What a fun time we had this weekend! Our youngest learned how to ride his bicycle without training wheels. Actually, what he really learned was how to stop – without letting go and leaping from the bicycle. Balance was not an issue for him. Knowing when to not let go and jump was his issue. If only that was the issue for all of us. Seldom do we walk through life with balance. And seldom do we let go with as much ease as my youngest son. We hold on to our bad habits, refusing to let go or stop. We continue to ride down life’s road regardless of the destination. Speed seems to be more important than destination or the scenery. We may know and see warning signs that we are headed for disaster, but letting go seems too hard or too scary. We need to slow down, put on the brakes and lean to the side. Then stopping isn’t hard. It’s natural.
Perhaps that’s the way we are with our eating habits. Life is just coming at us too fast it seems, to stop and assess. We begin to feel it’s either full steam ahead or dead stop. But that’s not the way it has to be. Incorporating healthier habits into our lives can be both natural and easy. Start with accepting that small changes tend to stick. Look at each meal and add or change one simple thing to make it more nutritionally sound. Perhaps it’s beginning to add more lettuce and tomatoes to your burgers, or perhaps it’s switching out that all beef patty for one made with vegetables. It might be as simple as just adding another vegetable or fruit side dish to your plate. Maybe removing a few things from your menu would be a good start. Give it time, concerted effort and consistency and you might be surprised at how easy it is. You’ll also likely be pleasantly surprised to see how much better you feel.
Just like riding a bicycle, permanent lifestyle changes take balance, patience, persistence and the ability to know how to stop when you need to. Oh, and my son? The smile on his face as he realized he knew how to ride all along was priceless.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Another season come and gone – the beginning of another Christmas season. A time for families to unite and rejoice – yet at our table there are several empty spots. No grandpas and grandmas to tell stories of long ago to the grandchildren. Ones we’ve all heard a million times and wish we didn’t have to endure again. And then suddenly, they are gone. No more family stories or memories, except those that we can remember. Another generation lost to the next. Heart disease, obesity and diabetes are more than silent killers – they are family thieves. They come when we are too busy and too distracted to pay attention to our health, too lazy to get off the sofa and exercise and too stubborn to admit that our lifestyle choices are not healthy. This Thanksgiving, we are celebrating the life we have and the choices we’ve made. We have decided to take charge of our health – preventative health - and enjoy the fruit of our choices. Choices to liberate our taste buds to the wonderful flavor of unadulterated food and engage our minds in expanding activities and move through life with ease and flexibility that regular exercise affords us. In order to do that, we keep Thanksgiving joyful, stress-free, focused on the right things, simple and also delicious. We all snuggled in bed today - laughing and sipping our coffee. My 6 and 7 year old are so excited that they finally figured out how to make coffee for us – just the way we like it. I always dreamed about being served my first cup of coffee in bed and it’s finally come true – certainly in the way I never imagined. It was wonderful having everyone snuggled together on a cold day, laughing and talking and planning our activities for the day. We didn’t have to rush out of bed trying to get all of the preparations done. There is plenty of time for that today – and the memories we made this morning by making the time to relax and bond together as a family are priceless. They are certainly worth our decision to keep Thanksgiving dinner easy and tasty. Not that we don’t love elaborate and creative dishes some days- but it sure is nice having all of the comforts of down home cooking – with a really healthy twist. Like the pumpkin pie I fixed this morning. My 6 year old helped and just loved to lick all of the extra pie filling from the Vita-mix container. Yum, Yum! According to him, it’s the best pumpkin pie he has ever tasted.
Pie Crust:
Ingredients
1 ½ cup + 3 T flour (we use all whole wheat – but you can use whatever you like
1 ½ tspn sugar
¾ tspn salt
½ cup cold-pressed oil
3 T soy milk
Preparation
Mix dry ingredients together in pie plate.
Mix milk and oil together in measuring cup, until fully mixed.
Add oil/milk mixture to dry ingredients, blending with fork until crumbly and thoroughly mixed.
