An Apple a Day Keeps SAD Away: Winter Comfort Food - Brown Apple Betty Recipe

Make Winter Weary, Winter Cheery

It's cold.  It's dark.  It's dreary.  Yes, it's winter and the spectacular fall colors have faded into memory, as the days grow shorter and shorter and gray overcast days seem more like one long lingering night.  If you're feeling down or depressed, you may be experiencing a touch of seasonal affect disorder (SAD) - a condition brought on by a lack of sunlight and shortened daylight hours.  Life can seem like a chore getting through the days waiting for spring.  The moon hangs low in the sky above the snow, a tiny beacon of light.

The single quickest, easiest thing you can do to alleviate the "winter blues" is to get outside for at least 15 minutes a day.  Bundle up and go for a quick walk (even if it's cloudy), the natural light will boost your mood and get you moving in a forward direction again.

Also, SAD tends to exacerbate and magnify any issues or struggles you may be going through.  Life can seem overwhelming for many people at this time of year.  Grief, loss of loved ones, hardships, etc., can feel unbearable and you can't participate in the holiday spirit.  Coaching or counseling can help bring things back into their proper perspective.   

Learn more about SAD here:  
What is SAD? Diagnosis and Treatment - National Institute Mental Health

You may also experience the need to over eat, especially over the holidays.  A full belly of holiday cheer feels good.  Warm comfort food offsets the chill and baking becomes a pleasant past time.

After grocery shopping one cold December night while dinner was cooking, I whipped up a new recipe I call, Brown Apple Betty, from inception to finish in about half an hour.  Some bruised and aging apples called from the bottom of the frig, so I concocted this perfect recipe for apples a bit past their prime for just eating.

Indulging in dessert can be made healthier with a few adjustments to those old time recipes Grandma used to make.  My Brown Apple Betty is Vegan Friendly - no animal or dairy products and gluten-free!  And it still tastes like Mom's good ole fashion apple pie (minus the crust).  Enjoy hot straight from the oven or cold as a quick midnight snack.

Brown Apple Betty - Vegan Friendly, Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized sliced Apples of the sweeter variety, with the skin

• 3 TBSP Lemon Juice

• 1/3 cup Organic Raw Turbinado Sugar

• 1/3 cup Buckwheat Pancake Mix

• 1/3 cup  Old Fashion Rolled Oats

• 1/3 cup chopped Walnuts

• 1/3 cup Crisco Shortening (or 1/2 stick Butter, for non-vegans)

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• 1 cup cold water

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325°.

• Lightly coat the bottom of a 13 x 9 ceramic or glass baking pan with olive oil.

• Place one layer sliced apples at the bottom of the pan, spread evenly.

• Sprinkle 1 TBSP lemon juice over apples and toss to mix.

• In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, pancake mix, Crisco, cinnamon and oats

  (can substitute granola OR muesli).

• Cut Crisco into dry ingredients until well blended and pebbly.
• Add walnuts and mix well.

• Spoon mixture over the apples in the pan. Place another layer atop this using
  remaining apples.

• Sprinkle 2 TBSP lemon juice over apples. Spoon remaining mixture over the apples.

• Cover with aluminum foil forked with tines to make holes and vent.

• Bake on 325° until apples soften, about 25 - 30 minutes.

• Add 1/2 cup water and toss apples to moisten. Add water if needed.

• Bake until mixture becomes bubbly about another 15 - 20 minutes.

• Add 1/2 cup water (more if needed) and toss apples to moisten.

• Bake until mixture becomes soft, bubbly and apples are tender to fork, about another 

  15 - 20 minutes.

• Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

• May be served warm or cold, and can be topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

* Makes 10 servings Brown Apple Betty

Healthy Particulars:

• For this recipe, I used Honey Crisp, Cortland, and Empire apples, sweeter varieties that allowed for using less sugar. 
• The Buckwheat pancake mix and oats add lots of healthy fiber and are gluten-free. 
•  Vegan Friendly - no dairy or animal products.
• Walnuts add essential Omega 3 fatty acids. 
• Baking longer at lower temperatures, 325 degrees, and covering the pan maintains the moisture content which merries the different ingredients together more slowly and creates a thicker, richer flavor than baking at 375 degrees or higher.

• Coating the bottom of the pan with Olive Oil reduces the Crisco content with a healthier unsaturated fat. 
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If you think you have SAD, reach out for help.  Many resources are available, call your PCP doctor, get counseling, etc. If you don't where to turn, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) free hot line:

SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Learn more about SAMHSA's mental health resources here

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If you enjoyed this recipe or this article please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!  I'm here to help! I'm available for counseling and coaching - simply reach out here with your request.

Those Pesky Things Called Feelings

Turn a Bad Day into A Good Day - It's Your Decision

When life or people become frustrating or unmanageable, it's natural to feel emotional, annoyed, and even succumb to acting out.  But after wards we may experience a morning-after, "emotional hangover", when faced with the consequences of our ill guided actions.  In a fury of frustration, eating an entire bag of chips in front of the TV or sending out a nasty email feels so good in the moment!  Yet, what's left 24 hours later is mostly self-recrimination and collective misery.  No one feels good.  Like a compound fracture, an annoying situation becomes broken in two places - packing on the pounds or damaging a relationship only piles on icky feelings of guilt and remorse making a bad situation worse.  "What was I thinking?!!" is hardly a good platform from which to assess what happened in going forward.  Having a stomach ache or losing a relationship isn't helpful either.

