Recipes

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Oligo-who???

This morning I packed a couple options for b-fast. I had a slice of the TJ's Multigrain, PB, and fruit spread...and I also had a plain Chobani, some canned pineapple, and granola! Yum and Yum. This was too much for 1 meal so I decided to save the yogurt for a snack later in the day.

Breakfast:
The multi grain loaf is small so I cut it a little thicker, and I had a half of a banana on the side...which ended up on top of the PB&J, obvi!

My mid morning snack was a light String Cheese...love these little suckers!

Lunch was more Leftovers!! When we went out to dinner Sunday night at the BBQ Place my friend didn't finish her meal and her fiance didn't want her leftovers!! I have no shame taking my friends leftovers...especially when it's Pulled BBQ chicken!!

Lots of chicken!! I added some of my mom's BBQ sauce and heated it up. Along with the chicken was a little leftover cucumber salad.
I also had the other half of my Carrot Raisin bread, toasted, with a little butter
I had a half of one of the Quaker True Delight bars I received leftover. It was the Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut one...which is Delicious!! However, I find them on the sweet side, and would prefer them more of a sweet treat than a regular "bar". This was a great little dessert though...I was checkin out the wrapped...reading the ingredients when one really popped out at me as a "Huh?!" I was skeptical so I looked it up online:

Oligofructose

Turns out this substance is pretty darn good for the body!

Here's the definition:

Definition: Oligofructose is an oligosaccharide - a type of sugar molecule with several branches. Oligosaccharides are, for the most part, not digested in the small intestine, therefore they add very little to blood glucose. However, they are broken down via fermentation in the colon (large intestine) where they can contribute to the health of the colon (for this reason, they are sometimes called prebiotics).

Oligofructose is 30-50% is sweet as sucrose (table sugar). It also behaves similarly to sugar in some food products. It occurs naturally in some plants. Most of the oligofructose used as an ingredient is either extracted from chicory root or is synthetically manufactured. It is included both in "Total Carbohydrates" and "Fiber" on food labels in the U.S.


So I kept reading a little more about it... This website had some good info, but if you don't feel like reading the whole thing here are some highlights:

"It is a resistant starch, or soluble dietary fibre..."

"Resistant starches are neither fibres or complex carbohydrates...They are now recognised under the carbohydrate banner and are listed on nutritional panels as soluble dietary fibre. "

"...This process leads to differentiation of cancer cells, a vital step that is required before cancer cells can be killed."

"...undesirable bacteria diminish in number as the healthy bacteria proliferate in the presence of oligofructose. "

I found this all really interesting...I have never heard of this substance but it sounds like a pretty kick-ass ingredient to me!

Well once again I've run into the double whammy of working late and an event at The Garden to squash all possibility of dance class...I can't wait until Bruins season is over!! (sorry fans).

I may just not workout tonight...I really would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get to bed earlier, and I've been super tired tonight. I'll probably do some things with my stability ball and whatnot in my bed room though...no worries.