Lighter Bread Stuffing with Apples

In the spirit of the holidays, I thought that I'd blog today about stuffing -- my second most favorite food for Thanksgiving after mashed potatoes. Luckily, there is a great recipe for a "Lighter Bread Stuffing" in my Betty Crocker cookbook (a must for anyone who wants some assistance cooking almost anything!). I've changed it a bit below, in order to make the recipe both vegetarian (so no need for a turkey!) and to reduce the calories (and increase the fiber) a bit more.

Light Bread Stuffing Recipe (yields 15 servings half cup servings)

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup Promise Activ Spread
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (my favorite is made by a company called Imagine)
- 2 large stalks of celery (yielding 1.5 cups chopped)
- 1 large onion (yielding 1 cup of onion)
- 15 sliced whole wheat bread (yielding 9 cups of soft bread cubes)
- 3 cups of thinly sliced apples (read about the health benefits of apples)
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1.5 teaspoons of fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground sage
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional since the Promise Activ has salt in it)

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
(2) Melt butter and vegetable broth in Dutch Oven (or in a frying pan) over medium-high heat
(3) Cook the celery and onion in the broth, stirring occasionally, until they are tender
(4) Combine remaining ingredients with broth and celery mixture (transfer to an oven safe casserole dish if necessary). Cover, put into the oven, and cook until the stuffing registers 165 degrees (approximately 35-45 minutes).

Depending on what bread you use (I assumed each slice was 100 calories but it will vary depending on your bread), this recipe will come out to approximately 160 calories per serving, with 3 grams of fiber, and 2.5 grams of fat (or 3 weight watchers points). If you want to reduce the calories/points, consider removing the raisins, or reducing the amount of apples.

I hope you enjoy your stuffing and have a great Thanksgiving! See you next Monday!

Juliet

Low Calorie Mashed Potatoes and Low Calorie Mashed Sweet Potatoes

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd attempt to create some low calorie mashed potatoes, which are by far my favorite food to eat at Thanksgiving. I also decided to make low calorie mashed sweet potatoes (which are so filling with their subtle sweet taste) at the same time to see how they'd turn out.

Both recipes came out really well and if you are planning on avoiding mashed potatoes all together for Thanksgiving, you might want to think again (remember, you can make your own using one of these recipes, and take them to your party where no one will know or even suspect).

My Low Calorie Mashed Potatoes (makes 3 servings)

Ingredients
- 2 medium(ish) potatoes (500 grams total)
- 1 tbsp of Promise Light Spread (available at Safeway)
- 2 tbsp of low fat sour cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Reduced Fat Milk (optional -- only if you prefer a more creamy mash)

Instructions
- Carefully clean your potatoes, and pierce each one several times (and if you are calorie restricted, now is the right time to weigh them using your kitchen scale to make sure you are making the right amount -- you can always look up the exact calories for your potatoes on calorieking)
- (Optional) Remove the skin from the potatoes (I leave it on since I love the way it tastes and it has nutrients like vitamin C, iron and fiber)
- Cook the potatoes in the microwave (or boil on the stovetop for 20-30 minutes if you are more comfortable) until they are soft (in my microwave, 2 potatoes takes about 7 minutes)
- Carefully remove the potatoes from the microwave and put them into a large bowl
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher (or use a fork if you don't have one -- but they might not turn out as good)
- Add the Promise Activ Spread and continue mashing until it is mixed in
- Add the low fat sour cream and continue mashing until it is mixed in
- (Optional) Add some reduced fat milk, and mix briefly with a mixer to make smooth and creamy
- Add salt and pepper to taste (note: you don't need much salt, since the butter has salt in it)
- Divide into 3 servings!

If you use the same sized potatoes (with skin) as I did (500 grams before I cooked them) then this whole recipe (without the milk since it is optional) comes out to 460 calories with 7 grams of fat and 11 grams of fiber:
- 385 calories for the potatoes, 11 grams of fiber
- 45 calories for the buttery spread, 5 grams of fat
- 30 calories for the low fat sour cream, 2 grams of fat

That means each serving is 153 calories, 2.3 grams of fat, 3.6 grams of fiber, or 2-3 weight watchers points (right on the line). Pretty darn good for mashed potatoes!


