Some ideas

I have to leave for work at 6:45 a.m., so I am always looking for quick breakfast ideas.

The latest one is just a smoothie made out of light soy milk and a cup of frozen berry medley. It is pretty dang awesomely good and only 140 calories. All that fiber keeps me full 'til lunch. Another thing that is good is to cut up an apple (has anyone had the Ambrosia apples? OMG, best thing I've ever tasted!), spread it with 2 TBSPS of almond butter and roll it in milled flax seeds. It is full of fiber and omegas, delicious, and about 300 calories.

The banana thing I posted earlier should have probably went in this section: Mix half a large banana (they are 25 calories per ounce, so I try to keep it about 3 ounces) with 1 1/2 tsps. dark cocoa powder (10 calories). It is unbelievable how much like chocolate mousse this turns out to be. The antioxidants in chocolate make this a winner, because there is nothing 'extra' in it.

A quick dinner I've been using is a large sweet potato (I put it in the oven to bake before I work out and it is done about the same time as me) baked then drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. I've started sprinkling a little curry and cinnamon on it since those are supposed to be good for blood sugar regulation.

Finally, roasted vegetables are really good and easy. I cut up whatever (squash, whole okra, mushrooms, etc.), put it in a gallon-size Ziploc, add a TBSP of olive oil and seasonings (garlic powder, cumin, salt, etc.), shake it up to coat, then put it on the Foreman-type grill 'til done. Roasting really brings out the sweetness of veggies and makes them much easier to take. The whole okra pods done this way are like popcorn to me; I can eat a lb. of them without realizing it, but it's a healthy way to snack.

Oops, I said "finally", but just thought of one more good one. Take a can of chickpeas, rinse and drain them to get all that gooky salt off, then shake them in a bag with cumin, red pepper, salt, curry, and olive oil (1 TBSP). Roast in a 350 degree oven on a jelly-roll pan for about 45 minutes to an hour, shaking the pan about every 15 minutes or so. They are awesome!! My whole family loves these; they are crunchy and kind of hollow inside after roasting, they really take the place of chips for me. Okay, now the chips comment reminded me of kale chips (I'll stop after this, I promise!). Take the stems off a bunch of kale, shake it in a bag with olive oil (1 TBSP), a tsp. of vinegar or lemon juice and sea salt. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet and cook at 375 for just about 10 minutes (watch them, you don't want them to get brown- they turn bitter). Take them out and let them cool on the cookie sheet 'til crisp. They are so good! Just thinking about them makes me want to go to the store right this second for more kale!

I'd love to hear more ideas from y'all about quick and easy fixes My family is not on the program with me (they're all ridiculously thin), so I am always cooking them something else. I really struggle to find quick, simple things to eat myself in the meantime. My husband had the audacity to bring home BBQ pork yesterday, evil man, and my son asked me to make banana bread out of his leftover bananas. It was hard not to succumb to THAT one