The Bread Revolution (I'm losing it btw)

www.freedigitalphotos.net

Bread. I am having a serious love/hate relationship with bread. It's not a carb thing, it's a quality thing. For a clean eater who wants to buy simple, healthy food, the bread aisle is one of the most frustrating sections of the grocery store. As one of my dear friends vented to me recently, bread just gets more and more confusing. Soda, candy, and other junk food we know is bad for us. That's easy to spot. Not always easy to resist, but easy to identify as junk.

Bread, not so much. No, it masquerades as health food all day long! Just look at the packaging: brown, pictures of shafts of wheat alongside healthy-looking nuts, oats, seeds, and more. Humble farmers and old-timey font add to the message that this bread is just like the kind your grandma made.

Except I'm thinking your sweet grandma didn't go around to the local barbershops, sweep up the hair lying on the floors, boil it down in acid, and pour it into her bread. And I'm guessing she didn't stop at the market and pick up some Azodicarbonamide, either. Especially if she lives in Australia, Europe, or Singapore, since its been outlawed there and use of it will result in 15 years of imprisonment and $450,000 in fines. Bread just ain't what it used to be.

Why? Read more about five ingredients you shouldn't have in your bread.

It's gotten downright ridiculous. Preservatives and dough conditioners give bread a longer shelf life and predictable mouth-feel, but at what cost? Personally, I feel less and less comfortable buying commercial bread as I read more about the potential side effects of chemicals that are added for the convenience and profitability of the company that made it. Bread should be bread. Pure and simple.

Do we really need this stuff in our bread?

So, I've launched a bread revolution in my house. I'm taking back bread! I am so committed. I'm a bread-baking fool these days, and my home is filled with that wonderful aroma of yeast and dough. Its just great! Except for one thing. My family ain't buying it. Or eating it. They want their store-bought bread.

So the revolution, well, it's a little of a David and Goliath thing, with me holding a puny little slingshot and a nice warm loaf of bread as my rock. "Plenty of people would kill for homemade bread," I exclaim to my loving family. They understand. I try the martyr angle: "I guess I'll bring it to the homeless shelter, where people may appreciate it more." They nod sympathetically. I am stumped. Who on EARTH would not want homemade bread??? It's delicious! Seriously. 

Okay, so not all of my loaves have been masterpieces. And maybe I shouldn't have thrown out all of the bread in the house and provided only my experiments for sustenance. But I'm getting better, and I'm not giving up. This year, I will become good at baking bread, and more importantly, I will find at least one recipe that my family will eat for sandwiches. 

And yeah, I'm totally going to tell you all about it the whole time. Read here about one of my attempts - successful, yay! - at hamburger buns.

So, tell me - do you have any tried-and-true bread recipes for me to try? Post them in the comments! I'd love to give them a shot, try them out on the natives, and let you know how they like it!

Get out there and get healthy today, even if your family wants store-bought bread.

Homemade Hamburger Buns (Great taste, no cancer!)

One of my goals for 2013 is to find some bread recipes that my family will actually eat on a regular basis so I can stop buying the terrible bread currently offered in grocery stores. Even the "good" bread has dough conditioners and preservatives that include ingredients like human hair and substances known to cause cancer. How can I cook my sweet little boy a grilled cheese sandwich on cancer bread?!? I can't. That's why I bake bread.

Read more about how human hair ends up in your bread.

Tonight was experiment numero uno: hamburger buns. I am so happy with how they came out. I used a Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook recipe and it's pretty simple. Now that I know the recipe works, I can start tinkering with different types of flour, adding seasoning, etc.

Here's the recipe for your bread machine:

My buns straight from the oven!

Ingredients
1 cup water
2 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
3 1/4 cups bread flour (I had to use all-purpose, which was fine, but bread flour would be best)
1/4 cup sugar (I'll be tinkering with lowering the sugar content)
1 tsp salt
3 tsp quick active dry yeast

Instructions: Place all ingredients into bread machine pan in order listed. Select the "dough" or "manual" setting on your bread machine and let it run. Mine took about 90 minutes to knead the dough. After it is done, remove the dough from the machine and let it rest on a lightly floured surface, covered with a towel, for 10 minutes. Then, shape into 15 small rolls, place on a greased cookie sheet, and allow to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size. I flattened mine a little so they would be more like buns than rolls and put them in a warm oven. Once they have risen, bake them at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven, slice, and serve! Put unused buns in the freezer.

