"Counter Productive" Dieting Behavior

My husband and I recently joined Weight Watchers. He because he is overweight and pre-diabetic—and me: I'm a lifetime member. As long as I don't gain even one ounce the meetings are free because I am within "normal" top of the range weight for my height. So we have been trying to adapt our lives around eating healthy food, and not too much of it. He mentioned today that at night he can't help but eat some cheese when he sees it on the kitchen counter, where I've left it, knowing I will return for some more a few times. So I came up with the catch phrase "counter productive." If you are dieting or living with a dieter, remember that food left out in plain sight, and especially unwrapped is like a neon buffet sign. And back to the Weight Watchers model, you need to count your points, and we all know when you are scarfing cheese that's on the counter because someone else left it there, you don't count those points. So the phrase covers it all. Leave it on the counter and the count will tip the scale up. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

Beans and Rice

My latest "must have meal" (almost every day) is, of all formerly dreaded things, beans and rice. As movies like "Food, Inc." have exposed the corruption of our national food industry, animal products have largely lost their appeal to me. It has been a natural transition for me to eat a lot of beans and rice. Here is my easy recipe: Slow cook pinto beans in water, adding chopped up sauteed onions the last hour of the 3 hour cooking time. Make sure the beans don't burn, by adding water as needed. Serve with brown rice, plenty of pico de gallo salsa, and sliced avocado. You can make a nice batch each of the beans and rice and eat them for 3 days. I get the salsa from a local Mexican restaurant that makes it really great. No need to chop and slice. The resulting feast is yummy, a good chew, satisfying, and feels like the perfect thing to fuel us energetically. There are minimal dishes to wash. It's a win-win.