Out and about and what to eat: Part 1 ; At The Movies

Being an actress usually means taking the weekly trip to the movies for the love of our craft, and well just because it's fun. But when you’re an actress who has long associated the pleasures of movie going with the big box of buttery popcorn topped with peanut M&M’s, a new healthier eating lifestyle, presents a challenge.



There really is nothing I love more than the smell of popcorn at the movies and I’m confident that that is quite a shared adoration, the world over. But when you have changed over to only nourishing your body with real whole foods, although a wonderful undertaking, in the beginning, it presents problems in the social aspects of our lives. What can we eat at restaurants? What can we eat at the movies? What can we drink on a night out? What can we eat at our friend’s dinner party? Etc. We don’t want to lose the pleasures often derived from the combination of friends and food, and jeopardize the social aspects of our lives that are so often closely tied to the consumption of yummy things. That would be a boring, dull life and would probably cause your body more stress and damage than a lifetimes worth of all the fast food you can think of. So what is the solution?


Luckily there are many. But to start, today I want to focus on trips to the movies, as it’s something everyone likes to do pretty frequently and can be a very tempting time to gorge on bad foods which we know will bring you no closer to the health and body you desire.


So for example, I went to the movies this weekend and brought a long my own bag of treats I had concocted earlier in the day. I had made Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites, (see recipe below) that were, in the words of Ned Flanders “Scrum-diddily-upmtious”. And I brought a can of Knudsen Sparkling Essence (An all natural, refreshing drink my brother-in-law found in Whole Foods the other day, made with sparkling water and fruit essence.) And I enjoyed my movie experience just as much as any other time. And the bonus was, I left the theatre completely guilt free as opposed to my past feelings of “oh crap , I can’t believe I ate that whole large popcorn, bag of M&M’s and medium coke all to myself!”


So in the case of snack items, bringing along your own healthy treats to things like the movies is a step in the right direction and doesn’t eliminate any of the pleasures involved with the activity. Heck you can even pop your own popcorn at home (the natural kind) and pour some delicious real butter on top and bring it along in a food bag, (which is what my Mom would give my sisters and I when we were young as she didn’t want to pay the price for the expensive movie popcorn! I don’t blame her.) Making your own treats is better for your health and your pocket! Why spend almost $15 on unhealthy, processed, nutrient-less food that will just add to the unwanted pounds around your belly and booty? No thanks!


Here is a list of some examples of yummy treats you can easily hide and bring along in your purse to the movies, saving you pounds on your body and pounds in your pocket!


• Homemade desserts like the Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
• Trail mix (made with a mix of almonds, cashews, peanuts, whatever you like, some carob chips and dried fruit)
• Apple slices and natural peanut butter (you’ll want a little container for the peanut butter)
• Cheese cubes and cut up fruit like grapes or strawberries or pineapple.
• Some Greek Yoghurt with nuts and fruit already mixed in.
• A smoothie you made at home with any one combination of delicious ingredients (Peanut Butter ‘n’ Banana, Strawberry ‘n’ Banana, Very Berry smoothie etc.) that you can bring along in your chilled stainless steel flask.
• Natural sparkling drinks like the one I mentioned, Knudsen’s Sparkling Essence, which you can sweeten with a little pack of Stevia if you like you’re drinks sweeter.
• Coconut water (there are many awesome tasting coconut water drinks available at Whole foods and other health stores that contain just the yummy juice of the coconut)


The options are endless, you just have to be creative and seek out the healthy options. It may take a bit more work than handing over a crisp $20 bill to the kid behind the counter at the movie concession stand but it’s worth everything to your health and looks. You’ll be that much closer to looking as good as, or better than, the super hot actress in the movie you’re about to see!

So here to start you on your way to delicious healthy movie snacks is one of my own recipes


Chocolate, Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
(Makes 2 dozen bite size balls)


Ingredients
2 squares Ghirardelli’s 100%unsweetened dark chocolate
1 tbsp natural creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 large handful of unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp Virgin Coconut oil (melted)
6 dates (pits removed)
1 packet French Vanilla Stevia
Splash of Almond Milk (or regular milk or water for moisture)


Directions


MELT chocolate and stir in melted coconut oil and peanut butter, stirring until smooth and creamy.
STIR in Packet of French Vanilla Stevia to chocolate mixture.
PUT dates and coconut flakes in blender and POUR chocolate mixture over.
ADD in splash of Almond Milk.
BLEND ingredients together on high until sticky and paste like.
SCOOP out of blender and ROLL into small bite sized balls. (Mixture will be rather sticky upon removing them from blender)
You can put them in mini cupcake cases or just leave them on a plate.
REFRIGERATE for 30 minutes until hardened.

