I’m a magazine junkie.
Wait. First I should say that I’m a reading junkie. I love to read. There’s not much time for recreational reading during the school year, so I generally spend the first week or so of winter and summer breaks reading a book a day. I think I read the final Harry Potter book in one sitting. That’s the thing about books for me. I like to read them all at once, rather than break them up into segments. I think that’s why I find magazines so convenient. With magazines, I can read a few articles within a few minutes, which is pretty much all the spare time I have on a school day. Plus, magazines have beautiful photos of food, which the Harry Potter books seem to be lacking (I guess that’s what the movies are for).
So back to the magazine junkie thing. I asked for several magazine subscriptions for Christmas, and was generously given more than I asked for! I’m subscribed to Southern Living, Country Living, Runner’s World, Taste of Home, and Better Homes and Gardens. (If you sense a theme, please note that I am really excited about renovating/building/decorating a home someday, as well as having a garden where we can grow much of our own food!) Plus, my mom always brings me the magazines she reads, so I always have plenty of reading material. Magazines always fill me with tons of useful (and useless) information that I tend to quote (and misquote) when the subject matter comes up in conversation. A gross example: Did you know that if you don’t close the toilet lid when you flush, you’re risking spraying particles of whatever is in the toilet around a 5-foot radius? I don’t know where I read that, but it definitely influenced my toilet flushing habits. Gross.
Anywho, one of my personal favorite reads is Real Simple (which I am actually not subscribed to). One of the more recent issues featured a spread of the 30 healthiest foods. I was intrigued, as Eric and I are always looking for real simple (ha) ways to eat healthier. I’m thrilled to announce that we already eat 12-15 of those healthiest foods on a regular basis, but I would love to expand our palette to include more of this healthy fare. So here’s our plan. We’re going to share Real Simple’s list with you, and then (hopefully) eat the 30 foods, ourselves. And then we’ll tell you about it! Exciting, eh?
So here’s the list:
- skim milk
- mushrooms
- whole-grain pasta
- walnuts
- peanut and almond butters (all-natural)
- oatmeal (steel-cut or old-fashioned)
- barley
- quinoa
- lentils
- bulgur
- almonds
- eggs
- nonfat greek yogurt
- chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- wild salmon
- sardines
- kale
- kiwi
- blueberries
- broccoli
- avocados
- black beans
- sweet potatoes
- extra-virgin olive oil
- edamame
- chard
- kidney beans
- oranges
- spinach
- pumpkin
The only food on that list that I am really not excited about is sardines. Yuck.
Real Simple also included the health benefits of each food, along with a suggestion for how to prepare it. We’ll share these with you throughout the process.
We’ll go ahead and knock one of these out today. Blueberries! Real Simple says that blueberries qualify as one of the 30 healthiest foods because they are full of fiber and antioxidants. Out of all of the things on this list, I probably eat blueberries the most. Eric isn’t a big fan of blueberries (unless they are concealed in muffins or pancakes), but I love them. I usually buy them fresh and then stick them in the freezer. Then I mix the frozen berries in with my morning yogurt and granola. I don’t know why, but I think they are so much more delicious when frozen.
As for a recipe involving blueberries, I just posted one yesterday! One of my favorite muffins, a blueberry-orange crunch muffin, is a simple and wonderful way to enjoy blueberries for breakfast (or an afternoon snack). Give them a try!
If you have any recipes or suggestions for how to eat any of these 30 healthiest foods, please share! We love, love, love comments!
-Ally
Julie says
Hi Ally,
Going grocery shopping this morning and planning on getting the ingredients for the blueberry muffins. Hope I can get Andrew and Ed to eat more healthy options. I’ll let you know if they like them. I know I will. Have a great day !
Julie
Julie says
Muffins are in the oven. Smells yummy !
Julie says
Muffins in my belly. Yummy !! ( not all of them)
ericandally says
Yay! I hope Ed and Andrew like them too! I’m afraid Eric and I have already eaten most of the batch I made!