So I've been asked to write a blog about the foods/recipes that I eat. Little help to those of you that want to eat better. Remember: I'm not a nutritionist, and I'm not perfect. This is just what I do in my own life. I'll be honest, this is not going to be a very long list... but maybe it will help you get ideas.
As far as snacks go, since I don't eat chips anymore, I've switched to wheat thins and salsa. I know.. it sounds gross, but it's actually not. I'm also addicted to goldfish, and pickles. Those are my usual snacks.
I replaced regular mayo with Kraft Mayo made with Olive Oil. It's actually delicious, and has a bunch less fat than the other stuff. I don't use margarine ever. I buy Smart Balance Light Butter. It's a lot more expensive, but it tastes better, and essentially is better for you.
I was told yellow cheese is worse for you than white cheese. I haven't checked up on that, but I've switched to white cheese if I HAVE to have any.
If something comes in whole wheat or whole grain, I buy that over white. When I go to Costa Vida I even get the salad with the wheat tortilla. I also don't get the tortilla chips on top... because they're chips...
I eat a ton of pasta. I buy whole grain pasta and that is a lot of my meals. Sometimes I pair that with toast, or steamed vegetables. Not usually meat with it, though unless it's chicken. It is also good with black or pinto beans.
Speaking of chicken, here's what me and Michelle love making:
Pizza! Since I can't have regular made pizza, we make our own. So we buy whole grain crust, boil or grill our chicken and just use marinara sauce out of a can. Then we load on red peppers, green peppers, sweet onions, olives, tomatoes, spinach and on my side I will put a tiny amount of cheese to help it stay together a little. By tiny I mean- less than a quarter of a cup.
We also like to make chicken things in our crockpot. We have experimented a lot with it. We will put in our chicken, let it cook for 3 or so hours, drain the fat, and then add onions, peppers, garlic, and most the time, bbq sauce, then cook it another 2 hours or so. We have also done it with taco seasoning, and sweet and sour sauce. We then put it on a bun, over rice, or in a tortilla, or whatever makes us happy that day. Sometimes I take my leftovers and mix it with pasta. It sounds gross, but it's actually good. The best thing about chicken in a crockpot is that you can just experiment with it. So we switch it up almost every time we cook with it.
I have a rice cooker with a steamer, and that is also a favorite of mine. I can put the rice in, and then the steamer goes over the rice and I just steam veggies and eat it with some boiled or grilled chicken OR beans. whatever gets you your protein.
Recently a friend of mine made stir-fry. That's also a good option. I'm pretty sure he used all fresh vegetables, and then for a healthier alternative you can cook it with a little bit of Olive Oil, mix in some chicken and eat it over rice. Voila.
I love steamed broccoli. I'll just buy it fresh and steam it myself and eat it on a baked potato. Naturally, it makes the apartment smell like crap, but it's really good! You could even put black or pinto beans on your potato, too. That sounds good...
I don't recommend this next one as a habit, but we do it every now and again when we want a treat, since I don't eat french fries. We get red potatoes and slice them up, put them on a sheet that we rubbed a small coat of olive oil on, and then throw seasoned salt over them, cook them for 40 minutes or so on 350 and eat them. That's my unhealthy food. ssshhh....
I love hashbrowns. I don't know why. I really shouldn't eat them because they're all processed, but I love them. So actually I eat those a lot, too.
Fresh salsa is delightful. I love buying Macey's fresh salsa whenever I can.
Instead of eating chips and veggies with dip, try Hummus. they have a lot of different flavors, and it's actually not that bad. I like pairing hummus and salsa and eating them together so I don't feel overwhelmed by either one.
I just discovered pre cut celery sticks by The Biggest Loser at Walmart. I am not sure if Macey's has them, but they taste better to me than that random celery you pick up and chop yourself. Don't eat it with cheese. I like to eat it plain or if i'm feeling rebellious I will dip it in my low fat crunchy peanut butter.
For those of you who don't like regular milk, try Almond Milk Vanilla flavor. DELICIOUS! I hate milk.
I don't buy sugared cereals. It's tragic, really. I love eating Honey Bunches of Oats and Life cereal. They have tons of vitamins. My favorite is to mix my bowl with Honey Bunches of Oats Cinnamon and honey clusters or something. Those taste way good mixed. Try it.
If you are like me and have to have ice cream in your freezer, the double churned ice cream has like- half as much fat. I think it tastes better, too. Switch it up a little.
Turkey Burgers! Okay, Turkey everything. If you haven't tried this, it's worth a shot just once. I feel like most people can't tell the difference. Heck, at the last 2 family BBQ's we had, someone ate my second turkey burger and they had no idea. Punks. Turkey sausage is also way good. Just buy it once, and if you hate it, you can eat your greasy pork. It is worth trying, though. I just tried turkey bacon earlier today and it wasn't too bad, either. Even my friend who was with me tried it and didn't think it was bad and he loves good solid fatty meat. so those are good switch outs.
I am now realizing from this post that I eat a lot of carbs... but it's delicious... and I'm still losing weight, so you tell me if I'm in the wrong. WaHa!
I read in some dessert recipes a lot that you can replace oil with applesauce. I've yet to try it, but when i do, i'll let you know. that's something to look into as well.
Just remember that whatever you do, or if you fail a day, it's not the end. One time won't kill you. Heck, I ate pork ribs yesterday and that doesn't mean I'm going to give up and not keep eating healthy. In the words of a friend: "You had meat?!?!" (he means red meat)...Yeah, A treat every now and again is okay for you, so don't be too hard on yourself. Every now and again I will have punch instead of water. So even I am not perfect at it all. I realize you don't have the advantage I do. If I eat a portion of something that I can't, I will get sick and nauseated and so I have a constant thing holding me back. I have found it easier though to completely cut out chips, fries and all beef products, and caffeine. Otherwise it will be too hard to stay away. So know your boundaries, I guess.
As a general idea for myself in looking at what I can and cannot eat, if it looks greasy, I stay away. If I know there will be a lot of fatty things like butter, oil, or anything of that sort, I will stay away from it. Use your best judgement, because most the time that's what I have to do.
Also most restaurants have healthy options that you can try. Red Robin will switch out fries for fresh fruit. They also offer fresh wraps and I'm pretty sure they have turkey burgers. Ihop has labeled their menus so that the healthy options are pointed out. They have things you can switch out. For example I went there today and had whole wheat pancakes, egg substitute, turkey bacon, and hashbrowns (the hashbrowns were the unhealthy part). For the other things, they've totaled up the calories in the meal so you know exactly what you are eating. Cheesecake Factory even has a whole menu of meals under 500 calories. Panda Express now offers steamed brown rice, and grilled teryaki chicken. So if you are going to waste calories, at least do it sensibly. Most the meat there is deep fried before it's pan fried. That's double crap. So next time you go out, don't overeat and indulge in all the fat. You can still be good and eat pretty well while going out with your friends. My next adventure will be to go to papa murpheys and order a pizza without cheese.
That's basically all I can think of right now. If you have questions you can email, text, or facebook me. I'm happy to help anyway that I can, and help motivate you if you want to do better. Also, if you have recipes or ideas of food that I could eat, I'd love to have them. Sometimes it gets boring eating the same things all the time.
Until next time... :)
