Grab Me On the Run

A wise and inspirational Buddhist monk by the name of Pema Chodron, once said,or at least quoted someone who said, that it is always good to start where you are. So, I am in the middle of teaching a four week teleclass series on Whole Food Eating—I thought that rather than labor over where to start a blog….I would just jump in where I am. And here I am.

I base all that I do from a holistic stand point meaning that it’s about all parts of your life being in balance, not just the food you eat. However the more time I work in this field I do believe it begins with the food that you eat. Hence, today’s topic: the concept of cooking once and eating several times. The idea is to make sure to always have something nutritious and delicious on hand in a pinch. Even without cooking a full meal, there should always be several viable choices of something to eat/snack on whenever you open up your refrigerator. Good, healthy, fast, whole and yummy choices.

Here are some staples that work when you need to grab and run:

In your Fridge:

Hard boiled eggs (travel well, great source of lean protein)

Baked Sweet potatoes (like the eggs, they travel well and have the dual ability to ground you because they are a root veggie, and satisfy with sweet natural taste)

Cut up cucumbers and radishes (both are cleansing in nature, satisfy “crunch” and offer variety of color in veggies – the more color the better)

Cut up red, yellow, orange peppers (look festive in a snack bag and are available and “on call” to dip into hummus, salsa or guac w/no notice)

Olives (good source of fat)

Pickles (the already refrigerated kind. Basically they have fermented/active “live” enzymes in them

Pesto (it’s a great time of year to make your own but there are several delicious kinds in addition to basil—like sun dried tomato—that are pretty whole and work well with a grain or to simply dip veggies in or as a sandwich spread)

Roasted chicken legs/breasts (great as a meal, fine as a snack)

Turkey breast (not just for Thanksgiving anymore….)

Roast pork tenderloin (the other white meat…)

Tempe (you can cut into bite size triangles, sauté ahead of time in olive or coconut oil. Provides a non-animal protein & fermented food choice)

Sauerkraut and or Kim Chee (along with the above fermented food theme—has active digestive enzymes, aiding in digestion—purchase already refrigerated. The shelf version does not have the active digestive enzymes)

Outside of the fridge:

A few Lara and/or YouBars (http://www.youbars.com/) Minimal processing and good in a pinch as you dart out the door

Home made trail mix (with organic, raw nuts and maybe some shredded coconut, raisins, apricots, and gogi berries, provides great source of protein and good quality fat with some sweet taste in there too.)

Apples, oranges and bananas (hearty fruits that don’t go bad quickly, can be thrown in a bag and nut butter tastes great with two out of three)

Figs (good with honey when you absolutely need a sweet fix and don’t want to move out the natural sweetener realm)

Dates (you never want to turn down a good date. Amen.)

If you get in the habit of at least having a variety of the above things ready and available you are not going to be caught off guard on a day when you are going to be out, say at a child’s sports practice, at a meal time or working late, etc, etc, etc……There will always be several choices for you to choose from (which keeps you from feeling deprived) and that are available easily. So what do you think of that?

As you continue to follow my blog, I’ll give more tips on healthy yummy eating and will continue to explain the subtleties of nutrition all the while focusing on wellness and balance in your living…