New Snack Recipe

I found a new recipe - Its a somewhat healthy snack that will fill you up.  I just finished eating my first piece and its delicious!

Chewy Fruit & Oat Bars

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (8-ounce) container vanilla yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick or old fashioned oats
~1 cup diced dried mixed fruit, raisins, or dried cranberries

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, egg, oil, milk, and vanilla; mix well. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Add to yogurt mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and fruit.
3. Spread dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
4. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

Makes 24 bars.

Must Love Nuts

Aren't nuts delicious?  My favorite are spicy almonds that I buy from Trader Joes.  Its one of the first thing I grab when I need a snack.  I always have an open bag right within hands reach when I open my pantry door.  Its the one fatty food that I can eat without feeling like a fatty!  I am extremely conscious of the amount of nuts I eat, because I know that although they are a quality food, they are also high in calories and fat.

But I still feel good about eating nuts.  Some of my other favorites are peanuts(I know, these are legumes), cashews, and walnuts.  One more that I've recently added is the Brazil Nut (above image).  This has a great source of selenium, which some people don't get enough of.  Too much is bad for you though, so guidelines say to not eat more than 2 brazil nuts/day (daily limit is 400 mg selenium/day, one Brazil nut has 70-90 mg selenium).  I stick to one a day.  Almonds, on the other hand, I probably eat about 15-20/ day - Yum!

Changing One Habit

I doubted that I could stay away from chocolate, but this is actually day 8 - chocolate free!  This may not seem like a big deal to you, but if you know me well, you'll know that you can find chocolate things everywhere in my house.  Even my students know to buy me chocolate at holiday time!

This small change doesn't seem like a big deal right?  But in truth, I haven't changed anything else this week - I wouldn't want to over-do it.  I still have a huge problem with snacking after I get home from work.  Today the snack was hummus and pretzels, and a scoop of peanut butter.  Even so, I got on the scale today, and I'm down 3.5 pounds from last week!

I'm trying not to get too excited about this.  After all, I could put 3 pounds on in a few hours just by drinking beer and eating pizza.  But I've got to stay motivated.  Luckily I have march madness and my bracket to watch tonight - winning money is a good distraction.

Bulgur Wheat

I have recently discovered bulgur wheat - it is similar to rice, cooks perfectly in the rice cooker, and is super healthy!  I love it.  Tonight it was perfect with Trader Joe's Mojito Salmon (frozen isle) and steamed broccoli.  You can buy it for about $1.30/lb at whole foods in the bulk section.  I store it in a plastic ziploc container.  Cooks in about 30 minutes in the rice cooker.  For one cup uncooked, add 2 1/4 cup water and cook til its ready!

I'm dying from lack of chocolate - my mouth waters every time I see it in my freezer.

My school's "Supper" program

Because of the high need of the students at my school, we have a federal government grant called the "Supper Program," in which any student, regardless of Socio-Economic status, gets a FREE dinner if he/she stays after school with a sponsored activity.  As students go through the line, they must take a milk, a sandwich, and a fruit/vegetable.  Even if a student is allergic to apples, if the fruit o' the day is an apple, he has to take one.  Students then leave what they don't want on the "Share Table," to share with those who want.  This table should be called the 'trash table,' because most everything goes into the trash, including un-open milks, loads of fruit, and bags of carrots.

I can't stand to see it all go to waste, so today I decided to get a big empty box, and fill it with the leftover apples and milks.  In the box I saved about 60 apples from going to waste, and about 15 milks.  I passed them out to teachers, and then what was leftover I took to my night class tonight, and gave to classmates.

Its just such an enormous waste of money and food.  I would like to find a charity of some sort that would take the leftovers on a regular basis, but have yet to find time for that.

Fat Tuesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.  I'm giving up chocolate for the season this year.  I love chocolate, which is why I can't think of anything better to give up.  I anticipate this being the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  We will see how it goes.  In preparation, I have eaten 7 Thin Mint cookies today.  I am going to freeze the rest and hide them deep in the freezer.

Currently listening to: Rumor Has It, by Adele