Well, this thread was a lot of fun last month. What is up with everybody?
After a truly awful month I'm doing a lot better, and while my whole grains and legumes leave something to be desired, my fruit and vegetable intake is about where it should be. I'm also detoxing and getting the junk down to the 100 calorie packs, as opposed to the 1000 calorie bags, where it was for a while. On the down side, I'm drinking a lot more coffee, but that isn't especially bad, except for the heartburn.
Find of the month: whole wheat graham crackers for DD at Trader Joe's. I've run through a string of terrible ones at other health food type stores, but the TJ's is wonderful.
Between a conference, which I attended with a bad cold, and which served nearly no veggies , and then a weekend out of town, I've fallen by the wayside. However, it's a new week, and I'm not doing any traveling for the next 3 weeks, my cold is better, so I'm off to the gym and then the grocery store. Life with whole foods will be back.
Hey girls, I've been posting on 3fc for a while now and have always been interested in whole foods but thought I'd dip my foot into this side of the pond (I'm usually over in featherweights, general chatter or support...).
I try to stick to lots of raw fruits and vegetables (one of each at meals usually) and go for lean protein whenever possible (I am at university and food is provided so choices are not always available). I usually go for cottage cheese for protein, and stick to whole wheat bread. I shy away from most things in the cafeteria if I'm unable to make an educated guess as to how it was prepared or whats its complete contents are.
I have 2 questions that I thought you might be able to help me with...
#1. What do you think of cream of wheat hot cereal? They have that in cafeteria and it seems like a healthy alternative to cold cereal, but am I just kidding myself?
and
#2. We have lots of different types of bread available, I know to ignore the white breads, but when it comes down to breads that are more "whole" I am at a loss. Which is best: whole grain, whole wheat, 7 grain...? Do you see my conundrum?
I hope your detox goes well, Ann (what sort are you doing, or is it more just a "eating healthier" sort of thing?) and it's good that your back from the conference, Pat...I really miss veggies when I go places that don't have 'em for extended periods of time.
Anne~I'll have to check out those graham crackers. I've been buying TJ's woven wheat crackers but I don't think they stack up against Triscuits. I bought their raisin bran once and DD told me to go back to our old brand on those, too. Usually I LOVE all the TJ's stuff.
Carey~I've never tried cream of wheat (I'm more of an oatmeal person). I don't know, the consistency reminds me of mashed potatoes, so I'm thinking the taste ought to be the same, so I'm afraid to try it because I know it won't taste like potatoes. Ok, you can say it--I'm weird!
As for bread, as long as the first few ingredients are whole grains (oat, wheat, etc.) any of those is fine. I usually look over the ingredient list and I don't buy it if it says "enriched" anywhere in the top 10 ingredients. I also don't buy it if it has HCFS in the top 5 ingredients. I also check the label for transfats and don't buy it if it has any.
Pat~I can't imagine the planners of that conference not planning on meals with veggies! Wow. Glad your cold is better.
Time to get back on the bandwagon. My nausea is letting up some and veggies no longer sound revolting. I'm even managing a salad right now. My current goal is to introduce more variety into my and my family's diet. We tend to eat broccoli, corn, green beans and carrots over and over. Last night was cauliflower, tonight is beets, I have some peas planned. We just need to get new habits. Anne, I've tried TJ's ww graham crackers, yum!
Anne, I know some people absolutely love their coffee. I am so fortunate that I despise it. Love, love, love the smell, hate the taste and the jittery feeling I get.
Speaking of heartburn, I just got back from having an endoscopy. I thought for sure I had esophagus cancer. After having zero digestive problems for 6 months, since I started this journey, about 10 days ago I started feeling like food was getting stuck in my windpipe and staying there all day and all night. My throat has been on fire and I keep burping, regardless of whether I am eating or not. Went to a gastrointerologist yesterday, had the test this morning. He sees no sign of cancer, thank g-d, but does see acid damage in my stomach and esophagus. He said something I ate must have triggered it. I said I eat healthier then anybody I know. And then I thought of perhaps the crushed red pepper that I use almost every night to spice up my stir fries and my chicken with spaghetti squash. He says it's possible. I was trying to use that in place of salt. You just can't win. He also says there is a possibility I have a bacterial infection in my stomach, it will take about 5 days for results. Meanwhile he wants me on a prescription antacid for 1 month and will see me again in 2 weeks to see how I am doing. What a relief, I was crazy with worry.
Anyway, my new find has been roasted asparagus. I have been eating it about 4 times a week. I tend to find something and then stick with it, till I beat it to death and then can't look at it anymore. I hope this is not the case this time.
Robin - you can roast green beans like you roast asparagus...yummy! I have to buy my asparagus at COSTCO because I love roasting it so much. Have you tried a sprinkle of lemon zest at the end of cooking (last 3-4 min or so?) while you're roasting?
I used to post here quite a bit, but things got crazy busy and I haven't had time to post in a while. Finally, I'm getting some time to myself again!
I'm still very much into WF, and my weight loss has been continuing - slow and steady, just how I want it to be (well - not to say I wouldn't take bigger, faster losses , but I'm not worried because I'm getting to where I want to be which is all that really matters). My latest love is a "summer meusli" - lovely fresh berries (and other fruits if you want) mixed with some greek yogurt and toasted steel cut oats. You let it sit to meld together - overnight is great - and it's really delicious. Filling, and healthy too.
I too love roasted veggies - cauliflower is also a good one. Let it roast until it's nice and golden...it gets so sweet.
