This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Staying slim on Cinco de Mayo

I've done a healthy Cinco de Mayo recipe roundup at the FoodieView blog. So stop on by for some great tips on eating healthy during this food holiday.

Since I wrote the post, I've come across some other terrific, healthy Mexican dishes. The first recipe comes from the April 2008 issue of Sunset magazine.

Crab Tacos
Makes 8 tacos

Ingredients:

• 4 Roma tomatoes, halved, seeded, and sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 large jalapeño chiles, halved, seeded, and sliced, divided (or use canned instead)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 8 ounces shelled cooked crab (used canned to save time)
• 8 taco shells or tortillas (corn tortillas are the healthiest choice)
• 1 cup Iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced (cabbage is a good alternative)
• 1 cup shredded jack or cheddar cheese (leave out the cheese to cut back on POINTS, fats and calories)
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced (yes, they're high in calories, but oh so good for you)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put tomatoes, garlic, half of the jalapeño, 1/4 cup cilantro, and the lime juice in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set salsa aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and remaining jalapeño until soft, 4 minutes. Add crab and cook just until crab is warm, about 2 minutes.
3. Put tortillas on a baking pan and warm in oven, about 3 minutes. (I like to use my double burner skillet to do this. My husband puts the tortilla right on a low burner - we have an electric stove - a trick he learned from his hunting buddy, Jose. When I do this, I burn them, so be careful.)
4. Arrange on a platter and fill with crab mixture, dividing evenly. Top crab with lettuce, cheese, and avocado. Sprinkle tacos with green onion and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Serve immediately, with salsa on the side or on top.

Nutritional information for one taco:
Calories: 200
Fat:  12g
Protein: 11g
Fiber 1.7g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 5

Healthy freezer meals for busy dieters and their families

I recently attended a meal making cooking class with a group of friends. Basically, it was a Once a Month-Freezer Cooking session combined with a Prepare Your Own Meals store. Our hostess (this was in a private home with a very large kitchen) shopped for the food, chopped the veggies, browned the ground meat, and prepared the prep stations.

Our group made eight meals. There was one dish per station with two to four people working on putting together the meals. Using printed instructions, we measured out the ingredients, and put them into labeled freezer bags or aluminum casserole dishes. When then loaded our pre-made meals into coolers and placed them in the freezer when we got home.

For $95, I walked away with eight dishes. This may seem like a lot of money, but I only spent a couple of hours making them, and I didn't have to drive all over town to buy the ingredients. I didn't have to do the prep work or clean up. And I have healthy meals in the freezer for those nights when I'm too busy to cook or out of town. The time savings alone made it a bargain.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to do a similar party with friends and not do all the work as the hostess. I'm thinking that each person could shop and prepare the ingredients for one dish for X amount of people. Then we could get together, assemble the meals, and help each other with the clean up and cost.

The "Smart People Drink Milk" contest

Recently I posted a product review of Horizon Organic's new DHA Omega-3 milk. Docosahexaenoic Acid, or DHA, is a type of Omega-3 fatty acid that has been studied for its role in heart, brain and eye health.

As part of Brain Awareness Week/Month I'm giving away 3 Horizon Organic coupons good for any ONE FREE Horizon's product up to $4.99 (excluding gallon milk and 16 oz. butter) in value.

To Enter:

1. Leave your name, email address, and blog address (if you have one) in the comments below.
2. You must be willing to send me your full name and address so I can mail you the coupon. I will not share your personal info with the public. However, if you do have a blog, I will link back to it when I announce the winners.
3. You have until midnight MT on March 27, 2008 to enter.
4. This contest is limited to the continental U.S.
5. I'm also offering having this contest at My Readable Feast. Feel free to enter there as well. One entry on each of my blogs is allowed.
6. The coupon cannot be used in CO, MA, MO or ND, so don't enter if you live in those states.
7. I will announce the winners on March 28, 2008 and mail out the coupons via USPS by the following week.

Have trouble getting the kids to fall asleep? Try these sleepy time snacks for the whole family!

Win $50 of Johnson's baby products by entering at my Get your toddler to sleep with a little help from Johnson's contest over at my blog, A Mama's Rant. The contest also contains tips on getting your toddler ready for a good night's sleep, including a warm bath, a massage, and a night time story.  Check it out!

You may want eat some sleep-inducing snacks before starting your night time routine. Here are some ideas.

Sleepy Time Foods

Foods containing tryptophan get the body to make serotonin, which slows nerve activity and encourages drowsiness. Milk, yogurt, soy, figs, almonds, bananas, and turkey are all good sources. Carbohydrates can increase the effect by stimulating insulin production to remove other amino acids, leaving tryptophan to do its work.

