Just when you need a lift

I’ve been suffering with TMJ and that is an awful thing to happen to someone who loves to eat as much as I do. In a nutshell, it hurts to chew. Isn’t that what you do when you eat? Chew? I’ve been feeling pretty down, but when I tuned into my Blogger Dashboard this morning and started to see what some of my foodie friends were up to on a weekend, low and behold I found that I had received an award from one of my favorite chefs, Chef E. Isn’t this the cutest thing you’ve seen? 

Chef E does it all. Currently she teaches culinary classes, runs a catering business and still manages to share her knowledge and love of cooking with us all. Thank you Chef E. These flowers are for you. While you’re visiting her blog, be sure to enjoy the questionnaire that Rico gave her. I just discovered Rico’s blog. He has many fun culinary adventures of his own and I’m sure I’ll be visiting him again soon. The first question is “diamonds or pearls?” I’ll take two of each please. 

I would like to pass this award to Joie de Vivre and Tangled Noodle. Yes, I know Chef E also gave Tangled Noodle the award, but a girl can’t have too many friends or bras can she?

Joie de Vivre and Tangled Noodle collaborated on a healthy and informative series on mindless eating. They shared the secrets of why we eat more than we think based on a life-changing book from Brian Wansink titled Mindless Eating. I enjoyed each bite of their series and thank them for doing a wonderful job.

I have a good appetite and as Anthony Bourdain says, “I’m always hungry for more.” I clipped out a great article on eating that I thought you would enjoy that appeared in the September 2008 issue of Bon Appetit. Food writer and recipe developer Melissa Clark shares her tricks of the trade on how to stay slim and still enjoy every bite in this fabulous article. She’s come up with wonderfully simple plan – Don’t eat what you don’t like – ever. Read more....

Sounds simple but think about it. How often do you eat something just because it’s on your plate? I know I do. I was raised in what I call a “clean plate” household. My mother graduated from college at the height of the Depression and by golly, we were expected to eat everything on our plate. Not bad if you’re a teenager who can pack away a zillion calories and none of it shows. But I’m no longer the ninety five pound girl I was when I married. 

It’s swimsuit season and I’m ready to go to the beach. The one below fits the bill for me. It's in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas where we once called home. To see more about Abaco, stop by my blog Island Time in Abaco.

I hope you’ll click over to Joie de Vivre, Tangled Noodle and Bon Appetit to read more about eating and staying slim enough to fit into your favorite suit. And don’t forget to check out Chef E and take Rico’s fun questionnaire. 

Enjoy your weekend everybody.

Sam