Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Getting Ready For Apollo!

This past weekend we braved the snow to meet our puppy Apollo for the first time. At 4 weeks old he is a tiny little thing! He and his sister Star are just the sweetest little things I've ever encountered.

Long story shortened, the breeder was Nutmeg's breeder - our dearly departed bunny. When he died I contacted her looking for another bunny, but as time went on we realized no bunny could replace our Nutmeg. Apparently my follow-up e-mail expressing our love for Nutmeg, and our desire to get a puppy that was somewhat related to him, won the breeder over and (because we were previous customers) we were moved to the top of the list. So, yes, Nutmeg is still dictating our lives from beyond the grave - or beyond the ash box.

Apollo is the god of music, poetry and healing (among many other things) and once the name popped into my head it was hard to think of another. I know, it's a big name for a little dog, but I know he will grow into it. I have big plans for this little puppy. I'd love for him to be a therapy dog. That's my wish. I just think it would be great to spread the love and bring smiles to the faces of folks in nursing homes. But the most important therapy will be healing us. And we're ready!

We've moved around our living room furniture to make room for him to play. We're overhauling the entire house, cleaning and organizing every bit making it "puppy-proof."


And, as you can see, Apollo already has a bunch of toys and such thanks to his aunts and uncles :) It seems we've got a bit of a brown and blue color scheme going. We bought a brown and blue baby blanket and slept with it so he could get our scent. And I've already picked out a nice brown and light blue spotted chair for kids that will fit right in with the rest of my living room.

Oh yeah. My brain is infected.

By the way, notice the stars on the collar? For his sister Star.

Infected I tells ya.

-HH

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Diet Update - Three Weeks In

Five pounds of me are gone. Bye, bye! I stood on the scale three times trying to get it to tell me I've lost six pounds, but five it is. Not bad for just over three weeks on my diet.

People keep asking me what my weight-loss goal is, and while I'd love to be back at my fighting weight of 105, I'll settle for 110. It's more about clothes fitting me, getting my flat tummy back and being able to look down and see certain parts of my body... You know how it is.

I've been doing the high fiber thing. Some of the products that are helping me in my quest are...

Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Oatmeal Bread - throw a slice in the toaster and smear it with some natural peanut butter (no added sugars!) or some apple butter (also no added sugars) and it fills me up pretty well and gives me the sweetness I'm craving.

Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta - I've plugged this stuff on numerous occasions. Love it! Tastes just like regular pasta but with five grams of fiber in every two ounce serving. We had some friends over for a roast duck/chicken dinner and you can bet the leftovers found themselves in a tasty pasta salad brimming with chopped veggies like carrots and celery and peppers, even a few chopped gourmet olives. The trick with pasta salad is keeping the dressing light. Use olive oil, of course, but don't drown it. You can blend some olive oil with red wine vinegar and chopped onion in a mini-blender with some salt, pepper and fresh herbs to make a nice dressing that'll keep your salad moist without all the crap from commercial dressings.

Kashi - Kashi, kashi, kashi. GoLean, baby, they ain't lying. Their cereals can have as much as ten grams of fiber in a serving. Mixing it with yogurt makes a nice crunchy/sweet snack reminiscent of my skinny days. They even make granola bars with four grams of fiber!

I'm getting back into the eating habits of my skinny days, that's what it is. Back then I was fueled by my desire to be a famous actress, now I just want to see my gig.

My metabolism isn't what it used to be, so I've pretty much cut out the candy, sweets, junk food and ice cream I used to be able to get away with eating. I'm not going to say I don't miss it, sometimes at night I crave caramel and/or Cheetos, but I'm able to fight off the urge because I already feel the benefits of eating right. I'm not winded when I walk uphill, I don't feel big folds of fat in my back when I'm doin' the peaceful warrior, I LOOK GOOD! Eating like this isn't completely foreign to me, I guess I have that advantage.



And, of course, once a day I have a really good meal. I'm seriously piling the veggies on my plate. As I learned months ago, 50% of your plate should be fruits and veggies. Last nights beef roast dinner was cooked with red skinned and sweet potatoes flavored with apples and onions and accompanied by cauliflower and brussle sprouts roasted with red peppers and duck stock. Does that sound like diet food?
-HH

Monday, January 23, 2012 The Little Miss Project Book

Who remembers my Little Miss Project video? It's hard to believe it's been a year since Sugarland chose to share my video with their fans and my YouTube views blew up into the thousands.

