April 2009 Archives

As nighttime eating is a difficult problem for me and many of our readers, I have some suggestions.  A lot of experts say just "don't eat at night," or "never eat after 8pm," but a lot of folks just have to have something.  One approach is to have low-calorie and low-fat items, if you cannot avoid eating at night.  Have something that has some substance and texture to fill you, but not make weight loss or weight maintenance a problem.  Here are some easy recipes for you to try.

Cinnamon-Banana Applesauce
Only three ingredients: sugar-free, natural applesauce, a sliced banana, and a dash of cinnamon.  Cinnamon is thought to be a natural appetite suppressant.

Soothing Smoothie
½ cup juice (apple, strawberry, cranberry - but no citrus)
1 banana
1 cup ice cubes
1 tablespoon protein powder (optional)

Blend in a blender adding ingredients a little at a time. Blend until nice and frothy. The banana and/or protein powder gives it some body, without high calories or fat.

Vegetable Midnight Medley
A whole new idea for a snack at night is to have some sautéed vegetables.  Just cut up some of your favorites - onion, green pepper, carrot, broccoli, etc. - throw them in a skillet with 1/8 cup water, to steam them.  It's a hot and tasty snack, with very few calories and scant trace of fat.  You might want to make extra for other nights during the week, which you can heat-up when you're ready.

Of course, before you eat and sleep, say some prayers thanking God for your day.

Please share these with your friends, and post your own ideas and experiences below.

In case you missed the online conversation, here are my articles about nighttime eating:

Nighttime Eating

Nighttime Eating: Finding Patterns and Getting to Solutions

Managing Nighttime Eating

Have Tea at Night

Did you see the article on apples from the other day?  Take a look here.  

Here are some further ideas, from our fellow readers and posters!  Please add your favorie apple recipe to our collection.  Remember, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"  (Not me, though, don't keep me away, please.)

From Peggy1133:
"I like to steam apples in my steamer and then sprinkle them with cinnamon... It's like eating apple pie without the crust, extra calories, or guilt!"  Love this, and love to eat them, too.

From Youngster:
"I chop up one apple, sprinkle it w/cinnamon & 1/3 c. dry old fashioned oats or steel cut oats. Microwave for 3min 30 seconds, and it makes a lean apple crisp! I often have this for breakfast."  Mmmmm, I can just smell that apple crips cooking right now.

Thanks, everyone.  Please post your favorite apple recipe below.

Here's a way to have your bacon and eat it too!  Today, I offer you a method of cooking bacon that has less fat, and therefore less calories per serving.  It's baked instead of fried.  It's very easy, too.  Bacon, however, is one of those foods that isn't so healthy, let just say.  However, if you're craving it, you can minimize the damage with this recipe.

Bacon: find the lowest fat possible.  Search the supermarket refrigerator rack for the leanest possible.

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

Equipment: Baking sheet with edges, or roasting pan.  Wire rack (the kind you cool cookies or other baked goods on).

Place the wire rack over the pan, and place a few strips of bacon on top of the rack.  The idea is for the bacon fat to drip down into the pan while baking.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or so, until your bacon is cooked the way you like it, soft, medium or extra crispy.  Remove it from the oven, being very careful to not spill the fat in the pan.

Pat the strips of bacon dry with wadded paper towels.

Do you have a craving for bacon?  Or any recipes to share?  I'd love to hear from you.

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Here's a really easy and simple way to make vegetables satisfying and delicious.  The secret is not oil or butter, as it is in a lot of recipes, but flavored vinegar, herbs and spices.  It only takes a few minutes with little prep time, and you may keep these on hand for a few days in the refrigerator to have on hand for multiple meals.  Use whatever vegetables are seasonally available from your grocery or farmer's market, and of course, which vegetables you like.  These are slow-roasted, with a lower temperature than usual, which I think helps make them even more flavorful.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Wash the vegetables.  Cut into large slices or cubes:

6 carrots (skinned, or not)
6 parsnips, or 2 rutabagas
12 "new" or small potatoes
2 or 3 red onions (cut in half or thirds)
1 small head of broccoli or cauliflower
½ pound of snow (or "Asian") whole pea pods

Place in a large bowl and toss all the cubed or sliced vegetables in a mixture of:

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons of flavored vinegar (Balsamic, or fruit-infused, such as pear, orange, raspberry, whatever strikes your fancy)
dash of salt and pepper (fresh-ground, if possible)

Spread on a baking sheet, as a single layer, and place in the pre-heated oven. Roast for 30 minutes.  

Meanwhile, prepare your herbs and spices (fresh, if possible) in the bowl:

2 tablespoons of thyme leaves, crushed and minced.
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1 tablespoon parsley sprigs, nicely chopped

At the 30-minute mark in roasting, quickly open the oven door and pull out the tray.  Dust the vegetables with half the herb/spice mixture.  Turn the vegetables over so they are well roasted on both sides, and dust them with the rest of the seasonings.

Cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Serve on a pretty platter, and save some for later.

This week, salads are hot!  Here are some variations of the recipe for salad I wrote last week, from folks who commented.  To see my original recipe for salad, click here. Please add your ideas and recipes for more variations,...

I want to thank you so much for your kind words of condolences about my Father-In-Law's passing.  I feel your love and warmth very much, and my wife does, too.Here's the prayer I wrote for him last week, in case...

