Quick, Healthy Breakfast Tip

I was so excited a few weeks ago when I brought home my super-healthy container of organic steel cut oats. Then my heart sank when I read the instructions. It would take over 35 minutes to make, which it did. When I make breakfast, I usually have to do it fast because as soon as I start to feel hungry in the morning, the hunger rages.

I learned something, though. I made too much oatmeal but realized I could refrigerate it and heat it up again the next morning. What may seem obvious to all of you seemed to me a streak of pure genius, until a friend told me, "I've been doing this for years." The next day, I scooped out a cup of the cold, hard, but cooked oatmeal and added it to a pan of an inch of boiling water. I stirred the cold oatmeal until it softened and then added frozen blueberries (from my long-lost blueberry trees back home!) and then pecans. In just a minute or two I had a piping hot, fresh bowl of oatmeal. The following several mornings were just as easy. Now, if I can suffer through making a large pot of oatmeal from scratch once every five days or so, I know I'll have left-overs to last all week.

As far as toppings, anything goes: nuts (especially if you toast them first or caramelize them in honey), seeds, dried fruit, coconut, berries, mango, apricot, bananas, vanilla, cinnamon, etc.

For a bright purple oatmeal that your kids will love, put blueberries in right away and stir until they bleed into the oatmeal.

Chocolate Cake: My Story

A really wicked guest brought over a home made chocolate cake the other day. Full of sugar. Butter. Made from scratch. Thick, hardened frosting on top with moist-looking black chocolate cake underneath. How do I know all of these decadent details without eating it myself? I've been serving it to my husband each morning for breakfast with coffee. I definitely feel like I'm missing out, eating my cold, hard, crunchy Ezekial cereal while he eats his chocolate cake with his eyes closed.

So yesterday, I decided to make my own chocolate cake. Mine would be more chocolately, moist and heavenly than his--and it would be healthy! Ha! I used a recipe that someone gave me recently (I'm not telling whose--and I've received several in the last week!) and the recipe called for a lot of chocolate. Pure cocoa. Chocolate chips. Natural sweeteners. When I poured the batter in the cake pan, I licked the bowl clean. Delicious! I was going to flaunt my cake all week long. Ha! Ha!

It was disgusting. Dry. Wheaty. But I really wanted to pretend that it was good so I ate some. I poured some coffee and tried to swallow it down. Ew. Gross.

This morning, my husband sits down to his delicious-looking, moist, tall piece of cake and he's looking all smug and superior while I go to the pantry looking for my cold cereal. That cake I made last night was terrible....But I never told Jeff.

I ditched my efforts to get my cereal and instead, walked smugly over to last night's cake (it was so awful I didn't even bother to cover it). I cut a big chunk of it and tried to make it look like it was easy to cut through. Have you ever tried cutting a loaf of sourdough bread with the wrong knife? Then I poured a piping hot cup of coffee and sat down next to him. My first bite took about three minutes to chew. Oh well, I had my chocolate cake, too.

"Honey, you don't really like that cake, do you?" my husband says, and I can hear the twinkle in his eye.

"It's delicious," I said with my head down, trying to swallow this big, dry lump of gross cake in my throat. I could only get it down with another swig of coffee.

"Honey, don't eat it if it's not good!" he implores, his mouth full of his gooey, moist cake.

"It is good," I said, still looking down, trying to fool him.

"Throw it out! It's okay if that recipe didn't turn out."

He knew. There was no fooling him. I looked up and nodded at him, with a big wad of cake stuck in the side of my mouth. He jumped up, grabbed my cake pan and promptly dumped it in the trash. He didn't look at me smugly or make fun of me. He just sat back down and continued eating his cake.

UGHHHH! It is so hard for me to throw out food! It's easier to just eat it, little pieces at a time, knowing that the ingredients cost me a fortune. I felt much better after he dumped that cake, though. I didn't have to eat any more of it. "It's okay to throw out food. It's okay to throw out food," I have to repeat to myself. It's either in the trash or on my hips. I'm just glad that he didn't talk about it after he dumped it. I'll find that perfect, annoyingly healthy recipe.

For starters, for naturally sweetened recipes, I usually check out Nourishing Gourmet's site and look through all of her wonderful recipes. I have found some really delicious goodies over there, my virtual kitchen, my home away from home! It is where I found that great "Mounds" bar recipe.

Coconut Oil, Milk & Macaroons

I'm on a weird coconut kick. I've been stir-frying and baking with raw, virgin coconut oil. I've also been using it in my no-bake recipes. I've been using a lot of coconut milk with brown rice, heated with a fresh, locally made mixture of red curry paste. Delicious for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I've also been adding unsweetened (they are already sweet!) coconut flakes to things for flavor and texture, and last but not least, on a whim, I bought a can of coconut macaroons! The kind I happened to get were sitting with some other health foods I was looking for. When I noticed the macaroons I read the label and to my great surprise, they had no sugar! The only ingredients were: unsweetened coconut flakes, honey and egg whites. I tore into them on the way home and have been addicted ever since. They are incredibly moist and chewy. They are a little bigger than bite-sized and two or three will quench your thirst for something sweet. They are absolutely delicious! The brand is Jennies.