On the cream of wheat vs. oatmeal - I've never been a cream of wheat fan, either. It's definitely a texture thing for me! It is more processed than something like steel cut oats (which I love!), but still a healthy choice so if you love it then I wouldn't worry too much. Add some fresh fruit and you're MILES ahead of most breakfasts.
For bread, as long as it's a whole-grain variety I don't worry too much about 7-grain, 12-grain, flax and sprouted, etc. I tend to choose one labeled "whole grain with flax" - just because I've tried a few and like this one the best. I would do the same....try something, and if you like it great. If not, give another variety a go. Provided it's a whole grain bread - and not too high in calories, 'cause some are - then I don't think you can go wrong.
Well - I'm having tabbouleh for lunch today, in a ww pita. After lunch it's off to the store for more berries (can't WAIT until summer, when the berries are cheap!) and some more yogurt, and to decide on something for dinner. I've got chicken breasts thawed and a big bag of spinach sitting there, so if ya'll have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!
I'd marinate the chicken in a mixture of orange juice/zest, grated ginger, garlic, and soy sauce, then serve over some sauteed spinach. Or you could take the same chicken marinade, cook up some brown rice, and make a quick stirfry and use the spinach as one of the veggies. Heck, you could even make the stir fry and serve it over the sauteed spinach instead of over rice.
Or you could make a nice chicken salad, which is what I'm having for dinner tonight.
Yum, Madalinn! Where were you yesterday when I had a thawed chicken breast? I ended up sauteeing it and some mushrooms with some teriyaki sauce and having rice and broccoli with it.
I love roasted asparagus too, but right now it's $5/lb so I'm waiting til spring. Costco is over an hour away and we don't get there too often. I've never roasted cauliflower - have to try it next time.
Tonight I'm making a large pot of chili since the temps here are still below zero, and I need something hot!
Any type of graham crackers are a trigger food for me! I LOVE THEM so I can't buy them!
I gave up sugar over 15 months ago and believe it was the best thing for me. I have not had a cookie, piece of cake, candy or anything since that day. Fruit has become my "dessert". You really appreciate the sweetness in fruit after giving up the junk! I absolutely adore dates but have to limit those too because it is easy to eat more than I should! Has anyone else on this site given up refined sugar? I very rarely have honey...I am a lover of stevia poducts! Any other Stevia lovers out there?
Azmom, I really like Stevia too. I use it in lemonaid or other sweet drinks to replace sugar. I haven't figured out how to use it in my scone recipe though. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups sugar and I only use 2/3 cup. I can't figure out how much Stevia to replace it with even though I have a chart from cookingwithstevia.com that supposedly has conversion info. I'm really adverse to very sweet stuff so I'm a bit afraid to try to convert it like the chart says incase it somes out way too sweet. Have you done much baking with Stevia? Any advice?
I have not baked with Stevia. I really try to stay away from "sweet" baked items, even with Stevia because I am afraid they may trigger me wanting to eat too much and want sweetie things more. I also use it with unsweetened Kool-Aid...I love the watermelon-cherry flavor!!
Have you tried the flavored liquid stevias made by Sweetleaf? The french vanilla is my favorite. Sooo good in my coffee. They make other flavors like lemon drop, mandarin orange, grape, and a bunch of others. They sell them at Sprouts or Wild Oats markets. I live in Arizona I don't know if they have them where you live. Another thing I mix with the french vanilla flavor is plain yogurt and Kashi Go Lean cereal. I really like it and it keeps me full for hours.
$5.00 a pound for asparagus??? WOW, what is there gold in there or something? It's $1.99 a pound here. I thought that was a lot since I am going through sooo much of it. And yes Mandalinn, in fact I usually add green beans to the pan when I'm roasting the asparagus, it goes nicely together and it IS cheaper then the asparagus.
I grill my chicken cutlets after it has marinated in some fresh garlic. I broil a sliced tomato, put it on top of the cutlet and then serve it on a bed of sauteed spinach and garlic. Very good and easy. Just another idea for the spinach and chicken breast. 2 of my favorite foods.
$5.00 a pound for asparagus??? WOW, what is there gold in there or something?
It's just the price we pay for living way far north! Plus I live 50 miles outside of Anchorage so prices are just a little higher. Let's see, lettuce last night was $1.99/head (leaf, not iceberg), red pepers 2/$5, bananas $.79/lb, and apples anywhere from $1.99 - $2.49/lb depending on the variety (I didn't buy any). I did get a nice ripe cantalope for $.98/lb. We grow our own raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb, as well as lots of veggies. Just can't grow things like asparagus or hard (winter) squash or corn. And of course, lettuce, peppers, cukes, etc. don't freeze.
Has anyone tried roasting frozen veggies? I have lots of frozen green beans, which I'm not crazy about (texture mainly), so I'd like to try roasting them. Oh well, I should just try. If it doesn't work, I'm not out much but time.
Whole foods March Chat
, and then a weekend out of town, I've fallen by the wayside. However, it's a new week, and I'm not doing any traveling for the next 3 weeks, my cold is better, so I'm off to the gym and then the grocery store. Life with whole foods will be back. 
, but I'm not worried because I'm getting to where I want to be which is all that really matters). My latest love is a "summer meusli" - lovely fresh berries (and other fruits if you want) mixed with some greek yogurt and toasted steel cut oats. You let it sit to meld together - overnight is great - and it's really delicious. Filling, and healthy too.