The creator of the original Little Miss Project video, Erica Jean Bjork, has now compiled the Little Miss Project Book and I am proud to say I have a recipe included in the book taking up two shiny full color pages. Please order a copy of the book for your coffee table. Five dollars from every purchase goes to one of Sugarland's favorite charities.

Check out the Little Miss Project blog post for a nice preview of the book.

And, on a somewhat unrelated note, sign up for my classes at Trumbull Continuing Education - Dinner for Two and Dinner Parties Made Easy.

Big thanks to everyone for supporting me these past few years and making accomplishments like these possible.

-HH

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 Celebrity Morality or "Oh, Myth?"

By now you've heard the earth shattering news, Paula Dean has type 2 diabetes.

If you click on the red words above you'll be brought to a well thought out article by a diabetes professional. If your interested in what I think about the subject, read on.

Every person who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the past three years (since Paula Dean's diagnosis) AND has watched an episode of Paula Dean on the Food Network, or has watched any other show on the Food Network (which exists due to the efforts of Paula Dean,) has the right to sue Paula Dean for damages due to her ongoing conspiracy to keep silent the truth about the connection between her cooking and her ailing health!

Why, you ask? Because this is America, we're sue happy. Am I serious? I'm the Headbanging Hostess, you tell me how serious I am. If I may quote Pink Missile front man Danny Acedo, "This is serious!"

You know I'm being serious when I quote Pink Missile front man Danny Acedo.

I'm a student of the Howard Stern School of Celebrity. You tell your audience the truth, all the time, no matter how painful.

At the very least she's done her audience a disservice, for three years. But to "come out" when the deal with the pharmaceutical company is already set in stone? Krikey, I want to take a shower! It just feels wrong, smarmy, dirty, dishonest, greedy and a bunch of other shower-worthy skeevy descriptors.

Granted, my most popular posts are "How to Make Cake Balls on Pretzel Sticks" and "Cadbury Creme Eggs Baked in a Biscuit." But I've also been quite candid about my weight struggle. Tasty tempered with reality. And krikey again, I only influence 30 or so people (maybe more according to Klout, not quite sure I understand that site still.) Caring about your audience means not lying to them. And, yes, even a lie of omission is still a lie.

Already Paula Dean is being unclear in her statements to the press regarding the relationship between diet and diabetes. Triple krikey. Tell yourself the truth woman! You ate yourself into disrepair! And as a food professional/entertainer you have a duty to your fellow man. There's an unspoken contract - you give us information and we adore you. But by keeping the diagnosis from us, and continuing to feed the public a steady diet of butter, sugar and what-have-you you have been dishonest and disingenuous.

Now, of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows the kind of food Paula Dean showcases isn't health food. But not everyone knows about the link between an unhealthy diet and diabetes. And someone with that kind of influence; given the opportunity every time she stepped in front of a camera to educate her audience about a health issue that both she herself and millions of Americans were suffering with; given that opportunity she said nothing. For three years.

It's sad. And outrageous.

I'm curious to see what happens next. Will she change her shows? Her eating? Her lifestyle? Or will she continue to do what she does and just control her diabetes with the drugs she's selling. Yick, I need to take a shower.

-HH

Friday, January 13, 2012 Black Bean and Barley Lettuce Wraps

Mmm... This DDelicious dinner was made without any additional fat! No oil was used in the cooking process, instead I opted for a flavorful veggie stock that I whipped up during the day. Black beans with peppers and onions, barley with mushrooms, a little cheddar cheese, an little cilantro. It was almost like Chipotle but I didn't have to leave the house, and this had a little more fiber.

The barley I cooked in the stock - 1 1/4 cups stock and 1/2 cup rinsed barley. I cooked the sliced mushrooms in a pan with some more stock, transferring the barley to the pan when it was almost done cooking and adding more stock as needed.

In another pan I simmered the chopped peppers, onions and garlic in a little more stock and then added a small can of black beans. The whole can, black bean sludge and all. Let that cook until the onions are clear, let the other one cook until the barley is done.

Lettuce cups are pretty self-explanatory. Make sure you wash them, that's my advice.

My husband added a little sour cream and hot sauce to his. I realized as I was plating that I hadn't used any additional spices, but they weren't really needed on my end. I loved the flavor of the cilantro and the black beans, the texture of the lettuce and the barley. These were quite good! And I ate four of them without any guilt. Lots of fiber, beans are a good source of protein and fiber. I added very little cheese to mine - I felt good about the whole meal!

Stay tuned for more of my "diet recipes" - they're tasty!

-HH