Delish!!

Greek Yogurt : Food of Goddesses

Officially one of my favorite foods in the whole world, Greek Yogurt's creamy thick natural goodness could only hail from the land where Aphrodite and Athena and all the other beautiful goddesses of mythology originated.



My love affair with Greek Yogurt began pretty recently when I was looking for something satisfying to satiate my sweet tooth after dinner, as I had cut out all sugar from my life and was feeling pretty miserable in the beginning. But the Gods shone their light upon me when they delivered Greek Yogurt in to my hands. I purchased the full fat version, mainly due to its low carb count (less than 5 grams) which, compared to the other Yogurts around it (which have close to 20g) was right in line with my low carb quest, and so I set off home curious to discover just what set this Grecian export apart from its other commercial cousins.

Boy did I find out. Later that night as I got my usual craving for something sweet, (usually satiated by various versions of chocolate my brother in law and I would load up on from the nearest Walgreens), I held strong, shrugged it off, and set off to the fridge to give the new yogurt a try. Upon opening it I could see already how it differed from regular yogurts. It was thick and had almost a heavy whipped cream appearance. I heaped three spoonfuls into a bowl and added some fresh strawberries and a packet of my favorite sweetener French Vanilla Stevia. Mixing it all up I went back to the bedroom to sit down and taste my newest concocted dessert.


Taking the first mouthful, I feel like my taste buds almost exploded for joy. It was sweet, and smooth with a soft velvety texture, not unlike whipped cream, and it complimented the berries perfectly. Could this stuff be for real? And even more importantly, could this be healthy?


As I did a little research on my new crush, I started to fall more and more in love.


Turns out, my tub of luscious, feathery deliciousness did more than just curb my sweet cravings.
Greek yogurt has been an integral part of the Grecians healthy diet for thousands of years and benefits a number of things;


• Is a great source of protein with over 20grams per 8 oz, double that of other yogurts.
• Due to its high protein content, it helps you feel fuller longer which can contribute to weight loss efforts.
• It contains thousands of live good bacteria which promote intestinal and vaginal health
• Improves lactose intolerance
• Builds stronger bones
• Enhances immunity
• Lowers blood pressure
• And may even have anti-cancer effects


It is extremely versatile too and can be used as a breakfast or snack or for sweet (desserts, smoothies) or savory dishes, like dips and sauces and in soups.


And I even discovered I didn’t have to break up with chocolate forever, as a little more kitchen concocting on my part had me create a creamy chocolate yogurt, that is a quick, low carb, incredibly delish and satisfying dessert. I’ve posted the recipe below for you to try.


And you know what? I bet Greek Yogurt was the secret to the beauty of the Greek Goddesses. Well, it’s not a secret anymore. Lucky for us!






Easy Goddess Chocolate Yoghurt Yumminess


Ingredients
1 cup Greek Yogurt (full fat)
1 tbsp Ghiradelli’s 100% unsweetened cocoa (or any other brand of unsweetened cocoa)
1 packet French Vanilla Stevia
Handful of walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and Viola, that’s it! It’s that easy!!

Falling in Love with Food

   Yesterday I went on my weekly shopping trip to Whole Foods in the city and after browsing the aisles for a while and stocking up on my healthy living staples; I strolled through the Deli section on my way to the checkout. During my strolling, my eyes wandered over the dishes on display behind the glass encasement. Broccoli and Roasted Cashew Salad with Bacon bits, Curry Crab cakes, a scrumptious looking Turkey Meatloaf all laid out in grand style, and as I mentally relished the thought of chowing down on anyone of the yumminesses before me, I realized something. In my recent pursuit for health and a fabulous body, I had done the opposite to what most people do in such pursuits; I had done something I never before had done in my life. I had helplessly and hopelessly fallen in love with food.