The result? They were really, really good. I had four taste testers and they all loved them! I doubt I will ever buy hamburger buns again. Give these a try! They are easy and well worth the time to bake them, especially since the bread machine does all the hard work!

Good bread is a real treat, and you deserve good bread. Get out there and get healthy! Skip the bread aisle and make your own!

The Healthy Food Serenade

Heads up: I'm about to reveal a potentially embarrassing but hopefully helpful fitness tip that I hope makes you either:

a) find comfort in the fact that as dorky as you are, there is someone even dorkier,
b) get inspired to try it yourself, or 
c) do both. :)

Music is a great motivator for me when I'm running, and I often use music with my clients to illustrate points, emphasize milestones, and celebrate the start of new exciting chapters in wellness. When I set out for a run, I crank it up and sometimes even stop to dance a little in the street. But over time, I've started catching myself finding more and more metaphors for food relationships in music. It first happened when I caught myself singing along to Queen's "Let Me Live" and directing the lyrics towards my anger at sugar for always taking, taking, taking and never giving back:

Why don't you take another little piece of my soul

Why don't you shape it and shake it

til you're really in control

All you do is take

And all I do is give

All that I'm asking

Is a chance to live

It seemed to really describe the roller coaster of trying to live in moderation with sugar, but knowing that I never really could have a healthy life as long as it was flowing through my body. Over the years, I've found more and more songs that illustrate how I feel about food - great food relationships and not-so-great ones - and really enjoy serenading them as I run. Today, it was Christina Augilera singing "Makes Me Wanna Pray." Here's a sample of the lyrics that seemed to define how I feel about healthy food:

What is this feeling coming over me?

I'm taken back in disbelief

Is this really me, ha! in the mirror I see?

Staring back at me: Could it be? 

A new reflection of a woman complete

All of a sudden I'm so care-free (well alright)

'cause love is doing something strange to me (well alright)

Got a new flame, ha! 

haven't been the same

Something in me's changed, rearranged

And I feel that I've been saved

You got me feeling like you're that something I've been missing

Everything's heaven 'cause life with you has been a blessing

If you click on the video below, turn it up loud! Come to that dorky place with me and sing a love song to the key to being in love with yourself, the choices you make, and the body you get to live in.

Get out there and get healthy today, even if you stop to dance in the streets and sing love songs to healthy food! I won't judge you. :)

Newsflash: Paula Deen is Not Healthy

I knew something was up when I saw Paula Deen on the Today Show teaching us how to cook healthy.


Now the news that Paula Deen has Type-2 diabetes has hit the press, conveniently at the same time that she launches a new batch of lightened-up recipes and an advertising campaign for the diabetes medication Novo Nordisk. I'm always skeptical when someone makes a sudden about-face in philosophy, in this case going from "you know I love my butter, y'all," to explaining the basics of nutrition, portion control, and healthy cooking. It didn't take long to figure out that either a) her sons sat her down for  a heart-to-heart that convinced her she was part of the nation's obesity problem, or b) she had landed a new endorsement deal. Turns out it was the second one.


Paula Deen is being blasted for not revealing her medical condition to the public, but why should she? It's a personal issue and she doesn't owe us an update on her health status. As a fan of Southern cooking, I'm glad to see her embrace a healthier lifestyle and shift to a message of moderation and portion control. There is no way I would step foot in her restaurant because as an ambassador of health, I can't personally condone a lifestyle of food excess and worship. But if her recipes truly do reflect a lighter interpretation of the decadent meals that have made her famous, then I hope it is a true shift in priorities and not just one for self-promotion.


Southern cooking is often assumed to be unhealthy, probably because we immediately envision ourselves tucking a napkin under our chins to dig into a meal piled high with buttered biscuits, cheese grits, fried chicken, sausage, and of course, decadent desserts. But it doesn't have to be.  I'm a Southerner, and I cook healthy every day. Just check out these healthified Mardi Gras recipes for proof! Almost every single meal that anyone could want can be "healthified." Almost. I still cannot get my mom's buckeye cookies, peanut butter balls rolled in powdered sugar and dipped in chocolate, under 100 calories each! 


Are Paula Deen's new ways going to stick or will her recipes slide backwards in the name of "moderation?" Time will tell. In the meantime, I hope her medical condition raises awareness of the dangers of high-fat eating and helps a few people wake up and stop eating like they're at the state fair every day.


