10 Healthy Recipes to Try

Great tasting, easy to prepare, healthy AND low calorie recipes are essential to succeed with weight loss. Why? If you don’t like what you’re eating you aren’t going to stick with it! I genuinely LIKE healthy low calorie food IF it’s tasty, appealing and won’t require me to spend too much time cooking. Adding new recipes to my collection keeps things fun. Thank goodness for a computer and the Internet because my home would otherwise be overflowing with recipes! It’s hard to not get carried away with either clipping recipes or using up reams of paper to print off online recipes that I just HAVE to try. What does get clipped or printed I put into a couple of very large notebooks. One is for recipes to test and the other is for recipes I’ve made and liked. The margins of the tested recipes are scribbled with notes. I remind myself when a recipe cooks up too much for my husband and me to finish in a reasonable amount of time, unless I can freeze the extra. I jot down when I’ve substituted one ingredient for another. I make notes if I decide to change the cooking process. My husband is gifted with the ability to throw in just the right seasoning to jazz up a dish taking it from so-so to fabulous! But then I need to do my best to figure out what he added and how much so I can jot down specifics. Cooking can be fun but not all the time and certainly not everyday! I like to create great tasting recipes that we can eat more than once. I love tasty leftovers. Believe it or not certain dishes actually taste better the second time around. Maybe that’s because I don’t have to cook! Just for fun I’m going to share 10 recipes with you that are in my collection of recipes I would like to TRY. These recipes have not been tested yet seem to be healthy for the most part. However, you may need to go easy on the salt, sugar, or butter/oil called for in some of the recipes to make them a bit healthier and lower calorie. Being cognizant of the ingredients you use matters. Second to that watch your portion size. All of these recipes have the potential to fit into a healthy low calorie diet. See if any appeal to you. If you are not yet creating a small collection of your own well-liked recipes, you need to look for some YOU like that include healthy ingredients. Find recipes that you would be willing to prepare. Find recipes that will make you smile because the calorie count for a serving is reasonable AND the recipe is not difficult or time-consuming to make AND it just might taste great! Find recipes that are as good or BETTER than what you can order at a restaurant. Trust me not every recipe you try will be a winner. Even so, I challenge you to go on a treasure hunt to see what you discover. Healthy low calorie eating does not have to be about deprivation at all!!! List of Recipes I hope to try soon: 1. Healthy Dinner: Quinoa Salad with Dried Apricots and Tofu Doesn’t this dish look fabulous? Quinoa, tofu, and fresh veggies seasoned with cumin, fresh ginger, and dried apricots. Hmm…I’m not particularly a fan of tofu but I think I’d like to give this one a try. You could always substitute the tofu with a little pre-cooked chicken or turkey. If apricots don’t agree with you, how about substituting craisins? or raisins? 2. Beetroot and Avocado Salad Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi Wow! What a great idea for a combination of healthy veggies – beets, avocados, and broad beans. I think I would use edamame beans instead of broad beans and skip the pea shoots. What are pea shoots???? (Food is endlessly fascinating!) I’d also recommend making the recipe with less oil. Half or less would be plenty! 3. Southwest Egg Scramble This recipe offers a way to prepare a great breakfast to eat at home or a breakfast burrito you can wrap up and take with you. The scrambled eggs dish includes healthy bell pepper, corn kernels, eggs of course, and freshly prepared salsa. Fresh may taste best but there are lots of healthy commercially prepared salsas you could consider as well. Check out what’s on the shelves of your local grocery stores. 4. Easy Baked Apple Oatmeal Here’s a healthy recipe that could be enjoyed as either a breakfast or a dessert. Although I may wait for cooler weather, I can’t wait to give this one a try! I suggest making the recipe with nonfat milk and skipping the whipped cream if you want to reign in the calories and saturated fat. 5. Grilled Turkey Shawarma An Israeli recipe made with seasoned and grilled turkey and served in pita bread with grilled onions and hummus. 6. Vegetable Pancakes (served on a bed of greens for lunch or supper) These delicious looking pancakes should be relatively low calorie if you go easy on the oil used for pan frying ( a nonstick skillet will help.) 7. 50 Salmon Recipes Did you miss this on MarthStewart.com? If you like salmon you’re going to love exploring the 50 suggested ways to prepare it. I would think you will find at least one new healthy recipe to add to your collection. (Note: I haven’t looked at each one closely. The recipes seem to be healthy and many if not most may go easy on the calories.) 8. Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast This seems to be a super easy recipe to prepare if you are comfortable with planning ahead. To make this recipe a bit healthier I would use a whole grain bread rather than brioche or white bread. I bet it would be just as good. 9. French Bread Pizza with a Veggie Topping This recipe will give you a very quick and easy way to enjoy a healthful, low calorie pizza with lots of nutritious veggies to fill you up. 10. Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Raisin Muffins Would you believe this recipe has received 66 5-star reviews? The muffins must be good! Make up a batch to freeze and you’ve got a quick to defrost and eat healthy breakfast choice. O.K. there you have it. These are ten of the recipes I would like to try in the upcoming months. If you are inspired to try one or more please let me know how the recipe turned out for you and what if any ingredient substitutions you made. OR if you have healthy low calorie recipe ideas to share please do!! For more low calorie healthy recipes you may want to read: Healthy Low Calorie Recipes: 8 Super Sites to See Till next time, dine on healthy low calorie and tasty food! addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.womenandweight.com%2Fweight-management%2Fhealth%2F10-healthy-recipes-to-try%2F’; addthis_title = ‘10+Healthy+Recipes+to+Try’; addthis_pub = ”;

