Why do you have to be so honest?

This was a question I have had asked to me a couple times during the last month, the biggest controversy seems to be why am I admitting that I am trying to qualify for gastric bypass surgery? Well I guess my question is why not tell people the truth, that my weight has gotten out of control and I need some help to learn to live again and lose this weight?

For years the subject of weight loss surgery has been so taboo in our culture, take a look at Star Jones whom everybody knew had weight loss surgery and for whatever reason she was too ashamed to admit it to the public. In today's day and age where obesity is so prevalent, I don't want to hide anything. Besides the fact you all would find it pretty strange when after my surgery I start dropping pounds like crazy. So my philosophy is to be honest, from how the extra weight has really effected my lifestyle to the reasons I am going this route.

Gastric Bypass is a extreme route to take I realize, and I am very educated and informed on everything I will be going through and everything I will be giving up to make this a reality. Such as caffeine, sugar, pasta etc. But when you weigh those things out againest, me finding love once again and living a healthier lifestyle and being active, things just don't compare. The sad thing is I have wasted half of my life, living a sheltered and scared life, and thinking I was no good and worthless, and now it is like the clouds have parted ways and the made things so much clearer. No longer do I want to be the one sitting on that bench of life watching everyone else around me doing things, and getting what they want. From now on I want to be the one running towards my goals and building a new life for myself.

From my very first blog entry I told you I would be  brutally honest, and at times you might be shocked. So that is why I am being so honest about the route I am choosing to loose  my weight. My small little blog post have already been making a diffrence in people's lives as I receive the emails, and private messages on Facebook, and that is all I want. So hopefully another person life myself whom might think they are worthy of taking care of themselves and getting healthy can look to me for inspiration and support along the way of their journey too.

 

Wordless Wednesday for Feb 26, 2014

I have been finding really inspirational quotes all over the internet! Alot of them I am saving to put up on a inspiration board for those times when I need a pick me up! But here is my Wordless Wednesday pic of the week I think it speaks volumes!

My 600 pound life-Thoughts on Penny

A couple of months ago I started watching the show on TLC called My 600 pound life, and for months I had been afraid to watch it. Wasn't a hundred percent sure why, but their larger sizes and some of the masses they had on their legs, kind of scared me off from watching the show. Please know I realize this sounds bad and I don't mean it to be, I was not trying to be judgmental I just think it was a case of a fear of the unknown. One day though I decided to sit down with no judgement and watch a whole episode, and what I learned was to have empathy with each and every person.

In this episode that I am talking about it stars Penny she is a married mother of one who is currently confined to her hospital bed in her home, where she is cared for by her husband whom has quit his job to care for her. One of the  things I first noticed about Penny was how much she blamed everyone but herself for her weight. Through this whole episode I don't think we actually see her take true accountability, which bothered me so much. The reason it bothered me is, if you cannot come to that point in your life when you look in the mirror and you say "The reason I am fat, and overweight is because I eat and choose the wrong foods to eat, that I am to blame and no one else". Until you have reached that point that you are able to take full accountability I don't think you should have any weight loss surgery because it simply will not work for you.

Penny is so big that she has to have a team of paramedics help her out of her house and she has to sit in the back of a minivan that has had the back seat taken out and a hospital mattress put in its place. I remember watching all the paramedics and fireman trying to get her out of the house and into the minivan and just being horrified for her. Part of me wanted to reach through my TV and just try to offer her some comfort for being so brave as to venture out of her house, and then part of me felt so bad for her as I would feel so ashamed and embarrassed.

When Penny does finally get her gastric bypass surgery, one of the things that made me so mad was the nurses and doctors kept begging her to get up and start walking. Because the sooner you get to moving the sooner you go home, but not Penny she refused and because of this wound up staying a month in the hospital now here is the kicker. Every other patient that has had gastric bypass surgery wound up losing alot of weight fast after surgery, not Penny she lost nothing while being in the hospital. The doctor made the remark that there was simply nothing else they could do for her, because she obviously had someone bringing her food from the outside in and she was not eating healthy and following her diet.

From that moment on it only got worse, she eventually stopped making her appointments with the doctor and keeping in touch with the doctors. And you would see her husband frying her food in a fry daddy and saying "Well maybe this is healthier than fast food". This was the most maddening episode I had watched, my thoughts through this episode is I am fighting, tooth and nail just for the opportunity to have the surgery. I would give anything to have this surgery and change my life, and Penny was given this gift and she didn't care and threw it all away. The episode never gets any better and I just read online her update and she is still bed ridden, and she hasn't lost any weight. It was a very very sad episode.

Jumping Feet First Over That Wall

One thing I have noticed about myself is that I am my own worst enemy on this new life I am striving for, what I mean by that is that for so long I have told myself "You can't do that your too fat" that it is hard to train your mind to say "Just try". For the last two months I have been struggling with the treadmill for one reason, most of my heaviness is the fact that my stomach is huge and strain of just walking with all of that weight in the front puts a huge strain on my back. Over the years I have tried to be really sneaky of hiding how much it effects my daily life by always asking for tables instead of booths when we eat out, because my I don't want to squish into a booth and have  my fat stomach get in the way. When we go grocery shopping or shopping in general I make sure that I am the one to push the cart, for years my daughters probably thought it was because I was the "Mom". But of course the truth was I could make it through the store by holding onto the handle and allowing it to take some of the weight off of my back.

These are not easy things to admit, but I promised everyone when I started this blog that I would always give you the unvarnished truth no matter how painful or uncomfortable it may be in hopes of helping other people like myself. Now for the last two  months I have been trying to make some progress on the treadmill but again I would get to the 2-3 minute point and the weight of my stomach would really start to take a real toll on my back. On top of this I would start to feel my breathe becoming so rapid that I felt as though I was hot, and could not breathe and my only thing to do was to stop and catch my breathe. For weeks the longest I could go was around 5-7 minutes always panicking and then feeling disgraced when I could not go any further. That mental block seemed like a huge concrete wall that I just could not get over, no matter how hard I tried, or how frustrated and mad at myself I got.