Wondertime's Sleeping Potions 

Wondertime magazine recommended these recipes as sleep inducing snacks for kids. I don't see why adults cannot try them out as well. If you're trying to lose weight, I recommend using non or low fat yogurt or cottage cheese and a multi-grain toast. And watch your intake of cookies! Just because you can't sleep doesn't mean you can overindulge in sweets.

Sleepy Sunflowers: Put a spoonful of cottage cheese on a round whole wheat cracker. Sprinkle with sunflower or sesame seeds.

Yogurt Drifts: Spoon a little vanilla or blueberry yogurt into a small paper cup, then sprinkle with wheat germ. Eat, or freeze for 1 to 1 1/2 hours for a frozen-pudding consistency.

Full Moon Cookies: Smoosh a slice or two of banana between 2 small oatmeal raisin cookies, and freeze for at least 1 hour. (Think ice cream sandwich.)

Midnight Figs: Purée 1 cup dried figs with 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a food processor. Spread on vanilla wafer cookies.

Twilight Toast Points: Spread blueberry preserves on whole wheat toast, then cut into bite-size pieces.

A healthy, low point Valentine's Day dessert

I was so excited to see this healthy Valentine's Day recipe in the February issue of Woman's Day. Not only does it have only 4 Weight Watchers POINTS per serving, but it doesn't contain eggs - a big consideration since my daughter is allergic to eggs.

I also love the recipe because it uses ricotta cheese, one of my favorites. If you're trying to lose weight or just eat healthier, ricotta is a great source of calcium and it's high in protein - a nice change from milk or yogurt. Just this morning I used it in my egg white omelet - yum!

To lower the POINTS and calories, use Splenda or Stevia. Stay away from using using no-fat ricotta, because the hearts could fall apart without the extra little bit of fat.

Coeur à la Crème
6 servings

Heart Ingredients:

• 12 heart-shaped foil baking cups (Reynolds Fun Shapes are perfect for this, but may not be on the market anymore. Try finding similar sized round aluminum baking cups.)
• 6 (6-in.) squares triple-thickness cheesecloth
• 1 (15-oz) container part-skim ricotta
• 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise, seeds scraped

Raspberry Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 package (10 oz) frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 6 oz fresh raspberries (optional)
• garnish with mint sprigs

Directions:

1. Reinforce 6 foil baking cups by inserting a second foil cup into each; place on a cutting board. Using a small knife, poke multiple slits in bottoms of each set of double liners to allow for drainage of the cheese mixture. Arrange cups on a baking sheet with sides.
2. Rinse cheesecloth under water; squeeze until just damp. Line each foil heart with a 3-layer square of cheesecloth, letting excess cheesecloth hang over edges of cups.
3. Purée ricotta in food processor until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; fold in sour cream, confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until blended. Stir in vanilla extract or vanilla bean seeds until evenly distributed. Spoon mixture into prepared baking cups and spread until level; bring up sides of cheesecloth to cover tops. Cover with plastic wrap. Let drain overnight in refrigerator, or up to 2 days.
4. Raspberry Sauce: In a blender or food processor, purée the raspberries with syrup and lemon juice. Scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds; refrigerate sauce.
5. To assemble and serve: Unfold cheesecloth and drape it over the sides of the molds. Invert each baking cup onto a serving plate. While pressing down on the corners of cheesecloth, carefully lift off cup. Remove the cheesecloth slowly. Spoon drops of raspberry sauce onto plates around hearts. Drag a toothpick through drops to make hearts. Serve with fresh raspberries, if desired, and extra sauce. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Note: You can make raspberry sauce up to 3 days ahead. Make hearts at least 1 or up to 2 days ahead so that they have time to drain. Store unmolded in refrigerator.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving - 1 heart

Calories 218
Total Fat 6 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 10 g

Weight Watchers POINTS - 4

Picture courtesy of Richard Schiller/Woman's Day magazine

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed.

5 weight loss snippets - freebies, a contest, and a healthier grapefruit and shrimp recipe

I wanted to share with you five cool things I recently found for people trying to lose weight and get healthy:

1. Click here to download the "Healthy Weight Loss Success" report. This FREE report comes to you courtesy of This Mama Cooks! On a Diet and Menu Planning Central, a wonderful online service that offers a complete menu planning solution including healthy menus, family friendly menus, and vegetarian menus.

2. Discovery Health is looking for contestants for their 2009 National Body Challenge TV show. They need people who are motivated to lose weight and want to do it together like mother/daughter, father/son, co-workers, and people who need to lose at least 100 pounds.

Each person or team will be provided with a professional weight loss program, gym membership and personalized one-on-one instruction with physicians, nutritionists and fitness expert. The journey will be documented on camera for “National Body Challenge” on Discovery Health Channel. Click here to apply.

