higher," the New York Times reports. For example, a midlevel silver plan for a 60-year-old man could cost $10,500 a year, compared with $3,864 if he were 21, according to HealthCare.gov, the online federal insurance marketplace, the Times says. The tax credits are refundable, which means if you are so poor you owe no federal income taxes you get a check back from Washington. But that only happens if you can afford health insurance. If you are one of the half of workers (80.5 million of them in 2015) who make less than $30,000, you might not be able to afford any insurance premium and, as a result, your tax credit would be zero. Ironically, it looks like the Republican health bill actually favors blue states over red ones. The Kaiser Family Foundation, which specializes in healthcare policy, reports that “generally, people who are older, lower-income, or live in high-premium areas (like Alaska and Arizona) receive larger tax credits under the ACA than they would under the American Health Care Act replacement. Conversely, some people who are younger, higher-income, or live in low-premium areas (like Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Washington) may receive larger assistance under the replacement plan.” The Attack on Large Families And there’s another catch: The stench of China’s one-child policy rises from the bill The Republicans would cap tax credits at $14,000 per family. This means for parents in their 40s, a married couple with three children would qualify for the maximum amount. This policy is a subtle form of coercing people into not having four or more children. I tend to notice such discriminatory policies because I have eight children, now grown. Some folks may favor the policy out of concern for the environment and a desire to slow population growth. But the fact that it is in the bill reveals how Congressional Republicans think more like the self-appointed communist rulers in Beijing than the founders of our democratic republic. How to Slash Healthcare Costs for Real There is a way to slash healthcare costs. We could have a policy that saves as much money as almost 99.5% of Americans pay in federal income tax. Every other country with a modern economy has already shown the way, giving them a competitive advantage in commerce and an edge on moral superiority, too. America spends about 18 percentage points of its economy on healthcare, six percentage points – or 50% more – than France, Germany and other countries with universal care, my annual analyses of healthcare spending data from the CIA and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show. Portugal provides its people with superb universal healthcare even though its economy per capita is $28,500, half of the $57,300 in the United States. If the Portuguese can afford universal healthcare, arguing that America cannot is absurd. insurance quote ireland,insurance 77015,insurance quotes florida,insurance quotes online,insurance quotes texas,insurance rates by car,insurance rates,insurance quote comparison,insurance comparison,insurance,insurance for new drivers,insurance quotes cheap,insurance companies,insurance ireland,insurance estimator,insurance groups,insurance xchange,insurance leads,insurance yuma az,insurance companies near me,insurance price check,insurance check,insurance lawyer,insurance risk,insurance 24,insurance land,insurance for a month,insurance yakima,insurance lapse,insurance journal,insurance agent,insurance king,insurance sales,insurance quote ontario,insurance premium,insurance logo,insurance works,insurance services,insurance rider,insurance calculator,insurance declaration page,insurance services office,insurance 6 months,insurance zip code,insurance meaning,insurance management,insurance 2 wheeler,insurance card,insurance excess,insurance usa,insurance broker,insurance nation,insurance one,insurance adjuster,insurance database,insurance hire car,insurance post,insurance two wheeler,insurance group 1 cars,insurance health card,insurance types,insurance news,insurance quote geico,insurance network,insurance in germany,insurance on the spot,insurance zone,insurance 101,insurance geico,insurance act,insurance underwriting process,insurance industry,insurance 321,insurance line,insurance 2 go,insurance market,insurance solutions,insurance marketplace,insurance history check,insurance insider,insurance specialist,insurance number,insurance 50/50,insurance deductible,insurance auto auction,insurance 365,insurance university,insurance 80/20,insurance zenith,insurance 7702,insurance noodle,insurance emporium,insurance endorsement,insurance europe,insurance verification,insurance 2018,insurance hound,insurance license,insurance zipcar,insurance training,insurance sales jobs,insurance green card,insurance jobs london,insurance 220 license,insurancewith,insurance product information document,insurance jobs manchester,insurance 21,insurance jobs near me,insurance 99223,insurance history,insurance exam,insurance 1st central,insurance 4 car hire review,insurance jobs,insurance test,insurance underwriter salary,insurance adjuster jobs,insurance in blackjack,insurance 4 car hire,assurance wireless,insurance 80/20 rule,insurance companies in japan,insurance ombudsman,insurance jobs in dubai,insurance 360,insurance 02,insurance 0800,insurance 10e,insurance 11e,insurance 125cc,insurance 3rd party bike,insurance 4 my caravan,insurance 4 sport,insurance 5,insurance 5 years,insurance 5000,insurance 6 points,insurance 7,insurance 79936,insurance 7e,insurance 8e,insurance 8th street,insurance 9,insurance 90 day waiting period,insurance 94,insurance 9e,insurance act 2015,insurance age,insurance as a service,insurance development forum,insurance factory,insurance for foreigners in japan,insurance hero,insurance hunter,insurance in france,insurance in french,insurance in japanese,insurance initiatives ltd,insurance institute of ireland,insurance jobs ipswich,insurance jobs leeds,insurance kerala,insurance kereta,insurance malaysia,insurance meaning in urdu,insurance news net,insurance nexus,insurance nz,insurance premium tax vat,insurance protector,insurance reimbursement,insurance supermarket,insurance times,insurance underwriters uk,insurance united against dementia,insurance validity,insurance value chain,insurance winnipeg,insurance x,insurance xpress,insurance yaletown Taxpayers already pick up almost two-thirds of healthcare costs, according to David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, physicians who study healthcare costs and accessibility and reported their latest findings a year ago in the American Journal of Public Health. A smart bill would recognize that healthcare should be, as Donald Trump once told me, a universal service that, like kindergarten and roads, people can use as needed. The way to free up six percentage points of our economy so we can invest in the future through education, infrastructure and scientific research is to junk our sick-care non-system system and retire the health insurers. The way to reduce pain, suffering and early death is through universal healthcare. The way to ease the burdens on small business is to remove employer involvement in healthcare, to make it no more an employer’s concern than the political or religious beliefs of workers. As for the Republican bill to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, down that path are higher costs, more disability and death among Americans, and more profits for health insurance companies. The bill should make you sick. If it becomes law and you are – or become – poor when you do get sick, it will make you sicker still until you die. David Cay Johnston's new book, "The Making of Donald Trump," was published on August 2, 2016. His next one will be "The Prosperity Tax: A New Federal Tax Code for the 21st Century Economy." Johnston is a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Syracuse University College of Law and Whitman School of Management, and also writes for The Daily Beast and Tax Notes.