How to Keep Breakfast Interesting

Photo by Celeste Lidell

Breakfast is a big deal for us. We get up early and are active from the first minute, so we need solid fuel to keep the engine running. But having the same ol' cereal for breakfast can get boring pretty quickly, not to mention unhealthy. That's why I included breakfast in our meal planning schedule, and it's a different breakfast each day of the week.

When you plan what, doesn't really matter. But to keep it simple and save time, you can stick to the same plan for each week. That way you can also alternate between high protein and high fiber breakfast meals.

Our schedule is as follows:

Monday: pancakes
Tuesday: oatmeal
Wednesday: toast & eggs
Thursday: crepes
Friday: cold cereal/muesli
Saturday: French toast
Sunday: yogurt & fruit

When you make crepes & pancakes often, it become a routine and goes much faster than the first time around. I usually put at least half whole wheat flour for each of those.  By the way, making crepes is simpler than making pancakes.

Keep your breakfasts diverse by adding small little extra's to your regular meals. Pancakes become an extra nice treat if you add a fruit, or chocolate chips. I'll have more tips on how to spice up your oatmeal in a future post!

If you're short on time and need some quick options for breakfast: check out my post on 5-minute breakfast options.

Do you eat breakfast? Or skip on it altogether? What's your favorite breakfast food?

Worth Every Minute

My advice from the doctor last week was to drink more water, because she feared I might be dehydrated. Naturally, I'm not one to argue, but I am one to inform myself, and that's how I came across the following article that I thought was really interesting. It talks about the health benefits of drinking water, and how it can help you stay fit by burning fat and nurturing your muscles.

It's a short article, a 2-minute read at most. Hopefully it'll inspire you to drink more water too. If you want to get some tips on how to drink more water, you can read this post.

Read the article and get re-hydrated!

Health Benefits of Water - How 8 Glasses a Day Keeps Fat Away

5 Quick Ways to Stay Warm in Winter

Our friend Sookie staying warm in a Belgian Winter

It's December, which means Winter for those on the northern half of the globe. This morning, the puddles turned ice reminded me that it's time to start pulling out a few tricks to stay warm.

Today I want to share a couple of those tricks I've learned over the years. Maybe you already know most, but I'm hoping some of them may be new or helpful reminders to you.

1. Dress in layers.
   One of the best ways to keep your body temperature in is by using layers to trap the heat. It's animals with thick fur stay warm too: the air in between the hairs acts as an insulation. So instead of just wearing pants, put on a pair of tights underneath. Instead of wearing thick sweaters, wear three thin ones. Summer tank tops can serve as underwear in Winter, which is a great way to save money too!
   
2. Heat it up.
   Ever tried drinking hot water? It's very common here in China and it makes perfect sense to me now. Why drink cold water in Winter when you can have the added benefit of warming up when you drink it hot or warm? If you bring your water bottle with hot water, it also acts as a great hand-warmer!
   The same goes for milk and even juice (adding hot water to juice can help it get warm and reduce your calorie intake. Then it also won't get so hot as to kill all the good stuff).
   Another bonus: drinking coffee and tea is a lot better for you than drinking soda. As long as you don't put sugar, that is.
   
   
3. Stay active.
   No surer way to freeze than to sit down and stop moving. Stomp your feet. Clap your hands. Walk to places instead of taking the car and you'll find that you'll get just as warm as in a heated car. But you'll be getting in shape, saving money and helping out the environment. It's a win-win-win!
   
4. Eat 'warming' foods.
   The Chinese believe that some foods help you stay warm while others cool you down (yang and yin foods). Eating more of the warming foods can help your body keep in more heat. Some examples are dried fruits, nuts and oats. Thinking of muesli yet? You can find more on warming and cooling foods (with a list!) on this website: Raw Foods Diet Center.
   
5. Cover the sensitive bits.
   And I mean your head and throat. We lose a lot of heat from our head (why do new-born babies always wear those cute little hats?) and our throat is sensitive too. The same goes for wrists and ankles which carry blood to our hands and feet. Keeping the extremities warm helps to keep a good circulation going, not allowing parts to cool off completely.

Any more great tips on how to keep warm? Do you have a typical Winter habit that helps you get through the dark days?