To complicate things even further my best friend whom is working out with me, is a full hundred pounds less than me and was really starting to hit her stride on the treadmill while I was still floundering. Then the other day I thought to myself, this was so similar to when I quit smoking it is simply mind over matter. So I know when I would hit that mental wall it was always around the three minute mark, so this time when I get to that point I am going to talk myself off that wall and jump off feet first. So there it was I could feel my chest starting to tighten, and I could feel beads of sweat starting to form on the back of my neck, my breathing was becoming so rapid that I was starting to feel a little dizzy. And for the next minute or so it literally made me feel physically miserable, I was hot, sweaty, my legs were aching, my back is hurting from the weight of my stomach, and my heart is beating out of my chest. All of sudden that same old familiar feeling tries to take over where I get the "fight or flight" feeling and always choose the flight method. But today I decided "NO" I am going to make it over this mental wall, and began to tell myself take deep breaths, slow down your breathing and you will start to feel so much better. It seem to take forever, but eventually I was able to gain control over my breathing and I was able to continue walking and still be able to control my breathing and slowly I started to feel so much better.

For the first time in two months I had come face to face with the mental wall and instead of running away and stopping on that treadmill, this time I jumped feet first off the wall and continued walking. It was the most amazing feeling and so hard to explain other than I felt a rush of cool air come over me, and I started to cool down and gain control over my breathing. Since that day I have been to the gym three more times, and each time I am still hitting that wall, but each time I am able to climb over it and each time I have walked a little farther. As matter of fact today I finally walked for a half hour and walked a full mile, that was probably the biggest accomplishment I have made thus far on this journey. As I got to my car tonight from leaving the gym, I remember shutting the door and grabbing my phone to look at the photo above I had taken to prove to myself that I had accomplished walking a mile. And tears just started to form in my eyes, and trying to not cry in the middle of a parking lot, I simply couldn't help it.

Too many years I have spent putting myself down, and telling myself what a fat, ugly no good person I was. And today as I looked in my rear view mirror it was the first time I said to myself "Damn Angie I am so proud of you" and I meant it. It these little milestones, where I no longer will allow myself to put myself down any further. Because what am I teaching my own daughters, when they see how much their own Mother does not like her body or herself? Now when I look in the mirror I am trying to find things to love about myself, for example I got all dolled up for church yesterday. Took a step into my bathroom looked in the mirror and thought "Damn girl you look awesome". Now I think the last time I felt like that was when I was eighteen years old, that is too long to have that feeling.  So for those of you whom may find yourself in shoes similar to mine, I beg you to either look in the mirror or write it down a piece of paper and find at least one thing that you love about yourself and build on that. Because we are no good to our children or our families or spouses or significant others if we do not like or loves our own selves. Throw on your favorite pink nike's just like me and jump feet first over your mental wall today, and never let anything stand between you and your dreams.

The Learning Curve of Salt

Over the last two months I feel like everyday I am being overwhelmed with so much new information I am learning, from items I can eat or should eat to items I should not. How protein is so important if you wanting to loose weight, and especially important if you are considering bariatic surgery. Counting my calories and checking how many grams of sugar are in items that I sometimes forget another important component which is your daily salt intake. According to the American Heart Associations website they claim that over 97% of all Adults will consume too much salt on a daily basis. That number shocked me, I know that when I was eating I had alot of salt on a daily basis but 97% of adults that number is wild.

Similiar to sugar, salt is also naturally found in alot of foods, and it is also added to foods during the cooking processes. Average daily sodium intake that is recommended for adults is around 1,500 mg of sodium or salt a day. While you should definatly have some salt in your diet you want to keep your sodium intake low as high sodium levels can cause you retain more water retention, may lead to high blood pressure or also heart disease.

Below you will find a great poster that I came across and wanted to share with you that has some awesome tips for foods you normally eat and how they can be high in sodium.

Product Review: Fitbit Flex Bracelet

For the last month and half or so I have been posting photos of my fitbit flex screenshots showing you how far I have come each week, and showing my accomplishments. During this time I have received tons of messages about what exactly fitbit is, and how you get it, and what I think of it. So I decided the best to tell everyone about fitbit and my experience with it is to write a product review on this fun bracelet.

The fitbit bracelet can be found pretty much anywhere from online retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon etc and in your local stores as well. Personally I purchased my fitbit flex from our local Best Buy retailer for around $99. Fitbit Flex is a soft plastic bracelet that comes with two bracelets one is a size small and one is a size large the bracelets are pretty simple. They are made out of a heavier duty plastic so it allows for flexibility to fit around your wrist comfortably which for me who does not like bracelets or watches is a huge plus. You will notice it has one strip on it this is a window where you will see the LED Lights showing you your progression during the day. Each light will light up to show you how far you have walked, for example if you have three lights showing than you are more than half way to your goal. When you reach your goal of 5000 or 10,000 steps a day all five of your LED lights will light up and your bracelet will vibrate letting you know that you reached your goal for the day. One of the features I wish this one had was showing you the actual steps you took rather than showing LED Lights that light up, they do offer another version of this bracelet called the Fitbit Force which does that exactly, but that option also comes with a $80 more expensive price tag which to me is just not worth it. Underneath your bracelet in a little opening is the heart of fitbit called the tracker this is the brain of the device this is a small little black tracker that holds your LED lights and all of the information on how you did throughout the day. This tracker comes with a charging docking station that plugs into a USB port to charge I normally only have to charge my tracker around every 5-6 days total which is great, and it has notification that will send you a email or text to let you know when your fitbit is running low and needs to be charged which is very convenient.

The fitbit is so much more than just a plain jane pedometer like I had originally thought, this not only counts your steps, and how many miles you have walked, but it also keep tracks of your sleep patterns, and allows you to log in your water intake, your weight loss, calories burned, your calories consumed with a food journal, and how many active minutes you had throughout the day. One of the other great options on this is allows you to add your friends whom have fitbit so that you can compete and track each others progress, it is a great way to help motivate each other. One of the things I did not like about this feature is that the only current way to add your friends is via email , which you would figure with today's social media outlets that allowing a Facebook friends sign up or twitter would of been a lot more convenient that having to know your friends email address.

