The Whole Food Movement

I gained 4-5lbs back over Christmas. Which says terrible things in equal parts about my self control AND the nature of the holidays themselves.

I'm not worried about the weight, it's small potatoes to where I've been and where I'm going. The long term damage is what concerns me. This once a year series of festivities obliterated my 'stop eating' function. Eating until you're ready to explode for one dinner is one thing. Spending a week like that in a bloated nap hazed coma of gluttony meant that when I returned to regular sized portions and meal times, my body went OMG NO, MOAR FOOD PLZ. I don't know about you guys, I had to retrain my body to understand what being satisfied was. (That's what she said?)

NOW that everything is more or less back in line, I'm struggling with the CHOICES in food that I have to make. It never ends! I'm finding it harder for me to choose to eat healthy over salty-sugary-everywhere-at-my-jobs snacks. It's tough to get away from packaged options in this day and age, they're virtually everywhere. They're more convenient, blah blah preservatives blah. So for my 100 billionth post-New Years resolution, I think I'd like to try and eat more wholesomely.

In first year, Josh used to come into my dorm room and scoff at the turkey bacon in my freezer. "Do you even know what this stuff IS? Why don't you just eat REAL bacon?" Studies have shown that people who eat low fat, zero fat treats and snacks tend to eat MORE. It gives them a sense of allowance. So screw reduced fat cheddar, cake mix, and cooking with only egg whites. Hello moderation, cutting back on candy and having a healthy relationship with food.

Part of this whole food movement is going to be learning to bake and cook healthier things. Variety is the spice of life, and BABY, do I like my food spicy! Combining time in the kitchen with my crazy fitness plan is going to ensure some measure of success. The word is BALANCE.

So if you guys have any healthy, wholesome, baking or cooking recipes that I just HAVE to try, hollah!

I baked this today to get back into my groove. It might not be the healthiest, but it has none of the preservatives of store bought bread and I ad libbed the oats in there for added goodness!

WHITE OAT BREAD


1/4 cup milk
5 teaspoons sugar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons melted butter (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour
Corn starch or nonstick cooking spray

• Mix up the yeast according to the directions on the packet. (Fleischmann's instant yeast is 1/4 cup warm water, 1 tsp sugar and then the usual 2 1/4 tsp of yeast.)

• Add the melted butter, the milk, the sugar, and the salt to the yeast mixture and stir it.

• Add two cups of flour to the mix. Start stirring, and then add the flour about 1/4 cup at a time. (This is where I added 1/2 cup of oats. FUN!)

• Add flour until the dough is still slightly sticky, but it doesn’t stick to your hands in any significant way. Also, it should largely clean the sides of the bowl, leaving just a thin layer of floury stuff.

• Knead on a floured surface for ten minutes. (It's going to make your arms hurt. TRUST.)

• Shape it into a ball and coat the inside a bowl with nonstick cooking spray, then put the ball of dough inside the bowl. Toss to coat. Cover and let rise for one hour.

• Punch the dough down. Shape it into a loaf, putting it into a greased bread pan. Wait another hour.

• Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. When it’s done, remove it from the oven, the pan and let it cool as much as you possibly can before eating. (Good luck!)