For anyone that knows me well, food and I have never really had a great relationship. Growing up, I never had much interest in it, it was just sort of something that was there to keep my body working, and I didn’t give it much thought. And as I initially embarked on a healthy eating plan, or what I thought at the time was a healthy eating plan, like during my time as a vegetarian and vegan, I still just saw food as a fuel and nothing more. Most of the food I ate was lacking taste and texture and more importantly without pleasure. I never once got excited at the thought of yet another soy pattie with some vegetables for dinner. It never once occurred to me that food was there to be enjoyed, but more importantly could be enjoyed in a healthful way.


Of course this is not to say that a vegetarian life cannot indeed be delicious, (as I do fondly recall that awesome restaurant “Gobo” on 23rd street in New York which made the best Veggie Burgers I’ve ever tasted) but in the place of meat, I was consuming a lot of Carbs, in the form mostly of breads. I don’t want to get too much into it right now as I will explain in detail later, but the carbs I was eating, were keeping me on a blood spiking roundabout, where I would go from high blood sugar to low blood sugar and round and round and it left me with that constant fatigue. But I had yet to learn this and so I was perplexed as to why I was not feeling amazing on this vegetarian eating lifestyle. The point is sugar was still rampant in my diet, from the bread, beans and other veggie products I ate, all which tend to spike insulin and lead to a plethora of problems.


But after I made the move to New Orleans, and so this is only a discovery I made over the last few months, I cut all refined carbs from my diet, leaving only lots of vegetables and moderate amounts of fruit, mostly berries. At my brother in laws advice (who studied biochemistry), I undertook a no sugar/low carb life, just to see what changes it would make.

What I found was the delicious taste of natural foods.


Things like raw almonds, tomatoes (which I used to detest all my life), even green veggies, everything, took on a different flavor, and I could even taste a sweetness in these foods I had never tasted before. Suddenly flavors of all kinds were bursting out of every dish, and I found myself really enjoying food for the first time in my life. It was a whole new world. A world where things like, Tuna steak with a mango and avocado salad, Steak braised in wine sauce with creamed spinach, Cream of Broccoli and cheese soup, Full fat Greek yoghurt with walnuts, sweetened with cinnamon and Stevia all existed, in all their healthful glory and I devoured them with sheer pleasure and satisfaction. But could food be pleasurable and still leave me with the body I always dreamed of with great health to boot?


The answer is yes. Since I began eating this way, enjoying my food, and reveling in the delicious foods mother nature and this earth has provided for us, I am leaner, more toned and full of energy that I never thought I would ever possess.


Nowadays I no longer have to remind myself to eat; I look forward to my meals. I noticed I can’t stop thinking about food, but in a good way I assure you. I find myself wondering what delicious combinations I can concoct, what new desserts I can try, what new beverage I can create, all while adding to this wonderful new life I have where I eat and more importantly, love food.

That world exists for me; I want it to exist for you too. I just know so well what it’s like to have a bad relationship with food, and it really makes life no fun! I know that now!

Wouldn’t you love to sip mugs of hot chocolate topped with cream on a snowy afternoon, or eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, plate piled high with turkey, nut stuffing, and even gravy, and finish with a slice of apple pie, guiltlessly, knowing your body will love you for it. I know I want too, I know I am, right now. And that’s why I’m happier (and healthier) than I’ve ever been in my life. Thank God for good food!

Butter; Creamy Blocks Of Nutritional Gold.

Yes it’s true, your eyes are not deceiving you. Butter is actually good for your health. Not just good actually, great! Spreading some rich creamy butter on your morning slice of whole-wheat toast, or sautéing your evening vegetables in this golden goodness is actually a healthful practice and a step that will help bring your body back to balance.



But butter is a saturated fat and saturated fats raise bad cholesterol, which leads to heart disease, right?


Wrong. We can blame this malarkey on a researcher named Ancel keys who was the first to propose that saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet played the major role in heart disease. But in fact numerous studies performed since his claim, have been unable to back up this theory. Turns out that during the first half of the last century as butter and other quality animal fat consumption decreased, the percentage of heart disease increased! So the saturated fat theory doesn’t really hold up in relation to heart disease now does it?


