Fun decorative socks are an essential part of a coordinated outfit. Not only do my socks have to be colorful. But they also have to inspire a story of their own.
There are in fact several ways to tell my sock story. This post explicitly verbalizes and shows images of how my fun decorative socks can coordinate with the rest of my outfit.
Without delay here are the four types of outfits I have coordinated with fun decorative socks.
FOUR VERBAL DESCRIPTIONS
1. Firstly they can match in color
Let’s say I am wearing an outfit with a the same color in both. 2. Secondly they can match in theme
As an outfit, I can wear socks that have a fruit them. 3. Thirdly, they can match in both theme and color.
But then specifically, my pants may have a cherry pattern. So my socks would have a cherry pattern. Finally, my pants can have a blue background cherry pattern. Then I can match them with an exact pair of socks. 4. Finally, an outfit matches in theme and color from head to toe.
This happens when I really go wild. Ultimately on those days that I display a special combination in my wardrobe.
FOUR VISUAL EXAMPLES
In addition to their description, I want to show image examples of the fun decorative socks choices I’ve described above. 1. First of all, let’s start with an outfit that is matched using color.
Let’s say I have a solid color pair of pants, skirt or dress. In this case, I can match that to a fun decorative pair of socks with the same color background or foreground.
Hanpceirs Women’s Cap Sleeve 1950s Retro Vintage Cocktail Swing Dresses with Pocket from Amazon.comFun Colorful Socks Patterned Funky Happy Crew Sock Combed Cotton Stockings Packs on Amazon.com
2. Secondly, another way to match an outfit is by theme. For example, that means that the colors do not have to match but the design theme does. In this example, notice how the background colors do not match. But the strawberry theme does.
Belle Poque Women’s Vintage Sleeveless Solid Floral Ruched Summer Cute A-Line Flowy Swing Midi Dress on Amazon.com
3. Thirdly and my ultimate preference is they can match in both color and theme.I love everything cherries. Luckily, I found both a sweater and socks in black with cherries on them. Belle Poque Women’s 3/4 Sleeve V-Neck Button Down Cherries Embroidery Cropped Cardigan Sweater Coat on amazon.com
MAKABO Women’s Colorful Funny Novelty Casual Crew Socks Gift Packs on amazon.com
4. Lastly, the ultimate outfit. Everything matches from head to toe. In this case it’s Burberry classics. The next blog post will illustrate Burberry Classics ‘everything Burberry in between’.
Burberry Instarsia Vintage Check Socks
Burberry baseball cap available at Saks Fifth Avenue
My Pocketbook Collection Passion seems to come and go. But the fact is that it never completely disappears. The reason is that it resurfaces whenever I find and then fall in love with another irresistible brand.
First was Dooney & Bourke. Then was Coach, next was Kate Spade, and now is Arcadia. In fact Arcadia ia a very newly discovered brand for me. My latest pocketbook collection passion is Arcadia Handbags. But will it stay or share the ‘come and go’ fate of Coach and Kate Spade? Well, at least it is tops for now.
Passionate Purple From the first images, one can see two NWT bags. These ‘new with tag’ bags come in great colors and designs. Luscious colors are usually available on newer bags, specifically the NWT.
A rare Arcadia Design and color on Poshmark
Mouthwatering Mustard Another of my current favorites is quite a unique Arcadia. In fact it has almost as much smooth leather as it has embossed patent leather. The asking price is almost $300. But the new with tags ‘NWT’ bags are way outside of my price range.
Latest Discovery
Just when I think I have found my favorite Arcadia handbag, another even more beautiful comes along. What could be more beautiful and stylish than a pink and black Arcadia handbag?
Again,the bag I love is not affordable. So what do I do? I have found a solution. There are several online stores that carry Arcadia as well as other bags. In fact, they carry a wide range of ‘pre-owned’ price reduced bags.
Pre-owned Bargains
These online ‘buy and sell’ shops include Poshmark, eBay, Etsy, Mercari, and occasionally Priclist. In fact these sites can offer some terrific pre-owned bargains that I have benefitted from. But I also have made a number of purchases that had to be returned due to unacceptable conditions. Actually getting approval to make a return can be a nuisance. So it’s best to check out thoroughly what you want to buy before you take out your credit card.
