Marilu Henner's Blog, page 187

Featured recipes from Marilu's table * THM Beverages

Today we're sharing some of our favorite "adult" beverages for the holiday season. Alcohol is permitted on Marilu's Total Health Makeover®, with some guidelines. Remember that alcohol clouds your judgment, and gives you empty calories. As always, if you shouldn't drink (for health reasons or for alcoholism), then don't.

Make sure you're eating (healthy foods!) while you're drinking. No drinking on an empty stomach.
Drink one glass of water for every alcoholic beverage, and alternate them.
No more than two drinks in any given night; no more than five drinks during a week.

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Cosmopolitan

2-1/2 ounces organic fruit-juice sweetened lemonade (try Santa Cruz or R.W. Knudsen's)

1-1/2 ounces vodka (optional)

1 teaspoon unsweetened natural cranberry juice

1 orange wedge (1/4 orange) or 1 Tablespoon orange juice

Combine lemonade, vodka if using, and cranberry juice. Squeeze in the orange juice. Shake with ice, strain into a martini glass, and serve.

 

Pear Bellini

2 ounces pear juice or nectar (try Ceres)

4 ounces champagne OR 2 ounces sparkling mineral water and 2 ounces sparkling cider (try Martinelli's)

Pour the pear juice into a wine or champagne glass. Slowly add the champagne (or sparkling water and sparkling cider).

 

Hot Toddy

2 ounces R.W. Knudsen's unsweetened Cider and Spice (or similar all-natural product)

1-1/2 ounces whiskey or rum (optional)

4 ounces boiling water

cinnamon stick

Pour the Cider and Spice and the whiskey, if using, into a coffee mug. Add the boiling water, and garnish with the cinnamon stick, if desired.

 

White Russian

2 ounces vodka

1 ounce Kahlua or other coffee liqueur

1-2 ounces soy milk or soy creamer

Pour the vodka and Kahlua into a glass of ice and stir. Float the soy milk or soy creamer on top. Serve with a stir stick.

 

Treat yourself like a child

Yes, treat yourself like a child – or rather, do for yourself what you would do for a child.

Use positive words * You wouldn't trash talk a child, and you don't deserve to hear that from yourself either. Be kind and supportive in the words you speak to yourself.

Feed yourself well * You wouldn't give a child cookies and candy all day, just because it's "treat day" at school. You'd still require balanced meals made with whole foods. You need those balanced meals, too.

Drink water * You wouldn't allow a child to drink soda all day, and it won't do you any good either (and neither will a lot of coffee). Just as you'd have a child drink water through the day, you can drink water through the day.

Dress for the weather * Yes, we know the fashionistas want to look good, but if your weather is cold or wet, you need to dress for it. There's no shame in warm clothing if it keeps you from getting sick.

Play – outside if you can * Fresh air and activity are good for children, and they're good for you, too. Take time to relax, run around, throw a snowball, build a snowman, or play a game.

Get a good night's sleep * We all know children get cranky when they don't get enough sleep. Make sure you avoid a cranky attitude (and poor decisions) by going to bed at a decent hour and getting a good night's sleep.

 

Get moving * Down, down, down

Sometimes we hear music that just makes us want to do some kind of exercise.

Maybe you'd like to walk to this, but we feel like doing squats. And really, if there's ever a song that makes us want to do squats, we take note of it. Because we can always use more squats.

So get up and do something to this song.

(Remember, if you're doing squats, don't let your knees go past your toes – if they do, you need to move to a wider stance, or turn out (or not turn out) your feet so much, or sit back more into the squat.)

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/01 Parachute acoustic.mp3

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Marilu on 60 Minutes this weekend

My two-part 60 MINUTES is on this Sunday, Dec 19 on CBS (check for local time).

It's all about memory, so please don't forget to watch, TiVo or DVR! *

XO

Marilu

* If football goes past 7:45 pm EST, the show may be rescheduled for January.

 

Also note that setting your TiVo or DVR for an extra hour is a good idea, in case the football game goes long, but 60 Minutes still airs.

 

THM holiday beverages

Here are some of our favorites. Look for more later this week!

Hot apple cider * Serve with a cinnamon stick, or make with mulling spices (often available from the bulk spice section of your health food store).

