Portion Before Distortion

I love salty snack food.  In fact, I could literally eat a whole bag of chips or popcorn.  I justify the chips becuase they are from Trader Joes or Whole Foods and made with Flax Seeds and Vegetables.  The popcorn I usually get is airpopped.  Healthy?  Right?  Probably not when I eat the whole bag in one sitting!  How easy is that?  Simply open the bag, stick my hand in, and pull out a flavorful and salty chip.  With the bag so easily accessible, why not help myself to more and more?  Pretty soon the whole bag is almost finished!  What?  How did that happen?  This behavior contributes to mindless eating.  In other words.......Auto Pilot. 

When we're on auto pilot, nothing else seems to matter.  Calories, taste, smell, texture, and satisfaction all go down the drain.  A major consequence of going on auto pilot is weight gain.  Raising awareness about our food before we eat it empowers us to nuture our bodies. Therefore, this act alone can help maintain a healthy weight or help some even lose weight.     

A key element to building awareness about our food is by observing our portions.  Before you get portion distortion, look at the label to see how many servings are in each bag or box.  I am sometimes amazed by how many servings there are in a bag that I previously made 1 serving out of!  When we eat straight from the bag, we are no longer away of how many servings we are eating.  How can we change this?

PORTION YOUR FOOD AS SOON AS YOU GET IT HOME

Supplies:  Sandwich sized Zip lock bags, food scale, and food item

1.  Read the label.  How many servings are in a bag?  How many ounces are in a serving?  How many calories are in a serving?

2.  Weigh food so that it matches 1 serving size and place in zip lock bag.

3.  Continue to weigh and zip lock the rest of the food until the bag is empty.  The number of zip locks bags will equal the number of servings on the original bag. 

Warm and Healthy Bread Pudding Muffins

Burrrr!  It's been so cold lately.  Warm up with some Healthy Bread Pudding Muffins!  They are only 115 calories each, easy to make, portable, and a good combination of protein and carbs.  Great for Breakfast (2 muffins), post work out snack (1 muffin), or anytime snack (1 muffin)!  Best of all it's made with Ezkiel Sprouted Bread which is a complete protein!!!

Ready in 1 hour
Makes 12 servings

10 slices Ezekiel raisin bread
2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup organic raw cane sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
Olive oil cooking spray

Optional toppings: Warm almond milk, walnuts, berries

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Meanwhile, whisk all wet ingredients, plus raw can sugar and spices in a large bowl.
2. Tear each slice of bread into about 8 slices. 
3.  Lightly spray 12 count muffin tin with olive oil cooking spray and place 4 pieces in each muffin area. 
4. Pour the wet mixture over the bread and, with clean hands, press bread until it is completely moistened.  Any extra pieces add to areas that need more aborption. 
5. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes.
6. Serve warm. 

Calories: 115 each muffin