Make french toast with whole wheat bread and make my strawberry sauce from a previous blog entry. I've also made it with frozen blueberries. 4 cups of frozen fruit (35 big strawberries), 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup water, boil it for 10-15 minutes. With strawberries, use a potato masher to smash it. With blueberries, leave them whole and just stir it. 1/4 cup = 56 calories, no fat, 1 sodium, 14 carbs, .5 protein, 2 fiber.
OR find my baking mix recipe from a previous blog entry and make pancakes using that, with the fruit sauce, and a glass of milk for protein.
OR make muffins using the baking mix on the blog. I like to stir in diced apples and cinnamon, mashed bananas and nuts, lemon juice and poppyseeds, etc before baking and a piece of fruit, and a glass of milk for protein.
OR cook 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries, 1 tbsp wheat germ, 1 tbsp ground almonds, 1 tbsp ground flax seed, 1 tsp maple syrup, and 1 cup water. Stir and pour 1/4 cup milk over it. I eat this 4-5 days a week. The smallish amounts of almonds, flax seed, and milk, added together, give you your protein. I make this for myself (but I only use 1/3 cup oats 'cause I have a low rmr) and it gives me 229 calories, 46 carbs, 9 fat, 8 protein, 10 fiber. That's a lot of fiber.
OR make a peanut butter and "jelly" sandwich using 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter (I love the Costco organic kind), and 1 Tbsp of the fruit sauce above (if you put it in a jelly jar when it is hot, it thickens up, even without added pectin).
OR 1 cup plain fat free yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberry sauce and 1/4 cup oats (or brown rice crispies or grape nuts), stirred together. Whole grain, protein, fruit. I'm guessing that's around 325 calories.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
also for Debbie.... NON GRAIN CARB OPTIONS
Fruits: Pick a fruit, it has carbs. The sweeter it is, the higher the number of carbs it will have in it.
Veggies: some veggies have carbs, some don't. In general, a vegetable that you consider sweet or starchy is likely high in carbohydrates. Carrots, peas, corn, lima beans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes can count as a carb. They are sweet
Beans: beans, nuts, and seeds are high in carboydrates, but if you pair them with a grain, they become a protein.
Veggies: some veggies have carbs, some don't. In general, a vegetable that you consider sweet or starchy is likely high in carbohydrates. Carrots, peas, corn, lima beans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes can count as a carb. They are sweet
Beans: beans, nuts, and seeds are high in carboydrates, but if you pair them with a grain, they become a protein.
Because Debbie asked....WHOLE GRAIN CARB OPTIONS
1. Whole grains simply cooked in water or broth in whole state (oat groats, wheat berries, brown rice, millet, barley, quinoa, etc) can be served with something over them, like stir-fry, cooked seasoned beans, pasta sauce, salsa and cheese, etc. You can also eat these for breakfast with a little honey or maple syrup. You can make them into a fruity salad with diced fruit and yogurt. Or make them into a savory salad with diced veggies and dressing. In any recipe that calls for cooked rice, try using different grains. Millet, barley, and quinoa have some excellent nutritional benefits. If you like them, use them.
2. Whole grains that have been cut up in some way, but not completely ground into flour (like oatmeal, bulgur wheat, cream of wheat, corn meal) can simply be cooked in water and made into porridge for breakfast. Cornmeal can be made into porridge and then poured into a bread pan and then sliced. Some people like to fry these slices in a little butter and eat it with syrup. Or you can fry it in olive oil and serve a sauce over it. I'm not a fan, but I'm not knocking it. I don't like polenta, either, which is pretty much the same thing. Polenta is a great whole-grain food.
3. Whole grains that have been ground into flour and then prepared to make baked goods are another great source. If YOU prepare muffins, biscuits, pancakes, breads, pita, crackers, etc... at home, you KNOW what goes into them. You can take any recipe and tweak it to follow our rules. I've made cakes and replaced the white flour with whole wheat, the shortening with butter, and the sugar with honey. You don't end up with the same result, but you usually end up with a good one. I recommend my baking mix, posted in my earlier entry for pancakes with strawberry sauce. Try flours made from other grains, too. If you have a wheat grinder, use it to make brown rice into flour. If you use 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 brown rice flour in a recipe, it makes the product lighter. Other flours don't have gluten like wheat does, so you can't replace it cup-for-cup.