Weston A. Price, a dentist who travelled the world, studying the diets of primitive peoples, spent time researching their diets in lieu of finding the reasons for their robust health, excellent bone structure, and complete rarity of tooth decay and degenerative diseases. His findings throughout all the different cultures were very similar, and one similarity was the inclusion of quality animal fat in the diet including butter.


In an extract from his book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”, marking his studies, he says of butter;


“Isolated Swiss villagers placed a bowl of butter on their church altars, set a wick in it, and let it burn throughout the year as a sign of divinity in the butter. Arab groups also put a high value on butter, especially deep yellow-orange butter from livestock feeding on green grass in the spring and fall. American folk wisdom recognized that children raised on butter were robust and sturdy; but that children given skim milk during their growing years were pale and thin, with "pinched" faces.”


All these fakers, like margarine, which is nothing more than a tub of plastic, and other butter wannabe spreadables that claim to be good for your health and better than the real thing, are really one of the main culprits here in our societies degenerating health! They are chemically created from refined polyunsaturated oils, which turn rancid when heated, and become toxic to your body and considerably lessen your chances of living a healthy, robust life.


But butter, in its natural state, is the innocent victim in all this and its inclusion in our diets plays a key role in bringing our rapidly deteriorating health back from the brink of despair. When we buy butter from a quality source, (Organic or preferably raw, as pasteurization destroys a lot of nutrients) Its health benefits are numerous and although I’m sure it doesn’t take much convincing to have you choose butter over all its other inferior and toxic imposters, just remember these health benefits your also reaping, as you guiltlessly sink your teeth into that warm slice of homemade bread topped with melted butter;


• Vitamin A and Vitamin E both found in Butter, play a strong anti-oxidant role which prevents free-radical damage in the body that weakens arteries.


• Butter is a rich source of selenium , another important anti-oxidant.


• Vitamin A deficiency causes abnormalities of the heart in babies and butter is America’s best and easily absorbed source of Vitamin A.


• Vitamin A, E , Selenium and Cholesterol (yes cholesterol) are anti-oxidants and help prevent against cancer as well as heart disease.


• Something called “The Wulzen Factor” unique only to butter, and discovered by the Dutch researcher Wulzen, is proven to prevent degenerative arthritis--as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland. (unfortunately this factor is destroyed by pasteurization and so is only available in raw butter.)


• Butter is essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland, due to being a highly absorbable source of iodine and Vitamin A.


• Butter has strong anti-fungal properties and has an important role to play in treating candida overgrowth.


• Butter contributes to weight loss efforts. No, it does not make you fat! (Fat does not make you fat, something I first discovered to my amazement only a few short years ago), as the short and medium chain fatty acids are not stored as adipose tissue but rather are used for quick energy. (The same cannot be said for polyunsaturated oils and olive oil which are in fact stored as fat tissue.) Butter is so rich in nutrients that it leaves a feeling of satisfaction and curbs cravings and bingeing!






And that’s only some Butterly Benefits :) !


So butter is an essential part of any healthful living diet. Butter is no longer to be feared, but embraced for the wonderful nutritious food that it is.

***And if i may, i might take this moment to say that Kerrygold Butter, available in most supermarkets around the states, is one of the best sources of Butter, as even though it is pasteurized, the cows are grass fed and roam happily and freely like cows should!!
How do i know this?? I grew up looking at those cows everyday of my young life in the green fields of my home county!! Yes KerryGold butter comes from Co.kerry Ireland! And it's absolutely positively delish!! ***


Here at ELAA, Butter is Body Beautiful Approved!!

Oatmeal : A Body Beautiful Breakfast

Goldilocks was one smart chick that knew exactly what to eat to keep those blonde locks of hair shiny and healthy! When she helped herself to the three bears "porridge”, she was in fact starting off her day with a tasty bowl of oatmeal!! (Porridge is the name we use in Ireland for Oatmeal.)



So what’s all the fuss about oatmeal you say? I mean you probably hear it talked about all the time about how it’s the best way to start your day, even Starbucks now offers oatmeal for those morning coffee stoppers. But what exactly are the health benefits of Oatmeal and are all types created equal?? Let's clear up some of those questions so you can begin starting your day with a creamy bowl of oatmeal in a "Body Beautiful Breakfast" approved way!


