Easy Ideas for Healthier Living

A new morning routine to start the day with good intentions and carry through. Really, just thinking about eating more nutritious foods and doing one or two little things in the kitchen keeps the process of healthy eating moving forward.

1. Eat a good breakfast: eggs, homemade granola, oatmeal, French toast, yogurt, fresh fruit.

2. Fill a water glass (sometimes I flavor it with citrus, herbs, mint, ginger, or cucumber) and take vitamins.

3. Check the frig and pantry for what needs to be used. This is a critical step, if you're like me, all the produce in the store or farmer's market looks so good that loading up is easy. Then I have tons of stuff to use up before it gets old.

4. Prep work: This can take just 5-10 minutes, or as long as you want. This is looking ahead to meals for the next couple of days and thinking about what to cook. And it is also about making pantry items to stock up with exciting flavors.

Just the beginning of good ideas:

Yogurt -- I got a yogurt maker for Christmas, but it is quite easy to make your own without one. Go here for simple instructions. Just be sure to keep it sanitary.

Pizza dough -- I make this no-knead by putting it in the frig overnight. I the morning take it out and let it rise.

Baked Brown Rice--soak rice in water overnight and drain (optional). Fry rice in a little olive oil, making it nutty and flavorful, this is also optional. Put into an oven-safe pan, add a dash of olive oil, salt, lemon zest, rosemary, or whatever flavorings you prefer, cover with water. Cook covered dish at 350 degrees until the water is absorbed.

Salads -- pageful of delicious ideas.

Pesto -- whizz a small chunk of Parmensan in the food processor, add walnuts, zip, add basil (and other greens like kale, spinach, etc) zip, pour a stream of olive oil through the feeder tube and blend. Keep in a jar in the frig for a week. Use on salads, pizzas, pasta, potatoes.

Roasted Garlic -- Put a head of garlic on a double layer of foil, pour on olive oil, roast in a hot oven until tender and creamy. Can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, but use it up on salad dressings, veggies, pizzas, etc.

Soak or Cook Beans -- Day 1--Rinse and soak the beans in a big pot of salted water overnight.
Day 2--Drain and cook beans in a fresh pot of water with salt, add flavorings if you choose to, like herbs, bay leaves, garlic.

Start a Soup or a Slow Cooker Meal -- millions of ideas available on the internet to keep you from coming home late and hungry and running out for an unhealthy restaurant meal.

Salad Dressings -- it's silly to buy salad dressing when it is so easy to make your own. A good variety of ideas here.

Endless Chicken Stock -- another link to Kitchen Stewardship. A wonderful idea that I will be doing regularly now.

Sprout Seeds -- powerhouses of nutrients to add to sandwiches and salads. These are easy to grow in your kitchen for some fresh greens in winter. Grow them in a canning jar in a dark, cool cupboard, to simulate under ground, rinse twice a day. A few days later they are ready to eat.

Sun Tea -- mix up some flavored tea bags with black tea bags and fill a pitcher with cold water. Let the sun create its solar magic. This is the easiest way to prevent drinking sodas.

Stewed Prunes -- slice an orange into thin wedges, put in a pot with 1 pound of dried prunes, add a cinnamon stick, just cover with water and cook over medium heat until the juice thickens to syrup. They don't need any sweetening, they are already perfect. Keeps in the frig for a week. A wonderful idea from Melissa Clark's cookbook, A Homemade Life.

Roasting Vegetables -- peel and cube veggies, such as beets, winter squashes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes. Coat with olive oil and herbs on a baking sheet, pop into a hot oven and cook until tender.
                                            Tamar Adler's video of Roasting Vegetables Ahead

Other quick things that make life easier: Prerinse salad greens, make carrot or celery sticks, marinate some meat, cut up a pineapple or cantaloupe.

Give the counters and sink a quick wipe and sweep the floor if needed and I'm done for the day.

Tuesday Quick Hints

Sludge--my friend Janice made this for book club. Just like always, you can vary the ingredients all you want--use Parmesan or any hard cheese, use green onions, use more red pepper or less. Just add olive oil to cover and store in your frig for a bread spread, or topping cooked veggies.

Unpaper Towels--AthenaCreates at Etsy sells little reusable, washable, absorbent cotton towels. I got a dozen and folded them into a little pile right where the paper towels used to sit. Now we reach for these instead.

Electric tea kettle--when we lived in a big house the kitchen was far from our bedroom and I needed to be at work early. I kept an electric kettle right next to the bed. I would press the on button before I got in the shower and it was ready to pour when I got out. Saved a lot of steps.

