The Best Of PA

I have been eagerly researching small towns and villages whom are well known for their longevity, specifically a high percentage of centurions. It all began with some research into a little town not far from where I live, called Roseto. It is an old Italian American village steeped with old traditions, generational families, family businesses and old churches. Though I've never visited, but plan to, I am told it is like walking into a 1950's town. The amazing thing about this quaint village is that until recently it had an extremely low percentage rate for heart disease, despite all the fattening foods being cooked up. Another article I read up on was a man from Greece whom moved to the US. At 66, he developed lung cancer and was told he would have 6 months left to live. So him and his wife left the US and moved back home making funeral arrangements along the way. At first he took it easy, but eventually I'm sure with different diet, a quieter pace of life and ...

Got this pic from lowdenlifestyle.com       April 6th.  That is how long my new self inflicted challlenge will run.  Six whole weeks of striving to rearrange my crazy eating habits.  I went six long days without sugar and fourteen days without chocolate so I am confident that I can do this.  It is a decision, really.  A decision that can affect my health and change my perspective about what I allow into my mouth.  I need it.  I exercise, I'm decluttering the inside of my humble abode, so now it's time to put the right kind of nourishment into my belly....so that it won't be a belly anymore, rather a tight little tummy.  And after the six weeks?  Well I plan to gather another slightly more intense six week plan, until I have a bunch of six week plans that turn me into a lean mean health machine.  I shall be ready for swimsuit season.  I know you are dying to know what does the first six week pl...

Rainy days are perfect for soup. And I love a delicious and yummy soup simmering in the kitchen. If you know me by now, then you know that I'm not really a measurement kind of gal. So here goes. -A Big Pot of Water-think like two quarts or a little less. Again I don't measure. -Three beef bouillon cubes -Two Tablespoons of dry salsa mix -Taco Seasoning Packet -One Onion Chopped, and cooked with meat -One Packet of wild rice, with herbs (I know I have two packets in the pic, just go with it) -A Can Of Dices Tomatoes -A Can of Corn -A Can of Black Beans -A Can (small one) of chopped black olives -Half a pound of ground beef cooked 1) Brown Beef with chopped onions and half of the taco seasoning packet. 2) In a Big Pot throw the rest of the Ingredients in. Let it simmer on medium high. 3) When the Beef and onions are cooked, strain the fat out, then add beef and onions to the soup. 4) When ready to serve, add sour cream (knew I forgot to add something to th...

       Well I just know that you are all wondering....how did the ONE WEEK CHALLENGE go?  You know the challenge which involves no sweets for a week and a veggie filled meal.  Well....I have a confession to make.  I had a blip of a mistake, involving the evening of superbowl and  ice cream sundaes.  So yes, I have proved to myself  and my husband that I did not have the strength to go a whole week. Back to the drawing board.  HOWEVER....you must know that, despite that fifteen minutes of weakness, the rest of week I held strong and true to the committment.  Healthy lunches, yogurt desserts and light popcorn took the place of cookies, chips and chocolate buttercream frosting.  Side note:  It's bad, seriously, when I am at home and there is powdered sugar, butter,  cocoa powder and a bit of milk.....well you can be sure that after lunch I am whipping up some frosting and smearing it on whatever I can....

             Well here it is HUMP day....and I have come to a conclusion.  I have been eating terrible! Since like, oh I dont know HALLOWEEN, the madness hasnt stoppped!!  Excuses keep forming in my brain and growlings in my belly worsen. Thoughts of creamy chocolate frosting would always destroy the resolution before it even started.  So here I am, intentionally putting it out there for EVERYONE to hold me accountable.  I accept the challenge!  What challenge am I talking about?         THE ONE WEEK CHALLENGE!!  Hey you gotta start somewhere and I am in no condition to make a ONE MONTH CHALLENGE quite yet.  What does this challenge consist of?  I'm glad you asked, here it is. -No Eating Junk Food or Sweets of ANY kind -One Meal a Day that is just chalked FULL of veggies -No Eating After 6pm Anyone care to ...

I wanted to make a bread salad the other day, but I left our croutons, olive oil and vinegar at a friends house. So I improvised and this I what I came up with. The hubby is not a fan, but I had three helpings, so obviously I liked it. -diced red and yellow peppers (one each) -diced tomatoes (three Roma tomatoes) - broccoli -slivered almonds -olive oil (I used vegetable oil-cuz it I all I had) -salt and pepper to taste Side note: balsamic vinegar would also go excellent with it! Let me know if you like it: there is a 50/50 chance you will.

If you are like me then you understand just how hard it is to get motivated to eat healthy.  Nothing seems to taste as delightful, as fattening comfort food, and on a cold winter day none the less.  But this taco salad hit the spot.  And so I am willing to share anything that has me going for thirds.  Enjoy!   Your List: Black Beans Corn Tomatoes Olives Taco Seasoning Chips-tortilla chips, or just some hard shell tacos Cucumbers Lettuce Ranch Dressing 1st Step:  Get Yourself a big ole bowl.  2nd:  Get all Your Canned Foods out of the way.  Open up all your canned items and throw them in the bowl.   3rd Step: It's Chopping time!  Chop up those tomaotes, cucumbers, peppers and really anything else you'd like to chop and add.  I had to chop my olives, seeing that I bought them unchopped.  But if you like onions, go on and add them!  If you like avaocados, now is the time to chop em up....

