Friday, April 06, 2007

Make...

...an Easter Bunny Cake this Easter!

Craving...

The Godiva Biscuits (layered with hazelnut chocolate) that's sitting on my file cabinet. Yummy!

My healthy list of comfort foods...

...call me crazy - but I have adopted a new set of comfort foods and they include the likes of spinach, black beans and lots of whole grain stuffs. Hey, to eat the things I absolutely LOVE to eat like Garlic Noodles, BJ's Pizzookie's and the tons of other things that I've written about, I need to eat healthy sometimes. I've learned to deal with eating low fat yogurt, whole grain oatmeal (<--wow, now this is a stretch for me) and more fruits during the day as snacks. But along the way of eating healthier, friends have turned me on to some things that I actually started craving! Like for some reason, I really like how black beans and brown rice with some tofu (fried in a little bit of olive oil) tastes...but that might just be me. But here's a couple of other things that I've tried (and have tried on my hubby too!)and he thought it wasn't half bad that I've incoporated in my weekly menus:

1. Spinach and Chicken Wraps using whole wheat tortillas (low/no fat from Trader Joe's) and olive hummus (50 calories or less per serving). I was very VERY skeptical when my friend offered me a wrap at lunch once but I was pleasantly surprised. The spinach is pretty mild and I love the taste of chicken and I've got to tell you - the olive hummus was the thing that held it all together taste wise. Regular hummus doesn't quite do the trick. To me, the olive hummus brings out the flavor of the chicken in the wrap. Goes great! I just boil the chicken and ofcourse, it's skinless with fat trimmed.

2. SKINNY COW! LOVE these ice cream sandwiches. Yes - it's soft serve kind of ice cream...but hey, if it allows me to eat regular ice cream occassionally without the guilt, I'll eat it! Plus, the cookie part of it has some good fiber for ya, albiet a small amount. I buy mine from costco but if you don't have the room in your freezer for all the sandwiches, I'd just buy some from the store.

3. Did I say Hummus? I know I mentioned it in the wrap already - but regular hummus or any other flavored variety at 50 calories per 2 Tablespoons can be a low calorie yummy addition to a boring vegetable snack in your day. If you like carrots (baby carrots are cute to eat and easy to tote and you don't have to cut them!), these are great for dipping into hummus. 2 Tablespoons is a lot for dipping actually. I went through a small bag of baby carrots with it. You can also dip your chips into it. (see next item)

4. Now - not that I crave these but the fact that I can eat 15 of them is what's appealing to me (totalling 130 cal). It's TLC crackers. (Okay, did not try this one on hubby and I don't think he'll like these AT ALL!) They're whole grain and really hit the spot when I'm just craving all sorts of crap that I shouldn't be eating. But I've grown to even crave these suckers...but I'm wierd. So if you don't really think they're all that - dip em' in hummus. :)

Okay - not much of a great post for people who love the sweet stuffs or fatty stuffs...but just thought I'd share. On another note - there are things you can do to continue eating the things you like but taking out some of the fat like:

If you get a chocolate craving, try melting a smaller amount of dark chocolate that you would normally eat and dip a whole bunch of strawberries in it. Or eat strawberries with bites of chocolate (but eat a smaller amount that you normally eat).

If you like cooking with butter, try substituting chicken broth for 1/2 or even just a 1/4 of the amount required and lower some of your fat intake. (low sodium, low fat broth ofcourse!) Works great for picatta!

I'm going to experiment with low fat/fat free sour cream and buttermilk to help lower my use of mayo in things like Furikake Salmon or Cornflake Crusted Salmon. (I'll let you know how it goes)

Don't get the wrong idea about this blog...this ISN'T a health food blog! Watching my "routine" or everyday eating allows me to enjoy the things that I write about with less of the guilt and I wanted to share the healthy things I found that have tasted good to me and that have miraculously worked their way into my eating schedule and habits.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

"No smelly socks please..."

That was my hubby's answer to my question of "Do you have any special requests for the Maitre'D?"

...Heh?

It almost didn't make any sense to me until I realized he was trying to be funny...because of course, we are going to THE FRENCH LAUNDRY!!!!! Yeah baby! Got a res online at OpenTable.com for 2. They said it was impossible, but tonight I was just foolin' around and just clickin' on dates and wallah - the screen changed to the credit card reservation page. Of course, it's a Monday night...and of course, it's at 9:00p...but who the heck cares?! I'm going!...uh, I mean "we're" going and we're going to have a great time. I'll be so star struck that I'll probably overlook any overrated-ness, but my husband will be sure to keep it all in check for me and tell me the reality once we're done with dinner.

Wish us luck...now to find tickets and beg my boss for some time off...

woohoo!