Nachos, Taco (Salad), Pizza and so much more April 29, 2009

This is more of a technique than a recipe, but one worth sharing nonetheless. I got the idea from an Indian snack called “papard,” which is basically a wafer thin piece of dough (I think) that you microwave on top of a paper towel to make crispy. At least, I think you microwave it…that’s what my mom does anyway. Apparently, the same thing works with most tortillas (although sometimes you need to microwave them for a little while, not to mention using a few paper towels in the process).

So, take a tortilla/wrap (preferably low calorie and/or low carb), put a paper towel underneath it and stick it in the microwave for…about a minute and a half. Make sure you check it every 15-20 seconds though because these things burn fast!!

A cool trick that I figured out with this technique is a taco salad bowl. Instead of putting the wrap on a paper towel flat in the microwave, you take a bowl, flip it upside down, put the paper towel over the bottom of the bowl and then put the wrap/tortilla on top. You might want to press the edges down to give it more of that taco salad bowl shape. A little while in the microwave and you’ve got a great base for a healthy taco salad.

Then of course there’s nachos, which are a lot easier or pizza which can get a little tricky. The thing with pizza that I find is, after you put the sauce on, microwaving again isn’t a good idea because the wrap goes soggy. The best way to make pizza is to microwave the wrap, put the stuff on and stick it in the (toaster) over for a little while. Sometimes, depending on the water content of the sauce you’re using, you might be able to make it work in the microwave, but is it really worth the risk?

I know I said this wasn’t a recipe, but here’s one anyway that I came up with using this technique…

Goat Cheese Pizza
1. 1 wrap/tortilla
2. paper towel(s)
3. an ounce or so of crumbled goat cheese
4. white mushrooms
5. onions
6. 1T balsamic vinegar
7. rosemary (if desired)
8. red bell peppers (about 1/4-1/2 of one)

→Prepare tortilla using microwave method. Crumble goat cheese over “crust”. Dot the surface of the tortilla with mushrooms, red peppers and onions, dispersed evenly (if you have the time, it’s probably a good idea to saute them in pam beforehand). Drizzle with vinegar. Bake in the (toaster) oven at 350 until edges are browned (usually about 10 minutes).

Another Sandwich Featuring “Grass” April 25, 2009

Since I just recently started to get used to the 8-11 hour days (as opposed to the 3 hour days of classes that I didn’t go to half the time), I decided it might be a good idea to take a sandwich to work instead of the endless slew of protein bars. After all, depending on what you have in your fridge, it’s not all that hard to make a sandwich that has a fewer number of calories (okay, fine, the same) than the 100-150 calorie protein bar. Plus you can always toss a serving of vegetables in there. Yes, a sandwich will do just fine today, I thought to myself.

So I proceeded to make myself the first sandwich that came to mind: 2 slices of 35 calorie bread, a couple slices of veggie ham or turkey or something, a slice of fat free cheese and some alfalfa sprouts (my favorite ingredient). I put the sandwich in a little container and drove off to work. Unfortunately, my coworker didn’t agree on the culinary appeal of sprouts so, as I took a bite, she yelled out, “Are you eating GRASS?”
To which I could only burst out laughing.

Another Boot’s Rip-off Serves 1
1. hummus (I use about a quarter cup of Basha’s Lemon Lovers)
2. shredded carrots (shred them yourself or buy matchstick carrots from meijer)
3. arugula (or my favorite cheap standby: spinach + black pepper)
4. sprouts (alfalfa for me, as always)
5. bread or wrap (I like to use low calorie flat outs or damascus flax roll ups)
→bread, hummus, carrots, arugula, sprouts. roll it up

Peanut Butter Gelato April 19, 2009

In the spirit of the (probably short-lived) streak of good weather we’re having, I thought I’d post another ice cream recipe. This one needs an ice cream maker to really get the feel you’re going for, but on the plus side, it’s a great way to stretch that peanut butter flavor farther for fewer calories.

Ice cream like substances are one of my favorite pseudo desserts. Not only for all the same reasons kids scream for it, but also because it seems so apt to pseudo-izing. See, ice cream/frozen yogurt isn’t like cookies or chocolates…it’s not DESIGNED to be unhealthy. In fact, the basic principles behind ice cream are the same as a smoothie and, like most other healthy foods gone bad, the difference between diet friendly ice cream and ben and jerry’s is the same as the difference between a smoothie and a milkshake.

