Yow! Had to turn on the heat last night. Nevertheless, it’s gettin’ on spring here in NC – the trees are leafing out and the honeysuckle smells soooo good.

And – a new springtime ritual for me – Monday I’m presenting my Rock N Roll Reboot Cleansing Workshop for the final time in 2011. Last chance if you’re in the Triangle area! You can sign up by calling or emailing me on my contact page or calling the Beehive at 919-932-4483. Look out for an online version next year (in addition to the live events).

In honor of spring cleansing, I’m posting one of my all-time favorite spring recipes. I make Strawberry Spinach Salad with the very first strawberries I see at the farmers’ market. Dark, leafy greens are high in chlorophyll and fiber, both important for cleansing. Strawberries add sweet flavor when you’re taking a break from sugar, and almonds add protein, flavor and crunch.

I like to make the dressing with flax oil, which is anti-inflammatory and helps lower anxiety and lift mood. (Greens do the same thing, by the way.) The seeds add interest, texture, some fiber and minerals, but of course you can leave them out if you’re allergic. The honey is pretty important to the taste, so just go ahead and add it and don’t worry about it if you are in fact capital-C Cleansing. (I had this salad for dessert last night – not bad.) Raw apple cider vinegar is a digestive aid and tonic you can use every day.

So that’s the nitty gritty. But you know what’s just as important? It looks and tastes incredible. It’s quite stunning to serve to guests. If you don’t have guests to serve, then make the dressing and store in the fridge – it keeps a long time. Then you can make the salad any time you want it.

This salad also works great with fresh lettuce or baby greens, or blueberries instead of strawberries.

STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD

9 cups fresh spinach (about 1 pound), rinsed well, stemmed and torn
1 pint fresh strawberries, quartered
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (350 degree oven for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally)

Dressing
½ cup flax oil (or mix with sesame oil – not toasted)
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp paprika
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce
A little salt for the spinach

Put spinach in a large bowl and salt lightly. Add strawberries and almonds. Mix dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor (an immersion blender works great) until combined. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Enjoy! What is your favorite spring recipe? Post it here – I’m looking for ideas.

xx

Still here, I am! Just a little quiet on the blogging front.

Spring is – or was – springin’ so it’s time to clean out the house. Not just your home, but your your body too. That’s right, it’s time to detox for spring. Don’t be afraid, it’s awesome. Read on.

A cleanse is the perfect way to transition from the heavier foods and longer cooking times of winter to the lighter foods and cooking styles of the warmer months. I’m just finishing up a short-n-sweet, 7-day cleanse. I must say, I feel fantastic. I did mostly raw and green with some thin seaweed-based lentil and miso soups on either end of it. I have fasted in the past, but this week I didn’t have the time to set aside for the calm and reflection that fasting facilitates (and is intended for). That said, no matter what cleanse I do I always notice some similar experiences and some new ones.

The first thing I notice is a lack of hunger after the first day or two. And what little hunger I do feel, I don’t attach any sense of urgency to. It’s OK to be hungry. Imagine that! Incredibly, I made an entire dinner out of one carrot, one radish, grated ginger and some curry powder. Twice! (I have my Vitamix to thank for that…and the Hartmans for the Vitamix. Seriously, it can change your life.) Afterwards, I was full for the rest of the evening. A couple of times I felt full eating two walnuts! Say what?? People who know me know…this ain’t my usual style.

I was so proud of myself I took a picture of it. (What can I say, the Vitamix and I are still on our honeymoon.)

Starting about Day 3 I get a pretty steep increase in energy. This time on Day 3 I woke up around 4:30am, worked a Whole Foods Grand Opening all day long, came home and worked on the computer for several hours, then went to bed at my usual time, totally not exhausted. Digestion takes a lot of energy – turning our food into us. So when you give it a break, you have all that extra energy to burn in interesting new ways. The increase in energy lasts for as long as the cleanse.

Also, since you’re not cooking you have loads of extra time. Extra time + Extra energy = Takin’ Care of Business! TCB.