Oh, and have I already mentioned that I keep coconut ice cream (Luna & Larry's) in my freezer at all times? It now quenches my thirst for something sweet AND fulfills my strange coconut urges. It makes me wonder if I am deficient in some nutrient and it is coming out as a coconut craving.... I have always liked the flavor of coconut, but lately, I want it all the time. Hmmm!

Honey Pistachio Yogurt Parfait

Do you like yogurt? Even kind of? I'm not a huge fan of yogurt, but I know that the live acidophilus in it is really healthy for our bodies. Also, ever since I found Nancy's yogurt, I have enjoyed eating it fresh and sugar free. It's delicious in smoothies, too, adding a nice twang to a fruit sweetened favorite of mine. My favorite flavor is the organic vanilla.

I have adopted a new way of eating yogurt since I ate breakfast at Besaw's Restaurant. I ordered their "Yogurt Parfait" and have been making it at home ever since-- especially mornings when I wake up with a raging sweet tooth. It's not too often that I get a case of the raging sweet tooths, but when I do, it's really easy to tell my system to shut up. I feed it honey.

The yogurt parfait looks and tastes perfect when you layer yogurt, honey and crunchy pistachios.

There is a high probability that you will not have a sweet tooth after eating this!

The yogurt parfait is also an excellent quick meal for any time of the day. I have eaten it when I needed a filling, quick dinner, or a speedy breakfast. The slowest part about it is cracking open the pistachios! If you are serving guests, it is fun to put it in clear wine glasses and layer the yogurt with honey and pistachios. It looks really pretty and tastes magnificent! Enjoy!

Samples of a Sugar-Free Diet

Here is an example of two different days eating sugar-free. The first day is from my first month of going without sugar!

Food journal entry: January 28th, 2008

Breakfast:
Black Coffee
Veggie tofu scramble
Whole wheat carrot raisin toast with butter

Snack:
Chips
Salsa Verde

Lunch:
Bulgar with sun dried tomatoes

Snack:
"Rice sweetened" chocolate cookies
Apple

Dinner:
Spaghetti with sugar-free marinara sauce
Carrots
Green Salad with tomatoes and olive oil

Dessert:
More rice sweetened chocolate cookies

Food journal entry: March 26th, 2008

Breakfast:
Coffee with rice milk
Barbara's whole wheat cereal with rice milk
Banana

Snack:
Fritos

Lunch:
Vegetable soup
Ezekial cinnamon raisin bread with butter
Strawberries

Snack:
Hot herbal tea

Dinner:
Cheese grits
Collard greens
Sweet potato fries

Cereal, Sugar and You: A Health Food Person's Worst Nightmare!

I have been reading a lot about cereal lately, and thought I should further investigate the ingredients of mainstream, popular cereals, their advertising campaigns, and the result of eating cereal regularly as part of a daily habit. I'll start by saying that since I have given up refined sugar, it has been extremely hard to find cereal without any sugar. Sugar comes in the form of: corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, organic sugar, raw sugar, organic cane sweetener, etc. Most of these ingredients you will find in "healthy" varieties of cereal, otherwise, the ingredient label will most likely just read, "sugar". I have recently decided to eat only whole grains for breakfast and no more packaged cereal. I just know better but have been lazy! I mean, I have been eating cereal with no sugar, but even then, I know it's not as healthy as fresh sprouted grains and fresh fruits.

Cereal was brought to my attention by (http://paynowlivelater.blogspot.com/2008/08/worst-sugar-pushers-of-all-health-food.html) including that even health food stores don't discriminate much when it comes to packaged food ingredients. You may find that there are no "trans fats" (very trendy words right now) and maybe even no corn product, but you will most likely be sure to find sugar as an ingredient. The marketing behind the cereal/sugar pushers is outrageous! They are so good at making their product look good, that I find myself doing a double take when I see advertisements like this one: http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/specialk/challenge.aspx, which is called "Kellogg's Special K Challenge", where they advocate eating two bowls of their cereal to help you lose weight! Let me tell you that Special K does not care about the health of their customers! If they did, they would promote whole foods, vegetables and fruits at every meal, and would not try and sell crap in a box (here are the ingredients in an American sold box: Rice, wheat gluten, sugar, defatted wheat germ, salt, high fructose corn syrup, dried whey, malt flavoring, calcium caseinate, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), reduced iron, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, and vitamin B12.). What I think is so interesting, is that Special K changes their ingredients for different countries. Although they include "sugar" as an ingredient for all countries, the UK and Australia do not have the "high fructose corn syrup" that we have. Weird! Special K is a giant marketing beast and care only about monetary gain. How they get that money is through very believable, expensive marketing.