Copper Pennies--everyone loved this dish at our family reunion potluck. Steam carrots until just barely cooked. In a saucepan saute some diced onion and bell peppers in a little olive oil, add a can of tomato soup, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 3/4 cup of vinegar (any kind), 1 tsp. worchester sauce, 1 tsp. dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and pour over carrots. Chill.

Quick Hints Tuesday

Floating flowers--everywhere you go in Thailand there are pools of water with flowers floating in them. I wanted to re-create that feel with a planter in my garden. Brad sealed the hole with silicone and then I sprayed it with a can of Thompson's Water Seal twice.

Sun tea covers--We drink a lot of iced tea around here, so I make it right in the pitcher on the back deck. Sometimes I have several going at the same time. I keep little squares of cheesecloth wrapped in string in a drawer. I lay the cheesecloth over the top of the pitcher and tie it off with the string to keep the bugs out.

Sharpie in the pantry--always have a Sharpie in the pantry to mark the date on any new items that go on the shelves or into the frig or freezer.

Rock Markers--I couldn't find any plant markers for our veggie garden, so I just picked up small flattish rocks (we have plenty of those) and wrote the type of plant on it with a Sharpie. For flowers I just drew a little flower. I need to varnish over the top, so they won't disappear.

Little notebooks--it was an a-ha moment when I saw these easy little notebooks on The Farm Chicks. Just use computer paper and a piece of leftover scrapbook paper (if you want a cover). They sewed the binding of theirs, but I don't have a sewing machine, so I stapled mine. It worked fine.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Beets!!--slice beets paper thin (use a mandolin if you have one {thanks, Amy}), put in a jar with 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns, and a split Thai chili if you like it spicy. Heat 1 cup of rice vinegar with 1/4 sugar to a boil and pour over the beets. Cool. They will last a month in the fridge. I found this in Martha Stewart Living (I think). I used golden beets because the don't run.

Melatonin--The pharmacist told us to use melatonin to help us sleep. If I toss and turn for two nights, I take 1mg around 8PM on the third night. Works like a charm. It's a completely natural human hormone, so it can't hurt you. It worked for Brad too.

Compost in a garbage can--I bought a big black garbage can, drilled 10 holes in the bottom, got a bungee cord to hold the lid on tight. Filled it with leaves, a bag of aged manure, kitchen scraps, and a few shakes of Dr. Earth Compost Starter. Every other day or so, I add the new scraps, and roll it around on the ground. I am astonished at how fast it has turned into beautiful, black soil. I might have to start another one.

Tuesday Quick Hints

Sweet Pea Spread--if you love peas, this is a real treat. Defrost frozen peas, whirl in a food processor with a little garlic, lemon juice, a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Slather it on thick bread, with ham and cheese if you want, for a wonderful sandwich. Mine came out a little more garlicy than I expected, so next time I am going to use fresh basil instead.

Lawn Patch--it's so easy to repair missing spots in your lawn. This stuff has seed, fertilizer, and mulch all incorporated. The base is recycled newspaper (you can see words once-in-awhile). you're supposed to water it twice a day, but in Nevada that means 4-5 times a day. I live with a hose in my hand.

Dr. Earth--all natural, organic supplements for the garden with live probiotics (like yogurt for the garden). I have about 5 different kinds now. I also have the compost starter to help break down the nasty stuff and turn it into black gold.

Cookie Jar for kitchen scraps--I am experimenting with composting for the first time. At the thrift store, I found a plain white cookie jar with white basket weave pattern and a tight lid. It has a place right next to the trash can for saving all the left over fruits, veggies, tea bags, egg shells, etc.

Yogi Teas--have you seen these? All natural with health-providing properties. They have them for all types of solutions, such as cold relief, joint comfort, detox, women's cycles, sleep aid and relaxation.

Quick Hints Tuesday

Raspberry Lemonade: This month's Martha Stewart Living had this recipe for lemonade. Slice 10 lemons into a big pot, add 2 cups of raspberries, add 1 1/2 cups sugar. Mash with a wooden implement for about 10 minutes. Add 6 cups of water. Strain. I would say that the amounts are variable. I only had 6 lemons here and about a cup of raspberries. I only used a half cup of superfine sugar. Oh, oh, and you can add tequila!



Oxiclean: I've heard of this before, but never used it. Wowsa! I bought a small package to test and now I need the industrial size. I especially loved the way it cleaned the ugly refrigerator racks from the RV. Just soak everything in it and they sparkle.

Nesting Place: I love her philosophy of "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful," at her blog Nesting Place. She has a free 20 page e-book to make you realize that the house you have can be beautiful. Sign up for the newsletter and you get the e-book.

