I don’t know about you, but when it’s hot outside, I start craving ice cream. Every afternoon around 3:00, I feel the need for a big scoop of mint chocolate chip. But, knowing that I can’t indulge in ice cream every day without adding a few summertime pounds, I began searching for alternatives to satisfy my summertime sweet tooth.

As I began this intensive research project, I asked a few people how they dealt with their cravings. The serious athletes (you know them…the Ironman types) chose fruit. HOW BORING IS THAT? An orange is not going to satisfy my sweet tooth and I’m not even going to give it a try. The slender people said they chew gum. Hmmm. Rocky Road or Trident? You can’t put ice cream and chewing gum in the same category!

After a few weeks of trying out various sweet treats, I created a list of my favorite summertime goodies. They had to satisfy my sweet tooth, but not contain have too much fat or too many calories.

1. Fage 2 % Greek Yogurt with strawberry preserves. This delicious, creamy treat is high in protein and low in fat. It’s one of my favorites.
2. Peanuts with semi-sweet chocolate chips. A handful of peanuts sprinkled with chocolate chips satisfies your cravings for something salty AND sweet. Stick to one handful and enjoy this protein packed snack with an ice cold seltzer.
3. Kashi Go Lean Fiber and Protein Bar. These nice little “hold-me-over” snack bars are pretty good. And they keep me going strong until dinner.
4. Chocolate Milk. I know it doesn’t sound like it would be satisfying, but it is. I hadn’t had a glass of chocolate milk in over 15 years until the other day. It was delicious! And because it’s so hot outside, it helped quench my thirst too. I like Farmland Dairies Lactose Free Skim Plus Milk and good old Hershey’s Syrup.
5. Gelato. I know. It’s almost ice cream but it’s not. It’s so much better! It has less fat, less sugar and they serve smaller scoops. Treat yourself to this amazing Italian delicacy every now and then—it’s simply to die for.

Like any other food, eating a little sweet treat is fine in moderation. When choosing any of the above, remember to simply go with a smaller portion…and ENJOY!!!

Please share your favorite summertime with us. I’m always looking for new options!

Stay sweet,

Molly

One of the easiest ways to drop a few pounds is to cut back on the amount of food you eat.  Over the last 30 years, portion sizes (like our waistlines) have continued to increase.  It happens so gradually that you don’t even realize that the food on your plate should be feeding two people instead of one.  Do you remember the blueberry muffins you ate as a kid?  They were half the size of the monster muffins you see in coffee shops today.

So how do you make subtle adjustment to your daily routine to make sure you’re eating the right amount of food?  Let’s break it down by meals and snacks:

1. Breakfast: Use a smaller bowl for your oatmeal, cereal or yogurt and don’t go back for seconds.  Many people make the mistake of keeping the box of cereal next to their bowl so they can keep filling it up.  After you fix your breakfast, put everything away.  If you want a breakfast sandwich, skip the meat and choose English muffins over biscuits or croissants.  And just say NO to greasy hash browns.
2. Lunch: It’s really hard to pick up a sandwich for lunch these days because they’re so big–and they’re often served with fries like this club sandwich with a gazillion calories!   If you have a favorite place where you can get half of a sandwich and a cup of soup, that’s great.  But eating out for lunch can get really expensive.  The best solution is to bring a sandwich, homemade soup or a salad from home.  Leftovers from dinner are usually a good choice as well.  Ditch the snack chips and sodas—they’re both full of all kinds of stuff your body doesn’t need.
3. Dinner: Dinner may seem like a hard meal to scale back on—but if you think about it, it’s easy. Before you serve your plate, think about how much food would make you feel satisfied without making you feel stuffed.  Then serve your plate in the kitchen.  Unless you have company, there’s no reason to put serving bowls on the table.  It makes it too easy to take “just a little more”.  Using a smaller plate works wonders because your brain sees a full plate of food—even if it’s not as much food.  Once you’ve made this a habit, you won’t even miss the extra food on your plate.  If you go out to dinner, skip the bread and ask for a “to-go” box with your meal.  You’ll have a ready-made lunch for tomorrow.
4. Snacks: A mid-morning or afternoon snack is a good way to get you through the day and help keep you from feeling famished by dinner time.  There are all kinds of great snacks—nuts, cheese, fruit, hummus—and there are bad snacks.   But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a piece of chocolate in the afternoon.  It simply means you choose the fun sized Snickers bar (76 calories) instead of a regular Snickers bar (280 calories).  And try to avoid snacking after dinner.  If you find yourself wanting a snack in the evening, try to figure out why you want it.  I’m almost certain it’s not because you’re hungry (unless you are working a night shift!)

