Shopping for labels....

I think two of the worst phrases to hit the food industry are "made with whole grain" and "all-natural". You might think I'm crazy; whole grains and natural are good, right? Of course they are!!! But what you may not realize is, anyone can slap "made with whole grain" on a package (even if it's not the first, or second, or third ingredient), and "all-natural" just means the ingredients came from nature. Neither phrase makes something inherently "healthy". You have to be so careful and actually look at labels, because you can unwittingly pick something up, assume it's healthy, and toss it in the cart.

For example, here is a label from a chocolate brownie muffin from the folks at Aunt Millie. It is "made with whole grain". Sorry, it's a bit fuzzy.



Major concerns? Well, for one, the first ingredient isn't flour, it's sugar. That can't be good. Second, 220 calories for a snack? A snack with 8.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of fiber, and 24 grams of sugar? What a waste of a snack! It's cut off, but it's labeled as 5 Weight Watchers points. I don't track points, but my mom does. And I'm pretty sure 5 isn't good when snacking on a muffin. This is a dessert, not a "snack".

Moving on to another choice, not "made with whole grain":




Sure, these Hostess mini-cupcakes aren't whole grain. And the first ingredient is *still* sugar. But at least we've a) knocked it down to 100 calories, b) knocked it down to 3 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of saturated fat, c) gone down to 10 grams of sugar, and d) there are 5 grams of fiber in that package! If I were a sugar eating girl, I'd certainly take all this over all that.

Of course, your best bet is probably to make your own damn cupcakes and know exactly what is going into them. Because I can safely say, 9/10 of what you find on any grocery shelf is going to be full of icky preservatives and weird things you can't pronounce. But I know not everyone has time for that, and if you're going to do convenience, I'd like you to be informed!

Another good example is yogurt. Let's look at Greek yogurt. Oikos makes a "chocolate on the bottom" Greek yogurt. Sounds tasty. 110 calories, 16 grams of sugar. And call it what you want, "organic sugar" is still just SUGAR. I buy Stonyfield Oikos nonfat plain Greek yogurt. Yeah, I know, plain, yuck yuck yuck. But 90 calories and 7 grams of just plain dairy sugar. And it has 20% of your daily calcium, vs 10% in the Oikos chocolate one. And I'm sorry, you can do whatever to plain yogurt. It's a blank canvas! Add fruit. Put it in a smoothie. Add protein powder. Swirl in some natural fruit preserves. Or honey. You can pretty much do anything you want with it.

My point is, you have to be careful in the supermarket. Unless you are holding an organic apple or some such thing, chances are good that whatever "all-natural" thing you are holding has been processed in some weird way. Don't be tricked by the marketing departments that are getting trashed by the health nuts. Once word got out that people wanted their food stripped down, they had to re-strategize how best to get consumers to continue to buy their products. Hence the words "all-natural", "made with whole-grain", and "25% less sugar" were born. I'm done ranting, just... read your labels, people.

until later....

"Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn't even the star of his own Halloween special." ~Chris Rock

Hungry Girl's (Gluten-Free!) Practically Fat-Free Fettucine Alfredo

So, I'm trying out a new recipe today, courtesy of "Hungry Girl" (see side bar for a link to all the Hungry Girl website has to offer.) In all of my tofu escapades, I've never tried tofu noodles!! So, I thought I'd give it a shot. When I first opened the bag, I was a little grossed out; the bag had said something about an "authentic smell", but what they really meant was "these noodles smell like f***ing fish". I will assure you though, that if you follow the directions and all, they will not *taste* like fish. So, that's good news.

As usual, I embellished this recipe a bit. Gotta get some veggies in!! The original was just noodles and sauce, with parmesan and salt/pepper.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
* 1 package Tofu Shirataki Fettucine-shaped noodle substitute (or regular pasta if you're freaked out by tofu/gluten-free)
* 2-4 tsp of fat free cream cheese
* 2-4 tsp of fat free sour cream
* 2-4 tsp parmesan topping
* 4-5 white organic mushrooms, sliced into fours
* 1/3 cup spinach (I used the frozen stuff)
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* salt and pepper to taste

WHAT TO DO:

Drain and rinse the tofu noodles. Microwave them for a minute, it helps dial down the fishy smell. Dry them off. While microwaving the noodles, start sauteeing the mushrooms, spinach, and salt/pepper. When that looks good and cooked, add the noodles, sour cream, cream cheese, and garlic (I softened the cream cheese/sour cream in the microwave for about 30 seconds first). I told you 2-4 tsps because the original recipe called for 2, but I used more given the addition of spinach and mushrooms. Continue to sautee it until everything looks done? =)

I'll say this- this tastes pretty damn good, actually. The noodles are a little weird textured, rubbery a bit? But not bad at all! I would definitely buy them again.

until later...

