Popular Topics in South Beach Diet Community Challenges
Week 9 Monday Meeting (March 1)
Topic of the Week: Recipe Swap! Give Your Favorite Meals a South Beach Diet Makeover
What’s for dinner tonight? If you find yourself trying to come up with new, creative ideas for each meal, you’re in luck. This week we’ll be swapping recipe ideas! Have you discovered a healthier way to make thin-crust pizza or a juicy cheeseburger? Or, maybe you can’t live without comfort foods and your go-to South Beach Diet-friendly recipe is for Spicy Macaroni and Cheese. Whatever your healthy swap or recipe is, share your food and recipes here in the Boards.
Meanwhile, there’s still time to have Marie Almon, South Beach Diet nutrition director, assess your food diary! She’ll be checking all submitted diaries and providing feedback, along with tips and advice, on Monday, March 8. To get Marie’s input, simply e-mail us one day of your food diary to editors@southbeachdiet.com!
Our guest speaker this week is Marilyn Jess, a registered and licensed dietitian with more than 20 years experience in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Marilyn received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in human nutrition from San Diego State University. She also earned a certificate in professional training skills from Sonoma State University, with expertise in teaching adults. Her areas of professional experience include employee education for adults, nutrition management, developmental disabilities, and long-term care. She is a freelance writer who has authored several nutrition newsletters and run workshops on public-speaking skills.
Please feel free to submit your questions to Marilyn!
Thanks, Teresa!
Can healthy food actually taste good? You bet it can. Really enjoying your food is something that makes a healthy lifestyle worth the energy and effort. As SBD members know, change can be challenging. Small steps are easier. If swapping an ingredient or changing a preparation step brings tasty results, these small steps make an even bigger difference. Why not adapt your favorite recipes and eat healthy?
Here are some tips to make your healthy food something you look forward to enjoying.
Super Six Pack
No, not the brewed kind. In some cases, adding more vegetables to your meals may be all you need to give the meal a makeover. Recently a new SBD member asked how she could get herself and her family to eat more vegetables. I suggested that she keep on hand at least six kinds of frozen, unseasoned vegetables, that she and her family like to eat. These are quick to microwave, can be seasoned different ways, or mixed together. They can also be added to your soup, stir-fry, and casserole recipes to make them healthier. An ‘all Phases’ Six Pack, for example, could include French Style green beans, chopped spinach, broccoli cuts, bell pepper strips, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.
Season FOR Taste
As you give favorite recipes a makeover they may need more or different seasonings to bring out the flavor of the better-for-you ingredients you are using now. What a perfect time to upgrade your seasonings—extra virgin olive oil for bold flavor and good-quality dried herbs and spices. You’ll use less, and the taste is superior. You may have your own favorites, such as curry or herb blends, that you find yourself using more now, and that’s great. Seasonings that are useful in many recipes include cinnamon, Italian seasoning, Kosher or sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and garlic powder.
Add flavor and tenderize--rubs, marinades, and sauces.
As you learn how to prepare lean protein foods, you’ll notice that high heat can produce a less tender steak, chop, etc. A marinade or spice rub helps tenderize and add a different flavor. Sauces made with low fat milk or fat free evaporated milk add richness, without the saturated fat. Pureed, seasoned cooked vegetables or beans can do triple duty--they help thicken soups and sauces, can be used as a sauce, and as a flavor booster.
Your creativity and the bounty of SBD friendly foods are a perfect match. The possibilities are endless. Just like a salon makeover makes you feel refreshed, renewed and ready, recipe makeovers can turn old favorites into new favorites. Make your food delicious and healthy. In this case, you can have it all!
I have a question about oil. Olive oil is good for us, but in moderation, of course. There are times when I feel like my 1T allotment is not enough, though, and I need creative ideas for substitutes. For example...
If I'm making a pork tenderloin, I will usually make a dry spice rub, but like to start with 1T of oil in the pan. And then if I roast some vegetables, I probably add a tablespoon (or maybe two) there. And then if I want to crisp up some kale chips. there is a little bit there. I could easily end up with 4-5T for this cooking session, which likely is for 2-3 meals...but I'm still over 1T.
