Kashi GoLean Instant Hot Cereal

I read an article in Runner's World about certain bad foods to avoid. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was listed, but sugar wasn't, so I can have all the candy I want unless it's made with HFCS. Hahaha. Anyhow, it did get me looking at ingredients in the grocery store before I buy things. I like to have a hot cup of coffee and some hot cereal for breakfast before a bike ride on a cold day. The instant oatmeal products like Quaker contain HFCS solids and little to no protein. When I ate Quaker instant oatmeal, I would throw out about half the sugar inside the envelope before adding the hot water. Then I found the Kashi GoLean hot cereal, flavor Truly Vanilla. It's just a little bit sweet and has 9 gms of protein per serving, 7 gms of fiber, and is sweetened with cane juice. It also contains whole flax seeds, which doesn't make much sense considering that those things, er, pass through undigested. Oh well. It tastes good and is good for you - that's a major fait accompli for a manufactured food.

Megachef

This time of year I always get the cooking bug, and I managed to score a precious ham bone for making soup. I can never find those at the grocery store. And it reminds me of my college days when I spent afternoons watching cooking shows on pilfered cable TV. Then I would make what I learned in an old kitchen that I think had the original gas oven from the 1920s. It's a wonder we didn't die of carbon monoxide poisoning.

So the ham bone is cooking in the stock pot right now, and my house smells marvelous. In college, I would pick off the scant meat remaining on the bone and put it back in the soup. Meat was a luxury on my slim budget. And I can't say that I spent my food money on beer, because women in New Orleans drink free.

I think I had a healthier diet in college, because my budget (and the extra free time I had for cooking), allowed for the purchase of low cost whole foods, especially beans and rice. For a short period of time, my roommates allowed a hippie chick with dreads who worked at a local whole foods market to crash at our 1920s rental duplex in exchange for the food and meals she provided for us. We ate well. The flavors of New Orleans inspired me in the kitchen, and I preserved what I learned during that time in a recipe scrapbook that I didn't lose in transit to the adult world. I'm glad I learned how to cook in college, but wish I had more time to use those skills.