Marilu Henner's Blog, page 197

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Bin's breakfast bars

This is Sheri's sister's recipe for homemade chewy granola bars. They're loaded with every good thing, they're filling, and you know exactly what's in them (no chemicals! no high fructose corn syrup!). They're perfect for our family theme this week!

The recipe is very flexible. You can make it gluten-free with GF flour blends (we like Bob's Red Mill) instead of the flour and wheat germ. You can make it vegan by subbing the eggs with egg replacer (we like EnerG) or a flax slurry, and using maple syrup or agave syrup. You can choose other nut/seed butters. You choose the add-ins – check the suggestions at the end of the recipe for some tried-and-true combinations.

After cutting the bars, wrap them individually, either in snack size zipper bags or in plastic wrap. Then put all of the individual packages in a large zipper bag, and store them in the freezer. They thaw quickly.

The bars travel well to school or work, and are great on car trips.

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Bin's Breakfast Bars

Yellow * Makes 24 bars

2/3 cup pure maple syrup (or honey or agave)

1 cup natural cane sugar

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, softened (such as Earth Balance)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce, pumpkin, or mashed bananas

1 cup of natural peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)

4 eggs (or egg replacer)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 cups rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2-1/2 cups total of any of the options listed below

Add in options:

Coconut

Nuts

Chocolate chips

Dried fruit (raisins, golden raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, etc.)

Preheat oven to 375F. Line an 11×17 jellyroll pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together syrup, sugar, margarine, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, mix together cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, oats, and flour.

Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring until just moistened.

Fold in the additional ingredients that you have selected from the optional list. Do not over mix.

Spread mixture evenly in pan. Bake on center rack for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes on wire rack before slicing.

Makes 24 large breakfast bars. These bars can be frozen. Cut them up and put them in snack size zip-lock baggies. Place those in 3 large zip-locks to freeze. Remove as needed. They thaw quickly and this keeps them fresh.

Good combination – dairy-free chocolate chips, dried cranberries and pecans. Do this with applesauce or banana.

Good with pumpkin – dairy-free chocolate chips, coconut, pecans or walnuts.

It's okay to leave out the peanut butter, especially if you're using the pumpkin.

 

Halloween treats

Think about what you're giving to trick-or-treaters when they come to your door on Halloween. If you believe in your healthy lifestyle, you'll want to share it with the children in your neighborhood. Without giving them toothbrushes (unless you're a dentist; then it's kind of expected).

No candy doesn't mean no fun. Our neighbor kids love coming to our door (we've developed a bit of a reputation) to see what cool stuff they'll get this year. Leftovers from one year are recycled to the next year (we just bag them up and stick them in the box with the decorations), so there's no waste, and no tempting candy for us to deal with, either.

Check the local dollar store for inexpensive toys. Party favors often come in packs of 8 for $1; sometimes you can do even better. Discount stores often have sales on inexpensive toys and party favors, and sometimes have a special dollar section.

Purchase items that come in larger quantities, and break them down into individual gifts – balloons, crayons, colored pencils, etc.

Look for toys that work for a variety of ages, or buy several different kinds of toys, and pay attention when you're handing them out.

Shop online at places like Oriental Trading to get a whole bag of stuff for a reasonable price. (Note: do it now.)

Order custom printed pencils now, and you'll have them in time for Halloween.

Toys our neighbor kids love * plastic sunglasses, bubbles, rubber bats (the rodent kind), those truly obnoxious slide whistles, and temporary tattoos. In our experience, even the teens prefer toys to coins.

 

Give someone a free mammogram

 

Wouldn't it be great if every woman could get free mammograms? Always? Until that happens, visit The Breast Cancer Site every day and click.

The Breast Cancer Site is a sponsored site where your daily clicks add up to a free mammogram for someone who can't afford one. And if you shop from the site, a percentage of the sale goes to help fund mammograms, too.

 

Visit the site every day where you can *

Click to help someone get a free mammogram.
Add a pink ribbon to your Facebook page.
Spread the word using the social networking links.
Shop from the site to increase your contribution.

 

Marilu is featured guest at Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation gala

Last Saturday, Marilu was the keynote speaker at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) Gala, a major fundraiser for the Institute. The energy in the room was high, and Marilu – always a great speaker – held the audience captive with her story about her father's death and how it led her to a healthy life.

 

Marilu Henner lost her father to heart disease. And his death transformed her life. Known for her roles on Broadway, in film, and on television, Henner is now a health and wellness advocate with a major following.

Her Total Health Makeover program is changing lives and Henner is the recipient of the 2010 Voice of Compassion Award from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). With PCRM, she is working to persuade Congress to reform the Child Nutrition Act.

Please join us to hear Marilu speak with wit, passion and expertise as MHIF celebrates 28 years of historic success. Your support has made all the difference!

We promise a dinner of great food—selected by Marilu—and inspired music from Kicked in the Jimmy, a band of five young MHIF cardiologists.

Come to be entertained and enlightened, but most all, come to support life-saving research aimed at stopping cardiovascular disease—the number one killer in America.

~ Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation invitation

 

Local media reports here and here. The second one is a radio show – listen to the first hour to hear the interview with Marilu.

Get smart about your heart. MHIF has put together Wine Dinner Kits so you and your friends can become conversant about women's heart disease. The kits include a brochure with instructions for planning a gathering, an educational conversation guide and 10 preprinted invitations. To receive a free MHIF Wine Dinner Kit, contact Susan Fink at 612-863-9321 or sfink@mhif.org.

 

Clean up your coat closet

As we head into colder weather, it's the perfect time to take a good hard look at your coat closet.

What are you hiding in there? Could you play "one of things is not like the others; one of these things doesn't belong" in your coat closet? Find the right home for things that have migrated into the closet over the last year.

Sometimes the coat closet is the logical place for things that seem not to belong – a card table or vacuum cleaner or luggage or sports equipment. It depends on your home, the available closet and storage space, and the way you live. Make sure you have space for the oddball things you've designated for your coat closet.

Warm weather coats can be moved to the less accessible areas of the closet, or to storage. Be sure to wash everything, or have cleaned, before storing it during its off-season.

Cold weather outerwear includes a lot of extras – mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, shawls, boots, umbrellas. Our favorite storage system for the mittens, gloves, scarves, hats and shawls is one of those hanging shelf organizers, sold for shoes (narrow) and sweaters (wider). They hang from the rod, but give you shelving almost to the floor. Assign a shelf per person, or store all like things on a shelf (mittens on one, gloves on another, etc.).

Add hooks for umbrellas – on the door or on the side wall of the closet.

Our favorite place for boots is on a boot tray – a rubber tray with raised edges, so the wet mess boots leave behind is always contained. We like the boot tray by the door, but it works just as well inside the closet.

Make sure the cold weather coats are clean, in good repair and ready for use.

Add extra hangars for guests' coats. Get nice sturdy hangars for the coat closet – we like wooden ones – to take the weight of heavy coats and to help hold the shape of the coats.

Tote bags seem to procreate in closets. Check yours. Do they need to be laundered or wiped clean? Is the coat closet the best place for your grocery bags (or do they belong in your car, where you'll remember to use them)? If you have too many bags in good condition, check around for organizations that could use them. We've heard of libraries, schools, churches, and charity groups reusing donated bags.

Clean the closet while you're decluttering it. Vacuum the floor, baseboard, and shelves. Dust the walls and ceiling. Wipe down the door. If you're really ambitious, give the closet a fresh coat of paint inside. (Remember, there's no rule about what color it has to be – if you want it a fun, bright color, now's the time!)

 

How's your family?

Are your kids addicted to fast food?

Is your partner stubborn about trying new foods?

