http://jezebel.com/5991724/will-everyone-please-eat-gluten--please-because-you-are-literally-killing-me-kind-of
A very well written and expressed article. The fact that gluten-free foods are way easier to find and buy is a huge plus, but people who do it anticipating a quick fix to their waistline are unbelieveable. The author puts it well--just eating whole wheat is a great alternative!
And many people don't realize that with "fat-free" there's something replacing the fat...usually sugar!
I know I've said it before too, but eating a healthy lifestyle is usually more expensive and I get the percent that this author quotes--242% more expensive. I was on the phone with my mom while grocery shopping the other night and was so pleased to finally find the molasses (you'll see why in a few days if the recipe goes well!) and my mom said something about the price. I looked, $2.48, I believe, and just kinda brushed it off. I don't even look at prices any more when I'm buying groceries unless I happen to have choices--shocking! (And by choices, I mean when I was looking at flax seeds today, I found a previously ground selection or whole flax seeds...which was better for my recipe? Unknown. but the whole flaxseeds were cheaper and what the recipe did actually call for...)
Anyway, in lieu of my actually putting together a well though out article, I offer that one to y'all.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
peanut butter bars
One of the things I miss the most is a granola bar. You all know the ease at which you can just grab one and eat it on the go. They all have oats or rice in them, so I haven't found a good replacement. My mom was reading her shredded wheat box one day and called me to try the recipe on there. Now I did not have any shredded wheat in my apartment so I got online and found their recipe on the Post website.
the formatting is theirs and I know it drives me batty but not enough to retype it. Regardless, the recipe works halved, and I use craisins instead of raisins (grapes!). I was contemplating putting chocolate chips in them too to add a bit of sweet to it, though the craisins and honey/PB combo makes them pretty sweet. Also, mine fell apart (I halved it so I don't think it bound together very well) but I still enjoyed eating the remnants.
But a quick, easy, and healthy treat!
Peanut Butter Bars
the formatting is theirs and I know it drives me batty but not enough to retype it. Regardless, the recipe works halved, and I use craisins instead of raisins (grapes!). I was contemplating putting chocolate chips in them too to add a bit of sweet to it, though the craisins and honey/PB combo makes them pretty sweet. Also, mine fell apart (I halved it so I don't think it bound together very well) but I still enjoyed eating the remnants.
But a quick, easy, and healthy treat!
Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
·
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
·
1/2 cup honey
·
1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter
·
3 cups Post Original Shredded
Wheat Spoon Size Cereal, coarsely crushed
·
3/4 cup raisins
Directions
1. Mix
sugar, honey and peanut butter in large microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH
1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until bubbly at edge; stir until well blended.
2. Stir in
cereal and raisins. Press firmly into 8-inch square pan sprayed with cooking
spray. Cool.
3. Cut
into bars. Store in airtight container. Makes 16 servings, 1 bar each.
Tips and Suggestions
Use Your Stove: Mix sugar, honey and peanut butter in large
saucepan; cook on medium heat until smooth and bubbly, stirring occasionally.
Continue as directed.
Take Along Tip: After completely cooled, wrap bars individually
in plastic wrap. Leave in bowl on kitchen counter for a great grab-and-go
snack.
Nutrition Bonus: On the run? Then enjoy one of these Grab 'n Go
Peanut Butter Bars as part of your healthful eating plan.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Traveling make me thoughtful
Traveling very much does make me thoughtful...I usually drive and I'm almost always by myself. Even listening to the radio or CDs doesn't distract me (and as I recently found out, books on tape have a tendency to make me very sleepy--not good on the road!)
When I travel, I take food with me. I have been gone both of the last two weekends and I've had bags of groceries with me either time. That, or I've taken prepared food with me to eat. So consider the time I had to spend cooking and preparing food in addition to packing. I can stop at McDonald's and get fries and a milkshake, but that's about all I can eat there (discounting the "beef flavoring" in or on the fries--it's never bothered me). It is a big pain the ass sometimes to make sure, when more important things are happening, that I have food to eat.
But then I really started thinking...I seldom go out to eat because I'm too anxious about my choices. When I do go out, I check the menu beforehand. My friends always let me pick the restaurant if we do decide to go out. I always take my H2 blocker before I eat out at a restaurant where I don't know I can order 'safe' food. Salads are usually safe, but I have to be careful with dressings (eggs, vinegar derived from things I'm to which I'm allergic). This has perpetrated into the cafeterias at the hospitals where I work. I often take my lunch, but sometimes I can't wriggle out of eating something. I use the line that I'm a vegetarian, and if pressed, I'll admit to an egg allergy. I've gotten away with that here recently.
But this article (http://captainawkward.com/2013/03/09/459-do-i-have-to-destroy-my-health-to-be-in-grad-school/#more-5297) made me think. If you don't want to read it, here's a mini-summary: it's about being in grad school with a "hidden condition." IE--if you have a walking cast on, no one judges you for taking the elevator and for skipping events across campus. There are plenty of people who have "hidden conditions"; for the writer in the post, it's migraines and PCOS. The beauty of a hidden condition is that you don't have to divulge to everyone what's going on with you; you get to chose. Which is particularly good in some situations, but when you're in grad school and you have a million and one commitments, things get dicey.
I'm rambling here but basically what it comes down is that it sucks. It can be an invasion of your privacy to have to constantly excuse yourself from things because you can't do it--I have yet to find a clever way to get out of business dinners; I can't imagine what it would be like for someone with migraines trying to get through a difficult day at work. Not everyone around you needs to know the intimate details of your health history. Also, I'm in grad school and I've worked hard to get to where I am and I don't want anyone making exceptions or anything for me just because I have a health condition. So I hide it. Because I can.
