I'm Obsessed!

I don't know what has come over me, but I am suddenly obsessed with a certain color. It's what I call Peacock Blue. It's that teal-y, green-y, blue-y color that is in peacock tail feathers, and I am completely in love with it. I probably sound insane to most of you, but you artists out there know what I'm talking about! So, I had to have, possess, own this color NOW! I had a vision to update my living room--which already has lots of warm tones of yellow, red, and orange--and adding that blue as a counter-balance seemed the perfect solution.
I was on the hunt. I headed for the fabric store, with no luck. Everything looked too blue or too green. Nothing in the beautiful hue I was obsessed with. Next stop, Pier 1. They have lots of tropical colors there, and I hoped that they might have just what I was looking for. I walked in the front door and low and behold, there it was: the pillow! What I call my Big Lebowski pillow (it ties the room together):

See that blue-green color around the edges? THAT'S the color! Peacock Blue! Yahoo! So, I grabbed the pillow and kept looking. I found a lantern and some yellow grassy-looking things and left with a twinkle in my eye! I needed just one more piece (for now) to really make the room sing, and I knew just the place-- Homegoods! If you have not experienced the awe and wonder that is Homegoods, I am sorry for you. If it's because you don't have one in your town, I am doubly sorry for you. If it's because you just never got around to it, shame on you! Go now! No, finish reading, then GO!
Because when you see what I got there for $14.99, you are going to cry--and I got the only one! Here it is:

Isn't that the most beautiful Buddha head you have ever seen??! Of course it is! It has that crackly finish, the multiple layers of glaze, even some wear...it looks like it's about 500 years old! Yes, I am in love with my Buddha head!
You can also see the lantern next to it from Pier 1, and a strand of Tibetan flags that I got in the mail long ago (free!). All together, the mantel looks like this:

I love it, I lurv it, and the bright lightness of it is helping me to forget about the dark, cold days outside. Well, that and a hefty glass of wine! ; )

Best Laid Plans

..of mice and women bloggers! So, I had all intentions of posting some great ideas for keeping your slim and trim figure over the holidays, and look how far I got! One idea! Sweet potatoes! Sweet!
The holidays were like a freight train on iced rails, barely slowing down enough for me to get a good look at them! (OK, so New Years hasn't arrived yet, but I know how it's going to be...a blur!)
Over the break I did discover a new blog that I am very excited about. It's called The Pioneer Woman (www.thepioneerwoman.com), and it is so incredibly inspiring to me! She's living the country life that I sometimes dream about having but probably never will (total city girl at heart!), she is an amazing photographer, and she's really funny. Especially her blog posts about adventures in the kitchen and with her "Marlboro Man"-- husband and father of their 4 kids. Anyway, check it out; I think you will be inspired, too! Hmmm...New Year's Resolution....set up a chicken coop in the back yard???? You never know, this city girl might have a little country in her after all!

Healthy Holidays!

Part of an attempted series of posts highlighting yummy holiday food that won't make you fat.

Today, it's sweet potatoes. Now, if you want the fat-making version, load a bunch of brown sugar, butter and maybe even some marshmallows onto your sweet potatoes. Congratulations, you've just turned one of the healthiest foods on the planet into junk food!
I have to say, I don't understand adding sugar to sweet potatoes. It's like adding sugar to sugar. Sweet potatoes have LOTS of flavor and sweetness already; you just have to bring it out. I find the best way is to roast them. Roasting brings out the sugars and caramelizes them and they taste amazing! Just dice them into 1" cubes, toss in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, put in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, and you're done! VERY delish and loaded with vitamins!! Healthy food status remains intact!

Give Thanks

It's nearly Thanksgiving and I'm counting the days. I love the smells of the turkey slowly roasting in the oven, the spices of the pumpkin, the baked bread smell of the stuffing...I love watching the Macy's parade in the morning, as cheesy as it is...I love having a day that's just about being together. It's kind of surprising to me that I love Thanksgiving so much, considering I don't really like turkey or pumpkin pie, I don't care about the football game (especially not this year, Vikings!), and I know too much about the true history of the first Thanksgiving to feel very warm and fuzzy about the origins of this holiday.
But still, I find a way to appreciate the parts of it that I love, and I guess that's really what the message of Thanksgiving is. We find something in our lives to appreciate and be thankful for, and for one day (or hopefully more), that's what we choose to focus on. Forget the checking account balance, the weather, the project at work, or the funny noise your car just started to make. Forget all that, and be thankful. Thankful that you have more food than you could possibly eat, thankful that you have loved ones to share it with, thankful that the car making funny noises will-probably- get you home safely, and thankful that you have a home to return to. With a cat in it who is very happy to see you and your leftover turkey!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

I wish I could take credit for this one, because it is brilliant! This photo is of my son this morning, with his gift from the Great Pumpkin. Let me tell you all about it...