Secondhand Shop with Caution
This is because conditions for returning purchases are very strict. So it is essential to examine the online photos and description before purchasing any pre-owned items. A new handbag can be an expensive purchase. Therefore a greatly reduced pre-owned price can signal minor or significant wear and tear.
Arcadia pink mini bag with dust cover
Here’s A Bargain Here’s a great looking pre-owned bag. I love it. Take note of the scuff in the bottom left corner. In addition, read the description that confirms it.
“Arcadia mini shoulder bag. Pink Patent Leather with Tan leather trim. Dust cover. Minor scuff as shown. Otherwise good condition. Made in Italy”.
If that is all okay with you, remember to add tax and shipping. Then your total for this bag that will never look new is over $40. To me that is a bargain. Besides I do love pink. So I might go for it. How about you?
Pre-owned but Not a Bargain
Meanwhile here’s another pre-owned bag. It looks great from the front. The price is great too. So why is it so cheap? Now look in the photo of the corners confirmed by the description. It looks terrible. The photo is transparent but the description is not. No bargain here.
“This bag is gorgeous and has gold detail with leather trim. The corners have some wear but everything else is like new.” I don’t think so!
Beware the wear and tear on this ‘gorgeous’ ‘like new’ bag.
Here are two licensed design artists whose work I love.
Their licensed designs are based on their illustration and writing projects sold to product manufacturers. By name, they are Mary Engelbreit and Susan Branch. In fact, you may likely be familiar with their work. If so, that would be from both their prolific past work and present activities as well. As I mentioned, from their start I have loved and continue to love their work.
A brand is the means by which an entity is recognized across the board. The brand itself can be visual or verbal material. The entity can be a person, product or company as well. In fact, the brand can be the work of the designer him or herself.
In the cases of both Mary Engelbreit and Susan Branch, their design media that lead to their work being licensed was primarily their illustration and writing skills. For example, Mary Engelbreit’s licensed designs include greeting cards, books, and kitchen accessory designs.
Similarly, Susan Branch’s licensed designs actually also includes books, calendars, fabric and wallpaper patterns. In other words, all kinds of kitchen and eating accessories. After all that, Susan is also a cook and recipe writer. Otherwise, their work runs along very similar lines at times. But they still have unique, distinct styles.
Opening of the New York Coliseum.org
My Story
In addition to admiring their successes, I yearned to become a licensed designer too. Actually, it was during the time I was doing my own illustration work. My work was making personal greeting cards for friends and family. After that, I tried my hand at commercial cards. However brand design was not meant to be for me. In conclusion, I did have the opportunity to have my work published. In fact, I did have a small portion of success at commercially available cards.
My Published Work This is a simple story. It came about as a result of my attending a class in greeting card design at the Parson School of Design in NYC. As a result, the students then received passes to the then famous Gift and Greeting Card Show at the New York Coliseum. It was the only arena of its type in NYC at the time.
@Alison Gilbert for Family Line Greeting Cards. Two cards I designed and sold to Family Line Greeting Cards. I met them at the NY Coliseum Gift & Greeting Card Show. Both cards were published and sold in an upscale gift and card shop on the upper East Side of Manhattan.
Conclusion
There I met a company called Family Line Cards. Both of my commercial greeting card sales were through their company. I may not have become a licensed designer. But above all, I did sell two greeting cards design. Therefore I am very proud of my few moments of success.
A brief history of Kvass, Russia’s ‘bread in a bottle’ Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Legion Media; Sputnik)
Beet Kvass is attributed to being Russian although the earliest recordings can be traced as far back as Ancient Greece and Egypt.(1) Ultimately today, recipes come from many parts of the globe and in many variations exist.
Beet Kvass went in and out of popularity in Russia. At one point it was a noble drink. Over time peasants were saved from starvation drinking it. It was called ‘bread in a bottle’ due to its highly nutritional value. But then it sank to being considered vulgar for poor folks.(2) Today it is experiencing an upswing as its health benefits are revealed again. Clearly beet kvass origins and recipes are not limited to a narrow story.
