Throughout this week, I've been experimenting-seriously. I've mixed up some really good food...and bad. I've tried a bunch of things that made me smile...and others that nearly made me barf. But now I know what I like, what works for me, and what not to eat, so it definitely paid off.
Experiment A:
*Oatmeal
Loaded Oatmeal VS. Cherry-Almond-Honey Oatmeal
Experiment A:
*Oatmeal
Loaded Oatmeal VS. Cherry-Almond-Honey Oatmeal
Above: Loaded Oatmeal ( containing oatmeal, apples, walnuts, almonds, raisins, and honey)-this thing had 600 calories...in a breakfast!
Above: Cherry-Almond-Honey Oatmeal (containing oatmeal, cherries, almonds, and honey-about 270-300 calories...more than half the calories in the loaded oatmeal...and a regular breakfast amount.
The Cherry-Almond-Honey Oatmeal was by-far-better looking and tasting. Plus, I didn't feel like a balloon after I was done eating. And since for me, it is about eating the way I want to feel, I felt a lot better after eating this oatmeal versus the loaded oatmeal.
Honestly, I wasn't aiming for a loaded oatmeal. I just got carried away in all of the ingredients and it happened. And I did use a bigger bowl for the loaded oatmeal so I also ate a bigger serving size.
Conclusion:
When making oatmeal:
*stay simple-stick to a few good ingredients instead of dumping your whole cabinet into a bowl
*watch your size- remember, this is not lunch; make sure your bowl isn't too big
*measure it out- it might seem tedious at first, but even though you may be using healthy ingredients, they have a limit too. It's easy to stack on calories when your slicing in a whole apple and throwing in as many nuts as you can find-check the serving sizes of your ingredients and try following them.
Honestly, I wasn't aiming for a loaded oatmeal. I just got carried away in all of the ingredients and it happened. And I did use a bigger bowl for the loaded oatmeal so I also ate a bigger serving size.
Conclusion:
When making oatmeal:
*stay simple-stick to a few good ingredients instead of dumping your whole cabinet into a bowl
*watch your size- remember, this is not lunch; make sure your bowl isn't too big
*measure it out- it might seem tedious at first, but even though you may be using healthy ingredients, they have a limit too. It's easy to stack on calories when your slicing in a whole apple and throwing in as many nuts as you can find-check the serving sizes of your ingredients and try following them.
Experiment B:
*Salad
Hit-the-Mountain Salad VS. The-Green-Pig Salad
*Salad
Hit-the-Mountain Salad VS. The-Green-Pig Salad
Above: Hit-the-Mountain Salad ( contains dandelion leaves, tomatoes, feta cheese, garlic, almonds, cinnamon, olive oil, and honey)- big mistake: garlic and dandelion leaves clashed- WAY too strong.
Above: The-Green-Pig Salad (contains lettuce, pork, green onion, avocado, oil, and vinegar)-very tasty! Avocado was very creamy, green onion was crunchy, and the pork gave the whole salad a very pleasantly- porky taste.
The-Green-Pig Salad was fantastic! So much more fantastic than the Hit-the-Mountain Salad. The garlic was a horrible choice-without it, the salad would have actually tasted pretty good. The avocado in The-Green-Pig Salad was bliss as it melted in my mouth and helped other flavors of the salad shine, like the pork.
Conclusion:
When making salad:
*don't over-do: sometimes you really don't need a final touch-that "final touch" can mess-up your whole master-piece, so be careful.
*use common-sense: don't mix things that just don't work
*feel free to add texture- it can change the whole feel of a salad. Just make sure that your texture-arousers have a nice taste too!
*choose your ingredients wisely- before you add anything else to your salad...PAUSE...do you really need this ingredient? What will it do to your salad-help or hinder? And if you decide that you want the ingredient, don't pour it all in at once. Put a little, and then see if you like it or need any more.
Overall, it was fun experimenting and I'm glad that I did come out with some good outcomes that are on my yummy-line (both healthy and tasty).
When making salad:
*don't over-do: sometimes you really don't need a final touch-that "final touch" can mess-up your whole master-piece, so be careful.
*use common-sense: don't mix things that just don't work
*feel free to add texture- it can change the whole feel of a salad. Just make sure that your texture-arousers have a nice taste too!
*choose your ingredients wisely- before you add anything else to your salad...PAUSE...do you really need this ingredient? What will it do to your salad-help or hinder? And if you decide that you want the ingredient, don't pour it all in at once. Put a little, and then see if you like it or need any more.
Overall, it was fun experimenting and I'm glad that I did come out with some good outcomes that are on my yummy-line (both healthy and tasty).