12 other ways to use your camera: Photojojo has a wonderful reminder of other things to do with your camera--really great reminders of things you can do to make your camera even more useful. The one I liked was to take a photo of your name, address, and phone number and lock it into the memory card. If it gets lost, it can find it's way home to you.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Fresh ground almond butter--your local grocery or health food store probably has one of those machines that grinds peanuts, or almonds, or cashews, into a smooth butter. You can get any quantity you want. I just get a little half pint or so. Enough to keep me happy for a week or two.

Wordsmith--sign up to learn a new a day. Delivered fresh to your inbox every morning.

Green Tea with ginger and mint--my new favorite drink. It has a real zip to it--delicious, hot or cold, with no sugar needed. Just brew a little green tea with a few slices of fresh ginger and a few sprigs of mint.

Gift wrap--keep colorful pieces of fabric and use them year after year to wrap gift packages.

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PS. The brown sugar scrub that I described last time really is the best one I've ever used. But I made it with canola oil instead of expensive oils.

Fruit Bowl

An interesting conversation occurred when my sister noticed my fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. She was surprised to see an onion in the middle; she thought that it would make the fruit smell bad. I picked it up and said, "But onions don't smell." We both sniffed it and agreed, onions with skins don't smell.

"But," I said, "You should never keep your apples and bananas together like this."

"Why?" she asked.

My mother answered her, "Because the apples release gases that are bad for bananas. If you want to ripen fruit you put it in a bag with an apple to make it ripen faster."

I told her, "That's right. If you want to save your fruit and veggies, you should put them in a green bag."

"What? What's a green bag?"

So we told her about Debbie's Green Bags. My mother offered to give her some.

Lisa said, "I need to come to your house more often. I learn amazing things."

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I keep a large wooden bowl on the counter to encourage us to notice the fruits and veggies and eat them up. I realize they would last longer in the refrigerator, but they tend to get buried in there. We never buy more than 2 or 3 bananas at a time, so we eat them within a day or two. Right now it is overrun with kiwis because I read an article on how good they are for you, and then we saw a giant basket of them at Costco.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Yes, it's true--I'm writing Quick Hints! When I got back from Arizona, I had a big stack of magazine subscriptions waiting for me to read. I also had many messages that this would be the last issue of several of my favorites--Mary Emmerling, Country Home, Cottage Living, and Country Living are all gone--I am heartbroken.

Here are the best things that I tore out of the magazines I got:

Put your duvets (down comforters) in the dryer on high once in awhile. It kills the dust mites.

Handmedowns.com is a website of gently used baby items (in case you know of a new baby coming).

Citrus Salad--combine citrus like tangerines, grapefruits, oranges with pineapple chunks, sprinkle with toasted coconut, pecans, fresh mint, and drizzle with lime juice and honey.

Flowers that are cold tolerant for early spring pots--stock, dianthus, kale, pansy, primrose.

Brown Sugar Body Polish--1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup almond oil, 2 teaspoons each of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, 40 drops of cardamom essential oil.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Kitchen sponges--keep your sponge in the dishwasher permanently. I could never find a good place for it next to the sink. Now it's always close, always in the same place, and always sanitized from the latest wash cycle.

Eat This, Not That--I am currently obsessed with this book (available at Costco for $10). Compares the best choices in a given situation, listing specific restaurants and fast food joints, grocery store selections, and drink options. I was horrified to learn that my favorite Smartfood popcorn is a "Not That." Hint: the website covers all the basics too.

Method daily shower--this non-toxic spray cleaner keeps soap scum, hard water deposits, and mildew from your shower. And it smells delicious, ylang ylang, whatever that is.

smallnotebook.com--a new blog to me. I really enjoy reading about this young homemaker and her very practical solutions to everyday situations. Rachel and her family just had a no-spend month. Very interesting.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Kapoosh Universal Knife Block--with these knife blocks you aren't limited to a "set". They are safe storage for all styles and sizes of knives. The center is dishwasher cleanable. Target sells them.

Best ideas from the August issue of Fine Cooking:

Brown Paper Blotter--Use old paper grocery sacks as a blotter for cutting meats or fish, peeling potatoes or other veggies & fruit, draining fried foods.

Storing Cheese--wrap cheese in wax paper instead of plastic wrap so it can breathe and doesn't mold.

Salad dressing--don't overdress your salad. You can always add more, but you can never take it away.

Quick Hint Tuesday

Labeler--As much as I don't like gadgets, this is pretty handy. I labeled all the office files already. Now I'm looking around the house for other things...address labels on the recycling bins, pantry containers, homemade CDs and DVDs, what else? It's kinda fun. If you want the labels to be removable, put a piece of clear tape down first.

