Dear Skating Uphill followers-2018 is going to be a very big and eventful year. Can’t you just feel it? There will be a lot happening on this blog as well so please keep tuning in and, of course, keep those comments coming! Good-bye 2017!
Love, Judith
It is such a beautiful Fall day here. The leaves are turning, the weather is lovely, the apples are in and fabulous, and we have many blessings.
On the other side, mass murder in Las Vegas and, terror in New York, and a country so divided that some are not able to even come together for our National Anthem.
Did you see the police officers singing the Anthem at the World Series? I did and the crowd went wild and everyone stood.
There must be some things for which we can ALL stand????
Love, Judith
Yes, we all use cookbook recipes and modify. So, that is what this is. I love the “One Peaceful World” cookbook, but sometimes their ingredients can be a bit exotic or not quite to my taste so I feel free to change a bit. Who’s to know-Right?
Remember, no recipe is worth a damn unless YOU like it!
PS-This freezes and also keeps well in the fridge. I put it in a screw top tupperware container.
After much trial and error, I have two recommendations. Yes, recommendations are made here! Remember that a recommendation is a personal opinion. I am a vegetarian but products containing meat or meat products containing meat or meat products have been tested by an independent panel-random members of my family.
Also, just a tip-you can use a can of soup and add to it. For example I like to make a can of split pea soup and add chopped baked red potatoes and bits of ham. I do this when I am cooking with my grandson and he likes to say he “made” soup. It also makes soup more hardy and lets you create a specific enhancement of whatever flavor you enjoy. Do not hesitate to use canned soup as your base.
As with all canned products, watch the sodium. Even things that do not taste salty may contain more sodium than you want. 2,400 is your max per day and that is based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.
The Progresso Creamy Tomato With Basil is great as is, but try adding a can of Del Monte Italian diced tomatoes. The “Well, Yes” Tomato Carrot Bisque needs nothing but a big hunk of bread.
I love this recipe that I got from my daughter. It is sooo easy to modify and as you know, MODIFY is our middle name around here.
INGREDIENTS:
Butter Vegetable stock
Leek Cream
Onion Yogurt
Celery Cilantro
Garlic Coconut milk ( I buy this canned and it is extremely useful and keeps well.)
Thai curry powder or paste
S and P
Pumpkin or butternut squash
Okay, here goes-This looks like it has a lot of ingredients, but trust me, you have most of them on hand. I do not like recipes with exotic ingredients that require 1/2 teaspoon of something and leave you stuck with the rest!
Saute in butter:1 medium chopped onion, leek both white and green chopped into small pieces, two stalks of celery chopped, crushed garlic, S and P to taste and curry powder or paste to taste. It is very important that you really do taste this as you go along. It can be too bland or too overwhelmed by the curry very easily. I used about 3 teaspoons of curry powder. Saute until soft but not too glassy.
Add as much vegetable broth as you think will make your amount. This uses about 10 cups. Judge by that. Peel and chop your butternut squash-I used a BIG one-or pumpkin and add to the pot. Boil until all is mushy. This is usually about 40 minutes at a soft boil.
Now you can pour it in batches into your blender and puree, but if you have a hand emulsifier do use this. It makes life so much simpler.
When this is done, put the soup into a tureen and add the warmed heavy cream and stir.
Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream. If you like cilantro, chop a couple of sprigs and sprinkle. This also adds a lovely touch of color.
Yumm, Yumm!
New PINK articles have been posted and new Fall soup recipes are coming shortly. Do you have a good soup recipe-Want to share??? Love, Judith
Fall is the time for good hearty soups with a little salad and a chunk of French bread. Keep tuned in through the week for some yummy recipes many of which will be “lightened up” for lo cal, lo fat, and lo everything else except flavor. MMMM, Cauliflower sour, Turkey Soup, Vegie soups, and on and on. I also welcome YOUR favorite soup recipes. Let’s share! Love, Judith
“Put down that turkey leg, girl, and slowly step away from the buffet. You know you can’t eat that, you just dipped it in gravy!”
All right, the holidays are no longer coming up, they are here. The time is upon us. Maybe a party or two? When it is a pot luck or covered dish, we all like to bring our favorite best thing and when everybody does this it is an evening of feasting/disaster. Some dinner with friends can turn ugly pretty fast when you add a couple of glasses of wine and some good fellowship. I mean ugly in the calories sense, of course. I am sure you know the drill. Gathering means eating and eating means eating well. It’s a tradition and in all honesty, it is a tradition everyone loves and enjoys.
In the past I have shared many tips about how not to gain that holiday 10 pounds and I know everyone has taken those tips to heart and done every one of them. For example, you always fill your plate with veggies, no dip, and step well to the other side of the room and never go near the food again, right? You pour one drink and sip it all evening and when someone offers you another drink you reply that you already have one. You mix, mingle, chat, dance and have fun with friends and never think that you are really there for the fabulous food, do you?
