I love Hungry Girl for her unique recipes and belief of getting more for what you eat. She has come out with thousands of different recipes that will allow you to eat more while eating less calories, fats, and carbohydrates… it’s perfect for people like me who love to eat

Hungry Girl has come out with several different books on recipes as low as 200 calories to your favorite recipes that have been altered to lower the caloric content. Some of her cookbooks include:

200 under 200

Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in

1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious, Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet

Happy Hour: 75 Recipes for Amazingly Fantastic Guilt-Free

One of my favorite foods I have fallen in love with recently are boneless buffalo wings, especially from Chili’s Bar and Grill. But who would have thought that those little guys could contain 910 calories and 58g of fat!!!! WOW! These little guys need to be handcuffed and sent straight to jail. But have no fear, Hungry Girl is here!

But have no fear, Hungry Girl is here!
Here is a great Buffalo Wing recipe that only contains 175 calories and a whooping 1.5g fat. I could have 5 servings for the place of one at Chili’s! Way to go Hungry Girl

HungryGirl’s H-O-T Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings

Ingredients

8 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, cut into 10 nugget-shaped pieces

1/4 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original), ground to a breadcrumb-like consistency in a blender or food processor

1 oz. (about 14 crisps) Pringles Light Fat Free Potato Crisps, Barbecue (or another fat-free BBQ-flavored potato chip)

3 tbsp. Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce

dash onion powder

dash garlic powder

dash cayenne pepper

dash black pepper

dash salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crush potato crisps completely and, in a small dish, mix with cereal crumbs. Add a dash of each of the seasonings and mix well. Place chicken pieces in a separate dish, and cover and toss with Frank’s RedHot. Spray a baking pan with nonstick spray. Give each chicken piece a shake (so it’s not dripping with RedHot), and then coat it evenly with the crumb mixture. Lay the battered nuggets on the baking pan. Place in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Then flip the wings over, and return them to the oven for 10 more minutes, or until outsides are crispy and chicken is cooked throughout. MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Thanks to Hungry Girl, you can have your cake and eat it too!

What are some of your favorite Hungry Girl Recipes?

In the 1990’s the Fat-Free Diet Fade struck the diet industry by surprise. The motto and diet / health mentalityof “Less is More” was taken up like it was going out of business. The food industry started making creating products appealing to this mentality by throwing in more preservatives and fake ingredients to slap a “fat-free” or “reduced-fat” label on it, making it easier for people to cut out all fats from their diet.

I have to admit, I am one that fell into this trap. I strayed far away from anything containing fats. Thanks to the diet food industry, by the end I was eating close to no fat in my daily dietary intake.

I mean, it makes sense, right?!?! Eat less fat and my body won’t put on the fat. . . WRONG! The body needs fat in order to function to its fullest. In fact, eating below the recommended daily fat intake can actually sabotage weight loss and put one’s health at risk.

Here are 6 risks of eating a low fat diet

1.) Depression

Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids play a vital role in regulating mood behavior. A diet low in fat can throw people into depression, bipolar disorders, and ADHA. Foods high in omega 3 fatty acids include fish, flex seed oil, leafy greens, and walnuts Foods high in omega 6 fatty acids include sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed, walnut and soybean oil.

2.) Poor Vitamin Absorption

Fat soluble vitamins including A, D, E, K depend on fats in one’s diet in order to be absorbed. Not getting enough fats in a diet will cause these essential vitamins to be quickly excreted without any benefit to the body leading to increased bleeding, decreased vision, poor skin, decreased bone density and teeth breakdown.

3.) Increased Risk of Cancer

The New York Times published a study showing that people increased their chances of cancer when on a low fat diet. One might think they are doing their body a favor by reducing their fat intake, but in the long run, they are going to be paying for it!

4.) Heart Disease

A decrease in fat intake causes the body to decrease in HDL (good cholesterol) which works to excrete and keep the level of LDL’s (bad cholesterol) down. This leads to high cholesterol and ultimately heart attacks, strokes, and other heart diseases

5.) Overeating

Low-Fat food products can be very sneaky! They like to play with our minds and tricks one into thinking they can eat more of it because it’s low fat. Studies show that people tend to eat more because they think they are eating “low-fat” when really these products have just as many calories, carbohydrates, and if not more sugar.

