Over the years, we have teamed with our customers to provide hundreds and hundreds of free meals for families who in many ways are just like yours or mine.  They lead busy lives.  They try to eat dinner together despite their many other commitments.  They cherish whatever “quality time” they may have together.  Then they get a breast cancer diagnosis and everything turns upside down.  Suddenly the simple things (a game of catch, a story at bedtime) take on special meaning, and daily chores (like cooking and cleaning) become an inordinate challenge.

Let’s Dish! can help any busy family put a healthy meal on the table in a convenient, economical way.  But this “gift” is especially important for families trying to battle their way through cancer.  I know, because I have done it.  When you’re exhausted from surgery recovery and/or cancer treatment it’s so hard to make the effort to get a good dinner on the table.  It’s so important to be properly nourished when your body is fighting a war and having a healthy dinner with little to no effort makes a huge difference.

Last year, I had the privilege of meeting Susan Merrinan and her family, as we presented them with an entire year of free meals from Let’s Dish!  To see their strength, resolve, love, perseverance and gratitude in this difficult situation was one of the highlights of my career.  I was so proud that Let’s Dish! could lend a hand to this family and the many others like them who are facing the challenge of a lifetime.

I hope you’ll join us this year and be part of the Pink Dish! campaign.

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So WUSA-9’s Living Well team brought in the experts: our own Elizabeth Marcotte and Stephanie Mull of Smull Nutrition. Elizabeth and Stephanie dished out tips on how a few small changes could make a big impact on her families habits and health.  Angela was advised to plan and write down a weekly menu, get the kids involved in the dinner-making progress, seek foods with lots of color, and provide ‘grabbable’ snacks like fruit and nuts to tide her boys over until mealtime.

Check out the entire piece here.  Thanks to Elizabeth, Stephanie and the WUSA-9 team for helping with the “makeover”.  And best of luck to Angela and the boys - thanks for letting Let’s Dish! be part of your healthy dinner solution!

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Does any of this ring a bell?  You just realized it’s been 7 hours since you’ve eaten anything so you hit up the vending machine for a snack.  Or you just got home and you need to make dinner but you are so hungry that you can’t wait so you reach into the pantry and pull out the saltiest, fattiest snacks because it’s the only thing that sounds good.  Or you are on a road trip and realize you didn’t plan accordingly and your kids are starving.  So you swing by McDonald’s because it’s cheap and easy.  If any of this sounds even somewhat familiar to you, then it’s time to makeover your snacking!  

Snacking is essential to your eating pattern because it helps regulate your appetite and prevent overeating of unhealthy foods.  If we didn’t snack, we’d be left with only 3 times to eat a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I don’t know about you but I love food and I love to eat.  Eating only 3 times a day doesn’t cut it for me!  Strategically placing snacks in between meals helps control hunger and regulate your metabolism.  Snacking also provides your body energy to keep up with your busy schedule and it keeps your mind sharp and focused.  From a weight management perspective, snacking is essential to regulate calorie intake throughout the day.  If you are left with only 3 times to eat, those meals will be very large.  Your dinner meal would typically be the largest of the three because it would come at the end of the day.  By snacking, your portions at meals will go down because you won’t be as hungry.  You also have a tendency to eat better.  If you let yourself get too hungry, then you’ll crave high fat, high sugar, high salt, and overall high calorie foods.  Your body needs food NOW!  Don’t let yourself get to that point!  Snacking gives you some extra time at meals to determine what to eat which means smarter choices.

There is a positive psychological effect that results from snacking.  If you know you will be able to eat every 3 hours or so, don’t you think you’ll typically eat less in general at any given time?  Otherwise, if you don’t eat regularly, then you’ll overeat because you won’t know when you’ll get to eat again.  Snacking allows you to not feel restricted even if you are trying to watch your calories. 

So when should snacking occur?  Ideally, you should try to eat every 3 to 4 hours.  For some people, that means eating a snack between breakfast and lunch and then again between lunch and dinner.  Sometimes breakfast and lunch are close enough that no snack is needed.  So you need to look at your own schedule and figure out if it would be beneficial to throw a snack in there.  Snacks aren’t designed to be large from a portion or calorie perspective.  They should be less than 150 calories (maybe more depending on your exercise level and your weight goals).  Usually fruit and vegetables with a few nuts or a scoop of peanut butter meet those requirements.

There are lots of options for healthy snacks!  If you aren’t sure if you need a snack or if you think you need to come up with some new and healthier snack options, talk with your dietitian.  Happy snacking!

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At Let’s Dish!, we accommodate all kinds of dietary restrictions — and are especially proud to serve the growing population of dishers who seek gluten-free alternatives.

Many of our meals are already gluten-free, or can be made gluten-free with just a few easy adaptations.  Look for the gluten-free (GF) symbol on our online menus (see example at left), and ask us what if any changes are necessary to achieve “gluten freedom.”

Rest assured, all of our stores keep an ample supply of wheat-free tamari and other gluten-free alternatives on hand.  We’re happy to show you the substitutions that will allow you and your loved ones to enjoy so many of our Let’s Dish! favorites like Firecracker Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries, Chili Lime Tilapia, Shrimp Scampi and many, many more.

In addition, every month I send out the “Gluten Freedom” newsletter, complete with the latest tips for enjoying Let’s Dish! meals as part of a gluten-free diet.  If you are interested in receiving Gluten Freedom (or have any other questions about our GF offerings), please contact me at holly.wilderberger@letsdish.net.

Oh, and one more thing.  We’ve created a special promo code to help you get started.  Enter “GFREE”  at checkout on letsdish.com and we’ll give you $15 off your first order.  That’s fifteen dollars to see how easy (and delicious) it is to go gluten-free at Let’s Dish!.

We look forward to serving you.

USEFUL LINKS:
Learn more about Let’s Dish!
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PS.  Please do note that every person’s situation is unique, and we cannot guarantee that our prep area is 100% free of any specific food. Therefore, while we offer the best guidance we can, the final decision concerning which of our meals to consume must be made carefully by each individual in consultation with a medical professional.

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www.SqueezeItIn.com features exercises that you can do while cleaning, playing with the kids, and yes…making dinner!  In fact, we recently invited SqueezeItIn.com to one of our stores where founders Jenny Hein and Brigette Polmar created a Let’s Dish! SqueezeItIn.com workout that you can do while dishing!  Imagine making 4, 8, or 12 meals for your family and squeezing in a great workout all in about an hour!

Every Wednesday through the end of August you’ll find a new Let’s Dish SqueezeItIn.com exercise at www.SqueezeItIn.com.  You can do these exercises at any Let’s Dish! location or even in your own kitchen.

Like the girls at SqueezeItIn.com say - Let life be your workout!

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