Other things to remember:

• Slow down. The faster you eat, the less you get to enjoy your meal.   Have you ever noticed that food tastes better when someone else cooks for you? This is probably because you’re slowing down and actually paying attention to what you’re eating.  So slow down and enjoy.
• Drink water before and during your meal.  It will help you feel full quicker.  Plus, our bodies need a lot of water.
• Crowd your plate with lots of fresh vegetables. You may have some bad memories of boiled vegetables from when you were a kid—I know I do (sorry mom).  But there are a lot of delicious recipes that combine great ingredients (like ginger, garlic and lemongrass) with healthy veggies.

Everything we do is a habit so why not choose good habits and healthy portions sizes?

Please share your good habits with us and tell us how you avoid over-sized portions.  Thanks!

Happy Meals,

Molly

Our family has had the same metal filing cabinet since before I was born.  Over the years it became so jammed pack full of papers that my mom finally broke down and decided to clean it out.  That filing cabinet contained everything from elementary grade cards to short stories we wrote in school to old tax returns. 

One of the most interesting things we found was a piece of paper with newspaper clippings taped to it.  It was full of tips and advice on how to clean things, keep food fresh and other useful household hints.  Now I don’t know where these helpful tips came from but I can tell you that some of the clippings look very old. 

If I had to bet, it would be my guess that some of the words of wisdom came from “Hints from Heloise”.  Thanks to the internet, I found out that she is still featured in over 500 newspapers and offers lots of tips on her website.  So make sure you check it out.

Mom and I loved some of these helpful hints.  We even tested a few of them and they worked!

Water stains inside vases.  To clean the inside of vases (especially those with openings too small to fit your hand in) just moisten the inside of the vase with a little water and then add a little toilet bowl cleaner.  After about 10 minutes the stains will be removed.  

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• Coffee stains in china cups.  Make a paste out of baking soda and water to remove coffee and tea stains from ceramic and china cups.  To prevent the stains from getting bad in the first place, allow the cups to soak in warm water and baking soda after using them.
• Celery turning soft.  Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in your fridge and it will keep for weeks.  (Mom, why hadn’t you told me this?)
• Cleaning glass tabletops.  Mix a solution of warm water and your favorite laundry fabric softener.  The tables will be lint-free and sparkling clean.
• Potato Buds.  To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.  You know what they say…an apple a day keeps potato buds away.
• Leftover wine.  Never throw away leftover wine (duh)!  Freeze them into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.  Another option which is not only easier but more fun, is to invite your friends over to help you finish the wine!
• Water marks on furniture.  Cover the water mark with a thick layer of cigarette or cigar ash.  (You may be wondering where to get the ashes–I’ll leave that up to you).  Saturate a clean cloth in vegetable oil and work the ash into the water mark in a circular motion.
• Too much salt.  We’ve all done this before.  You’re cooking a big pot of soup and as you’re pouring in the salt the top comes off!  Just drop a peeled potato in—it will absorb the excess salt.
• Really dirty screens.  Remove screens from windows or doors.  Scrub screens with a soft sponge dipped in hot water and ammonia.  Spray at full force with your garden hose.

Cure for headaches.  Cut a lime in half and rub it on your forehead.  Supposedly the throbbing goes away.  This is perfect for people who like to drink Corona (Lynnie), mojitos (Cyndi) or margaritas (Patch) since you’ll be sure to have leftover limes!

Mom also recommended saving all your leftover toothbrushes for cleaning tight spaces and jewelry.  But she never told me how to keep celery fresh!

I hope you found at least one helpful hint.   If you have some secret tips to share, please post them.  We’ll all be thankful!

Be Smart and Smile,

Molly