Let's talk about sugar (again)

Cereal. It's good any time of day, but is yours good for you? Is it fueling your body? I do not buy any cereals that have more than 6 grams of sugar per serving. WebMD says that one teaspoon of granulated sure equals 4 grams of sugar. Go take a look at your cereal; does it have, let's say, 16 grams of sugar? That's like eating a serving of cereal (usually 3/4 cup) and pouring in 4 teaspoons of the white stuff! No one wants to do that.

I hate to ruin your day, but as you are cooking (because the people cooking are probably the ones mostly reading this) look at the sugar content of your ketchup, pasta sauce, bread everything! Suddenly, the "I don't eat much sugar" turns to "oh my, no wonder I'm sluggish/cranky/can't lose weight/etc."

There are obviously much better options for breakfast, but cereal is nice on a rushed morning or as a snack later in the day. If it's the right cereal full of whole grains, limited ingredients (that you can pronounce), and looks to be in a natural state (not funny shapes). This is a topic for another day, but try your cereal with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Yum (and no sugar or dairy!)

Action item: Check the sugar content of your cereal. Do you need to shop for different cereal next time?

For further reading: Recommended grams of sugar per day

Shrimp Curry

I'm going to share my first recipe. I picked this one not because it's the healthiest, the easiest or our favorite, but because it's a good example of how recipes can be adjusted and still work!

4 Tbsp butter (yes, butter, but we all use it sometime... maybe coconut oil next time?? I use unsalted butter too)
4 Tbsp flour (I use whole wheat flour)
4 tsp curry powder (heaping teaspoons and our favorite is Madras)
2 cups milk (I use SKIM milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I often use Lite Salt*)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ginger, ground
1lb shrimp, cooked
5 cups cooked rice (I use brown rice)

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and flour and curry powder. Cook and stir one minute. Stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened (yes it will thicken even with skim milk). Add salt, pepper and ginger. Fold in shrimp and heat thoroughly. Serve on rice.

There you go. Easy and with some substitutions that make it a little better for you! I good addition or substitution is peas; they taste great with curry in my opinion. A cup of peas has less than 100 calories but lots of protein, fiber and micronutrients.

*Lite Salt... something I haven't done much research on. I guess I could just use less regular salt. It's on my list to investigate. I bought Lite Salt for popcorn since someone in our family struggles a little with keeping blood pressure low.

Action item: Go through a favorite recipe and see where you can make a change for a healthier meal.

Further reading: Wild vs Farmed Fish

Peanut butter

Yum, I adore peanut butter. Do you? If you are not making your own or reading labels, your peanut butter may have many added ingredients including sugar. Yes, sugar is everywhere, and I will talk about it a lot!

Some grocery stores offer freshly ground peanut butter. So delicious. You actually grind it yourself and watch it pour into a container. It's fresh, it's natural and you're not wasting plastic or jars; you can re-use the containers.

The other option is to make your own! Yes, you heard me correctly. You do need a strong, heavy-duty blender. Making peanut butter took a toll on my blender and it's pretty powerful. So if you have a Vitamix or something similar, you can do this easily. Put a cup of roasted peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted) in a blender and turn it on. There you go! Delicious, creamy, yummy, good-for-you peanut butter. If your blender is struggling, you might have to turn it off, scrape down the sides and continue.

If you can't buy fresh peanut butter at the store or make your own, then please read the labels and buy some with only one ingredient -- peanuts! Even some with a few ingredients can be healthy too, such as salt (a little) and oil. You can try other spreads too - almond, cashew, etc. 

Action item: What's in your peanut butter? Check now.

For further reading: Health Benefits of Nuts

Not just for cooking

This one is not entirely about cooking and eating, but it's a good time of year to discuss coconut oil and your skin. You might have it in your cupboard already - if you do, good on you - if not, buy some and quickly. Your skin will thank you and love you. Better than lotion, less expensive than lotion and it's natural. You can also use it on your hair!

Here's a short article from the Dr. Oz show about coconut oil for cooking, for your skin and for your hair. So cook with it and lather it on! I don't cook with it often, but I'm going to work it into the mix.

Action item: If you have some in the cupboard, try it on your dry hands that are suffering in this cold weather!

For further reading: More uses for coconut oil

It's a new year

A new year, and a perfect time to put down that soda. Whether it's diet or regular, there is no place in a healthy diet for soda. I'm starting with an attitude, but this is an important topic. Most subjects, I will say "moderation" is the key. So, if you can drink one soda per week or only when you have an occasional pizza, then go for it (but still try to stop completely). Otherwise, stop drinking soda. There is so much research about artificial sweeteners. Google it. Regular and diet sodas are filled with artificial everything and do nothing to fuel your body or your brain. Nothing. They will probably get you out of your chair to go to the bathroom or cloud your thinking or cause stomach pain or rot your teeth ...

Keep in mind, artificial sweeteners in limited amounts may be helpful for diabetics, but that is a discussion between people and their healthcare providers.

Come back tomorrow, I promise not to be as snooty.

Action item: Cut out sodas for one day. Continue one day at a time until they are out of your diet. Drink water. Glorious wonderful water that keeps you hydrated, keeps your skin glowing, keeps your body functioning properly, helps keep headaches away and it's free and easily accessible.

Futher reading: Things to Drink Besides Sodas