Don't get diabetes. Stop eating fair food and get out there and get healthy! 

Pepped-up Peanut Butter

"Heather, you know, your peanut butter is pretty tasteless." 


"That's because you're used to Skippy, mom. This is real peanut butter, remember, like the kind you used to buy when I was a kid?"


"Well it doesn't taste very good."


When my mom stayed with me for two weeks after my baby was born, we stopped being polite and started getting real about peanut butter. I buy freshly ground peanuts with nothing added, which can be different from the jar of creamy peanut butter with added salt and sugar that you might buy at the store. I personally don't think it is tasteless, I think it tastes great, but my mom didn't agree. It occurred to me that if you want to transition to a cleaner diet but your tastebuds (or those of your kids) are used to the sweeter flavors of commercial peanut butters, making the switch could result in a revolt. My solution? Cinnamon!


I opened my cupboard one day and saw my trusty cinnamon, which I love because it reduces blood sugar and tastes so yummy. I sprinkle it on apples and peaches all the time. On a whim,  I sprinkled it in my natural peanut butter to yummy results. 

I added some ground cloves as well, and stirred it all up. It is so good and I doubt anyone would call my peanut butter tasteless anymore. 


Cinnamon doesn't just pep up my peanut butter. It lowers blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, reduces inflammation, and more. Check out these health benefits of cinnamon and sprinkle some in your life today!

The Change Your Life Salad is Back!

Woot! I actually remembered to weigh myself this morning and was delighted to see another two pounds gone. I'm still a ways off from fitting into my regular clothes, as was evidenced this morning when I attempted to find something to wear for a meeting, but I'll take it. I made it through Thanksgiving unscathed. I guess that one-mile jaunt at the Turkey Trot burned more calories than I thought. :)


A big part of losing baby weight is simply eating more veggies.  Specifically, eating spinach. Spinach is my own personal miracle food. I even have a Popeye t-shirt that I can't fit into anymore. :) Every bit of muscle definition I have ever had (and will have) I can attribute to spinach. So, that means that my Change Your Life Salad is back! I didn't eat much of it when I was pregnant because veggies seriously grossed me out, but now that my taste buds (and gag reflex) are a little more reasonable it is back in full force.


It's the easiest and yummiest salad to make:

2 or 3 bunches of raw spinach
1 bunch romaine 
3 ounces of baked chicken or turkey 
4 or 5 strawberries
About 15 grams of feta cheese


No dressing needed! It is that good. Sometimes I do add a little Annie's Natural Papaya Poppy Seed dressing through. I eat it almost every day for lunch and it is sooo good.


I'm getting out there and getting healthy in the name of wearing my old jeans by New Years. What's your motivation to get out there and get healthy?

The Rule of the Belly

It was an unladylike, multi-napkin lunch at Moe's for me today.  I know, pick up your jaws from the floor, pregnancy makes you do some wacky things!  Today, it was a burrito.  Not only did I need one, I needed one bad, with real sour cream and lots of it.  It would not, could not, should not be ignored.

Remember how I told you that I gained 75 lbs in my first pregnancy?  Sour cream had a lot to do with that experience.  I just could not get enough!  I ate tacos for three weeks straight, no lie.  Well, this time around I am going about things with a little more restraint so I'm working hard to strike a balance between giving in to pregnancy cravings and not eating like a vacuum cleaner.

So, I pulled up Moe's website and went straight to the Nutrition Calculator so I could find exactly what I wanted - because you know pregnant ladies need exactly what they crave - without eating 900 calories just in lunch. It was perfect.  I was able to satisfy my craving and get out of there under 500 calories.  A little more than I would typically spend on a lunch, but the beast has been fed!

I have a firm belief that pregnancy cravings should not be ignored.  There is some weird reason why we need bagels with cream cheese and cool ranch chips sprinkled on top (saw that one online) or a specifically specific brand of ketchup to go on our grilled cheese sandwiches (no I do not want to eat that...yet).  Who knows why it happens, but I've learned the hard way not to try and reason with a baby.

But, I apply the same three rules to pregnancy cravings as I do regular ones:

1. Stall. I've gotten through many a craving by telling myself I could have it tomorrow, a day that never comes.  "Oooh, a brownie sounds good.  Maybe I'll have one tomorrow."  Most of the time by the next day I am not as interested anymore.  But when a craving keeps tapping you on the shoulder for a few days, move to rule #2...

