Cool mornings, hot cereal--So good!

Fall has finally arrived, even if it's just in the early mornings. And this is a time to begin bringing out the oatmeal or any of the many grains that cook into soul-satisfying breakfasts. Even better for the mornings when we're rushed, maybe even groggy, these grains are so easy to make, and quick. Here's a bowl of cooked oatmeal with a spoonful of brown sugar and tablespoon full of raisins and chopped walnuts and milk on top. Took about five minutes to make. 

(A little hint: Make two or three times as much as you'll need for one morning; save what's left after you serve the day's breakfast in a plastic container; reheat in the microwave for about 45 seconds, plus or minus, and add your sweetener and milk. You've got another great breakfast.)

The easiest and best way to make it is on the stove top. Measure about 1/3 cup oatmeal and one cup of water along with the raisins and walnuts. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and let sit while you finish up with other breakfast doings. After about five minutes, transfer the cooked oatmeal to a bowl in which you're place about a tablespoonful of brown sugar. Add a little milk and stir.

Now that's a good breakfast that'll last you for hours. You need it to break that long fast and to give you energy for the rest of the day. Now enjoy it, too.

Recipe for cooked oatmeal or other whole grain: For proportions of grain to water, follow the package directions. Remember that the more water you use, the creamier the cooked cereal; the less water, the firmer the grain. I usually use less water because I like my hot cereal firmer or "toothier," as it is called.

Cooked Oatmeal
Ingredients
Whole grain, use package directions. For one serving of whole oats
     1/3 cup dry whole oats
     1 cup water
     1 tablespoon raisins, or other dried fruit, chopped
     1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped, or other unsalted nut
     1 tablespoon brown sugar or other sweetener such as honey
     Low fat milk
Method
Place first four ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the oatmeal is heating. Some grains will require longer cooking times. When ingredients come to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for about 5 minutes. (Larger quantities of whole grains may take longer to cook.) Transfer servings of the cooked cereal to bowls in which about a tablespoonful of brown sugar or honey has been placed. Pour about a tablespoonful of low fat milk over the hot cereal. Mix. Enjoy!

Exercise Belongs with Healthy Eating

When I began researching healthy eating, I discovered it also must include exercise. Now I didn’t want or expect to write about exercise. That was for exercise physiologists or physical therapists or even coaches.

But as I delved more deeply into the subject, I could see that we must move our bodies in order to use all those calories and nutrients, whether they were healthy or not. Otherwise, they go to fat and cause diseases like diabetes, heart problems, cancer, depression, and so much more! 
Now that’s scary.
I wanted to inspire busy people, or those who had many other kinds of compromises, to actually eat in ways that would make them healthier. So, how to include exercise into those tight schedules? It’s actually easy once you think about it.

First, try to get in 20 minutes of exercise, or movement, a day. You ask, where can I find 20 minutes? Well, it’s right there in your everyday life. When you vacuum, when you rake leaves, take out the garbage. When you walk from the far end of the parking lot. When you take stairs instead of the elevator. And you can break up those 20 minutes by doing 10 minutes at a time.
More quickly than you thought would be possible, you’ll increase those minutes of exercise to 30! It’ll be easier than you realized. Try walking around the block, then two. Your stamina will increase as well.
Just by moving you’re improving your overall health. It’s well worth taking a step or two. You can do it!

A Different Approach to Healthy Living: Making the Rounds on the Web

There's a blog that's making the rounds on the Web and on the face of it, it tells readers the same thing I'm telling readers of this blog, Prospero's Kitchen, and my book, Even You Can Be Healthy! (also as e-book). Here's an exact quote:

"Just eat food. Eat real food, be active, and live your life. Forget all the diet and weight loss nonsense. It’s really just that. Nonsense."  www.yourfairyangel.com
 

The writer, Iris Higgins, shown above, is saying what needs to be said about healthy living in a nutshell. Unfortunately, the background of this statement isn't so simple. She has impressive credentials: nutritionist, cookbook author, and work with eating disorders. Her blog that's going the rounds is An Open Apology to All of My Weight Loss Clients. On the face of it, the apology is genuine and many replies have indicated that readers like what is said there. So do I. 

However, my own approach to healthy living is much simpler than Higgens' because I know that my readers are busy, maybe handicapped, and probably don't know a great deal about healthy living. So I give easy, simple ways to work exercise into daily life, ways to calm down, and best of all incorporate healthy eating into their lives, even while on the run. Even Mayor Bloomberg of New York City tells citizens there to work exercise into everyday life; take the stairs instead of the elevator, for example.