If you are NOT the baker, you need to be careful. I don't purchase ANY baked goods unless I can see that the first ingredient is whole wheat flour. It can't just say WHEAT flour. It must say WHOLE wheat. (99% of the flour used to make foods is wheat flour. But it is not WHOLE. It is usually just enriched white flour. It doesn't have wheat germ or wheat bran in it. It has probably also been bleached.) I look for baked goods that have fewer than 5-7 ingredients in them and I need to recognize them as real foods. Beware of hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup, particularly if they are listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. If they come later in the list, there isn't that much of them so if you need to compromise to save the budget, go ahead. It isn't ideal, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!
Some of my favorites to prepare on my own:
brown rice for any meal or snack; it can be sweet or savory.
quinoa, for savory meals. It isn't so good for breakfast. (cooks in 20 minutes like white rice)
Old Fashioned oats (not quick) for breakfast.
Whole wheat baking mix (for muffins, pancakes, and biscuits)
Whole wheat tortillas (I have a great recipe. Time consuming but better than store-bought)
Some of my favorites to buy at the store:
Wheat Montana Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Franz 100% whole wheat bread (my compromise bread)
Triscuits (the only cracker I'll buy)
Flat-out multi grain with flax sandwich wraps
Barilla Whole Grain pastas (they are only 51% whole grain; a compromise for taste)
Things I want to learn to make:
whole grain pie crust that I like, without shortening
whole grain crackers
whole grain pita bread
a cookie I like that follows my rules
2. Whole grains that have been cut up in some way, but not completely ground into flour (like oatmeal, bulgur wheat, cream of wheat, corn meal) can simply be cooked in water and made into porridge for breakfast. Cornmeal can be made into porridge and then poured into a bread pan and then sliced. Some people like to fry these slices in a little butter and eat it with syrup. Or you can fry it in olive oil and serve a sauce over it. I'm not a fan, but I'm not knocking it. I don't like polenta, either, which is pretty much the same thing. Polenta is a great whole-grain food.
3. Whole grains that have been ground into flour and then prepared to make baked goods are another great source. If YOU prepare muffins, biscuits, pancakes, breads, pita, crackers, etc... at home, you KNOW what goes into them. You can take any recipe and tweak it to follow our rules. I've made cakes and replaced the white flour with whole wheat, the shortening with butter, and the sugar with honey. You don't end up with the same result, but you usually end up with a good one. I recommend my baking mix, posted in my earlier entry for pancakes with strawberry sauce. Try flours made from other grains, too. If you have a wheat grinder, use it to make brown rice into flour. If you use 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 brown rice flour in a recipe, it makes the product lighter. Other flours don't have gluten like wheat does, so you can't replace it cup-for-cup.
If you are NOT the baker, you need to be careful. I don't purchase ANY baked goods unless I can see that the first ingredient is whole wheat flour. It can't just say WHEAT flour. It must say WHOLE wheat. (99% of the flour used to make foods is wheat flour. But it is not WHOLE. It is usually just enriched white flour. It doesn't have wheat germ or wheat bran in it. It has probably also been bleached.) I look for baked goods that have fewer than 5-7 ingredients in them and I need to recognize them as real foods. Beware of hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup, particularly if they are listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. If they come later in the list, there isn't that much of them so if you need to compromise to save the budget, go ahead. It isn't ideal, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!
Some of my favorites to prepare on my own:
brown rice for any meal or snack; it can be sweet or savory.
quinoa, for savory meals. It isn't so good for breakfast. (cooks in 20 minutes like white rice)
Old Fashioned oats (not quick) for breakfast.