This cleanse, I didn’t alter my workout routine at all. That was new. I do yoga first thing in the morning, then some cardio. I don’t usually eat first thing in the morning; I just have a glass of water with wheatgrass and ground flax seed. Instead of the usual, I had a small green smoothie with just a tiny bit of protein powder. It made a huge difference, and by Day 5 I wasn’t even hungry when I got home from the gym. I’d have some lemon water and wait an hour or so to eat my greens or green smoothie.

Of course, my skin is clear, as are my eyes. I love that! According to Eastern medicine, the inner whites of the eyes are a reflection of the internal organs. All clean, yay!

So tomorrow I start to come out of it, eat my first cooked food in about three days, and prepare for the tacos of Austin TX. Hey, nobody’s perfect. (I will be able to make smoothies and do some light cooking in our studio suite after we ride our bikes to the three-story Taj Ma-Whole Foods.)

If this cleansing thing is intriguing to you, check out my Events Page. I’ll be giving three – count ‘em! – workshops on cleansing in the next few weeks:

This Thursday, 3/31, at 6:30 – SOCO Athletic Club in Austin TX

Saturday, 4/16, 3:00 – Inside Out Body Therapies in Durham NC

Monday 5/9, 7:00 – The Beehive, Carrboro NC

This cleanse workshop is my most ambitious yet! You’ll leave with inspiration and a whole workbook devoted to your own personal cleanse. Of course we’ll be sampling food too. I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t cookin’ up something.

Hope to see you there!

xx

Can you tell I’m excited?!? The last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful. I did a really fun cooking demo at Inside Out Body Therapies in Durham, then took Dave to New York for his birthday to see Camper Van Beethoven do their classic record Key Lime Pie. In between those we had a snow day, so I made birthday pancakes.

I don’t make pancakes the usual way; of course I have to health-ify ‘em. The “surprise” in these pancakes isn’t the cooked grains; it’s that they actually work in the recipe and taste just wonderful. That, and the fact that you’ll sail all the way to dinner without thinking about food again. They’re very filling! Not in that Jersey-diner, I-might-die-full-of-these-same-pancakes way, but in a satisfying, slow-burning, energizing, Let’s-climb-a-mountain way. In fact, this is my absolute favorite Sunday breakfast before a big hike or bike ride.

Any kind of grain will do. I love steel-cut oats because they’re so creamy yet al dente. (Sorry, there’s no other word for it.) But I’ve also used amaranth, quinoa, millet, brown rice, or any combination I happen to have in the fridge.

A quick note here on steel-cut oats versus rolled oats. Besides the better texture (in my opinion) of steel-cut oats, they also have less surface area than rolled oats. Without getting into too much math, which I think should be left out of one’s dietary choices, the glycemic index of a grain – how quickly and how high it raises your blood sugar – is related in part to the surface area of the grain. More surface area = higher glycemic index = more rapid and higher rise in blood sugar = (possible) weight gain. You might guess that there is a whole lot of debate on this and tons of information elsewhere online. If you’re interested, go for it. What works best for me is just knowing that whole grains (= less surface area) = my body feels better = ‘nuf said.

So anyhoo, steel-cut oats have less surface area than rolled oats, which have less surface area than quick-cook oats, which have less surface area than flour. I use whole wheat flour in this recipe as well, because I’m not a glutenazi and it works best for flavor and texture. Also, buttermilk powder is not strictly necessary in this recipe, but why wouldn’t you? It keeps almost forever in the fridge and makes pancakes taste about a million times better. If you can’t/don’t do dairy, you can do the vinegar-in-almond milk thing. Oh yeah – don’t forget the berry maple syrup. You won’t believe how good it is.

I hear there’s another storm headed for the northeast. I’m sorry you’re getting hammered up there! Here’s some consolation:

SURPRISE PANCAKES

This recipe feeds two or three with leftovers and easily doubles for a crowd.

