NO. 1040 - WE EAT WITH OUR EYES!
No. 1040
THE NEXT PASSWORD IS LETTUCE
Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN
WE EAT WITH OUR EYES!
The Canadian-born journalist and politician, Sir Arthur Beverley Baxter, once said of food, “It is part of the spiritual expression of the French, and I do not believe that they ever heard of calories.”
If you like to eat, and who among us doesn’t, today you are in for a real treat. It might be well to state something here in the beginning about calories, because they can both be friend and enemy. There is some information I learned several years ago about calories that has been very helpful for me. The truth is, if we consume more calories than we burn, we are going to gain weight. One of the keys to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to be very aware of the kind of calories we are consuming.
Over the past two to three years I have lost about 30 pounds. I now feel better, look better and am healthier than any time during my life. I exercise on a regular basis, watch my sugar intake like a hawk, as well as watch out for foods that are high in fat and cholesterol. It is simply a change in lifestyle and well worth giving up anything that is not healthy for us. Sometime back I told you that my new bride is a great cook and has written four cookbooks. While it is not anything dramatic, a while back she made a statement that I had never heard or thought about before. She said, “We eat with our eyes.” This is so true. When we go down the line in a cafeteria, we usually pick out the foods to eat that look the best.
Because of her years of experience, she has that knack of placing foods on a plate to make them very attractive, and as a result more appetizing. A good example is a sugar-free pineapple pie that a friend gave me the recipe for a few years ago. I have been fixing this pie and taking it to various functions over the past few months, and have even had several requests to bring it when we have potlucks. Well, enter the pie-decorating guru. A few weeks ago we had a potluck for our Sunday school class and it fell my lot to bring the sugar-free pineapple pie. Actually, it has a little sugar, but not much. I will give you the recipe in a minute.
After the pie was made, Janis decorated the top, which consists entirely of sugar-free Cool Whip topping. She took some crushed pecans, one whole strawberry for the center, cut some slices for strategic placement, and added some blueberries and pineapple chunks. When she got through with it, it was a thing of beauty. She even took pictures and put it on Facebook, which has resulted in lots of Likes.
Now, here is the recipe. It is so simple, I hope you will try it. The ingredients consist of: one 9-inch crust from the dairy section of the grocery store; a large box of sugar-free, fat-free vanilla pudding; one 16 oz. light sour cream (undrained); one tub of sugar-free Cool Whip; one 20 oz. can crushed pineapple (light juice). That’s all it takes, plus whatever toppings you wish to add.
Here is how to put it together: Bake the pie crust in a 9-inch glass pie plate (follow directions on the box for baking). Mix the pineapple, sour cream and vanilla pudding in a Tupperware bowl or other suitable container. After the crust has cooled, scoop the ingredients into the crust and smooth out the center and out to the edges. Then add the Cool Whip and let it stand in the refrigerator to be ready to serve. Toppings can be added at any time, but just before serving is best as they will be the freshest.
If you will think about it, there are many benefits in this column. Not the least is taking time to arrange food items on a plate, serving tray or other container to make them as attractive as possible. We do eat with our eyes.
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(EDITOR’S NOTE: THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY – Begin your day on a positive note – 365 days for $12. This will benefit the Bookcase for Every Child project. Go to www.apositivemomentwithjim.com to subscribe.)
THE NEXT PASSWORD IS LETTUCE
