Let's talk turkey bacon

Try it. You'll like it.

Considering the things my Dad ate, it's a wonder he lived to 89. 

When I was growing up, bacon was not exactly a mainstay but we did have it once a week. Dad got the most number of strips and Mom would make 'dips' for him - bread fried in the bacon fat left in the pan. Imagine.

I've successfully ignored bacon for a number of years until last summer at the cottage when I was cruising the meat section at the grocery store and noticed a product I had not seen before. I thought I'd give it a try and I've been buying it ever since.

Before you turn your nose up at turkey bacon, let me tell you that it has a ton of flavour, it's already cooked so it can be eaten right from the package, and it's incredibly lean - not even a teaspoon of fat will remain if you try frying it. Warm it up in the microwave between 2 sheets of paper towel and it's ready to be added to your sandwiches. Cut strips right from the package to add to your scrambled eggs. Or what I use it for mainly is an added topping on our weekly pizza. 

So if you've been clever and cut pork bacon from your menu a long time ago (as well you should!) but you're still missing it terribly, cruise through the meat section again at your local grocery store and have a look for turkey bacon. Times have changed, better options are available and bacon doesn't have to be the walking heart attack it used to be.

Sleeping and eating, eating and sleeping

In keeping with our non-technical theme here, let's talk about when to eat and when to wait.

I'm a firm believer in eating when one is hungry. The habit of having a little something frequently during the day keeps your body and your mind going. Fasting is the worst thing you can do. Your body goes into panic mode because it is expecting food, wants food, isn't getting food, so figures it better switch over to shut-down mode because it doesn't know when food is coming. This is counter productive. We want to keep all pistons firing during the day and park for sleeping at night.

That said, you can apply some smarts and some self-restraint when deciding what you eat at what time. A large meal right before bed is going to inhibit digestion, make you feel lousy and disrupt your sleep. Your body wants you to move around after eating, keep that blood flow up, help dissipate those nutrients from your stomach to those outer reaches. Going to bed a number of hours after eating will let your body concentrate on the task at hand (sleeping) and not digestion.

Another trick I have learned over the years is to have my high-calorie treats earlier in the day rather than last thing at night. I, personally, have very little self discipline so denying myself foods I want just makes me grouchy. I remember seeing an interview with Victoria Beckham and she was asked how she maintains her beautiful figure. I'm sure she said other things but what I remember her saying is that she never ate cookies. Two things came to mind when I heard that; she's either very self-disciplined or she does not have a sweet tooth. Hats off to her regardless.

I have a sweet tooth. I grew up in a household where there had to be dessert every night because Dad had a few sweet tooth's and a meal without dessert was a disaster. In my own household, the thought of not having sweets or desserts around is, well, unthinkable. Through trial and error, I have learned that eating 1/4 of a chocolate cake at 9pm will guarantee I'll still be awake at 2 in the morning but having cake with my coffee in the afternoon and I'll sleep like a baby.

So practice some smarts if you can. Don't eat a lot just before going to bed and move your high-calorie treats to earlier in the day. You really can have your cake and eat it too.

Granola. Let's talk breakfast, Part 1

I'm big on breakfast and if you learn anything from me, you will be too. There are many MANY reasons for eating healthy and doing your body proud and having breakfast tops that list. Eating in the morning after a night of 'fasting' sets your body straight for the day. Think of breakfast as your daily foundation and like any good foundation it will keep you upright, strong, stable and yes, even friendly as you set out to face the world. Put it this way; if you don't have a proper breakfast, you'll likely be snacking all day on foods that are less than ideal because you're trying to make up for that missing foundation.

I'll do a number of posts on breakfast but today since we're out of granola and we'll be making it later, I'll be sharing that recipe and some reasons why you too should take 5 minutes to make your own granola.

Preparing from scratch some of the foods you eat makes sense on a number of levels (saving money comes to mind), but when you make your own food, you control what goes into it. You know the ingredients, you mix them, you're in control of the amounts. Granola from the store can be high-end and very expensive or it can be fairly cheap, tempting you to grab a bag or 2 every time you're shopping. But there are cons to that. Check the list of ingredients on the packaging to see what I mean. The oils they use, the amount of sugar...consume this stuff over time and the harm can really add up. And some granolas contain almonds or other ingredients that you or the kids are picking out but you're paying for them because it's part of their product.

I started making granola a long time ago because I didn't want the kids having the saturated oils and all that sugar in the store-bought products. I'd found a good recipe that was simple to make each week when we were doing the pizza. Cost was a factor too; I could double the recipe and make enough granola to get us through 2 weeks for a fraction of the price of the store-bought stuff. So give this recipe a whirl, it's easy to make and you can adjust it any way you like. I'll give you the original though, so get creative and make it your own.

And when you sit down for breakfast tomorrow morning, put some of your new granola in the bottom of your bowl (then put some back - see my other post!), top it up with your regular cereal and feel good about the foundation you've laid to face your day.

Great Granola             (Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook, New York 1985, p.508)
Melt together
1/4 c marg 
1/4 c honey
Stir in
3 c rolled oats
1 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Spread in a 9 x 13 pan, bake at 350 F for approx 15 mins, stirring several times. 
Add
1/2 c wheat germ
and bake 10 mins longer or until the granola is lightly browned. 
Remove from oven, and stir in
2/3 c raisins
Let the granola cool completely before storing.