Need New Recipes - Arlington,TX

As a fitness instructor, runner, mommy and lover of food, I find myself completely torn between eating healthy and gobbling down a chocolate mousse from Whole Foods ( my absolute fav!!)

Bottom line, you WILL lose weight faster with a healthy diet than with only exercise. I don't think it works well to cut out anything completely (at least not for me....just makes me want it more)

My recommendations are

1. Buy frozen fresh veggies in the steam in the bag variety.
2. Serve all meals on a smaller plate....portion control is key.
3. Make a salad with every meal.
4. Always drink a glass of water prior to eating.
5. Hummus, hummus, hummus...it is a GREAT alternative to mayo and other fatty spreads. Plus the kiddos can dip veggies or pita chips in it as snacks.
6. Use beans instead of beef. I make a pot of red beans on weekends and then use them in meals throughout the week.

I'm full of ideas. Message me if you need any more ideas.

We make alot of chicken and fish. With the chicken I grill it, boil it, bake it, and saute it. Then we pair with a vegetable / salad.
As for cutting out white things - We eat stone ground bread or for the kids I buy WhiteWheat bread.

I use whole wheat noodles in pasta also. We love sweet potatos (vs. potatos). Or, we love finely chopping cauliflour (I use the magic bullet) and mixing it with a little butter. It looks JUST like mashed potatos and usually tricks people (haha) -it's really good though. You can mix in some brocoli too.

Buy lean meat vs. ground chuck or ground turkey. I've found it's really about moderation -- occasionly we'll be bad but as long as for the most part you stay on track it's good. I like this website alot:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healt...

I joined www.relishrelish.com a year ago. They have several low fat/low calorie recipes and an easy to use guide to print off the recipes and your shopping list. I got it for half the subscription price through MP last year.

Honestly, we printed off every menu item we could find on there and made a binder and no longer have the service. I found some AWESOME recipes that are now regular favorites.

One is Baked Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin (202 calories per serving; 5 grams protein; 9 grams total fat; 4 grams fiber; 2 grams saturated fat (or less if you use margarine;27 grams carbs; 4 mgs cholesterol; 254 mgs sodium; 5 WW points plus. (It lists all of this for each recipe!)

Prep time: 25 minutes; Cook time: 1 hour
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 leeks, white and green parts chopped and washed (easier to wash after chopping)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, divided
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 think slices
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoon butter, melted (we use SmartSource)
2 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
1. Coat 10 inch pan or glass dish with cooking spray
2. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks, garlic, and HALF of rosemary; saute 8 minutes or until softene. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Arrange one-third sweet potato slices over bottom of prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Spread half of leek mixture on top. Do another layer of sweet potato, then other half of leeks, then top with remaining sweet potatoes. Drizzle broth over dish. Cover with foil, and bake 35 - 40 minutes.
4. Stir together breadcrumbs with the butter, remaining rosemary, and Parmesan cheese, in small bowl. Remove foil from gratin, and sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture. Bak, uncovered for 15 minutes or until top is browned and crisp. Let gratin cool slightly before cutting into wedges.

SUPER YUMMY!!!!!

Sugar Busters book will tell good and bad foods to eat. My husband and I lost quite a bit of weight with this, although we didn't follow it perfectly. Also, I gave myself one day a week to eat whatever I wanted. After a while, I didn't crave the bad foods anymore and it wasn't a problem to stick with the eating plan. To start: substitute brown rice for white, learn to eat sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries instead of white, eat whole grain breads. I never gave up eating bread but just ate whole grain instead. I'm not a fan of whole wheat pasta but it's not bad mixed with regular and some brands taste better than others. Give yourself a break and just start small.

My favorite low fat, easy crockpot dinner: Put some frozen chicken breast in the crockpot, pour salsa(as much or as little as you want) over the top and let it cook all day. Shred the chicken and mix back into the sauce and use it for chicken tacos with corn tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and hot sauce.

My favorite breakfast: High fiber, whole wheat english muffin toasted with a little peanut butter and sliced apples over the top. With it, I usually drink a green smoothie made from kale(I promise you can't taste it!), frozen peaches and strawberries, banana, and skim milk- blend til smooth!

Go to skinnytaste.com and look at her recipes. They are weight watchers recipes and they are yummy!!!

We just had half a chicken (baked), zucchini with garlic & a bit of butter, and rice. You can get rice in any variety.

As for the chicken, I baked it with half a lemon squeezed over the top of it. I baked it with the thermometer so it stayed moist. The zucchini I grilled in an iron skillet with 1 clove of garlic and a slice of butter.

The whole dinner is gone between the 4 of us.

I love this site: veryculinary.com

Good luck!

Well there are a lot of "white" pastas out now that have whole grains and stuff in them. You might check them out to make your transition easier! ;) We use almost all whole wheat pastas and my kids eat it with no problem. There is a slightly different taste, but it's still good, especially with sauce on it. I also have regular brown rice and instant brown rice. The regular is probably better but sometimes you just don't have a half hour, ya know! Even some boxed rices like Uncle Ben's has some whole grain varities. My kids LOVE cous cous. I am totally spacing on the name brand I get, but it comes in a white box and our favorite is the olive oil garlic one or parmesean one.

If you make your favorite casseroles with whole wheat pastas, turkey meat and 2% cheese, plus maybe use a little bit less cheese, you will already be healthier. Vegetable soups and stews are also good and healthy. You can marinate chicken in low calorie salad dressing and just bake it in the oven for a tasty, healthful meal. I've also done whole chickens in the crock pot with veggies and let it cook all day...it's delish! As far as veggies, just steam them. I steam all mine in the microwave and it's easy! Don't add butter just a little salt and pepper and viola! I also make carrots with honey and a tiny bit of salt, and my kids eat those up! I buy frozen or fresh veggies, but not canned.

Don't stress, there is a lot you can do to make it healthier without totally freaking your family out! ;)

Love all these!
http://www.happyhealthymom.com/newsletters/Healthy-Family...