Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Going Nuts


After a weekend
of parties {and party food}
celebrating my husband's
high school class
reunion, I'm feeling
really blobby and
not particularly
energetic.


However, this week
instead of dwelling
on the
 shouldn't haves


fried food
processed food
sugary food


I want to focus
on foods that 
n o u r i s h
and give
e n e r g y,
especially as we
head towards
the holidays.





The
should haves.

One thing that I 
love about fall 
is the abundance
of fresh nuts,
such as pecans,walnuts,
almonds and one
I especially enjoy,
the hazelnut.

Hooray for hazelnuts!

In the United States,
hazelnuts are cultivated
in two of my favorite
states, Oregon and Washington.
In the rest of the world,
they are found in commercial
quantity in Turkey and Italy.


Cousin to the Filbert,
and considered the
healthiest of nuts,
hazelnuts are high in
protein and unsaturated
fat and contain significant
amounts of thiamine and
vitamin B6.


Toasted, hazelnuts
are wonderful in granola,
tasty tossed with green beans,
olive oil and
fresh lemon juice,
and delicious in a baby
greens salad with pear
and craisins....


But this 
is the way I
savor them best:

dark chocolate covered
hazelnuts


or
Nutella spread
{I just eat
it on a small spoon!}


and sometimes
 in chocolate candy,
such as this....


In moderation,
the combination of 
dark chocolate
and hazelnuts can be 
an energizing treat,
full of antioxidants.

{That's my story
and I'm sticking to it!}

Last October
I was introduced
to a fantastic
source for hazelnuts
of all kinds
dry roasted
dark chocolate covered
salted
spiced
diced


Hazelnut Hill, 
a hazelnut orchard
near Corvallis, Oregon,
where they grow,
roast and make their
own candy with hazelnuts.

Family owned,
their hazelnuts
were fresh and delicious,
and possibly
the best that
I'd ever tasted.



Which 
 nourishing foods
top your list? 


Will you go 
a little nuts
with me, 
this fall?

Hazelnut and Chestnut
Nothing to do with
nuts except their
names,
but I couldn't
resist : )!!


[Picture credits ~
Google images: 6 & 9;
All others Flickr; click
on each for attribution]




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Healthy Reali-TEA


{Step right in.
The kettle is on.
Grab a seat at
the counter so
I can pour out
my heart to you
while the water
boils....}


Okay.
So it happens to
everyone, eventually,
right?

You are running
along, juggling many
balls in the air....

Those balls might
be 
your

job
children's activities
the house
the groceries
the yard
volunteer work
the overdue oil change
the dentist appointment
the never-ending to-do list
your blog : )
big decisions
small decisions

Life.


And you get on the
scale one day
and there you
have it.  You've
let one of those balls
slip and it's hit the
ground with a big
old thud.

Your health.

You took your eye
off the ball and
now that insidious number 
on the scale has crept up 
a bit.   And the old energy
isn't what it used to be, either.


Well, that's where I am.

Luckily for me, I've cultivated
some pretty healthy habits
along the way, so I am
hoping to throw that ball
labeled feeling-my-best
back into the air, quickly.

Today I'm on Day Two of a
raw diet detox.  You can
read more about that, here.
I'll share how it goes later,
once I've finished the whole
experience.  I'm hoping that
it will re-ignite an old
passion for cooking and eating
great, healthy food.


In the meantime, may I
pour you a cup of 
herbal tea?

Yep, that's my only beverage
from Monday through Wednesday
 besides the smoothies that are 
part of the detox menu.  
Herbal tea and good old H2O.


Mint?
Orange and Spice?
Vanilla Roobios?

Since we are on the topic
of health, I thought I'd
share some of the healthy
things that I love and see
if you love them, too.

First, my Polar FT-4 watch.
It monitors my heart rate
when I am exercising so
that I know if I'm in the
right zone for my age and
fitness level.  Big bonus
is that it also measures how
many calories that I've burned
in an exercise session, based
on my age, weight and heart
rate during the workout.


Out of curiosity, I wore my
Polar to bed the other night
to see what seven hours of
sleep would earn me.

401 calories.
Boo.
{Gotta love
that extra one
calorie, though!}

Researchers say that people
often tend to underestimate
their calorie intake and over-
estimate their calorie expenditures,
aka exercise, so the Polar is good 
for an accurate reading of the latter.


May I cover your bottom?
{I'm talking tea cup, here!}
Hot water, coming up.

Okay, now that we've discussed
exercise, let's get down to a
more appealing conversation.

Food.

Let me pull out a few things
that have been tops
in my book, lately.....