Barrel with kvass Harrison Foreman / russiainphoto.ru
Varieties of Kvass With its popularity due to health benefits, many recipes developed. But first I would like to present the simplest recipes to the most complicated.
Beet Kvass photo by Bobbi Lin
Red Beet Kvass The simplest recipe requires just filtered water, beets, and sea salt.
Taking the kvass one step further it can list filtered water, chopped red beets, whey to quicken fermentation, sea salt, or sugar, or even honey. Recipes are in the Source & Resource section at the end of this post.(3)(4)(5)
Golden Beet Kvass Although I have not yet made golden beet kvass, it looks fascinating and delicious. One particular recipe includes crusts of rye bread to add to the richness in fermentation and nutrition.
Sparkling Golden Beet Kvass Made the Traditional Way from the CulturedGuru.com
Golden beet kvass involves a more complicated recipe, possibly with more powerful results. I have not made this kvass yet. But I will as soon as I purchase some golden beets and fermented rye bread.
Sometimes You Lose and Sometimes You Win: Crime-Part Two from IMDbGerard Butler From Wikipedia.com
Crime, Part Two
Part Two of these suspenseful crime dramas is ‘Sometimes You Lose and Sometimes You Win: Crime, Part Two’. It focuses on Den of Thieves.
But who or what is actually the ‘den of thieves’? Is it the lawmen or is it the thieves? In my opinion, it isn’t clear cut. This movie focuses mostly on big losses and a lack of good guy/bad guy distinctions. Ultimately, the ending is one huge surprise of ‘sometimes you win’. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
Sometimes You Lose
Similar to The Town, there is coincidently quite a bit of violence as well as a loss in the plot. Unfortunately my personal hero, Pablo Schreiber loses his life. Meanwhile, my personal villain, Gerard Butler wins the shootout with Pablo. But at the sametime he wrecks his marriage.
Pablo Schreiber from Wikipedia.com
Den of Thieves
Once again this brilliantly laid out plan could have been the heist of a lifetime. In the beginning, we are all led to believe that the target an ordinary suburban Los Angeles bank robbery.
Meanwhile the branch of a local Los Angeles bank where the thieves strike happens to have an underground tunnel with access to the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank building. What a coincidence. Eventually the sheriff and his men discover this. But not before the heist is well under way.
Decoy
In the meantime, the bank robbers use this detour as a decoy that almost completely fools the Los Angeles Sheriff’s office headed by none other than Gerard Butler.
Winners and Losers
While he and his crew of lawmen may seem to be the winners, Pablo Schreiber’s den of thieves certainly seem to be the losers. But things are not what they seem.
Who’s the Biggest Loser?
Yes, Pablo gets shot down. And yes, Gerard Butler wins the shootout. Meanwhile, Gerard gets served divorce papers. Seen as hero of the law, he is a horrible husband. Even though he is a winner as a lawman, he is a big loser at everything else. He is truly a contradiction in terms of humanity.
O’Shea Jackson Jr. from IMDb
Sometimes You Win
O’Shea Jackson Jr, aka Donnie, ‘the driver’ played by Ice Cube’s real life son is the winner of this mostly losing but also winning plot. Hints of O’Shea’s cleverness pop up along the way. One major clue is the fact that Donnie’s job is at the bar by the crime scene.
Throughout the film, this bartender collects identity tags accidently left by bank employees. At times the viewer does not know if the target for this heist is actually his rather than Pablo’s or his sidekick played by the character, ’50 cents’ aka Curtis James Jackson III.
Who Really Planned the Heist?
At times it is impossible to conclude who really planned this heist, Pablo aka Merrimen or O’Shea aka Donnie. But the winner is clearly Donnie as he packs up the loot in old rubber tires, ships it somewhere and moves onto London to work in a bar across from the diamond exchange. No coincidence there.
Homemade fermented beverages are my favored way to quench my thirst. Although pure water can be very refreshing, there is nothing like drinking a cool sparkling homemade fermented beverage.