One of the other great features of this is that if you do water activities like water aerobics like me, your fitbit is waterproof up to ten meters. Daily I wear mine during water aerobics and it will still track my activity and steps taken which is awesome. Some of the things it will not track that we have found through trial and error is your activity on a excercise bike, or eliptical or stair climbing machine. Also if you are in a store pushing a grocery cart it will also not track your steps unless you have one arm free to swing back and forth as you walk, why you have to do this I am not sure. On two occasions I would go to Walmart and do alot of walking and would come out to see that my fitbit only reflected that I walked 200 steps when it more likely 2000 steps.

Some of the features of the Fitbit Flex:

• Tracks your steps, the distance in miles you walked and your active minutes you had per day


• At nightime you put your bracelet into Sleep Mode and it will monitor how long you sleep and how often you awake or are restless during the night


• On your computer you can get into the dashboard and set personal alarms so your bracelet will vibrate like in the morning to wake you.


• LED lights show you how you are progressing during your day.


• Comfortable, slim and easy to wear and durable.


• Syncs easily to your computer, phone, kindles, Ipad and more


• Available in several colors such as black, slate blue grey, lime green, pink (new) and purple (new)


• You can replace the accessory bands cheaply if you want other colors.


• Earn badges to help move you along in your goals.


• Free App to use on your mobile devices.


• Share your progress and compete with your friends whom also have fitbit.

My Personal Experience:

When I first started I didn't think I would love this tracking device as much as I do, but I find myself pumping my gas at the gas station and walking in place just to get those extra few steps in. Or late at night if I see I am within reach of my 10,000 step goal you might find myself walking laps in my kitchen and dining room just to reach that goal. It has also brought out the competitive side of me as I try to push myself to do better than the day before, or with my girlfriend I will try to beat her or come close to beating her. Being a person who does not like to wear watches or bracelets, I was worried I would not like this fitbit. The truth however is it is so light weight and comfortable that I forget I have it on most of the time.

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not receive any compesenation from anyone for my product reviews currently these are based on my own personal opinions.

 

Egg Muffin Recipe

In the mornings I am always looking for great ways to get my protein in! I saw this the other day on Facebook and wanted to try them out!



[yumprint-recipe id='12']

Aren't you embarressed to do water aerobics?

Every since I decided under the advice of my doctor to start doing water aerobics to help out in my journey to loose weight, I have gotten those questions. Some people try to be non-nonchalant in the way they speak about me going to water aerobics, and some don't think it is a true form a of exercising since it helps elevate pain on your joints. So I thought I would bare my soul on this issue and lay it on the line. Walking into the YMCA to attend water aerobics class on the first day, well it felt humiliating.

In that classroom I was by far the youngest person, where most of the people in my thirty person classroom was well into their sixties and older. But pulling my big girl shorts up I decided I was here I was going to give it a shot, and I got into that water and started into my first class. Within fifteen minutes of class I was noticing that my heart was racing so fast, I was starting to have labor breathing and both of my ankles were killing me, and for a moment I felt that tinge of "Will I be able to make it through this class?" At that moment I decided to push through, and see if I could complete a full hour long session. After completing my first class something amazing happened, for the first time in my exercising I was able to finish a exercise program from beginning to end without having to stop to take a break and catch my breath, and it felt amazing. Nothing to me is more humiliating than when I go to the gym with my friends and have to keep pausing to catch my breathe and allow my heart to quit racing, I always feel like a loser when this happens. But completing the water aerobics class made me feel good, like I had finally accomplished something.

At one point feeling very accomplished because I was now able to finally complete and finish two hours of water aerobics I decided to invite a friend of mine to class one night. I was so excited to have her join me, in hopes she would love the class and maybe decide to join with me. But instead she felt as though the class did nothing for her, and kind of made a few comments that hurt my feelings like she felt the class was not hard enough. I know that is not how she meant to come off, but none the less it hurt my feeling and here is why. While my friend yes she is overweight, I am almost exactly 100 pounds heavier than her, that is a lot of weight. And I don't think people realize when you are heavy as I am, just walking through your house is hard, let alone getting into a swimming suit in front of everyone and doing water aerobics. So NO I am not embarrassed to be doing water aerobics, because I can honestly say I feel like I get a awesome workout. During a one hour class my heart rate is rapid for at least 40-45 minutes allowing me to get my good cardio in, that I might be able to do nearly that long on a treadmill.

So even though water aerobics class is usually filled with women and men much older than me, I am happy to report that I have started to develop some real friendships with a lot of these ladies and it touches me more than you know. See my Grandma Caho is the whole reason I am able to take this journey into getting healthy, she left me an inheritance that has allowed me to get healthy and work on me. So every time I go to water aerobics class and I get to hang out with my old lady friends, I get teary eyed and choked up at times because I am reminded of my Grandma Caho and how she has made this possible. My Grandma Caho was one of sweetest, kindest, and funny ladies I ever had the pleasure of knowing and thanks to her my kids will hopefully have many more years with their Mother.

 

Admit it, We All Do it, Come on we all Cheat!

Today I was on my way home from doing two hours of water aerobics and I had been struggling with a migraine all morning, so I knew that I needed caffeine as quickly as possible. Not wanting any additional sugar or calories I chose to stop at McDonald's and get a Diet Coke and nothing else, hoping the caffeine would kick start my medicine and soon rid me of my horrible migraine.

As I am sitting in the drive thru the thought crosses my mind, "I could grab a McDouble to tide me over until lunch, and then just work really hard at the gym tonight" Admit it we have all been there drooling over something we know in every fiber of our being we SHOULD NOT have. Then at that moment something told me to look at the menu and in the middle it showed a picture of a McDouble meal with large fries and a medium coke and underneath it said whole meal 770 calories. I felt like a cartoon character at that moment and my eyes bugged out 770 calories, that is 2/3 of  my daily calorie intake on something I guarantee would only fill me up for one hour if that, and worse I would feel guilty for hours afterwards. Then under that picture it said sandwich alone 390 calories that did  not help the situation, so as I sat there I was ready to kick myself in my own butt for even thinking of cheating. So instead I went home and made a good food choice and grabbed my diet coke and some Special K Cracker Crisps a much healthier snack choice, that I guarantee I will not feel guilty about later. Cheating to me has been the hardest part of changing my lifestyle into a new healthier way, it is not over indulging or even indulging at all. It is the hardest part because it is all in your head, when you crave those bad food choices, or feel like cheating you have to try and talk yourself off that ledge and pray you don't make those bad choices.

