3 healthy V-Day treats

With Valentine’s Day around the corner it seems like all we see stocking the shelves are chocolates and sweet treats. Pair the chocolates with a few sweetheart candies and before you know it we’re headed into March without a proper game plan for our diets. This Valentine’s Day try swapping out the calorie-heavy treats for guilt-free sweets with your sweetie. 

1. KIND Bar- Instead of buying the typical chocolate bar for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, grab one of KIND’s dark chocolate bars. Their new Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond bar is a perfect option as it only has 5 grams of sugar, with nothing artificial and is made with real, wholesome ingredients. To boost, it is a great source of fiber and protein.

2. POM Wonderful- An 8oz bottle of POM contains the juice from two whole pomegranates, and nothing more- no added sugar, artificial ingredients or cheap filler juices. Powered by pomegranate antioxidants, POM’s 100 percent pomegranate juice is authentic, delicious and 100 percent natural. POM’s 100 percent pomegranate juice is a good source of potassium, naturally gluten-free, non-GMO project verified and contains polyphenol antioxidants.100 percent pomegranate juice helps protect the body against “free radicals,” which are unstable molecules that cause damage to our bodies over time.

3. In The Raw-Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to derail those healthy eating New Year’s resolutions. You can have your cake and eat it too! Create slimmed down treats perfect for the Valentine with a sweet tooth. Replace sugar with zero calorie sweeteners like Stevia In The Raw, which gets its sweetness from a leaf extract, or Monk Fruit In The Raw, which gets its sweetness from a fruit extract. These tasty sugar alternatives from In The Raw are a wholesome way to cut down on sugar and calories, while enjoying a sweet treat with your sweetheart. They come in a variety of options, including a Bakers Bag that measures cup for cup like sugar. Use these sugar-free sweeteners to substitute sugar in any Valentine’s Day recipe such as chocolate truffles and you’ll have a guilt-less treat you can feel good about digging into!

Amie Valpone is a celebrity chef based in New York City and editor-in-chief of TheHealthyApple.com. Specializing in simple, gluten-free recipes, Amie has been featured in numerous magazines and on well-known websites, as well as TV. Visit Amie on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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3 healthy V-Day treats

Couples in Action group treats seniors

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 03, 2014    

The Hampton Court and Port Morant Circuit of Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Thomas have not only sought to meet the spiritual needs of its members, but also the physical, as was evident through a dinner reception held recently to honour several senior citizens.

Some 38 senior citizens were treated to fine dining courtesy of the Couples in Action group, which is a ministry of the Family Life Department — a first for many of these rural folks.

“We went all-out to ensure an elegant ambience and some persons have said it is the first they were treated to such fanfare and elegance,” Murlenia Whyte Stephenson, assistant president of Couples in Action, told the Jamaica Observer North East.

Whyte Stephenson explained that the idea to establish a couples group four years ago was the brainchild of Pastor Titmus Morgan and his wife Kerry-Ann.

Since then, the couples ministry has been engaging in various ventures to help others. They include distribution of grocery baskets to the less fortunate, being a tower of strength to persons who have lost loved ones, and bringing souls to God.

“As our motto states, ‘Fostering healthy, happy Christian homes’, we sought to spend time not only in church activities but also in social gathering where we are able to relax and enjoy nature,” she said.

The decision, Whyte Stephenson said, was however taken to host the three-course dinner for some of the senior citizens as this year’s major project.

Although 38 persons were feted, Whyte Stephenson said the next staging of the event will be bigger so as to include many more persons. This as they could only afford to invite a few representatives of the respective churches in Bath, Port Morant, Rowlands Fields, Arcadia, Wheelerfield and Hampton Court in the parish.

The senior citizens in attendance included two visually impaired persons who were delighted to have been a part of such an occasion.

“One sister was ill and was feeling left out but she said whenever she is alone at home feeling down, she will always remember that the church cares about her,” Whyte Stephenson said.

President of Couples in Action Lucan Turner said the occasion was also used to recognise the contribution made by some of these elderly members to the Adventist church over the years. Church stalwarts Lenard Sinclair, Enid Smith, Vivia Smith, Winifred Bromwell, Petrona Henry, Carmen Eccleston, Ella Brown, Hyacinth Melbourne, and Ronald Morgan were all presented with certificates of appreciation.

“Many of these persons were giving over the years and this was the first time they were getting anything in return, and so we made an impact on them that we didn’t even realise,” Turner said.

Guest speaker for the event was Verona O’Conner, who spoke on the topic “Ageing with Dignity.”

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Couples in Action group treats seniors