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Tuesday, February 15, 2005
HAPPY VALENTINES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAPPY VALENTINE’S everyone.
Seems that about every 2-3 months we have a holiday. Valentines was started by the greeting card companies to boost sales since there was “nuttin” going on between New Years and Easter. Now we have all sorts of holidays to spend your money on. Most all of these holidays involve some kind of eating. I have to be careful and not fall back into that trap of just one little cookie … it won’t hurt! Maybe not, but one cookie ALWAYS leads to another where I live.
One of the things I’ve been concerned with is this “pre-diabetes” thing that’s out there. More and more doctors are testing for it. As we age, our bodies gradually gain weight. This causes our bodies to screw up the manufacturing of insulin. Either we produce too much or not enough. This causes our blood sugars to get out of whack. Complications from diabetes can cause blindness, kidney disease and even amputation. When you are over weight, over fifty and over the hill with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high Triglycerides (blood sugar) you’re a prime candidate for this. Diet, exercise and certain medications can slow or even reverse the progression of pre-diabetes. There was a terrific article in the AJC by David Walberg this morning on this important health issue. If you’re a candidate as I am, make sure you read it, get your blood tested and the start doing something about it. Excuse me… I have to go walk now!
Stay tuned and Semper Fi
Permalink | | Categories: Christian Roberts
The healthier, leaner Valentine’s heart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Happy Valentine’s Day Atlanta! Today is the perfect Hallmark holiday where you are required to spend twice as much on chocolate, 4 times as much on flowers, and more than your last paycheck on jewelry to tell that special someone you love them. Or, you could just tell them you love them with a healthy home cooked meal!
Why drop all that cash on flowers that will die in 3 days? Why get that cheap pendant that she will only wear 5 times a year? Why spend $200 on a dinner that won’t fill you up? Instead, you can achieve maximum romance with your significant other with a home cooked meal, and the right mood…candles & music optional, but helpful!
What brings this up? Well, last night my wife & I went to a cooking class for Valentine’s. The class was awesome & we learned a lot of cool new tips for cooking some dishes we never would have had a clue about. But we also learned some of the darker sides of eating out. The chef who was teaching the class was using some pretty wicked stuff in the recipes. Heavy cream, lots of oils, and tons of tasty, but bad stuff! Now, think about the kitchen at that $200 dinner restaurant you are going to. Is one night of splurging worth setting you back a week or more on your diet?
My wife & I started talking about what we learned & how we can make it healthier. Some things were perfectly good & healthy while others were not healthy at all. We figured you can take a healthy twist to an unhealthy dish and make it just as delicious while keeping the amazing flavor. For example, we cooked a whole beef tenderloin in the class, but put a heavy sauce over it. The same beef loin can be cooked (very healthy when eaten with portion control) and instead of coated in a heavy cream sauce, use a healthier alternative that may even suit your tastes better. We did oven roasted asparagus that came out delicious & was about as healthy as it can get. To end it, we had a chocolate mousse dessert that probably tipped the scales in the fat category! In the end, the class showed us how we can still have the finer foods, but with a little tweaking on our part, it will keep us healthier and happier.
And that is a Valentine’s heart that will last a lot longer!
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Drew Wilkinson