I was at my "book" club (loosely termed because we rarely actually read a book!) last week and we were all lamenting the vast amounts of candy that our kids still had stashed away from Halloween. How to get rid of it? Throw it out while they're at school? (Seems dishonest.) Donate it? (That one always sounded to me like passing along my problem to someone else.) Then someone piped up, "Well, haven't you heard of the Great Pumpkin?" We all agreed we'd heard of it from the Charlie Brown cartoon, but so what? How does that help us get rid of gobs of candy? So she told us that the Great Pumpkin comes in the night, like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny-- they all hang out together and share the same MO-- but in order to get something from the Great Pumpkin, you have to give him all of your Halloween candy! In exchange, he leaves you a small gift. I love it!!!!

So, I proposed this to my son, and he was all over it immediately, like I knew he would be. He likes candy, but he likes toys much better. So, what to give for the gift? I think the best way to do this is to buy something that you had already planned to give for Christmas. That way, you're not spending more money on yet another toy. My son had asked for this Lego Advent Calendar a few weeks ago, and I was planning to get it for him as an early Christmas gift, so it fit the bill perfectly. We let him open Door #1 this morning, so he would have something to play with, and you can see the little snowman there in front of the box. So, we have the advent calendar and NO candy!!! It's a beautiful thing!

Candy Train to Easter

I once heard someone say that Halloween is the first car of the candy train to Easter. For those of us who are following a healthy lifestyle and slimming down, this can sound terrifying. I imagine a big, bloated back train huffing out gobs of candy from its smoke stack (this is an old train!) and me gaining 5 pounds as each car goes by. Yikers!

So, I'm making a plan. I'm preparing myself and my family for the sugar rush that is the holidays and trying to think up ways to have fun, participate in all of it, yet not hate myself in the morning.
Since opting out is not an option, I'll tell you how I'm planning to enjoy the ride.

First of all, I'm going to keep temptation to a minimum. With Halloween, I didn't buy my favorite candy to had out to the kids. Too hard not to need to "sample" it. And test it. And make sure there's no razors in it. Aaaaand maybe just one more sample. Yeah.

Once the trick or treaters were done for the night, I got rid of all the leftover candy. I packed it up and told my husband to take it to work the next day. I could have taken it to my office, but I didn't even want it that close to me! So, off it went to wreak havoc on someone else's hips.

Now, we just have the 10-lb. bag of candy that my son collected to deal with. For some reason, I'm not tempted by it. I had a few pieces on Halloween, and that's it. I let him have a piece in his lunch, a piece when he gets home from school along with something healthy, and a piece after dinner. Once the candy is a few weeks old, we'll either throw what's left away or take it to Lifetime Fitness. I hear they have a box where you can donate your leftover candy and they will send it to the troops overseas.

As for the run-up to Christmas, as much as I love the smell of baking cookies, I'm just not going to go there this year. It's not worth it. I know I'll get plenty of treat temptation other places; I don't need to have it in my own kitchen.

This battle of the bulge is really aptly named. Sometimes it does feel like a war. It's amazing how much junk there is out there that can derail a perfectly good diet. Instead of the candy train, I'm taking the healthy eating and exercising train. It's not glamorous, but damn it will feel good to go bathing suit shopping come Spring!

The Picky Eater

You know one, you probably love one, maybe you even are one. The dreaded picky eater. I actually have counted myself as one of them in times past, so I can't bash them too hard. Growing up, I remember sitting at the table long after everyone had left because I didn't eat my sausage or my fish stick. (But maybe it was really the wiser part of me who knew those foods weren't really healthy for me anyway!) I vowed that when I had my own kids, I would not force them to eat foods they didn't like. For the most part, I've actually kept my vow, but with a caveat: my son HAS to at least try the food before he decides he doesn't like it, preferably several times. And luckily, he is not a picky eater. Did I just get lucky? Were the culinary stars aligned when he was born? Maybe. But I also think it's the result of some planning and seed-sowing from the very first spoonful of mashed peas that I airplane-ed into his little baby mouth.