Stewed berries--with all the tantalizing berries available now, this is a quick, easy dessert. In a saucepan cook 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 sugar (adjustable to your taste and the sweetness of the berries), and a small dash of vanilla or Framboise. Add a variety of berries, except not raspberries, simmer gently for about 3 minutes. Turn off the stove and add raspberries. It's nice to start this just before serving dinner, allowing it to cool while you eat, then serving with a nice dollap of high quality vanilla ice cream.

Freeze banana slices--If you have overripened bananas, slice them into chunks and freeze on a plate sprayed with PAM. After they are frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer bag. They are great for adding to a smoothie instead of ice cubes.

Car Travel List

What would you do if your husband called at 11AM to say that he wants to leave at noon? No destination, just get in the car and drive. I started piling things to take next to the back door, so we could load them directly into the car when he got home. Here’s what I took, in addition to clothes and toiletries:

Our two favorite pillows
A warm down duvet, rolled up like a sleeping bag
One heavy blanket, for sitting on the beach, using as a tablecloth on a picnic table, or wrapping up in, if it’s very cold
One fleece, one fleece vest, one thin jacket, one windbreaker jacket (various combos will work in any situation)
walking shoes

Our two favorite tea mugs
Two plastic wine cups
A very sharp knife
A corkscrew
Two forks, two spoons, in a ziplock
small ice chest

A book, a stack of magazines
camera, batteries, and all accessories in a small case
laptop computer, wireless connector, and accessories in a small case

mix of dried fruits (cherries, golden raisins, etc) and nuts in a ziplock
sugar and tea in a ziplock with a plastic spoon
fresh fruit (whatever is in the house)
two bottles of wine, one white, one red

Brad’s I-pod
GPS system (so we don’t get lost)
Debit card, credit card

These few items will pretty much keep me happy no matter what circumstances I find myself in while traveling. Car travel is very different from air travel, when you can’t bring most of this stuff. We’re on a road trip!

Tuesday Quick Hints

Mum, originally uploaded by c8mills.

Long lasting flowers—change the water daily and add a good splash of clear soda. These mums have been blooming beautifully in my house for over two weeks now.

Chance your filters—this is a good time to remember to change the air filters on your furnace, half way through the winter.

GetOrganizedNow.com—terrific weekly ezine with endless ideas of how to keep your life from spinning out of control. Maria addresses household, work, and recreation issues to help you stay clean, efficient, and organized. There is a website and blog too.

Quick Hint Tuesday

The head of your faucet tends to get gunked up with hard water deposits and this is an easy way to solve the problem. If you can pull it out or unscrew it, place it in a bowl full of white vinegar. If you can’t, then you will have to use the baggie method—put the vinegar in a baggie and secure it around the head with a rubber band. Let it soak for a few hours and rinse.

Put those round plastic plant trays under the bottles in your laundry area. Especially the bleach. They will prevent all kinds of disasters.

For music fans: Folkwax and Blueswax are weekly online zines that keep you in touch with what’s going on in the industry. For me, I love taking the weekly quiz and finding out when a festival line-up is announced.

Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks by Linda Carucci

Carucci, a cooking teacher from COPIA in Napa, really knows her stuff. This is a reader’s cookbook. The first 50 pages contain endless information on equipment, cooking skills, methods and menus. Then on to the recipes.

These are the best things I learned from her:

Cook only with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

Bake with fine sea salt

Bring food to room temperature before cooking

Always salt a steak at least one hour before grilling

Brine meats before roasting at a 1 part salt to 8 parts water ratio for at least one hour

You can season the brine with sugar, bay leaves, peppercorns, chilies, garlic, whatever

Mirepoix, a sauté of onions, carrots, and celery, is the basis of most stocks and many soups

To get the best flavor from your spices: grind them yourself just before adding to the pan, if you can, and add them to the hot oil at the beginning of the cooking

A good chef prepares a meis en place before beginning to cook. Everything is pre-chopped, pre-measured, and pre-heated. All ingredients are lined-up and ready to go

Essential equipment:
Good quality knives
Dutch oven: heavy cast iron, preferably Le Creuset
Stir fry pan: lightweight, nonstick
Instant-read thermometers
Microplane
A heatproof rubber spatula
Hardwood spoons

These are just a few examples of the ideas presented in this treasure trove.

Quick Hint Tuesday

English placemats—these cork bottomed placemats are approximately 8x11 inches. They are the perfect size for a small plate or bowl, but we mostly use them as hot plates to insulate the table from hot serving dishes. For some odd reason, in the US, you can only find the bigger 12x15 and smaller coaster sizes. I don’t know why because it is obvious that this is the best size. I got these in England. They have them in every store in amazing patterns. You could find them online, I’m sure.