Ah my health, something that is always a work in progress.   Have you been wondering why I haven’t mentioned much about food as of late?   It was a new year’s goal to eat better, and consume less sugar, but have I been doing it?   Let me just give it to you straight-eating healthy will always be the hardest goal to ever achieve-for myself that is.   If I wasn’t such a sugar fanatic, if I didn’t enjoy relishing in dark dripping chocolate over light airy cake, then maybe this wouldn’t be such a challenge.   But it is.   I will have you know that I have introduced two new   meals since I last blogged about food, so for that part at least I am on track.   Last week I whipped up some wheat pasta with fresh tomaots, green beans,   peas, Italian dressing and parmesan cheese.   It was pretty delightful and best of all, something I didn’t have to measure out, just a little here and a little there.   Tonight I’ll be throwing together a taco ...

Well I made my first healthy supper since the summer. Yes there is hope. The goal: to add a healthy recipe to my meal plan each week. I plan to accumulate six weeks worth of nutritious dinners. It'll probably take about six months to get there....and six months to adjust to the "lifestyle change". Im craving chocolate as we speak! By the way it was delicious meal, so maybe not all is lost, maybe I can do this....? I just know that I need your help! Anyone? Anyone?!? Suggestions??? Anyways here is the recipe. My version of chicken bread salad: Diced red and yellow peppers Diced tomatoes Cut up chicken Slightly cooked and sliced asparagus Peas Croutons Add olive oil, red wine vinegar salt and pepper to taste. Served with sweet potatoes on the side, with some butter....hey I can NOT go cold turkey from all thats bad

Was feeling lazy so instead of making sauce from scratch I improvised with a semi homeade version. 1) cheap Alfredo sauce 2) heaping tea spoon of chopped garlic 3) mushrooms 4) chicken bouillon cube 5) pepper to taste 6) fresh parsley 7) fresh chives Pretty yummy and a little jazzed up

Materials Cut up Beef a pound or more Celery Skinned cut up potatoes (I used six-love my potatoes) Diced tomatoes Beef stock (big can, I think 48 oz-didn't use all of it) Garlic (teaspoon) Onion chopped up (I used half) Gravy packet (you know the dry packets you add stuff to) Parsley (to taste) Chives (to taste) Basil (to taste) 1)Braise your beef till the pink is gone 2) Cook onions, celery, and garlic together in pan with a little oil 3) When veggies are soft add potatoes, let steam together for 10-15min 4) Add in the beef, beef stock, garlic, everything else! Cover let simmer on med high for hour, stirring every five minutes or so. Tip: want it real thick? Use less beef stock. It's yummy!

This trifle was created from a baking mistake. The mistake that I put baking soda instead of baking powder into my chocolate spice cake. This of course naturally made the cake boil over and forced me to clean my oven once again. I had already made some yummy chocolate buttercream frosting when I pulled out the sunken in, spilled over cake, so I decided to improvise. A trifle to the rescue. Enter some pumpkin pie mix, vanilla pudding mix (I used two cups rather than the three suggested cups of milk) some crushed up graham crackers and of course my frosting and cake (broken into bite size chunks). I layered frosting, pudding, crackers, pumpkin, then cake and repeated, topping it last with more frosting. My last minute save was for dessert at our friends house. And thankfully they said they both liked it, that or they were fibbing to make me feel better. But I thought it tastes yummy and so did my hubby-trust me he's pretty honest with me. So if anyone dares want to try this, please...

Jazzed up some chicken corn chowder with some bacon, dry salsa mix, fresh chives, parsely and wild rice. Used cream corn, milk, and bouillon cubes to complete it. Easy and yummy!

Anyone who knows me, knows my favorite season is Autumn. The crisp chill in the air, wearing sweaters, hayrides, picking pumpkins, drinking cider, enjoying the ever-changing scenery of brilliant colored leaves gets me giddy with excitement. And I try to do it all, corn mazes, camping, scarecrow building, haunted houses, trick or treating with the kids, making applesauce and now add to to the list caramel apple making. My first semi successful attempt has me yearning to do better, sooner and with more ease. So maybe my caramel didn't stick as well and maybe most of the chocolate ran off in big splotchy puddles. These are lessons to be learned and improved upon. For example, next time I'm pouring the chocolate on frozen, but dried apples, then rushing it into the freezer for five minutes before attempting to douse it in hot sticky caramel. The first caramel apple I did was sloshed in caramel, then dredged in chocolate. Yeah, that didn't work, the chocolate slurped ...

So it's the hot hot summer but I'm gearing up for the fall! Started by making some chicken noodle soup, but did my own spin on it. Let me tell you it's yummy! Creamy Chicken Soup 8 cups of chicken broth 2 cups of half and half 1 package of wild rice (1 cup? Comesin a box with own seasoning) Carrots Onions 3 pieces of cooked chicken 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic Handful of fresh parsley 2 tablespoons of parsley In pot melt butter, add onions, carrots and garlic. On medium heat cover and stir occasionally. Meanwhile, in pan cook wild rice. Add chicken broth and allow to simmer. Stir in one cup of half and half into the pot of chicken broth. Pour the other cup of half and half into a measuring cup, stir together until blended and thickened. Slowly mix in the thickened cup of half and half. Cut up chicken and throw in pot! Last but not least add the rice, allow to heat up and serve with biscuits! Delicious! :-)

It's that time of the year, to make applesauce! I love when the apples come in. I have been blessed with wonderful neighbors who happen to have a small orchard in their lovely backyard. They have been kind enough to share their fruits and veggies with us. These neighbors are old enough to be our parents and therefore are wiser, smarter etc. Kathy, the wife, taught me how to make applesauce the old fashioned way when we first moved into our home five and a half years ago. They have taught us much, games, gardening and how to make applesauce. And let me tell you, once you've had homemade, you'll never want to go back. So the moral to this story? Learn to make applesauce, get to know your neighbors :-). Some yummy friendships can come from it!