Hi {!firstname_fix}

I am doing a final, last call for Euro ranch because several of you have asked me if there is room. The answer is yes and we would love to have you. We have a number of people coming from Ireland, Sweden, Holland and Cyprus as well as all over Britain. I am VERY excited. And if you are in the US and want to come as well, please do. We got some great airfares. Click here to join.

Also, please note that I will be doing a number of new classes this fall. Because I just came back from a brain conference, I am doing a lot of thinking. I love sharing new things that I am learning.

These classes will begin the week of September 17, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Napping Your Way to Restoration. This is a new class that will share some really intriguing concepts about helping your brain to settle down. I am very impressed with the material and feel it makes sense to pass it on. If you have any problems with sleep or if you are simply tired a lot, this is a great class to take.

The Obesity Myth is a class that I only do twice a year. If you have issues with your weight or your body image, this is the class for you. Come and see how your self image has been shaped by our cultural messages about body size. The last time we did this class, we had an incredible time.

Brain Chemistry: Beta Endorphin is one of our most popular classes. It will teach you the core of the science behind the program. This is the outline for a critical part of sugar sensitivity, why you act the way you do and what you can do to change it. I love this class and so do all the people who have taken it. Somehow BE rocks!

Step 2: Introduction to Journaling will teach you the basics of journaling. The class will give you step by step instructions in how to record your food and feelings in a way that gets you excited.

These classes will begin the week of September 24, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Step 5: Browning Your Family is one of our favorites. Learn the art of whole grains. Get lots of information that you won't find anywhere else. I picked the brains of one of the world's leading *brown* experts for this class.

Radiant Store Tour is a free guided tour of the store. David will be leading this class so if you want to get to know the guy that makes it all work, come sign up. This is his first teaching experience, so you can show your support for the work he does to keep you happy.

The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled.

A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online and you do not have to be at your computer at any set time. It does not matter whether you are in the US, Europe, the Far East or Australia, you simply respond on your own time. And although I advertise that the classes are one or two weeks, sometimes we are a little flexible and they may run longer.

And please go read the questions and answers before you write to me. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum.

Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover.

Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery® website and Community Forum regularly.

Warmly,
Kathleen

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September 17, 2007
** Quote From Kathleen **


The cornerstone of your healing, your food journal is also the first step in creating a relationship with your body.

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** Testimonial for the Week**


I did a review of my journal today. Here are a couple things:

  1. I have 47 steady days so far towards my goal of three months steady. This is the most so far - yeah!

  2. In terms of what's not getting written down on my journal page, I often miss the "what am I creating today" section and there are lots of blanks instead of feelings.

Other things I'm noticing:
  1. I have started having meals ready in the frig in one container, easy to grab out and throw in a bowl to microwave. I think having to do this for the 17 days of my holidays set a pattern. I also noticed my husband come home late from work one night and open the frig and then decide to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. So, I have started having "standard rations" what I fondly refer to meals as in the frig for him too and labeled.

  2. Over the weekend, I have been wanting to bring corn tortillas back into my diet. I haven't eaten corn since December last year. I stopped because it felt like a trigger food. I know popcorn definitely is. And in the fall I noticed that I was eating a lot of warm corn tortillas with cheese so I decided to remove them. So, today when I shopped I bought some corn tortillas and am wondering whether to try a small bit with some goat cheese and see if it's OK. As I'm writing this, I am concerned because I rarely crave any food these days and there isn't anything emotional attached to eating things. I was doing some of my spiritual growth work this weekend and wondering if on some level I'm looking for the comfortable that always came from popcorn. So, saying this, I'm going to wait and not eat the corn tortillas until a point in the near future when I don't want to eat them anymore. When I'm not looking for something that I think they will fill.

  3. I asked for a dehydrator for my birthday so I can make my own "chips", "crackers" and jerky. It arrived today so I will be having fun with it soon :-)

Goals for this week. Back to basics to stay steady with the food as the spiritual stuff shifts this week (I also did a sufi healing session Monday night :-)

  1. rest, meditation, art-making, ease, space, lots of time, playing with boys, time to myself.

  2. red raspberry leave tea since this is pre-menses week. Lots of water, I'm feeling like I need more water which could be from the spiritual stuff working on the physical level. Have had a dry scratchy throat.

  3. journaling, after each meal and filling in all the feeling spaces.

    all for now

    thanks for your support,
    Ryl

    ********************************************************************

    **Radiant Kitchen**

    By Naomi Muller, Step 7, author of Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook.


    The ultimate comfort food straight from the Radiant Recipes cookbook.

