Posted under
diet by The Blonde Diaries on December 1st, 2008 11:43 pm
The holidays are here which means lots of baking and yummy food all around us. I know because I just baked Mike some cookies (I haven’t had a one yet!!) to put in my festive cookie jar. It is really hard to manage to be good and stay on track during the holiday season if on a diet. I am trying to surround myself with healthy treats and try new recipes like the famous diet coke cake and will limit my indulgences for the most part. That said, remember the holidays are not the best time to try new diets and diet pills such as alli as they can reek havoc on your digestive system and can also lead to sabotaging your weight loss goals. So try to limit your intake this holiday and start anew January 1 with your diet plans.
Posted under
Recipes,
diet by The Blonde Diaries on December 1st, 2008 9:33 pm
Last week, before the holidays and my subsequent gorging on Turkey and Ham, I made a pretty quick and easy meal that I wanted to share. I did not remember to take a photo but I did freeze the left overs so maybe when I unfreeze it later on I will remember and post a photo. I did not go off of a particular recipe for this meal idea. I actually got the idea from a dish I had at an Italian restaurant last year that Mike and I went too and I thought it would be easy enough to recreate at home which it was. This is my version of Cheesy Shrimp Risotto.
1 box of Risotto (Parmesan flavored works nicely)
1 package of medium sized shrimp (I purchased the cooked, pre-peeled and pre-veined version)
1/2 bag of frozen peas and carrots
Prepare the Risotto following the box directions. Boil the Shrimp until cooked and tender. Heat peas and carrots until cooked. Once everything is cooked (takes about 10 minutes total for all 3) combine into a bowl and stir until everything is well mixed. Spoon onto plates and serve. I haven’t perfected this recipe but next time I plan on adding more cheese to give it a more cheesy taste.
Posted under
diet by The Blonde Diaries on October 22nd, 2008 10:55 pm
Earlier last month, I reported in this post that Yoplait was releasing three new fat free yogurt flavors to help satisfy our sweet tooth. To refresh your memory, the flavors are dessert flavors: raspberry cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, and pineapple upside down. I have spent the last month and a half looking for these new flavors and my Kroger finally stocked the pineapple upside down flavor and HEB a few weeks ago had the strawberry shortcake flavor. It is amazing how long it takes for new items to appear on store shelves. So now that I have had two out of the three new flavors, let’s discuss my thoughts. Well, obviously it is a teeny tiny bit hard to find in the stores but they are slowly coming to a store near you.
Strawberry shortcake I was interested in trying because Weight Watchers just came out with their own version of this flavor but in a 4oz container. I found the Yoplait and Weight Watchers flavors to be very similar. You can definitely taste the strawberry and whipped cream coming through the yogurt. I will probably stick with the Weight Watchers version for right now as it is lower in points value (1pt vs 2pt) and I don’t think the extra 2 oz you get in the Yoplait version is worth a whole ‘nother point.
Pineapple upside down I think was the flavor I was most excited about. I LOVE pineapples and love anything that uses pinapple as an ingredient. I rarely make pineapple upside down cake so I thought this could be a really good substitute. I already enjoy banana cream pie and lemon cream pie flavored yogurt. Well, this yogurt, while good, was just not what I had in mind. The pineapple flavoring was not very strong but neither was the cake flavor. I will give props to Yoplait for adding pineapple tidbits to the yogurt but I still feel the yogurt falls short of expectations. I think adding a little more pineapple would help here. I will probably buy this one every now and then but not as much as I buy the other two pie flavors I mentioned.
I am still on the look out for the raspberry cheesecake flavor. I have yet to see it in the stores but I will report back once I do find it and try it out.
Posted under
diet,
health by The Blonde Diaries on September 9th, 2008 11:01 pm
Some people love salty snacks, others love sweet snacks. I fall into the category of loving sweet snacks. Sometimes I’ll take a combination and do a salty-sweet snack but not too often. Often times though, sweets are not very diet friendly or healthy for me. I will go through a range of emotions when I am having a craving for sweet snacks: guilt, anger, sadness, and who cares.
Today I received an email from HungryGirl (gotta love her!) and found out that Yoplait is offering a nice twist to the sweet cravings that I normally get. Yoplait has created three new yogurt flavors that are “sweet snacks”: Strawberry Shortcake, Pineapple Upside Down, and Raspberry Cheesecake. Each yogurt is only 110 calories (2 Weight Watchers Points) and should satisfy your sweet tooth while helping your digestion system and also help you lose weight. I can’t wait to go to Kroger and see if these have hit the store shelves yet. I love pineapple upside down cake but rarely have a slice. I have also really enjoyed Weight Watcher’s version of the Strawberry Shortcake and look forward to seeing Yoplait’s compares since the WW version is only 4 oz while Yoplait’s is 6 oz.
Today’s HungryGirl’s newsletter contained a coupon for the new yogurt so if you are not on her mailing list yet, head over to her site and sign up so you can obtain coupons, food alerts, and food reviews.
Posted under
diet by The Blonde Diaries on September 9th, 2008 8:21 am
Last month, I pointed out some oh-so-tasty foods that are 0 points on the Weight Watchers program. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about 1 point* food today as I am still working on getting back “on program” but also because even if you aren’t on Weight Watchers, this list would be relevant because it would help you snack and eat healthily on your own.
- Beverages - light beer (12oz), 1 glass wine (4 oz), fat-free or sugar-free hot chocolate, Juice (1/2 cup), 1/2 cup milk
- Breads - Most high Fiber breads are 1 point per slice or 1 point for 2 slices (Nature’s Own Lite Bread is 2 slices for 1 pt)
- Fruits - 1 cup of any of the following: blueberries, blackberries, cherries, cantaloupe, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, raspberries, strawberries. 1 small piece of the following: apples, pears, nectarines, plums, and tangerines
- Protein sources - 1 piece bacon, 1 serving of egg beaters, 3 egg whites, 1 fat free hot dog, 1 oz lunch meat, 1 slice fat free cheese
- Seafood - 2 oz of the following: crabs, crawfish, shrimp, scallops, white fish, and lobster meat
There are many 1 point foods and beverages out there. I have found many more so look for a part 2 coming soon! I hope they give you good ideas on things you can add or substitute in your diet.
*A rough estimate of a Weight Watchers point is 50 calories.