Hot cocoa * Make it with a non-dairy milk (rice, soy, almond, oat, coconut). Or make it easy and heat up some chocolate Almond Breeze. It's a member favorite.

Soy eggnog * Soy Dream and Silk both make good eggnogs. Brandy or rum optional.

Pumpkin smoothie * Make it with soy eggnog for extra richness; serve warm or cold.

Mulled wine * Gently heat your favorite red wine with mulling spices.

Coffee chai * Over medium-low heat, simmer 4 cups rice or soy milk, 1 Tablespoon instant decaf coffee, 1/8 cup Sucanat®, 3 cinnamon sticks, 6 cardamom pods, 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice. Turn off the heat and let steep for 20-30 minutes. Strain through a clean sieve. Serve hot or cold, with cinnamon stick stirrers. Serves 4.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Roasted cauliflower & sweet peppers

We were excited to find organic cauliflower at our store last week for almost half the price of commercial cauliflower. We stocked up and served it several ways throughout the week. This Indian-spiced dish was one of our favorites. It's really pretty served on a platter, too.

The recipe calls for ground cumin seeds. You can purchase ground cumin, or grind the seeds yourself in a spice (aka coffee) grinder. Just keep the grinder reserved for seeds and spices (no coffee beans!). Clean it out by whizzing a slice of fresh bread, torn into several pieces.

If you don't like spicy-hot food, reduce the red pepper flakes by half.

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Roasted Cauliflower and Sweet Peppers

Green * Serves 4

4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed organic lemon juice

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or use tamari or low-sodium soy sauce)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1 organic cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cored and separated into florets

1 large organic red bell pepper, halved, seeded, and sliced into 1-inch strips

1 large organic yellow bell pepper, halved, seeded, and sliced into 1-inch strips

1/2 cup fresh organic cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 450F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, Bragg's, salt, ground cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes.

Add the cauliflower florets and bell pepper strips, and toss well.

In a large baking dish, spread out the vegetables and roast for 45 minutes, or until well browned, stirring every 15 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a serving dish, garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, and serve.

 

Follow & friend Marilu

Be sure to follow Marilu on Twitter (@TheRealMarilu) and friend her on Facebook (Marilu Henner)!

 

Spirit Sunday * The season of giving

We are the voices crying in the wilderness.

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/01 Gabriel and the Vagabond.mp3

 

Be generous this holiday season. There are people hurting all over the world, and in our own communities. Whatever your favorite cause, wherever you want to help, do your part. Give what you can.

If you want to check out a charitable organization, check their website, and also look at Charity Navigator to verify that they're spending contributions wisely. There's also other good information about making charitable contributions on that site.

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Get ready… here come the holidays!

Most of us are already in full holiday mode – attending parties and entertaining, going to concerts and school events, baking and cooking, shopping and wrapping, decorating, mailing… and it goes on.

If you don't have a plan for the next three weeks – from today right on through New Year's Day – then sit down and make one today. Use your family calendar as the starting point. Include all the tasks you need to get done, and your deadline for them. Remember to get to the post office or package shipping place at least a week before you want things to arrive. Get your online shopping finished in the next few days. Get going on that baking, especially if you're giving baked goods as gifts.

The key to happy holidays is organization and planning.

 

Home fragrances

The fragrances of the holidays are our favorites – cinnamon, evergreens, vanilla, bayberry.

Avoid all the fragrance sprays and plug in things. They add more chemicals to the air than scent. Not good. Instead try one of the suggestions below – or share your own ideas.

Use reed diffusers to add a light scent to your home. You can change the oil for different seasons. When you want a punch of scent, turn the reeds upside down in the bottle.

Candles are decorative as well as just smelling good. We like soy candles with plain wicks because they don't add extra toxins to the air. Be sure to keep candles on a non-flammable surface. Stay in the same room as burning candles, and extinguish them before you go to bed or leave the house.

Potpourri is also decorative – many of the seasonal blends have pinecones and berries and evergreen branches in them. Don't use potpourri if you have young children or pets who might want to eat it. Find one of those crystal bowls you got for a wedding gift, or inherited from a relative, and use it for potpourri.

What else do you use to scent your home for the holidays?