Loss of control is the result of being hypnotized by the powerful pull of negative emotions and distractions i.e., eating junk food, spouting off, spending money you don't have, etc. Then, like any trance state, the momentary "high" wears off.  Those feelings of annoyance and frustration will eventually ebb away no matter what.  What do you want to have to show for it after, something positive or something negative?   It's totally up to you.  True power comes from self-control and positive distractions.  Take a deep breath, take a walk around the block. You get a time-out with the added bonus of a positive payoff - burn off a few calories.

Imagine feeling good, staying peaceful in the midst of frustrating circumstances.  It is possible!  However, it does require some effort and conscious thought that can be difficult to muster when you are upset.  Negative emotions induce a trance-like state that hinders good judgment.  Cultivating inner peace takes practice, but is absolutely worth it!

The secret is having positive distractions planned ahead to fend off making a catastrophic situation out of a bad moment. Then, when a negative emotion or situation pops up, it won't take over and kill your impulse control by making you reach for that bag of chips or lashing out in anger.

Plan ahead to positively distract yourself!  Stock the fridge with healthy foods, i.e., grab a piece of watermelon.  Or dark chocolate.  Share your frustration with an impartial individual who can offer good judgment and objective feedback.  Or, help someone out.  Random acts of kindness for yourself and others are a quick and dirty way to feel better and rack up time well spent.

Annoyances and frustration are an inevitable part of life.  Getting angry and making yourself (and others) suffer by making things worse is NOT.  Just ask yourself: How do I want to distract myself here?  How do I want manage myself and my emotions?  Positively or negatively?  The good news is it's up to you. Like a well developed muscle, peace takes practice.  And, I'm loving that watermelon.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. 

Please help share these resources, as you never know whose life you might save. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or online at: 

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/




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Practicing Peace in Times of Chaos

Practicing Peace - Thriving in Difficult Times and Chaos
There seems to be a spike in crime, anxiety, and depression ...

Every one, please keep your cool, call a friend, do some yard work, spring clean, meditate, BE KIND.  I know what I have to do when I get this Stressed. I have to TUNE OUT and find my center.

I turn EVERY THING OFF - people, news, FB, the phone, etc.
I make no apologies ... this is my anxiety management. I come back to center and meditate.

The thoughts in my head are my worst enemy ... FEAR will run rampant, if I let it.

When I become still ...

I hear the songbirds singing, the rain sounds soothing, the Earth is waking up ... the sun came up, the world is still turning ...

No one is complaining and I find myself again, my strength, my inner core, my ability to heal, my belief that all is as it should be and every one is my teacher, not the enemy.

I set my intention to believe in the best of everyone and LET GO OF WHAT I CANNOT CONTROL.

All of this takes PRACTICE.  Because ... We become what we practice.
And yes, the Inner Peace I take time to cultivate, takes over in time.
And no, this doesn't mean I run from my feelings.

I acknowledge how I feel, then I practice maintaining inner calm; instead of ruminating or hypnotizing myself into a state of panic, which I can easily do.

You can manage your emotions and even thrive during difficulties, but you have to be
willing to practice and not let your emotions take over and your imagination run wild.

If you want peace, you must practice peace. Try it. Make it your mission to master peace
in this time of trial.

About Suicide, Mental "Ilness" & Mental Health Stigma

Mental health stigma still has us in the Dark Ages

Boot Straps Stoicism has killed more people than anything I know in the form of alcoholism, addiction, suicide, and the long slow death of denial and PTSD.  Depression, anxiety, and PTSD are not illnesses to be scorned or defects of character - they are neuropsychological responses to extreme stress in numerous forms that affect every one differently and are NOT to be shamed by ignorant bystanders who would lay judgments on people struggling. 

While it's getting better, mental health stigma still persists like a bad dream, even today. So, while addiction and suicide rates climb, competent qualified mental health professionals are at a premium, and often difficult to find in rural areas and small towns.  Good mental health care can be found if you know where to look.  The search is worth the effort, and this blog has a number of links on our home page to get you started.

Self Help Strategies

 

If you are struggling with mental health symptoms and are uncomfortable seeking a therapist, counselor, or life coach, then get out a notebook, and START WRITING.  Write whatever comes into your head, don't censor it and UNLOAD.  When the paper owns it, you'll be able to look at it and see yourself more clearly.  This is the first step to well being.

No one knows better than you do what you are thinking and feeling, and the pen and paper are your vehicle to clear the channel, especially if you are bogged down in hopelessness, feelings of despair and raging emotion.  Remember, suicide is permanent, and feeling wretched might feel like it will last forever, but if the paper becomes your friend, then you can process those feelings and move thru them.  Being emotionally stuck is like being constipated, something has got to come out.
 

What about online coaching & therapy?

Studies have shown that online therapies can be quite effective in those dealing with suicidal thoughts. Even texting can be an effective intervention. What's important is reaching out for help, instead of suffering and staying stuck because it seems like there's no where to turn.

Below are some links to some interesting scientific articles on suicide prevention.  If you're feeling over whelming symptoms of distress, as outlined below, please seek professional mental health care.  There's no need to stay miserable and suffer endlessly alone!

 

Suicide Prevention and Texting - Easier Than You Might Think

Text Following Hospital Discharge Suicide Intervention 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5745353/