photo credit: ishane

Clean eaters often enjoy a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast or sometimes during the day. Have you ever wondered the difference between steel-cut oats versus rolled oats? I have yet to try steel-cut oats but have seen it for sale quite often. There are several differences between it and the typical rolled oat variety. These include:

• Much longer cooking time (30 minutes)
• More cholesterol lowering soluble fiber than other oatmeal
• Takes longer to digest so you stay fuller longer
• Chopped with steel blades resulting in a “chewier” oatmeal

To sum it up, steel-cut oats are basically a less processed version of the rolled oats. Since both versions are the same when it comes to nutrition, it is a matter of taste and preference as to which you would eat. Personally, I like the quick cooking of the rolled oats. However, I do like the fact that steel-cut oats contain more fiber. I may pick up a tin of it next time I’m running low on oats to see how I like it.

Do you have a preference between the two?

I’ll never forget the first time I had grilled fruit. I thought grilling fruit was odd until my sister sliced up some peaches at a family bbq and grilled them up for dessert. They were absolutely delicious grilled and now I look forward to grilling fruit at every bbq.

What makes fruit so delicious grilled is because fruit is basically made up of water and sugar, so grilling them caramelizes the sugars making a tasty dessert or side dish. Most fruits work out great grilled, however, harder fruits like apples, pears, and pineapples will hold their shape better. Softer fruits like peaches, plums, and mangos will need to be watched more carefully because they will quickly turn to mush if cooked for too long.

The best way to grill fruit is to slice them and keep the skin on. Keeping the skin on is optional but for harder fruits, the skin helps to hold the fruit together. Grilled fruit works well for any part of the meal - appetizers, desserts, side dishes. You can also grill fruit and then blend them into salsas. If you haven’t tried grilling fruit, I recommend trying it. They are so delicious grilled!

image credit: montage_man

What I love about summer is the fact that you can enjoy all of the summer fruits in a variety of ways. You can chop them up and make fruit salads, blend them in to refreshing smoothies, add them to your protein shakes, and so much more. If you are trying to beat the heat and continue your clean eating plan, try reaching for a chilled peach or plum instead of ice cream. There are a ton of summer fruits to choose from so it is a good idea to keep your fridge stocked with them if you are able.

Here are several and some of their healthy benefits:

Peaches - these are a good source of vitamin C and I love adding frozen peaches to my protein shakes.

Grapes - these make a great quick snack. They are a good source of vitamins C and K. Have you ever tried frozen grapes? They also are good tossed into a salad or to eat with cheese.

Cantaloupe - another favorite and packed with vitamins A and C. It is great to eat for breakfast.

Cherries - I absolutely love cherries but they can get rather expensive. They contain vitamin C and fiber. You can add these to salads and smoothies but I enjoy them best as they are.

Mangoes - this is another fruit I enjoy as is but you can easily add to a salad or smoothie. They are good sources of vitamins A and C.

Watermelon - I think this is the ultimate summer fruit. I like this one served as cold as possible. Good source of vitamins A and C.

These are just several of my favorite summer fruits. Which ones top your clean eating list?

image credit: sxc.hu

It seems almost every week I am coming across a new fad diet and this week is no exception. The Cookie Diet is getting some press for weight loss but it isn’t at all what you think it is. Many people immediately think that you can go on a cookie eating binge and lose weight. Think again! The Cookie Diet was invented by Doctor Sanford Siegal and it consists of eating his specially formulated cookies in order to suppress your appetite.

I have no idea whether or not the cookies taste good but I’m going to guess probably not when you think of real cookies made with butter and sugar. The concept of the diet is to eat the cookies and then stick to a very low calorie diet in order to lose weight. When will people learn these types of diets do not work? The Cookie Diet is the type of diet that will have a person regain all of the weight they have lost. It has all the signs of a yo-yo diet.

While Dr. Siegal’s diet may have helped many to lose weight, this type of diet spells disaster in the long term. There really is no substitute for adopting a long-term health eating lifestyle such as clean eating. You are always eating with a clean eating diet and I think I’d rather do that then depend on appetite suppressing cookies on the Cookie Diet. It is just another fad diet which serves as the magic bullet a majority of people are looking for.

Every now and again a new fad diet will hit the airwaves and people will be fascinated by another method of losing weight. This time the newest diet craze is drinking tea. The Ultimate Tea Diet is no exception. People are searching for information about this like crazy ever since the author, Mark “Dr. Tea” Ukra talked about it on tv. Mark Ukra says that people around the globe are losing weight with his tea diet.

I have done some minor research and so far the diet isn’t far fetched at all. In fact, I think it sounds interesting because I love tea and I have written about the benefits of drinking tea before. The Ultimate Tea Diet seems to spread the message about the benefits of drinking tea as well as using tea in your recipes.

Green tea in particular has the following benefits:

• Lowers bad cholesterol and increases good
• Lowers blood pressure
• Known to fight certain types of cancer
• Boosts immune system
• Aids in weight loss by stimulating metabolism
• Improves digestion

I think I would be more interested in some of the recipes in the diet as they include tea. I have seen food shows in which tea was the key ingredient for the recipes and everything looked delicious. The food was also prepared in a healthy way. I have always been a big tea drinker - particularly green tea, as it holds the most health benefits compared to most other kinds.

If you are looking for a good beverage that is low in calories and caffeine for your clean eating lifestyle, I think tea is an excellent choice.

image credit: sxc.hu