New Life, New Lifestyle

First of all, happy easter everyone! Isn't this such a grand, super duper joyful celebration? Today, we celebrate our second chance, our salvation, our new restored self, our new life...all given to us FREE, at absolutely no cost to us! Jesus, You are really amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As we celebrate a fresh, new start, I'd like to start writing about our family's slow but sure turn towards a healthier lifestyle. It's been an overdue change for us, what with my husband and I enjoying our food a little bit too much and sporting not-so-sexy bellies now. I, for one, don't want to look and feel losyang when I'm only in my early 30's! Besides, when one starts having a family, it seems natural to start making healthier decisions. For us, it's about quitting or minimizing unhealthy habits (such as softdrinks and eating processed food) and forming better ones.

So, in our effort to get healthy, I’ll document our little baby steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Note that there won’t be any dramatic stories of big changes here as what I’m aiming for are small, sure and progressive steps that gets my family in a better state than we are today. What I want to make are doable and sustainable decisions.

To begin with, below are some kitchen do’s that we live by:

• ·      We use Canola and Olive Oils only for all our dishes. Canola Oil has very low saturated fats and contains Omega-6, Omega-3, high levels of Vitamin E and a-linolenic acid. Olive Oil contains monounsaturated fatty acids.
• ·      I try to use as much spices, all-natural broths instead of packed flavorings (such as Maggi Sarap) or Knorr cubes (those contain high levels of MSGs and other synthetic flavorings) as much as I possibly can. Pepper, oregano, basil, thyme and cumin are just some of our spice favorites.
• ·      We like our breakfasts hearty and filling but I try to find non-processed meats to go along with out eggs, rice and coffee in the morning. This is especially challenging and I’ll share some non-processed breakfast ideas I’ve come up with. If you have some, too, please share as I can always use fresh new recipes!

It’s not easy, and planning the weekly menu comprising of healthy and tasty dishes can sometimes drive me nuts.

But I’m not about to back out on the challenge. Living healthy is God’s will for this family and we’re going to make that happen, by God’s grace!

For this post, I’ll share my all-time favorite healthy breakfast omelette recipe that you might appreciate too:

 Spinach & Cheese Omelette

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 large eggs - (we use organic, free-range Bounty Fresh eggs which sells for P79/10 pcs)
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup spinach, washed and shredded
• dash of salt, pepper, oregano, dried basil
• 1 tbsp Wheat Germ (we bought a jar of this super healthy nutty wheat product at Shopwise—easy to add to dishes for added vitamin E and folic acid) 
• 1/4 cup grated mozzarella (the low-sodium variety would be better)

This bottle of Wheat Germ is pretty handy for a lot of dishes

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Procedure:

1.    Whisk eggs, milk together. Add salt, pepper, oregano, dried basil, wheat germ.

2.    Saute garlic in 1 tbsp Olive Oil. When softened, add the spinach.

3.    Once the spinach has cooked, pour the egg mixture. Wait for the egg mixture to form and harden a bit.

4.    Sprinkle the cheese all over the egg formation. Then, fold into half.

5.    Can be served with toasted whole wheat toast or brown rice. Enjoy!