Hmmm...I see!

I've been having a bit of eye strain, and since my eyeglasses are old, I made a trip to the optometrist to get a new prescription.  I was stunned when he told me the problem... my eyesight has improved, so my eyes are straining with glasses too strong for them.

Huh?

I've been wearing glasses since I was in the third grade, and each time I purchased new frames, it was always with stronger prescription lenses than the ones before.  (Thank goodness for modern lightweight, thin, plastic lenses because mine would look like coke bottle bottoms if I had to use the old time "glass" glasses.)  As my near-sightedness increased over the years, sometimes the change was slight, but it was always for the worse, and never the better.

So I find it interesting that after a year of eating healthier and striving to avoid processed foods, my eyesight improved.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but... I clearly see another reason to keep eating healthy!

Stocking up on muffins and bread.

Finally!  We are stocked up on muffins and bread.  Clear back in July, I posted about being low on muffins (click here).  Can you believe it's taken me this long to finally restock?  Sheesh!  

My husband and I decided to use Sunday afternoons (for the past few weeks) to bake.  Yesterday we declared ourselves done... for now.  Baking goes so much faster with my Number One Flunky!  (See previous post.)

I added more recipes to my "Recipe" page.  I wish I knew of a way to categorize the recipes on there, or a way to "link" this blog post to specific recipes, but as far as I know, the only way to access them is to scroll down through the page.   I think there are 4 muffin recipes and a couple bread recipes posted on there now, as well as other yummy dishes.  (Click Here.)

Greedy heart.

"Making the food have less fat or fewer calories is not going to make my heart less greedy for food."  ~Gwen Shamblin, author of Weigh Down Diet.

"Sugar, ah, honey honey."

Saturday we had fast food take-out: Kentucky Fried Chicken.  (Okay... I am not saying it was a healthy choice, but some days just don't come out as perfect as we'd like.)  Included with our chicken was a packet labeled: Honey Sauce.

Honey Sauce?  What in the world?  So I picked up the packet to read the contents.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, [yes, two kinds of corn syrup], SUGAR, HONEY, FRUCTOSE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: CARAMEL COLOR, MOLASSES, WATER, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICAL FLAVOR, MALIC ACID.       
7% REAL HONEY.


Hmmm... honey sauce with only 7% honey. Hmmm... since it's the fourth ingredient listed, that means almost 93% of the "honey" sauce is made up of two kinds of corn syrup and sugar!

Since when do we need to add corn syrups, sugar, fructose, and molasses to honey?  When did honey become not sweet enough on its own?  Sad.

A perfectly "crumby" substitute!!

I prepared some oven baked chicken, and the recipe called for "dry bread crumbs."  I pulled out a container of bread crumbs I've had on the shelf for ages.  The crumbs inside seemed stale (no surprise since the date on the can was 2006).

What to do.  What to do.

I thought maybe I would make crumbs from a slice of bread and put them on a baking sheet and let the oven dry them for a bit, and hoped it wouldn't take very long.  Then, as I was reaching for the bread, I had an idea!

I put some Triscuit crackers in the blender and turned them into crumbs.  It worked great since the crackers were already "dry" and crunchy.  Saved the extra time that making dried crumbs from fresh bread would have required.  Plus...the chicken turned out very tasty!  I think I preferred the flavor over ordinary crumbs.

What a fabulous "crumby" idea!

Top Cities for Staying Young

According to Real Age, I live in an area ranked #2 for "real age" youthfulness!  Check it out... are you living in an area known for good health or staying young?

25 Best Cities for Staying Young


Hopefully you are not living in one of the following areas... 


25 Top Cities for Aging Too Fast.  (Good thing I don't live in the Knoxville area anymore!)

Of course, we can make healthy choices no matter where we live.  It's just fun to see the ranking.