    Kathleen's Macaroni and Cheese Pie

    • 1 c. uncooked brown rice elbow macaroni
    • 2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
    • 1/2 c. Kathleen's baking mix
    • 1 1/2 c. milk (cow, oat or soy)
    • 1/4 tsp. red pepper sauce
    • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 1/2 tsp. paprika

    Baking Mix

    • 3/4 c. oat flour
    • 3/4 c. brown rice flour
    • 1/2 tsp. salt
    • 2 tsp. baking powder(non-aluminum)
    • 1/2 tsp. baking soda


    (This will make more than you need for the recipe, but it will keep in a tightly covered jar)

    Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a 9 inch plate with cooking spray. Place uncooked brown rice pasta in pie plate. Sprinkle with 1/4 cups of cheese. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except remaining 1 3/4 cups cheese and paprika. Pour mixture over macaroni. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and dust with paprika. Bake 1 to 2 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

    ********************************************************************

    **Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

    YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself.


    YLD is a funny thing. Yes, it is a weight loss program, and it is also the cutting edge of the community. You see, the chats are where I connect with you all directly in real time. I can take the new ideas, get your input, hear your reaction and then move forward. These conversations lead to new classes, new lists, new articles. I can hear your needs and get a sense of what is exciting you.

    And one of the more exciting things is our Weight Loss in Action List. This is where the *doing* is happening. People are designing their plans and reporting how it is going. Amazing how well it works (smile). There is no glamour, no angst, just really effective and fun progress. What a joy it is for me to see this kind of steady and vital recovery.

    If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun.
     


    ********************************************************* ***********

    **Radiant Recovery Store **

    David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.

    A number of people have been asking about our flavorings. Someone wanted to know what to use the maple for. Here is Jeannie's response.

    I put the maple flavoring in pancakes or in the butter or microwaved blueberries that go on top. I bake it on winter squash with butter. It is nice in Paige's Praline shake - some banana and pecans and maple flavoring.


    Also, remember, if you are starting off in the program, make sure to get the Ranch 2007 CD. It is an incredible support in understand the why and how of the steps. Everyone LOVES this CD


    Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

     
    ********************************************************* ***********

    **Our Online Groups**


    I thought it would be fun to introduce the new liaisons who are starting this fall. If you would like to learn more about the story of these folks, check out the liaison page. As I am sure many of you know, we have many, many lists. Everyone of them is served by a volunteer liaison who is trained, supervised and coached. Our volunteers make it possible for us to provide this extraordinary service to all of you. I am deeply grateful for their service.

    Diane - Diabetes
    Jo - Pets, Mac
    JoEllen - Step 4
    Julia - Step 5
    Milly - Brits
    Mosaic - Vegetarians
    Tina - ED
    Verla - Depression

    Come to the group page to see all our groups. http://www.radiantrecovery.com/list_serves.htm


    ********************************************************************

    **Halloween in Recovery**
    Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.




    Halloween is one of the holidays that can really stump parents who are wanting something different for their kids. You know that a binge on sugar is the last thing in the world you want to do, but it is so, umm, social. And so cultural. We have been talking a lot about this on the parents' list. I thought it would be fun for you to hear what parents are thinking.

    There are three sections here:

    ALTERNATIVE IDEAS FOR TRADITIONAL HALLOWEEN

    GAMES TO PLAY AT PARTIES

    SCARY FOOD

    And remember, this doesn't have to just be for kids. You all can PLAY too (smile). We are making dog costumes. Hmmm, maybe we should have a contest for the best costume. Let's talk about all of this on the forum.


    ALTERNATIVE IDEAS FOR TRADITIONAL HALLOWEEN

    We sort of do a buy back - first, we only trick or treat in our small neighborhood and in the downtown (business) trick or treat. The candy from the downtown trick or treat we walk right over to the police station or fire station and donate to them - they like to have it to hand out to kids during their calls and such. The other candy we allow them to have 1 or 2 pieces on Halloween and keep 1 piece for each day of the following week (for most people this would probably be too much - but has been ok with my kids if they eat it with their meal). The rest gets left in the container they trick or treated in and at night the Halloween Witch comes and takes their candy (donates it to the "clubhouse"/real estate office at the front of our subdivision where they set it out for people who come in to look at houses) and leaves them an irresistible (but not real expensive) toy - like an action figure or something. They love the toy so much that they don't fuss about the candy.

    Another great idea I heard and want to try once my kids get older is to not even trick or treat - but have instead a pumpkin carving party in the afternoon (or a fall harvest party).

    Marnie

    *****************************

    Last year was the first year I tried any "buy back" program...it worked! My kids were 4 and 5, now they are 5 and 6. They weren't expecting me to do it last year. Ahead of time, I had purchased each of them a gift. On Halloween night, after they trick or treated and after everyone had trick or treated at our house, I pulled out the toys to show them. Their eyes lit up! I told them they could have the toy if they traded in their candy (they got to keep two pieces). They eagerly made the trade! :-) The candy went in the trash (after my DH rummaged through it! LOL).