Actually the variety is almost unlimited. Fortunately, most of the commercial brands ferment to have minimal (5%) or no alcohol at all for people with sensitivities.
MY FERMENTED DRINK PROJECT
From rebeccasnaturalfood.com, The Magic of Fermented Foods and Beverages
KOMBUCHA My homemade fermented beverages project originated with my love of kombucha. Over the years, I’ve consequently spent a great deal of time learning about fermented drinks in general. Then I discovered on my own how to make delicious flavors.
Making Homemade Kombucha Sometimes we don’t have the luxury of fermenting of our kombucha. In that case, commercial kombucha will do nicely. But if time does allow, I think it is worth it to experience homemade fermented beverages.
‘1F’ Kombucha
As I mentioned, fermentation, either ‘1F’ and/or ‘2F’ does take considerable time. Let’s begin. The ‘1F’ process includes boiling and cooling (black or green) tea. Then place it in a glass jar without the tea. Next add the fermenting agent known as a SCOBY.
Cover the glass jar with cheesecloth or a coffee filter secured with a rubber band or string. Once the liquid ferments, remove the SCOBY from the tea. Fermentation can take from a few days to over a week even. The result is a drinkable ‘1F’ Kombucha.
Keep SCOBY Mixture Warm During Fermentation
It is crucial to keep the designated fermenting area and bottle(s) warm. To accomplish this, be sure to cover the container with a heavy material like a sock or even a heating belt specifically designed for this purpose.
2F Kombucha
Once the 1F process is fermented, it is ready is make the kombucha more flavorful. But first be sure to remove the SCOBY from the 1F liquid. Next place the SCOBY in a small amount of the original ‘1F’ liquid in its own jar. Refrigerate it and leave it to rest ready to start another ‘1F’ kombucha. To make the ‘2F’ kombucha with one or more additional flavors, add either juice or tea to the jar that contains the bulk of’1F’ liquid. That may takes days, as well.
Kombucha SCOBY from blissedmama.com website
Recipes
There are so many great recipes for Kombucha available on the Internet. For example, here is one of those recipes. How to Make Kombucha at Home Using a SCOBY.
The ‘Sources & Resources’ section below has a terrific recipe. Many other recipes are on the Internet.
FERMENTED LEMONADE/LIMEADE
Homemade Fermented limeade with only two ingredients
This thirst quenching homemade fermented beverage is probably the easiest to make. It only requires two ingredients consisting of whey and ‘Simply Lemonade or Limeade’. First make whey with a cheesecloth by straining store bought, full fat probiotic plain yogurt.
Fermenting with Whey
Add about 1/4 cup whey to a bottle of Simply Lemonade or Limeade. Since it is about as pure as squeezing my own juice, it saves me a huge step of not having to squeeze my own citrus. Combine the two ingredients, 1/4 cup whey into a full bottle of juice. Make sure the bottle cover is on tight for fermenting.
Let this two step process sit on the counter maintaining a room temperature of between a minimum of 70 degrees but best closer to 80 degrees for a few days until it gets fermented and fizzy. Then refrigerate it and enjoy. Hint: In colder weather cover bottle in a heavy sock to maintain warm temperature for proper fermenting.
GINGER ALE
Ginger bug recipe from thespruceeats.com
Ginger ale involves another two step process similar to the ‘2F’ fermentation process used for making flavored kombucha. In this case, start by making a ginger bug.
Ginger ale recipe from thespruceeats.com
Combine bug and Liquid Then add it to a liquid specifically prepared for making homemade ginger ale. There is a great photo subtitle link that provides an excellent recipe for both a bug and ginger ale.
Sally Fallon Morell highly recommends beet kvass as an excellent nourishing beverage.
To quote her from the website threestonehearth.com, ‘Beets are sliced and cultured in water with yogurt whey and Celtic sea salt to make this traditional tonic drink.’
