Trader Joe's Tuesday -- Lower Your Cholesterol with Joey!

Aaron's doctor recently prescribed cholesterol medicine for him. His cholesterol is only 245 -- not low, but as a doctor friend said, not worthy of cholesterol meds, particularly given his good cholesterol and other numbers. But it made me go back and look at my cholesterol numbers over the last several years and they've been steadily creeping up.

So, I am joining Aaron is his cholesterol lowering efforts. We're definitely eating less cheese. I'm realizing that just a little cheese goes a long way -- like my new favorite thing is a crunchy baked potato with NO BUTTER but one tablespoon of the soft goat cheese from Trader Joe's -- it's less calories than I eat when I add more than a tablespoon of butter, less cholesterol, and a lot more flavor. I just discovered this last night and oh my god can't wait to have another Goatato! LOL!

But, the reason I particularly love Trader Joe's today is they have so many oatmeal options. My favorites are the quick cooking old fashioned oats AND the quick cooking steel cut oats. I don't like instant. I like the ritual of cooking it in a little tiny pot every morning. And now that we are moving into cool weather it is particularly deliciosa. Today I had the steel cut and there is nothing to beat that crunch.

Recently, my friend's uncle gave me a little bottle of his homemade grape jelly gone wrong -- it was the one jar that had not quite "jelled" so it was more like syrup. One morning I thought I'd put a teaspoon of it in my oatmeal and oh was that wonderful. His "syrup/jam" is on the tart side which is what I prefer. But, I thought I'd bring up this inspiration just in case you aren't into the usual suspects for adding into your oatmeal -- like brown sugar, maple syrup, raisins, etc. You can try a fruity syrup to entice yourself to eat it. I often add toasted almonds too for a little added texture.

In London there's a place that serves "porridge" to go that I always use for my business breakfasts on the go. They put a little handful of granola on top of it.

So, if you have high cholesterol and oatmeal has left a bad taste in your mouth in the past, just try adding a few of your "favorite things..."

Yummy Healthy to you!