1-1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

6 Tbsp buttermilk powder*

1-1/2 cup water

3/4 cup leftover cooked grain

*Or use 1-1/2 cups milk of any kind; or 1-1/2 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice, filling to 1-1/2 cups with milk of any kind

Mix dry ingredients together.

In a separate large bowl whisk the egg with the water (wet ingredients).

Mix in dry ingredients and stir in grain. Don’t over-mix.

Heat a griddle to medium heat for five minutes; wipe with a little oil. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup batter (a 1/4 measure works great for this) for a pancake 4-5 inches in diameter. Cook until edges start to look dry and small bubbles form across the top. Flip ‘em with a spatula. Continue to cook until both sides are golden brown. Keep warm in a 200-degree oven until ready to eat.

Cool leftover pancakes completely, separate with waxed paper and toss in a freezer bag. Reheat in a toaster or toaster oven and love that you are enjoying homemade pancakes before work.

BERRY SYRUP

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup berries (any kind, or a mix) and 1 cup maple syrup to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced and slightly thicker. Pour over pancakes and enjoy. Keeps indefinitely in the fridge, but you will finish it in short order anyway.

If you make these – and I hope you do – post a comment here and let me know what you think!

Shout-out to my favorite new band, Howlies, from Atlanta! When I first saw them last summer, I wasn’t prepared to be knocked sideways, but indeed I was. Bought the CD at the show and played it every day for about four months. Saw them for the second time two weeks ago; they’re still bringing down the house. Check out their CD, Trippin’ with Howlies. Produced by Kim Fowley, it’s a must-listen for fans of the Nuggets sound. Fun videos on YouTube as well.

Anyhoo, I’m posting this Rock N Roll Health School recipe in honor of Howlies. Dixie burgers, from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, by Moosewood Collective – recently discovered by me and already in heavy rotation. All south, all the time – black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes and greens. Could you get any more southern? Maybe if you top them with peanuts (good) or cotton or tobacco (not so much). You can make ‘em spicy or not. They freeze and reheat very well; in fact, they might even be better the next day. The very best part is that you can throw these together in under an hour and have enough food for a couple of meals. Top with a fried egg for a wonderful breakfast treat.

Dixie Burgers
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, by Moosewood Collective

Serves 4-6

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
pinch of salt
2 cups grated raw sweet potatoes
1/3 cup minced celery
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground allspice (curry powder also good)
1/2 cup minced red bell peppers
2 cups stemmed and finely chopped raw kale or collards
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1-1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas (15 oz can, drained)*
4 oz firm tofu (optional)

*1/2 cup of dried will yield 1-1/2 cups cooked

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously oil a baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy or non-stick frying pan. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and sautee for a few minutes. Add the grated sweet potatoes, bell peppers, celery, thyme, and allspice and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until sweet potatoes are soft. Add the greens, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes, until the greens are just tender. Remove from heat and stir in soy sauce and black pepper.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse the black-eyed peas and tofu, if using, until the peas are mashed but not smooth. Alternatively, use a potato masher or fork. Combine the sauteed vegetables with the mashed mixture and form into 4 patties.

Bake on prepared baking sheet for 20 minutes or until firm.

Reheat in a skillet over medium heat.

What do you think? As always, if you try them and have something to report please let me know with a reply below. And pass this along to any friends who might like it. Enjoy!

OK, here we go – the long, two-month road to Sugar Town begins about….two weeks ago. Halloween candy’s been in the stores since August, a devious ploy to get you to buy some early, eat it all and then buy it again for the trick-or-treaters. Now it’s half off, which just encourages us to buy twice as much.

Just about the time you polish off the Halloween candy, you’ll be making or buying pies for Thanksgiving, which brings us right to the holiday parties and those gorgeous, festive plates of cookies….

And then, before you know it, it’s January and your pants are tight and you feel like crap ‘cause you are what you eat and you’ve been eating crap for two months and you promised yourself you weren’t gonna do that this year but the time just went and the food was so good and you’ll get into the gym starting next week and next year it’ll be different for sure….

