Stovetop Crisp, Time Management, and Sheroes are going to help you keep your cool this busy summer.

Stovetop Crisp ready to go means you can have a luscious summer dessert ready to enjoy in a flash. Make a batch and keep a jar in the pantry to serve on top of fresh sliced peaches for a decadent treat that feels a lot more indulgent than it is!

Plus, this issue of Good and Good for You Living shares

• The Best Life Living Tip: winning time management.
• The Self-Care Technique: how to manage pesky PT.
• Ideas and Inspo from one of my favorite people on the planet.

Read on for more — and your fave new summer recipe for Stovetop Crisp — made with sweet Georgia peaches!

Best Life Living Tip

First, a quick howdy and hello for those new to this page. I’m a 57-year-old, post-menopausal, French-trained, Southern chef who lost 65# and has now kept it off for over three years. My new raison d’etre, life, and purpose are to share that if I can change my life and health, you can, too!

Good and Good for You

My health journey started with weight loss and evolved to include a more inclusive and whole approach to wellness– body, mind, and spirit. This free Good and Good for You newsletter represents how I manage my life and health. I include recipes, tips, techniques, and inspiration that can help us live a better life!

What is Time Management?

Time management is at the tip top of living a better life. It can be challenging, but the grid above is a great tool to help with time management.

• At the beginning of each week, create a list of specific things to be done and break it down day by day.
• Prioritize that list and complete the most urgent tasks at the start of the day.
• Evaluate your progress at the end of each day.

According to Dartmouth, “Keeping to a schedule is not a matter of “willpower,” but of the development of a habit of referring to the schedule and following its outline, and this habit development may take weeks of practice.” When you make a schedule, you are better able to  “de-sensitize” to life’s many distractions.

Self Care Technique

This week’s self-care technique is to work your PT into your workout! I keep a band in my gym bag along with the instructions so that I can do my PT at the gym or on my walk. The deal is that it all has to work in your life — and you have the power to make it work.

The CDC says,

• Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
• Adults also need 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity each week

PT or physical therapy is standard procedure for many injuries. And, it can be a regular part of life after a certain age! PT is meant to relieve pain, help you move better, or strengthen weakened muscles. How many of you have gone to PT for the evaluation and not gone back? Or, only do your PT when you are at the medical office?

PT can work magic, but the problem is doing it. Sure, it’s easy enough to go into the office and be led through the program, but face it — it can be aggravating if the therapist is running a bunch of appointments at once, driving there, driving back, parking… And, the costs of the visits can add up depending on your insurance. Then there’s the maintenance…..It’s a pain in the you know what!

Make a point to add your PT to your morning walk or gym session. You can do it!

 Ideas and Inspiration

Angie Mosier is a long-time dear friend. She was the prop stylist for the original Bon Appetit, Y’all, and then the photographer for Lighten Up, Y’all and Secrets of the Southern Table. She is among the most talented and amazing people I have ever met.

To call her a “Renaissance Woman” doesn’t fully express her incredible skills, talents, and abilities. She’s smart, beautiful, and kind. Plus she’s a great baker, writer, photographer, and stylist. And she can sing like an angel. I swear if I didn’t love her so much I’d want to pinch her head off. 😉

Shero Angie Mosier 

Over the last 20 years, Angie’s work has been published in Food and Wine, Garden and Gun, The Local Palate, the New York Times, and The Washington Post. Her essays on Southern food are a part of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.

She has co-authored cookbooks with Chef Eric Ripert and Chef Jose Santaella. Angie has photographed and styled nearly 100 cookbooks including Pati Jinich, Kevin Gillespie, Eddie Hernandez, Vivian Howard, Sean Brock, John T. Edge, Eric Ripert, and Marcus Samuelsson. She and I visited nine states throughout three seasons shooting for Secrets of the Southern Table including these oyster beds off the coast of South Carolina.

She’s now a partner and the Creative Director for the Pihakis Restaurant Group, the smart folks behind Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Hero, Little Donkey, and more. She took time out of her busy schedule to photograph the new shots of a healthier, lighter me for the revision and update of Bon Appetit, Y’all.

Angie is really, truly one of my favorite people on the planet. It was super important to me to include her in the “BAY” revision. Please give her a follow-over on IG at @angiemosier

Stovetop Crisp Points

This Stovetop Crisp is quick and easy to put together then all you have to do is store it in jar. I love it. Instead of heating up the oven with a crisp or cobbler, simply sprinkle this ready-to-go Stovetop Crisp on top of fresh fruit. It’s less butter and sugar, too.

You know I love my Georgia peaches! My go-to is Pearson Farm. Good peaches and good people. Order yours today!

It comes in at 6 points per 1/4 cup or about 1.5 points per tablespoon. I put it atop of at least 1 1/2 peaches per person so it’s a ton of fruit. Plus, since it’s in a jar, it’s all up to you to control. You can do it!

I have a HUGE major favor to ask. Please share this newsletter with a friend or snatch up this URL and post it on your Facebook page. I’d greatly appreciate it.

Pre-Order Sale for Bon Appetit, Y’all Revised and Updated!

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you think. Hey, one more thing before I sign off, the Revised and Updated Bon Appetit, Y’all is 50% off as a pre-order from UGA Press through June 30, 2024. You can order yours today and it’s out in October!

Enjoy the summer and make sure to keep your cool with this Stovetop Crisp.

Bon Appetit, Y’all

Virginia Willis

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Stovetop Crisp

There are times in everyone’s life when you need something sweet. It’s a feeling that won’t go away, it’s a craving that needs to be sated. It’s emergency time and you think if you look at one more blasted tangerine or one more ding-dang frozen grape you are going to scream. I’ve got your back. This sensible splurge is sweet, crunchy, buttery, and best of all? It’s both a quick recipe to make and a great recipe to make ahead!

This makes about 2 cups to serve 8 or 1/4 cup per person.

Course: Dessert, fruit

Cuisine: American, Southern

Keyword: healthy crisp, healthy dessert, peach cobbler, peach recipes

Servings: 8

Calories: 150kcal

Author: Virginia Willis

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or plant butter
• 2 teaspoons light olive oil
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• Pinch fine sea salt

Instructions

• Heat the butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the oatmeal, brown sugar, nuts, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. (I've kept it in my cupboard for up to a month -- but it rarely lasts!)

Nutrition

Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 91IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg