Love OWN, Oprah Winfrey's new network

I celebrated the New Year with some serious couch potato activities.

Sunday night was delightful, as I checked out Oprah's new OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), a so much better choice than watching Sarah Palin shoot defenseless animals.



I give Oprah's new network rave reviews. I loved the Master Class piece with Diane Sawyer. I've always liked Sawyer, but there was so much I didn't know about her, like the fact that she worked for Richard Nixon during and after he left the White House. As a retired journalist, I could relate easily to Sawyer's professed quest for truth and her being driven by curiosity.

I felt as though the audience and I gained an understanding of how Oprah knows Diane Sawyer, and how she respects her and her work.

I also enjoyed the All Stars show with Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, and Suze Orman. The show had the structure of a Dr. Oz show, where nothing is out of bounds when it comes to learning about, in this case, the body, the mind, and our financial health.

I've also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes footage. After working in a newsroom, it was easy to relate to the 'nuts and bolts' of the shows.

I would say it appears that from an audience perspective, Oprah delivered a healthy, happy, bouncing baby network that is in fine health and promises to grow to be successful and very healthy.

I've enjoyed Oprah's journey since she came to Chicago and am anxious to follow this, her latest endeavor. I wish her all the luck in the world, although she probably doesn't need it.

Healthy eating

Healthy eating—it seems that is a common thread in every magazine you pick up and with people you chat with in line at the grocery store.

I have been trying to do my part as well. Today, I discovered the trifecta, of healthy eating—brown rice. I made some earlier in the week, for lunch. I started by sautéing onions, diced carrots and cut-up broccoli. I love mushrooms, so I added those too. Then I added the rice and cooked it in beef stock. It was so much better than plain, bland rice. It was a satisfying lunch.

The following day I cut up lots more veges—red pepper, red onion, more mushrooms, and celery—for a stir fry. I added the rice and a little stir fry seasoning. It was delicious.

Today, with some leftover, I stuffed it all into a green pepper, topped it with a little parmesan cheese and cooked it until the pepper was soft, about 30 minutes. It was very filling and very tasty.

My lunch is always accompanied by a huge glass of iced tea. Whey I drinking it with a meal, I don't use sugar in it. When I brew my tea, I use two tea bags filled with black tea and two with green tea. Sometimes, I use flavored green tea. When I drink iced tea as a stand-alone beverage, I sometimes miss the taste of the loads of sugar I used to use in it. Sometimes, I add honey. I'm not really crazy about that, however, so most often, I just add a squeeze of fresh lemon instead, forgetting about the sweetness.

I admit that I have become a Dr. Oz junkie. I record all of his shows and don't miss one. I wish he would clone himself and place a Dr. Oz copy into every medical community across the country. I am less than impressed with the doctors I've found in my neighborhood. They seem to be interested only in pushing pills rather than encouraging healthy living. That is no answer as far as I'm concerned. Preventative medicine is probably more important than trying to repair the damage once it is done.

Changing a lifetime of unhealthy eating has been difficult, but I think the rewards far outweigh (no pun intended) the effort. With just a few changes, it is easy to see the difference. I feel much better and have more energy. And there is no pill that can do that.