Healthy Obsessions: Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Happy new year! 20 something days in....anyhow...I won't torture you with a knock-knock joke. The punchline title is cutesy enough.

I've had a major renaissance with orange veggies. They're loaded with beta-carotene & vitamin A. They're also mildly sweet and in season (or was in season when I was really obssessed). And cheap. A small acorn squash will run you 79-99 cents a pound, and can yield 2-4 single cup servings.

Case 1: I had a large sweet potato left from thanksgiving, I forked that bad boy, microwaved it on the baked potato setting and had about 4 1/2 c serving from that tuber. Cheap, easy and nutritious.

That's right; most of the orange veggies are microwave friendly. (At least the squash varieties; I wouldn't microwave a carrot -- they tend to spark.) The high starch and water content allow them to blend effortlessly into soups, smoothies, puddings, pastas and other things that can be blended without he addition of energy dense ingredients.

Case 2: fat free Greek yogurt with canned pumpkin and a tablespoon of honey. Great for breakfast, or a snack, or an orange pick me up.

Case: Acorn squash. Split it in half, microwave until tender and hit it with some spicy spices. Or slice it up and put it into sandwiches. Or soups. Or your mouth. It's tasty!

Foodprint: Quickies

I'm patting myself on the back for this one. Last, last, last week's breakfast was rice & beans with eggs. I took a pre-seasoned, reduced sodium of course, rice & beans mix, baked it up, and stashed it in the fridge. For breakfast, I scooped out 2/3 cup of beans, and then about 3-4 egg whites (pourable equivalent is 1/2 cup) and microwaved it.

For my hard work, because it does require some stirring and very, very, very complex...um....button pushing...I was rewarded with a hearty, cheap, tasty breakfast.

I had enough rice to take this breakfast as a lunch the following week! This time, I used whole eggs, and same method. (Note: you can microwave whole eggs, out of the shell, but poke the yolk before doing so, or otherwise, the egg's on you in so many ways.)

Sometimes you really can marry convenience to a healthy lifestyle if you don't mind making an adjustment (cooking ahead of time, using pre-packaged items). And if you don't like eggs, you could probably do a Hoppin John (rice, beans and bacon) or a nice soup with the mix.

Healthy Obsessions

Frozen vegetables. Not very exciting. I know...

It's like your first run to the library, pre-DVD. There's all this knowledge and books and it's freeeeeeeeeeeee. You get to take it home for nothing. Vegetables are like that. Only, you can't loan them out. But, they're low calorie, some nearly calorie free, and you get all these health benefits for next to nothing.

Lately, I've been noticing coupons for Green giant vegetables. They have a steamed variety similar to Bird's eye Steamfresh as well as having a "Just for one" variety. They also go on sale frequently, so coupon + sale = healthy food for 1-2 bucks.

I like using the lightly seasoned ones with pasta, easy and nutritious.
It's also portable, you can take the box or bag to work, and if you have a microwave, you have fresh veggies all you have to do is add some lean protein (last week I snagged canned tuna for 50 cents) and you're good to go.

It would be awesome if vegetables had their own card. I'd use a veggie card. Only, the vegetables can't be "used" and on loan. That would not be awesome.

Spread the love

Here's a new thought for you: surface area.

Yes, I realize that's not new...

Let's begin slowly. Remember the phrase, "eat with your eyes first?" Well, you do. (I'll keep repeating that, so if you don't know, you will.) You can also play tricks on your eyes, and use optical illusions to make better eating choices.

I don't know if you heard, but I love PB. PB can be very addictive, and I shamelessly love two of the junkier PBs out there (Jif & Skippy), so it's a really sordid deal for me.

Sometimes, I like to spread the love onto another beloved food. PB + muffins= <3. But, this combo can really rack the calories in, so what did I do?

I kept eating the muffins as is for a while. What did you expect? It's really good.

Then I got hip to VitaTops. Basically, it's the same standard sized muffin -- standard normal size is 2 oz, not the monster cakes you see in the bakery, folks -- but flattened out. It's a muffin top in that the bottom and sides get crispy like a muffin and you get all the toppy goodness. If you click on the above link, they also sell muffin top pans, so if you don't like the product, make muffin tops with your favorite recipe. Back to the love, though because there's more!

I got a loved appliance involved: my microwave. If your microwave has a "melt" or "soften" function, get to know it. I use that function to melt down hard chocolate, but to also warm up & thin out high fat spreads & toppings for drizzling & spreading. The advantage is, same tasty product but using less, thus ingesting less calories. In conclusion:

Increase surface area.

Smaller portions but same size to the eye.

Major love affair. Spread it around, folks.


Also, spread this:
If you become a fan of EA on FB, you get free dipped chocolate fruit. So much love!