Let me know in the comments below!

3 Easy Tricks to Eat More Fruit

Picture by Michael Geipel

Vegetables are quite easy to incorporate into our diet since they're a part of our main meals, but unless you eat fruit as a desert or with breakfast, it can be difficult to give it a place in your diet. Fruit makes an ideal snack, however, as long as it's readily available when you feel like snacking.
Healthy eating is always a concern of mine, and with another life growing inside, it is now more so than ever. So I try to consume at least 3 pieces of fruit a day. Here's how I do it:

1. Pick fruit that's easy to eat on the go. It's tangerine and banana season here, but apples, grapes or berries are great too. Put a piece of fruit (or a bag of grapes) in your purse/briefcase so you have it with you when you're out of the house. You'll find yourself reaching for it when you're in the mood for something sweet because it's so close at hand.
   
2. Make a smoothie or shake to go with breakfast or as an in between snack. You can pack smoothies with quite a bit of different fruits, and you can add milk or yogurt for extra calcium, or orange juice for extra  vitamin C. Adding ice-cream is delicious, but kind of defeats the purpose. We've been loving our banana-yogurt-cocoa shakes lately!
   
3. Wash fruits right when you bring them into the house, and then display them wherever you spend the most time in the house. Having it already washed means you can just reach and take a bite. It also means you can let your fruit soak in salt water which is a great way to remove pesticides.
   Remember to wash your fruit even if it is organic because there are bugs and parasites in dirt too!

For me, fruit is a great way to satisfy that craving for something sweet without having to feel guilty about it. It also gives you fast sugars if you're feeling low on energy, so it's a great pick-me-up.
Fruits are full of wonderful nutrients, so every piece is a treat not only for your taste buds, but for your body too! Enjoy!

Triple Inspiration: Food Edition

A little later than usual, but here it is still on Sunday: this week's installment of Triple Inspiration. Today I've let myself get inspired by food, which isn't difficult when you think about it 24/7.

If you're looking for more quotes to inspire you during the week, or for more ideas on how to use these quotes, check out the other Triple Inspiration posts.

Get "Productive"!

Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first.  

(Josh Billings)

Get Happy!

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. 

(Julia Child)

Get Inspired
Food is our common ground, a universal experience. 

(James Beard) 

Aim for Small

Mini-cupcake by Vancouver Bites!

Pregnancy and food are a dangerous mix. Especially pregnancy and junk food. But I know it's not only pregnant women that crave foods that are bad for them. We all have our weaknesses and sometimes it's just too hard not to give in.
My hubby is pretty strict with me when it comes to eating fast food (frankly, I just don't tell him everything), but I make allowances for myself. If I really want something, I feel better just giving in than obsessing over it and getting stressed out in the process.

So how do I lessen my guilt and keep my intake of junk food under control? I opt for the smallest portion size.

I know that technically you get more value for money if you buy big sizes (although it's best to check that because I've found that sometimes the big containers end up costing more per kg than the small ones!), but you will still save money if you buy a smaller portion. The reality is that if you buy the big portion, you'll most likely finish it all at ones. I've only rarely seen someone put away half a bag of potato chips (my personal nemesis). If you only have a small portion, I doubt you'll run back to the store to buy more.

The same goes for bottles of soda, pieces of cake, packages of candy. Buying the small portion may seem more expensive, but it will save you money in the long run and keep you healthier, because you will get used to only consuming the small portion.

So next time you're at the store looking for that snack to satisfy your craving, try to find the smallest bag/package/bottle/can available and buy only that one. Just having a taste can be enough to get rid of those nagging thoughts.
If there is no small size available, sharing can work wonders too cutting your portion at least in half!

No Computer Before Breakfast!

Picture by Erik Hersman

'No computer before breakfast' is one of the rules I like to live by.

Our mornings used to start with turning on the computer and checking emails or stats on the blog. My hubby would play a game or two on-line. Then we'd nag each other a bit about when to have breakfast, and take at least 15 minutes 'finishing' our computer work before getting into the kitchen. Breakfast was an interruption instead of the wonderful start to the day that it is supposed to be.

Now the habit has changed, breakfast is a very nice and relaxing time for us. It's a moment to talk, and to discuss the day ahead.