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it." ~W.C. Fields

Getting back on the horse...

Hello, faithful followers. It's been a while.

I don't have much of an excuse for not blogging, except I've been feeling a little... unmotivated. Yes, even I have fits of non-motivation. Last week I found myself eating more nachos than usual. Drinking pop. Drinking beer. Getting lax on my sleep pattern. And somehow, I managed to run 31 miles last week?!

It's really hard to preach about healthy living when you ate like shit, got no sleep, and probably ran more than any normal person should.

Point being, everyone is prone to a crappy week. Whether it's vacation, illness, or just plain over-doing it and slipping up as a result, shit happens. Nobody's perfect, and to an extent, a crap-tastic week can be a great reminder of what your real goals are. It puts things into perspective.

Today I woke up, an average Monday morning in front of me. Well, not *totally* average, I'm on vacation from Nannydom for the week. But it looked a little dreary and cold out. I felt the familiar pangs of "I don't waaaaaaanna run, it's cold, it's boring, I'm by myself." By the time I ate my Ezekial raisin bread with peanut butter and bananas, and had a little cup of coffee... the sun had come out. The clouds had disappeared. The caffeine was coursing. I was feeling a bit better. I thought, "Ok, Self. 6 miles. That's not so bad. It's sunny, the iTouch is juiced up. Take it steady and easy." I set out on my journey, 6 miles around my neighborhood; Gull to G, G to Nazareth, around the block somewhere around Parchmount, rest of the way up Nazareth, then up Gull. I took a comfortable pace the first few miles, somewhere around a 9:20-30. I didn't feel like I was speeding up, but I noticed my times clipping along for a couple of miles, so I pulled back a bit. Picked it up again for the last couple of miles.

Now, I have to interject something. Part of the reason I keep running this particular route (aside from the fact it's a nice even 6 with only a few light hills) is that I HATE NAZARETH ROAD. It's the very, very end of our half marathon in two and a half weeks. It sucks. It's tiny, gentle rolling hills, and I think most runners would agree, anything resembling rolling hills is not entirely desirable at the tail end of 13.1 miles. It's rude. Especially after three miles in Spring Valley Park- full of very unkind, Voldemort-evil hills. So, I am running Nazareth at least once a week to try and hurdle over this mental block that it's awful. It'll suck, but it needs to suck less.

Today, Nazareth felt almost... good. I don't know if it's because I took it pretty easy leading up to it, or because "Hey Soul Sister" by Train came on my Touch (and that little ukulele intro puts a zip in my step every time), or because the sun was shining, or what- but I kind of kicked its ass today. Or at the very least, didn't let it get the best of me.

If you're having a bad day, or bad week, or bad month- don't be too hard on yourself. Take a day or two off. Recollect your thoughts. Write down how you're feeling. Go for a walk, instead of a run. Spring is here, a time of rebirth and new beginnings! Enjoy the sunshine, the flowers, friends and family. And if you want to enjoy a plate of nachos, oh well. The world will not spin off its axis as a result of nachos and taking a day off.

until later...

"So get the hell up and make the best of this little sequence of feeling upset. It's natural to find the worst in something, but it doesn't make it right. There are things that we are all afraid of, hopes and dreams we've worked so hard for. Cheer up, cheer up! And listen closely- the bad times make the good ones come alive..." ~Lights Out Dancing

This just in, HFCS is.... icky....

I have long been thumping my Healthy Bible (ok, I don't really have one of those, but if I did...) about High Fructose Corn Syrup. It's in about a bazillion things you buy that you might think are "healthy alternatives". Just a few examples...

