However easy the bacon is to cook on the George Foreman grill, I was still reluctant to write this entry. Here is a tip to make cooking bacon easy, clean and fast, and yet, I was unwilling to post that picture of my own grill stacked high with bacon. Why?

Because bacon has been considered an evil for my entire life.

High in fat and calories, bacon was a guilty pleasure for me. It was avoided when I was “on program” and a binge-worthy desire when I was off. Now that I’m eating low carb, bacon can be an every day breakfast. I can’t even write the words that I should write: bacon is a HEALTHY breakfast.

I’ve lost TWENTY pounds since I started eating low carb in June. That’s TWICE as much as I lost all last year while I was starving on Weight Watchers. That kind of reduction in weight is considered a GOOD thing for my health, and I did it by eating plenty of bacon.

So, YES! Bacon IS a healthy breakfast.

I should feel no shame in writing that, yet it goes against everything I have been told for my entire life. Of course, everything they told me ended with me starving and paradoxically obese, so maybe it’s alright to just do my best to put all that old “wisdom” out of my mind.

If you want to easily cook bacon, here are a selection of George Foreman Grills at Amazon. My favorite is the first one (pictured at the right) and lucky you, it’s MUCH cheaper now than when I bought it several years ago.

• George Foreman GRP90WGR Next Grilleration Electric Nonstick Grill with 5 Removable Plates
• George Foreman Next Grilleration 4-Burger Grills with Removable Plates
• George Foreman GR20B Family-Size 60-Square-Inch Nonstick Grill
• George Foreman GR10B 36 Square Inch Nonstick Countertop Grill, Black

The September 2010 Issue had an article about protein bars and how they are just expensive candy bars. They then gave a few recipes for protein and energy bars that you could make yourself for less calories, more protein and FAR less money.

The most interesting recipe was the one for Bulge-Free Brownies. Each brownie costs 51 cents to make and they are only 100 calories apiece. I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but it looks interesting.

I also love the Stretch Your Way Strong article. It gives detailed descriptions and pictures for eight stretches. Over the years, I’ve tried to describe and take photos of many of these stretches, so I know how hard it is to get it right. They did an excellent job on that article and make the whole magazine worth it with just four pages of detailed photos.

I HATED the cover of the September 2010 issue. The model Alicia Marie, looks more like a body builder than a specimen of a healthy female. I wish they would show more normal women in this magazine. Seeing women like Alicia just makes me want to give up. Oxygen Magazine has a long way to go to become the type of magazine I’d read from cover to cover, but at least there are a couple of articles each month that make it worth it.

What I didn’t count on, however, is that my half a cup of skim milk, which usually is enough for one serving of cereal wasn’t enough for this tremendous bowl of apple cereal. I didn’t want to spend the points on another half cup. I didn’t want to skimp on the milk for my coffee (man that stuff is bitter without some milk!).

Then I remembered a trick from when I was a kid.

A couple of times when I was a child, we were close to running out of milk. Mom hadn’t gone to the store to get more and we needed to make a little bit of milk last for both Stacey and me (my mom was a saint and didn’t eat that morning). Mom took the milk jug and added some water to the milk. She swished it around, mixing in the water and suddenly there was enough milk for the both of us! It was like magic to my eight-year-old eyes!

I tried the magic this morning. After pouring in my half cup, I poured in a half cup of water into my measuring cup. I swished it around to get every last drop of skim milk clinging to the sides and poured it into my bowl. Just like when I was a child, suddenly I had enough milk to last my whole bowl of apple and cereal.

After eating so many cereals with the word “apple” in their title, NOTHING can compare to the taste of fresh apple with cereal. I didn’t notice the watered down milk, but I certainly noticed the crisp squirt of apple between my teeth with each bite. Next time you’re feeling deprived by your small serving of cereal (make sure you measure, because cereal is one of those foods that you’ll accidentally serve yourself more of), add an apple. For only one WW Point, it makes a depressing bowl a full-fledged MEAL.

