Creating more variety for dinner
My husband complains that our dinners aren't varied enough, and he wants more variety with fruits, meat and vegetables. I work fulltime and take care of the laundry, house cleaning and a hundred other small tasks. Our careers keep us busy, and our two children are grown and gone. Meal planning is not very high on my list of things to do. Got any hints?
— Leah S., Los Angeles
DEAR LEAH ❯❯ How about both of you share the dinner preparation? You make dinner three days a week, and he makes dinner three days a week. One night a week, you two go out to dinner or order takeout. This way, you both make things you like, and there will probably be more variety in your dinners. You might also want to look into buying cookbooks with recipes from other countries to spice up your dinners.
You can also get my pamphlet “Heloise's Main Dishes and More.” It contains simple, tasty recipes that don't take long to prepare. To get a copy, just go to: Heloise. com or send $3, along with a stamped, self-addressed, long envelope to: Heloise/Main Dishes, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 782795001.
DEAR HELOISE ❯❯
I came up with a hint I would like to share. I hadn't been able to go to the store to pick up a metal pad to clean my oven, so one of my oven trays was getting “cruddy looking.” I took aluminum foil, bunched it up and started scrubbing. I was so surprised! It cleaned it up beautifully. It removed the baked-on stuff and left the tray shining. In a pinch, this works great.
— Gloria D'A., Geneva, New
York
DEAR GLORIA ❯❯ Be sure to use a little dishwashing soap with this method so that the aluminum foil moves across the metal smoothly. After scrubbing, dry the part you cleaned with a soft cloth as well to avoid any rust or mold that might occur. Never use salt with this or any other cleaning method for your oven or oven trays.
My husband won't listen to me about dieting and is about 75 pounds overweight. He eats all his favorite foods, which I will no longer prepare at home. He loves fast food and could live on pizza and beer if I let him. I'm worried he'll have a heart attack or possibly a stroke with this extra weight. How can I help him drop a few pounds?
— Catharine Y., Columbia,
South Carolina
DEAR CATHARINE ❯❯ First, he needs to see a doctor and have a full health screening to receive the best advice, since we do not give out medical advice here.
The American Heart Association claims that there were about 928,741 deaths in 2020 from cardiovascular disease. That year, there were about 19 million deaths globally from heart disease. It's the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. Someone dies of a stroke approximately every 3 minutes and 17 seconds in this country, on average.
Considering these odds, does that pizza, bowl of ice cream or pile of bacon really look that good?
Write to Heloise at P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000; Fax 210-HELOISE; or email Heloise@Heloise.com.