For many, the first thing we do each morning is turn on electronics. The phone (if you've taken the trouble to turn it off before going to bed), computer or TV become the automatic 'on' button for the beginning of the day. We 'plug in' for the next 16 hours.

But consider a different morning altogether for a change. You wake up (brush your teeth/get dressed/etc.) and then prepare a lovely breakfast. If you want some ideas on how to do this quickly, you can read this post. You sit around the table with your partner/family/roommate (or just take a magazine if you live alone), and enjoy the food and the company.

This is a great time to connect to the people around you before everyone goes on their way and becomes a solitary busy bee. It's also a healthy start of the day since you're eating mindfully and can listen to your body's cues about when to stop. 

So next time you get out of bed and are reaching for that 'on' button, take a moment to think about how you could start the day differently and mindfully. Look at the sky outside, taste your food, talk to those around you. Connect to the day instead of the Internet!

Do you have morning habits to help you start the day in a good way? How long does it take you to get on the computer? Feel free to share your story in the comments! I love hearing from my readers and knowing they are still out there somewhere.

Freeze Food to Save Money, Time and the Environment

Photo by Kathleen Franklin

I'm a big fan of the modern-day freezer. We don't have a big one, but it's quite alright for the two of us. Freezers actually use less energy the fuller they are, so we try to keep ours pretty stuffed. There's a lot of different kinds of food in our freezer. Not only meat and veggies, but also bread, left-overs and even cheese.

Even though I wouldn't recommend freezing cheese, sometimes the amounts of money you can save by buying big packages, is worth it.

Consider freezing everything you don't see yourself eating within the next week (when it comes to vegetables) or the next two or three days (for meat and left-overs). 
I find that sometimes we even have to freeze half a loaf of bread, because otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough. 

Before you put left-overs or big packages of something in the freezer, break it up in usable portions. We buy 2 kg packs of bacon here at the local port, and divide it into little packages of about 6 strips so it's easy to take out whenever we need it. If we need more, we just take out two sets. 

If you're not sure how a certain food will fare under freezing conditions, you can always try a sample first. Just put it in a tiny ziplock back and check the next day. 

Freezing food allows us to make sure we only take out what we eat. It limits the amount of food that we waste because we don't use it up fast enough. I just hate wasting food when so many go hungry.
It also forces us to plan ahead and thus think more clearly about our meals. A great trick to becoming more aware of eating habits and the variation in our diet.

PS. Cheese won't change in flavor if you freeze it, but it will become crumbly when thawed. That being said, if you would grate it and put it on a pizza or in a cheese-sauce, that would work just fine!

Worth Every Minute

I've been trying to incorporate more calcium into my diet, and one of the ways I've done this is by sipping the occasional glass of milk. I drink one with breakfast, and one before going to bed. It comforts my stomach when it's upset and it's just nice as an in between snack.

I was looking up some information about the benefits of drinking milk (and the drawbacks) when I came across this site that I'd love to share with you. It has lots of great tips on how to incorporate drinking more milk into your life, and on the benefits of drinking it.

So go ahead, read, think, get a glass of the good stuff!

The Health Benefits of Drinking Milk by Michele Borboa

PS. Avoid taking calcium with iron-rich foods because they sort of cancel each other out. Vitamin C and D help with the absorption of calcium.

Control Your Cravings: 3 Snack Options

Picture by Arnold Gatilao

Let's face it: Our body doesn't always let us know what's good for us. At different times during the day we may crave something sweet, salty or greasy. None of these options are particularly encouraging for someone who is trying to eat well and stay healthy.
What you need is a way to fool your body into thinking you're satisfying a junk-food need, while really feeding it something reasonably healthy.
I've figured out some tricks to limit the amounts of ice-cream and salted chips/crisps that I eat.

1. Craving something sweet: Try to eat a sweet kind of fruit, maybe one that's on the verge of too sweet, like grapes or a very ripe mango. Dried fruits are even sweeter and guaranteed to make you crave some water instead!
   
2. Craving something salty and crunchy: Toast some bread and top it with some peanut butter and a little bit of salt. You could also use gomashio, which is a Japanese sesame salt that goes really well with peanut butter in my opinion! One of my go-to snacks.
   