I'm no food expert, but I did manage to raise a boy who is willing to try any food, and for the most part is reasonable about what he likes and doesn't like...and he likes quite a bit, including salad! So, I'm going to lay down some of the methods that have worked for me in the hopes that they will help you to also raise a child whose palate is trained beyond Spaghetti-Os and pizza.

1- Start early!! In college, I studied in the south of France for 6 months and lived with a family. I learned a lot about French culinary heritage and was struck by the fact that children were expected to eat the same foods the adults ate. And as you probably know, the adults in France have a pretty sophisticated palate. There was no "kid food" in France, no "lunchables", no boxed Mac n' Cheese, no frozen pizza. When I saw this, I made a mental note to feed my future kids the same way, and 8 years later when I had my son, that's exactly what I did. As soon as his little teeth and tummy were able to handle a new, adult food, I gave it to him. Avocado was an obvious baby food, as were sweet potatoes, but later on I was giving him salmon, vegetables (without dip!) and even salad. I advise starting with the sweeter fruits and vegetables, since babies palates are very tuned in to sweet flavors. Sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, corn (organic only), cooked apples and most fruits are good starters. Then, gradually move on to the more bland veggies.

2- If you have to, dress it up. If a little ranch dressing is what's going to get the carrots and celery down their throats, go for it. Just read the label of the dressing, or better yet, make your own. A lot of dressings out there have a ton of sugar and other unmentionables that don't belong in your child's body. I like Trader Joe's brands, as they are most always free of chemical additives, but you can also go with Annie's or another organic brand.
If your child is not allergic, peanut, sunflower, almond, or other nut butter, even Nutella in small portions, can make eating fruits and some vegetables more enjoyable. Of course the old celery with peanut butter is a classic (for a good reason), but apples or bananas with nut butter or Nutella are delish, too.

3- Don't force it. Forcing kids to eat anything usually backfires big time. Remember my story about sitting at the table because I didn't eat my sausage or fish sticks? Well, I STILL hate sausage and all red meat in general, and it took me into my adult life to try fish again. You don't want the same thing to happen with your kids when it comes to truly healthy food. But again, I add the caveat that they have to at least try it. Just one bite. And then maybe one more, if they can stand it. If they take two bites, congratulate them and move on. Next time, ask them to take two bites again. This time, tell them that it takes at least 10 bites of something for your mouth to truly decide if it likes it or not. Then, try to get them to just take a bite or two whenever that food is being served. If they still don't like it, tell them that's fine. You respect their opinion, but that they shouldn't be surprised the next time you prepare that food if you ask them to "just take a bite". They may never come to like the food. But on the other hand, they might. And they've learned a valuable lesson along the way-- the art of trying new food. This is a skill that will serve them their entire lives.

4-Don't fix it. You'll be tempted to fix them their own separate dinner, when it looks like all your child ate for were those two bites of sweet potato. Don't do it! You'll be going down a long, one-way street that leads to a life as a short-order cook. Your child will not starve; it's against the laws of self-preservation. If they get hungry enough, they will find something on the table to eat. If they are stubborn enough to sit through the entire meal without eating, don't make a big deal about it, don't get mad. Just clear the plate. Later, when they are saying they're hungry for a snack, offer them a few healthy choices, but no junk food. If you stick with this pattern, eventually they will learn that they are expected to eat what is served to the family because they are part of the family.

5- When all else fails, hide it. I'm not a big fan of this one, but when you're desperate you're desperate. The reason I'm not a fan is because hiding healthy foods doesn't accomplish the goal of developing your child's palate and helping them to truly LIKE the foods that are good for them. Remember, when feeding your child it really comes down to 2 goals: first, making sure that they are adequately nourished today; second, making sure they will be adequately nourished when they are on their own as adults. Hiding healthy food doesn't really help with the second goal. But it helps with the first one, and if you can combine hiding with the "take one bite" method, you should be able to cover all your bases. If you have to hide good foods-- and veggies are usually at the top of this list-- start with shredded zucchini. It's so easy to hide in everything from baked goods to dips, there's no reason not to. Another is spinach. This one you can whir into a smoothie and they'll never know it's there. Experiment with your own ideas, or consult the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. I've not tried it, but I've heard it's full of great recipes designed especially for hiding healthy foods in the kinds of foods that kids love.

Well my dears, that's all the sage advice I have for today...tune in next time when we discuss...well, you'll just have to tune in to find out!