The holidays are over and New Years' resolutions are kicking in and out all over. Business at the bakery has been slow due to Diet resolutions and after a busy holiday season, a little slowdown is welcome. If history repeats itself, the next couple of weeks will see local folks slowly coming off their diets and indulging in chocolate cakes through Valentine's Day, after which we will gear up for Easter.
Historically, before we are fully enmeshed in chocolate ganache cakes (doesn't that sound like fun??) we have at least one full week where customers are clamoring for carrot cake. Nevermind that our carrot cakes are slathered with cream cheese icing, those carrots are healthy, right? Isn't it amazing what we can convince ourselves of as being healthy?
I learned a long time ago not to make New Year's resolutions since I never keep them anyway. However, despite not making formal resolutions, I often think there are things about myself that I could and should improve, particularly after the holiday season indulgences I can usually stand to eat healthier and hopefully lose a little girth in the process. That in mind, don't expect to see any new gross candy reviews, at least for a little while (they're still lurking around, believe me). I also realize that with all of my personal health concerns, eating a balanced diet and exercising semi-regularly makes me feel better and I have more energy so I'm not doing things like falling alseep in the car while waiting for CheesePuff to emerge from school.
I know there are a lot of folks out there who love reading diet blogs but I'm not one of them and I don't wish to write a diet blog (how many different ways could I write about a green salad with fat free dressing, anyway?). I will however, share future food adventures that I feel are tasty and interesting enough to write about.
Two foods I tried recently that fit in with this new, healthier eating plan include Cedar's Taboule (some folks call it, tabbouleh) and Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal.
My biggest food weakness is for dips and snack foods. I tried Cedar's Taboule with Stacy's Pita chips (though I have to be careful and only allow myself a small portion of the chips because I can eat the whole bag). This satisfies my snack craving and keeps me away from the more oil-laden snack chips. As an alternative, I also mix in 1/4 of cubed avocado to the Taboule for added healthy fats.
Kashi is dedicated to improving the way we eat and I have been very impressed with the Kashi foods I've tried. You can visit Kashi's website to learn more about them and join their community to win Kashi food products. A year's supply of free food? I'm in!