Some tips and tricks that I found that have worked for me are below:

• When going to workout I make sure I bring a full bottle of water and then a healthy snack to have as soon as I get done. I tend to be very hungry after working out, and I pass so many fast food restraunts on my way home that I always, always pack a healthy snack to have on the way home.


• Since I work from home, I have removed all snacks from my office at all, I may sit at my desk with a meal or snack but I make sure I only take in exactly what I can have and no more or no less. So that uneaten food or snacks are not sitting on my desk staring at me saying "Eat Me" lol


• Keep your home a food friendly place to come home too, what I mean is if those bad food options are not in your home in the first place you are less likely to snack on them. I realize this is hard when you have spouses or kids, so maybe putting those items in a cabinet that you do not use often so you are not constantly facing them.


• Keep ONLY those friends and family members around you that understand truly what you are going through and can support you along the way.


• Picture yourself! this is a hard one but one I am going to do today is have someone take a photo of yourself and put this on your computer as desktop or your phone as screen saver and use this as your motivation to keep going and to not CHEAT.


• Keep track of your food so that YOU are being accountable to YOU. Over the last few months I have tried very hard to look at my body as my best friend that I have abused for years and that I want to make better. So I try very hard to think about EVERY food choice that goes into my body, is it going to help me. is it low calorie, is it low carb, does it contain high protein. Every morsel of food that goes into my mouth I have to be able to justify that it is a good choice for my body.

Leave a comment and let me know what items do you find yourself cheating on? Or do you have tips that you use that prevent yourself from cheating?

Product Review: MIO Liquid Enhancer

As most of you know I have been a HUGE soda drinker over the years, and that is how I gained most of my weight is from soda and not working out. So when I decided to change things in my life I knew one of those big hurdles for me was going to be how to get enough water in on a daily basis as water is boring to me. So I tried some Crystal Light drinks flavorings and those were fine but my two biggest problems about them is that each container still contained calories and also it made my drinks really super sweet. It didn't feel like I was drinking water anymore but instead indulging in something naughty and that is not what I was looking for.

My new mindset is that I have a very very limited amount of calories that I am allowed to have on a daily basis and I don't want to use them in any of my drinks, when I could instead be enjoying some fruits or veggies. So the next thing I found was the MIO Liquid enhancers, and one of the things I loved the most about this was that you control how much flavor you wanted in your drink. You were not forced to use a whole package and then stuck with a drink that tasted to sugary sweet that it no longer felt like you were drinking water. Some of the other things I really liked about the MIO was ease of use, this was small and compact and so easy that I always keep at least one in my purse at all times, for when I am out and about and need to refill my water I am prepared. The other thing I really loved about the MIO design is when you open the lid you do not have to worry that if you accidentally knock it over that you will be spilling the flavoring all over your counter, it has a spill proof top.

MIO Liquid is a product produced from the Krafts Food Company, which made me feel a little bit better because it was a National reconized and trusted brand making this. The bottles say on the front of them that will help flavor up to 24 glasses of 8 ounces of water, I know I can keep one and use it for up to three weeks easily. They seem to last a long time and at $3.50 per bottle that is so much cheaper, than supplying yourself with three weeks worth of sugary drinks. Another great aspect of the MIO is that they have alot of varities that you are sure to find one flavor that suits your needs, below is a list of their current flavors.

Cherry Blackberry
Orange Tangerine
Berry Pomegranate
Strawberry Watermelon
Blueberry Lemonade
Fruit Punch
Lemonade
Sweet Tea
Peach Tea
Mango Peach
Cranberry Raspberry

So my personal opinion is that the MIO liquid is a great alternative if you do not the taste of plain water and you are looking for a little kick to your water. The MIO liquid is zero calories so you can add as little or as much as you want and not have to worry about the calories. Personally I have a 24 ounces water bottle and I will use 3 squirts and it is quite flavorful without being sickening sweet. The convenience of the small container, spill proof top and ease of being able to take it anyway is a huge plus in my book. If you use MIO let me know which one is your favorite.

Getting Your Water In?

I must confess before I started changing my eating  habits and making this big lifestyle change I was not a big fan of plain old boring water, so getting my daily intake was somewhat of a chore. Since making all of these changes I have been trying to make a more conscious decision to really listen to my body, and pay attention to the changes in my body. One of the biggest things I have noticed is that when I am slacking in getting my water  intake in for the day several things start happening, one I am hungry more hungry than I normally am and I am usually craving either salty or sweet things of which neither is a good option. Second thing I will notice is that I will feel lethargic or like I simply just do not have any energy.

So as with everything I really began doing my research on how important drinking plenty of water is essential to anyone wanting to loose weight. Water is one of the most important tools in your fight against the bulge as it really helps to lose weight and keep it off. When you drink your water prior to eating any meals or snacks it works as a natural appetite suppressant, allowing you to feel more full before you start eating causing you to eat less. Water also helps your body metabolized stored fat that you have hidden on you. There are many studies out there that show when you do not drink water or slack in your daily consumption it will cause fat deposits to increase, while if you increase your water intake it will help reduce your fat deposits. Also another thing that is very common in women is water retention and this caused because when your body does get enough water, it will perceive this as a threat and will then hold onto every last drop of water. This will start to show up as swollen feet and hands and ankles, and some people may turn to diuretics which is a temporary solution, a more permanent solution is simply increasing your daily water intake.

Below are some tips to get your water intake in daily:

• Add a no-calorie flavoring to your drink, I love the MIO Liquid and personally use the lemon and orange tangerine flavor. What is great about these alternative is if you are use to getting your calories through drinking such as big soda drinkers, this will give you some taste to your water with zero calories.


• Challenge a friend on whom can get the most water in a daily basis great to do with a co-worker.


• Make it a habit to drink a big glass of water before getting out of bed in the morning, and then with 30 minutes before every meal throughout the day.


• Convience is the key to making this a easy transition to you, use a big plastic cup that you keep within arms reach all day long.


