Healthy Eating Series - Lunch

Lunch is a good midday celebration. At work when the weather is nice, I eat out in the courtyard. It is a pleasant, relaxing experience. Lunch can also be a time of mega calorie consumption if you aren't careful. It can be a meal of snacking instead of healthy eating. Discipline at lunchtime will play a key role in maintaining or losing weight. Soup and salad will be my superfoods choice for the next two weeks. Below is the daily salad I feel will give me the best nutrition for the least amount of calories:

1 cup spinach torn into bite-sized pieces

1 cup chopped romaine

1/4 cup shredded red cabbage

1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper

1/2 tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chickpeas

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/4 avocado, cubed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

I will also use soup as a filler as it is a low-calorie, high nutritional addition to my diet. I have found the soups below to be the most nutritious:

Best: No added salt varieties OR less than 350 mg of sodium per cup, 8 ounces. Do not use if more than 480 mg of sodium per cup.

Progresso 50% Less Sodium Garden Vegetable, Chicken Noodle

Healthy Choice Chicken Tortilla Soup, Garden Vegetable

Campbell's Select Healthy Request Savory Chicken and Long Grain Rice, Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla

Campbell's Chunky Healthy Request Vegetable

Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle, Chicken with Rice, Country Vegetable

Healthy Eating Series - Breakfast

For many years, I was a no-breakfast person. There were several reasons.......I didn't have time, I wasn't hungry, I could save calories, etc. Unfortunately, skipping breakfast hasn't gotten me a whole lot. I would be so hungry by lunchtime that I overate for lunch, which nullified my "no-calorie" idea from breakfast. I have been reading that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In order to maintain your metabolism, your blood sugar must be at a constant level. Otherwise, you experience hunger, cravings, etc. Eating breakfast first thing in the morning regulates your blood sugar and gives you a good send-off for the day. I have chosen three breakfasts that I will be using for the next two weeks. They will be listed below. God provided breakfast for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. Numbers 11:9, "And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it." God wanted the Israelites to rise first thing in the morning and gather their breakfast.

Here are the three breakfasts I will be choosing from for the next 2 weeks:

Oatmeal with blueberries and almonds (no milk)

1 ounce dry (1 packet or 1/3 cup) oats (make with water)

3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tablespoon slivered almonds

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons honey

Pumpkin Walnut Muffin and Yogurt or Cottage Cheese

mailto:dadsgirl60@yahoo.com Click on link for recipe for Pumpkin Walnut Muffins. I will email you the recipe.

Cheddar Cheese, Avocado, and Tomato Toast

1 slice whole grain bread (3g of fiber), lightly toasted (80-100 calories/slice)

Layer and toast:

2 tablespoons avocado (1/4 of an avocado), mashed

2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese (=1/2 ounce)

1 medium tomato sliced

Enjoy with an apple, orange, or 3/4 cup berries

Have a great morning!!!

Healthy Eating Series - SuperFoods

Over the years, I have been on many kinds of diets. Some of them work when you stick with them, some of them work for awhile, and some of them don't work at all. For the past year, I have been researching healthy eating and what exactly is a healthy lifestyle. I guess when you get to midlife, you start thinking about the quality of life you will have in the last half. I have more recently come across some books on Super Foods. As I have read these books, I have begun to try some of what they advocate. I have also been reading several scriptures in the Old Testament to see what God had to say about healthy eating and how it measures up to what they say about Super Foods. Over the next several months, I will post updates for you and tell you how things are working out for me. This serves a twofold purpose......#1 - It makes me accountable to someone and gives me an incentive to continue on and.......#2 - You will discover firsthand if the Super Foods craze actually works. So......here we go.......tomorrow I will post the first step in healthy eating.

