Wait, it’s October??? OMG! Where has the summer…gone? School is in session, leaves are turning and pumpkins are a-plenty. We are almost fully fledged into the fall season and soon we’ll be seeing the Christmas decorations lining the isles at Target...meanwhile I’m still wearing flip flops! 

For now, it is a comfortably warm fall day here and I made a delicious cold Greek wheat berry salad (aka: Greekberry Salad..get it?!!).  Wheat berries, say whaaat? Yes, wheat berries are a wholegrain alternative if you are getting sick of the staples such as brown rice.

What is a wheat berry you ask? Wheat berries are essentially whole wheat kernels, the oval pellet-looking grain that yields flour when processed. It has all three components of a whole grain: The BRAN is the hard outer covering of the wheat kernel, high in fiber & nutrients. The GERM is the nutrient-rich embryo that will sprout and grow into a new wheat plant. The ENDOSPERM is the biggest part, the "insides" of the kernel - mostly starch and the part of the grain that is processed into white flour.

So, now that you have received your nutrition lesson (don’t worry, no quizzes), lets get cookin!  Wheat berries have a nice earthy/nutty flavor. They also have a unique texture, kind of chewy but very mild. They are a good grain to add flavor to.

Since wheat berries take a while to cook, make sure to plan ahead. You can even pre-cook and then mix the ingredients together when you are ready to use.

Greek-berry Salad

Serves: 4-8 (depending on if used for main dish or side dish)

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 2 hrs (wheat berries)

You will need:

3 cups cooked wheat berries (follow package instructions) (1 cup raw makes about 3 cups cooked)

1 cup garbanzo beans

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cucumber, cubed

1 can artichokes, quartered

½-1 cup kalamata (purple greek) olives

½ cup olive oil

½ cup white wine vinegar or similar

4 oz goat or feta cheese, crumbled

1 tsp oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

 

 

 

 

Directions:

 

Blend all ingredients. Serve immediately if desired or chill in refrigerator for later. Makes a great side dish or a high protein meal/snack.

As you may have noticed we are big on making smoothies, but what about those popular smoothies you can buy in a bottle or at a local shop?  

They can be healthy with fruit, fruit juice, yogurt, etc., but besides being more expensive than the ones you make at home, how do they stack up?

Do some of those exotic ingredients like aloe or echinacea, really do anything for your health?  They may not be harmful, but it is doubtful there are enough of these ingredients in your smoothie to do anything beneficial. 

The same is true of the latest trendy ingredients like acai and pomegranate.  They are probably not any more nutritious than other fruits and berries, but a lot more money.

The other big question- what are calories in those popular smoothies? Check those labels.  Again probably higher than the ones you make at home. 

 

So to save money and maybe a few calories, get out your blender and whip up your own. Here is another super easy recipe to try.  This is one of my favorites with banana and mango- or papaya will work too. 

Tropical Smoothie

1 fresh or frozen banana*

½ - ¾ cup chopped mango

1/3 cup fat-free milk

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon limeade concentrate

1 tablespoon honey

Place all the ingredients in the blender or food processor.  Cover and blend on high speed about 30 seconds or until smooth.  Pour in tall glass and serve.

*Check out our tip for freezing bananas in our blog last month.

Ok -it's one week after we all made those resolutions. How are we doing? 

If you're like us, we've made resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more, save money- what ever.  How could one argue with wanting to be healthier- both physically and financially.  But how can we be sure we actually do these things?
In order to make this happen we need to have as a first  resolution to make time for ourselves.   Once we get back to our jobs, our busy routines, it is too easy to to let all of these other things come first and guess what-- by the end of the day- we have no energy for the resolutions we've made for ourselves.

So try to keep this in mind--we deserve to take care of ourselves and if we do, it will result in our ability to do our daily jobs better too.  Can we do it?   We think we can!