Good Healthy Patterns and Adding Fun Hobbies

We always look for solutions that are most helpful to us.  I thought I knew how ho eat.  However, I was a vegetarian and I exercised, was an avid reader and did everything correctly.  My servings were simply too much of everything that was healthy and vegetarian!  Now that I have consulted with a good nutritionist I consume healthy servings, small portions and have chosen to become a vegan and I enjoy it.  I am not a fanatic about it and am aware that most people who vvisit my page eat meat, so I post for them on social media adding recipes that serve the purpose of what is the majority in our country, meat eaters.  I have found a good nutrition book that works for me!  I posted this book adding it on this blog.  I also find that any book published by Reader's Digest has so much good information to offer, it works for me as well.   Then there are magazines that I enjoy reading, among these the old issues of Priscilla which are still sold by collectors.  Another magazine that I enjoy is the ever time consuming, fun, complete 'book,' a magazine published as Daphne's Diary which is published monthly.  Yes, I exercise, but this, too, I do in moderation now, every day, incorporating what works for me.   Walking, jogging, running, brisk walking, these are all wonderful and healthy.  Though, in many news reports, there are kidnappings and killings of those who do this form of exercise any time of the day alone!  The key is to do it in a group.  That group should have your trusted friends, both men and women, should remain together, and so forth.  Make it fun and make it healthy, but also remember to keep is safe!  Water is prime for all diets and exercise programs.  I always consult my doctor and nutritionist in all matters of health and nutrition, supplements, exercises, that I wish to include in my life.  I read the books, true, but I ask questions.  I take a list of questions to my doctor when I see her. I find that doctors are teaching hospitals are well informed and do research and that again, is the ultimate word.   Keeping a journal and Daphne's Diary, and others that are akin to this magazine is always a good relaxing and fun guide.  For those who do not enjoy writing or keeping a journal ...  Perhaps a daily game of Sudoku, photography, keeping a scrapbook that you work on each day will enhance that quiet time, 'me' time, away from your daily routine.   There are good, informative books and magazines that are published and that I purchase.  At the end of the day, I go by what my doctors say.  It has taken me many years to eat less, use portion control and yes, count carbs!  I find that by exercising every day, but for less time and not overdoing it, I gain better results.  I do not like to swim, but for those who enjoy it and practice safety this is a good aerobic exercise.    I will post again next month, possibly on Valentine's Day.

Top 10 Protein Sources, Healthy Vegetarian & Meat Foods, Weight Loss Nut...

How to Beat Sugar & Fast Food Craving & Lose Weight | Psychetruth Health...

Past Perfect

Don't you wish you could own these beautiful vintage items?    I recall the tin tea set that I had as a child.  Toys were beautiful then and this applies to the appliances, dinnerware, and kitchen utensils our mothers and grannies used at home.  Back then the ladies used what they owned and needed. Today, many homemakers collect and not use these lovely additions to any home!  Our nostalgia is the craving of a new generation.   In regard to the 1950s, everything in the fashion world, home decorating, and kitchen appliances offered an artistic look.  I wish we had not lost that fine art of living and the beautiful  items that graced our dinner table, shelves, and kitchens.  Food also tasted better in our childhood days.  Read the labels found written on a loaf of bread!  Process foods are convenient, but are they healthy?  Ask a nutritionist/dietician ...  to inform you.  Food coloring, additives, and so many kinds of chemicals in the foods that we enjoy are not natural.  Ask your nutritionist if fat free and  diet prodcuts are healthy to ingest in a daily basis.  Collect and enjoy and never be afraid to ask questions to your doctors.  As we age we cling to nostalgic moods and want to eat healthier.

IN YOUR HEARTS, MAKE EVERY DAY A FESTIVE HOLIDAY.

https://retropattycake.blogspot.com/2016/08/meet-retro-patty-cake-your-little.html

My little Pattycake!

The New Year, 2017, and may it be a peaceful year and our meals be healthy and shared with family and friends.  Holidays are wonderful distractions from the routine of our busy lives, make the best of all holidays and enjoy it all as much as possible.  In your hearts, make every day a holiday!

