“Clean” Banana Bread

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup melted Smart Balance buttery spread
• 1 cup ripe banana, smooshed or mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup Egg Beaters
• 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Stevia powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, mix together Smart Balance, bananas, vanilla, Egg Beaters, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
• In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, soda, stevia, salt).
• Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined.
• Fold in the nuts.
• Pour into pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes to set, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Spiced Apple Raspberry Smoothie

 

I recently discovered Alpine sugar-free cider packets (from Krusteaz) and have been enjoying them immensely at work, at home and when I travel.  There’s a nifty little recipe on the side of the box for Spiced Apple Raspberry Smoothie, and I finally had a chance to make it for my fiance when I brought him breakfast-in-bed this morning.  I modified it slightly by using Greek yogurt, so I balanced the extra thickness and tang by including a bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and some sugar-free raspberry syrup.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chilled club soda
• 2 pouches Alpine Sugar-Free Spiced Cider Mix
• 6 oz. Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
• 1 frozen banana, cut into pieces
• 1 cup frozen organic raspberries
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• splash of sugar-free raspberry syrup

Directions

• Place all ingredients in a blender jar.
• Blend until smooth.

Makes 2 servings with approximately 150 calories each.

Supersizing hits home

 The enormity of restaurant portions is well known, and countless strategies have been developed for dealing with them: ordering only appetizers, immediately putting half your meal in a to-go bag, even staying home rather than going out to eat.

Now, it turns out that eating in may be as dangerous to your waistline as dining out.  A study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that cookbook recipes have significantly higher calorie counts than in the past.

“The study, which looked at how classic recipes have changed during the past 70 years, found a nearly 40 percent increase in calories per serving for nearly every recipe reviewed, about an extra 77 calories.”

Although the trend has been noted in other cookbooks, the study focused primarily on the classic “Joy of Cooking” cookbook, first published in the 1930s, discovering that…

“Only the chili con carne recipe remained unchanged through the years. The chicken gumbo, however, went from making 14 servings at 228 calories each in the 1936 edition, to making 10 servings at 576 calories each in the 2006 version.”

“And changes in “Joy of Cooking” have been going on for a while. Increases in overall calories per recipe have been gradual, but portion sizes tended to jump, first during the ’40s, again during the ’60s, and with the largest jump in the 2006 edition.”

Add a decade, expand a portion.  A brownie recipe that yielded 30 brownies in the 60s now delivers 15 brownies.  A chocolate chip cookie recipe that made 100 cookies initially now provides only 60.

So what do you do about it?  Unfortunately, being aware isn’t enough.  You have to be as vigilant at home as you are on the road.  Make smaller cookies or brownies.  Or, adapt your restaurant strategies for home: don’t eat a full portion, saving the extra for another meal.

Talk about pork barrel!

 Yowsa!  The meaty monostrosity that is the Bacon Explosion is all over the web, having caught fire online like pork drippings in a BBQ pit.

The Bacon Explosion has developed a cult following, becoming so popular that it was recently written up in the New York Times.  We Americans are nutty sometimes in our rebelliousness.  Tell us to eat healthy, and we’ll laugh in your face while creating a flab-o-licious carnivorous treat like this one, “containing at least 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat.”

I’ll probably be banned for the planet for good, but I suggest that we could create a healthy version of this decadence by using turkey bacon, vegetarian sausage, bacon bits, and low-carb/low-calorie BBQ sauce.  I may just have to give it a go myself and see how it comes out.  You never know; it may develop its own cult following.

Tips from the Belly Off! Diet

Men’s Health started an online weight-loss community called the “Belly Off! Club” back in 2002, and since then, club members have lost almost 2 million pounds.  Yowsa!  That’s alotta pounds!!  Their book, The Belly Off! Diet, is not due out ‘til April, but MSN is giving us a preview of some of tips contained in it.

• Cut out refined grains and sugar
• Eat more protein, healthy fats, fiber-rich fruits & veggies, and whole grains
• Eat breakfast every day
• Lift weights at least three times a week.
• Do cardio workouts, especially interval training

None of these are particularly new methods for slimming down, but it never hurts to reinforce good techniques through repetition.  And, because this books is written by men for men, it might reach a whole new audience that doesn’t always respond to more typical diet plans.