So, following the same recipe, I also made *delicious* & *decadent* low calorie mashed sweet potatoes which you can see in the picture to the left (might be hard to tell but the potatoes are yellow instead of white). They are unbelievably filling and worth trying if you like the added sweetness of sweet potatoes. The entire recipe will be slightly higher in calories but with more fiber (about 45 more calories total, and 4 extra grams of fiber), but it doesn't come out to be that different once you break it into servings.

By the way, thank you to those of you that have suggested I try Promise Activ Light! It definitely did the trick for this recipe!

One last tip -- if you want to make garlic mashed potatoes, you can follow the same recipe for the mashed potatoes, but add 2 cloves of diced garlic at the end. It is soooo good (we did this tonight after I took the picture)!

Enjoy!
Juliet

My Recent Trip

Hello! A few of you asked about my trip to India (and about the Indian food) so I did a posting about it here. I thought I'd put it on a separate page as to not take away from all of the food specific postings. So, if you are here looking for low calorie snack ideas, low calorie recipes, or low calorie meal ideas, just skip this, and read on...

Enjoy! -Juliet

Apple Blackberry Sauce

Hello and happy Friday! So, first off - I'm generally not a huge applesauce fan (meaning I don't eat it every day). I think I ate a bit too much of it growing up, and frankly I have always found it a bit boring. However, it is quite healthy (especially applesauce without added sugar and with all natural ingredients), so it is one of the foods I continue to turn to when I'm not feeling well or when I want something simple and low calorie to eat.

I recently found a new favorite organic apple sauce, made by a company called Santa Cruz Organic. I love their Apple Blackberry flavor. It is thick, sweet, and tasty! I like it enough that I'm trying to figure out ways to integrate it into other foods. For instance, this morning, I added a couple of teaspoonfuls to my cereal which created the most decadent cereal ever.

This applesauce has great ingredients -- the entire list is "organic apples, organic blackberry puree, organic apple juice concentrate, and vitamin C (from ascorbic acid)." I've written before about the health benefits of apples as well as the health benefits of dark colored foods before, and you simply can't go wrong with a list of ingredients like that.

One ginormous half cup serving (128 grams) is 60 calories, and 2 grams of fiber, 0 grams of fat (making it 1 weight watchers point). Definitely a great food to eat on its own (if you don't find it boring -- sometimes adding a bit of cinnamon makes it more exciting), or to add to other recipes.

Enjoy!
Juliet

Avocado Smoothie Fun

First of all, thanks for all the fun comments about the India trip in my last posting. I'll do a post this weekend and answer some of your questions about the trip (and about me). When I started this blog, I thought it would be all about food, but now that I've gotten to know a few of you through your blogs, I can see how fun it is to really get to know the people behind the postings. So, I'll work on doing that this weekend (I'm still so jet-lagged!)...

So, onto this avocado smoothie thing....I recently got on an avocado kick, and I was feeling crazy one day so I decided to throw one into my blender to see what would happen. What resulted was a really thick creamy smoothie, almost like an ice cream shake. Since then, I've been playing around trying to make a perfect low calorie avocado smoothie. I haven't quite reached perfection yet, but I thought I'd blog about what I have, and then you could play around with your ideas as well. So, here is my current recipe:

Juliet's Not Yet Perfected Avocado Smoothie (2 servings)

Ingredients
1/2 a small avocado (~60 grams)
1 cup of frozen blueberries *or* 1 small frozen banana
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (my favorite is almond breeze)
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or your own favorite sweetener)
1 teaspoon nutmeg (or to taste)
1/4 cup ice if desired

Directions:
If you are using a banana, make sure you peel it before you freeze it. When ready, combine all the ingredients into a blender and blend. Pour into your favorite smoothie glasses (2 servings) and refrigerate for a few hours. Drink up and enjoy!