Higgens approach isn't so simple: there are thirty (!) minute meditations, and glucose-free cookbooks. And
she guides her followers as they let go of what's holding them back. She must appeal to women who have the time, space, and money to devote to themselves. Sounds like the 1970s to me. Been there, done that.

Let's keep our lives simple and healthy. Most of us don't have the time or energy to indulge in fairy-angel practices.

It's not just food. The good life also means exercise and stress relief!

I'll bet you thought that if you had a healthy diet that's all you had to do to live the good, long life. Wrong! When I first began researching a healthy diet, I thought that picking out the right foods was all that was needed. Lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of white flour, the right kinds of fats, water but no soda, little sugar and salt.

Very quickly, as I researched the topic, I learned that healthy eating must also include exercise and stress relief . Bummer. But eventually I saw that the body is a system:  Using the food we put into it that creates energy; combining with the movements we make to use that energy; and with the calming strategies that promote the integration of that system. Our "system" needs every part working together to be healthy.

In the book, Even You Can Be Healthy! I was writing to:

• busy people who think it's impossible to have a healthy life because of their other "more important" goals, the immediate needs of their families, and many other obligations;

• people who don't know or care what it means to lead a healthy life, who think the consequences won't affect them;

• people who believe they can't do much to help themselves because of aging or disabilities and then give up. People not unlike me.

So I wanted to make living a healthy life as easy as possible for that group of people, who are like you and me, so it would become second nature. With that in mind, here's a couple of hints for including exercise and stress relief in our daily lives: (I'll expand on these at a later date.)

Exercise

1. Get up from the computer every 45 minutes or so and walk around. Go to get something cool to drink (not soda). Do knee bends at your desk. Do wall pushups while you are seated.
2. Go outside for 15 to 20 minutes and just walk. Around your garden, around the neighborhood, around the block.
3.  Clean the house or apartment and work in the garden 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Vacuum, rake the leaves, dust, change the sheets, bathe the dog. Any number of tasks will count toward exercising.
4.  Start out exercising 10 minutes at a time till it adds up to 30 minutes a day. Your stamina will increase amazingly fast.

Stress relief

1. Stop. Take three deep breaths. Focus on what you are doing right NOW.
2.  Focus. Picture a scene that calms you--the forest, ocean, baseball game. Whatever. You decide. Just for a moment. You can use these first two techniques throughout the day and whenever you feel overwhelmed.
3.  Meditate. Find a regular time you can sit or lie down to just be. You can meditate in any of several ways, but the purpose is to focus on your inner being. Don't worry about what you have to do. The sounds around you have no meaning. Listen to them. Let them layer in your consciousness. Relax. Deep breathe.

But it all begins with what you put into your body and here's your healthy, delicious, easy recipe for the day, a cool summer salad: 

Summer Tuna Fish Salad

Summer Tuna Fish Salad for Two

Super Easy

"It's really delicious and works both as a salad or sandwich filling. Terrific lunch on a hot day with a glass of iced tea." Carol Wills, recipe tester

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 6.4-ounce packets or cans dark meat tuna packed in water

1 pre-washed packaged celery or 1 stalk celery, chopped

1 teaspoon powdered or dried minced onion or 1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 apple, such as gala, Granny Smith, delicious, seeded and cut into pieces about the size of the celery

Juice of 1 lemon or 1 tablespoon bottled pure lemon juice or 2 teaspoons vinegar

2 teaspoons lite mayonnaise

2 teaspoons plain or Greek yogurt, low-fat or fat-free

4 whole lettuce leaves, washed and drained

Salt to taste

Method

1. Combine tuna, onion, celery, and apple and toss. Pour lemon juice or vinegar over ingredients. Toss.

2. Add mayonnaise and yogurt and toss until all ingredients are well combined. Serve over lettuce leaves spread on plates. Season with salt, to taste. Offer crackers or pita bread to accompany.

This dish can also be made without the mayonnaise and yogurt.

Enjoy!

Blueberries: So Good for Bodies, Hearts, and Souls

Summer season in the Northern Hemisphere gives us the good life! Fresh fruits and vegetables. So many we can't keep up. And weather is our friend. We can get outside for our walks, even if we have to go during cool, morning hours. And there's peace and calm we can find somewhere in a quiet nook either outside or inside. 

Ahh. But even better. We have blueberries! I remember harvesting blueberries with my daughter in Gainesville, Florida. At the little, unkempt blueberry farm with scraggly bushes, we were given buckets. The blueberries grew on shrubs six or seven feet tall, and the branches drooped with so much fruit.

"Grab a branch between two hands and strip the berries down into the buckets." Our buckets to filled quickly, and at home that day we made jam, cakes, and pies. We froze some and ate many fresh blueberries on cereal, in salads, and just by themselves. 

