Tasty Bytes

When it is made into a beverage that for every 12 fl oz is 270 calories (more than 10 % of a 2000 calories per day diet) and has 46 grams of sugar (3.25 Tablespoons). Top it with whipped cream and you’re looking at 360 calories, 3.4 Tablespoons of sugar and 12 grams of fat.  
We know green tea is good for us – full of antioxidants and beneficial minerals but don’t let the marketers fool you. Our good foods have been hijacked – looks good on the surface but scratch below and it’s not quite what it seems.  

Monday’s can be difficult to fit in breakfast but I eliminated a few unnecessary activities this morning (like surfing on the net) to carve out the time to make breakfast and eat it. 
This morning I grabbed a corn tortilla – warmed it in a skillet topped with a few bits of cheddar, topped that with some leftover black beans, topped the beans with a fried egg and to be a bit decadent finished with a dollop of sour cream. This took less than 10 minutes. This take off on heuvos rancheros and a few pieces of fruit will get me through until well after noon.  

I have a little more time on Sunday mornings so:  

Our modern diets these days leave most of us deficient in nutrients – most notably minerals. 
What’s a modern diet you ask? Packaged and processed foods, foods that have been lying around for awhile (most any ‘fresh’ food at a grocer store), conventionally raised foods, foods that consist mostly of ‘empty’ calories (ex. baked goods from refined flour), foods that deplete the body of nutrients (ex. soft drinks) and foods that contain substances that disrupt important body functions (ex. trans fats, msg). 
What’s so important about minerals? One that we all know is iron – we need iron to help transport oxygen to all the cells in our body. Then there is calcium which we need for our bones but calcium is also important for your muscles to work properly (along with magnesium) and in maintaining the proper pH in our blood – without the proper pH, we’ll see ya on the other side. Our skin needs selenium and zinc otherwise you might experience dryness and cracking – ouch. And copper isn’t just for pennies – we need it to build healthy collagen. In fact, just about every enzyme in our body needs one of dozens and dozens of minerals to function. 
So what can we do? With a few adjustments we can put those handy minerals back into our lives. Here’s a few tips: 
Replace as much soft drinks and coffee with mineral rich teas. Ideally we’d eliminate both but we have to have our treats. Pretty much any kind of tea is great – green, white, rooibos, mint, chamomile, Red Zinger, etc. Just don’t load them up with sugar or artificial sweeteners. Use honey, agave syrup, stevia, xylitol or even fruit juice instead. 
Eat lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables. There are numerous studies that show organic fruits and vegetables have up to 25% more nutrients. Green leafy vegetables are a good source for calcium and iron. I know organic can be expensive but do what you can afford. Remember though that local and fresh trumps organic. It’s much better to purchase a locally grown peach from 20 miles away than an organic one from 3000 miles away. 
Avoid processed foods as much as possible. Eat whole foods. For example, instead of white rice enjoy brown rice. Instead of packaged cereal have a bowl of oatmeal (though not instant!). Instead of a cookie have some fresh or dried fruit. 
Add nuts and seaweed to your diet. Nuts make a great snack – but in moderation. Say 10-12 pieces is a good serving. Seaweed is great sprinkled on salad, rice, soup – just about anything. I even posted a granola recipe a little while back that includes seaweed. 
Enjoy mineral broths. What the heck is a mineral broth you ask? Basically it’s soup or broth made from either all veggies or veggies and chicken or beef or pork or lamb or fish bones. When you simmer all these goodies in a pot of water you extract the mineral from said ingredients. What a tasty and nourishing way to get your minerals. Limited on time? You can still get a dose of minerals from already prepared broths – organic of course and preferably low sodium. 
And most of all – Variety! I figure variety is good not just so you don’t get bored of the same ol’ thing but this way you have a better chance of getting all your nutrients. 
I’ll post recipes for broths in a few days. 
Remember, food is our body’s fuel and building blocks. Good nutritive rich foods = a healthy strong body.

Finally got to sleep in this morning. Hurray.  

Today’s breakfast: 2 plums, 2 cream crackers, a small portion of vegetable enchilada pie leftover from last night.

My Mom always bugs me about eating breakfast…or more accurately not. So, after more than a few decades of my own life experience I have to admit she is right. 
Ok, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration – I’ve know breakfast was important for a long time but just never got around to it. I typically didn’t feel hungry in the morning and was busy coifing and getting ready to start my day so never had time. But, boy did I feel it mid-morning when my blood sugar plummeted and I became a cranky spaced out monster. I would start stuffing down anything in sight and end up with a tummy full of junk. 
Now I advise folks on proper eating habits so of course I have to practice what I preach! I declared, “I will now start eating breakfast!” 
I’d wake up, run around getting ready for my day and oops forgot again or ran out of time or there’s nothing good to eat… Hmm, this is not working so I realized, “Gee, I must plan ahead…” or I can wake up earlier…nope, not gonna happen. 
Planning a few days out is good. So now I put together something the evening before or make sure I have something I can assemble quickly in the morning such as fruit already washed and cut up or soft boiled eggs. Since I’m not typically hungry until 9 or 10am I eat something light like fruit before I leave the house and pack something for later. 
Some people like smoothies (I’m not fond of them – the smoothies not the people who like them . Line up all your ingredients so they are easy to toss into your waiting blender in the morning. Should take 5 minutes or less and viola a nice nutritious breakfast. 
Most people I talk to have a hard time figuring out what to have for breakfast so I thought I’d report in every now and then on what I’m having. You’ll see that for me – any food is ‘breakfast” food. 
Today’s breakfast: 1 banana, 1/3 c blueberries, and 3/4 c watermelon. Later (around 10am, I will have a turkey meatball sandwich (2 oz) with cheddar cheese (1 1/2 oz) on a sprouted wheat bun with a little dijon.