Expansion

I've decided to make this blog more about my personal life and how it intersects food and fitness. Recipes included? Sure. They're fun, and above all, useful. Lately, however, I find myself yearning to write down my thoughts on life and sort everything out on the page (well, digital page, that is).

Right now, I'm waiting to leave for the boxing gym. I'm leaving in about twenty minutes. I'll then do a thirty minute "warm up" run, followed by the general boxing class with Head Trainer Rob at Pacific Ring Sports. This first class is mostly pad work, or boxing combos on hand-held pads, and a mixture of army-like pushup and sit-up floor drills; sometimes there is work on the heavy or hanging bags. After an hour of this, the real workout starts; Advanced Boxing. In this second class, a small team of people participate in sparring and more intense drills. Sparring, for those unfamiliar with it, is a slightly less intense "fight", or a "practice fight". Rob matches us up against one another in the ring, and we work mostly on skill and not so much on hurting each other. As Rob says, keep the power behind the punch at only around 30%. Sure, there are some black eyes and bloody noses, but for the most part it's less brutal than football or hockey or any other team sport practice I've seen.

I'll be at the gym for about three hours in total, and will easily burn 1500 calories while I am there (about one fast food meal, and at least half my caloric expenditure for one day).

It's intense work. I usually take a Tylenol PM just to get to sleep afterwards. I get home around 9:20pm, still revved up from sparring, even though I need to be at work by 6:45am the next morning.

This is one part of my life that makes me stay on my toes. Another is my academic career path, which is currently fixed toward law school.
Sigh. It's the summer of the Law School Admissions Test for me. Last year, I took the LSAT and did NOT do so hot. At all. I had no preparation, and I toggled between completely freaked about the test and overly nonchalant. During the test I felt like I guessed on almost every question, and could not explain why an answer was correct even if I got it right. After I got my rather horrifying score last October, I vowed to approach the test fully prepared next time.

Now, I am signed up for a Testmasters prep course. It runs from July 13th through test day at the end of September. I had to save over one month's wages to pay for the $1450 course. Since I have a few weeks before the class starts, I've begun reading through some old Kaplan test prep books handed down to me by a friend. It still looks like I need some live instruction to begin understanding everything on the level I want to (not to mention test prep materials without all the answers already marked in them...Testmasters will be sending my *new* test prep materials in about a week or so).

More later, time to go!

Delicious Freedom

As a newly-emancipated graduate, I had time to make myself the following for dinner last night:

Browned Tofu in Buttery Wine Sauce with Feta-Sesame Asparagus (adapted from Cooking Light's Fresh Food Fast cook book, a grad gift from Mom).

Which turned into today's lunch:

Wine Sauce Tofu sandwich on a toasted artisan michette roll with melted white cheddar, tomatoes, spinach, and cilantro-lemon chutney; a banana on the side.

Breakfast was:
-2 cups Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran with 1 cup skim milk
-2 cups fresh strawberries

Dinner plans tonight:
-Peach-Glazed Tofu in Raspberry Sauce with Balsamic Grilled Peaches

I'll start taking pictures of what I'm eating as of tomorrow; just got batteries for the camera. What's on the menu tomorrow?

SUNDAY PREVIEW:

Breakfast---
2 cups Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran with 1 cup skim milk
2 cups fresh honeydew melon

Lunch---
Grilled Vegetable and Feta Sandwich with Apple Waldorf salad

Dinner---
Vegetarian Cobb Sandwich with balsamic strawberries and greens

Egg MockMuffins

Recently I've been experimenting with microwaving Egg Beaters in order to make easy breakfast sandwiches. Here are a few of my favorites:

Basic Egg MockMuffin (about 150 calories)

-1 whole grain English muffin, or non-fat
-1/4 cup Egg Beaters, microwaved in a coffee mug (you can use liquid egg whites or any other Egg substitute you prefer)
-1 slice fat free or reduced fat cheddar cheese
-salt and pepper, ketchup (optional)

1.) Microwave the Egg Beaters for about 60-90 seconds, until no liquid is left. Tip the mug over a plate and lightly shake the Egg Beaters out; it should be in a fluffy patty-like shape (and smell delicious!). Toast the muffin in a toaster on the light setting or until just crisp. Put the Egg patty in the muffin and lay the cheese slice on top; if you eat it warm the cheese should melt a little while you eat it. Add a dash of salt and pepper and a squirt of ketchup if you like.