• When you have those nasty cravings for something sweet or salty try drinking a big glass of water first and see if that does not curb those cravings first.


• Drink your water using a straw, the reason for this is that you tend to take bigger swigs or drinks when sipping from a straw.


• Add fresh fruit to flavor your water, the best way to do this is to take a pitcher and add your fresh fruit or veggies to the pitcher of water and then it sit in the fridge for 4 hours before drinking.


• If you are still needing a diet soda throughout the day, make yourself earn that diet soda by drinking two 8 ounces of water before you can have your diet soda.

Things you can do with your rice cooker

Out of all the kitchen appliances that you can purchase the rice cooker has to be the one of the most useful. And no, it's not just for cooking rice, although it does that quite well and to perfection every single time. While it may be "off label" using your rice cooker to perform other useful kitchen tasks will enable you to be even more creative in the kitchen.

 

Cook Beans  -- That's right you can cook beans in the rice cooker without burning them. Simply put in the right ratio of liquid to beans. First bring washed beans, water and salt to a boil on the stove, cover with a lid, turn off and let set for one hour. Place beans into rice cooker, cover with water or broth, add in an onion, some garlic and salt and cook using the brown rice setting.

 

Cook Breakfast  --  Put 1 part steel cut oats to 3 parts water, with a dash of salt into rice cooker. Turn on normal white rice cooking. Remember that oats expand more than rice so if your rice cooker cooks six cups of dry rice it will only cook three cups of oats.

 

Cook Fruit -- If your rice cooker has a porridge setting add in five apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, plus a 16 ounces of pitted cherries, covered with 1/2 cup apple juice or cider, 1/4 cup agave , 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 stick unsalted butter. Close and set on the porridge cycle, when it's done, open and stir. Put lid back on and cook until desired consistency. Store in fridge for up to two weeks.

 

Cook Other Grains -- You can cook any grain from wheat berries, to risotto in the rice cooker. Simply use the right ratio of liquid to dry and consider how much it might expand then cook on the setting that makes sense. Risotto can be cooked on the white rice setting while more raw grains need longer cook times and may do better on the brown rice setting.

 

Cook Soups & Stews  -- Precook any meat you want to use in the soup, and then combine all ingredients and turn on. Let cook through the quickest cycle until it switches to the keep warm cycle. Check the veggies t see if they're done. If not, just close and let stay on "keep warm" until the veggies are cooked through.

 

Steam Veggies  -- Some rice cookers have a steam basket. I have discovered that if you put veggies in the steam basket with the rice it over cooks the veggies. But you can steam in the basket without the rice. Just set on the lowest cook time, and experiment until your veggies come out perfect. Fresh takes less time than frozen.

 

As you see the rice cooker is a versatile and useful kitchen appliance that many cooks cannot live without.  Learning how your rice cooker works, and how much it can hold in the pot will help you use it for all kinds of recipes.

 

 

Smoothie Recipes Part 3

The last few days I have been sharing some yummy recipes for healthy and fresh smoothies that you can make from home! Today I am sharing part three of this series! And remember if you try any of these smoothie recipes please comment below and let us know how you liked them!

Mango Strawberry Orange Smoothie

1 1/2 cups frozen mango chunks
1 cup strawberries, frozen
1 large orange, peeled and segmented
2/3 cup carrot juice (or other juice or liquid)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
a little fresh lime zest

In a blender, add all the ingredients and blend on high until smooth. 

Mango Yogurt Smoothie

1 mango, peeled, pitted, diced
1/3 cup orange juice
3/4 cup yogurt
3 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Mint Watermelon And Grape Smoothie

1/2 cup fresh mint
4 cups diced watermelon
1 cup frozen sweet grapes
water if needed

Place ingredients in a blender, blend on high until smooth. Add water as needed.

Nuts And Oats Super-Protein Smoothie

1 tablespoon flaxseeds, ground
1 tablespoon almonds, crushed
1 tablespoon rolled oats
1 1/3 cup soy milk, vanilla flavored  
2 tablespoons whey protein powder
1 cup any type frozen fruit

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until desired consistency is reached.

Orange Berry Smoothie

1 cup any kind berries, frozen
1 medium banana
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp. honey

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for one minute or until desired consistency is reached.

Peach Yogurt Raspberry Smoothie

3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup raspberries, frozen
1/2 cup peach flavored yogurt
 
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Super Smooth Banana Orange Smoothie

2 bananas, cut up
1 cup orange juice
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
a few ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Squash Soup

I just had squash for the first time a few weeks ago in soup and I have to say I was in heaven! Why I waited this long to have squash soup is beyond me! Enjoy!

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Smoothie Recipes Part 2

Yesterday I shared some great smoothie recipes you could try at home, and today I am sharing part two of these great smoothie recipes and I will have more tomorrow as well! Remember if you try any of these please let us know how they turned out!

Green Tea And Spinach Smoothie With Mixed Berries

2 green tea bags
1 cup water, hot
3 cups spinach
1 cup raspberries, frozen
1 cup other berries, frozen
1 cup seedless grapes, frozen

Steep 2 green tea bags in 1 cup hot water for 2 minutes; discard tea bags.
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Honeydew Cucumber Refresher Smoothie

1 cucumber, peeled, diced
1 honeydew melon, peeled, cleaned, diced
1/2 to 1 cup water

Add cucumber and honeydew to blender with 1/2 cup of water. Pulse and blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary.

Just Chillin' Watermelon Smoothie

1 cup chopped watermelon, seeds removed
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into pieces
1 banana, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup apple juice, chilled
2 ice cubes

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

 

Kale Coconut Water Smoothie

1 cup chopped kale
1 banana, chopped
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. flaxseed
1 1/2 cups coconut water
a couple ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until desired consistency is reached.

Kiwi And Mixed Berry Smoothie

2 kiwi, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped ripe strawberries
1/4 cup raspberries
1 banana, chopped  
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vanilla or plain yogurt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Lots Of Green Smoothie

1 medium banana
1 large lime, squeezed
1 green apple, chopped
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 cups spinach
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 inch piece ginger root, peeled
1 cup ice cubes  

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Mandarin Kiwi Smoothie

1/2 cup chilled mandarin orange segments
1 banana, cut up
2 kiwi, skinned and cut up
1/2 cup coconut water
4 ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth and frothy.