Wait, hold it. Is this you? It doesn’t have to be.

There’s no magic to staying fit and healthy over the holidays. It’s about balance. Parties, shopping and holiday cooking can all throw you off. Next Monday, November 8, I’ll be at the Beehive in Carrboro doing a cooking demonstration of some healthful holiday appetizers and desserts along with some tips for enjoying the holidays without letting them get the best of you. Come enjoy! Meanwhile, here’s a re-post of one of my favorite recipes, low- or no-sugar brownies made with black beans. Always a hit, your friends will be even more impressed to learn the secret ingredient.

Please note: these brownies are crumbly. If you’re serving at a party, line the pan with parchment paper that goes over the sides so you can lift them out after they cool. Then just cut straight down with a chef’s knife.

Heart Healthy Brownies

1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or carob chips
2 cups canned chickpeas or black beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking powder

pick your sweetener:

3/4 cup brown rice syrup or
2/3 cup agave nectar or
1-1/4 cup date sugar or
1 cup sugar

Place chips in a heat resistant bowl on a top of a boiling pot of water until melted.
In a blender or food processor, combine beans and eggs.
Add sweetener, baking powder, and melted chips. Process until smooth.
Pour batter into an 8” or 9” square non-stick pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool, cut, and serve.

Do you have any ideas for a healthy holiday dish? How ’bout a recipe you’d like to make healthier? Post it here and I’ll health-ify it for you.

I talk to my clients a lot about listening to their bodies and letting their instincts tell them what they want and need to eat, how to move, and so on. Often the noise of our lives makes it hard to hear what our bodies are saying. Here’s a story about me forgetting one of the basic tenets of my own food philosophy. !!

Dave left town for a three-week tour. Though I’d much rather have him around, when he’s gone one of the things I enjoy is eating on my own schedule – dinner is usually earlier than we eat when he’s home. I also tend to eat lighter when he’s gone.

So. He’s gone, and I’m eating early and eating light. I had started a sugar fast as well. It’s going great and I’m feeling good….

Until.

A week into my sugar fast I’m noticing that I’m craving sugar. This is weird – usually after three days I don’t notice it at all. No big deal – made myself a mashed sweet potato with toasted pecans and maple syrup. Cured that.

But then, a couple of days later I’m craving sugar again, powerfully. Low energy, cranky too. And hungry, despite the fact that I’ve been eating pretty well (or so I thought). Towards the evening I start spiraling downward and feel about as bad as I’ve felt in a long time. Trying, trying to figure out what the problem is.

Suddenly it dawns on me: I’ve eaten almost no protein at all in a week! When I finished a bean soup and some lentil bolognese I’d made, I didn’t think about it again. I had vegetables and grains – what else did I need?

Uh…Protein!

I bought a piece of chicken and some pork from Whole Foods and ate it practically cave man style, with no vegetables or anything. It took a couple of hours to return to normal but eventually I did. I vowed to pay more attention to my body, which I had been neglecting in the rush to complete some projects. And of course I thought “I should write about this.”

The moral of this story is that we need protein on a regular basis. In addition to giving us energy, protein plays many roles in the healthy function of the body – building and maintaining muscle tissue, digestion, immunity. Hormonal balance.

Like many people, when I’m not getting enough protein I crave sugar. I’m not a scientist, but I suspect it has to do with levels of the hormones insulin and glucagon getting out of whack. Whatever the reason, it happens and I know it. I shouda/woulda/coulda seen it coming this time but I didn’t, and ended up eating in a completely uncharacteristic way. If I had been paying attention, I would have been supplementing the grains and veggies with my usual plant-based sources of protein and some occasional meat, and would have had no problems at all.

Of course, everyone’s protein needs are different. If you crave sugar, you may not be getting enough. If you’re not eating some protein at least once a day, experiment with increasing the amount to see what happens to your cravings.

On the other hand, too much protein can harm the kidneys or cause your bones to leech calcium, not to mention the effects you already know of eating too much high-fat meat. Here’s another thing – eating too much meat can also cause you to crave sugar!