Valuable Medicinal Qualities Sally Fallon Morell describes this drink as being “valuable for its medicinal qualities and as a digestive aid. Beets are just loaded with nutrients. One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, promotes regularity, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments…”
GOLDEN BEET KVASS Sparkling Golden Beet Kvass Made the Traditional Way from the CulturedGuru.com
Golden beet kvass involves a more complicated recipe, possibly with more powerful results. I have not made this kvass yet. But I will as soon as I purchase some golden beets and fermented rye bread.
In two of my favorite action heist movies, the theme is ‘sometimes you win and sometimes you lose’. As a fan of these venues, The Town and Den of Thieves, I have witnessed examples of both.
Specifically, for the actors in these two films, there are examples of both outcomes. Some are lucky and some are not. But there is plenty of excitement in both. This post illustrates the qualities of The Town. Part Two illustrates Den of Thieves.
The Town
At what price does crime pay but you don’t really win? In this movie, a group of bank robbers from the infamous part of Boston, are turned onto the heist of a lifetime. The plan is to rob Fenway Park where the Boston Red Socks play.
This is a brilliant scheme that could net the thieves a stash for life. In fact, this is a play within a movie since the participants in the robbery have to change disguises several times to carry out the heist.
Ben Affleck from Wikipedia
The only survivor of this caper is the star, Ben Affleck.
In this situation, he escapes with his life but loses ‘the girl’ and just about everything else he’s had.
This includes his family, his friends, his home town, his livelihood. He wins his freedom by escaping into anonymity and the first time he’s ever been out of Boston.
Rebecca Hall from Wikipedia
Rebecca Hall his love interest is a relative newcomer to American film. This depends on how one defines winning and losing.
Actually, both Rebecca and Ben are both winners and losers. To start she survives the bank robbery and wins Ben’s heart. But then she has to let go of him in order to save her own freedom. Similarly he also has to leave her to keep his own freedom.
Blake Lively from Wikipedia
While the other woman in his life, Blake Lively who is much more familiar to moviegoers is clearly not both. She is the loser for several reasons. Ben denies he is the father of her daughter. In fact, his desire is to take Rebecca Hall not Blake with him when he leaves his current life. In addition, Blake is arrested for a car accident while she is on drugs.
Jeremy Renner from Wikipedia
With the worst luck of all is actor and Ben Affleck’s adopted brother, Jeremy Renner. He played Blake Lively’s brother as well and was intent on remaining Affleck’s brother forever.
When destiny’s hand makes the last move, Jeremy chooses to end his life by an FBI bullet rather than return to prison for the rest of his life. Despite their ‘sometimes you win sometimes you lose’ fates not one of these characters qualifies completely for sometime you win. Jeremy’s character has it the worst of all. He completely losses.
Fenway Park, Boston MADen of Thieves on Yidio
Part Two of this crime scenario featuring ‘Den of Thieves’ is the next blog post in this two-part series.
DRINK UP Pure Water or Fermented Beverages Contrary to popular belief, fermented beverages were a source of pleasure even nutrition rather that a sanitary necessities in Medieval Europe going forward.
Middle Age Water Myth
Sources of Water in Cities
It is known that cities even constructed sources for pure water. In fact infrastructures were created to supply clean water to populated areas.
Rural Water Requiring Less Engineering
Where underground water existed naturally, wells provided pure drinking water.
Drinking water supplied by wells and transferred in barrels from medievalist.net
Water in Colonial New England (3)
At the beginning of this post documentation of water history relates essentially to European geography and construction. On the other hand, footnote(3) hones in on the relationship of water and the North American city of Boston from 1650-1900. Activities started later in the colonies as well as less frequently. But the need was less urgent.
Preferred Palatable Beverages
But for pleasure, alternative drinking liquids were prefered. In fact, there were many options to choose from. Fermented beverages from distant and recent history are still popular today.
Food and Beverage Hobby As part of my interest in food and beverage history, I like to prepare and drink these beverages. They range from thousands of years old to much more recent concoctions.
Fermentation
Fermentation was the way liquids were converted into nutritious, tasty beverages. Due to chemical reactions with healthy bacteria, many beverages resulted. I would like to spend this blog post writing about some of them.
