HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE - SIZE MATTER, AND SO DOES COLOR

Are you trying to lose weight and having trouble doing so? Here are two tricks you should try when it comes to eating less:

First, use a smaller plate. Have you noticed that over the years, not only have we super-sized our food choices, we’ve also super-sized our dinnerware. If you’ve bought new dishes over the last few years, you know what I mean. The cereal bowls, dinner plates, and dessert plates are all much larger than they used to be.

We tend to fill our plates when we serve ourselves. Use a smaller dinner plate or bowl, and you’ll fill it with less food, thereby eating less. And don’t worry about leaving the table hungry. You won’t miss that extra food. It’s a psychological thing going on. You’ve cleaned your plate; you’ve eaten enough.

According to the Small Plate Movement, you can drop 18 pounds over the course of a year just by reducing the size of your plate.

Another tip that works is to change the color of your dishes. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people ate more when eating food served on a plate of the same color. So if you’re eating vanilla ice cream, don’t put it in a white bowl, and keep that chocolate cake off dark brown or black plates.

Great tips, Janice! Readers, what are some of your dieting tips? Let's hear from you. -- AP

COOKING WITH CLORIS -- GRILLED GUACAMOLE, PEAR AND CHEESE SANDWICH

Cloris loves to create unexpected combinations in recipes. Today she’s come up with a very unique grilled sandwich, but I can vouch for how delicious it is. -- AP

GRILLED GUACAMOLE, PEAR AND CHEESE SANDWICH

Ingredients:
sliced sourdough bread

guacamole

thinly sliced pear

part-skim sliced mozzarella cheese

Spread the guacamole on the bread. Layer the pears on the guacamole. Cover with slices of the cheese. Broil until cheese is brown and bubbly.

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--DRAWING ON GLASS

Here’s a craft that can be anything from super sophisticated to playfully whimsical, depending on your taste. And it’s easy enough for children to do with a bit of supervision.

When choosing an image, look for prints that will lend themselves to line art. You can download and print various images from your computer, or use a picture your child has drawn. Botanicals or Victorian etchings work well and look spectacular framed in a grouping in a dining room, bedroom, or bathroom. Fruits and vegetable prints ook good in a kitchen or dining room. For a baby’s room, download turn-of-the-century nursery rhyme art. For a child’s room, download and print coloring pages of their favorite cartoon characters.

When choosing colors for more sophisticated looks, go with white or silver markers and black or rich, dark colors for the paper. For more whimsical looks, choose a white marker with bright primary or deep pastel papers.

Materials: picture frame with glass, alcohol, desired image to fit within glass, DecoArt Glass Paint Marker in desired color, colored paper to fit within frame

NOTE: if working with a child, first tape the edges of the glass to prevent accidental cuts. Remove the tape after the paint is dry and before framing.

1. Clean the picture frame glass with alcohol.

2. Working on a hard, flat surface, place the glass over the image you’ve chosen. Keep in mind the final artwork will be in reverse, so if you want the piece to look like the picture you’ve chosen, print it in reverse.

3. Using the glass paint marker, outline the picture, being sure not to smear the paint as you work.

4. Allow the paint to dry at least four hours. Place glass into the frame with paint side facing in. Place the colored paper into the frame on top of the painted glass. Secure the frame backing in place.

THIS WEEK'S BOOK WINNER

Thanks to everyone who stopped by Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers this week and special thanks to our Book Club Friday guest, author Lillian Melendez. Lillian offered a copy of Dismantling Vindictiveness to one lucky reader who posted a comment this week. The winner is Liz. Please email your mailing address to anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I'll forward it to Lillian, and she'll send you your book.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR LILLIAN MELENDEZ

Lillian R. Melendez has been writing and publishing her work since she was very young. The arts as a whole have always been an interest, but creative writing is her passion. Read more about her at her website.

Lillian is giving away a copy of Dismantling Vindictiveness, a novel of revenge, greed, and murder and one man's search for redemption, to one of our readers who leaves a comment this week. -- AP

Writing Believable Characters

Writers take reality and play with it by using their imaginations. There’s a reason why writers keep a small notepad wherever they go. Inspiration can strike anytime and anywhere.

To make my characters believable, I engage with people around me, trying to understand people’s personalities and behaviors.  A person’s body movements, facial expressions, what they say, how they say it, what other actions they exhibit, can be helpful in creating a believable character.

Because each human being is complex and unique, I make the characters as real as possible. In my novel, the characters are “round.” Meaning, they have more than one side to their personality, while flat characters are two-dimensional.

Soap operas are a perfect example. You see the characters played by actors, but they do not have the same personality as the characters they portray. Yet, the characters they portray, are an exact personality of a human being somewhere in the world. A believable character in a soap opera or in a book brings the human being in, wondering what the character will do next.

Thanks for joining us today, Lillian. Readers, if you'd like a chance to win a copy of Dismantling Vindictiveness, post a comment. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE -- MAKE-UP VANISHING ACT

As the day wears on, does your eye shadow wear off? Here’s a great tip to ensure staying power. Use a combination of cream and powder eye shadow. Apply the cream shadow first. Use either a flesh color or the same color as the powder shadow. Apply the powder shadow over the cream shadow. The powder will adhere better and last longer.

Great tip, Nicole! Readers, do you have any make-up tips you’d like to share? Let’s hear from you. -- AP

MONEY MATTERS WITH SHEILA--LUCKY PENNY DAY

Today is Lucky Penny Day, a day set aside to appreciate the good luck finding a penny is supposed to bring. Remember the old rhyme:

See a penny, pick it up,
all day long you’ll have good luck.

Unfortunately, pennies may not be with us much longer. For the sixth year in a row, it now costs the U.S. Mint more to manufacture and distribute a penny than it’s worth. A lot more. Every penny minted in the U.S. this year will cost 2.41 cents. That hardly makes sense.

Starting this fall Canada will stop producing pennies, saving our neighbors to the north 11 million dollars a year. Last year the U.S. Mint produced 4.9 billion pennies. That’s $118 million dollars spent to make 49 million dollars worth of pennies. Where’s the logic in that?

There’s now a movement to do away with pennies here in the U.S. Of course the zinc industry is opposed and lobbying against such a proposal. Pennies are mostly made from zinc these days. Another group in opposition to dumping the penny is the Lincoln Library which stated it would fight for the penny down to the last cent.

How long will we continue to waste money on the lowly penny? It’s not like you can buy anything for a penny any more. What are your feeling about doing away with the penny to save tax dollars? A penny for your thoughts?