Small Changes: Try a new cereal

You've heard it a million times, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I realize a lot of people feel they don't have time to eat before work and I understand! But your body needs the fuel of a slow-burning breakfast; something that will carry you over til lunchtime.

Eating a healthy breakfast is better than nothing, but I shutter to think of people who eat in their car on the way to work. I was once driving on I95 and saw a guy eating a bowl of cereal while he was driving. Are you kidding me? For real? Who does that?

There are a couple of problems I have with eating in the car. The biggest, is that you're not really enjoying the meal, are you? You're doing what I call "trance eating" (I'm guilty of this when I eat lunch and write veganmama updates at the same time!) Trance eating is eating something mindlessly while engaging in another activity. We've all done it, I'm sure.

So this week's small change is twofold. First, find a new healthy cereal to try. Second, eat it away from the computer, the television, the car, your phone, etc.

I have talked about Uncle Sam cereal before, but it bears repeating. It's really good for you and is widely available at supermarkets or online. I get mine through Amazon.com. I like to buy about 6 boxes are a time and get free shipping through Amazon Prime.

 Another good, inexpensive and simple cereal is Shredded Wheat or Grape Nuts, both of which are available in store-brand versions. I love that I can buy two boxes of store-brand Grape Nuts for $4.00. That's about two week's worth of breakfast.

I always encourage people to jazz up their cereal with fruit, a small handful of nuts and a teaspoon of ground flax seed (make sure it's ground).

Have fun and enjoy your mindful breakfasts next week!

Small Changes: Lentils

Welcome back to "small changes" where I make recommendations of ways to incorporate new foods or activities into your life that (hopefully) are manageable enough to stick :)

Lentils are yummy, but I don't know a lot of people who regularly prepare them. And truth be told, I forget about them too. They're also very affordable and extremely good for you. Check it out!

So I'm going to try to start making lentils once a week, to eat as-is, or eat as a topping on a salad.

Here is a simple lentil salad recipe that I found at Natural Health Magazine:

Lentil Salad

2 cups green lentils
6 springs fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme, finely chopped
1 bay leaf

For the dressing:

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
3 shallots, peeled and thickly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Put the lentils in a large pot and cover them with one to two inches of water. Add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 15 minutes, until lentils are tender but not mushy.

2. While the lentils are simmering, combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk briskly.

3. When the lentils are cooked, drain, then toss with the dressing. Serve warm.

Small Changes: Flax Seed

Today's small change recommendation is to sprinkle flax seed on your morning cereal. Start with one tablespoon and try to get up to two.

I buy ground flax seed (you want it ground so it can be absorbed!) from Bob's Red Mill and keep it in this container on the door of my fridge.

If you haven't tasted flax, don't panic. It's not bad! It has a slightly-sweet nutty flavor.

Here are some of the cool benefits you get in such a small scoop of flax: It's a boost of fiber, low in carbs, high in most of the B vitamins and an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega 6. It's also the most concentrated dietary source of lignans (which the good bacteria in our gut turn into cancer-fighting compounds).

Small Changes: White Rice to Brown

Welcome back to "Small Changes" where we talk about small things we can do to make a big impact in our lives. Don't be overwhelmed by the notion of perfect health. That's not what we're all about here :) We're about small changes that have lasting impact because they are sensible and sustainable!

I think by now we all know that brown rice has more nutritional punch than white.

It's an easy switch and I think (?) most people prefer the taste of brown rice to white. With nutty favor and a punch of fiber, you can't go wrong. And if you're out and about and find yourself at Chipotle, they offer brown rice as well as white. Go for the brown!

And if you're tired of rice, mix things up and cook up some simple whole wheat couscous, which can be found boxed in most markets, or in bulk from Whole Foods. I love cooking this because it literally takes 5 minutes and boom, you're done!

And if you're looking for an extra kick of protein and a grain getting a lot of attention, quinoa is also a fast-cooking alternative. If you'd tried and are not loving the taste, how about switching the water you cook it in to broth?

Small Changes: Drinking decaf tea

I used to drink coffee. And when I say drink coffee, I mean ALL day long. When I worked in an office, I drank about three or four cups of the regular stuff a day. When I was pregnant with my first child, I switched to decaf. It wasn't easy, but it felt great not to feel so dependent on the stuff!

That was 11 years ago and I've never looked back. I can tell you with certainty that it helped balance out my sleeping patterns and it also was just nice not to have something I felt I needed everyday (btw, all you need is love :)

Once I went vegan last summer I switched to tea, not really liking decaf coffee with non-dairy milk (I used to use full-on cream).  Now I can't imagine my mornings without a cup of hot tea in the winter and iced herbal in the summer.

My favorite tea is rooibos (also known as African red bush) which is always caffeine free.

Although I enjoy high-end rooibos from time to time, I can tell you this one is also excellent and very affordable and available everywhere. It tastes great hot or cold :)

Small Changes

Welcome back to "Small Changes" my new weekly post during which I encourage you to consider making small changes to the way you live, because it's often the small changes that yield that biggest impact over time!

Today's small change is really easy and tastes, um, great.

I'm encouraging you to simply add some fruit to your cereal in the morning.

That's all, folks, just a handful of fruit. And what better time than summer? If you're in a fruit-in-my-cereal rut, why not try something different?

Don't forget about: fresh apricots, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, banana, red grapes, peaches, strawberries.

It doesn't just have to be be sliced bananas! (don't worry bananas, I still love you!)

Small Changes, White to Wheat

Welcome back to "small changes" where we're reminded that it's sometimes the smallest changes in life that yield the most benefits. Why? Because eating well is a transition and it's human nature to tip toe into good habits :) At least, that's where I've had the most success.

So today we'll talk a little about something a lot of us have already done: switching out white flour products to wheat.

The word "whole" refers to the fact that all of the grain (bran, germ, and endosperm) is used and nothing is lost in the process of making the flour. This is in contrast to white, refined flours, which contain only the endosperm. Because the whole flour contains the remains of all of the grain, it has a textured, brownish appearance. (wiki)


From wholegrainscounil.org:

How to be sure you're getting whole wheat: When you're shopping for wheat, make especially sure to look for the term whole wheat (and in Canada, for the term whole grain whole wheat) to make sure you're getting all the bran, germ and endosperm. Just plain wheat legally refers to refined wheat.

When you're buying pasta or bread, flip the package over and look at the ingredients list. Do NOT follow the front of food packaging. Ever notice all the health claims on the front of food packaging? That's all marketing! That's not the real information. The real information comes from the list of ingredients.

You want "WHOLE" to be the first word in the ingredients list. That way you're getting the true health benefits in your food! Not to mention taste :)

So today's small change is to swap out your white products to wheat. Just try it! Your health thanks you!

Small Changes

Today is the first post I'm writing called "Small Changes," which will be a way of suggesting the small things we can do to incorporate new foods into our diets.

A year ago,  I began flirting with the idea of going from vegetarian to vegan after I decided to try soymilk on my cereal instead of cow's milk. I had only used skim milk for years, and was never interested in soymilk, but woke up one day thinking, "I'll try it." I had read a few books about eating vegan and was intrigued, so I thought this was a pretty basic first step.

And that, honestly, was the beginning!

So I challenge you, dear reader, to consider making one small change this week. Since today is Friday, maybe you try to switch out your cow's milk Monday morning to soy? I think Silk's light vanilla is a good first step for people not familiar with or turned off by the taste of soymilk. It's sweet and tastes great on cereal.

Want to give it a try?