Happy Fourth of July Jell-o

Red, white, and blue dessert is for 4th of July.

I know that I'm regularly scheduled to talk about something medical, but I thought I'd post this for today, in honor of the fourth of July.  It's a simple recipe that I thought up in commemoration of our freedom.  It's a recipe with red, white, and blue stripes.

The colors of the flag carry some significance.  According to USFlag.org, white is for innocence, red is for bravery, and blue is for perseverance.

Hubby surprised me with the ready to use Jell-o.

Simple ingredients and tools:

4 Red Jell-o boxes

4 Blue Jell-o boxes

Large tub of Cool Whip

One large bowl

See-through short cups

Spoons

I woke up to the surprise of hubby having made the Jell-o for me.  I had told him my plans of pouring the blue Jell-o mix into the cups.  I would then make the red Jell-o in a big bowl.  I only had to put the ingredients together.  Hubby had bought four boxes of each color--blue and red.  The Cool Whip would be standing for the white, of course.

Cool Whip needed to harden.

The cool whip was a little difficult to place into the narrow cup.  I had asked hubby to buy me smaller, wider clear cups, but he couldn't find them.  I had to let the Cool Whip soften in order to spoon it into the cups.  That made the Cool Whip too watery so I had to place the cups in the freezer.

Cool Whip hardened allowing red Jell-o to sit on top.

Once the Cool Whip hardened, I took the cups out of the freezer.  Then, I was able to spoon in the red Jell-o.  The freezing of the Cool Whip allowed the red to sit on top of it without allowing the red to slip through it.  You can see the wonderful result below.

This is a nice array of red, white, and blue.

The end result is this beautiful scenery of red, white, and blue--just like our flag bears.

I'm happy if my kids are happy.

Happy campers eating up the red, white, and blue.

Well, thanks for reading this simple recipe, which celebrates 4th of July.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I was happy when the kids enjoyed themselves, eating this low calorie dessert.

God bless you all, military and civilian alike, in this fourth of July.

Eating Colorful, Healthy Foods

Colorful foods help you want to eat healthy.

It's been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  I say that the way to feed my loving husband is through providing visually appealing foods.  Adding rich tomato sauce--a red color--into rice is good for a man's prostate.  It appears delightful even though I add real garlic (helpful for the immune system) and other good spices.  My husband gobbles up the food with his eyes before he even puts a spoonful of it into his mouth.

Today, I want to discuss the importance of a balanced meal.  What is a balanced meal?  Well, you need to have your carbohydrates (or starches), protein, and veggies.  Here, I have chicken soft tacos with beans and rice.  I'm not going into detail about how to throw it together.  

I just want you to look at the colors.  Isn't it beautiful?  If you are a visual person, then you are enjoying looking at that plate full of colors.  I learned a while back that to get someone to eat your food, you should use different colors to have a good food presentation.  Here, you can see the yellow, orange, brown, green, and red calling to you to eat it.  

I bet you're drooling!

You can also see that the plate is colorful.  I thought it added a nice touch to the dinner that was on it.  Notice that the plate is not big, either.  I did that on purpose.  We need to eat smaller portions, and a small plate helps you do that.  

Did you know that you should only eat the amount of meat or cooked grain that fits in the meaty part of your hand? Yes, your palm.  That means that your meat slice should be lean, not thick, and be the size of your hand, minus your fingers.  If your dinner time calls for only one or two meat portions, check it against your palm.  That will give you a good indication of how much protein or starches you should eat in one meal.  

Of course, if you are eating small meals throughout the day, as some doctors and fitness books recommend, then you would probably only eat one portion of protein.  Just make sure to  match up a protein with a good carbohydrate, especially if you are diabetic.  In this case, I matched each meat to a corn tortilla, which is better than the white flour tortillas.

Beans have both carbohydrates and proteins so it can really stand alone, but I'm a Mexican American and used to eating a meat entree with some kind of pasta (like rice, shells, elbows, or vermicelli) and beans on the side. 

Adding the roughage of spinach helps the food push through your body, and the tomatoes are good for you, too.  Tomatoes are good for your eyes.  My eye-sight began to improve when we grew tomatoes in our garden and ate them.  The avocados provide the fat that is good for your body.  I even sprinkled a little lemon (which has vitamin C) juice on the avocado.

I've come a long way from my earlier days of cooking.  That was about 15 years ago.  I am not perfect, but I have striven to provide delicious, wonderful-looking meals.  I have tried to balance them out with a good drink and a fruit on the side.  I don't always get to make my meals totally healthy, but I am hopeful to get  there some day.  For now, adding good veggies, like spinach and tomatoes, is a step in the right direction.

How about you, my readers?  Do you prepare your foods for all of the senses?  Do you try to make it taste and smell delicious?  I encourage you to include the different colors of the palette.  It just might make it more fun to eat a healthy meal.

God bless you with His peace, my beloveds.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads.  I went link-crazy, but I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.