Whole wheat baking mix (for muffins, pancakes, and biscuits)
Whole wheat tortillas (I have a great recipe. Time consuming but better than store-bought)
Some of my favorites to buy at the store:
Wheat Montana Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Franz 100% whole wheat bread (my compromise bread)
Triscuits (the only cracker I'll buy)
Flat-out multi grain with flax sandwich wraps
Barilla Whole Grain pastas (they are only 51% whole grain; a compromise for taste)
Things I want to learn to make:
whole grain pie crust that I like, without shortening
whole grain crackers
whole grain pita bread
a cookie I like that follows my rules
Monday, January 25, 2010
How I get my greens.
I KNOW I need to eat green leafy veggies, particularly spinach. Spinach is one of those super-foods. I try to eat spinach every day because I'm often anemic and I really believe that EATING your vitamins is better than taking a pill. So.... this is what I do.
1. I buy two big bags of baby spinach when I do my every-other-week shopping trip. I put one in the freezer. I put the other in the fridge.
2. For the first week after my shopping trip, I eat a salad each day for a snack, or with lunch, or with dinner. I'm not a salad fan, in general. I like some restaurant salads, like the ones with iceburg lettuce, egg, cheese, deli ham, buttery croutons, bacon bits, and homemade ranch. Umm....those break some rules and end up kinda fatty, salty, and not-so-good for me. I've had to re-learn to like a slightly different type of salad. I like STUFF on my salad. I make my stuff count as a carb or a protein. Here are two I like.
a. Big handful of spinach, sliced boiled egg, 1/4 cup grated cheese, a sprinkle of sunflower seeds for crunch, 1/2 of a sliced pear or apple, shredded carrotKraft Lite Raspberry viniagrette (I need to learn to make my own 'cause Kraft isn't really all natural like I'd prefer)
b. Big handful of spinach, 2 oz of leftover chicken or pork, a sprinkle of slivered almonds for crunch, canned mandarin oranges, sliced celery or pepper, Newman's Own Light Asian Sesame dressing.
3. The second week, I make a smoothie each day, using my frozen spinach. It gets all frozen together and stuff, no biggie. Just crunch it up with your hands and shake about 2 cups worth into the blender for each smoothie. I add juice, fruit, water, protein powder, and you have a carb/protein combination PLUS my super spinach. I never add yogurt to my green smoothies. Just seems wrong to me.
1. I buy two big bags of baby spinach when I do my every-other-week shopping trip. I put one in the freezer. I put the other in the fridge.
2. For the first week after my shopping trip, I eat a salad each day for a snack, or with lunch, or with dinner. I'm not a salad fan, in general. I like some restaurant salads, like the ones with iceburg lettuce, egg, cheese, deli ham, buttery croutons, bacon bits, and homemade ranch. Umm....those break some rules and end up kinda fatty, salty, and not-so-good for me. I've had to re-learn to like a slightly different type of salad. I like STUFF on my salad. I make my stuff count as a carb or a protein. Here are two I like.
a. Big handful of spinach, sliced boiled egg, 1/4 cup grated cheese, a sprinkle of sunflower seeds for crunch, 1/2 of a sliced pear or apple, shredded carrotKraft Lite Raspberry viniagrette (I need to learn to make my own 'cause Kraft isn't really all natural like I'd prefer)
b. Big handful of spinach, 2 oz of leftover chicken or pork, a sprinkle of slivered almonds for crunch, canned mandarin oranges, sliced celery or pepper, Newman's Own Light Asian Sesame dressing.
3. The second week, I make a smoothie each day, using my frozen spinach. It gets all frozen together and stuff, no biggie. Just crunch it up with your hands and shake about 2 cups worth into the blender for each smoothie. I add juice, fruit, water, protein powder, and you have a carb/protein combination PLUS my super spinach. I never add yogurt to my green smoothies. Just seems wrong to me.
Choose to eat plants!!
Rule #1 only MAKES you eat 3 servings of fruits/veggies per day (at breakfast, lunch, and dinner). How can you add more? Here are some suggestions:
Plan to eat two servings of veggies at lunch or dinner.
Eat fruity carb instead of a starchy carb for your snack.
Make a fruity smoothie with a handful of spinach and some protein powder for a snack.
Choose 100% fruit juice instead of that diet soda at the gas station or restaurant.