What I love about this smoothie is that it is not only tasty, creamy, and different, but it also allows me to combine a few delicious & healthy fruits together into a yummy drink. Here's the scoop on avocados, bananas, and blueberries from several sources that I've read over the years:

Avocados: Avocados contain a fatty acid (good fat, not bad fat) called "oleic acid" which is believed to help lower a person's cholesterol, helping keep one's heart healthy. Some studies have also shown that oleic acid may also protect against breast cancer. Avocados are also a great source of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure, as well as vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E (an antioxidant that contributes to a healthy circulatory system).

Bananas: Bananas are a great energy source, and are believed to help regulate a person's mood, thereby helping with anxiety, stress, etc. They are also a good natural source of fiber, protein, and potassium which is believed to help cellular growth in addition to helping to control blood pressure. Also full of antioxidants like beta-carotene, bananas help boost our immune systems, protecting our bodies from infections. I personally adore frozen bananas.

Blueberries: Blueberries are full of antioxidants which help protect against infection. They are also known to help keep skin beautiful! I'm on a blueberry kick right now -- I eat them every day. Right now I buy organic frozen blueberries at Whole Foods (black packaging), which I *love* because the blueberries are extremely large but still flavorful.

I hope you enjoy making your own avocado smoothie! If you figure out improvements on the not-yet-perfected recipe, please let me know!

Juliet


This recipe is also being featured in the HomeAway Travel Cookbook.

Grilled Cheese Puffs

So, today I decided I'd blog about 3 things: (1) some yummy grilled cheese puffs (2) a short briefing on my trip to India (since you asked - thank you!) and (3) an award I recently received from a fellow blogger.

Grilled Cheese Puffs
Starting with food first (of course!) -- I've been really eager to blog about Snikiddy cheese puffs for a while now. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm often drawn to foods marketed at kids because of their portion size. I'm even more drawn to foods that are marketed to parents as being healthy for kids, because then you usually find foods that bridge the best of both of the worlds that I care about -- nutrition and portion size. Snikiddy cheese puffs fall into this category -- in fact their motto is actually "have a healthy day" which I love.

On top of being healthy, these organic cheese puffs are a perfect blend of cheese flavor and crunch, making them a really fun and satisfying treat/snack to eat. On top of that, one portion is only 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 1 gram of fiber, and 3 weight watchers points (I know, I wish it was 2, but just not enough fiber). And, they are gluten free, which is an added plus for people with gluten allergies!

Snikiddy can be bought at Whole Foods, Target and other food stores. I also made them available on the Yummy Diet Food Amazon store.

Trip To India
A few of you asked about my trip to India. I was tempted to post about it before I went, but I decided not to just so that I was not advertising to the world "hello I'm going out of town for a while!". I was in India for about a week and a half. It was for business, not pleasure, so I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked. I did get to experience the Indian culture, the Indian food (yum!!!), the unbelievable Indian traffic (there are no words to describe it - it is insane!), and Indian shopping -- like wooden elephants, bartering with store people, beautiful rugs, etc. All in all, it was a really fun trip! But, it is far away -- 21 hours in a plane... which was not fun. I can post a few more pictures if you are interested. Sadly, my camera's batteries ran out while I was there so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of any of the food, although a friend took one picture, so if I get it, I'll definitely post it.


Award



So, a day before I left, Ms. Veggie Wedgie sent me an E for Excellent award. I know I need to pass it along, and I will at some point in the near future once I've had some time to think about it (I love so many of your blogs, it is so difficult to pick). But I wanted to acknowledge the kind gesture as soon as I could! So, thanks Veggie-Wedgie!!

Juliet

Today's Posting

Hey! I'm actually not going to be able to do a food posting today. I recently returned from a long trip to India (21+ hours in a plane - not kidding) and am recuperating (I'm so tired!). And yes, the food was AMAZING!!

The picture is from Bangalore. A view from my hotel.

Anyway, back to my regular scheduled programming tomorrow!

Juliet

Have you heard of Yacon?

Nope I did not mean to say bacon (suggested to me by calorie king when I typed in "yacon") . I really meant yacon! I recently discovered yacon at Whole Foods. It is another super low calorie, high antioxidant superfood.

