Traveling in Colorado and New Mexico

Ouray, Colorado is a beautiful place. It's an old mining town not too far from Durango and Ridgway but far enough away it's another world. The little town is surrounded entirely by mountains and is nicknamed, the Switzerland of America. We're spending a few days here and then on to Santa Fe for 3 days. We've enjoyed seeing the colors of the Aspen trees, an unreal gold when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. We drove up to Silverjack Lake today and were over 10,000 feet above sea level and the scenery was breathtaking. The wind blowing the leaves off the trees really looks like golden snow. After walking an hour in that altitude a nice relaxing...

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No gluten is no problem

Migas with chorizoI recently found out my oldest daughter, Helen, should be on a gluten free diet due to some health concerns. My oldest son, Glenn, has also decided to try a gluten free diet to see if it will help his chronic skin problems. As a result I’ve been challenged to have the gluten free option for my son on a daily basis. Helen has also asked me for ideas to help her adapt but still eat tasty, healthy food.Fortunately, I had experience recently in the gluten free world. I’ve been doing food demonstrations at the Azle Farmers Market all summer and I have tried to provide a gluten free alternative for everything I’ve demonstrated....

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Food should be a “10”

It’s not easy to lose weight when you’re obsessed with food but I have found something that seems to be working for me. I came across a plan in which you eat healthy 5 days a week and then allow yourself to have 2 “treat meals”, one on the 6th day, and the other on the 7th day. It’s one meal, not a full day of bingeing , OK. The meal should be no more than 1,000-1,500 calories. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? The plan also recommends a lot of exercise, which I was already doing but getting nowhere. I guess my 45 minutes on the treadmill was just not enough to get things going so the advise to try intervals seems to be working. Now I do 20 minutes but combine high incline, fast jogging, and slower walking in 5 minutes sets, 4 times. I do this right when I get home from work and on the...

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The fat chef

This is depressing me. I love to cook, eat at restaurants, watch food tv, read cookbooks, and think about eating and I have a problem. If I see something on a tv show that look delicious I immediately want to make it even if it's not something I would normally include in my diet--buttermilk pie, for example. Or a magazine article in Bon Appetit with a photo of "crack pie", a oatmeal cookie crust cream and butter pie--all sugar, fat, and calories, makes me whip one up to bring to a friend at work who is recovering from surgery. Of course, the next day I make one for a family birthday party and eat a big piece. It's called crack pie because one bite and you can't stop eating it, and trust me it's true. Even fried dishes tempt me, although I would not be inclined to order deep fried food (except...

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