Press pie crust onto bottom and sides of pan.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Ingredients
1 - 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 package of extra firm tofu, well drained
½ cup sugar or natural sweetener
1 ½ tspn cinnamon
½ tspn ginger
¼ tspn all spice
¼ tspn nutmeg
1/8 tspn salt
1 T cornstarch
Preparation
Place all ingredients in blender or Vita-mix or food processor, processing until well blended
Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.
I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving. Take some time for fun and laughs. Elaborate cooking is fun when you want to take the time, but it’s wonderful not to be held in bondage to it. And remember, eating healthy can be fun, fast, easy and most of all tasty.
Another season come and gone – the beginning of another Christmas season. A time for families to unite and rejoice – yet at our table there are several empty spots. No grandpas and grandmas to tell stories of long ago to the grandchildren. Ones we’ve all heard a million times and wish we didn’t have to endure again. And then suddenly, they are gone. No more family stories or memories, except those that we can remember. Another generation lost to the next. Heart disease, obesity and diabetes are more than silent killers – they are family thieves. They come when we are too busy and too distracted to pay attention to our health, too lazy to get off the sofa and exercise and too stubborn to admit that our lifestyle choices are not healthy. This Thanksgiving, we are celebrating the life we have and the choices we’ve made. We have decided to take charge of our health – preventative health - and enjoy the fruit of our choices. Choices to liberate our taste buds to the wonderful flavor of unadulterated food and engage our minds in expanding activities and move through life with ease and flexibility that regular exercise affords us. In order to do that, we keep Thanksgiving joyful, stress-free, focused on the right things, simple and also delicious. We all snuggled in bed today - laughing and sipping our coffee. My 6 and 7 year old are so excited that they finally figured out how to make coffee for us – just the way we like it. I always dreamed about being served my first cup of coffee in bed and it’s finally come true – certainly in the way I never imagined. It was wonderful having everyone snuggled together on a cold day, laughing and talking and planning our activities for the day. We didn’t have to rush out of bed trying to get all of the preparations done. There is plenty of time for that today – and the memories we made this morning by making the time to relax and bond together as a family are priceless. They are certainly worth our decision to keep Thanksgiving dinner easy and tasty. Not that we don’t love elaborate and creative dishes some days- but it sure is nice having all of the comforts of down home cooking – with a really healthy twist. Like the pumpkin pie I fixed this morning. My 6 year old helped and just loved to lick all of the extra pie filling from the Vita-mix container. Yum, Yum! According to him, it’s the best pumpkin pie he has ever tasted.
Pie Crust:
Ingredients
1 ½ cup + 3 T flour (we use all whole wheat – but you can use whatever you like
1 ½ tspn sugar
¾ tspn salt
½ cup cold-pressed oil
3 T soy milk
Preparation
Mix dry ingredients together in pie plate.
Mix milk and oil together in measuring cup, until fully mixed.
Add oil/milk mixture to dry ingredients, blending with fork until crumbly and thoroughly mixed.
Press pie crust onto bottom and sides of pan.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Ingredients
1 - 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 package of extra firm tofu, well drained
½ cup sugar or natural sweetener
1 ½ tspn cinnamon
½ tspn ginger
¼ tspn all spice
¼ tspn nutmeg
1/8 tspn salt
1 T cornstarch
Preparation
Place all ingredients in blender or Vita-mix or food processor, processing until well blended
Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.
I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving. Take some time for fun and laughs. Elaborate cooking is fun when you want to take the time, but it’s wonderful not to be held in bondage to it. And remember, eating healthy can be fun, fast, easy and most of all tasty.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Another Easy, Healthy Recipe - Portobello Sandwiches
Portobello Sandwiches
Ingredients:
- 1 large Bell Pepper, sliced
- 2 medium fresh Portobello mushrooms (about 4 inches in diameter)
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dry mustard
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/8 tsp salt
- whole grain bread or baguettes
- lettuce, sprouts, tomato, etc for serving on sandwiches
Preparation:
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, and salt.
2. Clean mushrooms; cut off stems even with caps. Discard stems.
3. Pour marinade mixture over mushrooms and pepper and allow to sit in closed
container in refrigerator overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
5. Spoon marinated mushrooms and pepper into a baking dish with sides to catch
the marinade mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. Place baked Portobello and pepper on toasted whole grain bread or baguettes
and add lettuce, tomato and sprouts.
