Sunday, September 21, 2014

Healthy Living: Stuffed Tomatoes to Complement Your Dish



You can eat right without losing the taste. Eating healthy sometimes requires adjusting our taste buds to food of higher nutritional value. Stuffed tomatoes is an excellent recipe that is full of nutrients that support your fitness goals, doesn’t require much time, and holds its natural tastes.

If you’re looking to make a simple side dish to complement your rice or sit in sizzle with your steak consider stuffed tomatoes. It is a low calorie option that doesn’t take much effort to prepare and complements a wide variety of pallets. This is a helpful recipe that improves on just about any dish you are planning to serve.  

It is beneficial to incorporate a healthy amount of tomato into your diet. Research has shown that the tomato protects against cardiovascular disease, ultraviolet light, osteoporosis, and cognitive dysfunction (Burton-Freeman & Reimers, 2011). It also acts like an antioxidant that removes harmful pollutants from the body. 

182 calories

Directions:

-Cut tops off of tomatoes and scoop out pulp.
-Use blender to chop olives, carrot, garlic clove, oregano and vegetable broth.
-Place pulp mix in frying pan and sauté with wine or vegetable broth. Cook a couple of minutes until tender. Let cool for a couple minutes.
-Mix in bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and basil.
-Stuff each tomato with the pulp mixture and replace tops.
-Put stuffed tomatoes in greased baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

Ingredients:

-         4 tomatoes
-         1 carrot
-         1 stick celery
-         1 onion
-         1 garlic clove or salt
-         Oregano
-         2 tsp olive oil
-         1 tbsp white win or vegetable broth
-         2/3 cup bread crumbs or healthier alternatives.
-         4table spoon parmesan cheese.
-         Basil 

Burton-freeman, B. & Reimers, K. (2011). Tomato consumption and health: emerging benefits. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 (2).

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Artisan Productions Draw Crowds and Commerce to Coronado Pier



A bazaar of artistic furry was on display at the Coronado Art Walk between September 13th and 14th. The event was hosted by the Coronado Historical Association that supports community creativity and encourages a healthy respect for the arts as a whole. The Coronado Ferry Landing and San Diego Bay provided a perfect backdrop for the exhibition of artistic expressions.  Paintings, stone work, sculptors, weaving, glass blowing, and other handcrafted products were available for ponder or purchase. 

Visitors strolled through the corridor, by the fountain, beyond the stage and all the way over to the landing to see the creations of local talent. Individual booths lined both sides of the walkway along the landing’s business community. Visitors flocked to the area with transit hurriedly dropping off families, visitors, and students in droves. The event was a success despite the record breaking heat.  

Fine art is an expressive activity that fits snuggly within the historic Coronado community and helps support the value and charm of the island. Fine art was formally defined in the 18th Century and has a distinctive place in supporting capitalistic societies (Clowney, 2011). The definition of art is traditionally associated with poetry, music, sculptures, painting and theater. 

Art is not always restricted by traditional boundaries. As automation and mass production took hold small artisan craftsman closed their businesses because they failed to compete with larger producers. In today’s world, hand crafted artistic works in clocks, tile design, and jewelry are developing their own lucrative niches and customers where large produces can’t compete. 

Events like the Coronado Art Walk offer and opportunity for these artists to show and sell their talent in a commercial way. Local businesses reap the spill over benefits of increased visitors and Coronado neighborhoods maintain their charm with family oriented events within walking distance. 

Contrary to popular belief small artists are not the first to suffer from a poor economy and are regularly overlooked for their economic contributions. A case example in Brattleboro Vermont showed that the artist community was barely impacted by the recession and maintained the equivalent of 200 full time jobs while other industries declined (Burke, 2010). 

Artists are part expressive and part capitalists in the sense that they seek to find a healthy balance between creating new forms and works that are uniquely theirs while supporting themselves through their work. Encouraging the arts is about exposing the artists to a community that helps each other find ways to create a viable industry. The Coronado Art Walk is one example of that community in action.


Burke, M. (2010). The creative economy, public policy, and development community. Communities & Banking, 21 (4). 

Clowney, D. (2011). Definitions of art and fine art’s historical origins. Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 69 (3). 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Benefits of Niche Markets on Small Business Success



Small and large businesses use different approaches to successfully navigating their markets based upon the resources available to them. Large businesses reach for larger target segments while smaller businesses focus on attracting a smaller group of motivated customers. Niche markets offer an entry position for small business to start building their customer base before expanding into new niches.

Small Business Does Well in Underserved Markets

Small businesses are likely to succeed in markets currently not being served sufficiently by other businesses. They do so through creating brand recognition among those that desires their unique types of products and services.  Highly motivated customers will recognize the brand the next time they consider making a purchase.

For example, it would be extremely difficult for a small business to compete against a large retail outlet by selling disposable pens. However, through selling unique pens, customized pens, embroidered pens, and handmade pens they can offer products that larger stores wouldn’t find lucrative enough to carry in their national chains. 

Customers will remember the specialty store as the easiest and most convenience place to purchase their chose products. The customer weighs and balances all of their options and knows that such gifts are easier to obtain from the customized provider. There is little reason to drive from store to store trying to save a few dollars when a specialty store has what you want. 

Small Business Can Expand Revenue through Complementary Products and Services

Once a small business reaches a sustainable level within their niche product/ service market they can consider adding additional products and services to expand revenue streams. In the example of pens, the business might also consider complementary niches such as unique stationary and paper.  

Selling similar niche products provides opportunities for overlapping benefits (Bruggeman, et. al., 2012). Pens and stationary are categorically connected in consumer minds and if they are looking for high quality pen and paper they have a place to obtain these items. The two types of products regularly attract the same types of people. 

Niche business also allows for successful niche marketing that improves the success rate of the business (Rankin, 2007). Marketing efforts can be focused specifically toward those customers who are most likely to buy a particular product.  Such efforts cut down on waste and low investment returns in business expenses. 

Bruggeman, J. et. al. (2012). Market positioning: the shifting effects of niche overlap. Industrial & Corporate Change, 21 (6). 

Rankin, M. (2007). Niche marketing allows advisers to build habitat for business success. Employee Benefit Adviser, 5 (12).

Monday, September 15, 2014

Art History: Reunion of the Officers of the Guild of Archers of St. Adriaen



Each art pieces is accompanied with a story and paintings like the Reunion of the Officers of the Guild of Archers of St. Adriaen provides a rendition of Holland’s independence against Spain. Painted by Frans Hals, it depicts those who survived the battles and have joined again in celebration. 

Frans Hals (1581-1666) was an emigrant from Spanish Netherlands that settled the rest of his life in Haarlem (1).  Around the age of 27 he became a member of the city’s Guild of Saint Luke.  They followed their Patron Saint Luke and shared resources in their painting expeditions. 

Hals was a wild one in his lifetime and spent a large portion of his life painting (2). He worked restoring artwork, painting notables in the area, and an art advisor to the city.  He is known to have enjoyed his life just a little too much. 

His creative breakthrough came from paintings like the Archers of St. Adriaen. He spent a great portion of his time working and practicing until his skills were sufficient to pull off group masterpieces like the one depicted here. 

The painting is a celebration of the defense of Haarlem (3).  The officers were on the battlefield and spent nights fighting for their homeland. They are proud creatures who are lively, bold, and decadent. They were the men of their time with all the spirit of the age. 

You can see that excitement with the pictures that shows men and their weapons in various stages of camaraderie. They are dressed in some of the finest clothing showing their wealthy backgrounds. They were men that have spent time together and created bonds that only battle can bring. These bonds are solidified through blood, sweat and tears.