Archive for August, 2010

Healthy Summer Meals that Wont Heat Up the Kitchen

Trying to create  healthy summer meals isn’t always easy when you are dealing with sweltering days. And while some homes are equipped with central air, living in the northeast many of us get by with just window units. These units aren’t always good for houses like mine that is kind of open floor plan  so my kitchen and dining room gets hot in the summer, making me not want to cook or worse-resort to unhealthy take out!

Breakfasts and lunches are easy enough, a bowl of cereal with skim milk or a piece of peanut butter toast is quick and easy while diet smoothies make great lunches that are cool and refreshing. Still, dinner can be tricky so here are a few healthy summer meals that I have come up with that keeps me from going on an unhealthy fast food or pizza run.

Subs and Wraps
Sure a sandwich can be boring but creating your own sub or wrap using lean cuts ham or turkey from the deli, thin slices of low fat cheese mustard and low fat mayo along with lots of fresh lettuce and tomato will fill you up on less calories than visiting a sub shop. Just watch that the rolls you use aren’t too high in calories.

Pasta Salad
Pasta salads make delicious and healthy summer meals and can be prepared using less pasta and more vegetables along with low fat cheese and chunks of lean ham for a meal in one.  Just prepare early in the morning before it gets too hot.
You may have to watch the dressing so use a low fat version or  simply make your own low fat dressing  and use heart healthy canola oil. Olive oil can be used but keep in mind that once you regrigerate the salad the olive oil will begin to solidify. If you do want to use olive oil just make your pasta salad early in the day and prepare the dressing right before serving. I like to use Good Seasons Italian, which has instructions for preparing with less oil right on the label.

Garden Salad
Garden salads don’t have to be boring. Besides adding lots of lettuce, tomato and other fresh vegetables you can add leftover grilled chicken, and different cheeses such as low fat feta. Fruit also tastes great on a salad. In fact, one of my favorites is a salad that consists of romaine, red onion, diced apples, a few slivered almonds and a low fat dressing such as Paul Newman’s Balsamic Vinaigrette (his dressings are so good, and although they may cost a little more all profits go to charity so why not splurge).

The trick to keeping salads low in fat and calories is to use just a small amount of nuts and cheese while adding a moderate amount of lean protein and lots of veggies. I prefer oil based dressings over creamy dressings because a little goes a long way.

These are just a few ideas for delicious healthy summer meals that wont heat up the kitchen.

Make Slim Fast Shakes More Filling

I love diet smoothies, hence the name of this blog but I usually have a can of Slim Fast powder on hand as well.  The Slim Fast Diet Program offers convenience with their shakes, meal replacement bars and snack bars, in fact, the snack bars are pretty good substitute for a candy bar. However, sometimes having just a shake or a meal replacement bar just isn’t enough and you end up feeling really hungry soon after. One way to make slim fast shakes thicker and more filling is by adding half a frozen banana or other frozen fruit such as frozen strawberries.  If you are counting calories or points just adjust them accordingly.  Luckily fruit is fairly low in calories (and great for curbing a sweet tooth).

This is just one idea for making those slim fast shakes as well as other shakes a bit more filling. Another idea is to eat a small handful of almonds about 20 minutes before drinking your shake since the almonds will help fill you up. Of course nuts are high in calories but they are also good for you so they are worth the calories. Just be sure to practice portion control (I like to measure out 1/4 cup every morning and nibble on a few before each meal).

Cutting calories isn’t always easy so the trick is to find healthy ways to fill up on less calories. After all, when we are counting calories we need to make sure that the calories that we are eating are not empty calories. Fresh fruits, vegetables, lean protein, low fat and fat free dairy and complex carbs all provide important vitamins and minerals. Many fruits and vegetables are also good sources of fiber that can actually help full us up so choose wisely for effective weight loss that is nutritionally sound.