2. Go get it.  Get exactly, precisely what you want or you will just eat around it, circling closer and closer until finally you cave in and eat it, and by which time you have now eaten way more calories than you would have had you just eaten what you wanted in the first place!  Which is why you should....

3. Manage the portion.  I didn't get a ginormous burrito today, I got a small one and I made it work with the rest of my day.  I knew it had to have sour cream, so I skipped shredded cheese to save calories.  Go get what you want - exactly what you want - but manage the portion and make compromises on the stuff that doesn't matter so it doesn't wreck your day.

I love the fact that I was able to get what I wanted today and still keep my day healthy.  Cause who knows what I will want to eat tomorrow. :)

Good day!

I Love Cheeseburgers

I love to eat cheeseburgers. A big, juicy cheeseburger on a really good-quality bun after a long day is such a satisfying meal.  Add some sweet potato fries and lots of ketchup and I am putty in your hands.  I love me some cheeseburgers, true fact.

But make no mistake - I eat them with a heavy dose of awareness that cheeseburgers do not exactly pave the road to a healthy, trim, and fit body.  One or two greasy burgers a year is where I draw the line, and the rest of the time its a turkey burger on an Ezekiel english muffin and veggies on the side.  We do what we have to do.

But let this news story be a wake-up call to anyone who thinks that they can skate by eating high-fat food and avoid the consequenses.  No, the more time you spend in the company of unhealthy food, the more likely you are to start shacking up with its troublesome cousins: obesity and heart disease. Another true fact.  And, they are the kind of roommates that steal your stuff and show your kids R-rated movies when you're not home.

Here's the thing: food is science. It is going to operate in your body the only way it knows how, and your body - the only one you get for your entire life that you have to be in 24/7/365 so you better take care of it - doesn't give a rat's patootie what you plan to do later or what you really meant to do or why you ate what you ate.  It just takes in the food and does its thang.  It's up to YOU to give it something to work with.

It's National Nutrition Month. Please, take time today to learn about the consequences of the food you eat.  As you go through your weekend stop and think about what you're giving your body to work with.  Give it something good!  And if you're not sure what that is, ask me or check out these helpful resources.

Cheeseburgers are great.  Just check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Good day!

I May Have Done Something Awesome

I went out of town for a weekend with friends and family with every intention of being uber-healthy and writing a fabulous blog post today about all the ways I thwarted unhealthy vacation food and pioneered my own path of virtuous nutrition the whole time, keeping my body clean and healthy and fueled for vitality.  And I so very much wish I could tell you that story today. But I can't, because I didn't do any of those things.  But, it's cool.

I didn't realize it until last night, but when I thought back on my nutritional choices over the weekend and tried to feel all bad about them, I realized I didn't have that much to feel bad about.  Yeah, I ate a bunch of sugar and fatty foods that I don't usually eat and I felt the physical impact (translation: like crap) but when I really sat down and itemized my nutrition, it just wasn't that bad overall.

Practicing what I preach is really important to me, but the whole, "all things in moderation" thing is a hard one for me to practice. My brain just doesn't work that way. I am either on or off, all or nothing, in or out.  In the spirit of not being a hypocrite, I have been working hard at moderation, and living in the middle is weird and uncomfortable and I don't like it. 

But I am always telling people that change happens when things get weird, so hopefully the amount of time I spent in the middle this weekend means that change is happening for me, too.

After I realized that my scandalous nutrition wasn't exactly front-page news, I sat down to figure out what I had done differently this time to get such a happy result.  Here's what I decided, and what may also help anyone else out there struggling with living in the middle:

1. I didn't drink.  We all know that alcohol lowers our inhibitions, and not having a mind-altering substance flowing through my veins really made a huge difference.

2. I kept moving.  While I didn't work out or run this weekend, I did stay really busy.  There wasn't a lot of down time for munching, which helped me stick to actual meals instead of vacation grazing on high-sodium stuff.

3. I drank a ton of water.  I was almost always full because I kept the water flowing.  I always feel healthier when I am well-hydrated, and apparently I make better decisions, too.

Coming home to such a happy realization was like a whole new vacation. I hope my little epiphany awakens something new in your health today, too. Go find out! Get weird!

