Thursday, September 15, 2011

400 Calorie Meal Ideas – Healthy Dinners


Flat Belly Diet – Eat Healthy Foods - Beglib:morguefile.comHealthy dinners can be just as easy and delicious as foods that will sabotage your diet. Substitute low fat, nutritious foods to stay on the 400 calorie meal plan.
For people who want to eat nutritious foods and maintain a healthy weight, the 400 calorie meal plan that features MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) will help hold hunger at bay. After a long day at work, it may be tempting to do carryout from fast food restaurants, but resist the urge. Instead, opt for easy-to-prepare meals to stay on track for a healthier lifestyle.

While shopping, read labels and watch for hidden fats and sugars. Avoid trans fats and foods with high fructose corn syrup. Those ingredients aren’t necessary for food to taste good. To keep dinners interesting, have at least a two-week rotation and try not to repeat the same thing twice. Shop for one or two weeks at a time and stick with items on the list.

Mix and match foods on the menus, swapping out meats and vegetables to prevent boredom. Experiment with spices that add flavor without piling on extra calories. Below are some suggestions for tasty 400 calorie meals that whole family will enjoy.

Salmon Dinner

Oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel and halibut provide the omega-3 fatty acids proven to aid in heart health. Serve two or three fish meals per week to reap the most benefits.
Menu for a salmon dinner:
  • salmon sautéed in teriyaki
  • brown rice
  • steamed asparagus
  • fruit cup with yogurt
Spray a frying pan with cooking spray. Brown salmon fillets and sprinkle teriyaki sauce to taste. Cook until the salmon is done. Serve over a bed of brown rice and a side of steamed asparagus. For dessert, mix berries or melon with low fat yogurt.

Spaghetti with Meat and Vegetable Sauce

Spaghetti can be as healthy as the ingredients you use. Start with whole grain pasta. Top it with a healthy tomato sauce with ground turkey, diced bell peppers, sliced olives and sliced mushrooms for a flavorful meal. The sauce can be made from scratch in advance and frozen, or it can be all natural sauce from a jar.

Menu for a spaghetti dinner:

    spaghetti with meat and vegetable sauce
    Romaine lettuce salad with olive oil based dressing
    low fat pudding cup

Oven Fried Chicken Dinner

Chicken is loaded with protein, and without the skin, it is naturally low in fat. Coat skinless chicken breasts with olive oil and a light dusting of seasoned breadcrumbs before baking. The family will ask for this often.

Nutrient packed sweet potatoes make an excellent accompaniment for almost any meat. Since they are naturally sweet, there’s no need to add sugar or marshmallows. Peel and slice a couple of potatoes for a family of four. Spray the pan with cooking spray and bake them until they’re tender.

Menu for a chicken dinner:

    oven fried chicken
    two or three slices of baked sweet potato
    steamed green beans

An easy 400 calorie dinner that’s packed with nutrition is the ideal way to top off a day of healthy eating. Swap out the salmon for another favorite fish in the salmon dinner. Use pork instead of chicken and try Yukon gold potatoes instead of sweet potatoes when it’s time for an oven fried dinner. Add or subtract favorite vegetables in the spaghetti sauce to change out the flavor. Don’t forget to keep at least one MUFA in every meal to make it Flat Belly Diet friendly.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Three Hassle-Free, Nutritious Dinner Tips

Three hassle-free, nutritious dinner tips plus a great recipe for Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers.

(NAPSA) – At the end of a busy day, creating a quick and easy meal that pleases even the pickiest of eaters doesn’t have to be a culinary challenge. Pamela Nisevich, MS, RD, offers three hassle-free dinner tips with a nutritious twist. With a little color and a few simple switches, you can serve a no-fuss, convenient family meal that satisfies everyone.

1. Eat the Rainbow

Make a bland dinner better by adding colorful, nutrient-rich vegetables.
Ask the kids to add color from their favorite vibrant-colored veggies – yellow corn, green beans, red tomatoes, orange carrots – let them create their rainbow.

2. Please the Picky

Add better-for-you ingredients to their favorite meals gradually. Add finely chopped veggies into meatballs, use ground turkey for burgers or try low-fat cheese. Replace butter with a soft spread such as Shedd’s Spread Country Crock in a traditional recipe. With 70 percent less saturated fat than butter and a fresh butter taste, cooking with Country Crock is an easy switch.

3. Bake, Don’t Fry

Choose roasting and baking over frying. Even formerly fried favorites can be tasty and kid-friendly. A simple recipe, such as Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers, goes great with a side of steamed broccoli or green beans, and will prove to be a family favorite that satisfies your desire for something quick and nutritious for dinner.