3. Really hungry: Eat something that contains fat and protein. Ideal snacks to combine both are eggs, nuts and beef jerky. These are a great way to help tie you over until the next big meal.

Any idea what to do about craving french fries? That seems to be the one that's eternally difficult to control in my case. Can't imagine what it would be like if I lived in Belgium where they are pretty much everywhere! I used to eat them at least once a week.

3 Ways to Drink More Water

Picture by Greg Riegler

One of the tips for a healthy diet that I usually find difficult to keep up with, is the one about drinking more water. Usually, I just forget about it unless I'm really thirsty. And now that the heat has subsided, and our life is quite relaxed, I don't feel thirsty half as often as I should.
So I need to find little tricks to remind myself to drink more water. I want to share with you today what has worked for me so far.

1. It's important to always have water ready for you to drink. Keep a pitcher of water on your desk, a bottle in your bag, a glass on your bedside table (for mornings, not evenings!)
   
2. Make sure to drink water that you enjoy. There's no use trying to get yourself to drink more water if you don't like the taste. The habits won't stick. And yes, water does have lots of different tastes. If you're in a country where you can safely drink tap-water, a filtering can or system can improve the taste (and the effects on your iron and washing machine). It's what my parents did, and the water tastes great!
   
3. Make it a habit to sip your water rather than drinking big amounts at once. You will soon get used to the fresh feeling, and the lack thereof can start making you feel uncomfortable.
   This also keeps you from downing full glasses that leave you feeling like a giant water balloon. Not a pleasant feeling!

When I was young, I remember one of my classmates actually being taken to the hospital because he was dehydrated.  I've never quite forgotten that.
Drinking more water can help purify your body, and can help you get a better skin and a slimmer waist. You just have to remember to do it.

Five 5-Minute Breakfast Options

French Toast by Annie Mole

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you start off with a good breakfast, it gets your metabolism going and can provide energy for the morning ahead of you, preventing you from reaching for snacks before lunchtime. We eat a big breakfast every day, with two eggs, a piece of fruit, and a slice of bread with cheese. But from time to time we like to change it up a little and eat something different.
These following breakfast menus all take about 5 minutes to prepare.

1. Scrambled eggs with toast. Beat the eggs with a bit of milk, melt some butter in the pan, and keep stirring the eggs while they cook. Finished in no time!
   
2. French toast. Again, beat an egg with some milk, dip both sides of a slice of bread in the mix, and fry the eggy bread in some butter. Tastes great with jam! French toast is a great way to re-purpose stale bread.
   
3. Smoothies. In for a light breakfast? Put some frozen berries and a banana in the blender with some yogurt. Easy and fast!
   
4. Granola and yogurt. Cereals are easy but often a high-sugar/low-nutrient option. Go for a cereal without added sugar (granola can be made with only honey). It's even better if you take out some time to make your own muesli. Make sure you mix in some nuts so you feel full longer. Eat with milk or yogurt.
   
5. Ham & Cheese sandwich. Get some cheese and ham, slice some cucumber and tomatoes to go with it. Put it all between two slices of whole-wheat bread and voila! No need for mayo, tastes great without it. 

Now there's no excuse for not preparing breakfast for your family. It only takes a couple of minutes. Try to make sure you get a bit of protein (not included in option 3) too, so you'll feel full longer. And keep in mind that if you eat vegetables and fruit now, you've already taken a first step toward those 5 servings per day!

Healthy Summer Snacks: Shakes

(source)

Summer and winter for me are both risky times when it comes to snacking. In winter, I always crave cookies and chocolate, in summer, I can't stay away from ice-cream and fruit pies. But there are so many better options available that offer our body much more nutrition and a lot less poison.

One of the ways I try to stay away from ice-cream is by eating fruit instead. But sometimes, that just doesn't cut it and I want something a bit more special. On those occasions, I get out the blender and make myself a quick shake.

