Perfect Pickles Please

Is your summer garden overflowing with cucumbers? Or maybe you have a neighbor who's offering them up. This refrigerator pickle recipe is so easy, anyone can do it. These are crispy, fresh and tangy.

There's no special equipment needed. Pickling is one way to hang onto summer for a few more weeks. These are easy on the waistline, a tasty way to perk up a sandwich or wrap, and kids love to eat them. 

To pickle anything, here's what you need: 

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar or stevia

2 tbs salt

1/3 cup water

1 onion, thinly sliced 

3 cups sliced cucumber

Mix vinegar, water,sugar,salt until all are dissolved. Add veggies and seasonings. Store in a covered plastic container in the refrigerator. You can also use clean glass canning jars which make them perfect for sharing. 

Wash out the jars with soap and water and stack the pickles and onion slices inside, then add the liquid, garlic and peppers and pop the lids on. 

All pickles must be kept in refrigerator until eaten. They're ready to enjoy in about two days, if you can wait that long. Don't discard the juice, just keep adding more sliced vegetables. Don't pickle anything in a metal bowl. 

For flavor options, add chunks of garlic cloves, jalepeno pepper chunks, mustard seed, dill, fresh herbs--depending on the flavor you want. Feel free to adjust the sugar. You don't need much. The above vinegar is enough for 2-3,  6 ounce jars.

I like to jar these and give them as gifts. Just remind people to keep them in the refrigerator. They won't last long!--Especially if Maddie is around!

When You Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Do you know a lunch bag diva? She might own 6 different lunch bags or boxes, totes, coolers and assorted containers. She walks into work like she's planning a feast--when really, she's carrying in her two healthy snacks and midday meal because she's on a mission.

Want to succeed in the nutrition department? Cook, pack your meals and take them to work. If you want to kickstart your metabolism, you need to eat small meals throughout the day which include a protein, a good carb and some veggies. They don't sell that in vending machines--at least not where I work.

It's also a good idea to stock your desk drawer with snacks like almonds,  low sugar protein bars, and even an easy open can of tuna. That's to prep for those crazy days when you leave the house and leave that fantastic lunch on the kitchen counter. Or when you're just too swamped to cook.

If you work for 8 hours, you'll need a meal and up to two hearty snacks depending on your drive time. Greek yogurt is an excellent snack containing all the food groups and it's easy to take on the go. String cheese is also very portable. Most people need to eat 2 pieces to satisfy the body's protein needs. Add a serving size of whole grain crackers OR a piece of fruit and you have a decent meal that won't spike your blood sugar or make you crave the office crap in the corner cubicle.

Need a quick lunch? Save a portion from dinner and make that meal do double duty. If you're cooking chicken stir fry for dinner, cook a few extra ounces of chicken, add veggies and tomorrow, you eat like a queen.

Can you eat out with the gang? --once in a while. But here's the problem: restaurant meals are typically loaded with calories, fat and sodium, and virtually ANY meal you cook at home will be better for you that one served at a restaurant.

Have a strategey for eating out. Split a meal. Put half or more in a box. Order a salad that includes protein and order dressing on the side.

Let's face it. When you fail to plan, plan to fail!

Choosing the High Road

I'm trying to encourage my 14 year old son to run. Really, I'd like him to do anything that makes him sweat and raises his heart rate. Because our bodies are meant to move. We just feel better when we get that blood pumping and force oxygen into our muscles. After exercise, we think more clearly, we're more productive and we're in a better mood.

The other day, I gave my son a choice on our 2-mile jog: We could take the uphill road for a quarter mile, or stay on the flat trail. "Why would we take the hard way?,"  he asked.

I explained that when we accomplish difficult goals, or things we don't think we can do, we feel stronger and more powerful than we every imagined. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone makes us grow and gives us confidence in every area of life.  We started a few weeks ago with just a one mile run.

Will he get a side cramp? Will his legs ache? Yes, probably. But all that is temporary. It's the stuff we endure to reach the goal. Is it easy? No. But nothing worthwhile is easy.