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 tablespoons Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Spread, melted
3 cups whole grain wheat flakes cereal, crushed OR whole grain bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss chicken with Spread in large bowl, then evenly coat with cereal.
3. Arrange chicken on cookie sheet.
4. Bake 12 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Serve with pasta sauce.  Makes 4 servings.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories 180, Calories From Fat
60, Saturated Fat 1.5g, Trans Fat 0g,
Total Fat 7g, Cholesterol 75mg,
Sodium 230mg, Total Carbohydrate
5g, Sugars 1g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Protein
25g, Vitamin A 10%, Vitamin C
25%, Calcium 0%, Iron 25%

*Regular and Churn Style have 60 calories, 7g fat, 2g saturated fat, and 0g trans
fat per serving. Butter has 100 calories, 11g fat, 7g saturated fat, and 0g trans fat per serving.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

GO FISH

The days I work out, my appetite is through the roof. I can't stop eating. Plus, I'm trying to keep my meals well rounded and nutritious. I'll admit that I can be a victim of convenience (and being a college student). Sometimes that frozen dinner looks a heck of-a-lot more appealing than whipping up a whole meal while dirtying dishes. But, I think that's why I'm always hungry because the easy, I'm-a-lazy-college-student-on-a-budget, throw-in the mic meals are not always the most filling (or nutritious because many of them include ingredients that I can't pronounce = gross). For the sake of my stomach, I need to de-lazify my cooking habits...sigh, I guess college does that to ya.

So today, I say no to the microwave and hello to cooking ahead.

My Game Plan: I'm gonna cook for two! I shall make a big meal, divide it in two and then voila!, I have lunch/dinner for tomorrow. So simple.

I love haddock and I love asparagus, so that is what I'm going to make (and a lot of it).
Lemon Peppered Wild Haddock with Steamed Asparagus


One thing I love about this fish, is that it's wild. Well, duh you're thinking; the fish was wild, but I mean that it was "wild-caught"....meaning a nice fisherman in Iceland caught this fish with a big ol' net. I'm not a huge fan of fish farms because it's like mass producing food (similar to what I talk about in my post: Happy Food comes from Happy Animals). I like my fish happy, and I think they're happier when caught in the wild than in a cramped fish farm.

I'm thawing out two (count 'em, two!) haddock fillets. Plan ahead because thawing these babies takes some time. I once thawed my fish in the microwave and instead of thawing out they came out cooked! Learn from my mistakes, people, and plan ahead!



Pretty fillets

I preheated the oven at 300. I placed the fillets in aluminum foil and seasoned with pepper and fresh squeezed lemon. Yum! While the haddock cooks, I'm going to steam the asparagus in the microwave. I sprayed the foil with butter spray to avoid stick and give the fillets a little extra flavor.

Before
After

I wrapped the fillets up like a present; this will help them cook more thoroughly. I'm gonna stick them in the oven for about 20 minutes, but keep checking them periodically because our oven was made by the devil and gets unusually hot.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Healthy Fast Food Menu Options for long life health

Quick food eating places have gotten these types of a poor rap in the previous number of decades as a important motive for the weight problems epidemic in the US, that numerous of them have felt compelled to defend their existence. Just lately, the head of McDonald&#8217s, a person of the most often cited dining establishments in the blame for obesity, defended his eating places stating that they were not liable for the obesity premiums in little ones.
 Macrobiotic Breakfasts Include Buckwheat Pancakes, kiyong2
I need to concur with him that it is no a single&#8217s immediate fault that there are raising amounts of overweight little ones as properly as grown ups, but the depressing real truth is that here in the US there are a mixture of factors in our way of life that promote weight problems and will continue to except we adjust our methods. In accordance to figures, weight problems charges have tripled in just the previous thirty a long time in grownups. If that doesn&#8217t tell you something is amiss, then I don&#8217t know what does.

In response to stress from consumer and wellbeing advocates, quite a few rapidly food eating places have arrive up with lighter menu alternatives and much healthier options for children meals to do their part in at minimum providing the possibility to be much healthier. The relaxation is up to the customer or the dad and mom of youngsters who are consuming there, and that is in which the real education and enlightenment will have to arrive in, which is a tough issue to regulate.

Wendy&#8217s, a single of the most well-liked rapid food chains, has started to supply mandarin oranges as a side solution, which is a ton more healthy and a lot less caloric than french fries or a loaded baked potato. They also offer facet salads with mild dressings, and have really a good minor menu of reduced body fat salads that would tempt everyone&#8217s flavor buds. In actuality, Wendy&#8217s probably has 1 of the ideal salad menus of any popular quick foods chain appropriate now in my impression.

They nevertheless have their triple stacked burgers and fries too for many who want the accurate naughty quick foods knowledge, but individuals who are observing their bodyweight or are just generally health conscious now have decisions that are additional palatable than they have been in the past.

McDonalds has also jumped on the healthier offerings bandwagon, and has salads to pick from, though not as remarkable nor as tasty as Wendy&#8217s, and instead of french fries as their only option for sides, they also now offer fruit and nut parfaits and apple dippers, a preferred with young children, which is sliced apples with a lower excess fat caramel dipping sauce.

They even have presented active meals for older people which contain salads, bottled drinking water, and a free pedometer and well being guideline. A current news tale wherever a gentleman lost major body weight consuming at McDonalds no doubt fueled the acceptance of apple dippers and their fruit and walnut parfait, equally of which he ate pretty much completely when on his diet.