“The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead,[7][8] although wine is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits,[9] and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary, for example, is the fermentation” of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits.[10]
More About Mead
“Mead was produced in ancient times throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia,[11][12][13][14] and has played an important role in the mythology of some peoples. In Norse mythology, for example, the Mead of Poetry, crafted from the blood of Kvasir (a wise being born from the mingled spittle of the Aesir and Vanir deities) would turn anyone who drank it into a poet or scholar.” Quoted from Wikipedia
Kombucha
“Kombucha is thought to have originated in China, where the drink is traditional.[3][4]
By the early 20th century it had spread to Russia, then other parts of Eastern Europe and Germany.[5] Kombucha is now homebrewed globally, and also bottled and sold commercially.[1] The global kombucha market was worth approximately US$1.7 billion as of 2019.[6]
SCOBY
“Kombucha is produced by symbiotic fermentation of sugared tea using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) commonly called a “mother” or “mushroom”. The microbial populations in a SCOBY vary.
Yeast
The yeast component generally includes Saccharomyces cerevisiae, along with other species; the bacterial component almost always includes Gluconacetobacter xylinus to oxidize yeast-produced alcohols to acetic acid (and other acids).[7]
SCOBY Defined
Although the SCOBY is commonly called “tea fungus” or “mushroom”, it is actually “a symbiotic growth of acetic acid bacteria and osmophilic yeast species in a zoogleal mat [biofilm]”.[1] The living bacteria are said to be probiotic, one of the reasons for the popularity of the drink.[8][9]”Quoted from Wikipedia
Food History Through Blog Posts I am writing a collection of food history blog posts to prepare for a possible book about this topic. Actually, I find the history of food fascinating. In particular, the history of food has far reaching consequences in Colonial America.
The First Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris, Photography Wikimedia Commons
The Consequences Actually the consequences reach as far back as the American Revolutionary War fueling and supporting the establishment of a new nation, the United States of America.
In other words, this collection of food history blog posts illustrates the correlation between the establishment of American Colonial food stability and the birth of a new nation. In fact this period covers about 150 years.
Food Abundance Flourishes in the Colonies
The Mt. Vernon kitchen garden, allowing Martha Washington to keep fruits and vegetables on the table year round. From MtVernon.org
TRADITIONAL FOOD PROCUREMENT, PREPARATION, AND PRESERVATION There are three steps to establishing food stability. This post, summarizes all three. They are listed below.
TRADITIONAL FOOD PROCUREMENT Illustrated above shows definitively how conducive the colonies were to cultivating produce and food stability. In the early days of emigration to the colonies, the Indians even showed them how to survive their first Thanksgiving. After that, preparation took hold.
Open Hearth Cooking “Open hearth cooking is the oldest form of indoor cooking. Before cook stoves came into existence, fireplaces were commonly used. A cook knew how to prepare the fire for a day of planned cooking. The cook would rise early in order to start the fire for the entire day’s cooking.”
Open Hearth Cooking-Blennerhassett Kitchen-Fireplace and Utensils from Pinterest.com
Canning
The glass canning jar method of preservation was invented in 1810, before the Mason glass threading technique invented in 1850. Therefore the original method is considered traditional and pre-industrial. In fact, it was not until 1850 that the canning method we know and use today was invented by William Mason.
What you need to can your berry favorite fruit jelly or jam. Don’t forget the berries. Supplies from internet sites.
Butter
This is a dairy product that was both prepared from cream and preserved preserved from going bad. Using a churn, the lifespan of cream was extended by turning it into butter. That way cream had a much longer shelf like.
The amount of butter one needed would determine the size of the churn. Apparently this churn provided a large amount of butter for its owner.
Antique butter churn with hand crank-ebay.com
Although preserved foods like jam/jelly and butter may not have been staples for the survival of early colonials, they do display the fascinating direction of food preservation in Colonial America and beyond.
Please note: This post has been written as more of a personal diary entry rather than a blog post with details that should apply to anyone else. It is the plan I aim to follow at this point of my life. In other words, it is designed for me by me. It is not a medical or nutritional recommendation for anyone else.