Other variations:

THE WORKS: about 250 calories
-1 English muffin
-1/4 cup Egg Beaters
-1 Morningstar Farms sausage patty
-1 slice Morningstar Farms bacon, grilled
-1 slice fat free or reduced fat cheddar

OMELET SANDWICH:
-1 English muffin
-1/4 cup Egg Beaters
-1 slice fat free or reduced fat cheddar
*Mix the following into the Egg Beaters before microwaving.
-1/8 cup mixed veggies; chopped mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, etc.
-2 tbs salsa

Pictures to come soon!

Mexican Pizza

I remember, as a kid, always looking forward to our family's "fast food" Friday nights...one night a week, Heather and I got to pick take-out. Most of the time, we'd end up ordering pizza. My favorite? Taco Bell!
Of course, after all the research I've done on nutrition, I can never recommend fast food as a healthy food. Personally, I haven't been to a Taco Bell in...well, years. So what do I do to reconcile my childhood favorites with nutritional health? I "healthify" my favorite fast foods by subbing in good-for-you ingredients. Tonight, I pinned down a delicious recipe for Mexican Pizza (I would post a photo, but I was far too hungry to take pictures before diving in!).

Fabulous Veggie Mexican Pizza

Nutrition Stats:

Calories: 250
Fat: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 38 g
Fiber: 16 g
Protein: 30 g

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Mirepoix veggie mix (or equal parts diced carrot, onion and celery)
- 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Fat Free Pizza Sauce (in the jar, NOT the deli-fresh one)
- 1/2 cup Kraft Free Cheddar, shredded (or any shredded fat free cheese)
- 2 "Smart and Delicious Low Carb" tortillas, small (not burrito sized)
- 3 tbs pico de gallo salsa
- 1 tsp chili powder
- pinch of hot pepper flakes, if desired
- PAM cooking spray

***SERVES ONE PERSON
***Note: if you want a meat version, try using 1/4 cup black beans and 1/4 cup lean ground meat or meat substitute. This will, however, add about 100 calories to the recipe, depending on exactly what you use.

Prep:

1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with a very small amount of PAM (1 second spray). Put the two tortillas on the baking sheet; bake for 5-8 minutes, until just crisp, not burnt. While baking, mix the Mirepoix veggies with half of the pizza sauce (about 2 tbs). Mix in the chili powder and hot pepper flakes.
2.) Remove the tortillas from oven (but leave the oven on); flip with a spatula. Spread veggie mixture onto one of the tortillas. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese onto veggies. Sandwich second tortilla on top; spread remaining sauce on top-most tortilla, then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Top with pico de gallo. Place pizza back onto baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and edges are crisp.
3.) Let cool for 3 minutes...cut into quarters and enjoy!

To make it a meal:
-Microwave a serving of canned black beans; I love Trader Joe's re-fried black beans.
-Try a small green salad with your favorite salsa and 1-2 crushed tortilla chips instead of traditional salad dressing.

A Few Excellent Resources

Hi everyone!

I've been remarkably busy with my schoolwork and training schedule. Hence, no recent recipe posts. I'm currently working on a home-cooked adaptation of the most amazing curried lentil soup from a local Indian restaurant, and my last obstacle with its health-proofing is reducing the sodium content while bolstering the savory factor.

Instead of a recipe, today I want to post links to a few invaluable resources I use to analyze food and to find great ideas for recipes.

1.) Nutrition Data/ Calorie King

Sites:
www.nutritiondata.com

www.calorieking.com

What makes them invaluable?

These websites provide numerous meal and recipe tracking tools alongside extensive archives of nutrition labels for nearly every commodity food imaginable. My fave is Nutrition Data; it allows me to generate the labels for recipes you see linked up in this blog. Also, it's a fantastic way to find out what's in many of the unlabeled produce you buy from the store. Example? Try searching for "strawberries". This helps me stay on track with exactly how much I'm eating when I reach for my favorite fruits and veggies as in-between meal snacks. Additionally, it helps me figure out which fruits and veggies will deliver the most volume (read: more fiber, less sugar = more filling) per calorie. Calories are precious when your metabolism is slow (like mine), and this site helps you make food choices that get you the best nutritive/satiety bang for your caloric buck.

