<$Thursday, June 26, 2008$>
I think I just drooled on myself a little.
| Nicole at Baking Bites shows how to make your own home-made Drumstick (tm) style ice cream cones. Only better! Labels: recipes |
<$Thursday, August 9, 2007$>
Zoned Thursday: swimming the fat away (and piling it back on my baked potato)
| My affair with Gym is still going strong. It's the end of the third week (almost), and by now my morning swim routine is pretty, er, routine. I'm in much better shape than when I started, and my waistline is actually continuing to shrink in spite of all of the fast food and deli sushi we indulged in last week. I gotta tell ya, little motivates me to exercise more than being able to eat what I want (within reason) and still be in decent shape. Still, I'm trying to keep it Zone-y. I've done pretty well this week, except for Tuesday night when I took home some deli boxed lunches left over from a meeting. The sandwiches wouldn't have been too far off the mark, but I couldn't resist the chips that came with them. At least I was saved from further temptation by whomever it was who stole the cookies out of both boxes (*glares at Cookie Crook*). I got myself back on track partly by allowing myself the indulgence of a baked potato that I Zonified as much as possible. Actually, I think the meal turned out pretty Zone-friendly. Potatoes aren't necessarily verboten in the Zone (nothing is, really, as long as you have balance), but they're definitely meant to be consumed in moderation. With that in mind, I picked up a couple of small russet potatoes on a recent trip to Wild Oats and proceeded to Zonify them thusly: Zone-friendly Twice Baked Potatoes For one serving: 1 small potato 2 strips of turkey bacon, chopped 3 wedges of low fat Laughing Cow cheese Bell pepper, chopped onions, chives, etc., to taste 6 large black olives, crumbled 1 oz grated cheese Bake your potato according to your preferred method (mine is poking holes in the skin and nuking it in the microwave for five minutes). Once it's done, slice it open and stuff it with all of the remaining ingredients. Return to the microwave and cook for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the bacon achieves the desired state of crispiness. Enjoy. This contains more or less 3 blocks of everything, and is pretty filling. I won't do this one very often, because despite the leanness and low-fatness of the meat and cheeses, it still adds up to a pretty good amount of calories, plus potatoes = unfavorable carbs. Still, it makes a pretty delicious treat when I'm in the mood to splurge, and doesn't throw my blood sugar or my routine out of whack. And it's fast and easy, too. And now I'm craving baked potato for dinner. Labels: healthy living, recipes, Zone |
<$Thursday, July 19, 2007$>
Zoned Thursdays: Healthy Chips & Queso
| So much for showing some restraint. Today's diet lapse wasn't so much Frugal Brain's doing, though, as it was simply a complete lack of will power. If I can just go a couple of days without very much sugar or processed carbs, I pretty much stop craving them. But man, once I indulge in them, I can't get enough. So in order to help get myself back on track, I'm starting a new regular feature here: Zoned Thursdays, wherein I'll discuss my diet progress and share tips and recipes. Every Thursday. Obviously. This week, my progress has been nonexistent. To get my mind off cookies and cake and get it to start craving healthy goodies again, I give you my recipe for my favorite healthy, Zone-friendly snack: Zoned Tortilla Chips & Queso 1 small (fajita-sized) low-carb, whole wheat tortilla (1 carb block) Canola spray 2 wedges low-fat Laughing Cow cheese (1 protein block) 1 tbsp salsa (more or less, to taste) 3 whole black olives or 1 tbsp guacamole (1 fat block) Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 450. With pizza cutter, cut the tortilla into 8 small wedges. Spread on cookie sheet or toaster oven rack and spray both sides with Canola spray. Bake at 450 until crisp (about five minutes). Meanwhile, place Laughing Cow cheese in small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave until soft (30 seconds should do it). Stir in salsa. Either crumble olives and stir into mixture, or have guacamole on the side. Dip your chips and enjoy! Counts as 1 Zone block. I love this stuff. It takes about five minutes to throw together. It tastes as good as Velveeta & Rotel queso I used to make, without any of the trans or saturated fats. The homemade baked chips are surprisingly yummy, too. I haven't played around with seasoning them, because I like them just fine as is, but I'm sure you could get creative and try some different seasoning. If you do, drop a comment here and let me know how it turns out! Labels: healthy living, recipes, Zone |