Take Comfort: Favorite Foods, Guilt Reduced
(NAPSA)-It's ironic. The weather turns cold; thoughts turn to traditional comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese, meat loaf and chewy, gooey chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven. Then next thing we know, we're making New Year's resolutions to eat more healthily.
But there's good news: "We don't have to deny ourselves the foods to which we have emotional attachments," said Ginny Bean, founder of Ginny's catalog and www.Ginnys.com. "We just need to be open-minded about new comfort foods and healthier alternatives to old ones."
Bean offers the following tips for enjoying comfort food without consuming all those extra calories and fat:
•     Pump up the nutritional value of favorite comfort foods by adding vegetables or beans.
•     For sweet comfort foods, add more fruit, decrease the sugar (or use half sugar substitute), reduce the fat ingredient down a third or so, and switch half the flour to whole wheat when you can.
•     Understand what makes a comfort food. Creamy foods are comfort foods, so look for something like yogurt or milk. Warm foods are also comforting, so warm up some oatmeal or drink a cup of tea. Antioxidants can be comforting, so have some strawberries or a small amount of chocolate-covered raisins.
•     Seek healthier alternatives to classic comfort foods. Possible substitutions include sorbet for ice cream; air-popped popcorn for potato chips; baked sweet potato fries for French fries; or soba noodles for spaghetti.
•     Use healthy cooking methods. As a rule, rapid cooking techniques retain foods' nutrients better than slower methods. Countertop convection ovens cook up to 30 percent faster than regular ovens, allowing you to bake, broil, roast, steam and even low-fat air fry-all without added fats or oil. Even your cookware can make a difference. Silicone-rimmed lids for pots and pans capture foods' natural juices for healthier, tastier meals. When roasting, it's best to use a pan with a rack or a self-basting cooker, so fat can drip away from the meat.
For more healthy cooking tips and products, call (800) 487-9024 to request a catalog or visit www.Ginnys.com.

You can pump up the nutritional value of favorite comfort foods by adding vegetables and beans.

Helping The Young And Uninsured Save On Prescription Medicines
(NAPSA)-As more and more young adults join the growing ranks of the uninsured, individuals in this age group are finding the task of managing their health and finances increasingly difficult. Some are forgoing medical care to pay for other, more immediate needs. In fact, young adults have the highest uninsured rate of any age group in the country, with 31 percent of 19- to 29-year-olds lacking health coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. This means that one out of every three Americans from the ages of 19 to 29-about 13 million adults in all-is uninsured.
Experts cite a number of reasons why so many young adults are uninsured. For one, they tend to work at companies that do not offer coverage to employees. Others may earn salaries that are too low to purchase their own coverage but too high to qualify for government programs that provide free or affordable coverage. They also often view themselves as invincible and not in need of health insurance. In reality, studies show that young adults make more injury-related emergency room visits than any other age group.
It is important for the young and uninsured to know about resources that can give them affordable access to the medicines they need. One such program is Together Rx Access(r). Sponsored by many of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies, the program helps eligible uninsured individuals save on the medicines they need to stay healthy and to manage chronic conditions. Individuals who enroll receive a free-to-get and free-to-use card that can help them save on brand-name and generic medicines right at their local pharmacies. Medicines available include those used to treat cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, depression, asthma and many other common conditions.
Individuals may be eligible for the Together Rx Access Card if they do not qualify for Medicare, do not have public or private prescription drug coverage and have a household income of up to $45,000 for a single person to $90,000 for a family of four (income eligibility is adjusted for family size).
Individuals have the option of enrolling online, calling a toll-free number or completing a short application and returning it by mail. All enrollment materials and the Web site are available in English and Spanish.
For more information, including a list of brand-name medicines and participating pharmacies, visit TogetherRxAccess.com or call (800) 966-0407. Information is also available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TogetherRx Access.

Free prescription assistance resources such as Together Rx Access(r) can help the young and uninsured save on their medicines.