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March is National Frozen Food Month but March 6th is Frozen Food day.
What is in your freezer? Are you stocking up this month – there should an abundant amount of frozen food on sale this month.
Frozen food has come a long way from TV dinners in aluminum foil, frozen pizza that we described as cardboard and Hungry Man dinners that still left you hungry but 10 pound heavier from fat and water retention from the abundance of sodium. At least there are options with frozen vegetables and side dishes to family friendly meals that are conscious of nutrition.
Have you watched the Healthy Choice commercials in the last few months? I was intrigued with their marketing campaign and visited their website once I realized it was Frozen Food month. What I did not know is that they have been running a pseudo campaign to show how Julia-Louis Dreyfus becomes the Healthy Choice spokesperson. In the ads it seems as if she is saying that she doesn’t want to do it and that is what I thought the spoof was but Con Agra, the makers of Healthy Choice, has a website called Spokespersonwanted.com. It is funny to see the commercials again and she how it all comes together.
Also available on the Healthy Choice (http://www.healthychoice.com/) site is product descriptions, nutritional information and coupons to print at home. (http://www.healthychoice.com/news-special-offers/). Check other frozen food favorites of your and see if they have any coupons this month. Visit their corporate website for offers listed and check local ads.
Whether you zap it or bake it – enjoy some frozen food this month!
In honor of Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day (3/1) we are posting one of our favorite peanut butter recipes. This recipe happens to be one of Paula Deen’s called Magical Peanut Butter Cookies.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup sugar, or 1 1/3 cup sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the peanut butter, sugar (or sugar substitute), egg, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Stir until ingredients form dough. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar/sugar substitute to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar/sugar substitute. Cool slightly before removing from pan.
Yields 18 cookies.
This recipe can be found online at Paula Deen’s website or in Paula’s Home Cooking/Lady and Sons Too! cookbook Pg. 229. Visit www.PaulaDeen.com for more peanut butter recipes.
Stay tuned for giveaways featuring Paula Deen’s cookbooks and cooking accessories that we are hosting.
Photo courtesy of Photobucket.com
This Friday is National Wear Red day. This is a day to speak out by wearing red to recognize National Heart Month and heart disease prevention. For more information, visit Go Red for Women.
February is American Heart Month. This is such an important month for women because heart disease has been described as a silent killer. This is a month to listen and learn about how heart disease can be prevented and to know the early signs to keep yourself and family members protected. The American Heart Association is a great reference site to visit to learn more.
During the month of February we will be adding posts about information on this important topic so check back and read more.
Today is National Chocolate Cake Day!
Need I say more? Go have a slice and enjoy. It is the national holiday and all…
Today is National Popcorn Day!
Pop up your favorite bowl and share it with family and friends. Or keep it all to yourself as you watch your TV show or curl with a good book.
Pop, pop, pop…
I love October. I love the crisp fall days in the Pacific Northwest when the weather takes a left hand turn right out of summer and smack into autumn. I love all the pink products that hit the market place that benefit organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation. And I love that it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (www.nbcam.org).
Honestly, the importance of breast cancer awareness was lost on me until I turned 40 and had to get a baseline mammogram before my breast augmentation procedure. I have no history of breast cancer anywhere in my family and I was really bad about doing my monthly exams. I know about 5 breast cancer survivors, but they are acquaintances. No one close to me has had breast cancer. The disease hadn’t really touched me in a significant way, so I really didn’t think about it.
When I had my mammogram, a doctor came in right afterwards to tell me that there were some “suspicious” areas in my films. My right breast had calcifications that needed further study and I needed to schedule a needle biopsy. Wow. Talk about having the wind knocked out of you. Here I was: 40-years old, in the middle of a divorce with two children, getting ready to embark on a new life and there might be something seriously wrong.
I went in for my biopsy a week later and waited for three sleepless nights for the wonderful women at the breast center to call me and tell me that everything was okay. After getting on my knees and thanking God, I knew that I was forever changed. That was by far, the scariest 2 weeks of my life, and I had a perfect outcome.
So, what’s different for me now?
I do my monthly breast exams. After breast augmentation surgery, this is especially important because it’s that much more challenging to negotiate around the implant. If you’re bad about remembering, either schedule a time monthly in your planner or your iPhone/Blackberry, or get a shower card from your OB/GYN. If your doctor’s office doesn’t carry them, you can the Susan G. Komen Foundation at 1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636) to request a free one. Check out their site: www.komen.org.
I stay on the mammogram schedule that has been outlined by my physician. After my baseline mammogram, I had a mammogram every six months until the doctors told me last year that I only have to go in every two years for a while. Luckily, I have fantastic insurance. If you are currently uninsured or if you insurance doesn’t cover mammograms, Google “free mammograms” in your city and often times, you’ll find local events in which a mobile mammogram unit is onsite giving free or discounted mammograms. Take advantage and get yourself scheduled now! I also go to The Breast Cancer Site (www.thebreastcancersite.com) and click to donate a free mammogram.
I donate to the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Truth be known, I’m not a good joiner. Never have been. But I’m really good at supporting my friends that do the 3-Day with my dollars and have done so yearly (www.the3day.org). This year, I just happened to be at the Seattle Center with my family when the 3-Day walkers were getting to cross the finish line. In comes a huge sea of pink, and as they entered the stadium, all of the walkers’ family, friends and supporters cheered loudly. I literally stood in awe with my daughter in her stroller and cried. I thought to myself, “What wonderfully brave women to walk for their friends or themselves. Would I walk for my friends? Yes! Would my friends walk for me? Yes! Then why aren’t I doing this?”
I buy lots of pink stuff. Like I said, true retailer that I am, I “vote” with my dollar. When October comes around, I buy the items that donate back to breast cancer causes. Pink M & Ms? Check. Pink water bottle? Check. Pink Ribbon Sharpies? You bet. There are a variety of products that give back in the month of October. Keep a Breast does a great job at educating and increasing breast cancer awareness among young people with t-shirts“Keep-A-Breast” (www.keep-a-breast.org).
These are just small things that I do, and quite honestly, I should be doing much, much more. What kinds of things do you do? I’d love to know other ways that my time or my dollars can make an impact to eradicate a disease that has affected so many of our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends.
Posted by Brigette, contributor
Celebrate women and life’s changes during the month of September. Learn more about menopause on the North American Menopause Society website. This is an easy to use website to find answers to common and not-so common questions about menopause.
Search the Web site of The North American Menopause Society NAMS for accurate, unbiased information about menopause. NAMS is the leading nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to improving understanding of this natural biologic event.
