To start out my new Healthy Eats/Chew On This section I want to share ten suprisingly delicious fun, low fat, low salt, healthy and tasty bits that work as stand alones and most are part of my daily routine.
Interesting observed note: low fat and low sodium/salt do not often come hand-in-hand. Likewise low sugar and low sodium do not come hand in hand. Often most prepackaged foods increase sodium in their "healthy" packaging to make up for the lack of flavor. Hugely dissapointing in my book. My focus is on healthy fats, proteins, low sodium, low bad fats, low processed foods and low sugar and high fructose corn syrup without cutting out flavor or in quick, easy, affordable and somewhat painless meals. Sometimes that means frozen foods and canned beans, other times 5 ingredient meals. It will be celar as this evolves I'm sure.
1. Melba Toast. These crunchy little toast bits are great for dipping in homemade salsa, guac and hummus. I was happy to find they come prepackaged in serving portions so it's easier to not overeat them.
2. Bear Naked Granola with Protein. When paired with low fat milk it makes a hearty low fat, low sodium, protein cereal that can be topped with a variety of berries and bananas and keep you full until the midmorning snack time.
3. Lemon Juice. (or Lime Juice.) Heaven help me, I heard Twin repeatedly recommending the consumption of Lemon Water and let the thought of Sugar!Sugar!Sugar! drown out her logic. She was right! This 0calorie, no sodium, no sugar addition not only helps your body absorb sodium but can be paired with Stevia for a 0calorie lemonade or paired with green tea bag and Stevia for 0cal arnold palmerish tea drink! Winner!
4. Stevia in the Raw. Where do I begin? I love white sugar, brown sugar and Sugar in the Raw. I have a sweet tooth and the thought of a new dietary lifestyle without sweet makes me a terribly sad monkey. I do however have a huge aversion to Splenda, SweetnLow and other chemical sweeteners. They give me this wretched headache and roll my stomach. After much studying I caved and bought Stevia to discover that wonder upon wonders it's actually healthy and tastes decent! Some companies, like Japan, even serve it as a common tableside condiment.
Stevia, for those of you who don't know, is just like sugar. It is a sweet herb powder derived directly from it's plant source without any harsh chemical additives. It is a touch sweeter than regular sugar so moderation can be good but it really is 0calorie so not only is it a permanent addition to my pantry but I also highly recommend it to all the 'fake sugar haters.' It's not fake sugar, it's Stevia.
5. Tofu. Tofu is relatively new to my household party. My current struggle is finding high protein, low bad fat, low sodium, low calorie, tasty and useful additions to my pantry that aren't weird, strange or wacky. Up until fairly recently I've kind of ignored tofu out of ignorance. Husband doesn't really have a taste for it and it doesn't usually belong in my downhome somewhat AmericanMexicana cooking. Today's lesson: chicken, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushroom kabobs basted in Lowry's Baja Chipotle marinade is the bomb diggety. Filling, spicy and tongue smacking good.
6. Frozen berries. The majority of mornings I top off my workout with a bowl of fast cooked plain oats topped with Stevia, banana and frozen berries. The heated oatmeal and the crunchy frozen berries are a great combination. Best part is they don't take up our minimal highly coveted fridge space, cost less than fresh and don't go bad nearly as fast as fresh. Sometimes it's best to think smarter, not harder. Fresh may be best but sometimes frozen is the only option.
7. Lowry's marinade. Where have you been all my life?? I discovered this gem today! I picked up Baja Chipotle and Mesquite out of close to a dozen on the shelves. Not only is it low fat and low sodium but it's only 5-15 calories per serving versus the 98% other marinades, salad dressings and oils that have oodles of fat and sodium and are 150-250 calories for that same serving. I'd really prefer to not baste my food in the calories I'm trying to avoid. You can have tasty food without relying solely on dry herbs*. Marinade's for the barbeque can be your friends too! Warning: Baja Chipotle as quite the sharp bite.
8. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. This has been a household favorite for quite sometime. When combined with Melba Toast or Wheat Thin Flatbreads* you get a tasty replacement for the high sodium content in even the lowest fat potato, soy and rice crisps. I've spent many hours in the chip section so I've become quite the amateur expert on the subject.
9. Sugar Free Lime Jello. Although I haven't actually made this yet it's jello + citrus + sugar free. That just makes it fun.
10. Jones All Natural Golden Brown Light Sausage Links. I have to confess this isn't incredibly low in sodium or fat but it is half the calories, fat and sodium of all the other popular frozen brands we have available and is gluten free. Once I taste them I will post a followup with if it is a thumbs up or thumbs down choice.
*My favorite dry herbs and flatbread crackers will be part of a future Chew On This post.
** Disclaimer: This post isn't sponsored by anyone and neither is my blog. My hope is that sharing my bits and pieces will be inspring and hopefully helpful to others striving for the same goals.