When you feel like you can't make it to the next meal, eat 5 baby carrots or a stalk of celery, or 1/2 a sliced bell pepper.
If you have a juicer, use it to make interesting juicy concoctions to drink instead of water.
Plan to eat two servings of veggies at lunch or dinner.
Eat fruity carb instead of a starchy carb for your snack.
Make a fruity smoothie with a handful of spinach and some protein powder for a snack.
Choose 100% fruit juice instead of that diet soda at the gas station or restaurant.
When you feel like you can't make it to the next meal, eat 5 baby carrots or a stalk of celery, or 1/2 a sliced bell pepper.
If you have a juicer, use it to make interesting juicy concoctions to drink instead of water.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
RULES 1-6 ARE LISTED HERE
RULE #1:
Eat 5-6 times every day and eat food combinations that will keep you full. Decide ahead of time when you are going to eat. You don't need to know exactly what you are going to eat but you do need to think about how your day will shake out and where you will be at each meal time.
RULE #2
Drink lots of water. In between meals, when you get to hour 2 and you have 30 minutes to wait until you eat again, you'll start to feel hungry-ish. Drink 2 glasses of water. Stand right there at your sink and chug them down. Put your glass on the windowsill. Repeat. Get a water bottle and take it everywhere with you. When you want a soda, buy a bottle of water instead. You should be peeing a lot. This is the best "cleanse" you can do.
RULE #3
No "bad" carbs/ processed carbs. Here's the list: processed sugar (white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup) or any food containing these sugars, white flours (flours with the germ and bran removed this includes bleached and unbleached wheat flour), white rice. Replace these items with natural sweeteners in moderation, whole grain flours, brown rice, and quinoa.
RULE #4
Eat all kinds of protein. Chicken, turkey, elk, bison, and fish are good lean choices but try to even use these in moderation. You need protein 5x a day on this diet. Do NOT make them all from meat. Use eggs, dairy, nuts, protein powders, beans, and seeds as often as you can. Eating meat sparingly is a good idea, particularly meats that are high in fat, like bacon, sausage, and certain cuts of beef or pork.
RULE #5
Limit your fat to the following: fats that are already in your food (like the fish oil in your fish, or the marbling in your beef), butter, lard, drippings (like bacon fat or the chicken fat you skim off your soup), and cold-pressed vegetable oils (look at the label. It must say cold-pressed). This means you are giving up any food that is fried in a restaurant or a factory. They do not use cold-pressed oils. Use these fats IN MODERATION.
RULE #6
A. Go to sparkpeople at least once a day, every day, for 3 weeks and enter in every single item you eat. Try your best to stay within the limits given to you in each category. Yes, it is tedious, but you don't have to do this forever. For 3 weeks, you are going to track your calories and nutrients and you will pay attention to what the numbers say. Notice how you feel when you don't get enough fiber and protein. Notice what the scale says when you go way over your sodium goal one day. If you click on "see today's full report" you can see your whole day, plus a pie chart that indicates what percentage of your food intake went to carbs, fat, and protein. Try to manage your meals to make your pie chart look like the recommended pie chart.
B. After your 3 week stint on sparkpeople, you may step away from it if you feel like you are ready. HOWEVER, for every day that you fall off your own bandwagon, you MUST go back to sparkpeople for a day, up to 3 weeks. So if you go away for the weekend and eat like a silly person, then come back, re-read my rules, and do sparkpeople for 2 days. If you blow it and eat Twinkies and Coke for a month, and then decide you are ready to be sane again, then come back, re-read my rules, and go back to sparkpeople for 3 weeks.
Eat 5-6 times every day and eat food combinations that will keep you full. Decide ahead of time when you are going to eat. You don't need to know exactly what you are going to eat but you do need to think about how your day will shake out and where you will be at each meal time.
RULE #2
Drink lots of water. In between meals, when you get to hour 2 and you have 30 minutes to wait until you eat again, you'll start to feel hungry-ish. Drink 2 glasses of water. Stand right there at your sink and chug them down. Put your glass on the windowsill. Repeat. Get a water bottle and take it everywhere with you. When you want a soda, buy a bottle of water instead. You should be peeing a lot. This is the best "cleanse" you can do.
