Weight Loss Wednesday...on a Thursday

This week I lost exactly 1 pound and little as it may be, it allowed me to reach another goal. I have now lost...

Isn't that exciting! I am very happy to have reached this point. It gives me great confidence for reaching my next goal, which is my halfway point of 25 pounds. I'd like to lose 10 more pounds before we leave for our trip, but we'll see. That may be too tall of an order for the way my life has been going lately. It is certainly obtainable though, so time will tell. We leave for our trip in 4 weeks and two days...Lord Willing. If there's anything I've learned in life, it is that the Lord will ALWAYS have the last say!

I thought about whether I should have a tip or a recipe today, and I decided to have a recipe. So here goes. Today's recipes come from the "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living Cookbook." Snacks are important and can keep us from overeating at meals. They also keep the metabolism rolling...waiting more than 3 hours between meals can slow it down. Here's a healthy snack and low in calories when consumed in moderation. It can also be wrapped up and kept in a purse for those emergency times when you can't get home and don't want to stop at the drive-through!

Granola Bars-makes 9 bars

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup walnuts

1 1/2 cups granola (homemade or store bought)

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc)

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients-

2 eggs

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup (honey is better)

2tbs extra virgin olive oil

1)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously oil an 8x8 inch baking pan.

2)Chop the walnuts or nuts of your choice and add to a large bowl.

3)Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl and mix to incorporate.

4)In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients and mix to incorporate.

5)Pour the egg mixture into the granola mixture and stir until all the ingredients are coated. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

6)Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until light brown.

7)While the pan is still warm, cut into 9 squares.

*Experiment with other dried fruit, such as chopped apricots, dates or plums.

*Experiment with different nuts, such as pecans, almonds or peanuts.

*For a dessert, increase the honey to 1/2 to 2/3 cup...and for a real dessert, crumble the granola bars on top of Honey-Glazed Pears*

Honey Glazed Pears-makes 4 servings

4 unpeeled pears(any variety)

1/4 cup apple juice

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1)Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2)Cut the pears into bite-sized chunks and place them into an 8x8 inch backing pan.

3)Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the pears.

4)Cover the pears and bake for 20 minutes.

5)Remove the cover and baste the pears with the pan juices. Bake, uncovered for an additional 25 minutes, or until the pears are tender.

6)Serve the pears warm or at room temperature.

*Variation-use 4 bananas instead of pears. Peel the bananas and leave whole. Bake, covered for 20 minutes, basting once during cooking.

I have found that making an occasional healthy dessert really helps keep me from wanting to binge on unhealthy desserts. It took a while for me to accept fruit as a dessert, but my body LOVES it. When I do eat cake, or donuts, it almost makes me feel sick. It's hard to believe I used to shove so much of that into my body. If we would just listen to our bodies, very carefully, they will tell us what is good for them!