What does dried yacon taste like? It is a bit difficult to describe but I'll do my best. It is a tuber like the potato, but it has a subtle bit of melon-like sweetness to it (but not too much, nothing close to the sweetness of a goldenberry). The petal-like pieces remind me a bit of a dried apple, but more rooty. :) The best way to really find out is to try it.

Yacon is really low calorie. It comes in powder and syrup form, but I'm really into the dried yacon as a healthy snack. One ounce (which is a lot since it is so fluffy) is 90 calories, 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of fiber. Technically this is 2 weight watchers points, although much of the carbs in the yacon root are in an undigestible form, so it is in reality probably fewer calories/points. Dried yacon is sold by a few companies including Terramazon and Navitas Naturals. I buy it at Whole Foods.

Enjoy!
Juliet

SoyJoy!

A year or so ago, my gym was offering free apple flavored soyjoy bars, so I decided to take one. Not that interested in an apple flavored bar at the time, I threw it into my bag, and then didn't think about it for a few weeks. Then I found myself really hungry one day without a good snack available, at which point I reluctantly decided to try the soyjoy bar.

The first thing I noticed about the bar after I unwrapped it was that it looked like a long rectangular light-brown cookie. I split the bar into two and saw that it had some walnuts in it which excited me. I went back to the wrapper to find that it also had raisins in it which I thought was cool. Then I decided to taste it -- and I was pleasantly surprised, it was actually pretty good! A nice cross between an apple and a soft cookie, and very different from the other bars that I regularly eat which was a nice change.

My apple flavored bar was only 140 calories, with 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein, making it 2 or 2.5 weight watchers points. It also has some iron and vitamin C in it, which is never a bad thing.

I actually see these bars everywhere now, including at regular supermarkets and at various drugstores. They are relatively easy to find. They also come in several other flavors that I have yet to try including: strawberry, peanut chocolate chip, raisin almond, mango coconut, and berry.


Additionally (for those of you that don't like soyjoy -- seems like hit or miss), here is a link to some other low calorie bars I've blogged about that I think are both tasty and full of good ingredients (including the super yummy Fiberful Bar (0 WW points), Gnu Foods Bars, Fruitabu, Attune probiotic bar, Clif Z Bars, and Figamajigs, and Luna Tea Cakes).

Enjoy!
Juliet

Chocolate Covered Cacoao Nibs!

What tastes better than plain chocolate and is much more fun to eat? Crunchy chocolate covered chocolate (in the form of cocoa nibs)! At least, that's what I've come to believe after trying Kopali Organics' Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs. In case you've never had the pleasure of eating a cocoa nib before (I'm just starting to see them showing up on shelves in natural food stores like Whole Foods), it is basically a small, bitter piece of chocolate, kind of like a coffee bean. Cocoa nibs are actually roasted cocoa beans, and have a really subtle chocolate taste and flavor.

Cocoa nibs aren't quite sweet enough to eat on their own (although they are great with other foods), so I was delighted to see that Kopali had decided to sell them covered in dark chocolate. Since both the cocoa nibs and the chocolate are full of healthy antioxidants and bioflavonoids as well as iron, these little treats are actually pretty good for you! One serving consists of 40 pieces (28 grams) of the little nibs, with 10 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber (so 3 weight watchers points).While a small handful of these makes a great quick snack, I think a small portion of the chocolate covered cocoa nibs are most useful for "chocolating" up your fage yogurt, low calorie oatmeal or low calorie trail mix (or even eating on top of frozen bananas!). You can also pair these yummy nibs with many other low calorie snacks.

These yummy nibs can be bought at Wild Oats and at Whole Foods. The company also makes other chocolate flavored products, but this one is my current favorite.

Enjoy!

Juliet

Crispy Pears

I'm a huge fan of freeze dried fruit. I like adding it to salads, low calorie cereal, steel-cut oatmeal, almond milk, low calorie trail-mix, fage yogurt, or any other food than needs some added crunch or flavor. I've already blogged about a couple of dried fruits, namely Funky Monkey and Sensible foods, and today I thought I'd blog about another personal favorite called Crispy Green.

