• Your Brussels Sprouts should be firm, compact, bright green and no larger than a walnut.
• Small sprouts have a more tender texture, and the tight heads indicate freshness.
• Be sure to choose Brussels Sprouts that are a good green color. Avoid puffy, wilted, or yellow sprouts.
• Texture should be firm, leaves compact, and by all means - butt ends clean.
• Prepare sprouts by washing and then removing any yellow leaves.
• Refrigerate unwashed in a plastic bag and use within 3 days.
• Freeze Brussels Sprouts for long-term storage. Blanch the sprouts for 3-5 minutes and immediately rinse in cold water before draining and storing in an air-tight container.
• Boil sprouts for 5-6 minutes, add salt and pepper to season and toss in a touch of (one teaspoon) garlic butter and a few herbs.
  Or toss with a teaspoon of olive oil.
• Stir-fry in any kind of nut oil (Hazelnut or Walnut oil is good) for 2 minutes; then add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes – until sprouts are tender.  You sure don’t want to overcook ‘em and make them mushy.  When done, sprinkle a few pine nuts on them.
  

Chewing the Fat ~ send a letter (via email or snail mail) to Our Lady of Weight Loss. Our Lady loves mail (both sending and receiving) and does her absolute best to answer each and every piece in a timely fashion. Write her!

How you doin'? Write Our Lady

LAST WEEK ... Concerned, Loving but Afraid wrote, "Someone very close to me is quite overweight, and each and every time I see her she's gained a bit more. It is a sore topic, and I am afraid to bring it up. I fear she will be angry at me, and I do not want to jeopardize my relationship with her. I do come from a place of love and concern. What advice do you offer? How can I help her?"

YOU ANSWERED!

Dear OLofWL ~ Read your reply to Concerned, Loving but Afraid, and you are right on! As a society we have gone way over the deep end on LOOKS, and that includes fat and how to lose weight and how to be anorexic and bulimic in order to get to an unhealthy weight that Hollywood feels is 'THE WAY' to look. I'm tired of it. It's plastic, it's not healthy it sends the wrong message. I like the Dove women because they are all beautiful and in all shapes and sizes. I'm also tired of youth obsession. B-O-R-I-N-G. We need to embrace women as women and some of us are going to be heavy and some of us are not. The only thing we should be concerned about is showing love to those who have issues and are obviously trying to resolve them with food. If you are 50 pounds overweight, so what. If you are 100 pounds overweight, or if you can't walk up the stairs or you can't get out of a chair, there is a problem that you need to address - through loving kindness. AND don't go by insurance tables of BMI or whatever - which I think are all rigged and have people killing themselves to hit unattainable goals. (Try to get the right BMI if you lift weights, I dare you!) YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE TOO HEAVY. Don't read a statistic to try to get yourself into a different category.

I have an overweight niece. When/if I can sit down with her, these are the things I will tell her. "I love you. I have always loved you. I know you are hurting. I want to see you happier. I want to see you care for yourself. Is there anything I can do to help you? Know that I am here for you, always". ~ R. of Ca.

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Dear OLofWL, As for helpful, helpless comments--If someone ever said anything like that to me I'd have to respond, with a big smile and a pat on the arm, "Thank you so much for your advice. Of course you're right, of course I know it--but of course, let's not give each other our "wisdom" unless it's asked for because we want to stay friends, okey dokey?" My friends never would tho, so it's a non issue for me. They've loved me thru thick (heh heh) and thin. My dad was another story tho. He called my twin and I "Fatty Patti and Piggy Peggy". He's been dead 40 yrs and it's as painful today as when I was a kid, sigh... Not an issue tho, just a sad sorrow tucked away inside the back closet of my heart. Sticks 'n stones... words do too hurt! ~ IVP

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Dear OLofWL, In answer to your last week's question about telling a friend that they need to lose weight ... The friend could ask the overweight friend if she'd like to take a walk. Maybe gentle encouragement like that will help the overweight friend to at least get up and move around. Coming out and saying, "I'm concerned because you're overweight..." Well, she pretty well KNOWS she's overweight. Be a friend; be there; talk to her - and better yet, talk to her on a stroll around the block. Doesn't have to be a marathon - stroll at first, but see if she wants to do it regularly. ~ Pat P.

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Dear Concerned, Loving, Afraid and OLofWL, I have to agree with Our Lady of Weight loss. Love your friend for who she is. Nobody wants to hear what they already know! Your friend will lose the weight when she's READY, not before. Also be honest, so hard sometimes but, if she asks about her weight use yourself as an example. Something like, "Something what works for me is. ..blah, blah, blah. " I have a dear friend who I exercise with and she has lost all the weight she wanted to. She supports me by being honest and not saying, "Oh you're not THAT big!" ~ BAM

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