Frustrating, right? So what’s a person to do?

You gotta find the right amount of protein for your body and lifestyle. If you eat a lot of meat, experiment with plant-based sources of protein like beans, high-protein grains, tempeh and tofu. If you don’t eat meat, make sure you’re getting enough protein for your lifestyle and activity level from that same list. Ladies, I’m talking to you – if you exercise every day, eating cereal (or nothing) for breakfast and a salad for lunch ain’t gonna cut it. If you crave sugar, you probably need more protein.

Couple more things:

• Stay away from those fake meats with the ingredients lists as long as your arm.
• If/when you do eat meat, be sure to eat it with lots of vegetables.
• Protein bars aren’t food.

So, how about you? Do you eat meat? Do you not? Do you crave sugar? What do you notice about your body’s protein needs? I want to hear from you! Leave a comment below. And, if  you think this speaks to someone you know, please share it.

My last breakfast blog post got some good feedback – thanks for that. Many of you seem to not have 15 minutes to make and eat breakfast. OK, fair enough. What if you could make a delicious breakfast the night before (or three nights before) and then grab it on your way out the door to eat at your desk? Would that be better?

My colleague Rose Payne quoted an interesting study about eggs. Here’s the whole article: http://bit.ly/cEkCYN

But I found this most interesting:

“Eggs are one of the most powerful appetite suppressing foods. They are a wonderful form of fast and simple protein. A recent study performed with two groups of women proved that eating eggs for breakfast actually staves off hunger pangs and reduces overall calorie intake. One group of women ate bagels and cream cheese for breakfast and the other ingested eggs. The calorie count for both breakfasts was identical. The subjects kept a diary of what they ate the rest of the day and answered questions about their level of hunger, satiety and overall demeanor during the day.

“The results were conclusive showing that the women who had eaten eggs for breakfast felt more satisfied throughout the day and they consumed lees food at each remaining meal than the women in the bagel group.”

Point is, if you want to look and feel your best, eating a healthful, protein-rich breakfast is going to help. A lot. Again, that’s why when I work with my clients I start with breakfast. And guess what: they lose weight and have more energy and fewer cravings.

This Veggie Frittata takes a little bit of time, but not much. It keeps great in the fridge and reheats beautifully. It’s also delicious at room temperature. I find that a quarter (or less) of it is very filling – what with all the vegetables – so you can eat it for days. Committed carnivores can also toss in a link of (cooked!) Italian or Andouille sausage, some crumbled bacon or pancetta – you don’t need a lot of meat to get a lot of flavor.

Vegans, egg-haters – never fear. I’ll have some options for you very soon. Stay tuned!

Veggie Frittata

4 eggs
2-4 cups of whatever vegetables you like, chopped small – kale, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, zucchini, peppers, onion, garlic, mushrooms, carrots…
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper
optional: fresh aromatic herbs, chopped – cilantro, parsley, chives, etc…
optional: 1/4-1/2 cup of crumbled feta or grated flavorful cheese like Parmesan

Heat oil in an oven-proof skillet. (If you don’t have one, use a regular skillet and transfer cooked veggies to an oiled pie plate before pouring eggs on top.) Add onion first, then add veggies in order of how long they take to cook – ie, broccoli/cauliflower first, squash, mushrooms…leafy greens last. Cook over medium heat till they’re al dente – cooked but not mushy. Meanwhile, scramble the eggs and add salt, pepper and herbs, if using. When the veggies are cooked, make sure they’re evenly distributed in the pan and pour the eggs over the top, making sure they get in amongst the veggies evenly. Crumble cheese over, if using, and finish under the broiler till eggs are set.

Lemme know whatcha think. Did you try it? Did you like it? Did you change it?

Happy cooking!

This past weekend I found myself in a Dairy Queen – the birthday request of a friend (?!). I don’t think I’d been in a Dairy Queen since I was about eight years old. So I excitedly ordered my childhood favorite – the Peanut Buster Parfait.