Top Ten useful articles to make 2009 your healthiest yet!

1. America’s Worst Mall Foods
2. Is Exercise in Your Budget for 2009?
3. 10 Secrets of Skinny People
4. Sizing Up the Most Popular Diets
5. Top 11 Fitness Trends
6. Keeping That Diet Resolution
7. Chill-Proofing Your Exercise Routine for Winter
8. Shape Up in ’09 with a Month of Fitness Tips
9. 5 Small Changes to Help You Lose Weight
10. Sneaky Health Tricks for a Busy Life 

Cooking without eating

The latest issue of Cooking Light just arrived in my mailbox, and the holiday recipes look mouthwatering!

I have been overtaken by a nearly irresistible urge to bake the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies featured in this issue, but I have forced myself to resist.  Why?  Well, I’m afraid I’ll eat up all the cookies before they have a chance to cool down.  And, even if I managed not to do that, saving them ’til I can unload them at work the next morning, I’m afraid I’ll go crazy with the leftover ingredients: peanut butter, mini chocolate chips and more.

Ugh!  I want to learn to be a better cook, but my willpower during the process is decidedly lacking.  With my struggles lately to stay on course – not to mention the inherent challenges of the season – I just can’t afford to take the risk of overeating, not even for the lofty goal of further developing my Sassy Chef skills.

However, if your motivational mojo is stronger than mine and you want to give it a go, here are some tips, courtesy of delish.com, to keep you from chowing down too much while you’re creating that culinary masterpiece.

• Brush your teeth right before to discourage mindless nibbling while cooking or baking. “You won’t be as tempted to sample foods when your breath tastes like peppermint”.
• Eat a small snack, like a cup of yogurt, 20 minutes before you start cooking. This will send a signal to your brain that you’re already satisfied.
• Make deals with yourself. “Recently I baked cookies with my nieces.  If we ate one scoop of dough, we allowed ourselves two baked cookies. If we ate two scoops of dough, we were allowed only one baked cookie.”
• Wear bleaching strips on your teeth. “You won’t want or be able to nibble when your teeth are otherwise occupied”.

Thinking that a bite can’t really do that much damage?  Don’t be fooled.  Check out these stats:

• Having two spoonfuls of chocolate-chip cookie dough: 64 calories, 3 grams of fat
• Eating leftover pie scraps: 81 calories, 5 grams of fat
• Licking whipped cream off the beaters: 52 calories, 5 grams of fat
• Picking just one slice of cheese from the platter: 113 calories, 9 grams of fat
• Grabbing a handful of mixed nuts from the bowl: 168 calories, 15 grams of fat

What I want to know is: what is like to be one of those people who doesn’t overeat during cooking?  Who can actually leave a bag of chocolate chips in the fridge for days without even giving it a second glance?  My friend Judi can do it.  I house-sit for her on occasion, and she always has peanut butter in the cupboard and chocolate chips in the fridge.  In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that she’s not a small gal; she struggles with her weight, too.  But, obviously, she’s not bingeing on cookie ingredients. 

I know there are people who can cook without making it their second lunch or their first dinner.  I’m just not one of them, unless I have a very specific purpose or timetable.  I can make stuff to bring to a party as long as I do it immediately prior to the party.  I can make stuff for a party I’m hosting, again, as long I do it right before.  Or, if I don’t really like what I’m making, I won’t munch on it.  It’s touch and go with the Yum Yum Brownie Muffins.  I like them but am usually able to avoid noshing, although I will sometimes eat the dough equivalent of one muffin when I’m preparing them for my BF.  And, very occasionally, I will eat one of them after they’re cooked.  For some reason, though, they aren’t a huge draw for me. 

It’s frustrating.  I truly want to be a better cook, and I want to make use of my down time, creating something wonderful that can be popped out of the freezer later and shared with loved ones.  It saddens me that my personality type or neuroses or whatever keep me from doing that.  I guess that it’s more important for me to know myself – and respect my weaknesses – than it is to berate myself for my flaws.  I am what I am.  Sometimes, though, I wish I wasn’t.

In this case, don’t embrace your inner child.

Did you know that 58% of kids’ cereals are eaten by adults over 18?  Well, so what, right?  Is that a bad thing?  

Yeah, actually it is.  A Consumer Reports survey of 27 cereals marketed to children found that 11 of them contain as much sugar in one serving as a glazed Dunkin’ Donut.  Most of us are aware that there’s basically nothing nutritionally redeeming about a donut, and we shun them indignantly.  But, here we are consuming the same amount of sugary goop in a different form.  Why?

I think it’s about indulging the little kid in all of us.  Whether it’s a longing for lost youth or a desire to enjoy formerly forbidden foods, these cereals somehow give us a happy, carefree feeling.

In my case, my sugar intake was severely restricted as a child.  My dad confiscated all of my Halloween candy after trick-or-treating, allowing me only one sweet and tossing the rest.  I could not have any “fun” cereal for breakfast, and I was forced to eat spinach until I gagged at dinner.  My dad had the right idea, but his technique backfired.  For instance, I was never allowed to eat Lucky Charms, and, as an adult, I stocked up on boxes and boxes of the faux marshmallow, crunchy stuff.  It took me a long time to overcome the “food trauma” of those early days and learn to truly like high quality, healthy foods.

Other kids didn’t go through that; instead they have fond memories of noshing on yummy-sweet cereals around the breakfast table, maybe flinging bits and bites across the table at their siblings.  For them, eating that food now takes them to a happy place; it takes them out of the stress of raising kids, dealing with finances, maintaining a home and gives them some respite.  It’s hard to begrudge that, but it’s not doing them any good in the long run.

So, how do you enjoy your morning meal while treating your body right, too?  When I’m craving a sweet and crunchy treat, I pour a cup of Kashi’s GO LEAN Crunch, in Honey Almond Flax and eat it dry.  A cup’ll set you back 200 calories while delivering 500mg Omega-3, 9g protein, 8g fiber, 15g of whole grains, and it tastes fantastic!  In fact, I sometimes have to watch myself to keep from eating the entire box.  The only upside to that is that, while I would have consumed WAY too many calories, it would at least be good stuff for my bod.

More fun with PB&J

 You all know how much I love, love, love PB&J.  Heck, I even threw a PB&J party a few months ago in which every single item was made with both peanut butter and jelly (or some form of preserves)!  I try to keep it healthy, so I use Smart Balance Omega PB and sugar-free jam as my foundational ingredients. 

Steph at Noshtopia offers another spin on the healthy PB&J sandwich.  She uses Ezekiel Bread, Whole Foods 365 Organic Peanut Butter and 365 Organic Fruit Spread.  Looks health-o-licious to me!

Are you a “Latte Spy”?

“I am a loyal fan of Starbucks, and as a result, I go quite regularly. That said, every time I order a drink there, I strongly doubt that my drink will be made the way I ordered. My distrust has gotten so bad, that I hover over the ‘pick-up’ station to watch how my drink is made to ensure it’s prepared correctly. I pretend to not be watching, but I am. I have become, in essence, a Latte Spy.”

I am exactly like Brett at Sheer Balance.  I watch the baristas at Starbucks like a hawk when they make my drinks.  Unlike Brett, though, I am not subtle about it… although I do smile a lot while to generate goodwill.  The fact is, I have caught the baristas making my drink with regular syrup, instead of sugar-free, too many times to relax my vigilance.  Regular syrup can make a huge difference in the calories a drink contains, especially if you order a venti or like your beverage particularly sweet as I do.  These types of substitution mistakes could cost you a minimum 100 calories for every beverage, and if you’re a high-volume Starbucks customer, that can add up quick!

I have a pretty low calorie threshold for the day, so every calorie I consume counts a lot.  I simply must be extra careful.  So, while outwardly, it might seem obnoxiously high maintenance – and even insulting to the hardworking baristas – I can’t afford not to monitor their preparations.

I used to feel really guilty about this behavior, but now I don’t.  I’ve worked extremely hard to lose 120+ pounds, and I have the right to make sure I know what I’m imbibing.  I figure that as long as I do it in a friendly way, with an occasional “I really have to watch my calories” comment by way of explanation, I’m being respectful of the staff while still taking care of myself.