Bread and Blubber

Do you have some suggestions for quick snacks?

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:03:00 -0400

Well, when snacking it’s always best to go for something you don’t really get into your normal meals. Things like fruit tend to be overlooked at dinnertime, for instance.
One of my favorite snacks is apples! Apples are full of dietary fiber and are a good source of vitamin C (ten percent, in fact). They also have a significant amount of magnesium and potassium.
Anyways, when it comes to apples I like to just chop them into wedges and eat as is buuut if that’s not your thing you could also eat apple shavings with cream cheese on a bagel. (Yum!)

If you’re looking for something hot to snack on grab yourself some broccoli. They have bunches of calcium and iron. Additionally, one cup of chopped broccoli is 5% of your daily protein as well as 9% of dietary fiber! I would continue my little spiel on the nutritional benefits of my favorite veggie, but there are simply too many. I loooooove broccoli and my favorite preparation of it is super easy.
Grab yourself a head of broccoli and trim the florets from the stem. Any floret that’s larger than the size of a half-dollar will have to be trimmed. Then split and chop the stem into quarter-inch slices. (The stem is definitely my favorite part).
Grab yourself a pan and dump your broccoli into it, adding just enough water to cover the bottom. You could add more if you feel like its not enough (if there is insufficient water, your veggies COULD potentially burn or overcook. Be careful!)
Add some salt and cover on high heat on your stovetop. Let steam for three minutes, then either enjoy with soy sauce for dipping or lots of lemon-pepper. You could also put cheese on it, but I’m not really sure how I feel about that. I’ll stick with my lemon-pepper, thanks.

If you somehow don’t have time to prepare either of those, I would say grab yourself a banana, some oatmeal, carrots, etc. In other words, anything not processed!
In case you can’t tell, I don’t really eat quick things… If you’re on the run, grab yourself a granola bar. Or better yet, a home-made granola bar.

Hope this helps. c:

When going vegetarian or vegan, would it be better to do it gradually or just go cold-turkey?

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:42:00 -0400

This isn’t something I know by experience, but with food, especially meat, it’s hard to prevent cravings. I would suggest changing gradually within the period of maybe two weeks to a month.

Here’s something on being a vegetarian:
You MUST eat things high in fiber, like grains, pastas and cereals. Do NOT simply force yourself to eat only fruits and veggies. Although they are filling when you eat them, they are more easily digested by your body than meat is so you will find yourself eating more than you usually would. Remember to stick to your food pyramid!

Also, you have to get the right kinds of nutrients into your diet to stay healthy. By giving up meat or any animal-based products, you’ll have a considerable amount of protein missing from your body, so be sure to eat something that can support that loss, like lentils.

Lentils are grown in some areas specifically to feed a vegetarian community that need more protein, so that should say something about them. They are ALMOST a complete protein and contain calcium, iron, starch, fiber, and various minerals.
Beans work too! They’re also usually sold dried, so they keep well for a long time.

Also remember to eat basic-health foods like broccoli to keep your calcium and antioxidant levels up. Eat all natural and fresh fruits and veggies and you probably won’t even miss meat.

Thanks for your question, and I hope that helps!

Cinnamon Cranberry Oatmeal

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:05:00 -0400

Oatmeal is a super-health food. It’s got TONS of fiber and can lower your cholesterol. Actually, it’s because oatmeal has so much fiber in it that it reduces your cholesterol. The decidedly “bad” cholesterol absorbed into your body (aka Low-density lipoproteins or LPL) can be slowed by the addition of soluble fiber in your diet. Therefore, eat more oatmeal! (Other heart friendly foods are fish, potatoes, walnuts and various other nuts, and margarine (SOMETIMES…many types of margarine contain TRANSFATTY ACIDS which are very bad indeed for you so if you’ve got a really solid type of margarine because you have been conned into thinking it’s good for you—EAT BUTTER INSTEAD). Fiber also can help regulate your… well, you know. Let’s just say it’s not really something people talk about in public anymore. c:

Don’t like instant oatmeal? I do not blame you there. They have a much lower nutritional value than, say, rolled oats do. Much too processing going on there. So, here’s an almost-instant oatmeal recipe I concocted for myself when trying to get more fiber into my diet. Much better than my mom’s protein bars, believe me.

Here’s what you need:
Pour about 3/4 of a cup of old-fashioned or rolled oats into a single-serving bowl. Add about a tablespoon of cinnamon, a big pinch of salt (I like kosher) and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Then, get yourself some dried fruit, whatever you happen to like. Dried cranberries are my favorite, but chopped dried cherries also work very nicely. If you want to add more cholesterol punching power you could use prunes but that’s a little much, even for me.
Toss to evenly distribute and add enough water to kind of make the mixture a soupy consistency. If you add too much, you can always empty the extra water later.
Stick your (microwave-safe) bowl into said contraption and heat for one minute and thirty seconds. Mix to ensure even water-distribution and drain any excess (I usually do this by holding it over the sink and using a spoon to stop any oats from falling out). If needed add more salt and voila. Eat with a nice cup of chai tea and some whole-grain toast and you’ve got yourself a very healthy breakfast indeed.

Needless to say, if you’re trying to lose weight, regulating your digestive system is very important — not to mention that preventing help problems related to obesity is a good thing too. Fiber keeps you fuller longer so you don’t eat as much as you might normally do

Ps: Cranberry oatmeal cookies? Yeah, they’re delicious. Look forward to a recipe for those as well as the cosmetic benefits of oats on some later date.

Our lovely herb garden. It’s in our back room,...

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:33:00 -0400

Our lovely herb garden. It’s in our back room, though.
Especially good in soups and pasta, basil is one of my favorite herbs.
Rosemary just smells like pinetrees, though. What’s up with that?

Not only do fresh herbs taste good, they’re cheap (if you grow them yourselves like we do) and they’re a much healthier choice when adding flavor than most other products. Also, herbs such as rosemary are evergreen, so you can plant it in your garden and it will live through winter to greet you cheerily upon the arrival of spring.

Need ideas?
If you’re short on time (or thyme, haha) during the week, pasta is an overall good choice because it’s usually served with healthy ingredients. Unless you have picky children that will only eat it with butter.

This is a take on a recipe my sister used to make when our mother wasn’t around to cook.
For one serving:
Take a handful of ordinary pasta about the size of a quarter in a pot of salted boiling water. (It doesn’t necessarily matter whether or not you break it, if you’ve got a big enough pot.) I do not believe adding oil to the water does a spot of good, so I leave it out.

Once your pasta’s done cooking, add enough olive oil (I like extra-virgin) to cover the pasta once tossed; it should only take about a a tablespoon and a half.

Snip two leaves of basil into your noodles with your kitchen shears. To do this, roll the leaves up into a little tube shape, then snip either directly across or snip off the corners followed by the center for a shorter ribbon. Add a quarter cup of raw chopped onions (or partially cooked, if you don’t like raw. Caramelized onions are too sweet for this). Serve with lots of freshly ground pepper and more salt if that’s how you like it.

You could also use infused oils for this. If they don’t sell them in your area, make your own!
Additionally, if you don’t care for onions in any shape or form, you could try adding some cooked garlic, sun dried tomatoes(do NOT use tomato sauce, after adding the oil it will NOT stick), freshly grates cheeses, garlic powder, etc. Without any additions, the pasta will still taste good, it will just be missing the punchy flavors you get from the suggestions listed.