Oh. My. God. I know it’s been a long time, but I’m pretty sure that what that woman handed me was at least twice the size that it was in the 70s. I can’t seem to find confirmation of that online – if you know, please leave a comment below. I could have it all wrong, but I remember holding it and it wasn’t much bigger than my young hand. A nice-size, occasional treat.

Current Peanut Buster Behemoth: 730 calories. 31 grams of fat – 48% of your daily value; 85% of your DV of saturated fat. 85 grams of sugar. That’s over 1/3 cup!! (4.2 grams of sugar in a teaspoon, dontchaknow.) Now, I like dessert as much as the next gal, but that is ridiculous.

I ended up throwing more than half of it away. Not because I was feeling guilty or pious, but because I was full. And I felt bad for throwing it away. So I wondered how many people eat past the point of satiety just because they were taught to clean their plates?

There’s a huge (pun intended) problem in this country with portion control, mostly in the mainstream. Fast food, chain restaurants, Costco, et al. Nobody needs the 1170 calories in a Big Mac Extra Value Meal, or the endless breadstick feast of Olive Garden. I could go on but do I need to? These meals are made by machines and cooked by workers making minimum wage. There’s no pride, no love, no real flavor – just way too many calories, too much salt (in place of flavor, duh), and almost zero nutritional value.

Let’s compare that trip to DQ with my breakfast this morning at a local indie coffee shop, Jessee’s. I don’t eat breakfast out of the house very often, so this was a treat. Breakfast burrito with eggs, farmers’ market vegetables and a little cheese. I don’t know the calorie count, but it was slightly bigger than my fist and I could tell the super-fresh vegetables were chopped by hand and cooked with pride. It was colorful and delicious; when I finished it I felt nourished. Imagine that!

If you want to look and feel your best, stay out of the chains. Keep your money in local businesses like farmers’ markets and independent restaurants and cafes. If you’re on the road, ask around – the locals will tell you what’s what. Small businesses tend to focus on quality, not quantity. They don’t necessarily charge more, but you’ll get smaller portions of infinitely better food – for your body and your soul.

Anybody care to give a shout-out to their favorite local food? Please leave a comment below, and tell us where to eat in your town!

Argh, now I have a Supertramp song in my head. Sorry if you do, too.

Anyhoo, one of the first things I talk to my clients about is breakfast. Why is that? Because what you eat first can set you up for better or worse choices later in the day.

We make a lot of poor breakfast choices in this country. Cold cereal, bagels, muffins, fast food. Or coffee. Or nothing at all.

Cereals are deceptive with their claims of nutrition – usually all they do is add back the vitamins and minerals that were processed out in manufacturing (if they bother to do this at all). Cereal also has a high glycemic index, which means that your blood sugar rises only to crash a short while later, leaving you lethargic and hungry. Muffins, bagels and fast food do the same thing, except with even more sugar, fat and calories and little to no nutrition.

So what I do is start at the beginning. Give yourself fifteen minutes to make a nutritious meal and sit down to eat it. It’s fifteen minutes – I don’t want to hear that you don’t have time. Make the time! If you don’t have fifteen minutes, then give yourself five to make it and take it to the office to eat. Even if it’s  PB&J on whole wheat bread, put something healthful in your stomach to give you sustained energy and stave off serious hunger before you start looking around for a sugar- or coffee buzz.

One of my favorite quick breakfasts is egg-on-toast. This is serious comfort food for me since Mom made it for me as a kid (still does, sometimes). I’ve updated the recipe and love to play around with it. It’s so easy it hardly merits A Recipe, but here it is anyway.

