By Karen Best Wright, B.S. Community Health Education
Pathway to Healthy Living
Sometimes we become so hurried that we don't even realize how crazy we have let our lives become. I realized this one day when I wouldn't stop at a particular gas station because I was going to have to take the time to go into the store to pay for my gas. They didn't have the type of gas pumps that took credit cards. So I drove away and went somewhere else.
The advertisement on television that shows the family eating their instant oatmeal in the car, I think is utterly ridiculous. Who in their right mind would let young children eat oatmeal in a car?
This brings me to my topic about a high sugar processed breakfast. A little bit of planning, organizing, and real interest in being healthy can beat the urge to simply fill ourselves up as fast as we can with something that simply tastes good. That something is often high in sugar, sodium, fat, and who knows what else.
I was reading in the recent Consumer's Report about "oatmeal." What we do to save 5 minutes of cooking time and 30 seconds to wash a pot. A serving of individually packaged instant oatmeal makes about 1/2 cup. I don't know who eats a 1/2 cup of oatmeal except someone who doesn't like it. I admit, I really like the taste of the peaches and cream instant oatmeal, but that's because of all of the extra stuff added to it. According to the article, each packet of instant oatmeal has about 1 tablespoon of sugar added to it. A tablespoon of sugar for a 1/2 cup of oatmeal is a lot of sugar. At least, I think it is.
It is very easy to cook oatmeal in a pot. It takes about 5 minutes for the Old-Fashioned type (my favorite) and 1 minute for the Quick cooking. If you add a teaspoon of sugar, cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, or brown sugar to your 1/2 cup of oatmeal, you have 1/3 the sugar and more fiber than the processed type from the nifty little packages.
Now while I drink low-fat 1% milk and generally eat only healthy fats, I admit, I do sometimes cheat and put whole milk or maybe a little bit of half and half on my oatmeal. Even then, my oatmeal has fewer calories and is higher in fiber. There is all kinds of ways to dress up oatmeal in healthy ways, fresh or frozen strawberries or peaches, fresh bananas, and even slivered almonds.
A little bit of planning ahead makes fixing a healthy breakfast simple and easy. I can fix my children's lunches, cook their breakfast (and have them eat it), fix their hair, make sure they have brushed their teeth, and get them on the bus in about 40 minutes. We have a routine. A routine even our dog knows.
Karen Wright, B.S. Community Health Education
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