After that cool video message from Marilu, here’s a delicious vegan entree that’s easy to make, and filling during these cold winter months. Miso is sold in the refrigerated section of your health food store. Kombu is a sea vegetable found in the Asian foods section. Kombu provides minerals to the legumes, and also helps reduce the gassiness.

Lemony Lentil Dish
Blue * Serves 6

1 Tablespoon miso (red or white, whichever you have/prefer)
1 cup lentils
1 clove garlic, minced
1 4-inch piece of kombu
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup cooked brown rice or other grain
1 teaspoon grated ginger (peel and grate on smallest holes in grater)

Pressure cook lentils, kombu and water for 30 minutes or boil for 45 minutes. Lentils should be very soft.

Remove kombu from the pot, cut into small pieces and return to pot. If all the water has cooked
out, add a bit more* for a thick soup consistency. Stir remaining ingredients into cooked lentils,
making sure seasonings are evenly distributed. Put in a shallow baking dish (a 9-inch pie plate
will work, too). Cover and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.

*For lemony lentil loaf, do not add water and make sure all the water has cooked out of the beans, after mixing ingredients together, press into a lightly oiled loaf pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with a steamed green vegetable, like green beans or broccoli, or roasted Brussels sprouts.

Thanks to Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine for this video with Marilu.

Consumers (that’s you) need to know the facts about chemicals, additives, and preservatives. An educated eater is a healthy eater. Usually. Because the thought of eating nitrate, sodium stearyl lactylate, and monocalcium phosphate for lunch isn’t really appealing, is it? That’s what you’re eating in a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, with potato chips. For many of the foods we eat, food = chemicals.

Additives are “any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result in affecting the characteristics of the food.” Hmmm. Sounds like the whole intent is to change the food into something it’s not.

Of course, that’s not always bad. Herbs and spices are added to change flavors. Salt is a preservative, and has been for years (anyone who’s eaten lutefisk might say that’s not such a good thing, but we’ll keep that as the exception that proves the rule).

ASSIGNMENT – For every meal you eat today, pay attention to how much of the food is just the way it grew, and how much has been “enhanced” with chemicals, additives, or preservatives.

Drink plenty of water. When it’s cold, you still need to stay hydrated.

Photo by Aduhai

Time for another finance tip. Yeah, not so fun, this finance stuff. But if we’re going to clean up our lives, we have to face all the aspects of healthy living. Finances are part of that.

So let’s haul out a notebook or open a file on the computer – and make a detailed list of all our debts. This is like taking a hard look at all the junk food in the fridge. It ain’t pretty for most of us. But we have to know where we stand.

List your mortgage(s), car payments, tax debt, furniture, medical bills, and those pesky credit cards. Next to each item, list how much you owe, and what the interest rate is.

Different financial wizards have different ideas about paying off debt – start with the highest interest rate, and pay that one down – or start with the smallest balance and pay that one off. Either way – make sure you’re making minimum payments on all of them. And choose a method of attack.

Need more help? Ask Coach CindyR for assistance on the member message boards.

Photo by Zsuzsanna Kilián

Recently, I was interviewed for an article in Professional Development magazine. One of the questions they asked is what three people in history I would like to sit down to dinner with and why.

My choices? William Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, and John Lennon. I love talking to brilliant, creative, prolific people, and I would love to discuss with each of them their “process.”

Who would YOU choose – and why?

What do you do when the music starts?

May I suggest kickboxing?

If that’s too aggressive, try squats and lunges.

Turn on your speakers, and press the green button. Several times today, okay?

Avocados are so good for you! Every woman over 40 should eat half an avocado a day because it provides the healthy fats you need to combat the dryness of aging. Those fats are good for your brain, and help you absorb your supplements, too.

Here’s my favorite salad right now.

Each plate of greens is half spinach and half arugula.

Top each plate of greens with half an avocado, sliced.

For the dressing, grate one shallot, sprinkle it with a little red wine vinegar, and whisk in about twice as much olive oil with a fork. Drizzle about a teaspoon on your salad.

We’ve been eating this a lot lately, and everyone loves it. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Photo by Robbie Owen-Wahl

What medical appointments do you need to make this year?

• Annual physical
• Mam & Pap (for women)
• Colonoscopy
• Dentist
• Eye doctor
• Bone density test

Call now and make the appointment. Then open a notebook or a file or your PDA and start a list of your questions (nobody remembers – it’s like the doctor’s office has some kind of memory zapper at the door). Oh, and take that notebook or printed file or PDA with you – and write down the answers (the memory zapper works going out the door, too). Take care of yourself.

Photo by Liz Carney