The Diet Soda Dance

Over the weekend I heard a news report about new research showing that drinking diet soda every day increases your chance of a stroke by 61%. And when I sat down to Google it, I naturally found this article urging caution about taking the results too seriously because there hasn't been enough work to establish a true link between the two.


Of course we should keep drinking diet soda! A refreshing and filling beverage with no calories? Bring it on! Oh wait...you meant water? Never mind.


In reading the article debunking the research, these quotes jumped out at me: 


"In my 20 years of clinical practice, patients who consume diet soda tend to have more of a sweet tooth; to get more sweet cravings; to eat more foods with added sugar; and to like and eat more processed food than patients who avoid both regular and diet soda," said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.


"Any way you slice it, soda drinking is not healthy and should be done sparingly," said Dr. Peter McCullough, consultant cardiologist and chief academic and scientific officer for St. John Providence Health System and the Providence Park Heart Institute in Southfield, Mich.


"The study highlights the increasingly negative information we are getting about the consumption of non-caloric sweetened beverages," said Dr. Jana Klauer, a New York City-based private practice physician specializing in weight control and nutrition. "People drink them to save calories and enjoy a sweet taste, but diet soda hasn't lead to weight loss and now appears to be causing more problems than it solves."


So, here's my take on it: sure, the research may be flawed. And, there are plenty of corporate interests invested in making sure we know that.  I still say that drinking something that can clean car battery corrosion is still a toxic idea. 


I used to be hooked on Coke Zero. I'd drink it all the time and every day at 3:00, I wanted one. And I had one. Eventually, it was the only unhealthy thing in my diet. I ate really clean super nutrition, but drank diet soda. So, I stopped. It wasn't that easy; as with most processed and artificially flavored frankenfood, I had withdraw problems. But every time I drank diet soda I felt like I was corroding my body, and I stopped. It's been over four years since I've had even a drop.


It can be done! Read the writing on the wall - this stuff is bad for you. It may not be proven yet, but read the statements above. Do you really need proof?


If so, just watch Wall-E.

How to Not Eat Crap

The new USDA Dietary Guidelines have been released, and what a shock, they're advising us to all stop eating so much junk.  Specifically, salt and sugar. I'm sure that next week Taco Bell, McDonald's, and all the others will unveil brand new menu items that are lower in salt and sugar, revealing what we've known all along but didn't want to admit:

It IS possible to eat healthy after all!  Whaaat?  I know, freaky! 

I know that for a lot of people, decreasing salt and sugar in food is scary because it means sacrificing taste.  And in a way, it does.  Food does taste different without salt and sugar. I think it tastes better, but that's probably because I've been doing it for so long that I've forgotten what crappy food tastes like until I eat it and feel sick. It was a serious adjustment at first. Salt was no biggie but sugar...woah. Sugar addiction is no joke and quitting it is HARD.  For real hard. Like, super difficult to the max. I am so not kidding.

But its really important and totally worth it.  Here's how to do it:

Stop eating processed foods.

I know, there should be more there.  There should be some kind of plan, right?  I could make one, but I'd just be fooling you.  The only way to cut your dependance on salt and sugar is to stop eating it.  It will suck really really bad at first.  Then it will be a little less sucky. Then it will become something you're glad you did. And after a few weeks, you will be building your soapbox and preaching on street corners about how you changed your life through clean eating. Or you'll start a blog, whatever.

The point is that the government has it right on this one - we need to eat better and the only way to do that is to eat better.  Here's the good news - your taste buds are like the honor society of your body. They're fast learners and they do their homework every single day!  They'll pick up really fast on the new and improved routine, they'll remember how great they felt when you fed them healthier food, and they'll begin to crave it after just a couple weeks.  So stop doubting them. They're smarter than you think.

Oh, and about those Taco Bell and McDonald's ads telling you about how suddenly their food is so healthy...they're just saying that so you'll buy it. 

Good day!

Have fitness, will travel: being healthy on the road

For the past five days, I have been doing some hard-core hotel living. One of the easiest ways to derail your fitness is to disrupt the routine, and going out of town can easily do it. Unless!  Unless!  Unless you think ahead and make a plan for staying true to your goals despite being in a less-than-optimum locale!  Believe it or not, you can be healthy on the road.  Here's how: bring your food.

Hold on, hear me out.