2.) Hungry Girl

Site: www.hungry-girl.com

I've recently discovered this site, but the recipes look amazing. They utilize many no-fat, no-sugar, and no-meat products available in most major grocery chains. Personally, I absolutely love reduced-calorie substitutes like no-fat cheeses and yogurts; yet, I think it is equally important to stress healthy substitutes that are not so pricey. I find that, if I don't want to break the bank on my grocery bill, it's wise to make only 3-4 recipes that hinge on substitutes each week. The majority of healthy meals can be made with lower-cost, raw vegetables and fruits, as well as dried grains, beans and spices. Yet, in today's toxic environment of high-fructose and fat laden fast foods, these substitutes can be well worth a little extra investment from time to time. Also, advertising for "healthier" versions of foods can be misleading...make sure you scan the nutrition label to make sure that it's actually good for you. Sometimes no-fat means increased sugar and vice-versa.
I can't wait to try their recipe for the lower-calorie personal pizza!

The take-home message on recipes relying on more costly specialty/reduced calorie foods? If you can afford it (and the label proves it's actually healthy), go nuts...if not, use but use sparingly.

*A Note on Canned Products and Salt:

I think it is always worth the extra money to invest in low or no sodium canned products. Look for low or no sodium versions of canned tomato and soup products in health stores and stock up---adding too much salt to your otherwise healthy diet can create stress on the liver, the gall bladder and kidneys. Although the debate on just how much salt you need continues (and whether heart disease and hypertension/high blood pressure are related to salt intake) the golden rule of nutrition always applies: far too little or far too much of any one nutrient could (and probably will) do serious damage to your body and health.

Fat Free Mac'n'Cheese?!?

Okay, I know. I'm obsessed with Fage yogurt. I can't help it. It's the perfect ingredient. Tons of protein, no fat, and loads of creamy goodness; heatable or yummy right out of the fridge. This week, I created the ultimate no-fat version of my favorite comfort food: Macaroni and Cheese. Most macaroni and cheese expands our waistlines at 400 calories per cup (with an unspeakable amount of saturated fat), yet this Mac'n'Cheese is a waistline-shrinking 190 calories per cup, with a gracious 36 grams of complete protein per 2-cup serving. On top of that, it's easy to make. For the next batch I'll be combining this with vegetarian chili and baking in the oven for the ultimate winter tummy-warming treat.

Ingredients:
-2 cups Fage 0% Greek Yogurt (found in Trader Joe's or natural/health food stores)
-2 bags/ 4 cups of Kraft nonfat Sharp Cheddar (I found this at Lucky's)
-3 cups of whole wheat or regular elbow macaroni
-2 tbs wheat flour
-1 cup nonfat milk

Prep:
1. Cook the elbow macaroni in boiling water for about 13 minutes, or according to package directions. Drain; stir the flour into the milk, add the milk and flour mixture to the drained macaroni. Stir in the Fage and Cheddar until smooth and creamy; if the cheese does not melt right away, you may want to microwave before eating to get that super-creamy texture.

Click below for the nutrition label for this recipe:

NUTRITION INFO

Creamy Risotto

Last night I made my first batch of Arborio rice with Fage yogurt. How did it turn out? I'll put it this way; this is so creamy and delicious, I don't think I'll ever reach for macaroni and cheese again. What's more, this has no fat, no cholestoral, and very little sodium. One cup has only 117 calories. To turn this into dinner, I'm going to try adding roasted or baked "Chickenless" strips with a simple green salad. Yum!

Ingredients:
-2 cups of arborio rice (dry)
-5-6 cups of vegetable broth
-1 cup Fage nonfat yogurt
-1 lemon

Prep:
1. Bring the stock to a boil. Add the rice; reduce to simmer and let the rice absorb all of the broth, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning. DO NOT strain or rinse when done.
2. Juice the lemon; stir into the Fage.
3. Combine the Fage mixture and rice, measure into 1 or 2 cup servings, and enjoy!

You can add whatever spices and vegetables if you like, or substitute another flavor for the lemon. Personally, I like this version because it's so creamy and dense; it's the most filling 240 calories I've ever had!

Next time I will make this with potatoes, rosemary and garlic for a healthy (and simple) Potato Salad.