Egg-on-Toast

1 egg

1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil

2 Tbsp water

1 piece of whole (or sprouted) wheat bread

avocado

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat for 4 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, crack the egg into a bowl, making sure not to break the yolk.
3. Toast the bread and spread with avocado. Set aside while you cook the egg. (It’s important to have the bread toasted before you cook the egg.)
4. When the skillet is good and hot, add oil. Pour egg into the skillet. Add water and cover so that the top of the egg cooks really fast. The egg will cook in a minute or less – you can lift the lid to check, and if it’s not done, put the lid back on for another few seconds until the white is cooked and the yolk still runny.
5. Use a spatula to put that egg right on top of the toast, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and enjoy.

I love to hear what people had for breakfast – do tell. What did you have for breakfast this morning? Got any good ideas? Please share!

Just got back from a few well-needed days at the beach. On the drive down, I had visions of me starring in a postcard from the sixties, surrounded by tanned and toned surfer boys and girls, playing in the waves and lolling on the sand.

What a surprise. It didn’t look that way at all. Instead, we were surrounded by the heartbreaking sight of a beach full of shockingly unhealthy-looking people. They seemed to have taken some unhealthy habits on vacation with them, and I watched bag after giant bag of chips be emptied into couldn’t-possibly-be-hungry mouths, followed by gallons of soda and not a water bottle in sight.

Let me be clear – I definitely don’t eat the same way on vacation as I do at home. But there are some things I do that you can do too, to keep those unwanted vacation pounds away.

Stay active

We took our bikes with us and reveled in the flat coastal terrain (even if I was bitchin’ some about the head winds…in both directions?!). We ended up buying bikes after renting them at a beach a few years ago and falling in love with them. Biking is so much fun that you don’t even notice the exercise you’re getting. Look up local bike trails and plan to use your bikes for transportation as well – biking to the popular spots means you always get a parking space. Bonus – free or reduced fees for cyclists at most parks and monuments!

Stop at Farm Stands

You’ll see them along the state highways with lots of fresh, local produce. Pick up your favorite fruits and vegetables here and enjoy more flavor than their withered supermarket counterparts.

Minimize snacking, and keep ‘em healthy

At the very least, bring a decent knife and cutting board and some sandwich bags. Chop carrots and apples in the room, bag them and bring ‘em along. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are all sweet beach treats that don’t need cutting (if you’re picking them up at a farm stand, bring along some Tupperware-type containers so they don’t get smashed in the cooler). Make your own trail mix with nuts and dried fruit. All these choices have nutrition to keep you going and no junk.

Eat a healthy breakfast

If you’ll have a kitchen, check ahead to see what pots and pans it has. Or, bring your own skillet. Simple eggs and whole wheat toast with butter or jam is a healthful breakfast without the butter-flavored who-knows-what they use at most diners. If you do go to a diner, at least order your toast “dry” and they’ll leave off whatever that stuff is they’re calling “butter.”

If you like smoothies, bring your own blender and some yogurt for easy treats made from those farm stand fruits.

Pack a picnic

Some of my fondest vacation memories are of my mom’s homemade sandwiches eaten at a picnic table. Peanut butter and jelly, cold cuts, cheese…if you shop smart you can enjoy delicious treats on the road while still knowing what’s in your food. Just like Mom, I love using fresh lettuce and tomatoes instead of those lifeless imitations you usually get at a restaurant, on some sort of really special whole wheat bread.

Drink water, drink water, drink water

Soda and juice boxes are actually dehydrating because it takes water from your body to process the sugar. Learn to love water, and bring a refillable bottle rather than using a dozen little plastic ones. You can flavor your water with a splash of (real) fruit juice, or get creative and add cucumber slices or chunks of melon. Or both!

Enjoy the junk…in moderation

You’re on vacation! You’re supposed to eat ice cream. Or chips. Or whatever it is that makes you happy. Thing is, you can moderate. Rather than buying family-size bags of chips, just grab a small convenience-store or vending-machine bag when you really want it. Buy a small ice cream and savor it – if you still want more when you’re done, order another. But what you’re doing when you’re trying to save a couple bucks on the larger size is just setting yourself up for the mindless eating of hundreds of extra calories. Don’t do it.

What are your vacation plans this summer? What’s your favorite road food? I’d love to hear your ideas!