Emotional Eaters Unite

As I was scrolling on some of my Facebook groups this morning I came across this great table that showed you ways to figure out if you are eating because you are hungry or are you eating out of emotional hunger. This really made me sit back and pause and really think about all those unhealthy choices I have made and still sometimes still make. What I have figured out is that 99% of the time I am eating from an emotional hunger stand point. This of course is NOT a good thing, and it is something I struggle with on a daily basis and I have admit I do not have this thing licked yet. Heck yesterday I worked out with 3 1/2 hours of water aerobics and I ate good and what do I do last night on the way home from the gym? Stop at Starbucks for a Mocha Frappuchino! But the best part is that I ordered it with skim milk, and no whip or chocolate syrup on top so that saved me 280 calories, but still did I need that Frappuchino? Answer of course is heck no, but in my mind I was rationalizing "Angie you worked so hard today you deserve a treat" and you know what I did for the rest of the night??? Sat there and beat myself up, yelling at myself in my mind saying why are you sabotaging yourself Angie?

The truth is I will probably fall more than I will rise during this long journey into a healthier lifestyle, I will make those unhealthy choices in life and I will screw up. The difference though is will I pick myself up this time by the boot straps and start eating healthier and striving for a better life and the answer of course is YES. Over the years I have really learned that to me food became my best friend, it was there for me when no one else was. When I was going my horrible divorce and feeling all alone with no one to talk to, guess who was there to comfort me? Food. Food has been the one constant thing in my life, that no matter what happened my friend food never left me, never walked out the door, never gave up on me, never was disappointed me, never talked down to me  or abused me. Food was there to pick me up and again and make me feel warm and fuzzy again when my world was falling apart all around me.

But as we all know food really was never my best friend, because while yes it did make me feel so much better to eat a package of cookies than dealing with the fact my husband left me for another woman. Or eating a bag of salty Lays Potato chips rather than dealing with the fact that I no longer can stand to look at myself in the mirror. See while food felt like a best friend to me who was always there for me, when others weren't, food of course was ruining my life far worse than anyone or anything else.

The hardest part of being an emotional eater is like unlike being a drug addict or alcoholic, they can leave their addicted items behind, but with a food addiction we have to eat food every day to survive. So what I am learning is that you have to find other ways to deal with your emotions other than turning to food, which can be easy said than done. One of the things I have am having to work on is, the core root of my emotional eating and there are many things and reasons why I eat with my emotions, and learning these and dealing with them will help in the end. One of the things I personally try to do when I go and reach for a cookie or piece of cake or just anything unhealthy is I try to really think about that piece of food. Is that a good choice for how many calorie points I have left for today? Is this going to make me feel guilty after I eat it? Am I really hungry or do I think drinking a glass of water might satisfy this craving? For me personally these have really helped me out, and may help you out when you tend to reach for those wrong items instead of healthier choices. How do you deal with your emotional eating and making healthier choices in your life?

How Much Water Should You Be Drinking?

This was a important question my friends and I had on our mind as we started out on this journey to a healthier lifestyle, was how much water should be drinking in a day. As most of us know water is the cheapest diet drink around, it contains no calories and the benefits it has for your body are immeasurable. Not only does water help you shed those nasty pounds, but also helps to remove toxins in your body, helps to prevent wrinkles just to name a few things.

Below you will find a chart showing you how much water you should be drinking on a daily basis, this chart is based on your current weight. Just scroll down and find your current weight and on the right hand side it will show you how many ounces you should be consuming on a daily basis. For example if you are 120 pounds you should be drinking 48 ounces of water per day, or if you are 300 pounds you should be drinking 120 ounces of water per day. Below are some wonderful benefits from increasing your water intake.

• Weight Loss-It is proven that if you drink an 8-10 ounce glass of water before every meal it will help you feel full and therefore not eat as much as you normally would.


• Healthy Skin-Drinking water can be more effective in producing healthier skin and then spending your money on skin creams, hydrating your body will help give your skin a natural glow and also help in minimizing your wrinkles.


• Pain Relief-Drinking lots of water can help you elevate pain in your joints which is great for those whom are exercising a lot.


• Remove Toxins-Drinking water helps to remove toxins from your body it is a great cleansing tool.


• Metabolism-Water is a perfect way to increase your metabolism which you know helps to burn that nasty fat in our bodies.


• Restoring your Energy-Keeping hydrated can help make you feel fresh and restored and can produce alot of energy in yourself. Personally if I drink just as little as 24 ounces of water I find I start to have alot more energy and I also tend to be more awake and alert.


• Constipation-Sometimes when starting out on a new healthier lifestyle we tend to get constipated and water can help in keeping constipation away.

My Thoughts On Biggest Loser Finale

To start off this article I have to admit that this season I did not watch the show, I normally do not miss a season but this year I just seemed busy all the time and did miss the show. The other morning however I woke up to the controversy all over the internet about how skinny the Biggest Loser Finale Contestant Rachel was. After hearing  this I went and saw the video footage of the finale, and how Rachel currently looks  and shock and awe barely describes how I felt.

Rachel Frederickson went from weighing in at 260 pounds to currently weighing in at 105 and losing a whopping 155 pounds that is 60% of her body weight. The problem with this scenario is that anyone with half a brain could take one look at Rachel to see she is no longer in healthy weight category, and anyone in their right mind should be afraid for health and well being.

Let's be honest if you are overweight more or likely you have an addiction problem, just like me we have a food addiction. We medicate ourselves with food, when we have a great day we celebrate with sweets, or if we have a bad day we might indulge in something salty. Bottom line is we have a horrible addiction just like an alcoholic and when you decide to loose weight you have to work on your addiction. Learning why you are the way you are, the changes you can make to stop this viscous cycle of addiction and redirect it into a healthier way.

