Doesn't Taste Like Diet Food

Last night I made a delicious (and low calorie) meal. So delicious, it was difficult to believe it was low calorie. When I first start watching what I eat, the first thing I do is crave what I shouldn't have. Like bar food. As you know, Chan and I have indulged in 'Grease-Fest" at our local bar many times and pigged out on the various deep fat fried foods. So it's not surprising that when I start eating healthy, that's one of the things I crave.

I went to the bookstore to buy a new calorie guide (I had an old one but Calorie King puts out new ones that contain restaurant statistics too and these change frequently and I like to be prepared in case I go out to eat.) I spotted a new 'cookbook' called "Cook This, Not That". It's from the guys who put out the "Eat This, Not That" books that give you substitution suggestions to save you from the highest calorie foods at restaurants. These books have surprised me in the past because the choices they suggest aren't always the ones you think would be better but salad is not always the way to go (thank goodness). So this new book has some restaurant food that they have slimmed down and given you recipes for so that you can save both calories and money by eating at home.

One of the recipes that first caught my eye was a potato skins recipe. Instead of deep frying the skins then loading them with cheese and bacon, you basically make a twice baked potato (so none of the yummy middle gets thrown away). The potatoes are little but you still get cheese and bacon, just small amounts. They looked so good I just had to make them. (I did make a few substitutions of my own, lowering calories even further, using buttermilk - my new secret weapon - and lower fat cheese). They were FABULOUS.

But what to make to go with them? Bar food etiquette dictates buffalo wings or chicken fingers. But those aren't low cal or low fat with their deep fry. So after checking the Internet, I adapted a Weight Watchers recipe and made mine with chicken breast chunks that were stir fried without oil and glazed in a butter-less wing sauce. Oh my gosh, were they good. So good that Mom snarfed hers down and even The Graminator cleaned her plate. Served with carrot sticks, celery sticks and other cut up veggies, it was the perfect imitation of bar food done light. Better than most bar food in fact since the chicken was nice and meaty and the potatoes were so yummy. Of course the portion size was smaller but every bit as satisfying. This was a diet dinner even a "Hungry Man" would love. And all for under 500 calories!

Thanks for the support and encouragement Dyann. Yes, we have to take it one meal at a time. Brava to you for following your vegetarian goals. Part of our eating lighter goals is eating more vegetarian meals. It would be great if we lives someplace where there was an abundance of produce (like Maura and her farmers markets) but Whole Foods has some nice veggies that can take us somewhere other than canned green beans.

We have a new Loyal Reader from 'across the pond' in the UK. Welcome FrenchEclair! I appreciate your recommendation of the book "French Women Don't Get Fat", a book that was a sensation here in the USA for a while but fizzled out. I think it's great that you are such a Francophile but most Americans aren't big fans of the French so adopting a French lifestyle isn't popular here, nor is it very practical. Again, I'd LOVE to live somewhere that has access to great markets, masses of fresh produce, trips to the bakery for fresh baguettes. But alas, I live in the middle of a desert where the only thing that grows is the heat index. But good for you.

Now some advice for you, FrenchEclair. I don't know how old you are but if it has always been your dream to visit Paris, just DO IT! Don't wait for time or finances or the approval of others. Spring is coming and soon it will be "April in Paris". Max out your credit cards, borrow coin from friends but get yourself to Paris even if it is only for two days. If you live in the UK, France is close so there is no excuse. Take a train, plane or automobile. Stay in a hostel, private room or sleep on a park bench. Wandering the streets of Paris is free. Stroll the Seine. Visit Montmarte. See the Eiffel Tower. Spend a few Euros on a baguette and some cheese and cheap wine. Don't wait, my new friend, or years will go by. Excuses will continue to pile up as to why you can't go right now. But don't let them. Grab your passport, a camera, a notebook and just GO. Your dream is an easy one to achieve. Don't worry that it's only for a day or two, once you get a feel for Paris, then you will find a way to go again and again. And stop at a sweet shop for me and buy a 'guimauve' (that's French for marshmallow, isn't that fabulous) and tell me how it is. I am perfecting my version of 'batons de guimauve' right now so I'd love to know how the ones in Paris are. But go, please. I promise you that you will never regret it, even if it makes money tight or people shake their heads at you. You will regret not going, and life should never have regrets. Go, Go, GO! I will put some Edith Piaf on my iPod and think of you.

Okay, off to fulfill marshmallow orders (and not tasting them is killing me)/ Thanks to all of you Loyal Readers, for your love and support of my dreams!