Friday 31 March 2017

Healthier Pick-Me-Ups From the Coffeeshop

Been to the UofR campus lately? If you're like me, you may have noticed the wide variety of food and beverage offerings ... from pizza and coke to a fresh salad bar, sushi, and more. 


Today, let me show you what I'd pick for a healthier snack from one of my favourite spots on campus, Common Ground coffee house. Located in the Riddell Centre, the Common Ground coffee house is located next to several other food service options, including Tim Horton's. But their selections are significantly more varied that what you'll find at Tim's. 



Instead of just breakfast sandwiches and parfaits, Common Ground offers a variety of whole and cut fresh fruit, as well as tarts, granola bars, and muffins. 


Whole fresh fruit is great for rounding out breakfast, or as a cheap and easy snack. 
And if you're willing to pay a little more, these on the go containers pack a variety of flavours in bite-sized pieces. 


Of course, baking is also on display. For some reason, whoever made or ordered these think we need two tarts at a time. Um, pass! These little sugar bombs might taste good every once in a while, but won't give you the energy needed to get trough a morning or afternoon. 


Sorry about the dark photos, by the way.  

Below, brownies about 4x the size of normal. Typical for a coffeeshop, and not a healthy pick (usually). 


Now here's an interesting option. Banana bread must be healthier than a brownie, right? Well, sure, a little. But it's basically cake. You're allowed to have cake for breakfast if you'd like, but I wouldn't call it healthy. And again, the portions are quite large for a sweet dessert.


Missed packing a lunch? No problem. Like many other venues on campus, Common Ground has sandwiches and meal kits. Sandwiches are basic, but some do come with whole grain bread. Recommended, especially if you pair with veggies. 


These roll-ups are a bit of a nutritional disaster, with a large number of highly-processed products (processed red meat, white flour tortilla, packaged Oreo cookies) paired with a little fresh vegetables to try to balance it out a little. Not recommended. 



Here's two of my favourite grab and go containers for lunch, because these healthy & tasty foods can be hard to find. Below on the left, a standard little raw vegetable collections is slightly more interesting with the inclusion of red and green peppers. More variety means you're more likely to try a bite of each food, and therefore end up eating more veggies by the end of the meal. 

And on the right, a cup or so of marinated chickpeas, a cheap and healthy vegetarian protein source which also provides slow-digesting carbohydrates to fuel your brain. Super easy to make yourself, but I do recommend trying this version the next time you've forgotten to bring something. 


 Thirsty? Sure. This is a coffee shop after all. Coffee and sweetened drinks are available, including several versions of iced tea (sweetened, unfortunately). My favourite pick for taste AND good health is one of the many kinds of Tazo tea, served hot. Have a different one each weekday, and it would be more than 2 weeks before you've tried them all.  



Bottom line: Healthier foods and beverages are often available at restaurants and coffeeshops. Look for the whole, minimally-processed foods, and experiment to see which taste best to you. And if nothing appeals to you? Pack a lunch next time! 


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