I've based my shakes on either dairy or on juice. Some fruits mix better with milk or yogurt, others go really well with orange juice.
Some quick combinations for you to try out:

1. Mix some banana, yogurt (or kefir) and cocoa powder in the blender. This is similar to a desert my mother used to make that was a combination of melted chocolate and yogurt left in the fridge. This one is much faster though, and you get some extra nutrients from the banana
   
2. Mix any berries with apple juice. I love forest fruits in a juice, or in a blend. The tangy taste is just perfect for those hot summer days. To make it easy on yourself (and avoid a trip to the woods) frozen berries work just fine and add that bit of cold chill many people like.
   
3. Blend some mango with orange juice. Mango is one of my favorite fruits, and it's unbelievably good for you! To spice up this shake, add a bit of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg to the mix.

Enjoy your summer full of healthy snacks, and don't forget to indulge in that bit of ice-cream every now and then anyways. You deserve it!

What kind of shakes do you make?
If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to vote on it below.

MWH Travel Tips: 5 - Ask the Locals

When you're traveling, you want to relax and have a good time. Maybe you would like to enjoy a nice dinner out, visit a great pub, see a show of some kind.

Guide books can help you find these little hot spots, but they may not be as up to date as another great source of information that is ALWAYS available: the people around you.

No matter where you are, if you are staying in a hotel/hostel in a medium sized city, chances are someone there will speak a little bit of English. If they don't, it always helps to have some phrases you may need ready. Write them down on a piece of paper in both your language and the language of the destination. Otherwise, hands and feet can be incredibly useful when used in a versatile manner!

Ask the staff of the hotel where they would go for: a cheap meal, a celebration dinner, a fun night out, some relaxing time or a good beer. Make sure your source understands that you're not looking for the tourist hot spots per se, you just want to find whatever place they would frequent. 

Apart from finding what you want, it can also be a great way to get to know the culture of the place a little better.
Ask your contact to write down a favorite dish of theirs, for example (first make sure it's not an animal part that will make you gag), or ask them to recommend a local beer. 

When you're staying in a place, keep in mind that your hotel/hostel personnel can have more than one function for you. Not only are they there to provide you with whatever you may require hotel/hostel wise, they are also just people that work and maybe live close by where you happen to be staying all year round and have the most recently updated information. You can't beat, Lonely Planet!

Save Time by Doing Double

Hubby's Colorful Cooking

One of the things that takes up a certain amount of time during our day, no matter how much we try to streamline it and make it faster, is cooking.  With cooking, it's mostly the preparations that take up a lot of time, and the time it takes for foods to become tender, especially vegetables.

So I've gotten into the habit of cooking double portions when it's possible. We just put the food in the fridge for the next day, or the day after that, but you could also freeze it.

Cooking double portions of food is as easy as cooking single portions. You just double up on the ingredients, if you normally don't have leftovers. Also make sure your pot is big enough to hold twice the amount of food.

There is, however, one bit of advice which I think is paramount:
When you've finished cooking, remove the second portion BEFORE you start eating!

If you live with a husband like mine, who is a bottomless pit in which all food magically disappears without ever showing up in increased waist-lines, this is of vital importance. My hubby will keep eating, no matter how much food there is!

Naturally, freezing portions for later days, or parts of the meal (like sauces) is also a good way to save time. Making apple sauce for one afternoon can give you a whole set of jars for months to come!

The extra preparation time it takes to cook two portions instead of one, is quite small for most dishes. Unless there's a lot of dicing involved, the difference will be a matter of minutes!

Make a Standard Meals List

(source)

Ever wonder about what to cook for dinner? Or you're walking around the super market without any ideas as to which ingredients you should be buying? This happens to us all the time, and we sometimes just end up ordering pizza to avoid the problem altogether. Doesn't seem very efficient, does it? As we were fidgeting over what to cook for lunch for the zillionth time that month, it hit me. We should be able to organize this better.

Some people suggest you write up a weekly menu, planning every meal for that week and doing all your grocery shopping at once. Once we have kids, this will probably be how we do it too, but for now, what we have in the house depends on which vegetables we can find cheap and fresh at the supermarket. That depends on which day we go and what season it is, as well as on how many old Chinese ladies have gone through that morning picking up the cream of the crop.

So instead, I decided to write a list of dishes (Chinese and American/European) that we can cook well and without much trouble, so that all I have to do is look through my fridge, see which ingredients are available, and cook a dish based on that.