Okay, I know that I am only kidding myself with all of this and you know that if you think you will really do all of these things you are kidding yourself too. Life is simply so good around the holidays that some things just cannot be passed up. One cannot say that this kind of pie or this particular drink will be here next week so why have it now. Why not wait a little bit since you may be a little stronger next time that temptation comes along? We get that it is actually NOT coming along again. No turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie etc. until next YEAR never mind next week. Same with Christmas candies and people’s extra special dish. You know what I mean and don’t pretend you don’t.
I frequent use, among others, the excuse that holiday time is the ONLY time I can or will have certain types of homemade candies that my daughter-in-law makes or the fudge my friend gives out to the neighbors. Even people who don’t usually holiday recipe handed down from some person in the family who did not get the memo that sugar rots your brain. Here it is NOW and it will not be here in May and that is a fact so you better eat up.
Well, Hello You Silly Person-Have you not heard of a deep freeze. Yes, here it is-tip one. I learned this from a friend just recently and I plan to do it this year for sure. Freeze stuff. Make your own TV Dinner in a Tupperware container and include turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and anything else that says Holiday to you. Make up 10 of them. Freeze pie. My favorite is pumpkin and I really like the kind my daughter in -law only makes for Thanksgiving. I will ask her to make two instead of one and I will add a bakery bought apple to fill in and I will freeze in individual portions the other pie. Lucky me, my husband does not like pumpkin pie-yes, that is one of the reasons I married him if you want to know the truth. Freeze anything and everything you love and pull it out any time. If it is good enough for Marie Callendar, it is good enough for me.
Here is tip two. I can sum it up in one word-WALK! Last year when it got cold, I took off my Fitbit and started to hibernate. I totally regret it and I am really mad at myself for it. I bet you never get mad at yourself for something, do you? Anyway, not this year. I dug my Fitbit out of the dirty clothes basket, don’t ask, and I get up and walk even if it is only a block or two. We recently visited some friends who live near Washington DC and they got up at daybreak to walk their dogs. We had our dog with us so we got up too thinking we would plod along for a while then come in for coffee but OMG when I looked down at my Fitbit we had walked nearly 3 miles. I was in total shock that I could do that. I felt so fit and buffed and jazzed until my friend started to show slides of their 120 mile walk through the Alps. Oh, well. It inspired me just enough to start doing it myself-no, not walking through the Alps, but at least walking a bit each day. My dog is thrilled I might tell you. Your will be too. Just ask him!
Here is your final tip and it is a good one-trust me. Look in your closet for what you think you might be wearing for events and put on the outfits in total and stand in front of a full- length mirror. When I say in total, by the way, I mean accessories and all. Think about how nice you look in a dress that is not too tight and zipped/buttoned up easily. Now think about how much you like this dress. Finally, think about how much this dress cost you and whether or not you can afford to replace it.
So, there it is, ladies. Let me know either by email ([email protected]) or go to the BLOG at www.skatinguphill.com to talk about holiday tips and good recipe ideas to share and finally and BTW Donald Trump, for what it is worth, has just come out and instructed the faithful base to start saying Merry Christmas again. I never stopped-Did you? Love, Judith
“This article was meant to be about how to maintain good bone density, but when I sat down to write, I just couldn’t do it!” The Uphill Skater
You know, as I literally watched all of the recent storms, earthquakes, and floods destroying people’s lives and property it was so horrible it almost did not register after a while. Places I had been and things I had enjoyed seeing were simply gone. Images of those just standing in wonder looking at where their property used to be were haunting accounts of uncontrollable events. If we think the loss of a home or tree or bridge is so devastating, imagine those who have lost loved ones.
The massive earthquake in Mexico was also devastating for many who could ill afford that tragedy in their lives. Crumbled buildings and infrastructure in the streets surrounded by, again, the bewildered and now desolate will stay with us for a long time. Many lives lost and so much destruction.
Then, for a change of pace, I watched one of the news stations, then another and finally yet another. It is hard to say that it was actually worse, but it was very close. Missiles, bombs, terrorists and refugees are awful, but how awful too are we? Fighting among ourselves for what? Money, power, influence, greed-I, like you, could go on and on. Hired thugs beat old ladies who are demonstrating for women’s health clinics because they are carrying American flags. Many who have received huge benefits from the American way of life refuse to honor the flag that has flown so proudly over our country. How in the world are people getting away with this? Where is conscience and gratitude?
The best or worst part of all of this is, as I said, that we get to see it all eye to eye on TV then have it all parsed out and explained to us and for us for the next days on end by a variety of biased people speaking only from their own perspective. They call them “talking heads” but I call them “formers.” Listen to introductions and you will see what I mean. It is the former head of, and the former chairman of, and the former CIA chief, and the recently fired now former leader of and on and on. Don’t you wonder how many of these people they can drag out from their living rooms to pretend they have current knowledge? Well, I do.
Interestingly enough, I am sitting here looking out my window at a truly beautiful sight-trees, flowers, mowed and trimmed lawns and best of all, children playing. Nice cars are driving by, people are walking or jogging, and I have just had a really good lunch.
It is so difficult to know what to make of all of this, but I am going to go back to my basics and back to the reason I write this column: It is all about you and your healthy lifestyle. If you think that sounds selfish, you are wrong. The world is made up of single individuals doing what they do and you are one of them-nothing more, nothing less.