Every ice cream starts the same: dairy, to which is added sweetener and flavorings (there are some ice creams where you add eggs and what not but that’s just too much of a pain for me). You do need a minimal amount of fat for texture, but, as in my other frozen yogurt post, this can usually be worked around by using some chemical additive.

Or, you could just keep the fat and use this necessity as an excuse to get a peanut butter fix for fairly fewer calories than the peanut butter alone would cost you. This is the excuse I used when making this gelato…

Just like Ice Cream
1. 2 cups soymilk (I like 8th continent light original)
2. 1/4c. brown sugar substitute (sugar free maple syrup or splenda…but you might need more-remember when you’re tasting the batter that foods lose flavor as temperature decreases)
3. 1/4c. peanut butter (try to use good stuff, not jif or skippy)
4. 1tsp vanilla

Mix everything together and let the machine do the work. Or you could pour it into a tray, put it in the freezer and stir it every 30-60 minutes.

If you use the 8th Continent Light Original, calorie free maple syrup and Naturally More peanut butter the entire pint comes out to 450 calories….not bad for a pint of ice cream.

Ice Cream…well, more like creamy ice April 15, 2009

I don’t know if I’ve done my spiel about frozen yogurt/ice cream yet, but I’m absolutely in love with the stuff. When I was in high school, I used to eat fat-free, sugar free frozen yogurt all the time (this stuff called Only 8, only had 8 calories per oz!), but with this economy, I don’t really have the resources to shell out that much for ice cream as often as I’d like.

And, although they claim to be low fat and low sugar and low blah blah, the “reduced” gallon ice creams you buy at the store aren’t really that low anything. I mean, I could do some serious damage if I ate half the container. Not to mention the fact that it goes down so easy…like, spoon to mouth, barely taste and swallow: before you know it, the whole thing’s gone.

Well, not this stuff. And the best part is you don’t even need one of those fancy-shmancy ice cream makes…just a little blender magic.

Creamy Almost Ice Cream Makes about half a blender full
1/2c cottage cheese (any fat %)
Water and Ice
Flavorings
xanthan or guar gum (I know this sounds scary, but they have it in the baking aisles of both Kroger and Meijer…don’t be scared away by the price because you’ll never use more than a 1/4 TEASPOON at a time)
→Put cottage cheese in the blender
Add about 10 ice cubes and start blending (you might need to add a LITTLE water to get the blades moving)
Put the flavoring in
This is the tricky part: keep adding water and ice until you get the consistency you want…if you go overboard on the water and it becomes too runny, at some of the gum but go VERY slowly because it takes awhile to thicken.

There are so many flavor possibilities to this. Think of your favorite ice cream flavor and you’ll probably be able to recreate it. If you want something like mint chocolate chip, just add mint extract and some sugar free chocolate. If you want something a little more complicated like strawberry cheesecake, toss in some jello sf/ff cheesecake pudding mix with some strawberry chunks. Chances are, if you can think it, you can make it.

Milk Toast April 11, 2009

Okay, I know most of my posts involve breakfasts (and protein powder), but that’s because I’m a vegetarian (on a high protein diet). Most people’s favorite meal is dinner. What am I supposed to eat for dinner…I’ll give you a hint: it rhymes with malad and involves lots of crunchy green things topped with bright orange shreds of fat-free goodness.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some fairly delicious concoctions I can come up with for dinner, but most of those don’t happen on the spur of the moment and most of those require me to stand over the stove/counter for at least half an hour chopping vegetables and/or stirring. Not so much fun after a 12 hour day of classes and work. This is why breakfast is my absolute favorite meal (besides that whole excuse to eat sweets thing). I guess it’s more of a brunch since I don’t really start doing anything till 10ish and I don’t usually eat anything until I get back, but who cares about the labels.

Anyway, today is one of those days where I get to be lazy all day, meaning I’ll have time for a lunch and a dinner and a few snacks in-between, so I tried to come up with something a little lighter that takes awhile to eat so I could sit around and enjoy it while typing this. It’s a little like cereal and milk, but probably much healthier (depending on what type of bread you use).

Milk Toast
1. milk
2. bread of your choice (I like Aunt Millie’s Light Whole Grain)
3. protein powder (optional)
→Mix the milk and protein powder. I like to freeze it a little after this just to thicken it up, but you don’t have to. Toast the bread until it’s fairly crunchy, but not necessarily brown. Break the bread into pieces and drop it into the bowl.
See? Simple.

