Better Food Choices: Breakfast

Organic Rolled Oats
Rudy's Gluten Free Cinnamon Bread

Tiff's Treats for Breakfast?  Oreo's? What about left over Pizza from last night?  

I can't say that I am a Saint when it comes to eating the perfect breakfast, but I can say that we've come a long way in our Breakfast choices.  And yes, we do still eat left over Pizza the next day, but not in the morning.  The other night we ordered Tiff's Treats.  If your not familiar with them, let me tell you, they are the most delicious, sinful food on this earth.  We ordered 2 dozen cookies through a groupon I bought that was too good to pass up.  So, to not be wasteful, we had the remaining left over cookies for breakfast.  This is rare and very out of the ordinary for us.


What about you?  What does your breakfast consist of?  Is it full of oats, greens and protein?  Or is it full of boxed cereal, left over Pizza or cookies? Hopefully it is full of all the healthy stuff, but if it's not and your trying to get better with your food choices for breakfast, I want to share with you some of the foods we eat. In the picture I posted you can see we eat pretty healthy.  Organic rolled oats (same as oatmeal), bananas and cinnamon bread is what we eat.  $2.00 for the bag of rolled oats, $4.00 for the loaf of bread and $2.00 for a dozen of organic bananas.  If you don't suffer from gluten sensitivity then you can just buy the organic cinnamon bread.  

Organic  Rolled Oats, Silk Almond Milk, FlaxSeed

I forgot to mention that I add Organic FlaxSeed which contains Fiber, Protein and Omega 3's.  Super good stuff!!  Costco sells  a big bag of this for around $7-8 bucks.  Pretty good stuff to sneak into your kids hot cereal, muffins and pancakes.   Emily doesn't like the taste of the fish oil capsules (I don't either!) so this works perfect.  Also, buy eggs that have Omega 3's already in them. 

Are these your Breakfast choices?

Or these?

What about these Kind bars?

These were my choices as I entered my local Starbuck's before work.  Not very appealing.  I decided on the muffin, the reduced-fat very berry muffin.  Tasted processed and it didn't fill me up.  I should have opted for their oatmeal.  I drove off to work disappointed and determined to make
Better Food Choices, even if I'm working and have very little time to prepare a breakfast.   At least I'm not eating Oreo's for breakfast!!  On one of my early morning runs, the cashier at a local gas station where I stop to fuel up on water was eating a snack size bag of Oreo's, which I asked if it was her breakfast.  She didn't hesitate and responded with a quick "YES!" As she was devouring these little bite size cookies I felt sorry for her.  Sorry that she might not have the knowledge or the education to choose better.   I think sometimes it all boils down to convenience.  But, convenience can be a Banana, an Apple or a Handful of walnuts that don't take any time to be prepared.  What about supplementing with GREENS and PROTEIN?  I suggest if your busy and you don't have time to prepare a breakfast then take some GREENS and PROTEIN in a Blendee Bottle with you to work, or wherever you may be.  And when your home, cook some good, nutritious meals that will keep you full.  Feed Your Body Good Foods and It will Thank You in the long run.  

SuperFood Chocolate for the Kids,

Green SuperFood for Adults and the Vanilla Brown Rice Protein

(If you don't suffer from Gluten Allergies, you can use the NOW Protein, Pic below)

NOW Protein

Available in Chocolate and Vanilla or Unflavored

Available also in Organic Blend. 

Until Next Time, Happy Breakfast Eating!!!

Eat Organic!!!

Jennifer

Better Food Choices for Life

Super Food Greens
 Chocolate Flavor (Kids)
Green Super Food, Trace Minerals
and Vanilla Brown Rice Protein.

As a continuation of my post about Better Food Choices, I decided to continue my series of posts. Oh how I remember the days when I was protein deficient. I would wake up in the morning craving a hamburger. 

 Don't we wish we could eat a sloppy, cheesy, greasy, burger everyday? 