The problem I see with this finale of The Biggest Loser is two fold, one NBC should be ashamed for ever allowing her to participate after they saw what she looked like, and the show itself should also be ashamed. For years the Biggest Loser has prides itself on showing people that with a lot of hard work, and changing their habits and addictions they too could lose a ton of weight and become healthy. Unfortunately what I saw Tuesday night was just the opposite and that was this season you could simply change from one addiction of overeating, to a second addiction of working out and not eating as a second form of addiction. Which of course is not healthy either, poor Rachel went from one extreme to another and NBC or The Biggest Loser did nothing to help her. When she walked onto that stage, red lights and sirens should of gone off, that this girl needs help and compassion. Not let's exploit her to make more money on the branding of our TV Show.

Two of my most favorite trainers Bob and Jillian I think sum up what millions of Americans were thinking when they saw Rachel come out on the stage, just look at the photo below. During this section all you could see is Bob standing there with his mouth gaping open in shock and horror and Jillian mouthing "Oh My God" over and over again. The bottom line is that most Americans either have a unhealthy relationship to food or unhealthy image of their bodies, and for NBC to allow this to run on their show on Tuesday in my opinion was horrible, and they should be ashamed of themselves. The worst part of this whole situation is that only Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper have come out and said anything in regards to this situation as you can see below, we still are awaiting to hear from NBC or the producers of The Biggest Loser with some kind of comment on this situation.

"Jillian and I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the BL contestants on their hard work. We're not comfortable commenting on Rachel's journey because we weren't her trainers and weren't given an opportunity to work with her at any point. Any questions about the contestants on the Biggest Loser should be directed to the show's producers."

Bottom line with anything there has to be a healthy balance between losing weight and eating healthy and if you shift that pendulum to either side to much it is not a healthy thing and can be dangerous. It is all about finding a healthy balance that is good for your body and mind. My hope is that The Biggest Loser not only does the right thing by addressing this Finale and more importantly Rachel, but that they also help her so that she finds a more healthy approach to her new body and life.

 

Getting over the "I can't do it hurdle"

Over the last few weeks I have gotten messages from people on Facebook asking the same questions so I thought I would address them here. The questions were "How do you motivate yourself to go the gym as often as you go?" and "Aren't you afraid that people are judging and making fun of you at the gym?" and last but not least "I think I am too fat to excercise how do you do it?"

Question #1 How do you motivate yourself to go the gym as often as you go?

Honestly I have been one of those people that every year I am going to start a diet or starting on Monday I am going to start eating healthy. With good intentions I would start these diets and then within a week or two I would give up, they were just too hard and or the more honest truth was I was not hungry enough to really work for it. When I look back at my weight loss attempts over the years, they were 100% always half asses attempts, I won't lie to you I told you day one I will put the unvarnished truth here. I am not proud of my previous weight loss attempts, but what makes this time different is in November a friend of mine had a heart attach and then had to go in for a quadruple bypass. For whatever reason that was the switch that went off in my head that said "Angie that can be you!" Then what would my girls do? My daughters mean the world to me, and they already have a father whom is an alcoholic and we worry that he will die from a car accident or liver failure, and I just knew I could not do this to my daughters without fighting. The other reason is I was physically and emotionally abused for most of my childhood from my Mother, and then shortly after that I married an man whom was physically and emotionally abusive through our whole marriage of twenty-two years. During that time "Angie" died and I became a zombie that lived only to care for her kids, and totally and completely neglected herself. Now I want to get to know the real "Angie" and I feel it is my time and I deserve to be healthy and happy and hopefully to find that someone special who will treat me right and with respect.

Question #2 Aren't you afraid that people are judging and making fun of you at the gym?

The honest to god truth is NO. Lately I just don't care what others think about me, or my journey because I have realized that I cannot change their opinions of me, or their perceptions, all I can do is work on myself. There is always going to be people out there judging you for whatever reasons maybe you don't have designer clothes, or your overweight like me. Whatever the reason is I have learned that worrying what other people think, is just another excuse to keep you out of the gym and to keep you from working on improving yourself. Don't let what others think of you effect you any longer, you need to make the changes for YOU, not for them. Also I need to add this I joined Planet Fitness and there motto at Planet Fitness is "No Gymtimidation" this is the gym that the Biggest Loser uses. The staff is AMAZING there and they are friendly and they honestly never ever judge me there. They cater to people trying to make a change in their lives and it is only $10 a month well worth it

Question #3 I think I am too fat to excercise how do you do it?

Yes there are MANY things in the gym that I cannot do yet, but does that stop me from going or trying the answer is NO. This too can be a another excuse for not changing your life and making the necessary changes out there. No matter how big you are you can excercise from home or from the gym. You can look online and find youtube vidoes of "Chair Aerobics" for those whom are to overweight or not strong enough for regular workouts. No matter how big you are, you just need to start small with a personal trainer or videos or the pool and work your way up. Instead of looking at the gym equipment that you can't do and thinking "Oh my god I can't do half of this equipment" look at it like I do "One day I will tackle that machine". The one thing I am learning in this journey is to take baby steps, you didn't get to this size overnight and you won't loose it overnight. But by pushing through and taking those steps and pushing yourself just a little harder each day you will get there.

 

Refreshing Smoothies Recipes

So my best friend Melanie got me a personal blender a couple of weeks ago and I have made a few yummy smoothies, but wanted to share some great recipes I have found that you could try also! If you try any of these let me know your results!!

Cucumber Strawberry Chiller Smoothie

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 1/2 cups strawberries, frozen  
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp. honey
1 cup almond milk, chilled

Put all ingredients in blender and pulse until combined, then puree until smooth and frothy.

Blueberry Grape Smoothie

1 cup blueberries (frozen)
1 banana, cut up
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup real grape juice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Blueberry Banana Agave Smoothie

1 cup blueberries, frozen
1/4 tsp. orange zest, finely grated
1 banana, frozen and cut into chunks
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup soy milk, vanilla flavored
2 Tbsp. chia seeds, ground (optional)  
2 tsp. agave syrup
1/4 cup granola

Add all ingredients (except granola) to a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Put the smoothie into two glasses and put granola on top and then serve.

Chunky Strawberry Banana Smoothie

2 cups strawberries, divided
2/3 cup orange juice
1 banana
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

Add 1 cup of the strawberries in a blender, along with the orange juice, banana, and yogurt; blend until smooth. Keep blender running and add a few strawberries at a time to the mixture (through the feeder tube), blending until the smoothie reaches the consistency you like. You may save a few strawberries for garnish.