    Not sure what I'll offer them this year, but now they are expecting it, and I think it will be another easy trade for them.

    Jennifer M.

    *******************************

    I went to Sam's Club last night looking for individual popcorn servings to hand out at Halloween. They were sold out. Instead, my DH and I found these really cool looking Halloween bags of pretzels! They come in a big plastic jar; each jar has 60 bags of pretzels. The bags are orange and black, and the pretzels are shaped like bats and ..... hmmmm....something else, I can't remember!

    Anyway, I just thought I'd pass along the tip. I was practically dancing out of the store. Not only is it not sugar; it looks "normal" and "festive" and NOT weird! :-)

    Jennifer M.

    *****************************

    For Halloween this year we gave out whistles from Oriental Trading Company. We get about 250 kids. I'm happy to report that it went over very well. We got positive feedback and you could hear the happy sounds of whistles down the streets after children left our house. We even had a few children come back asking for another whistle, saying they dropped theirs. I do recall in past years of serving sugar how some children would greedily grab a handful, but I don't ever recall a child coming back for another piece of candy because our treats were that worthy!

    Michele

    *********************************

    I gave out non-sugar treats as well - balloons, fancy pencils, Halloween rings, cute hair ties, stickers, plastic bats, rats & spiders, etc... I was surprised that almost nobody even commented. They did say thanks and some of them looked excited. They had fun picking through to see what they wanted.

    I'll definitely do it again next year - I didn't eat a single Halloween "treat" and was not even tempted by my kids' stuff. This is the first Halloween ever without sugar, for me. I feel so much better than I normally would. I'd normally have eaten probably over a dozen Halloween treats tonight, not to mention eating them in the days before and after Halloween!!

    Carol Ann

    ********************************

    Well, our first Halloween party is over and it was a blast. I was almost sad at first that we would not be going out trick or treating, but now I am not. The kids had so much fun and sugar was not missed one bit.

    I made a lot of good food, BBQ chicken, sweet potato muffins, "severed finger" cookies, deviled eggs, no sugar pumpkin pie with cream, chips, salsa veggies, etc... We had some games to play, but the kids mostly did their own thing. My favorite part was setting up a station in the garage with scary music and I took one kid in at a time blindfolded and introduced them to my friend "Corpus McCool" who was, dearly departed and unfortunately falling to pieces. Then I placed their hands in several bowls of foods which were "body parts". My favorite part being the over cooked cauliflower head for his brain, lol! the kids loved it. Even a few of the adults!

    Anyway, a Halloween without sugar! I gave out those popcorn bags people had talked about to trick or treaters, what fun. And even though the clock says 9pm my body knows it's 10 and I"m off to bed.

    Hope you all had a great holiday!

    Heather

    **********************************

    We went to a friend's house for Halloween and had a great time. We sang, ate, and visited. Kendra was Zorro, and Darcie was a Fire Fairy...costumes were home-made by Kendra, and were very well done. The other kids also dressed up, and they had great fun playing.

    The girls noticed that crackers and cheese were being handed out...and they thought that was great.

    Colette

    GAMES TO PLAY AT PARTIES

    First off, we had a prize bucket, with little goodie bags filled with little toys (notepads, pencils, spider rings, tattoos, stickers, rubber snakes, puzzles, etc. from party supply store)

    1. Hunt the pumpkin: Beforehand, we drew, colored, and cut out a whole bunch of paper pumpkins. We put point values on each one, ranging from 5 points to 30. Then we hid them around the house. The kids ran around looking for them and added up the points at the end. Whoever had the most points won a prize from the bucket.

    2. Trick or treat: Beforehand, we made little notes that either said "treat" or gave a trick to be performed (rub your belly and pat your head, spin 10 times while hopping on one foot, sing the ABCs, cackle like a witch, scream in fright, make a monkey face, do the chicken dance, cross your eyes, fake throwing up, etc.). Start with a folded over piece of wrapping paper. Tape one note on it, then wrap it again. Tape another note and wrap it again, and so on until you've used up all the notes and you have a big package. (Old newspaper or old wrapping paper scraps can definitely be used for this! Then it's kind of like musical chairs, you play the music, and kids pass the package around. When the music stops, whoever is holding the package unwraps the outer layer and either gets a treat (prize from bucket) or does the trick. And so on...

    3. The gross game: Turn the lights down very low. Tell a scary story about a person who died right here on this very spot many years ago. Then slowly pass around his brains (cooked cauliflower chunk), his heart (cooked peeled tomato), his eyeballs (peeled grapes), his hair (corn silk), his nose (stubby part of chicken drumstick worked for this), his ears (dried peach or apricot), and finally, the worms that crawled over his dead body (cooked spaghetti). After the story is done, have the kids write down what they think each body part was made of. The one with the most right answers gets a prize.

