Health and Happiness Club

I have found THE best asparagus recipe thanks to Whole Living. I thought I'd share it with you. It was so easy to make and made the perfect light vegetarian dinner. It even heated up well for my lunch the next day!

Overall, this site has excellent recipes. I love them because not only are the recipes healthy and vitamin-rich, but they taste good the first time you make it! Many healthy food recipes skimp on the flavor or don't necessarily give you the right seasoning proportions, but Whole Living (and Martha Stewart) give you the exact preparation that you need. Obviously, you can put your own spin on it, but this makes great food available to even the most novice cooks, which I'm all about.

Bon Appétit! Roasted Asparagus and Eggs

 Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, as we all know, but sometimes I'm so much on the go that I can't catch it at home. Alright, so I really like to sleep as absolutely late as possible, therefore I tend to break my fast at the office. Obviously I can't scramble up an egg in a coffee pot, but I have found a great and nutritious alternative.

If I'm prescient enought to make my meal the night before, I'll take about a half cup to a cup of Organic Farm's Oat Flakes, a handful of blackberries, blueberries, sliced strawberries, add a dash of vanilla and cinnamon, sprinkle some flax seeds, and top off the concoction with some rice milk. I will then store this in the fridge for my morning commute. The mixture forms a bread-pudding like texture, which I will heat up in the morning.

If I get home too late, I have a box of Uncle Sam Toasted Whole Wheat Flakes (with Flax Seed) which I use instead of the Oat Flakes. When I use this cereal, I make sure to add some Agave Nectar because it is very bland on its own.

The result is a delectable morning treat that keeps me going till a late lunch and fuels my brain to the point that I don't need caffeine in the morning (a novel idea, I know). Due to the rice milk, my breakfast is extremely high in B vitamins (yum!). The flax seeds yield Omega 3 fatty acids, I get zinc from the strawberries, and, especially when I use the Uncle Sam cereal, a boat load of fiber (10g!). Plus, every time I heat it up in the office, someone always asks what smells so delicious. Not a bad way to start your morning!

So, I had the best, easiest dinner tonight, and felt that I should share it with you. Last night, I went to this wonderful market called M2M grocery. There are  apparently a few around NYC, but I went to the one in the East Village on 3rd Avenue between E. 10th St. and 11th St. This Asian market has the best prices on fish in the city. I bought half a pound of Sushi grade Tuna for $6! Seriously, I normally can't get half a pound of Chicken for $6, let alone scrumptious, Omega Fatty Acid-rich Tuna! Thusly, like the good H & H girl that I am, I concocted a simple solution for that dinnertime quandry: "What the heck am I going to eat tonight?!" I cooked a pot of Texmati Brown Rice and topped it with the Tuna, some Sushi-grade Salmon, and Tamari Sauce (a wheat-free low sodium soy sauce). As you may know, it's one of my goals this month to eat fruit and/or vegetables with every meal, so I added some celery to round out the meal. The crispness and freshness of the celery paired really well with the light meal. In about 30 minutes (the time it took to cook the rice) and with very little preparation, I had a beautiful, fresh, tasty meal filled with B vitamins and Omega 3s. Plus, it was cheaper than McDonald's. This is better than a Big Mac any day.