3. Sign up for a chance to receive a Senseo® Coffee Pod System. Just click here to fill out the quick survey and if selected all you pay a $15 shipping and handling fee. (You'll receive a confirmation e-mail within two to six weeks to let you know if you're selected.) The machine retails for over $70, so you're getting a great deal. If you already have a coffee maker at home, you can use the Senseo at the office or your RV. They make great wedding and graduation gifts, too.

For those on Weight Watchers, coffee is a great way to get your serving of milk for the day. Just use a sugar substitute, a sugar free coffee syrup, and low or no fat milk.

Working out and a revised Grapefruit Salad with Seared Shrimp recipe

For Christmas my husband gave me a gift certificate for five sessions with a personal trainer at our local rec center along with a 20 visit pass. I was excited to work with a personal trainer figuring that she could come up with an exercise plan that would compliment what I was doing with my physical therapist to rehab my knee.

When I met with Stephanie during our fist session a month ago, she gave me a set of leg exercises (leg press, leg extension, etc.) similar to what I was doing in PT. She then added core and arm exercises using an exercise ball, dumb bells and a lat pull down machine.

My New Routine and Some Challenges

I now go to the gym three times a week. I use a stationary bike for 30 minutes then I go into the weight room and work out for another 30 minutes. In the month I've done this, I've already been able to ratchet up the weight and reps.

The only thing I don't like about working out at the rec center is that I keep running into people I know. Talk about seeing me at my worse - sweaty, in workout clothes, and with no makeup. Oh well.

I wish I had more time to work out, especially now that I don't need to go to PT any more! (Yes, I'm doing very well according to my surgeon and can rehab on my own now.) However, my schedule and my family's is too busy right now to do more than three session a week.

That's fine because my routine is getting a little boring and I'm finding excuses not to go. To combat this I plan to download Ken Follet's World Without End on my iPod just to listen to while I exercise. I've been dying to read the book, so it should motivate me to exercise just so I can listen to the story.

It's also been a challenge to get together with Stephanie since we both have such busy schedules. We've only met once, but I don't mind because I'm comfortable working out on my own. Plus it'll make my five sessions with her last longer.

I look forward to our next meeting in a couple of weeks. Besides adding some new exercises, she always gives me interesting handouts about health, exercise and eating right. I really liked the recipe she gave me from Bob Greene that combined three things that I love - grapefruit, salad and SHRIMP! Then I looked at the nutritional info and did the Weight Watchers POINTS. Uh oh.

At 11 POINTS per serving, this was a really bad recipe for those trying to lose weight. To lower the POINTS total I give some tips below the original recipe. You can make the original recipe for all those skinny people in your life then make a version for yourself and any others at your table who are trying to lose weight or stay trim.

5 Things to Consider When Picking a Diet Plan

If you've read through this blog, you've probably noticed that I quit doing the Extreme Fat Smash diet. It's a great plan but it stopped being practical for me once I could no longer exercise because of a knee injury. So I researched several online weight loss plans including:

• Weight Watchers Online
• The Biggest Loser Club (from Rodale, the same company that runs the Extreme Fat Smash diet website )
• Discovery Health's 2008 National Body Challenge
• eDiets.com

Most of these plans are the same - they determine how many calories you should eat per day and give you a fixed daily menu. The only difference was Weight Watchers, which gives you a POINTS goal for the day. You can eat what you want as long as you stay in that POINTS range and have so many fruits, veggies and milk servings per day.

So which diet was right for me? Here are the five things I considered when I looked at the online diet plans. Many of these will apply to other diets - on or offline - as well.

1. Cost - How much money are you willing to spend on a diet plan? At the time I wrote this post (January 2008) the costs are:

• Weight Watchers Online - This depends. As a former member I can sign up for three months at $55 ($18.33 per month). Otherwise, the cost is $65 for three months or $21.66 per month. Doing Weight Watchers online is cheaper than going to the meetings, which will run you $10-15 per week plus a sign up fee.
• The Biggest Loser Club - $19.95 per month though if you buy the three-month value plan you get billed in one installment of $59.94 and get the The Biggest Loser Book, The Biggest Loser Fitness Program, and The Biggest Loser Cookbook for free (a $62.85 value including free shipping)
• Discovery Health's 2008 National Body Challenge - FREE
• eDiets.com - $4.95 per week (about $20 per month)

There are other costs to consider when picking any weight loss plan:

• Does the diet require that you purchase their food product like NutriSystem or Jenny Craig? Does it use "real food" that you can get at your local grocery store?
• Do you have to buy foods you don't normally eat like protein powder, tofu, brown rice, or green tea? Are they expensive?
• Does the plan include exercising? If so, you'll need to figure in a gym membership, sports equipment, exercise clothes, sneakers, etc.
• Do you need to purchase any additional items like cookbooks, videos, books, scales, juicers, etc.?