Firstly, the boxes of oatmeal packets you find in the cereal section of your supermarket that advertises what sound like yummy sugary versions of oatmeal are just that. Sugary processed versions of a once nutritious food. They are devoid of any nutritional value, full of all the things you don’t want in your body and are to be avoided completely. They will do nothing for your health or looks I promise you. These are not a body beautiful breakfast approved choice.

Secondly, is the instant oatmeal or quick cook oatmeal. Again not a body beautiful breakfast approved choice! Why you ask? Well for the simple reason that the grains have been highly processed and so will contain something called phytic acid which "grabs on" or rather chelates important minerals like iron magnesium and calcium in our intestines making them unavailable to our body but it also inhibits some enzymes we need to digest our food which can lead to loss in bone density and mineral deficiencies! Not good!! (This is probably why in tradition so many cultures around the world practiced soaking and fermenting grains!)

So what is the best kind of oatmeal to eat nutrition wise? Well I suggest buying the "Old Fashioned Whole Rolled Oats". These are the larger flake oat and have not been processed like the instant quick cooking kinds. Bob's Mill makes a version as do Quaker Oats. And here's the important part;


In the old days (your grandparents may remember), the oatmeal came with directions for overnight soaking before cooking. The benefits of this are that it breaks down some of the harmful phytic acid, lessening its damaging effects and making the grain easier to digest! This is a very good thing!


I find the best way to soak your oatmeal is in water and a little plain yoghurt as the bacteria in yoghurt breaks down and neutralizes phytic acid. This really takes less than a minute to do before you go to bed and you'll have properly prepared oatmeal ready to cook in the morning with all its nutritional benefits ready for consumption. And the beauty with oatmeal is you can add so many different kinds of things like, nuts, fresh fruit, cinnamon, honey, cream, or butter, to enhance its flavor and make it a truly enjoyable start to your day! Definitely Body Beautiful Breakfast approved!


When oatmeal, is eaten after proper preparation its health benefits are numerous:
The soluble fiber in Oatmeal


• Helps you feel fuller longer and so can contribute to weight loss efforts.
• May reduce risk of Type 2 diabetes due to the soluble fiber helping to control blood glucose levels.
• May help reduce high blood pressure
• The fiber along with other nutrients may reduce the risk for certain cancers.


It contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates and iron. Not to mention, it's quick, convenient and delicious!

So here to finish up is a recipe adapted from the creamy deliciousness that my mom would serve up on those cold Irish mornings before my sisters and I headed off to school!!

Sweet and Creamy Oatmeal

Ingredients:

I cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (soaked overnight)

1 cup Organic whole milk (or almond milk if your lactose intolerant)

1 tbsp raw honey or 1 packet of French Vanilla Stevia

1 tbsp Organic Heavy Cream

\
In the morning, DRAIN your soaked oats and DRY them with a paper towel.

HEAT the milk over medium heat in a pot and bring to boil.

TURN down heat immediately and ADD oats and honey/Stevia.

STIR frequently and continue to simmer until oats have thickened to a creamy consistency.

POUR into a bowl and top with a splash of cream.

Eat and Enjoy!! Yum!!

Proper Nutrition begins in the Kitchen

Yesterday morning I awoke to the roaring claps of a New Orleans thunderstorm. Down here in the Big Easy where it seems nothing they do is conventional, I dare say their storms follow suit!

Now I’ve experienced my share of thunderstorms growing up in rural Ireland, and I’d go as far as saying I enjoyed them on most occasions, but the monstrous thunder that dwells in Louisiana skies is enough to rattle every cell of my being, and leave me cowering under my blankets, praying for it to pass.

And as it eventually tapered off, leaving just a downpour in its wake, I mustered the courage to get out of bed, and make my way to the kitchen in hopes of quietening the equally noisy rumblings of my hungry stomach. I flicked on the light switch. Nothing. Flick, flick, flick…nothing …only the darkness of the morning. Uh oh! I rushed to the fridge, noticing the lack of its usual buzzing sound, and opened it… to more darkness. Freezer, same. Uhhh seriously? No electricity!!! What the hell was I supposed to do now? What would I eat?