MY LIVING HEALTHIER DAY
My living healthier food plan is key to a good day. As mentioned in Part One, A Living Healthier Plan my day begins with at least 8 oz of filtered water. Next comes a supplement. Then perhaps some fresh fruit. Finally the morning meal is complete with a full breakfast.
Fruit for Breakfast | The Adventures of an Epic Baker from epicbaker.com
EAT BREAKFAST
It is easier to explain what breakfast is not for me than what is. There are so many for what is healthy. Meanwhile there are very few that are not. So this should be a no brainer. For example, the typical working person’s start to the day is the adrenaline rush of giant coffees and a carbo bomb.
The carbo bomb shown in this shutterstock photo, coffee and empty carb, ‘white food’ calories.
Protein with Breakfast Is Good Ideally for me a breakfast with some protein is good. Actually, I aim to eat sort of a reverse diet. In fact it is known by the saying, ‘eat breakfast like a king (or queen). Lunch like a prince (or princess). Finally, eat dinner like a pauper’.
Image of healthy breakfast from saga.co.uk
Protein with Lots of Vegetables at Lunch Is Good So I try to include a protein at breakfast. Then protein, vegetable and even a healthy carb for lunch. Finally an early dinner and a snack if necessary before bedtime. Even though I don’t follow it exactly, I prefer to eat my big meal closer to the middle of the day or afternoon. In fact, we like this arrangement a lot.
A healthy main meal from pngall.com
Eating Later in the Day Another suggestion is to not eat anything after 8 pm at night. Unless I am famished, this is another part of our living healthier food plan. Throughout the day, I include my supplements and am religious about taking certain prescribed medication before bed.
Eggs and Cheese Photography by David Munn from FineArtAmerica.com
Snacks Are A Challenge
Finding healthy snacks is a real challenge for us. Therefore, one of the changes I am attempting to make is to stay away from sugary snacks and help Phil (my husband) to do the same.
Nuts and Chocolate
For example, some kind of protein is preferable to a sugary snack. Personally, I love peanuts and pistachio nuts. Phil loves cashew nuts.
Baked Apple Recipe from simplyrecipes.com
Fruit As Well as Vegetables : Fresh, Cooked, or Even Dried
Fresh fruit, fruit cooked without sugar or even dried fruit without chemicals are other options. Even include certain ‘controversial carbs’ like a baked potato (White or sweet). Certain oils and ghee are like the cherry on top of the sundae. Popcorn is a favorite of Phil’s. In addition, dark chocolate made with monk fruit is very satisfying and does not spike blood sugar.
Raw Cheese
Let’s not forget cheese, made from raw milk as much as possible. At times I have eliminated dairy. But since discovering the digestive value of raw milk cheese, I like to include it in my food plan.
Just A Handful Of Nuts May Help Keep Us From Packing On The Pounds As We Age from npr.org
WHAT FOODS I SHOULD FAVOR I have eaten according to many dietary systems over my life. At different times, different systems have worked best. Therefore I want to record what is the latest find.
Ayurveda This is an ancient system that determines what foods are best to eat according to one’s body type as well as the season. Banyan Botanicals has an excellent test to determine body type and imbalances. Then I can figure out what foods are best for me to eat according to my doshas, any imbalances, and the seasons.
Why Is Ayurveda Important? from Himalayanyoganepal.com
Genopalate
This is a fascinating system. It requires an analysis of DNA results from Ancestry or another company. But it is based on chromosomes not geneology. Somehow it works. In fact when I first started following it, I definitely found an increase in my energy level. I have even created a looseleaf binder of the preferred foods in all their categories.
Crack your DNA Code and Unlock a Healthier You from www.genopalate.com
But as often happens, I have not been diligent about continuing. That is because I like too many foods that are not listed on it. Therefore I tend to fall back into the foods I like. Part of my living healthier food plan is to resume it as much as possible.
WHAT IS YOUR FOOD PLAN?
I am eager to hear what food plan you follow. Please write your response at the VERY bottom of the page below this “The Alison D. Gilbert Website & Blog Comment Policy”.
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