There are a few things I love about Crispy Green freeze dried fruit: (1) it comes in satisfying one serving bags that are around 38 calories each (0 weight watchers points) making it an extremely low calorie snack, (2) it comes in some really interesting/unique flavors including pear (my favorite), apricot, peach, pineapple, as well as apple, (3) the dried fruit is totally raw so it is very healthy (especially compared to those popular 100 calorie snacks) and (4) it is very crunchy and fun to eat!

I found this freeze dried fruit at Whole Foods, but based on the Crispy Green website, I see it is available in other natural food stores as well.

Enjoy!
Juliet

Low Calorie, Low Fat Quesadilla Recipe

Today I thought I'd write about a quick and easy recipe for low calorie & low fat quesadillas that leverages a few of the foods I've blogged about in the past few months. I make quesadillas this way at least once a week for dinner, as I find them incredibly satisfying and as good as if not better than getting a quesadilla in a Mexican restaurant (and definitely better for you). Below is the recipe for how I like to make mine (with low calorie tortillas) -- you may want to make changes to the toppings based on your own preferences.

Ingredients you'll need:
- Two low calorie whole wheat tortillas
- One ounce of lifetime brand fat free cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/4 cup of fat free ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup chives
- 2 tablespoons of low fat sour cream
- 1/4 cup of salsa

Cooking Instructions:
- Carefully shred the cheddar cheese
- Using medium heat, warm tortilla in a large pan
- Sprinkle cheddar cheese across tortilla
- Add tomatoes
- Carefully add ricotta cheese (I also sometimes add a small portion of low fat mozzarella)
- If you desire, add sour cream and salsa (I like eating mine hot inside of the tortilla)
- Cover toppings with second tortilla and apply equal pressure with spatula
- Flip quesadilla until each side is cooked to your liking

This recipe comes out to 5 weight watchers points (if you use the La Tortilla Factory low calorie tortillas), or about 300 calories. If you feel adventurous you can also add some guacamole. These quesadillas make a great low calorie lunch option!

Enjoy!
Juliet

Photo provided by rick

Delicious Fat Free Cheese

The other day at Whole Foods I was looking around in the fancy cheese section (where I buy low-fat mozzarella cheese), when a block of cheddar cheese with the words "fat free" on it caught my eye. Up until that day, I'd never seen fat free cheese in block form (only as slices) -- and this one had a couple of really important things going for it: (1) the package claimed that the cheese actually melts which is very uncommon for fat free cheese and (2) a one ounce serving was only 40 calories with 8 grams of protein.

While I was standing there in the store, I started having dreams of cutting off a little chunk and eating it, as well as shredding the cheese to put it in my favorite healthy recipes. Then, I noticed there were other flavors I could buy, namely: Sharp Cheddar, Swiss, Mild Mexican, Garden Vegetable, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella and Jalapeno Jack. Picking one was a difficult decision, and I ultimately went with the Cheddar since it was the first one that caught my eye. I took it home and immediately cut off and weighed a 1 ounce slice with my food scale. I wasn't overly wowed by the taste of the cheese on its own for a snack, but once I started adding it to my cooked foods and to my sandwiches I was extremely impressed. It really does melt, making it way better than most fat-free cheeses for cooking!

Apparently this cheese has been around for over a decade and is available in all sorts of stores beyond Whole Foods (like Albertsons, Safeway, Price Chopper, etc.), so I'm surprised I've never seen it before. Maybe I'm the only one? Anyway, I'm definitely happy to have heard of it now!

By the way, I did a posting a few months ago about cooking with low fat and non fat cheese that might be interesting to read as well.

PS. I'm working on a recipe for low calorie fat free cheddar sauce using this cheese, which I will write about in a future posting. I'm also thinking about melting this cheese across some huuraw chips, which I think may be divine!

Enjoy!
Juliet

"So Delicious" Low Calorie Mini Desserts

Sometimes I love to have a little ice cream after my dinner, but I don't want it to be too heavy or to have a lot of added calories. For a long time I was eating Julie's low calorie ice cream sandwiches which I think are the most delicious low calorie ice cream sandwiches I've ever had (the ice cream tastes as rich as regular ice cream). But, after a while, I decided I wanted to try a few other ice cream sandwich flavors since I've only found Julie's version in vanilla.