I for one have quite a guilty conscience so I try to do something about it. I have been very blessed so I try to, in some small way, pay that forward to make a change in someone else’s life to justify all of us using up the planet. I am going to tell you some of the things I do, and this is not meant as something you should do, bragging, or even suggesting. It is simply what I do. You my do much more or much less-that is up to YOU!
I support a student in Cambodia. He is a sophomore in college and it has taken him so long to get to this spot, he has a farm, a wife, and two children. When he graduates he wants to be a teacher. I am a former teacher so I picked him with that in mind. He writes to me monthly and I get to see his progress and grades. I am comfortable with the fact that he exists and that he is on a good path. His name is Yon Yen. I also help to support a missionary woman in the Ukraine. Usually I like a charity that I can see. I am selfish that way. I like to look it in the eye. That is not always possible though.
Through my church I support most causes that come along as we have giving opportunities for those kinds of things. I love that my church does that. I also help with school supplies for a local Jr. High. I have been on a mission trip to Haiti and I was deeply influenced by what I saw. Anyone who has ever been on a mission will understand the conflicting emotions involved in “helping” people for a week then going home. It is so different, but not the least bit less important, than volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club every week teaching a child to read. Everything helps. Anything helps. Do what moves you.
Enough preaching. I promise to do the bone density article and to talk about the eat clean-stay lean movement and to lose 10 pounds and everything else that is good. I am sure you will be doing the same. So, go to www.skatinguphill.com for discussions about food plans, mental health, product information and some honest advice. This blog is safe, free and I hope interesting. Until next month, Love Judith
“New Year’s Resolutions in January are so over done. Let’s start the real New Year, the School New Year” right with some REAL resolutions!”
The Uphill Skater
Everyone makes those same old same old resolutions every year and we have talked about this before, dear friends. Don’t say you will call your mother, write thank you notes, and lose 20 pounds EVER again. Promise me? As school starts, let us pretend that this new start for so many young people can actually be a new start for us too. It is never too late to be early-Okay, that is not as silly as it seems. How many times have you driven past a house with the Christmas lights up in May and laughed and said that they must be early? Have you ever not gotten to breakfast until it became brunch? When you party until 2:00 getting up at 11:00 is early-right???
All right, what can we healthy life style people actually do in September, that lovely Fall/Autumn time of the year that simply begs a different start? Stay tuned for three excellent (If I say so myself.) suggestions.
Every study I have read in the last I don’t know how many years has said that taking a class is good for your mind, heart, soul, health etc….In other words you should actually DO it. Keep your mind active as well as your body. Sure, do a jig saw or a cross word puzzle, but much better is some kind of a class where you actually interact with other people. The local Community College near me just sent out s brochure with classes ranging from Italian to ballroom dancing and tons of other lectures on a variety of subjects in between. Local high schools frequently offer evening classes, libraries and Senior Centers offer bridge, quilting, and in my local, they even offer tap dancing. Personally I love yoga so that is my fit. If you don’t want to go out or meet anyone new, take an on-line class. I recently learned to play Canasta. Okay, it is not neurosurgery, but it was quite a lot of fun.
Next, and yes, this is a repeat, move around a bit more. As I said, I do yoga and sometimes in a class, but more often, on the floor in my bedroom. I have a little TV on my dresser and I use DVD yoga classes and I am usually in my PJ’s. Walk, swim, go to any type of class or just clean house. House cleaning burns 100 calories every one half hour! Exercise classes and groups are everywhere mentioned above and even more places. You trip over them if you are not careful. I once did Silver Sneakers at a yacht club. It was taught by someone’s granddaughter who was visiting for the summer. We had a ball. Just be sure you don’t go out for lunch and ice cream after every class and don’t ask me how I know people do that.
Finally, I challenge you to do anything new. Yes, that is pretty broad, but think about it. Try a new food. Buy a new piece of clothing or (yes!) new shoes. Walk a new direction. Call an old friend or a new one. Go to a different church just once for a different take on your Sunday morning. Go to a movie you think you might not like. If you cook, try a new recipe. Just this week I went to a Farmer’s Market and picked my own blue berries and peaches and made a really wonderful ice cream topping. Paint a wall or wall paper an area. Refinish anything that is not moving around. Buy and read a new magazine. Read a book and share it with someone. Plant some bulbs. Make a pretty flower arrangement for your table. Yes, you can use grocery store flowers bought while you are shopping for that new recipe you are going to try. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Just try it once and see what happens. Let me know-go to www.skatinguphill.com and I will post your comments on the blog.
Finally, here is something I will really use to give you a challenge. Patch up an old quarrel. This is a tough one and I have had it on my heart to do it this month and I will make a real effort so I feel I can challenge you. Sit down and really thing and pray over what may have caused the estrangement in the first place and decide if that cause was really worth the pain. Someone smarter than me once said that hating someone is like you taking poison and expecting THEM to get sick. Bad feelings are toxic. Resolve something and feel better.
Try all of this and share results. Life is so valuable and precious. Health, both mental and physical, is of the utmost importance. If you don’t believe me, just ask someone who has neither. Love, Judith