ZenHabits.net—the website addresses issues of organization, purpose, balance, peace in your life. If you become a regular reader, I’m sure your life would improve.

Raw Sugar—I love using these big sparkly chunks of sugar on my oatmeal. They are so pretty. It has to better for you than straight white granulated sugar, right?

Palette Generator—This is sooooo cool. If you put a picture into the program, it comes up with a harmonious color palette that matches. This is a boon for any scrapbooker trying to match papers to your photos. It will take any photos that are on your computer, you do not need to use Flickr.

Tuesday Christmas Hints from Magazines

Being a magazine junkie, I have collected a few great ideas this season that I’d like to share here.

Bells on Ribbons—Real Simple, Dec 2007, pg. 304. I love these little bell shaped ornaments. This is an unusual way to use them.

Christmas Ball Garland—Country Home, Dec/Jan 2008, pg. 88. This looks so pretty. If I could think of a good place to use it and see if I can find “brass bicycle chain” somewhere.

Christmas Balls for vases—Better Homes and Gardens, Dec 2007, pg 91. These are cute little flower holders, but I couldn’t find an online photo. Glue a Christmas ball to a little mirror disk from a craft store. Take the top off the ball and fill with water and little short flowers. You could tie a ribbon around the neck of the ball too.

Green Snowflake Ornaments—Sunset, Dec 2007, pg 70. I am making one of these today to hang over our bed. If I like them, I want to make a row to put in the windows.

Christmas Card Ribbon Display—Country Home, Dec/Jan 2008, pg. 36. I am doing this, for sure. Quick easy display. I never know what to do with all the cards.

Green shipping alternatives--Country Living, Dec 2007, pg. 24A. Use real peanuts, not styrofoam. Or wrapped peppermint candies, or scrunched up sheet music, or pinecones and greenery.

Ribbon Spool Holders--Country Living, Dec 2007, pg. 74. Use an upright paper towel holder to stack your ribbon spools.

Luminarias—Country Home, Dec/Jan 2008, pg 28. Aren’t these pretty? I think you can get these plain glass vases quite cheap and just wrap them in a subtle scrapbook paper. Slip in a votive candle.

The Tree is Up

A little late, but it's done. We had the best time picking out a tree. I hate to admit that we went to Home Depot, where they have quite decent Noble Firs. We didn't like any of the display models, so we went inside and grabbed one that was still wrapped in twine. It was as tall as we needed, the trunk appeared to be straight, and it had a good top. So we took it, as is, sight unseen. We brought it home, put it in the stand, and cut the string. Viola! A perfect Christmas tree--no holes, upright, lovely even branches. We decided to do a surprise tree like this every year.

You can get a Christmas tree as big as you would like from the National Forest for only $10. Just stop in the office and ask where they are cutting. This is an incredible deal if you like big trees. It makes a wonderful family outing too. We did it for years and years, but now that our kids are grown, it's not as much fun for us.

Brad built this plywood box to add some height to the tree. It works perfectly and we re-use it over every year. I just wrap a cloth remnant around the base. It's not even Christmasy, just green material. But since it gets quickly covered with presents, it really doesn't matter.

Brad is very careful about wrapping each branch in little white lights, that twinkle, not flash. He makes sure they go all the way to the trunk, giving the tree a full feeling. When you put on the ornaments, start with the plain round fillers on the inside branches. And then hang your special ones on the outside, where they are more visible.

Quick Hint Tuesday

, originally uploaded by c8mills.

Gift tags—Save last year’s cards to cut into gift tags. You can find the cutest things and mix and match them. The ones above were cut with a square punch, but you can use a variety of shapes.

Nuetrogena Healthy Skin Rejuvenator—I read an analysis in a magazine, not a sales pitch, about this product. They said it is close to a professional facial. I know that my skin feels extra soft for days after using it.

Cereal—I have come across three quality ones that taste good, with whole grains, good fiber, no hydrogenated fats, no high fructose corn syrup. Kashi’s Autumn Wheat (organic, comes in cinnamon and strawberry too), Barbara’s Puffins (regular, peanut butter, or cinnamon), and Kashi’s Seven Grains Puffed Cereal. You usually have to wander over to the Natural Foods section of the grocery store; they are not with the regular cereals (probably because the big corporate bullies have a strangle-hold on those shelves).

How to Photograph Christmas Lights—An excellent explanation of how to catch the special glow of Christmas lights by Strobist at Blogspot.com.