RULE #3
No "bad" carbs/ processed carbs. Here's the list: processed sugar (white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup) or any food containing these sugars, white flours (flours with the germ and bran removed this includes bleached and unbleached wheat flour), white rice. Replace these items with natural sweeteners in moderation, whole grain flours, brown rice, and quinoa.
RULE #4
Eat all kinds of protein. Chicken, turkey, elk, bison, and fish are good lean choices but try to even use these in moderation. You need protein 5x a day on this diet. Do NOT make them all from meat. Use eggs, dairy, nuts, protein powders, beans, and seeds as often as you can. Eating meat sparingly is a good idea, particularly meats that are high in fat, like bacon, sausage, and certain cuts of beef or pork.
RULE #5
Limit your fat to the following: fats that are already in your food (like the fish oil in your fish, or the marbling in your beef), butter, lard, drippings (like bacon fat or the chicken fat you skim off your soup), and cold-pressed vegetable oils (look at the label. It must say cold-pressed). This means you are giving up any food that is fried in a restaurant or a factory. They do not use cold-pressed oils. Use these fats IN MODERATION.
RULE #6
A. Go to sparkpeople at least once a day, every day, for 3 weeks and enter in every single item you eat. Try your best to stay within the limits given to you in each category. Yes, it is tedious, but you don't have to do this forever. For 3 weeks, you are going to track your calories and nutrients and you will pay attention to what the numbers say. Notice how you feel when you don't get enough fiber and protein. Notice what the scale says when you go way over your sodium goal one day. If you click on "see today's full report" you can see your whole day, plus a pie chart that indicates what percentage of your food intake went to carbs, fat, and protein. Try to manage your meals to make your pie chart look like the recommended pie chart.
B. After your 3 week stint on sparkpeople, you may step away from it if you feel like you are ready. HOWEVER, for every day that you fall off your own bandwagon, you MUST go back to sparkpeople for a day, up to 3 weeks. So if you go away for the weekend and eat like a silly person, then come back, re-read my rules, and do sparkpeople for 2 days. If you blow it and eat Twinkies and Coke for a month, and then decide you are ready to be sane again, then come back, re-read my rules, and go back to sparkpeople for 3 weeks.
FOOD SUGGESTIONS LISTED HERE
BREAKFAST (whole grain, protein, fruit)
* Oats with ground almonds and dried cranberries
* Egg, toast, fruit
* whole grain unsweetened cereal with bnanas, honey and milk
* leftover brown rice with an egg white stirred in and microwaved (makes it creamy) with maple syrup and berries on top
* whole wheat pancakes with homemade strawberry sauce and whipped cream cheese
* cottage cheese with canned fruit (with no added sugar) and sunflower seeds
* whole wheat muffin or toast with 1 tsp butter, piece of fruit, glass of milk
LUNCH (whole grain, protein, fruit or veggie)
* one hard-boiled egg mixed with Kraft Olive Oil Mayo and a little mustard, one slice of bread, and some carrot sticks
* leftovers from last night's dinner
* one piece of whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and fruit sweetened jam and a piece of fruit
* beans and brown rice with salsa stirred in and some pepper slices on the side
* a pile of spinach with a sliced boiled egg, shredded carrot and any Newman's Own light dressing * microwave baked potato with some leftover taco meat, chili, lentils, or something like that on top
SNACKS (a carb and a protein)
* apple and a cheese stick (my stand-by)
* a baggie of nuts and a little bottle of 100% juice (can grab this at the gas station)
* a baggie with a handful of nuts and a handful of dried fruit (easy to grab and take with you)
* a smoothie made with spinach, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 C. orange juice, water, and protein powder (of course any fruit can be added to this. I always have strawberries and blueberries in my freezer so I often add those)
* a piece of fruit and some Triscuits
* baked tortilla chips, microwaved with 1/4 cup cheese and salsa
* a slice of bread with natural peanut butter
DINNER (whole grain, protein, veggie)
Dinner is dinner. I make what my family will eat. I make sure I get plenty of veggies and a reasonable portion of what is prepared.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