First up is non-fat plain Greek 
yogurt, which we buy in the jumbo
containers at Costco.  130 cals
for one cup and it contains 23 grams
 of protein.  I just read a great
article in Nutrition Action recently
about how important eating protein
is as we age; the older you are,
the more you need in order to 
continue producing new muscle
cells for good mobility and balance.

I'll drink to that.
Let's clink tea cups with
our orange and spice.

Okay, back to the love list.



Next, I'm loving Trader Joe's Organic 
Reduced Sugar Raspberry Preserves.  
A little of this stirred into the Greek yogurt 
amps the whole thing up....way, way
up!  And the reduced sugar comes
from the ingredient Stevia in the
jam, which is a natural sweetener
that comes from the leaf of the
Stevia plant.


Here's something else that's
really good:  Almond milk.  It
is lower in calories than skim
milk, has no saturated fat, 
cholesterol or sodium and is 
really tasty on cereal and in 
smoothies.  

Two more food shout-outs
and then I'll stop, as I'm making
myself hungry.

{Cue angel harps, here.}



The Whirly Pop.
Be still, my heart.

Got it when our electric popcorn
popper was wearing out.  It was
$20 and makes great popcorn
super-fast on the stove....and you
can use as little as one teaspoon of
oil per batch!


Last but so not least ~
sprouted grain bread.
I like the Ezekial 4:9 brand.
Because the grains that go
into the bread are already
partially sprouted, you 
don't get the same sugar spike 
in the body that more refined
carbohydrates can produce.
Which means you stay fuller,
longer....and full is good.

And, it makes the best toast.
Sometimes my daughter has
it after school with that heavenly
jam that I showed you, earlier.

As I refill our cups
one
more
time,
we move to the
front steps and sit
in the sunshine.


The birdsong that
fills the air and the
soft primavera {in
Italian this means
first green} of the
grass and trees is
intoxicating.  We
breathe deeply,
 feeding
our souls, if not
our stomachs!

We stand and stretch
and hug good-bye.

Make it a good day.
Make it a good week.


Thanks for sharing
a cuppa and letting
me bend your ear
about my resolve for
a healthier reality. 

I'd love to know
what healthy things
that you are loving 
right
now!

xx
Suzanne


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Still Wagging


Sick as a dog.

I had plenty of
time to consider
this turn of phrase
over the holidays
as each day
one
by
one
all of my
family members
and ultimately,
myself,
succumbed to
the flu bug.

You absolutely
KNOW when
a dog is not well.

Even she was ill, one day!
They curl up
in their spot,
be it bed,
floor or couch,
won't eat and
respond with 
a half-hearted 
thump of the tail
when you kindly
inquire What's
the matter?

In their eyes you
find an expression
that is almost
mournful....
Why me? it says.


Sick pups
are always distressing
because they
can't tell you
where it hurts.

In the January issue
of Real Simple magazine,
there is a piece called
Five things you can
learn from your pet.

One of them,
Celebrate Everything,
especially stood out
to me as I lay, 
bleary-eyed 
under the thick duvet in my 
parent's guest room, 
trying to focus on the words and
definitely not celebrating
anything.


On New Year's day, when
we departed, I saw
this lesson played out
before me, as Kate,
Mom and Dad's 
seven-month old
Doberman, mischievously
snagged a cardboard
box from the pile
 Dad had waiting to burn
next to his fire pit,
containing the unusable
Christmas wrappings
and detritus.


Kate cavorted around
the yard, shaking the
box, throwing it in
the air and then picking
it up and throwing it
again, full of sass,
glee and YES,
celebration.

{Look closely for the cavorting Dobies!}
In the infamous words
of Meg Ryan,
I'll have what she's
having!




This year, when I inhale
 the aroma of that first
cup of freshly-brewed
coffee in the morning, my
 imaginary tail
is going to wag and
in my mind, I will
channel my inner
Kate, saying, 
Coffee, coffee, oh boy
 oh boy I looove
coffee...mmmmmm
yummy coffee!
And hopefully, I will
take that celebratory
spirit with me into
the rest of my day.




Yes, you can indeed
learn a lot from your pet.




As a recovering sick
pup {I'm still far from
100%, darn it} I am
casting my woeful eyes 
on the year ahead 
with an expectant
wag of my imaginary
tail, resolving to
celebrate all the little
things that make up
this dog's life.



Cardboard box,
anyone?



Have a wonderful
first week of 2011,
sweet friends.  Don't
forget to wag, and
wag often!

xx
Suzanne

PS:  Thank you to everyone
who left me such kind, kind
words of encouragement and
sympathy as we've fought this
nasty bug over Christmas.  Your
words are truly the BEST
medicine.  Stay healthy!






images:
Privet & Holly 1, 2-3, 8, 10
Flickr 5-7, 11 {click on pic for talent}
Real Simple 4
Google images 9




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