That is when I first purchased So Delicious Minis. The first box I bought was mint flavored (made with soy milk), and the second box I bought was coconut flavored (made with coconut milk). Both are dairy free and all natural.

The mint minis are pretty yummy. Each one is only 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber and 8 grams of sugar (2 weight watchers points). But, I think I've decided that I like the coconut ones more. The coconut sandwiches have 100 calories, 3.5 grams of fat (omega 3 from the coconut milk), 2 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein (so also 2 weight watchers points). They also differ from the mint versions because they are sweetened with agave syrup instead of regular sugar.

I bought these great little desserts at Whole Foods. I get the impression the coconut flavor is new and may be more difficult to find than the mint flavor. So, keep your eye out as it may show up after a few weeks or months.

Enjoy!
Juliet

Lydia's Organic Tropical Mango Bar

First of all, feel free to laugh at me for the picture that is associated with this post today. I really wanted to blog about this bar that I love called "Tropical Mango Bar", but I simply can't snap a great picture of it. So the picture you see is the one that the company (Lydia's Organics) has on their web site. I guess the picture makes sense for the most part, since the bar's ingredients include *only* bananas, coconut and mango (all pictured), as well as pineapple (not pictured), but I'm not entirely sure where the statue comes in. But I digress... :)

This bar is really tasty if you like the taste of the tropical fruits that I mentioned above. It is totally raw, vegan, gluten-free, organic, and oil free. It only has fruit in it! But, unlike other fruit-only bars, it is hard, thick, and crunchy rather than fruity and chewy, making it quite filling (I actually find the taste to be pretty strong). The consistency reminds me a bit of a granola bar (I'm always on the lookout for great low calorie granola by the way!).

In terms of calories, the bar is 43g and has only 110 calories, 7 grams of fat (healthy fat from the coconut), 3 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein (so 2 weight watchers points). It also has 10% of the RDA of Vitamin C which is an added plus. I buy these bars at Whole Foods, but I see it is also available in a bunch of natural food stores in various states.

Enjoy!
Juliet

Foods that are Believed to Fight Cancer

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a slideshow about seven foods believed to help fight against cancer. I absolutely love integrating healthy foods into my diet -- they make me feel like I'm doing the right thing for my body, which then leads me to feel strong, healthy, and usually more full than when I eat processed foods. What I liked about this list was that it was a bit different than the usual foods we always hear about. So, I decided I wanted to share with you!

Here is the list, with some of my thoughts:

(1) Tumeric - Tumeric can be found in a lot of Indian foods and curries (which I love! -- check out my posting on low calorie naan and a low calorie indian dish that I like called kofta curry). You can also buy it in spice form and add it to your own dishes. According to the article, bright yellow mustard is also full of tumeric - so add a little extra next time you are making a sandwich.

(2) Fish -- Fish contain omega 3 fatty acids as well as several vitamins which are thought to help ward against cancer and other health issues. Salmon is one of the best choices, as is halibut. I personally like to eat salmon in my sushi, as I'm not a big fan of it grilled, although that works as well. There are other sources of omega 3 fatty acids as well including nuts, soy beans (edamame), and flax seeds.

(3) Orange zest -- This one came as a surprise to me! Apparently the orange peel is as healthy as the orange itself due to its detoxifying properties. Adding orange zest to food requires more forethought and creativity than other foods, but it can be added to almost anything for a little extra flavor. I like to put orange zest into my water or soup.

(4) White tea -- Yep, white tea is full of antioxidants that help prevent against colon problems and inflammation. I buy both white tea and green tea (the tea we usually hear about) and I switch off between drinking each of them. I keep them both in my drawer at work for convenience.

(5) Whey protein -- Another one that I thought was interesting! Whey protein can be found in yogurts, or it can be bought in powder form. The powder form is great in cereal, smoothies, or oatmeal.

(6) Cranberries -- Cranberries are also full of antioxidants and are thought to protect the body from cancer as well as bacterial infection. Cranberry juice is a great way to drink cranberries, or you can eat dried cranberries or fruit. I enjoy sprinkling cranberries on my cereal, in my fage yogurt, or in my oatmeal.

