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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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-Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
-Holiday Recipes
-Healthy Tips for Holiday Partying
-Coming Soon
-Nicole's Quick Bytes
-Quick Tips for Last-Minute Holiday Stress
-Ho Ho Ho from Diddums
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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Here at the Russell home, it's looking a lot like Christmas. Of course, the snow is missing (isn't California weather great?) and we didn't go "all out" this year. In fact, we decided to make this a "light" Christmas: no expensive or excessive gifts under the tree, not too many decorations, and MUCH LESS STRESS!!! And that's the point! This year we got smart (or a little smarter anyway). We've decided to enjoy each other and cherish each moment of this beautiful Season. We delight in each Christmas card, letter, and e-mail we receive (thank you very much!). We plan on spending Christmas eating healthy, yummy Holiday foods, playing games, and counting our blessings. We plan on spending the New Year celebration quietly, reflecting on the past and contemplating the exciting future, thanking God for all He's done and will do.

Our hope and prayer for you, dear ones, is that you may experience Christmas in all its beauty and that you may catch a vision of what God has in store for you in the next millennium.

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HOLIDAY RECIPES
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Here are some healthy goodies we'll be enjoying. We sampled these delights at Thanksgiving and decided they were worthy of a Christmas rerun. Thank you, Nicole.

**Nicole's Eggless Nog**
1 8-oz. glass chilled soy milk
1 to 2 tsp. vanilla (to taste)
1 to 2 Tbls. pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (or to taste)
pinch of cinnamon

Stir vanilla and maple syrup into soy milk. Sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon on top. Do not stir again. Serve right away.
Makes 1 serving. (But we know you'll want to make more!)

**Nicole's No-Bake Pumpkin Pie**
2 tsp. agar (can be purchased at most health food stores - a vegetarian alternative to plain gelatin)
4-1/2 tsp. egg replacer (purchase at health food store - we use Ener G brand)
1 cup soy milk
2 cups cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 baked pie shell

In a saucepan, combine agar and egg replacer. Beat in soy milk and let stand 5 min. (until agar dissolves). Add pumpkin, maple syrup, and honey. Beat until well combined. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and begins to coat spoon (about 10 min.). Remove from heat. Add spices and vanilla. Pour into prepared pie shell. Cool. Slice, serve, and watch disappear! (Maybe you should make more than one - we do!)

You can use your favorite pie crust or try this one. It's really good!
**Cashew and Whole Grain Pie Crust**
1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour* (can be purchased at your health food store)
1 cup apple juice, chilled
1 tsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos (purchase at health food store - a healthy alternative to salt)

In food processor with S-blade, grind cashews. Add oats and process until fine. Add whole wheat pastry flour and continue processing as you add liquid aminos, and begin to add apple juice slowly, until ball forms. Turn food processor off. Remove dough and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Roll out between pieces of plastic wrap. Place in pie pan and make your cute little crust edges.** Use fork to puncture bottom of crust a couple of times. Bake in preheated 325° oven for approx. 10 minutes. Cool before adding pie mixture.

*Whole wheat pastry flour is wonderful when fresh, but it is perishable. If not stored correctly it becomes rancid and tastes bitter; then you and your guests will think healthy food tastes yukky! So please refrigerate after purchase. If not used within 2 weeks, freeze remaining flour in plastic freezer bag(s). It can be used directly from the freezer, without thawing or waiting.

**This pie crust recipe could also be used for your favorite healthy baked pie recipes as well. Just double the recipe if you want both top and bottom crusts. And, of course, stop at the ** in the above recipe (don't pre-bake the crust).

Enjoy!

Be sure to check the Healthy Perspective web site for a new RECIPE section - to be posted soon http://www.healthyperspective.com

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HEALTHY TIPS FOR HOLIDAY PARTYING
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The following helpful tips appear in the December 1999 issue of Partners magazine as part of The Healthy Cell Concept series, and appear here with permission of the AIM Companies. Party on!

DON'T GO TO A HOLIDAY PARTY HUNGRY
Eat a healthy snack beforehand so that you will not fill up on snacks. Try a glass of AIMBarleygreen or AIMJust Carrots [freshly extracted raw carrot or other vegetable juice is great too!].

