Rules of Thumb for Low Cal Eating

Following are some general guidelines that I find it useful to follow in order to eat low(er) calorie:

Avoid:

Full-fat Dairy (cheese, sour cream, whole milk, etc.)

White Rice

White Bread

Nuts - these can be healthy but they add a lot of calories

Egg Yolks

When eating out, choosing vegetarian dishes is often a great way to cut down on calories. Also, making swaps and asking for substitutions is often easily accommodated while eating out:

Ask for no cheese

Ask for a lighter (vinaigrette-style) dressing instead of creamy, and ask for it on the side

order a salad, and request that chicken or shrimp be added

order a bowl of soup and a whole wheat roll instead of a big entree

order corn instead of flour tortillas

order egg whites instead of whole eggs - especially when ordering an omelette at brunch

Obviously, you also want to avoid anything fried at all, and stick to low-fat proteins such as turkey, chicken, seafood and tofu.

Star Anise - Chicken Stir-Fry

Serve this over brown rice or shredded nappa cabbage or bok choi:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and quartered

1/4 cup minced fresh ginger

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups green onions

1 15 oz can chicken broth

2 whole star anise

1/2 tablespoon corn starch

Brown the chicken in a little grape-seed oil.  Set aside on paper towels.  Add mushrooms, onions, ginger and garlic and saute until cooked through.  Add back in the chicken, chicken broth and anise, and simmer for 10 mins.  dissolve the cornstarch in 1/2 tablespoon of water and add to the mixture.  Simmer for about 3 mins longer, until sauce is thickened.  Server over brown rice.

Star Anise - Brined Grilled Turkey Breasts

We bought some star anise and I've found two great recipes that use it and are delicious!  The first is brined turkey breast.  First, bring the following ingredients to a boil in a very large pot:

1/2 cup salt

3 quarts water

1 onion, chopped into large chunks

4 star anise

handful of black peppercorns, crushed

1/2 cup ginger, roughly chopped

1/4 cup honey or brown sugar

Let this cool completely (we made the brining liquid the night before) and then add one or two turkey breasts (do two if you want leftovers!  we added the turkey to the pot first thing in the morning and let it brine all day).  You can also double the amounts and do a whole bird if you're ambitious!

Next, make a glaze.  Simmer the following together in a sauce pan.

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup white wine

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

Grill the turkey breasts on low heat for about an hour (temp should be 165).  Brush with the glaze several times during the last 20 mins of cooking.

Tortillas

image from cookinglight.com

Next time you're out for Mexican and they ask, "flour or corn?" what should you say?  I was pretty shocked to see how these two seemingly similar foods stack up:

1 (yes, ONE) 6 inch (fajita sized) flour tortilla as 110 calories!

The same size corn tortilla has 45 calories.  Yes, that's right; corn tortillas have 65% fewer calories!  I think we know who wins this battle...

Protein Dense Foods

Today I had lots of fiberous carbs for lunch (squash and pear bisque soup, green salad with balsamic vinegar, reb bell peppers and beets), so I was looking to get a little more protein in my dinner without adding any carbs. I had also eaten very little fat by lunch time, so I was looking for protein dense food without too much regard to fat content to fix for my dinner. Here are how my favorite protein sources lay out in terms of nutritionals:

6 oz pork loin, trimmed and roasted without oil
354 calories, 16.3 g fat, 48.5 g protein

6 oz turkey breast, roasted without skin or oil
263 calories, 5.4 g fat, 50 g protein

6 oz chicken breast, roasted without skin or oil
317 calories, 12.3 g fat, 48.2 g protein

6 oz salmon, roasted without oil
291 calories, 12.9 g fat, 40.8 g protein

6 oz halibut, roasted without oil
238 calories, 5 g fat, 45.4 g protein

6 oz ground beef, 95% lean, fried without extra oil
284 calories, 11.2 g fat, 44.6 g protein

6 oz top sirloin, lean only, fried without extra oil
360 calories, 20 g fat, 42.1 g protein

What is amazing to me is the comparison between things I had previously thought to be comparable. For instance, turkey breast and chicken breast; while chicken breast is pretty protein packed compared to other items, turkey is much leaner and has more protein!

To a lesser degree, I also lumped all fish in to the same "low calorie" category. Halibut certainly earns that label, but salmon is actually fattier than chicken with less protein. Now, I realize that salmon's fat is the "healthy" kind, but it still drives up calories, and ultimately we need to eat fewer calories than we burn in order to lose weight.

In addition, I had thought that pork was lower in fat than beef (just because it's lighter colored, I guess) but lean ground beef is actually much less fatty with only slightly less protein. In fact, extra lean ground beef is comparable in content to chicken breast!

I guess we'll be having turkey breast for dinner tonight...

Quick and easy mustard vinaigrette

This can be used to dress any type of meat, veggie or salad. Just drizzle it over anything you want to give extra flavor to! It's 63 calories per serving, mostly from the olive oil.

For enough to dress 4 servings:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

I put this on pork tenderloin that I roast (at 425 for about 30 mins) and then slice into 1 inch thick "medallions".

Lighter Breading

I got this idea from a martha stewart recipe for lighter Chinese Sesame Chicken, and I think it would work well for any meat or vegetable that you'd like to bread.

For about two servings (similar to 2~3 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes): Mix together 2 tbsp whole grain flour and 1 egg white. Use this as a batter before pan frying items in a little oil as you would any other battered item. This has almost half the calories, a lot less fat, a lot more fiber, and a little less carbs and protein compared to using a whole egg and white flour. The only thing you're really missing out on is a little protein, but I think the pro's outweigh the con's!

33 Calories vs. 60
0.2g Fat vs. 2.3g
5.6g Carbohydrates vs 6.1g
0.9g Fiber vs. 0g
2.8g Protein vs. 3.6g