    4. Charades: Write down beforehand some cards with Halloween related characters or actions (carving a pumpkin, flying on a broomstick, witch, bat, ghost, spider, etc.). Then kids draw one and act it out and try to get others to guess.

    5. My kids made bingo cards beforehand, although cheap sets can be bought at the party supply store. They used pumpkin seeds as markers.

    6. Mummy wrap: This works best if the parents volunteer to be mummified, because it turned out that none of the kids liked being the mummy, only wrapping the mummy. We wrote out jobs (wrap left leg, wrap right arm, etc.) and had kids draw a job card. You need about 2-3 rolls of toilet paper per adult mummy, so buy cheap stuff beforehand!

    7. Spider web: Beforehand, roll cheap yarn into balls (bigger if you have more kids at the party), about one per kid. To start the game, tie the end of a ball loosely around each kid's waist. Then have kids stand in a big circle and throw the yarn balls to each other. They keep throwing the balls to another kid until the balls disappear. Then they end up looking like a giant spider web. (The best part is that it takes them a LONG time to unwrap themselves from this one!!!)

    You can also find Halloween games on the web...just Google Halloween games.

    SCARY FOOD

    Find Halloween food recipes on the web...just Google Halloween recipes. Here are some ideas to get you started:

    Blood Soup:

    Roast 5 medium beets in tin foil in 400 degree oven for 1 ˝ hours. When cool, peel and chop. Sauté 2 chopped onions in olive oil until translucent, then add 3 sliced fennel bulbs and 1/4 cup vegetable/chicken broth and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 more cups broth and the beets and simmer 20 minutes more. Then puree in blender and serve with a dollop of sour cream. Fantastic color!!

    Pumpkin Sauce for pasta:

    Sauté 2 chopped onions and 2 chopped orange peppers in olive oil until soft. Add 1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin and 1 cup chicken/vegetable broth. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Thicken with cream, or for a reduced-fat version, thicken with arrowroot and nonfat powdered milk (I did the latter and it was great). Serve over WW or brown rice pasta.

    Pumpkin chili:

    Follow your favorite recipe for chili, but add one or two cups of canned pumpkin.

    Orange dip:

    Cook 1 cup orange lentils in chicken/vegetable broth until done. Puree with 16 oz cream cheese, several cloves minced garlic, salt and pepper, and curry powder to taste.

    Chips for dipping:

    We took WW lavash bread from the Middle Eastern market (could use WW tortillas too) and cut into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Then we brushed with butter (red and yellow food coloring added) and put on a lightly oil sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes, or until crisp. This takes a long time, but gives you a good use for those cookie cutters that you might not be using as much anymore!! My 7yo made about 50 of them before she got bored with it and then I made a few more.

    Pumpkin bagel faces:

    We also served halved mini WW bagels that we topped beforehand with cream cheese with red and yellow food coloring mixed in to make orange. Put on a platter along with pepperoni halves, sliced black and green olives, shredded carrots, raisins, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cut into triangles. The kids made pumpkin faces on the bagels. Very cute.

    Spider-wiches:

    Spread peanut butter on rounds of bread (we used pumpernickel for the color, but it wasn't whole grain unfortunately) or on round crackers. Stick pretzel sticks or chow mein noodles out to make legs, then top with another round. Top with two dots of peanut butter and either tiny red pepper bits or raisins for eyes.

    Bloodshot eyes:

    Hard-boil some eggs (undercooked slightly is easier to manage). Cut them in half lengthwise and put the yolks in a bowl. Smash up the yolks with a fork and add some mayo, mustard and a little milk to get a spreadable consistency. Curry can be added here too. Then spoon into the egg white halves. Top with half a green olive with pimento showing. Finally, take a pointy knife, touch the knife into red food coloring (just a tiny dot goes a long way) and make small slits into the egg white, raying out from the yolk part. Looks very cool, always a hit at our Halloween party!

    Finally, we also put out nuts, olives, carrots, pumpkin seeds (bought from Middle Eastern store, I highly recommend these if you have a store near you...not as salty as the mass produced kind, and not as hard to make as from the pumpkin)





    ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2007.

    Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

    Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster, puts it all together
    Naomi gathers the recipes.
    David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have.

    You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recovery® in response to your signup. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter.htm.

    ©2007 by Kathleen DesMaisons . All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your ezine or website as long as you leave the content unaltered and use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®. Please visit Kathleen's website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction." Please notify me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com to let me know where the material will appear.

    Banner Photograph by Patti Holden, Step 7