Covered Dishes

I enjoy covered dishware!  Casseroles, cake stands, you name it and I like it covered!  Tupperware had their vintage almond tumblers.  These 'glasses' had their lids and I enjoyed them.  Since, I have enjoyed covered everything in the kitchen and at the dinner table.  Eating Cantonese food in childhood took us to a wonderful restaurant for Cantonese fried rice, wanton and cabbage eggrolls.  Their covered dish for the Chinese rice was yet another eye opener ... Since, I serve everything with covered dishes and the ceramic Temp-tations by Dana on QVC provides such treats.  I ordered two sets of four from her company, one in cranberry -- small casseroles for portion control and the same with the four pumpkin-shaped casseroles and the larger pumpkin casserole as well for fall servings including Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, the blessed harvest celebration!

victoriarosecottage.com   

Soup's On: Yes, it was Fascination ...

 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/- 

I have always enjoyed preparing soup!  I like a vegan soup, no chicken stock/broth, no ham bone for me.  My husband, on the other hand, enjoys all the trimming and unlike me is not a vegan.  I enjoy preparing all kinds of soups for others who do not abstain from consuming meat/game.  I especially enjoy adding marjoram, thyme, and coriander seeds to the vegetable, tomato, or any meat soup that I might prepare for others on a given day.  Tomato soup and 'keylime' or even a regular green lime is always good with most soups, especially with tomato soup to which I also add the freshly ground black pepper and lime at the time that I am serving the individual portions!  Blistering success!  Part of my fascination in the art of preparing soup for myself and for others has its roots in an article that Victoria magazine published long ago.  I am not certain if it was written by Emelie Tolley or Catherine Calvert. 

 

I have a copy of the article in one of over one hundred scrapbooks that I have created.  It was the author's experience in France at a small family restaurant akin to our typical American mom and pop shops of the past, the family restaurant did not offer luxuries, but the soup was a delicacy.  Hence, the love for soup was born in me.  Yes, I have been fascinating by the art and science of soup preparation and selecting fresh, seasonal ingredients ... We all have our soup secrets!  Hush!

There is an art to making soup.  It may be a process others compare to frying an egg, but there is more to it.  There is art and romance and science in all food preps, but the art of preparing soup goes beyond the perfect egg, steak, or souffle.  It is a beautiful experience, especially during a crisp autumn day or a chilling, gray ... winter day.  Until I find that article from Victoria, I posted references from Emelie Tolley.  The proper herbs must blend well, that is the secret, and not over boiling potatoes, for their taste becomes sort of sweet and dull and mushy.  

Perhaps Emelie Toll and Catherine Calvert inspired me to the point of continuing to experiment in the art and science of preparing the most savory soups and acquiring the proper soup bowl.  Fancy soups should be served in beautiful soup bowls. Vintage, cozy plates would do for most soups and that is the way I go now.  I used to serve meals in fancy china, but now I find that vintage is best.  Asiago cheese is perfect for any soup, if you enjoy adding soup to your soup bowl once it has been served.  Parm, Swiss, any cheese would do, try soup served with cheese and black pepper, if you enjoy good cheese!  Enjoy the following references/link. 

Illus via google . com

Soup's On!

Emelie Tolley:  A Return to Loveliness

Emelie recalls special spring tonics that grandmothers used to use to revitalize one in the springtime after a long winter season of indulgences.  “For overall cleansing and toning, there is nothing better than greens packed with nutrients. Years ago herbs such as parsley, nettle, dandelion, borage, watercress and sorrel might have been added to spinach, asparagus, or celery in a lovely green soup with a chicken broth base. The combination can be turned into a juice so powerful it is best diluted with cooling cucumber juice”.

1998

Victoria’s Herb Lover

"Emelie Tolley shared her love of herbs as a Contributing Editor of Victoria for several years. Having discovered herbs over 30 years ago, Emelie has not only written countless articles on herbs, but has also created a series of lifestyle books on herbs – their culinary uses, their medicinal uses, their beauty and their benefit to our health and beauty."

You are drawn into Emelie’s world and adoration of herbs in her many Victoria Magazine articles.