So today as I made the blueberry pie you see pictured I am reminded of that time in Gainesville. After this pie is set, I'm sending some to a housebound friend. The recipe for this delicious, fresh blueberry pie is below. And don't forget blueberries are one of the best foods you can eat, loaded with nutrients. Good for your body and your soul.

 

Blueberry Pie (with or without crust)

Let's talk crust: You can make this dish with or without a crust. You can make the crust yourself from your favorite recipe, but since I'm interested in making your cooking life simple, easy, and healthy, you can buy a ready-made crust. That's what I do. Nowadays they make pretty healthy crust. To be sure, read the label before you buy. If you decide not to use a crust, this recipe is so good all you need to go with it, if you feel you need anything, is a scoop of ice milk or frozen yogurt, and a graham cracker. And you can use it on whole grain toast at breakfast. Hmm. That's good!

Now for the Blueberry Pie:
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh or defrosted blueberries
Juice of one lemon
Zest from the juiced lemon
1/2 cup sugar, or less
2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1/4 cup flour
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the blueberries in a large bowl. Place the lemon in a microwave for about 30 seconds. (This makes it easier to squeeze.) Cut the lemon in half and squeeze, adding the juice to a small bowl. Add the sugar and cornstarch or flour to the juice. Stir together until they are well blended. 

Add the sugar-lemon juice mixture to the blueberries and gently fold in until well mixed. Pour the blueberries into the unbaked pie shell or, without the crust, into a baking dish about the size of a pie plate. Place uncovered in the preheated oven and immediately turn down the heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 45-50 minutes, remove and let the ingredients set so the blueberry juice is firm.

Serve with ice milk or frozen yogurt. You could even put some vanilla low-fat yogurt on top. Or serve with whole grain toast at breakfast. Enjoy!

Finding Peace in Our Frantic Lives

In the past few days, maybe even weeks, scraps of paper have landed on every level surface in my home. They're my tasks, things that need to be done as I work on setting up this blog with a new host (Let me know how your like it.) and on getting word out about the just-published book, Even You Can Be Healthy! Frankly I wasn't paying attention to my own health.

I tried to eat a balanced diet with mostly vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans, low-fat dairy, and lean meats. No sodas. (I've never kept sodas in my house. Too much sugar.) And I go to the gym three mornings a week for about an hour of not-too-vigorous exercise. 

Sounds like a healthy life, doesn't it?

Wrong. I was allowing myself to get frantic with so many unfinished tasks. Finally, I reminded myself of the remedy that was there all the time. Meditation. Quiet time. Silence. I just had to take the time and do it!

I began to sit for 10 to 20 minutes in a quiet place, sometimes inside, sometimes outside. When I was quiet, I could listen to the sounds all around: the air conditioner humming, the birds chattering, lawn mowers roaring, the refrigerator cycling on and off. And when I heard those sounds, I didn't hear the nagging in my head, the urge to add to the lists on the scraps of paper. 

And since I was calm, my dear cat Elizabeth, climbed in my lap and went to sleep. Now that's calm.

You're too busy, too worn-out, and can't think about being healthy

That sounds like a lot of us, doesn't it? But if you regularly take even a few moments out of your frantic life, you'll see results very soon.

Try walking. You can walk from where you park your car at the end of the parking lot to your office, classroom, grocery story, or shopping mall. You didn't notice that much, did you? If you can't walk, try wall push ups.

Try chilling. You're at your desk and the papers are piled up in front of you. They're a mess and you're on edge. Try closing your eyes for ten seconds, breathing deeply, imagining that you're breathing out all that clutter in your mind. Easy. Right?

You're exhausted at the end of the day and can't even think about cooking. What you want to do is stop on the way home and pick up something at the drive-through. Try resisting the urge to grab a quick fix that's usually over salted and high in fat. Instead when you get home, take out a carton of flavored low-fat or fat-free yogurt or a small carton of flavored low-fat or fat-free milk and drink it while you're sitting down. Then, when you've got some energy back, take out some nutritious leftovers or stir-up a Super Easy recipe like the one below. Add an apple or other fruit of your choice and you're on your way to a strong, vital, healthy life!

Toasted Cheese with Tomato Slice

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 teaspoons lite mayonnaise

2 slices whole grain bread

2 slices reduced-fat cheese such as mozzarella or Swiss

2 slices from a large tomato, if available

Method

Cover cookie sheet or toaster oven tray with aluminum foil. Spread lite mayonnaise onto each of two bread slices. Place cheese and then tomato on each slice of bread. Put the cookie sheet into the oven or the tray into a toaster oven. Toast until the cheese begins to melt and the bread turns brown. Remove with a spatula onto plates.