I couldn’t make my usual morning eggs, no damn power for the stove, I couldn’t make a smoothie with a dead blender, and no oatmeal without hot water ( because I just don’t fancy eating it cold). I was doomed to starve! I had to eat something as the grumblings of my hunger grew louder in recognition of threatening starvation. My mind raced with possibilities..could I run across to Smoothie King? No, they wouldn’t have electricity either. What about Walgreens? There’s nothing edible for healthy girls in Walgreens! Plus the street is flooded so how can I even get across!! Darn it! I would have to improvise! I reached for the block of cheese and the last half of the avocado, the butter and my box of flax crackers and after mashing the avocado up, I headed back to my bed with my makeshift breakfast.
I jumped back under the covers and chowed down on my picnic of crackers topped with butter, avocado and cheese and seriously wondered between my munching…what the hell did we do before electricity??

My answer is, I really don’t know, because I was born long after the genius mind of good old Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity and turned us all into complete electric dependent delinquents. Can you imagine if we had to wake up every morning, build a fire, boil the water to even take a hot shower, before boiling more water to cook our food? We’d probably have had to prepare our food even before that, seasoning meats, storing them properly so they didn’t go off, we’d have to wait if we wanted a cup of coffee or tea until our oatmeal was cooked because unless we had two fires it was one pot at a time, and I definitely would not have been able to make my delicious berry smoothie!! No wonder women spent all the time in the kitchen. Cooking was one hell of a time consuming job!!

We have become so spoiled with advances in technology. A machine with a timer can make your morning coffee, throw a few fruits in a blender you have a smoothie, pour some milk over a bowl of store bought cereal (that was processed by machines, run on electricity), scramble up a few eggs on the electric stove in the same time it takes to toast a slice of bread. But you know what the real sad part is, most people can’t even find the time to do that.

Most people make a mad dash to the nearest Starbucks or McDonalds for their morning coffee (that they just didn’t have time to brew) and grab a breakfast sandwich while they’re there because it’s more convenient, than throwing an English muffin in the toaster and scrambling an egg, but the truth is the stop at the coffee shop probably takes you the same amount of time it would take to make your own breakfast at home. Or worse than the coffee shop stop, is the no stop at all, by the breakfastless individuals of the world! How can you just not have time?? How did we get from our ancestors spending hours, days even, preparing proper nutritious meals for their whole family, to us, nowadays not even taking time to eat a yoghurt with some fruit for ourselves before leaving the house?
Just alone, the lack of choices I had for breakfast when there was no electricity goes to show how much raw food I have in my diet. Obviously, not enough! Even when I thought I could possibly have a can a tuna, I couldn’t open it because I have a damn electric can opener!

The less time we spend in the kitchen, it seems, the unhealthier our nations have become. While the working woman is wonderful and all, and the advances feminist right leaders have made in the last century is marvelous, I can’t help but fear that completely shunning the kitchen, the place that endowed us with the title of the more “nurturing” of the two genders, the place that once was a symbol of home cooked love and hearty health, has done nothing but leave us overweight and riddled with diseases that have mysteriously only appeared and increased since good home cooking has become almost a thing of the past.

You’re never going to find the same nutritional value from a restaurant meal that you would obtain from fresh, quality ingredients used to make a meal in your own home. Not to mention the added bonus of TLC that goes in to homemade foods. It really is the magic ingredient missing from our staple diet these days. The love and care for what we put in our bodies, and nourish our cells with is gone! We need to bring it back. We need to find time for those extra five or ten minutes in the morning, or that twenty minutes it takes to chop up a load of veggies and some chicken and throw into a slow cooker so we have dinner when we get home.
 We should be grateful for the benefits electric has brought us in that we do have such things as slow cookers, and blenders and food processors and ovens and use them to our advantage to make the best kind of foods for our health and bodies. Be grateful we have what our ancestors never did, and show that proper nutrition is still made in our own kitchen. And have lots of cheese and avocados and flax crackers around for when the next thunderstorm hits!!

Eggs .. How do you eat yours?

Scrambled, deviled, poached, fried, boiled, baked, steamed, omelet, frittata. What do all these words have in common?

