Healthy Eating: Eliminating Sugar

Photo: photo-dictionary.com

Hi, I'm Michele and I'm a sugar addict! I've been a sugar addict for a long time. It started when I was little. The standard snack in our house when I was younger was cookies, cake, candy, or sour cream and onion potato chips (which are loaded with sugar!). I always swore to my mom that when I had a child, they would never have sugar (I have yet to make good on that promise since I don't have any children but... well, anyway!). I have tried to give up sugary foods many times only to give in a day or two later and make a run for the closest convenience store or bakery to get something sweet, that would melt in my mouth, and taste so good!

Photo: photo-dictionary.com 

It's hard as a single person (or even not a single person!), constantly on the go, to choose healthy grab and go foods. Just pick up any package in a store and look for the words sugar, dextrose, syrup, nectar, <place fruit type here> concentrate or many other "sugar" code words that are in the foods we eat. It's hard, so hard, in fact, that I figured the only way I could give it up was to do it for God.  

I'm Catholic and traditionally Catholics give up something for Lent. I decided I was going to give up refined sugar and anything else that would taste sweet to me (honey, molasses, agave nectar, you get the picture) and limit artificial sweeteners and anything that might have sugar in the ingredient list that didn't really taste sweet (like ketchup or crackers). The reason I decided to do this for Lent is because I wasn't giving it up for me, I was giving it up for GOD, and if you make a promise to God, you really should not try to break it! (Now please, you devout Catholics out there, I know this is something I've done between me and God and don't scold me for sharing with others!)

Photo:  photo-dictionary.com

Fat Tuesday, February 21 - Why, when we know what we're going to give up, do we indulge the day before? I had my pastries (and everyone else's pastries too!), and loved every bite! Then comes Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. No coffee (with artificial sweetener), no cereal (OMG look at the sugar content even for what I thought was healthy cereal!), no oatmeal (since I like brown sugar in it), no healthy meal replacement bar (it's loaded with sugar!)... panic is starting to set in... eggs... I can have eggs! Whew, good thing I had time before work to make some. Note to self: must plan meals better!

Giving up sugar isn't as easy as it sounds! Just at work, we've had 4 parties in 10 days! Someone leaving, someone getting recognition for a job well done, someone getting married, and someone having a baby. Every party had some type of pastry there to eat! About 4 days into my sugar fast, I could have fought a baby for his/her lollipop! The cravings were SO BAD! They started on the first day but slowly increased until it was almost unbearable! The only way for me to get through this was to remind myself that I gave it up for GOD not for ME! My mantra for the week was "Jesus gave you his life, you can give him your sugar." Miraculously on day 5, when I thought that I could just have something with Splenda or Nutrasweet in it, the cravings vanished. They didn't slow down, they just completely disappeared. Wow!  

Photo:  Starbucks.com

Photo:  sekweldinglighting.com

So now it's been 10 days. I did have a sugar-free Starbucks drink with my sister and I had wine tasting with my best friend (but I skipped the chocolate that they recommended pairing with a couple of the wines and only went for the cheese, grapes, and a couple of crackers!) All in all, I've been doing a pretty good job!

Photo:  salterhousewares.com

So, today I decided I would weigh myself. The struggle went on in my head... Really, do you REALLY want to weigh yourself? Yes, I should to see if giving up sugar is helping my journey to a healthier weight and healthier eating. But do you REALLY, REALLY want to weigh yourself? Shouldn't you just wait until Lent is over? It's not going to do any good now. It's not going to change that you gave up sugar will it? Well, no... Then why not wait to weigh yourself. The struggle went on for a good 5 minutes I tell you!

I FINALLY broke down and decided to weigh myself. I stepped on the scale (a digital one) looked down, the stepped off. That can't be right! I did it again. Nope, still not right! I moved the scale to a different part of the floor (that part might not be level) and it said the same thing. 5 times I stepped on it with the same result. Lent has been going on for 10 days now (and is a total of 40 days). In those 10 days, I've lost 8 pounds. I did nothing but give up sugar.

Photo:  betterworldbooks.com

A couple of years ago, I got a CD-lecture series to listen to in the car on the way to and from work. It is called "Making the Shift" and is given by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. (I highly recommend this lecture to anyone who is looking to make a shift in their way of thinking or living. He's very inspirational!) In one part of this lecture series, he talks about giving up eating sugar. He says something to the effect that he decided to give up sugar one day and he did. He also said that people couldn't believe he could do it and "wasn't it hard?" His response was that you just do it and don't think about it. You then make your choices based on what you've decided. Listening to that part of the lecture I remembered thinking, "I could NEVER give up sugar! I don't know how he's done that!"  

