De-stress by mediating, praying, or doing yoga daily. Love your self daily. Stand in the mirror, look in your eyes and tell yourself "I love myself" twenty times. You would be surprised at how much difference self- love makes the pounds melt away. Read an affirmation daily from Louise Hay "Heal Your Body."
While you are cooking play some music that makes you groove and dance. Make cooking enjoyable by drinking a glass of wine, relaxing and dancing. Dancing will help burn calories and de-stress you. You have more fun by cooking with friends or family members. I like drinking a glass of Vendage or Beringer Zinfindel and dancing to cool jazz or R&B.
Thanksgiving week everyone is planning, shopping , cleaning, and getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Most of the cooks or contributors to the dinner are looking for shortcuts because time is of the essence.
Some of my Thanksgiving dinner shortcuts:
Turkey - I prefer to shop at Sam's Club or Alidi's for the Butterball Smoked Turkey which is precooked. You just thaw, heat and eat.
Dressing - Mama Diva Eva's Cornbread Dressing with Shortcuts
3 - boxes Jiffy Mix Cornbread (3 Eggs and 1 cup milk)
1 - Loaf Wheat Bread (Toasted hard)
or substitute Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing
1 - TBSP Canola Oil
1 cup - Frozen chopped onions
1 cup - Frozen chopped green peppers
2 - stalk's Chopped celery
1 - box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice
1 - roll of ground turkey breakfast sausage
Ground Sage
No Salt No MSG seasoning - Mrs. Dash, Vegit, or Vegesal
Boiling Hot water
Gravy in jar or make from seasoning packet
Directions:Prepare JiffyMix Cornbread per directions on box. Bake in one large pan. Toast 1 loaf of wheat bread. Place baked cornbread and toasted wheat bread in bowl to cool. Once cooled crumble in to small pieces with your hands. Boil Uncle Ben's Wild Rice and allow to cool. Throw in bowl with bread. Defrost ground turkey breakfast sausage in microwave for 4 min.. Saute onion, green peppers, celery and add ground turkey breakfast sausage. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Season with ground sage and no salt seasoning. Add sauteed mixture to bread and rice. Let cool. Then mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add cooled boiled water in small increments of 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Mix mixture by hand and season to taste. Place mixture in foil pan and bake until brown on top. Serve with gravy from a jar or seasoning packet.
Vegetarian Greens
2 bags -Glory Greens chopped in the bag (choice or collards, mustards, or turnips)
1- cup each Frozen Onion and Green Peppers
2 TBSP. - Crushed Garlic in a jar
No Salt seasoning to taste
Boil all ingredients in a pot on high for twenty minutes or until tender.
Sweet Potato Pone
5 lbs.Canned Sweet Potatoes or Yams
Lemon Juice (Constituted in a bottle)
5 - 1 lbs bags Brown Sugar
Butter or margarine
1 dozen Eggs
Ground Cinnamon
Milk or soy milk
Directions: Drain the can and enough sweet potatoes to fill 1/2 of mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp. lemon juice; 1/2 to 1 bag of brown sugar or add sugar to taste; 4 TBSP. butter; 3 eggs; 1 tsp. ground Cinnamon. Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth. Add 1/4 cup milk slowly until smooth. Repeat steps until you have enough to fill foil pan. Bake in oven until slight brown on top.
Sweet Potato Pie
Mixture Above plus
Pie Crust Shells
Add 3 more eggs to mixture to bind ingredients. Pour in pie crust and bake until slightly brown on top.
On Thanksgiving Day, I will eat a protein shake for breakfast or shake pie of 200 calories. I walk the dog in the morning. Then snack on fruit until dinner so I won't be too hungry. I save most of my caloires for dinner. After dinner I will walk the dog or dance to burn some calories. Then I have a glass of wine to aid digestion of my dinner. The next day I will cleanse my system with carrot juice or a colon cleanse.