But at the end of the day, when I drag myself home, I have to eat. I can't stop at fast food and pick something up. Do I have time to make it to the gym before my blood sugar tanks? Do I have a snack in my purse that I can eat? I will tell you that I have eaten food I don't like and don't want because someone pressed it on me--I was late to a dinner and my friend collected some fruit for me off the appetizer trays and it only had on it fruit I'm allergic to or that I don't like. Did I eat it? Yes, because it would have been rude to brush off the gesture.
I nearly passed out the other day in a relatively benign situation. As I excused myself to sit down and let the waves of hot/cold pass, I was extensively questioned on when I'd last eaten and whether or not I was pregnant (I'm sure you can all imagine my reaction to that!). I was fine, but later, to myself, I had to question if I've been getting good enough nutrition recently. Who knows what really happened because I ended up pinning it on too much travelling and both physical and mental exhaustion, but it brings home the point that grad school is a bitch of a time to try to take care of yourself.
When you barely have enough time to do laundry and go grocery shopping, try adding in something else. I'm sure there are boatloads of my peers in this situation. We all have things we like to keep personal.
I was way more rambly today than usual...sorry guys. :) I also finally had the opportunity to try oatmeal in isolation to see what kind of a reaction I have to it and I can tell you it's making me dizzy and quite frankly a little scatterbrained, which is pretty weird. also, oatmeal is pretty gross to eat when you know it's going to make you sick and yet you want to know what it's going to do to you.
alsooooo commas are being difficult today. sorry. and my consistency with capitalization. i apologize. it's the oatmeal.
When I travel, I take food with me. I have been gone both of the last two weekends and I've had bags of groceries with me either time. That, or I've taken prepared food with me to eat. So consider the time I had to spend cooking and preparing food in addition to packing. I can stop at McDonald's and get fries and a milkshake, but that's about all I can eat there (discounting the "beef flavoring" in or on the fries--it's never bothered me). It is a big pain the ass sometimes to make sure, when more important things are happening, that I have food to eat.
But then I really started thinking...I seldom go out to eat because I'm too anxious about my choices. When I do go out, I check the menu beforehand. My friends always let me pick the restaurant if we do decide to go out. I always take my H2 blocker before I eat out at a restaurant where I don't know I can order 'safe' food. Salads are usually safe, but I have to be careful with dressings (eggs, vinegar derived from things I'm to which I'm allergic). This has perpetrated into the cafeterias at the hospitals where I work. I often take my lunch, but sometimes I can't wriggle out of eating something. I use the line that I'm a vegetarian, and if pressed, I'll admit to an egg allergy. I've gotten away with that here recently.
But this article (http://captainawkward.com/2013/03/09/459-do-i-have-to-destroy-my-health-to-be-in-grad-school/#more-5297) made me think. If you don't want to read it, here's a mini-summary: it's about being in grad school with a "hidden condition." IE--if you have a walking cast on, no one judges you for taking the elevator and for skipping events across campus. There are plenty of people who have "hidden conditions"; for the writer in the post, it's migraines and PCOS. The beauty of a hidden condition is that you don't have to divulge to everyone what's going on with you; you get to chose. Which is particularly good in some situations, but when you're in grad school and you have a million and one commitments, things get dicey.
I'm rambling here but basically what it comes down is that it sucks. It can be an invasion of your privacy to have to constantly excuse yourself from things because you can't do it--I have yet to find a clever way to get out of business dinners; I can't imagine what it would be like for someone with migraines trying to get through a difficult day at work. Not everyone around you needs to know the intimate details of your health history. Also, I'm in grad school and I've worked hard to get to where I am and I don't want anyone making exceptions or anything for me just because I have a health condition. So I hide it. Because I can.
But at the end of the day, when I drag myself home, I have to eat. I can't stop at fast food and pick something up. Do I have time to make it to the gym before my blood sugar tanks? Do I have a snack in my purse that I can eat? I will tell you that I have eaten food I don't like and don't want because someone pressed it on me--I was late to a dinner and my friend collected some fruit for me off the appetizer trays and it only had on it fruit I'm allergic to or that I don't like. Did I eat it? Yes, because it would have been rude to brush off the gesture.
I nearly passed out the other day in a relatively benign situation. As I excused myself to sit down and let the waves of hot/cold pass, I was extensively questioned on when I'd last eaten and whether or not I was pregnant (I'm sure you can all imagine my reaction to that!). I was fine, but later, to myself, I had to question if I've been getting good enough nutrition recently. Who knows what really happened because I ended up pinning it on too much travelling and both physical and mental exhaustion, but it brings home the point that grad school is a bitch of a time to try to take care of yourself.
When you barely have enough time to do laundry and go grocery shopping, try adding in something else. I'm sure there are boatloads of my peers in this situation. We all have things we like to keep personal.
I was way more rambly today than usual...sorry guys. :) I also finally had the opportunity to try oatmeal in isolation to see what kind of a reaction I have to it and I can tell you it's making me dizzy and quite frankly a little scatterbrained, which is pretty weird. also, oatmeal is pretty gross to eat when you know it's going to make you sick and yet you want to know what it's going to do to you.
alsooooo commas are being difficult today. sorry. and my consistency with capitalization. i apologize. it's the oatmeal.
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