Fruity Anything Bread (Yeast Free) April 8, 2009

Normally, I don’t like to make bread: the kneading, the waiting, the yeast and its extreme sensitivity to temperature…all drive me a little nuts. But quickbreads are an exception. You see, thanks to the miracle of chemistry, quickbreads can rise without any little burping bacteria inside them and are as easy to make as a cake, without most of the added sugar.

I’m not really sure where I got the original version of this bread from, but it seems to be floating around the internet in a lot of places. I tried it once with the avocados like it says but decided I already had my fair share of healthy fats from nuts and didn’t really need any more. So I decided to try a different fruit (yes, avocados are a fruit and, yes, tomatoes are too). I started with strawberries, but that made a big dry mess and melons were the same…then I started to think about the texture of the avocado and that’s where the fun began…

Anything Bread Makes 1 loaf
1 1/2c. whole wheat flour + 1/2c. all purpose flour (you could substitute a small amount of the flour with protein powder, but no more than 1/4-1/2c)
3/4c. sugar (or splenda or stevia or…)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup mashed fruit (see note)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (see note)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Ingredient notes: You have two options when making this bread. Option 1 involves using buttermilk and fruit that has a texture similar to an avocado (think high-starch fruits like banana or mango). Some of my favorites in this category include orange-mango (with pureed mango pulp and orange zest or a little OJ) and berry-banana (with mashed banana and whole berries mixed in instead of the nuts). Option 2 is the trickier of the two as you substitute some (or all) of the buttermilk with yogurt depending on the water content of your fruit. Some of my favorites in this category include strawberry bread (with about 3/4 of the buttermilk substituted) and peach bread (this only needs about 1/4 of the yogurt substituted).
→Either way, after the fruit(s) are mashed, preheat the oven to 375 and spray a 9X5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Combine the flour(s), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk. Well. Or you’ll be eating baking powder lumps.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and mashed fruit. Stir in the buttermilk or yogurt.
Add to the dry ingredients to this mix and blend well. Stir in the nuts or other whole add-ins.
Bake for 35-45 or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. (You’ll have to check it…sometimes it takes up to an hour depending on the fruit used)

Everyone’s Favorite Snap, Crackle, Pop April 7, 2009

Since I slipped on the icy pavement the other day and hurt my back, I’ve been homebound and, my five to ten minute periods of standing have basically involved…well, cooking. I guess that’s what I get for living in Michigan: wear your snow boots-even in April.

Anyway, as I was standing in my kitchen last night, I had a nostalgic craving for something sweet and gooey that can only be attributed to my horrendous lack of inactivity these past few days. More troublesome was what the craving was for-it was those demons of the snack world, the “almost fat free” crunchy, marshmallowy bites of our childhood: Rice Krispie Treats.

Before I go on, let me make something clear: “fat free” does not equal healthy (no, “almost fat free” doesn’t equal healthy either). Again, FAT FREE DOES NOT EQUAL HEALTHY!!! I cannot stress this point enough. Before everyone runs off and dubs me as “one of those low-carbing people that believes in ingesting my own weight in saturated fat for every meal,” remember that a) I am a vegetarian and b) I am extremely fat phobic. HOWEVER, as one of my high school friends felt the need to yell into my ear, sugar equals bubbling fat. And desserts that are fat free, are basically sugar + liquid + flavoring. NOT HEALTHY.

Okay, now that I’m done ranting, let’s move on to one of sugar’s other undesirable properties-addiction. It is because of this horibbleness that snack food companies like it so much and I wanted it so much. You see, even after years of only mild sugar consumption (in the forms of fruit and other naturally occurring sugars and, yes, cereal), my desire for that taste-bud maiming sweetness was only dormant, not dead. So I had to find a relatively healthy way to satisfy it…sort of.

Stir, Crunch, Perfect Serves 16
1. 2T light buttery spread
2. 4.5 cups mini marshmallows (I like the fruity ones)
3. 4 cups either Kashi GoLean or Special K Protein Plus
4. 2 cups puffed wheat, kamut, etc cereal
→You know the drill…melt the butter, add the marshmallows and melt those too, then stir in the cereal and press into a nonstick spray coated 9X13 pan.
For a little variation, try decreasing the marshmallows and mixing in some peanut butter, then dip in melted chocolate after cutting.
Enjoy. SPARINGLY

Almost Boot’s Sandwich April 6, 2009

When I was at Cambridge this past summer for a few months, I (very foolishly) thought it would be a good idea not to get a meal plan. I figured there would be a microwave or something and I really didn’t need all the unhealthy “dorm food”.

