Can you believe it’s October already?  :)  Time just keeps slipping away.  I can’t wait for November, because that’s when my wedding festivities (bridal shower) begin! Yippppeee!

For breakfast, I toasted two Kashi Heart to Heart waffles.  I mashed a small banana and 1 tablespoon of PB together and then put the mix in the microwave to warm it up.

It was such a creamy, delicious topping for the waffles!

I always dip into the syrup so I don’t have to drown my waffles or pancakes in sugary goodness.  The banana and PB topping tasted even better with syrup! 🙂

Are you still eating "traditional" syrup (like Aunt Jemima) instead of  REAL maple syrup?  Sure, the real stuff is more expensive, but look at the difference in ingredients:

Aunt Jemima Syrup

INGREDIENTS: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.

Real Maple Syrup

INGREDIENTS:  PURE MAPLE SYRUP.

Yea…. I’ll take the real stuff! 🙂

Vegetarian for a Day

Thanks to Kelly and Susan at Grounded Fitness, I discovered that October 1 is World Vegetarian Day (WVD).  As described on the WVD web site,  the purpose of WVD is to celebrate the benefits of vegetarianism, which include:

• reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancers
• offering a viable answer to feeding the world’s hungry, through more efficient use of grains and other crops
• saving animals from suffering in factory farm conditions and from painful slaughter
• conserving our precious natural resources and mitigating the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture.

According to GoVeg.com, vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegans are.   Due to the numerous health-related benefits to being a vegetarian, I try to eat more plant-based food products than meat.  I also relegate meat to a "side dish" status in my meals, secondary to veggies or complex carbs. 

I’ve tried to go completely vegetarian before, and it just doesn’t work for me.  Although it’s unlikely I’ll ever 100% abstain from meat, in honor of WVD, I’m declaring today a "vegetarian day."  Join me! 🙂