A Q&A Day!At our kid's school the typical menu is fried chicken, French fries (or some other potato) and sometimes salad. Peanut butter and jelly is available every day. Dessert is served every day. The kids are not allowed to...

Do you remember that old expression, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" It's true, you know! Eating fruit every day gives you vitamins, minerals and fiber - all good for your body - muscles, organs, and digestion. It...

I've discovered this great little take out place, not so far from where we live.  They have only one item on the menu - baked falafel sandwiches in whole wheat pita bread.  You can then help yourself to vegetable "toppings"...

From time-to-time, I like to share a prayer.  This one is in honor of my Father-In-Law who passed away yesterday.God thank you for everything, but that's so much.Thank you for the limits, the specifics, in my life.I appreciate the wonderful...

This week brought lots of deep and insightful comments, particularly from last week's article, "What I learned from Easter and Passover."  Please take a look and add your comment to it.So many people opened up and shared their pain, heartache...

Listen to the birds chirping. See them flying. In the day, they're out in the air and sunshine. At night, they perch on a limb. They gather food when they're hungry. They eat what they like; as much as feels...

I'll admit it, I am just not that big a fan of salads!  I know they are so healthy for me, and my whole body loves them, I just don't really find them tasty.  Often, they leave me a little...

Please tell your friends about our online conversation about fasting, and fasting every other day.  Email them the URL, please, if they are thinking of fasting.  Please add your experiences and opinions, too, to the comments below.I would like to...

The next time you are about to overeat, just stop. Stop and remind yourself that you're about to overeat--something that you really do not want to do. Be conscious. That's the first step in stopping the problem right in its...

While most people of the world struggle for enough to eat, those of us with weight problems have too much, and eat too much. What a paradox! Obesity isn't just a disease of poverty, either--many people with little or no...

Here's an idea to try in the kitchen. Vegetable pizza. Get some bread dough (from a mix, pop-out can, a home-made dough recipe, or use a bread machine on the dough cycle). Spread it out on a lightly greased cookie...

We have all been told that comparing ourselves with others is not such a great idea.  When we look at others and measure ourselves comparatively, we often come up short.  If we see or think that they have what we...

Monica posted an absolutely heart-wrenching comment this week.  This made me cry when I read it.  I felt like all my worries and burdens were practically nothing when I heard all she has lost, and how her love for God...

Tax Day in the U.S.  A tough time, facing up and paying up for the past year.I wrote about money and debt, and "Being on the Verge"  here's that post, click here.Here's what Deborah Price of Beliefnet, says about what...

This season, the lesson to be learned for me is that less is more, and that sacrifice to God brings freedom and life.  This worldwide recession is forcing us to make sacrifices - spend less money and make more, or...

There's a lot of talk these days about eating less, calorie restriction and fasting.  Not just because of Lent, but finding easy, or easier ways to have less food so that weight loss and weight maintenance can at last be...

What makes you happy?  Is it losing weight and keeping it off?  Having a lot of money, lots of cool stuff, and living a rich life?  Is it that happiness depends on being famous or well-known?  None of the above...

Be careful when weaning yourself from one habit that you don't pick up another. It's a natural tendency, especially for those of us who tend to use food to fill emotional gaps. Just because you may not be eating so...

A great way to understand what's going on in your life, in your habits and actions, thoughts and needs, is to write about it. Keep a journal or diary. Write what you're thinking and doing. Talk on paper about what...

Very interesting news... there are three recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine that report brown fat, or brown adipose tissue, something that burns energy faster than regular "adult fat" was originally thought to be only in newborns. ...

Losing weight, being healthy, straightening up finances, healing and mending troubled relationships -- all are about making changes.  Living life, being satisfied with what is, and what we have, not always questing for something out-of-reach.  Loving what there is and...

Here's a delicious, nutritious, low calorie, easy and inexpensive drink that fills you up and gives you a good boost of energy.  Think of it for breakfast, or any meal, or for a snack, especially a nighttime nightcap (if you...

I just love the breath of fresh air that I felt when I read Cheri's comment this week, in response to the column I wrote on "Hope is Grace,"  and I featured it in a "Dr. Norris Chumley Satisfied Life"...

In response to April being "National Poetry Month," I've chosen a favorite of mine.  To me this poem is about being a whole person, appreciating the gifts from God, including the ups and downs.  This is a person who had...

In order to lead a healthy, happy life, focus on positive things. Make a list of at least three details of your life that give you happiness. Go ahead, take five minutes right now to think about what gives you...

I'd love to know if you meditate or practice silence every day.  Please post a comment below, and tell me and our readers about how you're solving stress through silence and meditation.If you are an emotional overeater, or if you...

I've had a few thoughts about what to do with nighttime eating problems since I wrote about it awhile back.  Click here to take a look at the previous article. Putting emotional causes aside and focusing only on physical aspects,...

Cindy put it all in perspective when she wrote, "To me, a satisfied life means enjoying everyday, spreading joy, believing, looking forward and not worrying."That feels like a breath of fresh air for me this morning. Thanks so much Cindy. ...

Here's a very interesting article in the New york Times, from an advertising point-of-view about a new product being introduced soon.  It's a low-calorie version of Vitaminwater, called Vitaminwater10.What do you think?  Post a comment below.I think you should just...