Low Calorie Breakfast Foods

From time to time I’ve shared ideas with you for low calorie breakfast foods. Whether eating out or at home who couldn’t use a few more ideas? This week I came across a helpful video on suggestions for what menu items you might order at fast food restaurants that deserve the label of healthy AND low calorie. I’ve also got a couple of videos on how to prepare a healthy breakfast at home. The fast food breakfasts video I found is a clip from a CBS news program featuring a woman who is a contributor to Cooking Light Magazine. (I believe she may be a Nutritionist). Her suggestions are good! So I wanted to pass the information on to you. I don’t eat out for breakfast very often unless I’m traveling. But when I do need a quick meal it’s nice to know ahead of time what kind of choices I might have. These selections might work for you whether your goal is to keep your calorie count to 1500 calories a day or as little as 1200. (If the video does not show up for you, it can be viewed on the CBS website for Healthy Fast Food Breakfast ) Dani Spies shares lots of healthy recipe ideas on YouTube. If you want to learn more about how to prepare your own healthy meals and snacks you’ll want to check out what she has to share. The video I have for you today is for her Spinach Scramble. She suggests using frozen spinach for the recipe, which is a great idea for easy preparation any time. But if you have access to fresh local spinach at certain times of the year you could just as easily prepare the eggs with fresh greens. The last video I’d like to share today is for making Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes. I make a similar recipe with oatmeal but without the raisins. There are a couple of other differences but otherwise it’s very similar to mine. I love my oatmeal pancakes and I’m going to give this recipe a try as soon as I can. I calculated the calorie count for the pancakes to be about 114 calories per small pancake if the recipe makes about 15. The site doesn’t tell me how many pancakes can be made but they suggest the recipe will serve 4. I would imagine they are basing that count on 3-4 pancakes per person. See if you can make about 15-16 pancakes and keep your serving to only 2-3 pancakes. That way you can keep the calorie count under 350 calories. Also go easy on the syrup! I’ve taken to not having any syrup on my pancakes at all much of the time. If I do use syrup I choose to use real maple syrup with great flavor so I only need to use a little. Or I top my pancakes with a little fresh fruit or a combination of yogurt and fruit. You can find the recipe for these pancakes on the Rouxbe website: Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes If you give this recipe a try, consider freezing the extras to have a quick and easy breakfast when you have no time to cook! NOTE: The Rouxbe website seems to have a lot of great videos on basic cooking techniques, however, to view the lessons you would need to join the Rouxbe Cooking School. I hope these healthy low calorie breakfast food ideas have given you some new thoughts about how to start your mornings out right. Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy food! addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.womenandweight.com%2Fweight-management%2Fcalories%2Flow-calorie-breakfast-foods%2F’; addthis_title = ‘Low+Calorie+Breakfast+Foods’; addthis_pub = ”;

