Bagelicious
New York is drenched today. Ahoy for the rain. On my way to work I ducked into Grand Central, running past the chaos of umbrellas, scaffolding, hollering newspaper people and greasy rainbow puddles.
Grand Central Hot and Crusty bakery sure has its aromas down pat, which got me thinking about the lines of people waiting for a bagel and coffee fix. I haven’t had a bagel in 300 fly years, so I decided to grab a few and drag them to my 2nd secret labaratory (ie. work cubicle)
So here’s a dilemma - how do we improve on the usual bagel breakfast? Let’s say you have a plain bagel with jelly and coffee every day. Is there hope?
#1 – Whole wheat bagel is the way to go if you want to have steady energy throughout the whole morning and give your body the gift of fiber and nutrients. Ask to see an ingredients list to make sure the bagel does not have “corn syrup” or “hydrogenated oils” in it. That stuff is better to avoid.
#2 – Get some fresh fruit instead of jelly. I have cherries. Deeee-li-cious.
#3 – Coffee? There are many substitutes. You can have this stuff, which I never tried, but I will... If someone did, let me know how it actually tastes like… http://www.teeccino.com/default.aspx
Anyway, so here’s my fast rainy day breakfast: A whole wheat bagel with cherries and herbal tea. Sorry for the utilitarian picture. My 2nd lab doesn’t have good lighting.
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5 comments:
Looks good. But the great thing about jelly is that it sticks to the bagel, for that commuter-friendly, one-handed eating experience.
Some deli's gotta find a way to drill those cherries right into the bagel, then I'll be sold.
But what about preservers? Should be almost as good for you, right? I mean fresh is better, but I need that other hand to hold my unhealthy beverage!
I see your point. I will work on a sticky substitute, but for now, let me point out the downside to stickiness: jelly (or preserves) stick to everything, including your hands, the newspaper, door knobs and those pants that you bought to impress.
On the other hand, cherries are awesome. Steady feel-good sweetness as nature intended it to help you with the start of the day. Plus you can have spitting cherry pit contests - can you do that with your sticky preserves?
Fresh is not the issue - the problem with jelly and preserves is the sugar - it lacks natural minerals, so it has to leach the body of vitamins and minerals to be digested, detoxified and eliminated by your body.
And sugar is linked to obesity, diabetes and other serious illnesses, or simply can leave you feeling tired and sleepy, with a fuzzy brain.
But don't take my word for it..
Read the Sugar Blues book. It's a classic:
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/sugarblues.html
Hm... the working link:
http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/sugarblues.html
Yes, but where did those cherries come from? It's too early for local cherries, which means they probably came from the West Coast. Consider the carbon cost of transportating them here, not to mention the other energy inputs on the factory orchard. We've become accustomed to fruit year-around, but at serveral costs, including really lousy fruit that is designed for nothing more than transportation. Not taste. Not nutrition. Not goodness. Although, admittedly, cherries travel pretty well.
Local cherries are coming soon. Eat locally, be sustainable, support your friendly local farmers.
True. You're right. But to people in the West Coast it's local, which makes it a good substitution there.
The point in general was - fruit is better than jelly. And if it's local all the better.
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