Maybe I have given up sugar this time. I have for at least the past 10 days! We'll see how this ends up in the end but this might have been the jump start I needed to get me going into the healthy eating world again! I'm feeling better, eating better, and have been in a better mood in general. I've had more energy and don't want to be the hermit I have been for the past couple of months. I want to take my dog for a walk and enjoy being outside and more active. If giving up sugar has made me feel this good, maybe I can give it up for good this time!

Cooking for One: Butternut Squash Apple Soup

About a year ago, I had gotten some butternut squash apple soup from Panera Bread and absolutely loved it! I'm not a big fan of butternut squash, but it had sounded interesting so I tried it (and I'm glad I did!). So this year, when I went to look for it, they only had plain butternut squash soup. (Oh, the tragedy!) So I decided to try to make it myself. It turned out pretty good for a first try!


Recipe: (makes 6 servings)
1 bag frozen cubed butternut squash (approximately 2.5 cups)
2 cups apples, cored and diced (peeling optional)
3 cups water (divided)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup brown sugar (optional)
1/2 cup light cream


Melt butter in a large saucepan. Saute onions until translucent. Add butternut squash and cover with water (approximately 2 cups) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add apples, rosemary (in a cheesecloth or tea strainer), and more water to cover if needed. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about half an hour until the squash and apples are fork tender. Turn off heat. Remove the rosemary and puree the mixture using an immersion blender. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can puree it in batches in a blender but be careful because it's hot!)



Now is the time to taste test your soup (I prefer to taste my soup before I add the cream to it, if you'd prefer, you can season after the cream instead). Does it need salt or pepper? Were the apples you used sweet enough? If not you might want to add the brown sugar. The soup is just that, soup. It shouldn't be sweet like a dessert but it should have a little sweetness to it. If you're satisfied with the taste of the soup, add your cream and blend again. Taste again and add more seasonings if needed.

I served my soup with L'oven Fresh Sweet Multi-Grain Rolls. It made a great match!

This soup freezes well.  I made it and kept 2 servings out and froze the other 4 servings for later. To reheat, bring the soup to room temperature in the refrigerator (approximately 24 hours). Cook in microwave on high 2-4 minutes (stirring at the end of each minute).  You can also reheat on the stove over medium heat.

Nutritional Information (soup only):

• Servings Per Recipe: 6
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 156.2

• Total Fat: 6.0 g
• Cholesterol: 18.4 mg
• Sodium: 18.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 29.8 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.1 g
• Protein: 1.6 g

Cooking for One: Breakfast: Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles

Just in time for the taste of fall, whole wheat pumpkin (Belgian) waffles!  Although fall is not my favorite time of the year (with the impending cold weather creeping in and an end to motorcycle riding season), I do love the tastes that come along with fall and the cool crisp mornings.  It just invites creamy soups, spicy dishes and fill you up hearty meals!  

Here's your recipe (makes 6 waffles):

• Water, 1.25 cup
• Pumpkin, canned, 1 cup
• Egg, fresh, 1 large
• Vegetable Oil, 2 tbsp
• Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 tbsp
• Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, 2 tbsp
• Whole Wheat Flour, 2 cup
• Powdered Milk, nonfat, 0.5 cup
• Baking Powder, 2 tsp
• Baking Soda, 1 tsp
• Pumpkin Pie Spice, 2 tbsp
• Salt, 0.5 tsp

Preheat your Belgian waffle maker and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  (I use Pam for Grilling).  Mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and the dry ingredients together in another bowl.  (I put the brown sugar in with the wet ingredients).  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix thoroughly.  Allow to sit for about 5 minutes while the waffle maker is warming up and then mix again (this is because it make take a little more time for the whole wheat flour to absorb the liquid).  When your waffle maker is hot, place about 0.5 cup of batter into maker and spread out (you'll notice in my picture that they didn't spread out much to fill the waffle maker since the batter is a little thick).  Close and cook for about 2 minutes.  Because of the sugar in the batter, they will darken (and possibly burn) if you leave them in too long.  Remove the waffle and repeat the process until your batter is gone.  I usually spray my non-stick cooking spray in the waffle maker about every other waffle just so I don't have any problems removing them.  (I hate having to clean out a stuck waffle!)

I placed mine on cooling racks since I was planning to freeze these to have for quick easy breakfast meals.  After coming to room temperature, place cooling racks in the freezer.  After about 2 hours, you can remove the racks, place the waffles in a freezer bag and put back in the freezer.  To enjoy one of these, heat them up in a microwave for about 1 minute (they may become a little soggy though) or place them in a toaster oven on toast for about 10 minutes.  I like them topped with cinnamon sugar butter or toasted pecan syrup.  