(7) Walnuts and/or Sesame Oil -- Walnuts are full of omega 3 fatty acids and are a great source of protein and vitamin E which helps protect against cancer and other heart issues. If you use sesame oil when cooking, you can reap the benefits of the vitamin E content. Or, you can snack on nuts in your trailmix, on your oatmeal, or on your yogurt.

I think one of the most interesting parts of the slideshow/article was the subtle point it makes about not assuming you can get all of these health benefits from vitamins or supplements that carry the same nutrients. What makes these foods so special is that they contain many different components that help improve or maintain our health, elements that might not be contained or included in man-made multivitamins or supplements.

Will return to our regular scheduled postings about low calorie foods tomorrow!

Enjoy!
Juliet

Wheatgrass juice

Have you ever been to Jamba Juice and seen them juicing fresh grass behind the counter? Or have you curiously watched while someone downs a shot glass of green liquid instead of drinking a smoothie? Well, I have, and it made me very curious. I deduced from the Jamba menu that these people were creating/drinking something called wheatgrass juice, and I set out to learn more.

I found out that wheatgrass is a type of plant, which looks a lot like the kind of grass you grow on your lawn (although it is actually a young gluten-free form of wheat). There are many, often extreme claims about the health benefits of wheatgrass of which various critics are skeptical. The supporters of wheatgrass claim that it has extremely high amino acid, vitamin, mineral and chrolophyll content. The supposed benefits are that it helps prevent diabetes, heart disease, hair loss and cancer while promoting a general feeling of well being by promoting better blood flow and detoxification.

As you probably would suspect, wheatgrass tastes like grass! If you want to try drinking some, and you don't like the taste of grass, then you should probably consider adding it to fruit juice or to a smoothie. I bought some frozen "ice cube" like trays (2.5 calories each) of wheatgrass juice from Whole Foods, made by a company called Evergreen, that are fun to pop in my mouth during times when I am feeling hungry (the grass taste calms my hunger). I'm sure I could achieve a similar effect with frozen juice, but when I eat wheatgrass I feel like I'm doing something good for my body, since wheatgrass juice is probably at least as good for me as eating any other green vegetable, if not better!

Enjoy!
Juliet

note: wheatgrass picture from naturalnews.com

Fat Free Ricotta & Ricotta-Pumpkin Treat

Before I get to the Ricotta-Pumpkin dessert recipe, I wanted to first talk briefly about fat free ricotta cheese. If you've never tried ricotta cheese - you should totally check it out. It is great as a topping on pasta, in omelets, in quesadillas, fajitas, various desserts, as well as on some Indian dishes. The consistency is somewhere between cottage cheese (it is chunky) and regular cheese (it is kind of bland, so you wouldn't eat it on its own). My favorite fat-free ricotta cheese is made by a company called Calabro and it can be bought at Whole Foods. A quarter of a cup (62 grams) of the Calabro fat free ricotta cheese is 30 calories, 0 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein (so 1 weight watchers point per serving, or 0 weight watchers points per half serving).

So, there are tons of ways to dress up ricotta cheese into a dessert on its own (I've heard of people adding sugar, cocoa, vanilla extract, etc. etc. to make pretty interesting desserts). I thought today in honor of the holidays I'd post a recipe for ricotta-pumpkin pudding. Pumpkin is another great low calorie food (a 1/2 cup serving is 50 calories, 0 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein -- so 0 weight watchers points), and if you like it you will surely like this recipe (and if you don't like pumpkin, you should pass on this recipe and play around with just the ricotta cheese, since the pudding is thick and has a strong pumpkin flavor).

Ricotta-Pumpkin Treat
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta cheese (or 1/2 cup if you desire)
- 1 tbsp agave nectar (or your favorite sweetener -- honey would be delicious as well!)
- cinnamon and/or nutmeg to taste

Combine all the ingredients except the cinnamon and nutmeg in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed. Put mixture in microwave for ~45 seconds (or until hot). Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

This recipe has 140 calories, 0 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 7 grams of protein -- so it is a very filling, rich, 2 weight watchers points.

Enjoy!
Juliet