6.) Imbalanced Nutrition

When one goes down, one must come up. Decreasing fat intake forces people to compensate in other areas. People usually end up eating more carbohydrates while on a low-fat diet which has been proven to increase one’s appetite and chances of Type 2 diabetes.

Just like over eating dietary fats can lead to detrimental problems, so can under eating fats. People seem to forget that moderation is key when it comes to dietary fat intake. If this list doesn’t force you to become more aware of your dietary fat intake, than I don’t know what will!

Check out the table below to find out how many fats you should be in taking each day:

1200 Calories: 27-47 grams

1500 Calories: 33-58 grams

1800 Calories: 40-70 grams

2100 Calories: 47-82 grams

Here is a list of healthy fats to fit into your diet:

-       Nuts

-       Peanut Butter

-       Avocado

-       Fish

-       Cooking Oils

-       Olives

Remember, Moderation is Key… You don’t want to overdo it or under do it when it comes to fats

How Do You Fit in Your Daily Fat Intake Each Day?

Good-Bye Summer. . . Hello Fall

With September in full swing, we can finally enjoy Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the cool and crisp weather as the red, orange, and yellow leaves scatter on the ground. Oh I just love fall! By favorite part of Fall is Apple season. Nothing tastes better than a crispy apply, freshly picked from a tree. I love going up to Oak Glen around this time of the year in So Cal when the weather starts to cool off and sample all the different apples and drink hot apple cider while visiting all the random stores, picking apples, and feeding the animals at the animal park.

Picking apples straight from the tree leads to some great great low calorie, low fat recipes… grocery store apples just can’t compare to the taste of those from the tree. If you are obsessed with apples like me, than you will love this recipe!Picking apples straight from the tree leads to some great great low calorie, low fat recipes… grocery store apples just can’t compare to the taste of those from the tree. If you are obsessed with apples like me, than you will love this recipe!

* * Crustless Apple Pie Recipe * *

Ingredients

6 apples

1/2 cup splenda or 1 tsp Stevia

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbs. lemon juice

1/4 cup splenda or 1/2 tsp Stevia

2 tbs. white flour

1/4 cup wheat flour

3 tbs. butter

Directions:

1. Peel, core and cut up the apples. Mix in with the sugar and spices and lemon juice.

2. Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar, flours, and butter, then sprinkle over top.

3. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes

Serving Size: 9

Less than 150 calories per serving!

Ah… I can smell the aroma of baked apples and cinnamon filtering through my house! Now to wait till this weather cools off so I can go pick me some apples to bake!Ah… I can smell the aroma of baked apples and cinnamon filtering through my house! Now to wait till this weather cools off so I can go pick me some apples to bake!

Question: What’s your favorite Apple brand and what do you like to eat them with?

I love Pink Lady apples. Use to love eating them with Peanut Butter until I became allergic to it

Did you know that as a bell pepper ages, it changes colors and tastes. For instance, A red bell pepper is a mature green bell pepper and the older it gets, the sweeter it becomes and it contains eleven times more beta carotene than a green one. Beta carotene from bell peppers reaps great health benefits such as preventing eye problems, curing skin disorders, and enhance one’s immunity.

I love bell peppers… chopped up in salads, sliced and dipped in ranch, or my all time favorite sauteed with onions. Not only do I enjoy bell peppers for their great taste, but also for the vast assortment of rainbow colors they come in. There are so many different colors to choose from: red, green, yellow, orange.

Here is a great low-fat, low-calorie, and low-carb bell pepper recipe to try when these colorful bell peppers are at their abundant best. Red, yellow, green, orange – no matter which you select, this recipe will bring out their true colors.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

* 4 large bell peppers

* 1 tablespoon olive oil

* 1/2 cup mushrooms (chopped)

* 1/2 cup onions (chopped)

* 1/2 cup celery (chopped)

* 1 garlic clove (chopped)

* 1 1/4 lb lean ground turkey meat or boca crumbs

* 1/4 cup egg beaters

* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

* 1 teaspoon italian seasoning

* 1 can italian style diced tomatoes

* Salt and pepper as desired

* Italian seasoning and parmesan for toppings

Directions

* Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

* On stovetop in a medium skillet or saucepan, sauté mushroom, onion, celery and garlic in olive oil until veggies are soft; remove from heat.

* Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl,combine ground turkey, egg, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

* Add sauté veggie mixture to turkey mixture; mix well.

* Stuff peppers with turkey/veggie mix and place in an ungreased shallow casserole dish.

* In a small bowl, combine undrained tomatoes and tomato sauce; pour over peppers to cover.

* Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings; cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes.

* Uncover, sprinkle with mozzarella and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and browned.

ENJOY!

Question: Do you like Bell Peppers and if so, what is your favorite way to eat them?

Chip-O-Top-Lay, Chipoodle… oh right, Chipotle!

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a great fresh fast-food mexican chain that allows you to build your own taco, burrito, salad, or burrito bowl. From the looks of the of it, one would think it would be healthy, but hidden underneath that burrito lays over 1,200 calories! Yep, you heard me right. . . maybe it has to do with the fact that their burritos are bigger than my face. You definitely can’t say that you don’t get your money’s worth here! ! !

Calories add up fast and you don’t even realize it when you add a little guacamole here, a scoop of sour cream there, a hand full of cheese, and oh wait… don’t forget the lime chips… they are by far God’s gift to mankind! Oh man, I’m hungry!

So how do you eat healthy at Chipotle?

For one, don’t eat the entire Chipotle meal. Portions these days have gotten ridiculous… especially at Chipotle! Check out this older post on Visualizing Portion Control and then go compare your burrito… you might understand me then.

For those of you who are like me and “accidently” end up eating the whole meal without realizing it, cut your meal in half and bag it up before you even begin to eat. This way you aren’t mindlessly eating till it’s gone… and having to roll yourself out of the store

For a burrito or taco, skip out on the guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. . . this saves you nearly 400 calories. If you want to save an extra 300 calories, opt out on the burrito and go for the burrito bowl.

Just because you are skipping out on the tortilla, doesn’t mean you should add on extra rice and beans. Fill up your bowl with veggies and ask for a little bit of rice and beans.

And for those of you that want to be extremely good, go all the way for a salad. These are my favorite because the sauteed bell peppers and onions is a perfect addition to a tasty meal. Add in tomatoes and corn and you are set!

Toss the 260 calorie, 25g of fat salad dressing and opt for salsa.

While Chipotle might have 1,200 burritos, there are ways around it. So make sure you have a plan before heading into the store.

This handy dandy Chipotle Calculator is great to building your own meal. Make sure to use this the next time you head out to Chipotle.

Question: What is your favorite combo meal at Chipotle?

Adios Amigos!

Flatout Flatbread Light. A great alternative to sandwiches and a low calorie option for wraps. They have the look of a tortilla, but thicker and doughy. They  are made in a rectangle shape, preventing everything from falling out of the flatbread. Nothing makes me more frustrated than working so hard to make a perfect wrap and then it all falling apart when I pick it up.

Ranging at 90 calories, these wraps are gold when being on a diet and losing weight in comparison to Subway’s wraps that are a whooping 310 calories for the bread alone. . . What a difference!  These fiber loaded, low carb, high protein wraps come in a variety of different flavors including sun dried tomatoes, italian herb, and multi-grain.

There are so many different ways to eat Flatout Bread. I love making breakfast burritos, sandwich wraps, pinwheel appetizers, fajita wraps, salads, quesadillas, french toast,and everyone’s all time favorite- – - PIZZA!

I love love love pizza, but hate how much butter, oil, and fat comes with it. Flatout bread pizza cuts this out and makes for a healthy alternative to ordering pizza. Try out this great low-fat, low-calorie flatout bread pizza recipe that is loaded with veggies!

Ingredients:

1 flatout flatbread Light Italian Herb

1/2 cup light Ragu Pizza Sauce

1 wedge Laughing Cow Cheese

1/2 cup broccoli

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350

* Bake Flatout Bread 5-7 minutes

* Steam all veggies

* Place sauce, veggies, and cheese on flatout bread and bake for another 5-7 minutes

*        

What is your favorite way to eat Flatout Bread?