To my dismay, I discovered upon arrival that all I had was a fridge and a measly one at that so I would have to find somewhere to get breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day…not to mention the whole no cooked foods thing. It is through this necessity that I discovered the glorious, wonderfully healthy deliciousness that is the sandwich of the pharmacy Boot’s. Yes, in England, amid the pills and shampoos are fresh sandwiches, salads, and dips all with calorie labels to boot (not to mention the price wasn’t too bad either). I was in sandwich heaven…sort of.

Now, before this, I had never been much of a sandwich fan. Probably because, when I thought of sandwich, I thought of the sandwiches they served on bus rides-the ones with a slice of just barely edible processed cheese stuck between two slices of day old white bread-not healthy by any stretch of imagination and not really very appetizing either.

These sandwiches were different. They had hummus in them (my second love, after peanut butter, of course). How bad could they be?

Let’s just say, after that first day at Boot’s, I’ve eaten at least one sandwich every day…in fact, if I don’t, I go into sandwich withdrawal (and, believe me, it’s not pretty).

Cheesy Hummus Sandwich/Wrap
1. cream cheese (use light or fat free)
2. hummus (I like the “Basha” brand but find one that’s suited to your tastes)
3. cheddar cheese (once again, light or fat free)
4. cucumbers
5. tomatoes
6. red onions
7. sprouts (alfalfa are my favorite)
→ I usually use 2T of the cream cheese and hummus and an ounce of cheddar, then add the other stuff and wrap it up in a low carb wrap.

Admittedly, a little ingredient heavy for a sandwich, but well worth it.

Peanut-buttery Chicken (or Chik’n) April 4, 2009

Apparently, no one has any recipes they’d like redone so I can ramble on about peanut butter and fake meat without guilt.

Speaking of peanut butter, I was at Wal-Mart yesterday (yes, I shop at Wal-Mart, and, yes, I do know they’re bad for the economy and all, but they have a lot of stuff that’s hard to find in other places) and I found a new “like substance” to add to my collection. It’s called Naturally More and it tastes like Jif’s peanut butter with honey but has far less sugar and fat. Needless to say, I got a little too excited and bought 3 jars, which I realized (the moment I walked in the door) was way more than I should be eating off a spoon.

So I developed a recipe…sort of. It’s really too easy to be called a recipe, more a harmonizing of ingredients to create a meal. Quickly.

Chicken and Broccoli in Peanutty Sauce Serves 1
1. 2T peanut butter (use Naturally More…or, eh, something else)
2. 2T water
3. 1/2T soy sauce
4. 1t brown sugar or maple syrup (If you’re not obsessed with sweetness like I am and you use a sweeter peanut butter, you really don’t even need this)
5. 3/4 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder (if you use the garlic you have to roast it first so, if you don’t cook a lot normally, you might just want to go with the powder and use a little more if it’s not garlicky enough)
6. Crushed red pepper or chili (NOT chili powder, which is actually a blend of spices that’s used to make chili)
7. 1 chicken breast (I used Quorn’s meatless chicken breasts)
8. 3oz broccoli – about 1/2 cup (thank god for spell check)
→ Mix everything except the chicken and broccoli in a small bowl
Cook chicken as you normally would (for the meatless chicken I just pop it in the microwave for a minute or two) and cut it into strips
Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and add the cooked chicken, the broccoli and just enough water to cover the broccoli
Put a lid over the pan and simmer (on low heat) until the broccoli is steamed
Pour the sauce in and stir (if there’s too much water left, pour some out before you put the sauce in)
Don’t eat too fast

Recipe Redos April 1, 2009

In case it’s not obvious yet, I’m one of those healthy eaters that really hates healthy eating but does it anyway because it’s the right thing to do (in accordance with that proverb about the right path not being the easiest and all).

This has created a plethora of what one of my friends calls “like-substances”: I eat everything…just in “like substance” form. For example, Morningstar and Boca “meat like substances” because I’m big on the animal rights thing or “cookie like substances” because I’m genetically prone to diabetes. At first, her comment offended me, but, the more I thought about it, the more I realized (with begrudging acceptance) that the trick is in making the “like substances” taste just as good as the actual substance.

So, in that spirit, what’s your favorite recipe that you always end up wishing you hadn’t eaten the next morning? Maybe I can make you a “like substance” of your very own…