Is your kitchen table a battleground?

Has "healthy" become a bad thing at your house?

You need the 5-day class that starts TODAY here at Marilu.com. Coach Beth Miriam has tried-and-true strategies to get your family eating – and loving – healthy food.

Learn how to pick your battles when it comes to food and your family.
Learn how to adapt family favorites to healthier versions.
Get some tips on transitioning to healthier options.

Members are automatically enrolled in class – you received a class email today.

Not a member? Sign up now, and you won't miss anything.

 

Featured recipes from Marilu's table * Red beans & rice and Spicy chard & collard greens

Here's a complete meal for vegans – or anyone! (Just because a meal is meatless or animal-free, doesn't mean other people won't love it). They're also budget friendly meals, especially if you purchase the beans and rice from the bulk bins, and get the produce from the farmer's market.

If you don't eat meat analogs (fake meats, usually made from soy or gluten), you can skip the soy sausage altogether (just add some Cajun seasoning or increase the Tabasco). Or if you eat poultry, try spicy chicken sausage. However you make it, the dish is delicious.

Chard and collards are typical southern foods that have just started getting positive reviews in the north. We challenge you to try something new with this recipe if you haven't had cooked greens before. Cooking the greens (like tomatoes) makes their nutrition more available. If you chop the stems, it's fine to eat them, too.

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Red Beans and Rice

Green * Serves 6-8

1 onion, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 pound spicy soy sausage,* cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight

3-1/2 cups vegetable broth

3 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 cups uncooked brown rice, rinsed

Salt

Pepper

Tabasco

*or use spicy chicken sausage, or skip and increase seasonings

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the soy sausage, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté about 7 to 10 minutes, or until the sausage is cooked through (if using chicken sausage, make sure it's no longer pink).

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add the drained beans, broth, water, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add the sausage mixture, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 45-60 minutes, or until the beans are soft. Add the rice and 1/2 cup water (or more if needed; there should be enough liquid to be absorbed by the rice). Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco.

 

Spicy Chard and Collard Greens

Green * Serves 6

1 pound fresh collard greens, washed and coarsely chopped

1 cup vegetable broth

1 large red onion, cut in half

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 bunch chard, washed and coarsely chopped

Salt

Pepper

Tabasco or other hot sauce

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add the collard greens, vegetable broth, onion and red pepper flakes and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer about 2 hours, or until the greens are tender. Add the chard and simmer 7 to 10 minutes, or until wilted. Remove the onion and season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

 

Spirit Sunday * The beauty of sparseness

 

Autumn asks that we prepare for the future—that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness.

~ Bonaro W. Overstreet

 

Photo by Laura Shreck

 

Reviews and press * The Tale of the Allergist's Wife

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Henner brings the same kind of effervescent energy to this staging as Lee [her character] brings into the drab lives of Marjorie and Ira. Having played the role on Broadway, Henner shows a clear affinity for this sagacious, sensual bon vivant – or, as Lee sees herself, "an abrasive, passionate pain in the ass."

~ Eric Marchese, for the Orange County Register

read the full review

LA Times review

Read an interview between Marilu and Caroline Aaron – and listen to an audio clip of their interview – at the LA Stage Times website. (This is awesome!)

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

14900 La Mirada Boulevard, La Mirada, CA

7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays

Ends Oct. 17

Tickets $35-$50. Contact: 562-944-9801 or www.lamiradatheatre.com

Photo: Marilu Henner and Caroline Aaron in 'The Tale of the Allergist's Wife.' Photo credit: Michael Lamont.

 

Have a great weekend!

In honor of our vacation (yes, we love being on vacation), and celebrating a family wedding this weekend, here's a song that gets it's message from New Orleans and its blues vibe from Memphis.

Now you go out and have a great weekend – be active, and energetic, and keep smiling.

For now, how about a little dancing?

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/10 - Let The Good Times Roll.mp3

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