With any diet, you'll need to have measuring cups and spoons and a food scale for your kitchen. You probably already have these if you like to cook. You'll also need to buy a good bathroom scale, preferably digital, and a measuring tape. For exercise, you can start off with a comfortable pair of walking shoes or sneakers. Gym memberships, fancy workout equipment, and designer sweats are optional - buy only what you can afford! (Check out my Five Ways to Save at the Gym post for more money saving tips.)

An Update, Rethinking the Diet Plan and Some Crab

There's nothing like a little minor surgery and a new job to shake things up at home and throw off your weight loss efforts and blogging schedule.

Surgery

I had the surgery on my right knee on November 29 and spent the following weekend recovering from a pain killer and anesthesia hangover. Morphine isn't as much fun as people think. In fact, it made me puke in the hall of the recovery room, and on the way home in the car.

I was so out of it that I couldn't read anything more challenging that People magazine...not that I had a copy around the house. I should have stocked up on videos, but just watched bad TV instead. After a couple of days, the pain killers were making me hyper, itchy and up all night. Thank goodness for Benadryl.

Post-Op and PT

At my post-op appointment, I found out that I have arthritis which makes the cartilage under my knee look like - this was the phrase used by my surgeon - "shredded crab meat." I also had a meniscus tear, so the doctor removed it, and a small ACL tear he left alone.

A week later I started physical therapy two times per week. I have a great guy, Mike, who makes me bend and stretch my knee on my own at home. And then he bends and pushes it even more when I'm there. No wonder PT stands for pain and torture.

I've improved very quickly. I can even ride the stationary bike. After overdoing it the other day (one hour on the bike, one hour in line to see Santa, and walking all over the mall) Mike told me to do no more than 30 minutes on the bike a day plus my exercises. He says that for rehabilitative purposes, overdoing it is a bad idea.

So much for trying to get back on my exercise plan to lose weight.

Where Does the Time Go?

Right after my surgery I started a job as a community manager at a major women's social networking site. So between those 16 hours online and the four I have at PT (including driving time), there's now 20 hours I don't have to plan my food, exercise, read diet blogs for inspiration, eat healthfully, etc. Needless to say, it's been hard to keep up with the Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

Add in all the holiday hoopla (school concerts, shopping and more shopping, writing holiday newsletters, etc.) and it's been impossible to blog, too. So my apologies.

Still, even when I'm done with the PT and the holiday stuff (and all those parties and goodies that have been adding on the weight...sigh) I will be working four mornings a week, then immediately rushing off to take my daughter to school three of those days. It's almost impossible to keep on the Extreme Fat Smash Diet Plan, take breaks, and eat every few hours. I know it's a great idea and a good strategy for weight loss and healthy eating, it's just hard to fit into my life right now.

Reynolds Parchment Paper is not just for holiday cookies

Even though you're trying to lose weight - and all your friends know it - you've probably been invited to a cookie swap party. You know, a party where each participant brings cookies to swap with friends along with a copy of the cookie recipe.

I was invited to two cookie exchanges this month, and I couldn't attend either of them because of a my new job (I'm now a community manager at CafeMom.com), and because I was already going out three times that week to parties and a holiday concert. Like I had time to bake let alone go out two more times!

I really dodged a bullet there and was thankful not to blow my weight loss plan. But just in case you're invited to a cookie exchange - and promise only to indulge a little and to give the rest of the cookies to friends, family and coworkers - you may want to check out ReynoldsSimpleSecrets.com.

(You should also check out my 5 Ways to Avoid Temptation During Bake Sale Season post for some tips to get out of baking yourself or eating everything you make.)

Get a Free Cookie Swap Starter Kit from Reynolds

Reynolds Parchment Paper and cookie exchange hostess, Robin Olson have teamed up to give helpful tips and tricks for a successful cookie exchange this holiday season.

Here's the cool part. You can get a cookie swap starter kit complete with Reynolds parchment paper, recipe cards, invitations, a cookie tin, and tips and tricks for hosting your own cookie swap by signing up here. The nice folks at MS&L Digital sent me one and its worth getting.

Extreme Fat Smash Diet uses for parchment paper

But since you don't want to get side tracked on your weight loss journey, give the recipes and invites to a friend, put your arts and crafts supplies in the tin, and keep the parchment paper to make a delicious, low calorie - Pesto Snapper en Papillote (in paper). This would be a perfect meal on either Weight Watchers (only 4 POINTS per serving) or the Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

(Check out Reynold's other en Papillote recipes.)