food

Bird with Pickle

Who’s Got my Pickle?

I thought I’d wrap up the night with another Food Fun Fact.

One thing I’ve noticed about “healthy” food is that… sometimes… it’s just plain awful. It tastes so BLAND. Would you like some seasoning with your cardboard?

Every time I go out for groceries it feels like I’m on a scavenger hunt. Of course, this applies even more so right now—with COVID-19—because it’s hard to find many foods PERIOD.

Several years back I had the pleasure of tasting Boar’s Head Horseradish Bread & Butter Pickles, and I’ve never forgotten those tasty chips. They’ve been pretty hard to find, but I scored a jar recently on one of my excursions.

According to numerous sources, pickles have been considered a health food for centuries. Julius Caesar is said to have fed them to his troops to boost strength, and Cleopatra favored them as a beauty aid. Go figure!

Personally, jazzing up my “healthy” food with spices, citrus, and condiments (like horseradish or these awesome bold pickles) helps keep me on track because it makes those otherwise boring meals fun and exciting.

The Good news here is that 3 pickle chips have just 40 calories and a low glycemic load. The not so good news, for those watching their salt, is the 200 mg of sodium.

Anyway… another fun thing about pickles is that I found a use for this old (upcycled) photograph from the beach. I did NOT feed the bird… I simply caught him in the act after he raided a nearby beach blanket picnic.

That’s about all for now. Thank you for reading!

Knock Knock

Who’s there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Banana split so ice screamed!

With all of my talk about eating, I thought some “food humor” was in order—accompanied by a free Pexels image.

I’ve been wanting to share some of the information I’m discovering out there—tips and tricks or what have you—but I’ve held off for fear that too many new topics will muddle my already oddly diverse and eclectic blog. Then this morning, with a clear head, I sat up and thought… “eh, who cares!?”

That being said, I am sharing my very first…

FOOD FUN FACT!

The glycemic index gives us a way to tell “good carbs” from “bad carbs.” In my case, carrying weight around the middle was an indication that I was eating too many of those bad carbs. The scale is 0-100 and here is the key:

  • 55 or less = Low (good)
  • 56- 69 = Medium
  • 70 or higher = High (bad)

The smaller the number the better. Those high numbers are what makes your blood sugar spike, wreaking havoc on your body if you do it consistently. These numbers are cool to check out.

I was sad that bananas are often labeled bad because they’re higher in sugar than other fruits, and bananas are one of my favorites. What I found out though, is that they’re not so bad on the glycemic index.

What’s even better is that the glycemic index of foods can change. Unripe bananas are lower on the index… coming in at 41. The riper they get, the higher their glycemic index will be. So now I won’t wait for the bananas to turn all ripe and yellow, I will try to eat them green. I prefer them in my smoothies anyway, and it’s great when they’re not all soft and mushy.

Pasta is my other favorite food! Honestly, I could eat it every day. The longer pasta cooks, the higher the index will be, so serving your noodles Al dente is the healthier way to go. Who knew?!

Lastly, using lemon juice (or vinegar) during food preparation will lower the food’s glycemic index. So squeeze some lemon on that penne!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Food Fun Fact! I’m still not sure it will be a regular thing. Mainly I wanted to record the information that I’m discovering, and sharing them here seemed like a great way to do it.

Anyway, thanks for reading… Peace & Love!

Body Image

Body Image

It’s Day TWO and my motivation level is starting to skyrocket. I’m learning exciting things about my body type. Apparently I’m an apple? It’s really interesting to discover that “where” we store excess fat tells us something about what’s going on inside of that amazing body we live in.

Speaking of our amazing bodies, I wanted to backtrack and talk about something that I wrote in faded blues…

“I’m not dissing myself here. All I’m saying is that my ideas about me, and the me that I see in front of me… well, they aren’t a perfect match. So, this begs the question… which one is right?”

As soon as I published that post my head started spinning. It became clear to me that I was comparing what I feel like inside to what I see in the mirror (judging the book by its cover) and I was doing so based upon what I’ve been taught for decades. Maybe my reflection doesn’t measure up because my ideas on what beauty “looks like” have been shredded, warped, and twisted… by the media, by advertising, and by society.

That being said, this lifestyle change is about health, it is NOT about body shaming. I know that I don’t eat right, I know that I’m not active enough, I know that I feel sluggish most of the time, and I know that there is something going on inside of my body… something that’s telling me to PAY ATTENTION.

So… that’s what I’m doing. I’m paying attention.

Moving on now, the subtle changes that I’m aiming for in week one are my snacks. This house is full of high-calorie, no-nutritional-value snacks. And since I don’t eat regular meals most of the time, snacks are a major player around here.

WEEK ONE PLAN: I’m exchanging empty calories— cakes, cookies, potato chips, and soda (to name a few) —for fresh fruits (strawberries!), vegetables, avocados, nuts, sunflower seeds, and dark chocolate (cacoa) as needed. I’m going to take a gamble, and create some healthy smoothies that contain powdered cacoa (in lieu of those hot fudge sundaes I love so much). I’ll be sure to share the recipes whenever I hit the jackpot.

That is it! That is week one in a nutshell… no pun intended. 😉

Thank you for reading; I hope you found something of value here!

It’s time to go shopping…
—Janet

About the Featured Image: I decided to do a little art for Day Two, a mysterious black and white self-portrait. It’s as close as I’m going to get with a before picture, and I’m actually happy with the story it tells. My son took the photo for me and we both noticed that I seem lopsided. It’s possible that’s from sitting weird on the couch when I use my laptop.