The Bean & Seed

Drinking Beans & Planting Seeds

A blog about food, health, and disc golf!

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Category: Food for Thought

  • The Effects of Sugar & Artificial Sweeteners

    Historically, my family has really liked its soda. One of the comical disputes amongst us when I was growing up was Pepsi vs. Coke. Myself, I definitely prefer Coca-Cola. And when I say prefer, I mean I’d take anything else over Pepsi. With that said, I really started to dislike the feel of sugar in…

  • Healthier Dessert Pairings

    As someone who enjoys a little something sweet after a meal, I thought I’d share some ideas for what I consider to be healthier alternatives to traditional dessert options. I, admittedly, struggle to eat the recommended serving sizes for a lot of foods as I don’t get my fill. I love Pepperidge Farm cookies, for…

  • Fast Food Substitution – Chicken Tortilla Soup

    Soup isn’t the first thing I think of when I think of fast food, but Chick-Fil-A’s (CFA) seasonal Chicken Tortilla Soup is actually my favorite item on their menu. Unfortunately, it’s only available from mid-November to mid-March and now costs an eye-watering $8.50-$9.50 a bowl depending on your location. Keep in mind this is just…

  • 30-Day Physical Therapy Challenge Results

    30 days ago I challenged myself to try and improve the health of my thumb and forearm. You can read more about the injury I sustained in my “30-Day Physical Therapy Challenge & Car Accident Insights” post. The goal of the challenge was to see if I could improve the current state of my thumb…

  • Fast Food Substitution – Fried Chicken Sandwich w/Pickles & Fries

    So, last week I mentioned starting a new feature that focuses on creating substitution meals for fast food favorites. The idea is to save some money, yes, but more importantly, to create healthier alternatives at home. My goal for this week is to come up with something that can be a substitute for Chick-fil-A (CFA).…

  • 30-Day Physical Therapy Challenge & Car Accident Insights

    Back in 2019, Mary and I were involved in a head on collision where our car was totaled. Mary was mostly unscathed, but I suffered an injury to my left arm and have never fully recovered. Over the next 30 days, I am challenging myself to remedy this the best that I can before seeking…

  • Turn Cravings into Kitchen Staples

    While I soon plan to launch an ongoing easy recipe series, I want to first talk about staple foods and kitchen staples. I’m making a distinction here because there are staple foods for the population as a whole, and kitchen staples, which would be those ingredients you enjoy and use all the time. Staple foods,…

  • Bargaining with Yourself

    In my last post I talked about making “Conscious Decisions”. The concept here is going through our decision-making process and doing what makes sense rather than falling into habit or simply doing what is expected of us. Today I want to extend this further into bargaining with yourself. I’m tying these two concepts together because…

  • Conscious Decisions

    Growing up, there was always an ongoing “argument” in my family that centered around 2% vs. whole milk. Whole milk “tastes better” and is “more nutritious” one side would say. But 2% is “better for you” said the other. Looking back, this is both comical and puzzling to me. Today, I only purchase dairy milk…

  • What is The Bean & Seed?

    The Bean & Seed is a multifaceted effort to promote healthy living. It started as a laugh between my wife, Mary, and I over what I’d call my kitchen/her personal in-house restaurant. It has now evolved into an idea for a website/community where topics such as food prep, physical health, and mental health can be…