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I am stuffed to the brim. As much as I LOVE eating all sorts of goodies during the holiday season, I’m totally ready to get back into my regular eating routine! Between the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and the parties at work and the cookies and candies and donuts and ham and turkey and on and on and on.....well it just gets to be too much of a good thing in my opinion.


Anyway, I’ll pull out an old cliché and declare....Fresh start for a New Year..TA DAAAA!!!!! I have a few fantastic low fat recipes up my sleeve to get me started. The best tip I have is to go to your local grocery store, grab a bag of frozen veggies (I LOVE the bags with asparagus or broccoli stir fry.) and mix them with or add them as a side dish to ANYTHING. It is an easy way to amp up your veggie intake, feel full, get some fiber. And if you add some Italian seasoning and spray butter….it is practically calorie free! Any of these mixes are great with a pasta, grilled chicken and sauce for a quick meal. Another way I use these frozen veggies is adding garlic, salt, pepper, canned tomatoes, beans and chicken stock (low sodium/low fat) and making a ‘whatever I have in the house’ soup. These are super easy to freeze and take to work or eat when nobody (meaning me in my house) has the energy to think up something to cook. Fantastico!

Another easy trick I have learned is to rely on the thin sandwich breads made famous by Arnolds and use them instead of hamburger buns. These are particularly great for breakfast too. Toast these up and put some spray butter on and you have a great English muffin substitute. Add peanut butter or cottage cheese and this makes a filling breakfast that lasts all morning.

I’m not the kind of person who when trying to eat healthier relies on salad every day, I think it becomes too boring after a while. However, there are some great salads I make that are low in calories and high on flavor. A favorite is buffalo chicken salad. I grill a chicken breast, chop it up and mix with Franks Red Hot, garlic, red pepper flakes, fresh ground black pepper and Sriracha. Then add a few olives, low fat mozzarella, and dressing of your choice (ranch is a fave for this dish, but low fat Caesar Italian or a light vinaigrette works wonderfully). Another favorite is to add granny smith apples, gorgonzola cheese (a small amount goes a LONG way) and a few chopped walnuts to a salad and serve with a tangy vinaigrette dressing. A white balsamic and fruity olive oil mix is great with this.

I have some more posts coming soon, with the holidays over; I have some more free time on my hands to concentrate on my love of blogging about food. Send me some ideas about what you would like to see or read about. I’m up for anything as long as it tastes good!