7. ENJOY!
Ingredients:
- 1 large Bell Pepper, sliced
- 2 medium fresh Portobello mushrooms (about 4 inches in diameter)
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp dry mustard
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/8 tsp salt
- whole grain bread or baguettes
- lettuce, sprouts, tomato, etc for serving on sandwiches
Preparation:
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, and salt.
2. Clean mushrooms; cut off stems even with caps. Discard stems.
3. Pour marinade mixture over mushrooms and pepper and allow to sit in closed
container in refrigerator overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
5. Spoon marinated mushrooms and pepper into a baking dish with sides to catch
the marinade mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. Place baked Portobello and pepper on toasted whole grain bread or baguettes
and add lettuce, tomato and sprouts.
7. ENJOY!
Clogged Arteries Showing Up in Kids
How early do the signs of heart disease begin to show up? Earlier than you may think. Review this article from Healthday News and possibly re-think what you're feeding your children.
SUNDAY, Nov. 12 -- Children with heart disease risk factors -- obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol -- already show indications of fatty build-up in their arteries that could cause heart attacks when they're adults, Canadian researchers report.
"Primary prevention of heart disease must start in childhood. We need to start looking at and treating risk factors for heart disease in children," researcher Dr. Sanaz Piran, an internal medicine resident at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., said in a prepared statement.
Piran and her colleagues reviewed data on 3,630 children, ages 5 to 18, who took part in 26 studies in Australia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States. Those studies used noninvasive methods to measure arterial blood flow and the thickness of artery walls in children with and without heart disease risk factors.
In many cases, children with heart disease risk factors showed early signs of atherosclerosis.
The review was expected to presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, in Chicago. The findings highlight the need for parents and doctors to prevent and treat cardiovascular risk factors in children, the authors said.
"Diet and exercise are especially important to curb the escalating problem of childhood obesity," Piran said. "Obesity puts children at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Children's diets have changed dramatically, influenced by television commercials and the convenience of fast foods," she said. "Children are eating too much fatty and processed foods. Parents need to involve their kids in regular exercise activities and cut down on fatty meals, emphasizing healthy food such as vegetables."
Parents should not smoke in the presence of children and, if there's a family history of high cholesterol, children need to have their cholesterol levels checked, Piran said.
"The very things we recommend to adults should be recommended to parents for their children. There needs to be a family-oriented approach to cardiovascular prevention and to addressing these risk factors," she said.
SUNDAY, Nov. 12 -- Children with heart disease risk factors -- obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol -- already show indications of fatty build-up in their arteries that could cause heart attacks when they're adults, Canadian researchers report.
"Primary prevention of heart disease must start in childhood. We need to start looking at and treating risk factors for heart disease in children," researcher Dr. Sanaz Piran, an internal medicine resident at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., said in a prepared statement.
Piran and her colleagues reviewed data on 3,630 children, ages 5 to 18, who took part in 26 studies in Australia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States. Those studies used noninvasive methods to measure arterial blood flow and the thickness of artery walls in children with and without heart disease risk factors.
In many cases, children with heart disease risk factors showed early signs of atherosclerosis.
The review was expected to presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, in Chicago. The findings highlight the need for parents and doctors to prevent and treat cardiovascular risk factors in children, the authors said.
"Diet and exercise are especially important to curb the escalating problem of childhood obesity," Piran said. "Obesity puts children at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Children's diets have changed dramatically, influenced by television commercials and the convenience of fast foods," she said. "Children are eating too much fatty and processed foods. Parents need to involve their kids in regular exercise activities and cut down on fatty meals, emphasizing healthy food such as vegetables."
Parents should not smoke in the presence of children and, if there's a family history of high cholesterol, children need to have their cholesterol levels checked, Piran said.
"The very things we recommend to adults should be recommended to parents for their children. There needs to be a family-oriented approach to cardiovascular prevention and to addressing these risk factors," she said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