I don't mean to pick on any one cereal company, in fact, there are plenty of "healthy" cereals that are doused with loads of sugar! It is so ironic to me. You can't trust any one store, or any one brand. I would say trust your instincts, but I guess if we truly did that, we wouldn't eat anything packaged to begin with!

Red Lodge & Bozeman Montana

We have arrived in Montana, after 10 long days on the road. This road trip has been as amazing as it has been exhausting. Who would think that sitting in a car driving on the open road could require so much energy? Today I have been taking it easy in Bozeman, after spending the morning in Red Lodge, Montana. Red Lodge is an adorable little town. Its main street is lined with original brick buildings, complete with attractive, large loft windows on the second stories. The first place we visited in town was the bakery. I have NEVER seen so many delicious baked goods in my life. As soon as I walked in, my eyes roved immediately to the showcase of pastries, including a 10-inch high flaky cream puff, cut in half and filled with about 3 inches of cream. The donuts were so fresh they were the only thing I could smell. Luckily my husband bought one so I could take it in my hands and smell it to death before he ate it. I joked that if he didn't tell, I wouldn't tell--that I would eat a donut, too. Of course he looked at me mortified in case I wasn't joking. I was joking of course, but I had to say that so I could visualize for one second just sinking my teeth into one of those deep fried, frosted donuts. Breakfast. Alas, I ordered my usual coffee and walked away with yet more willpower than I have ever had before. If ever I was going to eat sugar before the year's up, it would have been at this bakery. There was a line of customers behind us, but that didn't stop me from blocking the view of the donut case as I photographed that unbelievable, gigantic cream puff.

Before we left town to hit the road, we wandered through Red Lodge's little farmer's market. Gorgeous purple onions and green cucumbers beckoned to me. I tried to figure out how to utilize them on the road, but I couldn't figure it out. While I was thinking about it, I spotted a table covered with giant green cabbages. Could we travel with these? Of course not, they would get wilted and I wouldn't be near a stove for at least another week. Before I left the block of tables I visited a booth where a lady was selling wool, both spun and raw. A basket of beautiful, naturally colored wool really got my attention. I touched some of the bounciest wool I have ever felt. When I decided to buy a bunch of beautiful, bouncy gray wool, the host of the booth asked if I would like to buy some bak lava that she was randomly selling at her table. I told her "no, thanks" and that I was sugar-free for the year. She looked up surprised and said, "I am, too! My husband and I have gone without sugar and white flour for four years, now." That led to some interesting conversation and supreme motivation on my part. They both lost weight and don't ever crave sugar. I asked her if she ever used honey or molasses in her baking. She said that she doesn't use any of those sweeteners. She uses white sugar for her baked goods that she makes for others, but does not consume them, herself. I am wondering if I would benefit from cutting out all sugars including the natural sugars in honey, molasses, fruit juice, etc. I am considering doing this for a month to see what happens. Of course I will never cut out whole fruit, but this lady was so trim and healthy-looking, it motivates me to try to cut out sugar alternatives, as well. I'll start one week at a time. Thank you C-, at the farmer's market, for the inspiration!

The Sugar Blues of the Mid West

Nothing but green fields of corn stalks, peppered here and there with gigantic metal silos. The interstate roars through peaceful little farm lands. The fields of corn move rhythmically, swaying slightly at their thin yellow tips, but the sky is clear blue. A hawk sits upon a tall, dead tree that was planted out of place in this farmer's field. Gigantic semi-trucks rage into the rear view mirror and then quickly change lanes to pass us on the left. We have been driving across America for 5 days, now. My supply of sugar-free goodies is dwindling in our little cooler! We found a Whole Foods Market nearby our hotel in Chicago, but that was 3 or 4 days ago. Since then, we have been in grocery stores where all the food is packaged! Even the fruit and vegetables! There is sugar in everything, here! My favorite thing to look forward to is coffee (which is apparently not popular here in the mid-west....it's hard to find and it's awful) and nuts found at gas stations! I'm looking forward to finding a farmer's stand along the road where we can buy fresh fruits. More soon-I have to go to the lobby here at the hotel and look over the little free breakfast they offer. I've made a habit of grabbing bananas and apples at these continental breakfasts, to stockpile for myself, and Krispy Kreme donuts for my husband so I can live vicariously through him.

And the Winner is: Sugar-Free!

In preparation for our morning ping pong tournament, my husband loaded up on chocolate chip cookies and carnation chocolate instant breakfast, I loaded up on fruit (half banana, blueberries, and raspberries) and a hard boiled egg.