I not too long ago went to the drive thru at a neighborhood Taco Bell, and even they have additional a lighter menu to their offerings. The lighter menu gives some of the exact old fashioned tacos, burritos and delicate tacos, only they maintain the cheese and load up more on the veggies, salsa and lettuce to make the meal lessen fat and better fiber, as very well as reduce in over-all calories.
Subway is one of my favourite rapidly foods areas to grab a swift and healthful bite to consume whilst controlling calorie consumption. They offer a full line of subs that are small fat as nicely as 400 calories or significantly less, conceivably a bit a lot more on some but not considerably more than the 400 calorie mark, which is great for a lunch or a dinner seeing that it is calorie controlled.

Their offerings incorporate subs on significant fiber bread, which is delightful, and lower weight meats this kind of as roast beef, turkey and ham. You will need to purchase them devoid of the cheese, which I&#8217ve identified to not be such a big offer because the cheese is pretty skinny and doesn&#8217t offer a great deal additional flavor anyways.

Just ordering not having cheese saves you approximately 1 hundred calories. They have this kind of a terrific collection of fresh new veggies to pile on that you won&#8217t even notice you&#8217re consuming a healthful, lower fat meal. Options include spinach leaves (my personalized high fiber, substantial iron favourite), cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, pepper, pickles, and black olives (to be applied sparingly, they are high in body fat).

Increase to that the fact that they have some fantastic condiments that are fat absolutely free like their onion sauce and their honey mustard, and you&#8217ve got a scrumptious minimal fat meal that will make you sense energized alternatively of lethargic, and retain you fuller for a longer time than a burger and fries will.

Burger King, McDonald&#8217s oldest rival, also has some healthier menu possibilities. They do give a veggie burger created by Morningstar, which is rather tasty, nevertheless if you want to make it small body fat skip the mayo, which they use copiously unless of course you ask them to hold it. Include added tomato and lettuce and probably a small mustard for some taste, and you&#8217ve obtained a low extra fat burger replacement. Hold the cheese even though of course.
 Scrambled eggs for dinner, Jeremy Keith
Burger King also delivers a good checklist of salads and some reduced weight dressings to accompany them as well for a reduced weight, significant fiber meal with protein such as chicken. There is also a grille chicken sandwich that if ordered without having the mayo is a relatively wholesome selection. On the other hand, contrary to McDonalds, they seem to be to be missing in the other extra novelty healthy meals that hold it intriguing, indicating they are possibly sticking with their core audience who stops for burgers and fries.

And there you have it. That&#8217s just a swift summary of some of the more healthy alternatives presented by at this time&#8217s most preferred quick food restaurants right here in the US. Hopefully we will start to see additional healthy competition opening their doorways in the identical neighborhoods, and that at least will give us a much better prospect at getting a little something that is nutritious, but also engaging.

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

How To Make Your Own Pita “Pizzas”

Pita pizzas are quick and easy to make, fun to assemble and crowd-pleasing delicious. Everything can be prepared up to three days in advance for this have-it-your-way meal, and your “team” can assemble them just before popping in the oven.
Combine with a simple salad and fresh fruit for dessert, and you have a nutritious family dinner.

Ingredients needed:
8-inch pitas, whole wheat preferred
String cheese or grated low-fat mozzarella (2 ounces per pita)
Grated cheddar cheese (2 ounces per pita)
Sliced tomatoes
Red and green peppers, thinly sliced and sautéed until soft and pliable
Coarsely chopped cooked broccoli
Thin-sliced red or sweet white onion
Sauteed sliced mushrooms
Diced cooked ham
Chicken hot dogs, or other hot dogs, cooked and thinly sliced
Olive oil, about 1 teaspoon per pita
Salt & Pepper, optional
Red pepper flakes, optional
Dried oregano, optional
Note on quantities: It is hard to make an exact recipe as this is a make-your-own. Any leftover ingredients can be saved and tossed into salad. One pita per person is a generous serving. In general you will need about 2 ounces of cheese per pita, about one to two ounces protein and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetables per pita.
Equipment needed:
1 rimmed baking sheets for each 2 pitas
Pastry brush for olive oil
Broad spatula to transfer cooked pita to cutting board
Chef’s knife to cut pita
 Preparation instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2 .Lay-out pita on rimmed baking sheet.
3. Lightly brush each pita with olive oil.
4. Spread a very thin layer of cheese on pita. This will help hold vegetables in place. If using string cheese, a good activity for kids is to pulling apart string cheese into strings.
5. Distribute selected toppings on pita. Be generous with vegetables and sparing with meats.
6. Top each pita with cheese — but not too much!
7. Place rimmed baking sheets in oven and bake for about 12 minutes until cheese is well melted and pita slightly crisped.
8. Remove from oven and allow cheese to cool slightly and set. Add optional salt, pepper, dried oregano and red pepper flakes.
9. Using flat spatula transfer pitas to cutting board. With a good-sized chef’s knife, cut each pita in half. Cut each half into thirds for a total of six slices per pita.
Classic combinations:
Cheddar, peppers & hot dogs (and for a liitle extra zing, add a few thin slices of jalapeño
Cheddar, ham & broccoli
Tomato, string cheese or mozzarella, mushrooms & onion