• Starling Fitness » Toad in the Hole

I learned last month that this dish is NOT called Toad in the Hole. That is a sausages in Yorkshire Pudding dish, which I have never made nor tasted. This dish is called Eggs in a Nest. Mike’s mom always called this dish Toad in the Hole, so that’s what I called it here (since he taught me to make it).

I love to make Eggs in a Nest, but eating it every day can get boring, so I made a variation of it that is a little like French Toast without the syrupy calories.

Eggs in a Nest

Ingredients:

• One slice of whole wheat bread
• One egg
• Non-stick cooking spray (or canola oil – add 1 Point per teaspoon)
• One packet of Stevia
• Cinnamon to taste

Directions:

• Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray (or add the oil to the pan).
• Using a glass, cut a hole in the whole wheat bread and place the bread in the pan.
• Crack the egg into a bowl. Mix half the packet of Stevia and cinnamon with the egg and beat lightly. Pour the egg mixture into the hole.
• Sprinkle the rest of the Stevia packet and cinnamon over the toast and egg.
• Put a lid on the pan and cook for four minutes.
• Toast the round piece (or throw it away if you want to limit your Points).

Calories: Approx. 150 WWPoints: 3 (4 if you use canola oil)

You can see all of the photos here:

• Eggs in a Nest – a set on Flickr

It reads:

Eat 3-course, 300-calorie meals of “forbidden food” and lose up to 5 pounds a week.

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You eat meals of “forbidden food” like beef stew. Casseroles. Chicken a la king. Appetizer and dessert, as well. Three wickedly wonderful courses. Yet each meal is less than 300 calories!

Why feel starved when you can eat meals that are a pound and a half of deliciousness? Why be bored when you can choose from seven different meals?

Mott’s lowers the calories in 48 other Figure Control Foods, too. Foods you can buy separately, like breakfast drinks. Salad dressings. Pancake syrup. Fruits. Mott’s famous no-calorie sweetener. All are high in satisfying flavor – low in fattening calories.

Take off weight this wicked new way. Lose up to 5 pounds a week. Just fix a delicious, convenient Mott’s Figure Control Meal for lunch and dinner. Slim breakfast down to 300 calories with Mott’s Figure Control Foods. It’s great to be a loser with Mott’s!

I’ve found in the world of processed food, you can only have two out of these three options: low in calories, large serving size or tastes good. If something is low in calories and tastes good, then it MUST be a small serving. If something is a large serving and tastes good, then it MUST be high in calories. If something is low in calories and a large serving, then it MUST taste like cardboard.

Mott’s brags about their Figure Control Foods being low in calories and “a pound and a half of deliciousness.” I know that all three are impossible, so what was it? Were they really delicious? Were they really low in calories? Were they really a large serving? I never got to try them, so I’ll never know, but I suspect that they might have been exaggerating the “deliciousness” of their three course meals.

Ad via: vintage_ads: Mott’s Figure Control Meals

Never bitter, you don’t have to peel these cucumbers. All you have to do is wash them thoroughly and slice them for beautiful cucumber chips with naturally scalloped edges.

I’ve been eating them in wraps with Flat Out flatbread and Laughing Cow cheese (both in the Light versions).

First, I lightly toast the Flat Out in my toaster oven. While it’s still warm, I spread one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. I really like the garlic flavor.

Then, I put about a half a cup of cucumber slices on the flatbread. I want at least one serving of vegetables. You don’t have to use cucumbers, either. You can used any vegetables, either grilled or fresh.

After I put in the veggies, I wrap it up. The flatbread is usually a little stiff from being toasted. If you prefer your flatbread softer, then skip toasting it.

I count this whole wrap as only two points (0 points for the veggies, 1.2 points for the flatbread and .8 points for the cheese), so you can have a REALLY filling meal for only a couple of points.

ENJOY!