One of the obvious things I do is to pack my food in an ice chest and bring it with me. And it's not as much of a hassle as you think! And really, which is the bigger pain - packing your cooler or having to decipher restaurant menus and do damage control later?  Automation is a key to success, and having your regular food on hand keeps your fitness automatic. PS- this is also called  consistency.

In this case, though, I was flying so couldn't bring my ice chest. So, I called the hotel and arranged for a fridge in my room.  It was free, and usually is because hotels have guests who need to store medications. And really, food is the ultimate medication, right? Then I packed what I could in my insulated lunch bag, hit up a grocery store when I got to town, and stocked my fridge.  My co-workers tease me when I do this, but by the end of the trip they feel run-down and sluggish after eating catered food for days, and I feel great. Plus, my expense account is a lot less than theirs!

This is living!

Here's what I packed:
5 ziplocks with 1/2 cup dry oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon, and whole cranberries
Lara bars and Clif bars
5 ziplocks with 100-calorie portions of raw almonds
a small bowl and a spoon

And here's what I bought:
Spinach, oranges, and 2 bags of chopped raw veggies
Toufayan low-carb wraps
Boar's Head Ovengold turkey breast
Sabra hummus (4 pack)
Paper towels and Lysol wipes (hotels are nasty, yo)

Mmmm....breakfast!

I cooked my oatmeal each morning by making hot water in the hotel room coffee pot and stirring it into my pre-packaged oatmeal packs.  I had fruit, almonds, and bars on hand for quick snacks, and I had spinach-turkey wrap fixings and veggie/hummus combos for lunch or dinner. I figured I would end up eating one meal out each day, and when I was there I followed my number one restaurant rule: Keep It Simple!  I ordered things with the shortest list of ingredients, which usually amounts to a nice big bowl of delicious fresh vegetables with some grilled fish or  chicken.  If I have dressing with it, I keep it on the side and dip my fork into it instead of pouring it on the food.

If you're on a short trip, a supply of lara bars, almonds, and fruit in your purse can be a lifesaver. But if you're gone more than two days, it really pays off to get the hassle part done early and plan out your food so you can enjoy your time away and not have to face the big reality check when you land back at home.  It's definitely worth it!

I'm back now, which means I have a reality check of my own...finally having time to focus on strength training!  I will not miss hotel living one single bit!

Good day!

Laissez les bon temps à être en bonne santé

Let the good times be healthy!

Mardi Gras is here! I love the atmosphere of this holiday.  The calories, not so much. So I rolled up my sleeves and healthified some of my favorite hometown recipes so you can celebrate this fun time without sacrificing your health and nutrition.  You're welcome.

I'm from Louisiana, and when I go home, hoo boy it's hard to be healthy. It's like an obstacle course of high-calorie traps, and I have to make sure my consistency, data, accountability, and intention are in full force.  I usually do really well for about two days and then it all goes to hell.  If I can get a run in each day I am there, that really helps me stay focused...and burns the calories off for when I am not so focused. :)

One of my biggest Mardi Gras pitfalls is king cake.  This sugary-sweet cake is like a pandora's box of sugar cravings.  One teeny tiny slice is so gooey and sweet that I feel sluggish and gross when I eat it. But I still want to eat it, and so does everyone else.  So I adapted a recipe that reminded me of king cake into something a lot healthier that won't induce sugar cravings or blow your calorie budget.

I thought about calling this Grown Up King Cake because of the frosting - its a yogurt-based glaze with a lot less sugar than store-bought icing - but when I brought this to a party for some test sampling, adults and kids alike scarfed it down. It felt so good to tell them that the cake they were eating was only 140 calories a slice and made with whole wheat and low sugar.  But no, that doesn't mean you should have two.  Food is still fuel!  It's just not realistic to think that I will go to Mardi Gras and not eat king cake.  So this fuel isn't exactly high-octane, but it isn't going to put sugar in my tank when I am out at the parades. 

The rest of my Mardi Gras Menu includes my Actually Healthy Jambalaya and Red Beans and Brown Rice.  You can find all three recipes on the "Healthy Mardi Gras?" page at the top of your screen! 

I hope you have a great Carnival season and are able to enjoy it without losing ground on your fitness and wellness goals.  And here's some lagniappe - if you need a reminder (or a way to burn off the calories) check out the Mardi Gras Rock and Roll Half Marathon in New Orleans on February 13.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!