* Campbell's Tomato Soup (both the regular and "Healthy Request" versions)
* Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars
* Keebler Toast and Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
* Yoplait Light (fat free) yogurt
* Lender's plain bagels

Go ahead, take a look in your pantry, fridge, and freezer. I'm sure you'll find stuff. Then, read this article a friend passed on to me about a study done on HFCS....

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/food-science/princeton-proves-high-fructose-corn-syrup-woes-once-for-all-112003?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+apartmenttherapy%2Fthekitchn+%28The+Kitchn%29

until later...

Today can be a healthy unusual day for you -- and for others -- if you take time to give someone a smile . . . to express a word of kindness . . . to lend a helping hand to someone in need . . . to write a note of gratitude . . . to give a word of encouragement to someone who is temporarily overcome with problems . . . to share a portion of your material possessions with others.” ~William Arthur Ward

Our Favorite Pizza

The littlest one I nanny for has a favorite pizza we make. It's sort of a recipe we came up with together, actually. The best part about it was it was originally a ploy to trick her into eating spinach. Spinach is one of the foods you should be eating EVERY DAY. My littlest charge likes to eat it because she's a gymnast and wants "Popeye muscles"- but it's rich in omega-3's, folate (helps reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke), and lutein, which does fight your muscles degenerating. It's a superfood! But for some reason, people are really turned off by it. I don't think it even really has a flavor, personally. I mix it up in salads, or stir fry... here is our pizza recipe. She knows it's healthy, and still loves it. If you're making it with kids, have them help with whatever parts they can. Helping make pizza will create a sense of pride in it, thusly making them want to eat it all the more.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Some type of blender
1 ready-made whole wheat pizza crust (I like Boboli best)
1 package of Kraft fat-free cheese (melts fine and you can use the whole package if you want) or 2%
1 small can pizza sauce (I use Pastorelli, I get it at Meijer. It's one of very few sauces that doesn't have added sugar and corn syrup in it, and isn't as expensive as some of the "organic" ones.)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
About 1 cup leafy spinach
About one cup broccoli, cut small
3/4 cup shredded chicken (I hate, hate, hate raw chicken. I buy a whole rotisserie chicken from Meijer, use what I need, and then have the rest for meals/sandwiches/snacks later.)

WHAT TO DO:

Start buy putting your crust on a cookie sheet and preheating your oven to 450 (if you're using Boboli; it may be different for other crusts). Sometimes to keep the kid busy, I have her spread a little olive oil on the crust- it's good for your heart. Next, the sauce. In a blender or Magic Bullet or whatever you have, dump your small can of sauce and your spinach and your garlic powder. Puree it. Spread that sauce on the pizza. Next, cheese it up with however much/little cheese you like. (This is really the true beauty of fat free cheese, no fat and 60 calories in a serving. And there really aren't a bunch of weird ingredients in it.) While the kid spreads on the sauce and cheese, I cut up the broccoli so it's more bite-sized. Go ahead and add the shredded chicken. The kid has a special way of doing the broccoli- she only adds it around the edges of the pizza in a circle, then crushes what's left and sprinkle it on top. It looks great and isn't overwhelming with broccoli. Bake it for 8-10 minutes, and you have a healthy alternative to pizza that will still taste awesome.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

until later...

“There's a pizza place near where I live that sells only slices. In the back you can see a guy tossing a triangle in the air.” ~Stephen Wright

Sunday Breakfast Casserole

One thing I love about Sunday is the idea of Brunch. I don't know why it seems more appealing on Sunday than other days, but for some reason, it does. One comfort food that I just love is a breakfast casserole. This is a low-fat, vegetarian, super-easy version. I apologize in advance for my "recipe", most of my friends know by now that I mostly work by guesstimates, rather than actual measurements.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
* One tube of Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls
* about 1 carton Egg Beaters (You can use real eggs if you prefer, but I don't know how many to tell you, as I've only used the Beaters.)
* 1 cup or so of Morningstar Farms Sausage-Style Crumbles
* 1 and 1/2 to 2-ish cups of Kraft Fat-Free Cheddar Cheese (or 2% if you like it better)
* any vegetables you might want to add... I like onions, mushrooms, spinach, or a combo of the three!