Take a piece of paper and a pen/pencil. This is really all you need. You don't really need a fancy notebook or organizing system. No need to over-complicate your simplification! 
Think of the different meals you've cooked last week, the ones that didn't require you to use a recipe because by now they've become routine. Write them down.
Alternatively, write down dishes based on which ingredients are prominent in them, or base them on the staple food of that dish (all pasta-dishes, all rice-dishes, all potato-dishes, for example). 
When you've finished this quick first list, check to see if all these dishes include vegetables and protein. If not, think of what you can add to them to make them complete.

Put this list on your fridge, or somewhere in your kitchen where it's easy to grab quickly. Keep a pencil close to it, so you can add as you go along and jot down other ideas for combinations or switching ingredients (we cook a Chinese dish that has eggs and tomatoes, for example, but can replace the tomato with some other vegetables, like zucchini for variety).

This can be a great way to economize as well, since it encourages you to use the ingredients you already have handy and not let anything go to waste. It's also a good reminder of how many various dishes you already know how to cook, and to eat a more varied and balanced diet.
Any ideas for easy, quick meals that take little time to cook or prepare?

Prepare a Snack Pack - 3 Easy Options

Picture by Chris Chidsey

 Our genes have not evolved nearly as fast as our food industry has. So there are times when we crave a snack, and will find one no matter what. I usually grab whatever is easiest and ready to go. I often can't be bothered to even peel an apple and will just grab something that comes in a bag.

I've found that preparing some snacks before-hand only takes a couple of minutes, but leaves me with much healthier options that are just as easy. If you're worried about losing weight, then this is an easy first step!

1. Go Nuts!
Get a nut mix from the store, or buy your favorite nuts and mix them. You can also add some raisins for a sweet touch. Don't add too much dried fruit, since it mostly has carbs that you'll burn through quickly. Nuts are fat, but that means you'll feel full longer too. And they have lots of great vitamins and minerals.


2. Veggie-fries
Peel a carrot. Cut it in strips about the size of a French fry (do NOT think about French fries, or this might go horribly wrong!) Put them in a box in the fridge to snack on when you're craving something crunchy. Other vegetables that are great for this are bell pepper, cucumber and celery.

3. Boiled Eggs
Eggs are not the dangerous bombs of cholesterol they're made out to be. They're very nutritious, carry lots of vitamins (A, B (2, 4, 6, 12) D and E) and minerals (iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, selenium) and will provide you with a good filler. If you're worried about fat and cholesterol, don't eat the yolk. 
(I do advise that you read up on cholesterol first. This is a good place to start, when you have time)
I keep some hard boiled eggs in the fridge at all times!

Want to make sure you truly enjoy your healthy snack? Check out my previous post Relaxed Snacks.

Do you  have any other ideas for healthy snacks? Let me know below!

Relaxed Snacks

Most of us have grown accustomed to snacking while being in the middle of another activity. We bite into an apple as we run out the door. We eat a protein bar in front of the computer screen. We have a piece of cake while talking to a friend. Let's face it, we're never quite alone with our food, are we?
All this distraction distracts us (duh!) from the experience of eating our food.
Have you ever suddenly realized you finished a snack, but can't quite remember what it tasted like? You got so caught up in doing whatever else you were doing, that the eating became automatic. It's a sure way to make you eat more. Now how's that diet going? Losing weight yet?

Picture by Martin Boulanger

Right, so that's not the way we want to go.
How about you try this next trick when you're about to eat your next snack.

Find a place where it's just you. If you're at the office, put the screen saver on for a while. Are you at home? Then ask the kids to give you just 5 minutes.
Unwrap, peel, prepare your snack with care. Put it on a nice plate. Get a class of water or a cup of coffee on the side. All this shouldn't take you very long. A couple of minutes at most.
Sit down and look at your snack. Anticipate how it will taste, how much you want it, how it'll make you feel.
Then, take a bite. Savor it. Be aware that there is only one first bite, and it's the best bite. Take a sip of water or coffee and ... repeat.

It will seem as if you're taking much longer to finish your snack, but the focused activity of eating takes you away from all the other stuff and lets your mind relax. You will start again on your other activities with renewed energy.