Lunchables : Salmon Wraps

I think I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I've been trying to shift my dietary foci from being very dairy and grain based to being more veggie and meat based. The reason for this shift in thinking is that a blog that I follow, Dooce, started talking about the Paleo diet and I thought it had some merits. I think it's a bit extreme, but there are some things I felt could improve my diet.

Anyways, I had read somewhere in my researching that a good thing to do in place of bread or tortilla wraps was to wrap things in lettuce leaves instead. So, I decided to give it a try with salmon. The result was a VERY satisfying meal.

I took 1 can of salmon, mashed it up with some Miracle Whip (though I suspect it would be really good with avocado in place of Miracle Whip), then I distributed the salmon mash onto 4 Romaine lettuce leaves along the spines. Wrap and enjoy.

I particularly like having the crunchy lettuce with the salmon. I used to always add it to my salmon or tuna sandwiches to add a nice freshness to it all, but the bread always sat very heavy in my stomach. Without the bread, I just feel full and satisfied. It's a very nice feeling. I highly recommend it.

Anyways, that's my Friday Lunchable idea....we'll see if I can come up with another one for next Friday.

Spicy Sunday Debut: Cinnamon

Don't we all just love cinnamon so much that we wish it grew on trees? Well, it does! Cinnamon is actually derived from the bark of Cinnamomum trees, of which there are a few. It is a spice that is widely used all over the world for a variety of foods and other purposes.

What other purposes, you ask? Well, it just so happens that, though untested, it is sometimes used to ward off mosquitos and in mice, cinnamon can help prevent Alzheimer's disease. When it comes to health benefits, cinnamon seems to have been used for just about everything, from digestion problems to the common cold. It's yet another food that is jam-packed with antioxidants, which we all know by now, thanks to the media, that antioxidants are great anti-agers that make you look and feel younger.

Beyond that, cinnamon can prevent colon cancer and heart disease. It can even be a player in preventing and treating diabetes due to its regulatory effect on blood sugar levels.

Wow! Cinnamon's great, isn't it? And the best part is that I've never known anyone to dislike the taste of cinnamon (especially when combined with brown sugar). It tastes great in just about every baked good, on apples and other fruit and even in a wide array of beverages. So stock up on your cinnamon and enjoy!

Triple Bran : New Developments

This morning I thought I'd take the cinnamon/brown sugar mix and add some ginger to make it taste even more like gingerbread. I'm pretty undecided about it. I think it's an improvement. Plus, these additional spices are pretty good for you, so the more the merrier. In fact...that has just inspired me to write another blog post in the future, or maybe a series of blog posts about spices and their various health properties.

So stay tuned for Spicy Sundays!

Making Triple Bran Taste Good: Attempt #3

I have to admit, I was a little tempted not to post this because in my head, this was going to be an epic series of posts wherein I try every flavour combination known to man until I finally find the magic combination that makes it alright and that last flavour would be the last bowl in the box.

Instead, I'm going to have to tell you that after only three attempts, I am pretty sure I found the best combination. Cinnamon and brown sugar with milk. It kind of makes it taste like a strange gingerbread cookie. Still a bit of a gross after taste, but not bad.

I am still, however, going to accept other flavour challenges if anyone suggests it...you know, for kicks.

Making Triple Bran Taste Good: Attempt #2

This morning I intended on having Triple Bran just with milk as a baseline measurement of taste. After about two mouthfuls, I decided I'd gotten a pretty good handle on the level of gross and could try to make it taste better. Interestingly though, I think it tasted better with milk than with yogurt.

This time around I decided to add honey. Just a tablespoon, though maybe I should have added more. It was a definite improvement, but I'm not 100% sold. I think tomorrow I will try that suggestion of cinnamon and brown sugar. Besides, I recall hearing somewhere that cinnamon was really good for you...the sugar less so, but you really need them both.

The Haunting

I just realized that I've been avoiding the Triple Bran cereal. For the past two days, I have specifically not eaten it. I had eggs, bacon and toast yesterday and then today I finished up the last of my rice crispies, garnished with frozen raspberries. Tomorrow I will have no choice but to eat the Triple Bran.

That cereal haunts me. It knows I have no other options. It mocks me from the kitchen cabinet, knowing full well that I'm too frugal to buy food and not eat every last bite of it. It also knows that the nutritional value alone is enough to draw me back in and ignore the gustatory pain.

Rest assured, I WILL CONQUER YOU, TRIPLE BRAN!!!!

Making Triple Bran Taste Good: Attempt #1

I was at the grocery store yesterday and spent some time comparing nutritional information of cereals and discovered that 1/2 cup of "Triple Bran" (store brand cereal) contained 60% of your daily intake of iron. NOTHING has 60% of your daily intake of iron in such a small quantity. Well, maybe meat, but I know very little about meat's nutritional values. Then I looked at the price. It was less than $3! So I decided to try it.

Well, if you've ever had Bran Buds....these are grosser. So, I need to figure out how to make this tastey. My first attempt was this morning. I mixed it with some strawberry yogurt. Good, right? Wrong. So very wrong. I think something about the fruity flavour brings out the nasty in the cereal.

Attempt #1 failed. Anyone else have any suggestions? I may try regular milk tomorrow, just to get a base measure of taste. The more suggestions, the better!