AS CLOSE TO DIRECTIONS AS YOU'RE GONNA GET:

* Preheat the oven to 350.
* Start by spraying a 9 by 13 glass baking dish. Lay the crescent roll in the dish, without separating the little triangles. Bake the crescent rolls until they are pretty much done, I find that works best for the next step. I won't surmise a guess as to how long, because my oven bakes things SO super fast. Just keep an eye on it, they should be smushed together and a light golden color.
* While that's baking, you'll want to sautee the sausage and any vegetables you're using. They just taste better that way. Add a little salt and pepper.
* When the crescent rolls are done and the sautee business is done, pour the eggs on top of the crescent rolls. The level should be fairly close to the top, leave an inch or so (so it doesn't bake over or something crazy). Toss in the stir-fry mixture and about 3/4 of the cheese. Bake until the eggs are good and poofy.
* Pull it out and add the rest of the cheese to top. Put it back in until that cheese is nice and melty, and a little browned.

This is really, really good served with sour cream, by the way. I apologize for my lack of times, I rely on my eyes and nose more than timers. Everyone's oven is different! Give it a try, and I hope you like it!

until later...

"I rarely wear clothes when I'm home by myself. I love making breakfast naked. But you've got to make sure the gardener's not coming that day. " ~Kristen Bell

The worries we carry...

I was in kindergarten when the Challenger exploded in mid-air, killing everyone on board.

I remember it vaguely. We were all herded into the elementary school cafeteria to watch the shuttle head up into space. It was a big deal because for the first time, a teacher was on board. Our teachers had been talking up the mission for quite some time. From what I can remember, and from what my mom has told me, I had quite a fit after the explosion. Crying, making my teacher take down all of the pictures. It was somewhat traumatizing.

This is my first real example of what I call an "anxiety problem". I stress out about literally anything and everything. Things I can't control? Most definitely. The day of 9/11 I was curled up in my living room, crying and shaking, for hours and hours. Those who know me well know that when I'm having an anxiety attack, it's very hard for me to calm down or be rational. But I don't really like taking altering pills, so I've had to learn to control my anxiety in other ways. It's not always easy.

Exercise helps me a LOT. I went through a span of a few months where I was feeling really down, pretty depressed. I worried about even tiny things, like after-work plans or dinner. I know it was winter at the time, and the lack of sunshine seriously contributes to my lack of good mood. But I also realized that my "restless legs" were coming back at night. That occurs when I lie in bed, and my legs feel like they are going in ten difference directions. It's bizarre and completely uncomfortable. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't getting any real exercise, and my body/mind were totally fighting me for it.

The very first day I went out for a group run in January, and did 5 miles, I felt great. I rode that runner's high for a good couple of hours. My bad mood just melted away. And the more I ran, the more I realized that my legs were no longer swimming under my covers. Thank goodness!

Yoga helps, too. It's nice to devote an hour and fifteen minutes of my time to just me and myself. Strengthen my core, stretch out my muscles after a week of 20- 25 running miles, and then the best part.... nap time. No, it has a fancy Yoga name, but I love at the end of yoga when I'm told to lie down and close my eyes and relax. And they wake you up by chiming a little bell.... aaaah.

Stress can create really erratic eating patterns in people, too. I tend to eat too little when I'm stressed out. My appetite just disappears. Not healthy. Some people tend to overeat when they're stressed out. Also not good. However, some foods can help you combat stress a little. I like to have a little super dark chocolate, or a banana. They both usually give me a little boost. Caffeine really boosts my mood and makes me feel great, I don't know what it is. Definitely a mood enhancer. So I will have a small cup of green tea or coffee if I'm feeling extra down.

We all worry. Some of us more than others. But we also have to realize, the world is not ours to control. A friend once told me, "the only thing constant is change", and I've carried those words with me for 12 years. Every day is a gift, and we have no way of telling what tomorrow may bring. Why waste those precious moments worrying? Get up. Stretch your legs. Smile. Make a positive change for yourself. And a certain calmness, even happiness will come, if you make the most of your time with the people you love.

until later...

"“It would be great to be able to pass on to someone all of the successes, the failures, and the knowledge that one has had. To help someone, avoid all the fire, pain and anxiety would be wonderful." ~Sylvester Stallone