His Eye is on the Sparrows

There is a courtyard where I work that is beautifully landscaped with various plants and flowers and benches to sit on. I go there frequently for lunch. It is quiet, peaceful, serene, and I can enjoy nature and spend some time with God. We talk frequently out there. I admire the nature that is out there and am amazed at how God made everything to work together. I am about to embark on an adventure I have never experienced before. I will be having surgery that could potentially lead to some serious results. It is an anxious time for me. I have always been the strong one for family and friends, but this time it is me. My son, Ethan, came to me the other night and said he had a scripture for me. It was Matthew 10:29-31 where Jesus talks about how God watches over even the sparrows. My son doesn't know that I sit in the courtyard everyday for lunch. He just felt God speaking to his heart and shared what God had given him. I have been praying that God will give me a sign that everything will be done according to His will. The next day I went to lunch, and while I was sitting on the bench, three sparrows came up about 2 feet from my feet. They sat there and looked at me the whole time I was eating my peanut butter sandwich. I gave them a few crumbs because I thought that was why they were staring at me. They would take the crumbs, drop them a ways off, and then come back and stand there looking at me. All of a sudden, I remembered the scripture my son gave me. I bowed my head and thanked God for the sparrows and His great love. I started to hum, "His Eye is on the Sparrow". They stayed until I was done and then flew off. Thank you God (and Ethan) for reminding me how important I really am in your eyes. I know you will be watching over me during this time.

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,

When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain
I sing because I’m happy,

I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,”

His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. ---Civilla D. Martin, 1905

Famous July Birthdays

You know how much I love to look up birthdays of famous people. When I was looking over the list for July, I was surprised at how many "old" famous people were born in July and just how old they were. For example:

• Calvin Coolidge - July 4, 1872 - 136 years old
• P.T. Barnum - July 5, 1810- 198 years old
• John Paul Jones - July 6, 1747 - 261 years old
• John D. Rockefeller - July 8, 1839 - 168 years old
• John Quincy Adams - July 11, 1767 - 240 years old
• George Washington Carver - July 12, 1861 - 146 years old
• Henry David Thoreau - July 12, 1817 - 190 years old
• George Bernard Shaw - July 26, 1856 - 151 years old
• Beatrix Potter - July 28, 1866 - 141 years old
• Henry Ford - July 30, 1863 - 144 years old

And the oldest birthday boy is...........

Rembrandt Van Rijn - July 15, 1606 - 401 years old

Rembrandt painted many religious scenes from the Bible. View the SlideShow below by clicking on the arrow in the lower lefthand corner of the first picture:

Take the July Trivia Quiz and see how well you do!

July Trivia


I scored 8 out of 10


Take the July Trivia at Quizopolis.com

Oh, the Things that Kids Remember!!

I received a call from my daughter the other night, and she was laughing her head off. She began the conversation by saying the reason she was calling was because her husband, Ben, had told her that she needed to tell me what she had said to him. At their house in Strasburg, they have an open breezeway between the garage and house that they can sit in. They were sitting out there this particular evening at dusk and watching the fireflies. I am sure it was a romantic setting since they are still newlyweds. Ben had moved the trash from the garage to the open breezeway because it had developed an odor. As they were sitting there enjoying the evening and the fireflies, my daughter said, "Ben, this reminds me of when we would go camping when we were kids." Ben asked her why she thought so. She continued with, "Because of the fireflies and the smell of trash!" He began to laugh and asked her what kind of camping she did as a kid!! We have all gotten a big kick out of the whole incident. I remember taking the kids camping, and I remember sitting out in the evenings and watching the kids try to catch the fireflies, but I don't recall smelling trash during the event!! It's funny what people remember from their childhood. I guess the old saying that kids are impressionable is really true. It may be many years before you find out what has impressed them or what they remember. The whole thing has made me think......what DO my children remember that I am not aware of? Are they good things.....are they bad things??? What kind of an impression have I made on them? I am not going to worry or fret about it, but I am going to take it as a reminder from God that we are being watched by the children around us. What kind of impressions are we leaving with them? What will they remember years from now? I want to be like Christ was when He gathered the children around him. I want to influence them with the love of Christ before the world gets their chance......for such is the kingdom of God.