I hope you enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:  Serves 6  The following is per serving:

Calories: 263, Fat: 6.5g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 618mg, Carbohydrates: 44g, Fiber: 6.5g, Protein: 9g

**Editorial note**  If you'd like to use regular brown sugar in this recipe, it would be 4 tbsp and if you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can replace it with 1.5 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 0.5 tsp ginger and 0.5 tsp nutmeg to get about the same flavor.  You can also use 1.5 cups of milk instead of the water and powered milk in the recipe.

House Help: Time Management - My Favorite Websites

How many times have you said "I just don't have enough time!"  If you're like the average person, you've probably said that about a million times.  Recently, I just "haven't had enough time" to blog (something I love to do!).  But when it comes down to it, that's really not true.

http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

The problem most of us have is time management.  How do we get the things done that we need to get done and still have time to do the things we want to do?

The stigmatism that the single person falls to is "You don't have a whole family to have to fit schedules in for so I don't understand why you never have any time?  There's no one else to clean up after except yourself."

This may be true but, whether one person is in the house or five people are in the house, the bathroom still has to be cleaned, the pots and pans still have to be done, lunches still need to be made, and the dog still has to be walked!  In a family, these can fall to different people.  In the single person's life, there's only one person to do these tasks.  You guessed it (and it's not your Fairy Godmother!).  

That's where time management and organization comes in really handy!  The sites I'm listing here are great for single people as well as families!  You will see that some of them are geared towards family life but they are adaptable to the single person too!

FOOD

Once A Month Mom - Now don't let the name fool you!  This free website comes up with menus every month and teaches you how to "bulk cook".  Bulk cooking lets you cook for the month in 1-2 days worth of prepping, cooking, then freezing.  One of the great advantages of this website is that you can change the meal plan to reflect how many people you are cooking for.  It even gives you a step by step "what to do next" to optimize your time in the kitchen!  They offer 6 different menu plans including traditional, gluten-free, vegetarian, diet, whole foods, and baby food.  They also have recipe cards, shopping lists, and container stickers (which contain reheating instructions) that are downloadable/printable.  This is the way to organize your meals!

CLEANING

http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

FlyLady.net - Not only does this free website give you tips on your daily routine but also has a focus area every week that they call "zones".  I don't know how many times I've been late running out of the house for work in the morning because I couldn't find something to wear.  FlyLady will help you plan your time in the morning, during the day, and in the evening so you aren't feeling rushed or stressed all the time.  With simple two to 15 minute tasks each day, you'll find that your day is running smoother and you house is becoming cleaner.  What a novelty!

DAY-TO-DAY

http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

Cozi Calendar - Although this touts itself as a "family" calendar, I use this free website as the ultimate single person's calendar!  I have calendars set up for my work schedule, cleaning schedule, appointments, activity schedule, and workout schedule.  I can look at them each separately or I can see them all together.  It has mobile applications and will integrate with Google calendar too!  Not only does it have great calendar features, but you can also keep a journal and your shopping lists through Cozi. Can you imagine having to only go to one place to get all your to-do things?  

So, there you have it.  A list of a few of my favorite websites to help get me (and keep me) organized.  What's great about these sites is that they are all free (although more features are available if you upgrade on some to a paid subscription).  [**Please remember, if you're on a site that is free, keep it free by visiting the advertisers on the page.  Even if you don't buy anything, the click will still support the page!]  

Are there any sites that you like to use regularly to keep yourself organized?

Family Traditions: Easter

There are many traditions in families.  Just think about it a few minutes.  Maybe everyone gets together on New Year's Eve at so and so's house.  Maybe it's a certain kind of cake that someone makes for everyone's birthday.  Maybe it's a vacation spot that you go to year after year.

I don't think many people pay enough attention to traditions anymore.  Everyone is so busy and on the go that traditions get pushed to the wayside.  It is important to carry on the traditions of your family so when the younger generations come along they can relate to the older generations.  The traditions build good memories and feelings of family, connection, and love.

Today I'm going to talk about a couple of our Easter traditions.  First is bread.  On my Dad's side of the family, we make two types of Polish bread.  There's raisin and cheese.  The basic bread recipe is the same but the first one you put raisins in and the second one you roll out and put cream cheese spread (with sugar, vanilla and cream cheese) on it, roll it up and bake it.

On my Mom's side of the family, we have Paska, a traditional raisin bread, baked in a coffee can (or other cylinder pan), with or without saffron baked in, and with glaze on the top.  It is traditionally served with a cheese spread that, if done correctly, takes a couple of days to make.

Our second tradition is eggs.  My mother every year makes Pysanky.  These are the traditional decorative Easter eggs from our Russian heritage.  She only makes these during lent and every year we can't wait to see her new creations!  She has gotten very good at making them.

On my Dad's side, my grandmother every year serves hard boiled eggs, un-dyed.  I think this came about because someone asked her about Easter eggs and she just boiled up a dozen one year.  It's kind of funny because if we don't get our plain, boiled eggs, everyone asks about them (and she can't dye them either because it's now become a "tradition"!).