Then the games began. Normally, we are pretty evenly matched. We played two out of three and I won. I was hoping to play another two out of three, but he said he felt really tired and kind of "icky". He was done playing. We agreed that he probably didn't need to eat all those extra cookies, but it just goes to show you how sugar can bring you up but then smash you to the ground!

After our game was over, he went in to take a nap, and I decided to exercise and jog 2 miles.

Sugar VS. Sugar-Free Ping Pong

I have been challenged to play ping-pong in my current sugar-free state. This person is going to eat nothing but cookies for breakfast, and I will only eat fruit, and we are going to see who has the stamina, the speed and the skill for a mid-morning ping-pong tournament. Stay tuned for the results of:

SUGAR Takes On SUGAR-FREE in a Ping-Pong tournament. Who will win? Who will endure?

An Easy, Healthy Morning Breakfast Routine

I wonder how many of you crave sugar first thing in the morning? When I ate sugar regularly, I would often get up in the morning and wander into the kitchen looking in cupboards and the refrigerator where I would find the jackpot: left over dessert from the night before. I would usually be thinking, "It will probably get stale soon, and I might as well get rid of it as soon as possible before it tempts me later in the day." Other treats in the morning have included: homemade cookies, a left over pan of brownies, M&M's, and the hardest thing to not eat--packaged cookies. Cheap packaged cookies have always been a favorite of mine. Being bite-sized, they are so easy to eat and before you know it, half of the package is gone. When half of the package is gone, and you already feel guilty for eating that many cookies, it's even easier to eat the rest of them so you don't experience a second bout of guilt. Just because I've gorged myself on sugar in the morning does not mean I'm done having breakfast. Even when I've been full, I've eaten breakfast food after eating something sugary. There were days that seemed like a vicious cycle. I did not want to listen to my body. My mind said "EAT!" so I overruled my body saying, "Give me a break! Stop eating, NOW!" It is very easy to say these things in retrospect. I would never have admitted to this while in the moment.

Currently, I have a healthy breakfast habit in place of my unhealthy habits. I still like to eat something sweet in the morning sometimes, and fruit tastes sweetest first thing in the morning before eating anything else. (Note: Fruit does NOT taste sweet right after eating a hunk of dessert.) My new habit is cereal (Grape Nuts, Ezekial Brand Cereal, Barbara's Brand Cereal, Oatmeal, etc.) topped with fresh strawberries (they are now ripe and in season!) bananas, blueberries, rasberries, peaches, raisins, nuts or dried apricots. I have never been left hungry after one bowl. After eating such a healthy meal, you will feel inspired to eat healthy at your next meal, too. It helps to have pre-prepared healthy snacks on hand, otherwise it can be tempting to run to a vending machine with the justification that you are starving.

If you are not a breakfast eater, I am guessing that around mid-morning when you begin to feel really hungry, it is easy to justify that Coke, or the donuts in the break room, or a sugary coffee drink of some kind. Skipping breakfast is the quickest way to eat unhealthy later in the day. Eating a healthy breakfast is the quickest way to eating healthy later in the day. If your concern is time, prepare something the night before and take it to work with you if you have to. A thermos is a great way to transport cereal (note: to avoid soggy cereal, pour milk or yogurt in the thermos and carry your cereal in a baggy until you have a chance to eat.) If you feel like you are too busy to shop for healthy food, order groceries online and have them delivered to your doorstep. It is easy to kick that sugary morning habit if you replace it daily with something healthy and filling.

Purple Soup

I made this soup intending to have a place to use my more hardcore vegetables. It turned out so delicious, that I had it for breakfast, too! I've never had soup for breakfast before. All night last night I kept thinking how excited I was to get up in the morning and reheat it. It made me wonder if I was sick--because why else would I eat something this incredibly healthy?
Here are the dirty details of my Purple Soup (cabbage turns it all purple)--oh, and I rarely measure when I cook, so this is a loose recipe and is easily varied.

Purple Soup:
Lots of water
Lots of salt
One big scoop of Miso
1/4 of a whole cabbage, cut up
1/2 of a bunch of kale, cut up
1 parsnip, unpeeled, cut up
1/2 turnip, cut up
1/4 purple onion, cut up
1 sweet potato, cut up
1 cup or so of orzo (pasta that looks like rice. you could just use brown rice)
1 cup of adzuki beans (use any beans you have!)
Let everything simmer for about 30 minutes or so. For crunchier vegetables, add them closer to the end. I used a lot of pepper and sea salt to season. The miso acted as a great base. Next time I might try V-8 juice (is it sugar free?) for added flavor. Purple Soup should last 3 or so days covered in the refrigerator. Enjoy with a piece of toast!