Christmas is, what, 12 days away? Whatever, man. All I want for Christmas is to not trip over boxes in my living room! We pretty much spent the weekend trying to accomplish just that.
What’s on your holiday wish list?
Aside from a clean house, I’d like my baby to keep being a good boy in there, kicking and healthy (ooh! he just gave me one as I wrote that!) and I’d like a pair of slippers that don’t fall off my feet when I walk down the stairs. Oh, and pretty, pretty please someone buy our condo back in Massachusetts? I know, I know, you were thinking you wanted a pair of slippers too, but don’t you really want a lovely 3 bedroom condo?
Well it’s certainly been both busy and chilly around here, how about you?
At 28 weeks pregnant, our grocery shopping trips have turned into marathon affairs. I gave my husband a list yesterday that went something like this:
- Big thing of almonds
- Big thing of walnuts
- Cheese
- Cottage Cheese
- Yogurt
- Carrots
- Celery
- Chickpeas
- Pears
…and it went on for another 10 items or so. Basically, I want to eat well but I want to eat fast. And I know you can relate, whether you’re pregnant or not!
Nutrient-dense snacks are important. But quick soups are a lifesaver, like the one I wrote about a few weeks ago.
This summer I’m facilitating a wellness program at Equinox gym in downtown Boston. It’s remarkable how many people from so many walks of life have similar confusion about what to eat. Last week, there was a lot of talk about carbs. I realized, huh, it’s been awhile since I talked about this!
A quickie refresher:
A whole grain has 3 parts:
1. Bran (fiber, vitamins)
2. Germ (vitamins, antioxidants)
3. Endosperm (carbohydrates)
A refined grain is a whole grain that has been polished down to remove the bran and germ, leaving behind just the carbs. This, my friends, is one small step away from being sugar. And eating refined grains acts quite a big like sugar – they give you initial energy, you end up hungry soon after, and they can be quite addictive! Think white bread, bagels, white rice.
I bought a piece of fish at Whole Foods the other day that was only 5″ long and 1.5″ wide. At $19.99/lb., this small piece cost $10.
Yowza.
To be honest, it looked way better than the cheaper ($11.99/lb.) Atlantic salmon, and I was sure the price reflected fish that was more responsibly raised and caught. So there I was with enough fish to feed 1 person for 1 meal, feeling like maybe I should buy a $2 can of beans instead. Truth be told, most weeks I save a lot of money at the grocery store by preparing vegetarian meals. But I wasn’t about to be thrown off budget by a piece of fish! Good quality alaskan salmon is super healthy (full of omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D and antioxidants) so I think it’s worth spending money on at least occasionally.
You know when things just really work? Like you get a shirt from Banana Republic and realize it matches practically everything you own? Score!
That’s how I’ve been feeling about this breakfast – it’s a japanese style rice porridge that flies in the face of everything Dunkin Donuts would have you believe breakfast should be. For starters…rice? Well, why not? In other cultures, rice for breakfast is totally normal. Let’s take a hint from the far East and stop spending $6 on a crappy bagel in the morning. Eat something that serves your body well and costs seriously pennies per serving. I bet you have some leftover in your refrigerator right now.
I do. This recipe is so ea-sy!
And it works. It’s fast, cheap and I think it’s really tasty. Plus, it keeps me full until whenever I get around to eating lunch. Perfect.
Impress your friends, impress your family and impress yourself with the most simple meal ever: roasted chicken. I mean, duh. Isn’t this the kind of thing moms have been making forever? But for some reason cooking a whole chicken has gone out of style. Boneless, skinless chicken breast for 3x the price has crept into the public mindset as the “it” way to do chicken.
And why? First of all, everyone is afraid of the fat. This is good fat, people! Chicken skin? Yeah, I’m pretty sure humans have been eating that forever. If you feel like worrying about fats I suggest you turn your attention to margarine and “buttery” spreads with god-knows-what inside. Remember, you need fat!
The other reason I think no one wants to cook a whole bird? Icky! It looks like a bird! It has arms! And legs! Grosssss.
Pssst! Don’t forget to enter to win Green Smoothie Revolution – what a smart way to get your greens!
If there’s one vegetable you buy this week (and I hope you’ll buy more than just one) make it cabbage!
While most of Boston celebrates St. Patty’s day by drinking too much and mobbing South Boston for the parade, I rub my hands together eagerly waiting for the days to follow. It’s the very best week of the year to buy cabbage at a huge discount!
I’m a grocery nerd. So what?
Cabbage belongs to the Cruciferae family of vegetables, which is my all time favorite. Also in this family? Kale, broccoli, collards and Brussels sprouts. These are veggies with serious nutritional power. But we’re not just talking vitamins here, people. We’re also talking about phytonutrients.
After a couple of really busy weeks, I finally scheduled myself a massage and facial. Oh, heck yeah. Not one or the other, but both! (The reason for such luxury? I received a gift certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition – those guys are awesome!)
I think I’ve only ever had one other facial in my life, maybe 10 years ago. This poor woman took one look at my skin and knew instantly. Clearly I haven’t been using the soy lemon chiffonade cleansing gel or red wine elixir potion or whatever the heck those expensive products are!
What do you use on your skin? I’ve been using Burt’s Bees products lately. Hmmph. Trust me, she wasn’t impressed.
It amazes me that I went through high school and college, was deemed an adult, and walked into the world without a clue how to perform certain basic life functions.
It’s unlikely, but if anyone ever asks me what questions should be on the SATs, I know my answer! Every graduating high school senior should know how to cook a pot of brown rice and dried beans. It could be a short essay.
Beans are ignored far too often. (Except for chickpeas – the darling of hummus!) For such low-cost, high-nutrient dense foods, you would think they’d be a staple in more homes. We complain about the economy, fear for our 401Ks, but do we buy some basic dried beans and feed ourselves well for pennies a day? Do we skip the irradiated, antibiotic-filled supermarket meat and make an affordable, organic choice instead?
I challenge you to do just that! And while you’re at it, teach a high school kid how to do the same. (Expect resistance now, gratitude later.)
Did you ever see that game show called Supermarket Sweep? It was one of my favorites when I was kid. (No surprise, right?) The contestants had to win challenges involving guessing the price of food items in the grocery store. Actually, it was a bit like The Price is Right. Maybe all that after school TV paid off because I am a grocery calculating machine.
Every weekend I hit Whole Foods with grocery list in hand. And these aren’t just willy-nilly shopping lists with items that sound yummy. Cookies, Bread, Peanut Butter. I mean, maybe I buy those things. But my lists are formed based on recipes for the week, minus any ingredients I already have in the house. 2 cups brown rice, 1 cup chickpeas, 3 lbs. sweet potatoes.
I’ll repeat that. Save yourself money by meal planning and deciding exactly what you need and how much. Need kidney beans? Great. How much? Do you already have some in the house?
Oh, you do. Great. Now how much do you actually have to buy? It’s a line of questioning that can save you big time.
I help busy people find balance in their over-worked, over-stressed lives. Trust me, it's not an all-or-nothing situation! A few shifts in diet and lifestyle can rock your world like they did mine. (And if you're a health coach, I can help you do the same for your own clients.) Read on