Fresh Mint Berry Berry Smoothie

4 large mint leaves
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup cold water or other liquid
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup ice cubes 

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until desired consistency is reached. 

Gingered Mixed Green Smoothie

1 cored and cubed green apple
1 cup chopped cucumber
2 cups spinach
1 large sweet lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons grated ginger root
2 tablespoons flaxseed (optional)
1 cup cold water or coconut water

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Serve immediately.

 

I Make No Apologies, So Unfriend Me Now

That was what I thought this morning when I got home from the YMCA only to get yet another nasty Facebook message from a suppose customer and friend. Her message to me was she was sick and tired of seeing all of my Facebook post talking about my accomplishments, struggles and etc. Some of the things mentioned was she was tired of seeing my check-ins to the YMCA and Planet Fitness and felt I was rubbing into others faces the fact that was I was working out. So let me set that record straight, I do not take my phone in to the YMCA or Planet Fitness when I work out, so I check-in on Facebook so my kids know where I am at so they can reach me in the case of an emergency, but why this would bother her is beyond me.

The bottom line my Facebook page is a reflection of me, my journey, my life, my struggles and lately my triumphs. One of the greatest features of being a member of the Facebook community is the ability to unfriend or block whom you want. So my advice to that lovely so called friend who sent me yet another nasty Facebook message, I make no apologies for what struggles and triumphs I share on Facebook or my blog. Because somewhere out there is someone who was just like me, feeling very alone, isolated and like they will never win the struggle of being overweight. I know that person's struggles, I know how it is to embaressing and hard to confide in people, how your body constantly aches, that you don't like to go out in the public because you feel the stares and people talking about you. This journey I am on, will most defiantly touch and reach people who were there where I was, and I only want to lift them up and tell them I have been there, and I am here for you now. Together we can change our lives, and not worry about what others think about us anymore, that today I am taking just one extra step, not eating that extra helping, or swimming that extra lap. Today I am going to push myself just a little bit harder than yesterday, and today I will do this for myself because I AM WORTH IT.

Those are some of the hardest words I have ever spoken to myself, but I can honestly tell you from the bottom of my heart each day I am finding that inner strength I never knew I had. Each day I am conquering a new hurdle, and even though the reflection that looks back at me in the mirror is not the one that I want yet, it is one that I am growing to love again. Today when I am throwing on my running shoes, and putting on my sweats and going to the gym, I do not give a damn what other people think of what I look like, or that I may not be able to walk the treadmill for a long period of time. What I  care about is that when I walk out of that gym, I hold my head up high, because I know that I gave it my all in there and did not hold back.

This morning I conquered one of my many fears which was swimming in the lap lane at the YMCA, sounds like a silly fear but I just didn't think I was strong enough yet to swim a whole lap. But this morning after my water aerobic class I took the first step and guess what I could do 5 laps back and forth this morning and there were times when I would be half way through a lap and just wanted to put my feet down and rest, but I pushed myself to make it to the wall. Or after water aerobics as I was walking from inside the YMCA to my car, sometimes when my gym bag is heavy from wet towels and clothes I find myself having to rest and catch my breath as I walk to my car, but this morning I said no we are not stopping we are going to walk the long walk to the car without stopping, and I did it. This may seem like small minor things to someone whom is not overweight, but to someone like me who is these are huge awesome task we are accomplishing.

So bottom line is, I will not stop sharing my journey on my Facebook page or  my blog. For many reasons but mainly because I know I will touch and inspire someone out there whom is like me and hopefully I will encourage them to get healthy and that I am here for them. If reading about my journey and struggles and triumphs is that much of a nuisance to you, then please by all means unfriend me, because this Angie is done with making excuses and I won't be changing what I share on Facebook anytime soon.

Healthy Cooking With Herbs and Spices

Herbs and Spices are new to me, as I have not used alot while creating and cooking dishes and I am really learning about them and enjoying experimenting. One of the joys of cooking has to do with the wonderful smells that come from your kitchen and flow throughout the house. Cooking with herbs and spices makes those smells and flavors come alive like no other addition. Everyone loves the food so much more when it's well seasoned. There are ways to get the flavors to explode without overdoing it. One way is to avoid adding all seasonings at once. Food should have layers of flavors, so adding one herb or spice at a time, giving it time to combine with the other ingredients before adding another one is a good idea. Another important factor is to always measure your herbs and spices and start with small amounts. You can always add more, but you can create a disaster by adding too much from the start. Herbs and spices are also medicinal, so they are a very healthy addition to your daily food intake.

Most herbs are best when used fresh. The flavors are fresher, smell great, and are perfect for roasting or sautéing. Popular herbs are basil, oregano, parsley, bay leaves, cilantro, basil, rosemary, and thyme. Plus, you can grow your own herbs easily right in your window sill. Dried herbs are great infused with oils or other fats. Crush the herbs first then add to the oil and let the flavors sit over night before using for best results. This is a great way to create wonderful dressings, sauces, and condiments. There is no exact science to how much to add, just add a bit, give it some time to combine, then give it a taste. Tasting food as you cook it is the only way to ensure the best flavor experience for anyone who will eat your creations.

Spices are usually dried but you can use them in their whole state as seeds or roots with fabulous results. A great example of this is ginger root and garlic. Nothing tastes better than fresh ginger root over dried ginger, and fresh garlic, any day in recipes. Popular spices are peppercorn, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper, chili powder, curry, cloves, cumin, garlic, five-spice powder. Spices give dishes a flavor punch. They go great with sweet or savory dishes and can mean the difference between a successful dish and a flop. As with herbs, a little can go a long way. Try adding a little of a spice to a dish before adding more to ensure the flavor is right. When trying out a new spice you might want to just flavor parts of a dish and taste before adding more.

The best thing to do is open your mind and palate and start experimenting with different flavors and cultures. Curries for instance, are really a combination of different spices, so you can have a variety of flavors of curry. Try out making your own curries to see what you like. You can make curried rice to go with a main course of roasted chicken and veggies. Or, mix in your favorite curry combination into mashed potatoes for a little added oomph to your basic mashed potatoes dish. Above all, don't be shy to try cooking with herbs and spices. Your family will be glad you did.