DON'T STAY NEXT TO THE FOOD
Avoid parking next to a buffet table, or where food is available. If you do, you will probably end up consuming a lot of calories. If you are at a "serve yourself" affair, wait until others have gone. By the time you finish your first helping, others will be done eating and you will have less reason to go back for seconds.

TAKE A SMALL PLATE AND A SMALL HELPING
The less you take, the less you eat. Having to return numerous times to a food table might also discourage you from eating more.

EAT NATURAL
If there are fresh fruits and vegetables, go for those rather than the sweets or processed foods.

EXERCISE BEFORE AND AFTER
If you exercise before eating, you may not eat so much. Even a short walk after a large meal can go a long way toward helping your body burn up calories.

HAVE FUN
Don't make yourself miserable by paying too much attention to what you eat. Not enjoying yourself could lead to stress, which can harm your body as much as the wrong foods can.

PARTICIPATE IN PLANNED ACTIVITIES
If the party has them, participate. This keeps you away from the food. If it's your party, plan something.

ENCOURAGE CONVERSATION
If it's your party, be an active host and introduce people to each other. Introduce yourself to others. "The mouth that talks doesn't eat."

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COMING SOON (to a computer near you!)
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These first two issues of Your Healthy Perspective have been dedicated to healthy Holidays. That's what has been on our minds and we figured the same would be true for you. Starting in 2000 we will get a little more serious as we explore some more in-depth health issues. We will begin a study of the human immune system, as well as discovering key nutritional and scientific knowledge that will help keep us ticking in the new millennium. Come explore with us as we move into the year 2000.

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NICOLE'S QUICK BYTES
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Remember: Not everything vegetarian, or even vegan, is healthy or nutritious. Example: Twinkies.
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QUICK TIPS FOR LAST-MINUTE HOLIDAY STRESS
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Many of you will be receiving this publication just before Christmas. Are you frazzled, fried, and burned out? If that's the case, take a deep breath and look around you. What is it that's stressing you out? Is it that you can't find that "perfect" gift, or maybe you can't get it at all until - oh, horrors - AFTER Christmas! Take another deep breath. Here's a tip we've used for many a holiday (Christmas, birthday, anniversary...): Find a picture of that "perfect gift" in a magazine or catalog (or some other representation of the gift). Cut it out, place it in a box, and wrap it in your most beautiful Christmas paper, ribbon and bow, with a note explaining to the recipient that they will be receiving it soon. Voila!

This little tip works if the gift is the problem. But oftentimes the problem is different or more complicated. Maybe you're overwhelmed with hectic scheduling and haven't gotten to your decorating, baking, or other Holiday preparations. Are you trying to do too much? Who are you doing it for? Does it really matter to you - or to them - if it doesn't get done perfectly, or even at all? Wouldn't your loved ones rather have a happy, smiling, healthy you than a perfectly decorated house, perfectly crafted baked goods, or whatever it is you're trying to accomplish? Take a step back, say a prayer, and smell the evergreen. Maybe this year can be the best Christmas yet!

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HO HO HO FROM DIDDUMS
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Most of you are familiar with Diddums, our feline "baby." He loves the Holidays. He frolics under the tree with his gifts (little cat toys wrapped in festive paper and long strands of curling ribbon or bright bows). Then he naps. Then he comes to each of us for some love and attention. Then he feasts on tuna with Barleygreen (he savors each bite like a true connoisseur). Then he naps some more, followed by more play and more love. I think we could learn a lot from Diddums' Holiday celebrations.

God bless you and enjoy the Holidays!
-Rev. Clarence Russell, Kimberly, Nicole & Diddums
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The material in this file is provided for informational purposes only. We do not prescribe nor diagnose. If you use the information in this file without the approval of a health professional, you prescribe for yourself, which remains your constitutional right, but the author(s) assume no responsibility.
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Copyright (c) 1999 by Clarence Russell . All rights reserved. As long as this file is left intact, permission is granted for use on web sites or in newsgroups or mailing lists.