Any ideas on where I can cut/substitute?
Another one for you...my husband likes chinese take-out, which I try to replicate at home. However, he likes sweet sauces. Are there good ingredients for replicating a sweet sauce that are better than others - for example, is agave a good choice, rather than powdered Splenda?
Ialso have a hard time getting the flavor I want and staying with the small amount of soy sauce we are permitted. (1/2 tablespoon, I think)
If you spray olive oil spray on the veggies, that would give them the flavor you want without using a lot of oil. An oil mister, where you pour real oil into it and the mist attachment sprays it out in a fine mist, also works. To use less oil--add the 1 tbl. to your veggies--toss, then wrap in heavy duty foil. Seal up the foil. Roast at high heat until almost done. then open up the foil packet to brown them. The moisture inside will help them stay tender.
Either of those sugar alternatives could work. Chinese five spice powder is a sweet spice that could also give a sweetness that you are looking for. Sliced fennel, a vegetable, is not a sauce but is sweet and can also make your dish sweeter.
We get asked a lot on the message boards about cornstarch for thickening sauces. I use it sometimes - for example, I'll use it and beef stock and some skim milk to make a gravy for my chopped steak and mushrooms. Is that okay or would it be better to use something else? It sure seems that sauces and gravies are what we think of when we think of "comfort food." Well, that and pasta/potatoes/lots of cheese!
Five-spice powder is something that chefs use, and many people aren't aware of it. It's found in most supermarkets. To thcken you can use cornstarch or arrowroot, which is also in the spice aisle of your market. Some other ways to thicken are to use cooked pureed starchy vegetables or to puree part of a cooked soup and add it back in as a thickener. Your gravy idea sounds tasty, and easy!
My other time savor is chopping up onions in advance for the week. Sprinkling them in to sautes to add flavor. A little goes a long way.
My favorite go to meal on a lazy day is 3 oz lean ground burger, seasoned and brown. To this add 2 C finely sliced green cabbage and stir until wilted and all "together". I season it differently each time. Sometimes with a seasoning salt, sometimes with five spice, or ginger and soy sauce, sometimes with fresh herbs. Leftovers make a great sandwich stuffing for a whole grain Pita pocket, too.
So far...the best I do is making "fried rice" with leftover pork and vegetables. It's like a whole new meal. But the 1/2 cup of rice doesn't go very far.
Good question on the cheese. The one thing I've done is gotten completely away from processed cheese and now use a higher quality cheese. I tend to use less as the flavor is better. But cheese is one of my busters, so I have to be really careful.
As we know, cheese is a food that is easy to overdo. On the South Beach Diet, recipes with moderate amounts of low-fat cheese can be used--the guideline is 6 grams of fat or less per ounce. The South Beach Diet doesn't limit protein, and if cheese is the protein source for the meal, the goal is to use enough to make the recipe work, and give you enough protein to feel satisfied. I'd suggest limiting recipes with cheese as the only protein to once or twice per week. Otherwise, cheese can be used as a flavor enhancer, as an example low fat feta, sprinkled on a salad.
What a creative way to use ground beef and cabbage. Never thought of doing that, and varying the spices works well. Chopping veggies once for the whole week works well, too, and it is less expensive to do this yourself!
I love using slow cookers for beef, chicken and pork. Instead of potatoes what veges do you suggest for a 8-10 hrs meal (instead of sweet potatoes and onions).
thanks.
Ways to use leftover servings:
*Freeze in single servings for that lunch you will take to work next week
*Add chopped cooked protein foods to a vegetable soup, for a one-dish meal
*Stir fry--add chopped cooked protein to the veggies. Use the rice as a topping after you serve the protein-veggie mix on your plate. Visually this looks more appealing.
*Chopped cooked protein and leftover steamed or roasted veggies are great omelet add-ins
*The same goes for salad toppers--top your greens with chopped cooked protein and leftover veggies, add dressing.