Last, but in no way the least, is family.  Easter is a time for celebration of life and the life after, the ressurection of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the love of family.  So in my family's tradition, both in English and in Russian:

Christ is Risen, Indeed He is Risen
Христос воскресе (Xristos voskrese) Christ resurrected
воистину воскресе (voistinu voskrese) truly resurrected
Be sure to click the links above to hear how to say the greeting and response!  (Use your back key in your browser to get back to this page!)

New Tastes: Ben and Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

What day better than today to review Ben and Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream than free cone day?  From noon to 8pm today you can get a free cone at participating Ben and Jerry's ice cream stores.  (Of course there aren't any that are participating in southern New Jersey so you'll just have to buy your own!)

First impression was that it was a little soft.  At first I thought there was something wrong with my freezer but everything else seemed to be okay and when I moved the ice cream to another freezer, it didn't seem to get any harder.  So on the plus side, it's really easy to scoop!  On the negative side, it seems to melt pretty quickly.  

What intrigued me about this flavor and made me pick it up in the first place was the pumpkin.  I love, love, love pumpkin!  The first taste really did't say pumpkin to me.  It said more sour cream and cinnamon.  That being said, the flavor was very good.  Definitely tasted the cheesecake part.  As for the graham cracker swirl, well, it's more like graham cracker mush.  The graham crackers did not stay crunchy in it at all. 

Rating:  

Flavor:   Good flavor despite the fact that the pumpkin isn't very detectable.

Texture:  Soft, easy to scoop but melts quickly, graham cracker mush.

Overall Rating:  Won't buy again but not so bad that I needed to throw it out!

Cooking for One: Breakfast: Egg Wraps

This is a great basic recipe for an egg wrap.  You can make a single serving every morning or you can make a batch, freeze them, and microwave them when you want on for a quick and easy to go recipe. Whether you are making one or six, the recipe is the same.  Here's what you'll need per serving:

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 medium flour wrap
• 0.5 ounce of shredded cheese

That's it.  The basic recipe.  You can add your own flavor.  It would be approximately 2 tablespoons of whatever you'd like to add:  sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, ham, a half of a strip of bacon, thawed frozen spinach (or a few leaves of fresh if you'd prefer), the possibilities are endless!  I would caution on adding anything "wet" like salsa.  The wrap contents has to be on the dry side otherwise you will have a microwaved soggy mess on your hands when you try to reheat this!

Here's my recipe for batching the freezable microwaveable version, I make 6 at a time so I have them for the entire workweek!  (Here we're making pepper-onion egg wraps)

• 6 eggs
• 2 tablespoons water (equals 6 teaspoons)
• 6 medium flour wraps
• 3 ounces of shredded cheese
• 2 cups frozen pepper and onion mixture

Beat the eggs and water together in a large bowl and set aside.  Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat.  Add the frozen peppers and onions to the pan.  Saute these together until the onions are translucent and the mixture starts to brown.

Add the egg mixture to the pan and move around until completely cooked (basically you are making a scrambled egg mixture).  You will want to cook the eggs until they are dry (some people prefer their scrambled eggs a little more moist but since you are going to wrap them up in a tortilla, you want to make sure they are on the dryer side).  Once completed remove pan from heat.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lay out your 6 tortillas and add 0.5 ounce of cheese down the center of each one.  Divide the egg mixture and place an equal amount to top of cheese on each tortilla.



Wrap each tortilla closed by folding in the sides in slightly then rolling it up onto itself so it looks like a burrito.

Place each one on a non-stick cookie sheet (I used a silicone baking mat in the picture but would use a non-stick cookie sheet instead.  The silicone didn't allow the wrap to brown nicely).  Bake approximately 10 minutes until the tortilla starts to turn crispy.  Flip each wrap over and bake another 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To freeze, once they are at room temperature, I like to place them in a single layer in a storage container and put them in my freezer.  It's easy to grab one out of the container, wrap it in waxed paper (or place it in a baggie or reusable single serve storage container), and take it with you to microwave at work.  Or you can microwave it before you leave the house to have as a quick breakfast to go!  To reheat the frozen wrap, place on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 30 seconds, flip over and microwave another 30 seconds (cooking times vary).

There you have it.  For a prep/cooking time of about a half hour, you can make 6 breakfasts that you can grab and go with you.  I usually make this when I am cooking dinner so that the oven is already hot and it is saving time doing two things at once.  You can eliminate the baking part if you wanted to serve these to a family right of way.  The baking in this recipe is so that when it gets microwaved to reheat, they don't get soggy.  Bon Appetite!

Nutrition Facts:  Serves 6  The following is per serving:
Calories: 254, Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 230mg, Sodium: 320mg, Carbohydrates: 21g, Sugar: 0.8g, Protein: 14g