It helps if you take little steps in that journey toward the goal. Walk first, then run. About 4 years ago, before I really kicked my fitness into gear, I would have never considered strapping on a pair of skis and heading for the hills. I skied when I was a teenager, zipping down the hill, out of control--barely surviving. Older now, and not so willing to risk a broken bone, there's much more caution. But that doesn't mean we stop taking risks.

My 14 year old son is a black diamond kind of guy. He has confidence and agility on skis that I will never have. But I've progressed over the years, from the bunny hill, to the green runs and this year, blue runs only. The first time I glimpsed at River Run in Dillon, Colorado, I told my family, "I will NEVER ski down that hill."

It was terrifying to even think about it. It was numbing to watch others swoosh down it. But with confidence, strength, determination...and yes, sometimes falling, we reach our goals.

This year on a confident run, I headed for the blue, with my family waving me off--telling me I was going in the wrong direction. I knew exactly where I was headed. And I skied that run over and over again--with the excitement of a toddler just learning to walk. My 14-year-old even cheered me on.

It didn't happen overnight. It wasn't easy. It was a VERY high road. And I'm a little stronger for it.

Lesson learned and taught.

Are Carbs Bad?

So many people have misconceptions about exactly what a carbohydrate, or "carb" is. They run from anything made of bread or pasta in fear of it sticking to their thighs or belly. There are a couple "diets" which remove starchy carbs--with the idea that carbs hinder weight loss.

You can eat bread, pasta and rice, and be healthy and lean. 
But the truth is, it's the quality, type and amount of carbohydrate that matters.

A carb is actually any food that gives the body energy. Most carb sources started by growing out of the ground, as a plant. And really, the lower we eat on the food chain, the more quality energy we'll get from our food.

A donut is a carb. (and a fat) It's a carb, because it gives us energy, but it's made with "refined" ingredients, white flour--flour which is stripped of its nutrients and bleached white.

Let's say this donut is 300 calories.





The fact is, this turkey enchilada is also 300 calories.

But it contains a different kind of carbs, called complex carbs. The enchilada is made with a small, whole grain tortilla, it is stuffed with a few black beans, ground turkey, and topped with lettuce and salsa. (these are vegetable carbs, natural wholesome foods that are unprocessed.)

Ok.. we're talking about two diffent foods that are 300 calories each. Big deal. Can you nutritionally swap one for the other? No. Your body knows the difference.

When you eat a donut, your body breaks down those refined sugars and carbs very quickly, because they were already broken down in the manufacturing process. Then, your blood sugar spikes and you have a sudden burst of energy. About an hour later, your body is trying to deal with the sudden onslaught of sugar, and your energy crashes.. so you reach for another donut. But don't do it!!!

When you eat the enchilada, you have a more superior form of energy in the whole grains, veggies and turkey. It's energy that lasts longer because it releases into your bloodstream gradually. The lean meat in the enchilada provides protein which keeps you fuller, longer and helps build lean, strong muscles. The black beans provide filling fiber and the salsa gives you flavor with few calories. You don't have sugar rush or crash and burn feeling of downing a few donuts.

Complex carbs give me excellent energy to push through grueling workouts and work harder--so I can burn more calories.

So how does this translate to eating bread and pasta? Chose whole grain bread, whole grain pasta and brown rice and keep the serving sizes small. I always tell people, have pasta, but make the serving the size of your fist. Then, have a big salad on the side. Stay away from white bread, white flour, white potatoes and sugar.

Eat a piece of crusty whole grain bread from the bakery, but then don't bread your chicken or pile potatoes on your plate.

Eat brown rice, quinoa, barley or farro. But eat about 1/3 of a cup cooked and round it out with vegetables. Our bodies need and want complex carbs to run, jump, think clearly and do all the amazing things we accomplish each day. But too much of any food like carbs, even "healthy" food, packs on the pounds and puts us at risk for all those diseases we don't like to talk about.

Yes. You can and should eat pasta if you want to!