Lemonade

It was Thanksgiving morning. My mother had cooked most of the food the day before, and all that was left was the Turkey. At 11am, she went to pre-heat the oven; only to notice that the oven would not light. It is a modern-type oven - the ignitor is electrical, not manual. So there was no way to light it - the oven was done. What's a dietitian daughter to do to help out mom and save Thanksgiving?

It was 25 degrees outside and snowing, but I knew that the old reliable Webber grill would do the trick. We left the turkey in the roasting pan, put some liquids in the bottom of it, and put the top on. We fired up the grill (dad was in charge), and in went the turkey.

Two and a half hours later, out came a DELICIOUS cooked 18 pound turkey. We warmed the side dishes up on the stove-top and in the toaster oven, and no one would have known that the oven never lit.

Lesson learned - you can always make lemonade out of lemons!

What's in a Hand?

My husband is on a real health kick. And of course, as both a dietitian and his lovely wife, I am excited and supportive of all of his efforts. He is logging his meals, and making time to get on the elliptical every day. One thing he's been asking a lot of questions about is portion sizes. I've engrained into his head that there are no bad foods - its just how much and how often we eat them. That being said, he wants to learn how much of everything he should be eating.

One great trick I've learned is that your hand can be an excellent measuring tool. This comes in especially handy when dining out, when there are no measuring cups and scales available - just your eyes.

Here are a few general hints on how to measure with your hand:

• a serving of protein (meat, fish) is the size of the palm of your hand
• a cup is the size of your fist
• a serving of nuts is one handful
• the tip of your thumb is 1 oz

With these tips, it is much easier to log your meals accurately, which is vital when you want to know how many calories you are taking in versus how many you are using.

In my husband's case, we are loading up on fruits and vegetables, which helps you to feel like you're eating more but actually taking in less calories. After all, it's all about mind games...