Eating Healthy

Upon organizing a stack of "needs to be organized" I came across my HMB (Home Management Binder) which I diligently spent many hours on while I was pregnant with Aiden. I included a section for a comprehensive year long calendar, schedules for each family member (which also had daily to-do's), a menu section, a children section compromised of many different informational magazine clippings and ideas on raising children of all ages (organized by age), budget to help organize home finances, an "Other" section, contacts, and finally an unlabeled section. I was flipping through the pages and when I reached the unlabelled portion I got caught up reading some of the info I had there. The very first few pages discussed "Super Foods" that everyone should include in their diet. When I found this article the first time it had encouraged me to buy barley (one of the super foods) and I learned that I actually love barley! I decided to add it to tonights dinner which was Bean Casserole - here is the recipe - because this article said this about Barley:

This filling grain stacks up favorably to rice and potatoes. It has 170 calories per cooked cup, respectable levels of protein and fiber and relatively low fat... Studies show that barley efectively lowers cholesterol by up to 15% and has powerful anti-cancer agents. Scientists say it cures constipation better than laxatives - and that can promote weight loss, too.

Excitingly enough, beans were also on this list of foods to eat being sited because,

"Beans are one of the best sources of plant protein. They have the most protein with the least fat of any food ad they're high in potassium but low in sodium."

So tonight's dinner was quite pleasing both because of the immense flavor but also because of the internal satisfaction that it merited. I served some of my homemade bread (sprinkled with garlic powder) on the side and the whole meal really hit the spot. The next time I go grocery shopping I am going to try to buy most of the ingredients on that list and incorporate them into meals as often as possible.

I really would like to go back to following my HMB as closely as possible so throughout the week I think I'll set some time aside to update it and slowly work it back into my schedule. So check back for updates!