Posts Tagged ‘holiday eating’

Halloween Pumpkin Fun – Pumpkin Bowls and Dip

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Here is a great idea for your Halloween get together, or just for the family fun time:

Get a small pumpkin for each of the guests who will be present – just big enough to hold maybe a cup of pudding. You can prepare by cutting the top of each pumpkin like you would for a jack-o-lantern.

Spread newspapers or an old table cloth on the porch or floor. Sit the children in a circle facing the inward. Or use a large table that the children can sit around. Give each a pumpkin and a large spoon. Let them clean all the seeds and pulp from the inside (they can dump the mess in the middle of the area).

When the pumpkins are cleaned out, rinse the pumpkins with cold water. Wrap the insides mess up in the papers and put in the garbage. Then ladle the pumpkin dip (prepared ahead) into the pumpkin. Sprinkle with cinnamon or powdered sugar if you wish, or top with whip cream (low fat).

Have a large bowl or plate of ginger snap cookies to place in the center of the children. They can take the ginger snaps, dip them in the pumpkin dip from their own pumpkin bowls, and enjoy. Milk makes the perfect companion for the snack.

Pumpkin dip in Pumpkin Bowl
Pumpkin dip in Pumpkin Bowl

Pumpkin dip: (from out of our church cookbook) Makes about 3 cups (adjust for the number expected)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened – use nonfat or low fat
• 1/2 cup splenda or splenda powdered
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin – be sure to get solid pumpkin, not a pumpkin pie mix
• 2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice ( or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Mix together until well blended.  Put in the refrigerator while the pumpkin bowls are made.

This makes a wonderful family memory.  To extend the activity, tell stories while eating or put your favorite Halloween show on to watch together.

What activities to your family enjoy for the holiday?

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Consistency – A Key Word for Weight Management.

Friday, October 17th, 2008
Here is another key word in weight management – Consistency.  We can have portion control, an activity plan, meal plans, goals, and even priorities – we still need to be consistent in our eating and activity patterns.We need consistency in:
  • Our eating habits: Be consistent in What time of day you eat each meal and snack. Then our body knows when to expect nourishment.
  • Our sleeping habits: The hours of sleep you get all or most nights. I know from my experience one of my biggest obstacles is being overly tired. I compensate for being tired by eating.
  • Our motivation: Keep that motivation going and as even as possible. If you are lacking in motavation, do something. Talk to your ‘cheer leaders’ – the friends/family that are supportive of your efforts. If you have written down the reasons you are on your weight management journey, read it. If you haven’t, then write one. It even helps to have a journal that you record your ups and downs, successes and bumps, your thoughts, your habit improvements.
  • Remember – DO NOT be consistent in binge-ing or overeating :-)

To help me be consistant, I would like to start sending out an email once a week – a news letter of sorts. I encourage you to sign-up for the news letter. I have ideas like sharing recipes, deals I have found on line (not sales pitches), etc. Please sign-up here, then leave a comment below if you have anything you would like to see included in a weekly email.

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