60 Low Calorie Healthy Snacks and Treats

All too often we are surrounded with food to snack on whether we need it or not. That’s a big part of the overweight problem we face as Americans. It’s just too easy to overeat. However, there are moments when you are actually hungry and you NEED a LITTLE something but the available healthy choices aren’t appealing. What can you have to stay on track with your healthy low calorie diet and yet satisfy your desire for something creamy or crunchy or salty or whatever the need might be? You might have a piece of fruit for your snack but what you’d rather have is a bag of potato chips. Maybe what you are really wanting is something salty. What might you eat instead? I’ve started a list of low calorie healthy snacks and treats that I hope you will help me expand on! I would like this list to help you and me identify which foods might be helpful to have around for those unpredictable moments when nothing else will do. It is possible to be prepared with appropriate choices! Because the alternative can mean wolfing down hundreds of unnecessary calories just because an equally satisfying lower calorie choice was not available! My list includes mostly healthy snacks plus some treats. If you watch portion size you can keep each of these snacks to 150 calories or less. [NOTE: Snacks will not only satisfy a need for a little something to tide you over between meals but they also provide a good source of much needed nutrients. Treats may have far greater appeal but typically provide little more than extra calories. The treats I’ve included here do provide somewhat more than just calories which is a plus given the low calorie count!] Crunchy Crackers: Reduced Fat Triscuits by Nabisco (120 calories for a serving of 7 crackers) Wasa Hearty Rye Crispbread (45 calories per serving) Kashi Mediterranean Brushetta Crackers (120 calories for 4 crackers) Pickles (fresh/refrigerated pickles are best to reduce sodium) Carrot/celery sticks Chips (Limit the chips, fill up with low calorie salsa instead) baked pita chips baked potato chips rye crisps Athenos Whole Wheat Pita Chips (about 9 chips for slightly less than 100 calories) Plocky’s All Natural Corn, Cracked Whole Wheat, and Brown Rice Chips (129 calories for 1 ounce) Whole Grain Tortilla Chips (about 140 calories for 1 ounce) Terra Chips with 90% less salt (NOTE: Veggie chips not necessarily better/healthier than other chips – Check to see if vegetables are listed first on the ingredient list, then check the calories. Veggie chips may have as many or more than regular chips.) Salty Popcorn Rice Cakes Quaker Oats Rice Cakes with a little peanut butter Pickles Olives Jerky Oven roasted almonds by Blue Diamond with a touch of sea salt Feta cheese sprinkled on low calorie cut veggies such as tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, Sweet Small low calorie smoothie (You could have 1/2 of a Bright-Eyed and Blueberry Blend from Jamba Juice and share the other half with a friend for 140 calories.) “pie-like” treat – cut up an apple or peach into slices, sprinkle with cinnamon and a LITTLE sugar, microwave for a minute or two Low calorie cookies Petite Sunflower Seed Cookies Vanilla, Lemon, or Chocolate Midel cookies 12 animal crackers 2 Nabisco 100% Whole Grain Fig Newton Cookies (100 calories for 2) Fruit -Blueberries/Raspberries/Blackberries/etc. -2-3 dried plums or figs -25 grapes Sour Blueberry Pomegranate real fruit twists (100 calories for 15 twists, Archer Farms) Dill pickles Olives Spicy Green Tabasco Sauce on veggies (cherry tomatoes halved, small pieces of cucumber or zucchini, etc.) Hot and spicy salsa Creamy Low Fat Greek yogurt with a little honey or caramel Instant (homemade) oatmeal with berries and nuts (Homemade Instant Oatmeal) Raspberries/Strawberries/Blackberries/Blueberries mixed into plain low fat yogurt Banana with 1 oz. dark chocolate – Cut lengthwise slit in banana without cutting all the way through, insert chocolate pieces in slit, microwave for a minute or so till chocolate melts ½ cup Hummus Tuna Fish Salad with Avocado slices -Strawberry Low fat Frozen Yogurt Bars (60 calories each, Weight Watchers) Skinny Cow Fudge Bars (100 calories per bar) (I haven’t tried the other Weight Watcher’s bars. Are they creamy also? Please comment below and let me know.) Chocolate Mousse Bars (60 calories each, Weight Watchers) Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Bars (80 calories each, Weight Watchers) 1% Cottage Cheese (81 calories for ½ cup) Snack pack low calorie pudding Almond Milk 1 cup Amy’s Low Fat Butternut Squash Soup (100 calories) 1 cup Amy’s Low Fat Cream of Tomato Soup (100 calories) Yogurt, Thick and Creamy, Yoplait Light (100 calories per container, includes an artificial sweetener*) Light Fit n’ Creamy, Dannon (100 calories per container, includes an artificial sweeter*) *See Artificial Sweeteners for Weight Loss: Do They Work? Thirsty/Juicy/Refreshing Iced tea with a squeeze of lemon juice Iced coffee with nonfat milk Whole Fresh Orange Mandarin Orange slices Frozen grapes/blueberries/raspberries/cherries/etc. (to enjoy when the weather is warm) Fresh juicy peaches, plums, grapes, watermelon, etc. Ripe Mango, sliced (55 calories for ½ cup) Fresh Pineapple, cut pieces (75 calories per cup) O.K., I’ve shared all the ideas I can come up with for the moment. Please jump in the conversation and share your thoughts about what might be added to the list of low calorie healthy snacks. It will help all the many thousands of readers who visit my site. Thank you!! Till next time, watch those calories, eat healthy foods, and allow yourself to have occasional treats! addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.womenandweight.com%2Fweight-management%2Fweight-loss%2F60-low-calorie-healthy-snacks%2F’; addthis_title = ‘60+Low+Calorie+Healthy+Snacks+and+Treats’; addthis_pub = ”;

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