 "No!!!", you say.  "Okay", a little dramatic, but every once in a while we all do crave some "Junk Food."  Funny! My days at work consist of long strenuous hours taking care of sick patients.  I now work in Austin by the triangle.  I never knew how blessed (or should I say cursed) to find out I live right where all the "Good Food" is brewing.   Mandola's, Torchy's Tacos, Chedd's, Maoz Vegetarian, Which Which and P. Terry's.  "What in the world?"  So, my 2-3 days of work consist of one of these establishments.  Lately its been Torchy's Tacos; my favorite so far.  But then again, Mandola's satisfies my carb cravings, especially a day before my long runs.  And as much as I run, I still need to be careful of the food I devour. So, after 2 Torchy's Tacos for lunch, I decided that I would detoxify my body the next day with just a protein shake and greens.  Later after work I went to  Natural Grocers and filled up my basket with Super Greens, Trace Minerals and Brown Rice Protein.  After my trip there I headed out to  P. Terry's for the kids and of course I ordered a burger for myself.  Super good. Super cheap. As I was in line at the drive thru, I looked back at my box full of little goodies and felt super guilty.  No more!!!  No more junk, unprocessed food that will fill me for the moment, but will not sustain me for life.  You see, those foods are made to fill us up for the moment and then we are left with malnourished bodies lacking vital nutrients, minerals and to be quite simple,  "Garbage!!!!"  To my surprise, as I reached into my bag of goodies from natural grocers, there was a flyer written by a Certified Nutritionist who wrote about Natural Foods.  It stated that although you can buy an all meat burger for $2.00 (I was super excited when I ordered from P.Terry's) it lacks the vital nutrients you need to sustain you.  It stated that although organic meats cost more, in the long run you are nourishing, repairing and helping your body stay healthy.
 To Me, that Means:

• Less Doctor Visits
• Better Digestion
• Natural and Organic Foods fill us up. (That's because they are in their natural form and do not contain fillers (fillers are chemicals put into foods to make up for the food content) Examples include Lays Potatoe Chips (I've actually almost ate a full bag of these because I never got full), Oreos, Snicker Bars and Twinkies.  It's basically any food that comes in a box and is not labeled Organic.  (Organic Foods come in their natural form and are certified by the U.S. Government)
• Repair the Body (my husband suffers from an autoimmune disorder and my daughter and son who both have asthma and eczema have seen great improvement with following an Organic Diet)
• Provide us with disease-fighting immunity. A daily regime of Greek Yogurt can help the digestive system to produce good, super bugs that kill all those bad germs that live in our stomach.  The Gut controls a good proportion of the bacteria and when it is out of control your immune system becomes weak.  

To You, That Means:

• More Money

Eating an all Organic Diet can be expensive, but there are many ways you can adjust your budget and the way you cook at home.  For instance, I do without buying extra clothes, going out to the movies, cutting my hair (Lol!! I haven't cut my hair in over 7 years) or spending money on things "I want."  I use that money to put towards our food.  Because in the long run, all material possessions and things will fade away.  The latest movie you watched won't be remembered a year or two from now, but You will have Your Body for the Rest of Your Life and that my friend is worth the sacrifice.  
Until then,  "Eat Organic!"

More posts on Better Food Choices for Life.   Next Post I will talk about Better Food Choices for Life: Breakfast Choices.

Better Food Choices

Woke up at 6am. Devotional. Ran.  Kids bathed, dressed and off to Dr.'s appointment for check-ups.  Oh, wait!! Did we forget to eat breakfast?  Of course!  Okay now, we need to get going with only 10 minutes to get there.  As I'm heading out the door, the hubby hands me $15.00. He says, "Go get lunch for you guys after the doctor's appointment."  Emily always wants Chick Fla. Zachary could care less, as long as it's food.  We're all running on empty this morning.  I ran 5 miles and I really needed my protein shake. Oh well, the hubby did fix me a big mug full of coffee. That will do!

Check ups go so smooth with our pediatrician.  We've been seeing her for over 6 years now and she's the best.  My main concern is if I'm meeting the kid's nutritional intake.  I admitted to her that I took the kids off all their allergy medications and started them on a gluten-free diet.  She was very surprised to find out that they were symptom free for over 5 months now.  We do eat white bread every once in a while.  Hence the Organic Rudy's white hamburger buns.  The gluten hamburger buns are not very tasty, so we splurge on white buns when we eat hamburgers.  We don't eat anything that comes in a box and I cook all our tortillas, biscuits, pancakes, muffins and cookies homemade from scratch.  I haven't ventured out to make gluten free bread yet.  One of these days.  I recently started making my own gel for my runs.  I even made some with coffee to give me some caffeine during my runs.  Its the most amazing gel I have ever tasted.  So, our pediatrician said we were on the right path and that the kids were getting enough of their nutritional needs met.  The "Organic" in me wanted to eat something clean, something that would fill us up.  After we got out of the doctors office I decided we would be eating hamburgers.  A trip to Natural Grocers and costing $15.68 we managed to buy buns, chips, strawberries, banana's and cookies.  We always have plenty of organic meats in the fridge so we had a complete meal.  Chick Fla would have cost us over $20.00 and the kids would have been hungry an hour later.  Eating better takes planning, but it doesn't take that much time to make a nutritious homemade meal at home.  I told the kids that Mighty Fine Burgers would have been very expensive.  They said that my hamburgers are better than them.  I taught them well.  Lol!!!!

