My sister has learned the hard way that what you put into your mouth today can have an effect years hence. She has spent probably the last five years eating more healthfully, walking daily on the treadmill, and even joining a water aerobics class. She stopped smoking nearly 10 years ago. And yet, she wound up with a 95% blockage in one of the arteries of her heart and had to have angioplasty to fix it. Since then, she has eliminated all the sodium possible from her diet as well as fats. She had already lost weight and done well with exercising, so her physical therapy after the hospital stay wound up being pretty easy for her, though she did find the upped speed of the treadmill at therapy to be a bit challenging.

She has done everything she was told to do, though, and it paid off in a quick recovery and renewed strength and energy. She is of a mind that you have to be your own best health advocate for these things to work. I think she would have opted for some Ping Golf equipment and gone golfing if the physical therapists had told her that it was necessary.

Now she’s after me to join her in this health crusade and I think I will. I can easily adjust my eating habits at work by partaking of those things I know are good for me - the salads minus the chicken, the fruit and yogurt desserts, the apple slices, and even the wraps made with no dressing and grilled chicken. I should probably plan to take a walk all the way around the discount store we are part of so that I can get some “on purpose” walking in and not just the mad dashes back and forth at work. There are other things I can do, too, like reducing the amount of coffee I drink and drinking a lot more water.

Whether you eat at home or eat out often, you can eat what you want to eat. Of course, you might pay for it in poor health or overweight.

What you eat is your own choice. I work at a fast food restaurant and even we offer healthful choices. We don’t put a gun to anyone’s head to make them eat high fat, high cholesterol foods, although they can if that’s what they want. The calorie counts and nutrition information are printed right on the back of the tray liners. All you have to do is flip them over and read, then make your selections.

What I always find, well, odd, is the number of young children who will choose apple slices and milk or juice instead of fries and a soft drink. I also find it odd when parents will say something like, “Don’t you want fries and a soda??” Leave the child alone. He has made a smart choice.

I’m also surprised by the number of people who order the large fries and large soft drink. As for myself, when I do eat fries it’s always the small order and even then I don’t finish them. It’s really quite enough to go with a sandwich, in my opinion.

Yet, fast food gets the blame for overweight people. No one has to eat the greasiest thing on the menu. Choose a meatless salad instead. Maybe a fruit and yogurt dessert. Even the soft serve ice cream is reduced fat! Make better choices and you’ll feel better and live longer.

I wonder if my car insurance would cover camping and cooking on the tailgate? The weather is cooling down a lot and this Ford Explorer is just perfect for taking to the campsites around here. I’ve got a little camp stove, an iron dutch oven, and a blue speckled enamel-ware coffee pot. For my part, that’s all I really need to cook everything while camping.

I’ve never taken a lot of kitchen gadgets with me. Most everything is cooked in one pot. I can use the iron dutch oven for everything from frying to stews to camp food that is a delicious mix of meat, potatoes, onions and other tasty vegetables. Nothing fancy, but this kind of food sure does kick off a day in the woods, don’t you think?

Ok, now I’m salivating just thinking of all that delicious goodness. How about you?

Would you believe, I’ve been off two days and actually haven’t cooked a meal other than my late supper of eggs, ham, and biscuits last night? I’ve pretty well concentrated on getting housework caught up and trying to get some decorator items out to put in the living room. The walls in there look pretty bare.

I still have some more to do, of course, but at least I have some of “me” in there. I still need to get the kitchen clock up that I recently bought. It’s got a fat French chef on it. I thought it looked kind of quirky and that’s just the kind of decorating I like to do. For instance, amid the painted glass I also have some macrame, a couple of McDonald’s toys (ones that really appealed to me), and some family pictures. I know. Odd mix, but together it all says “Ann”.

I guess I’ll always be sort of a hippie at heart, just putting things around me that strike my fancy or appeal to my more whimsical side.

I have today off and was getting a little hungry earlier, so I made a batch of home made biscuits. I just had them with butter and jelly, but they made for a nice little lunch. Now, I’m looking for something else.

I got some sliced ham out of the freezer and I have it thawing in the microwave. I think I’ll lightly fry it and have eggs, ham and biscuits for my supper. Not a full, complete meal, I know, but it’s what I’m in the mood for. Sometimes, breakfast is what I really want for supper since I rarely eat a regular breakfast. Maybe that’s why I haven’t needed any diet pills recently. I don’t eat enough regular meals.

I know I should. I’m sure I’d have more energy for work and at home. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time, though, to prepare the meals I’d really like to have.

My favorite part of the fall of the year is the great autumn fruits and vegetables. Sweet potatoes, apples, pumpkins, and winter squash are some of the most healthful and delicious foods around, in my opinion. These food can be stored all winter to provide us with vitamins and minerals we need during the dormant season.

Of course, we all probably think of Thanksgiving when we think about these foods. Things like sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and baked winter squash come to mind. They are hearty and warm us clear to the soul.

Generally, each year I will buy at least one bushel of sweet potatoes and keep them in a dark, cool closet. They will last all winter unless we eat them all first! I usually also buy a pumpkin or two. Not huge ones, though. I really like a medium sized pumpkin because I can decorate with it and then bake it down for the pulp, which I put in the freezer in 2 cup portions. This gives me enough pumpkin for pies, breads, and other recipes all through the dreary winter months.

If you have a favorite harvest time recipe, send it along in comments!

The time is fast approaching when I will actually be on vacation. And I don’t mean just some days off work. I mean a real vacation. I might not know how to act since I’ve never actually taken a vacation. I’m so used to working at work and bringing some of the work home with me (scheduling, supplies ordering, etc.) that it’s going to be downright strange not to be doing those things!

I’ll be honest, though. It kind of scares me to leave the restaurant for five days and not be in control of things. I wish I could get some travel insurance that would guarantee the restaurant would run smoothly, there would be no drama and no fires to put out, and all the ordering and paperwork would be done in a timely manner.

Of course, I’ll have the schedules for those days created already so people will know when they are supposed to work. I hope they all show up!

It seems like the harder I work at work, the more needs to be done. I have a hard time getting others to do their jobs correctly, which means I can’t be as effective as I’d like to be in my managerial position. See, instead of “managing”, I wind up working alongside the crew or floor managers just to keep things on track.

In fast food, the keyword is “fast”. I feel like I’m having to drive people constantly to get them to understand that customers don’t expect a 5-star restaurant experience. They just want to get their burgers as quickly as possible, and have them still be hot and fresh. All that pushing of people wears me out!

I’m always thankful for downtimes at home, when there are no time constraints in the kitchen. I don’t have to pump out a meal in 90 seconds or less, although most meals do take under 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish. Unless I need to slow cook some meat to make it tender, very few meals at home take much time to get cooked and on the table.

I’m curious how many of my readers work an outside job and how you get meals on the table in a reasonable amount of time?