That’s an easy one right? Ahh the little yellow and white wonderment of a simple egg! The perfect staple to any healthy eating regime and not to mention an excellent source of protein with all nine essential amino acids encompassed in each little shell!!

But wait a minute!!! Why do I advocate eggs? Aren't they supposed to raise cholesterol levels that lead to heart disease? And haven't we been told time and time again to remove the yolk and have eggs only once or twice a week??


Well I’m here with some good news!! You can merrily hop along to your nearest grocery store or farm (even better) and pick yourself up a carton of ORGANIC eggs! 
(**Just make sure they are organic as the source of your food makes all the difference to your health and eggs from a chicken in battery cages who has never seen the light of day arent quite at the same nutritional level as organic or pastured eggs which come from a chicken who roams freely outdoors nibbling on insects and other natural food stuffs.)


The nutritious delicious egg has gotten a bad rap over the last couple of decades and for no good reason. Eggs have long been victimized as one of the culprits of high cholesterol but it turns out in fact that this is not true and in recent studies eggs and other animal fats have been proven to do quite the opposite. In various tests, people who added two eggs to their daily diet actually lowered their LDL levels.

So what does this mean for all us health conscious ladies out there? It means break out the whisk and start scrambling up those eggs again! Eggs are one of the best breakfast foods out there, not just because they're so yummy whichever way they're cooked but because of the following reasons;


1. They're Cheap : I buy my eggs from Whole Foods and although Organic eggs are always going to cost more I have to say $4.99 for 18 eggs is a pretty good deal, considering eggs are just as good a protein source as meat!! And 18 eggs make me 9 breakfasts (I usually use two)!! I use them in smoothies as well instead of buying super expensive protein powder!! Hey, I'm an actress on a budget!


2. They're Quick: Seriously, scrambling an egg takes me all in all about 3 minutes, boiling does take a little longer but the beauty with eggs is you can boil a bunch together at the same time and then keep them in you fridge readily available for whenever you're in a rush out the door but need a nutritious snack! Omelets take a little bit more time considering I usually like to load them with veggies and cheese but it still takes me no more than 10 minutes! So there's really no excuse for you to not eat breakfast!!


3. They're so Nutritious: This is probably the most important point! Eggs are like little nutritional treasure chests. Not only does one egg contain all the nine essential amino acids which are the building blocks of your body and of good health, but they also may help prevent blood clots, stroke and heart attack (due to Vitamin k) and they are one of the only sources of naturally occurring Vitamin D which helps build strong teeth and bones and has been found to protect against cancer. And they also are a good source of choline, a nutrient that helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system! If that’s not enough reasons to eat an egg I don't know what is...
So to finish up today’s blog about my favorite breakfast food here is a recipe of my own. Feel free to try it out and leave me comments on how you eat your eggs :)


Spinach, Onion and Cheddar Omelet

Ingredients:
2 organic or pastured eggs

1 tsp of organic butter (butter is actually good for you! more on this later)

2 tbsp organic half and half (good quality dairy is also good for you, more on this later)

A dash of Mrs. Dash poultry seasoning

A handful of fresh or frozen chopped spinach

3 slices of raw cheddar cheese

1/4 small chopped onion

BEAT eggs, half and half and seasoning in small bowl until blended.
HEAT butter in 7 to 10-inch nonstick omelet pan or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. TILT pan to coat bottom. POUR IN egg mixture. Mixture should set immediately at edges.
GENTLY PUSH cooked portions from edges toward the center with inverted turner so that uncooked eggs can reach the hot pan surface. CONTINUE cooking, tilting pan and gently moving cooked portions as needed.


When top surface of eggs is thickened and no visible liquid egg remains, season with salt and pepper. PLACE cheese on one side of omelet; top with onion and spinach ( if using frozen spinach, make sure it has had time to defrost and be dry). FOLD omelet in half with turner. With a quick flip of the wrist, turn pan and INVERT or SLIDE omelet onto plate. SERVE immediately

Eat and enjoy!! Yum!

If it's a special morning like a weekend, why not add some chicken sausage (available at health food stores like whole foods) and fry up some tomatoes to add as a side!! Yummy and healthy!!