This was our Homemade Meal.

Organic Hamburgers and Chips.  

Summer Kick Off

Summer Kick Off.

It's like pulling teeth with these kids to get them to take a pic.  Not very photogenic, I should say.  As babies I always had a camera in hand.  Now with IPhone in hand they comment on how the only reason I want a pic is so I could post on Facebook.  Ha!!! Not always.

It seems this week we've been super busy trying to find what to do this summer.  Pool?  Museum? Out to eat? Read all day? Sleep? (Oh, that was my idea, didn't go too well with the kids)
The days go by so fast that you need to think super fast if you're going to plan anything for the kids to do this summer.  For the next 3 weeks, (2 weeks as I write this) we will be volunteering at our local library to teach children how to write a letter to a friend.
"Letters to Friends" came to me as we were writing letters to Emily and Zach's cousins.  Why not write a letter to a friend or family member during the summer?  Grandmas always like to receive a colored doodle or picture.  Why not a letter? It's a great activity for the kids to keep up with  their writing form this summer. Zach's already in his "Summer Zone."  I can't get him to do anything school related so this is the perfect way to get him to do something fun without him thinking it's work. He wrote a letter to his great Aunt and drew her a picture.  The next day we mailed it off.  As the days fly by, what are you doing this summer?  I would love to hear your plans for the summer.  If your in the Leander area, come join us at the Leander Public Library June 20 and June 27 from 3pm-4pm for Letter's to Friends.  We would love for you to join us!!! Until then, "Happy Summer!"

Jennifer

Miracles

As a start to my new blog, I wanted to share some of the things that have happened to us this week. First of all, I am a follower of Christ, the King Jesus. As many of you know through my facebook posts I give everything I have to Him. I proclaim His work in my life because at the age of 18 (15 years ago), I decided to turn my life over to God. Ever since that day I have made it my mission to share with you all that He has done in my life. I'm not ashamed that I am crazy about God and that for the past couple of months He has been changing the way I view others and the world around me. The title to my blog, "Come what may, I want to run" is from the book of 2 Samuel 18:23. If you have time, read the verses 18:23-33. Basically, anything can come my way, but all I want to do is run. I've been running for 7 years now. It started when my husband was diagnosed with a debilitating autoimmune disorder and I needed to find a place where I could just get away from everyone and just cry. I never wanted David to see me like that. He needed me to be strong. So, 48lbs overweight and not a single bit of motivation to run, I jogged. The more hurt I experienced, the more I pushed myself to run. The pounding in my chest, the sweat, the crying, all led me to a deeper understanding of who God really was. There were days David couldn't get out of bed. My runs transformed into my quiet moments with God where I would cry out to Him for healing for my husband.( I still cry out to Him for healing.) Over the years I've added more people to my praying list. There are times which the Lord will tell me to pray for someone. The Lord is familiar with all my runs. I think He enjoys seeing me dance and wave my hands in the air, as I sing along to my music and praise Him for all He has done. So let's talk about 2 miracles that have happened this week. Miracle #1: If you follow my daily mile site,(dailymile.com/people/jennieruns) I posted a note about my air conditioner going out. David even tried seeing what was wrong with it. Nothing. For 2 days it wouldn't work. We all prayed. I had others praying for us. Come Monday morning, it started working. David says, "God is an awesome mechanic!" That day my best friend Melly needed me. That was when I realized that He knew I would be needing the van that day. Miracle #2: David's insurance wouldn't cover the med he's been on for years until Wednesday. That would be 4 days without this med. He has restless leg syndrome and the med helps quiet the legs. If he doesn't take the medication, his legs jerk all night and he starts having involuntary leg movements. He looks like someone trying to practice running or biking laying flat on their backs. My poor hubby. So, the only thing he knew to do was to pray. The Lord guided him to some generic pills he had in his drawer. He slept. His legs slept. I'm excited for what God is doing!!! Looking forward to sharing more of what God is giving to me! Well, I hope I haven't bored you to death. God Bless! Jennifer