Ingredients:

• Margarita Salt
• Ice
• 1 small can of V-8 juice
• 2-10 drops of Tabasco Sauce
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• Ground pepper to taste

Directions:

• Wet the lip of the glass and dip it into the margarita salt.
• Add ice, V-8, Tabasco sauce and lime juice to the glass and mix well.
• Grind some pepper on the top of the liquid.

You can also add olives and celery, but I usually don’t have those sitting around my house when I’m in this situation, so I just drink it with a straw. For some reason, dressing tomato juice up like this makes drinking my serving of vegetables a little easier. It makes me feel like I am having a treat.

You don’t have to do anything special, you just wash them, pull them off the vine and freeze them in a ziploc bag. You can take them out later, defrost them to eat. You can eat them frozen (my favorite after a hot workout). You can put them in smoothies to make delicious grape shakes. Here is my recipe for that:

Grape Smoothie

• 1 cup frozen grapes
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 tsps of healthy oil (I like to sneak it into treats so I don’t notice it)
• 1 packet of Stevia (or Splenda) – optional (most of the time the grapes are sweet enough)

Put all the ingredients into the blender and mix on high until smooth.

1 serving – Approximately 250 calories – 5 WW Points – 2 fruit, 2 oil and 1 milk serving.

Without frozen grapes, eating healthy would be much more difficult for me. If you are having a hard time getting all your fruit servings in, get a bunch of grapes today and freeze them in one cup bags today. Then all you need to do each day is take out one bag and you knock out two servings in one punch.

Refried Beans – 5 Points – Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 can of fat-free refried beans
• 1 small can of corn
• 1 bottle of salsa
• 3/4 cup of shredded cheese
• 3 tsp of Mexican seasoning
• 3 Glad or Ziploc bowls

Directions

• Open the can of refried beans and divide among the three bowls.
• Drain the can of corn and divide among the three bowls.
• Open the bottle of salsa and divide between the three bowls. This is ALOT of salsa, so if you’re sensitive to spiciness, make sure you choose the mild.
• Add 1 tsp of Mexican seasoning to each bowl. You can also spice it up with Tabasco sauce, taco sauce packets from Taco Bell, etc.
• Add 1/4 cup shredded cheese to each bowl.
• Cover the bowls and put them in the fridge.

When it’s time to eat, pull out a bowl from the fridge, crack the lid and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes. This recipe makes three meals and it’s EASY!

I usually heat one up immediately (only takes one minute when everything is at room temperature) and then store the other two for later. I count this as one protein, one dairy and two veggies. It’s a little more points than Mexi-Beans, but it’s a nice change of pace so I don’t get bored eating the same thing all the time.

Italian Beans – 2 Points – Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 can of garbanzo beans
• 1 can of artichoke hearts (packed in brine NOT oil)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 3 tsp of garlic salt
• 1 1/2 tsp of oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp of basil
• 3 Glad or Ziploc bowls

Directions

• Open and drain the can of garbanzo beans
• Pour the can of garbanzo beans into one of the Glad bowls. Fill the bowl with water and gently rinse the beans. Drain the water and divide the beans between the three bowls.
• Drain the can of artichoke hearts. Divide the beans evenly between the three bowls.
• Open the can of tomatoes and divide between the three bowls.
• Add 1 tsp of garlic salt, 1/2 tsp of oregano and 1/2 tsp of basil to each bowl. If you want to finish off your oil requirement for the day, add 2 tsp of olive oil to each bowl (it will add 2 points to this recipe).
• Cover the bowls and put them in the fridge.

When it’s time to eat, pull out a bowl from the fridge, crack the lid and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes. This recipe makes three meals and it’s EASY!

If you notice, the recipe is just as easy as Mexi-Beans, but it tastes completely different so I’m not sick of it. Additionally, I can stock up on the ingredients for this recipe and store them in the cupboard (or downstairs in food storage) for a long time. I love knowing that I have something tasty in the cupboard that just needs me to open three cans and we can eat.