Friday, May 22, 2015

Hello everyone!

Long time no blog.  I'm posting today to let you know that I've moved the Who's got the thyme blog over to my new website.  I've been really focused on getting my Health Coaching affairs in order and I'm now back in action and ready to post and share and cook and eat and so on and so forth.  In fact, I've already posted twice on the new page so if you haven't seen this through Facebook posts, please join me here.  While you're there, sign up to receive the posts when they're published in the subscription form right at the end of the blog post.  I hope to see you there!

By the way, yesterday's post has a really easy and delicious recipe you won't want to miss....
Who's got the thyme?

Be well,
Amy

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Breakfast of Champions

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?  I have no idea.  Depends on which fitness or nutrition blog or magazine article you happen to be reading.  I've seen the argument go both ways. Whether or not it is THE most important, or even important all is not for me to decide.  I think it makes perfect sense that eating breakfast, especially when trying to lose weight, will keep you fueled up and less likely to snack or dig into junk food because you're suddenly starving.  I think if you're going to eat breakfast it should be a good, healthy, not super sugary one with a decent amount of protein to keep you satisfied for a longer period of time.  Personally, I don't like to eat right away in the morning so I bring my breakfast to work.  I either bring my beloved Greek yogurt with berries and granola (which I now make homemade instead of store bought) or instant oatmeal (which I'm now making myself as well because of all the sugar in the store bought stuff) with almonds and flax seed.  On the weekends however, I'm up for an occasional pancake (I would never make for myself but if Nels is whipping up a batch, why not) or sometimes eggs.  Eggs are a super healthy food.  Gone are the days when it was believed that they increased your cholesterol (if you still thought that was the case, fear not, that's old news).  Why (or really "how") people eat egg whites only is a mystery to me.  I've never been a fan of the way they taste and the bulk of the nutrients are in the yolk anyway so you might as well go all the way.  So with all that said, I want to share my new favorite way to eat eggs on the weekend (especially if you're heading out for a while after breakfast or planning to get a good workout in!).  Poached eggs on avocado toast is where it's at my friends, and I invite you to try it out for yourselves.
Get yourself a couple of good eggs (no one likes a bad egg!) and half of an avocado (healthy fats are your friend).
Get a couple (or maybe just one if you're not that hungry) of slices of bread.  Try to be selective with bread.  I'm loving the Ezekiel bread, which is probably the best stuff out there (in the store) as far as ingredients and whole grains go.  Sometimes we buy Heidelberg bread which is made from real ingredients, no preservatives, no sugar (why do most store bought breads have sugar anyway?) and it's based in Herkimer, NY.  Whatever you do, don't be fooled by the names, like the Pepperidge Farms  Whole Grain bread which contains sugar, sugarcane, honey AND molasses (not to mention a few other questionables)! Why? Read your labels.
Ok, done with my bread rant (for today).  Get yourself a pot of water and heat the water until gently bubbling and try to keep it at that temp (not a full boil).  Give the water a swirl with a spoon...
and gently ease your egg into the water using a small bowl or measuring cup to keep it in tact. Set your timer for 3 min for medium (2 for runny, 4 for hard) and scoop out with a slotted spoon when the time is up.
Meanwhile, smash that avocado onto your toast (no butter needed) and season with a little salt and pepper.
Plop that egg right on top and add a touch more salt and pepper.
Oh man.....that is good.  Another variation we like is to add a little baby spinach under that egg. Yum.
Give it a try! It is really tasty and will have you ready to go to take on the gym or whatever else you have going on.