Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I love Mexi-Beans and they are a great way to get me back on track eating healthy, but the problem is, I get sick of them REALLY easily. Earlier this week, I couldn’t bear the thought of eating another bowl of them, so I desperately ravaged my cupboard in an attempt to find anything that would give me two servings of vegetables and one serving of protein. I created Italian Beans and here is the recipe.

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.

I like to keeps some canned veggies in the cupboard just in case I run out of healthy food to eat. Here is a quick meal that I make up when I need something REALLY low in points and need to knock off a couple of vegetables off my list.

Mexi-Beans – 4 Points – Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 can of red kidney beans
• 1 can of green beans
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 6 tsp of olive oil (if desired)
• 3 tsp of Mexican seasoning
• 6 granules of dried chipotle (more if you like it spicy)
• 3 Glad or Ziploc bowls

Directions

• Drain the can of kidney beans
• Pour the can of kidney 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 green beans. Divide the beans evenly between the three bowls.
• Open the can of tomatoes and divide between the three bowls.
• Add 1 tsp of Mexican seasoning and 2 granules of dried chipotle to each bowl. If you want to finish off your oil requirement for the day, add 2 tsp of olive oil to each bowl. You can also spice it up with Tabasco sauce, taco sauce packets from Taco Bell, etc.
• 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!

A special thank you to Braidwood for emailing me a recipe-sharing email. It got me off my butt to write down this incredibly simple meal idea.

When Swiss Miss came out with their Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa, everyone at Weight Watchers were excited about it. Whenever someone mentioned an indulgence, the Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa jumped into the conversation. I tried it. It was good, but I still have almost a full box of it sitting in the cupboard.

Why?

Because I like REAL cocoa. Plus, I have a hard time eating my two servings of dairy every day, so if I’m going to have cocoa, I’m going to make it WORTH it.

My REAL Cocoa Recipe

• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 tsp of Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa
• 1 packet of Stevia (or Equal or Sweet N Low, whatever you like)

Directions:

1. Set your microwave to 50% power. Microwave your milk in a heat-safe mug for three minutes. If you don’t reduce your microwave cooking power level, the milk will bubble up and make quite a mess in your microwave, so make sure you reduce your cooking level to 50%.
2. Once the milk is heated correctly, stir in the teaspoon of cocoa and the packet of Stevia. You have to stir in a little more with real cocoa than you would if you were using a packet of Swiss Miss. Make sure all the lumps of cocoa are mixed in.

Servings: 1
WW Points: 2

The reason why Swiss Miss is so popular is because you don’t need to have milk with you to make it, so if you’re in an office, all you have to do is get some hot water from the water cooler. With a little planning, however, you can have cocoa that tastes like REAL chocolate and do your body some good.

When I read the recipe for this chocolate cake, I was inspired:

• Chocolate Cake In 5 Minutes! | Dizzy Dee

After checking the WW Points for this recipe, however, I was a little less than happy. It clocked in at 19 Points! Since my biggest problem with a piece of chocolate cake isn’t the piece of cake, but the rest of it in my house, the idea of making one serving of chocolate cake sounded perfect. I wouldn’t have to worry about bingeing if I only made one piece of cake.

So I altered the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons self-rising flour
• 2 Tablespoon sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1 Egg
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 3 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 Coffee Mug

Directions:

• Mix the dry ingredients together in the coffee mug
• Add the egg and stir.
• Add the milk and applesauce and stir until mixed well.
• Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes on high (1000 watt).
• Allow to cool before popping the cake out of the mug.

Servings: 2
WW Points: 4

Despite the appearance of the mug, it didn’t make a mess in my microwave. The bubbling cake mixture never made it all the way down the mug before firming up. The cake will be spongy, but moist. It’s not sickly sweet like some cakes are. If you want a little more sweetness, add a tablespoon of frosting for an additional Point.

The cake is so large, I cut it into two servings. Allow it to cool before eating and it will be less spongy.

When I was a kid, microwaves were the cool new thing and they made cake mixes for the microwave. I could make a personal cake whenever I wanted. Honestly, I’ve missed that a little bit and it’s nice to know that I can make myself ONE piece of cake and not have to worry about throwing the rest away.

Via: Craftzine.com blog: 5 Minute Microwave Chocolate Cake

Sometimes the most simple and traditional recipes turn out to be healthy. Take Toad in the Hole, for example:

This simple dish is delicious and healthy. Here is the recipe:

Toad in the Hole

Ingredients:

• One slice of whole wheat bread
• One egg
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• Using a glass, cut a hole in the whole wheat bread.
• Place the bread in the pan and crack the egg into the hole.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Put a lid on the pan and cook for four minutes.
• Toast the round piece.

Calories: Approx. 150 WWPoints: 3

I like to have this for breakfast because it’s very filling and will last me even if my lunch hour comes late in the day.

Enjoy!

Update 03-18-10: 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). If you would like to see a variation of this recipe, here is another version:

• Starling Fitness » Eggs In A Nest

Of all the things that my dad taught me about eating, the most healthy is Egg Thing. He never called it that. He used to have a name for it, but I can’t remember what it was called. I’ve called it Egg Thing for years, but I rarely made it for myself. It’s very filling and fairly low in calories, but the way my dad taught me to make it, well… it looks kind of gross.

So, after years of making it for myself, I’ve finally found a way to make Egg Thing appealing. It looks good, doesn’t it?

Here’s the recipe:

Egg Thing

Ingredients:

• One Egg
• 1 Tbsp. of mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. of mustard
• 1 Tbsp. of ketchup
• Non-stick cooking spray

Instructions:

• Using an egg separator, separate the yolk from the egg white. Set aside the yolk.
• Mix the mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup in with the egg whites.
• Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• Pour the mixture into pan and add the egg yolk on top of it.
• Cook for four minutes on medium heat.

Servings: 1 Calories: approximately 150 WW Points: 3

When my dad made Egg Thing, he would just crack the egg in the pan and squirt the condiments onto the egg, which was less than appealing. By mixing in the condiments with the egg white, it tastes the same and looks better.

By the way, don’t just mix them all together with the yolk. I tried the scrambled egg version of Egg Thing and it changed the egg texture so that it stuck to the pan, was too thin and difficult to eat. If you want easy, just squirt the stuff on the top of a normal egg.

My dad is one of the people in my life who actually TAUGHT me how to binge, but Egg Thing is one of those dishes that is relatively healthy and very filling. Try it and see if you like it!

Egg Thing is featured in the online fictional serial, Merriton, in the following episodes:

• Merriton » Elvis said you folks pulled in late last night.

• Merriton » God, tourists everywhere.

• Merriton » Celebratory Egg Thing

Sometimes getting all your fruits and vegetables eaten is a challenge and sometimes it’s easy and delicious. Take the recipe for microwave apples, for example.

Microwave Apples

• One apple (1 point)
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon (0 points)
• 1 packet of Splenda, Stevia, or Sweet N Low (if desired)

Total: 1 point

With a apple slicer, cut up an apple into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle the apple pieces with cinnamon and sweetener (if desired). Cook in the microwave on high for two to three minutes.

Your house will smell like freshly baked apple pie and you will think you just ate some fresh apple pie as well. I used to make this on my break at work and all the engineers would come out of their offices to see where the yummy apple dessert was.

My favorite apples to do this with are Honeycrisp. I don’t care for Red Delicious, but I’m sure they would work with this as well. I’ve done this with Granny Smith, but they are so sour, not even a packet of Stevia can make them taste like apple pie.

Try this recipe out and tell me what you think.

I’ve talked before about how much I love the rice cooker. I will cook several servings of brown rice or wild rice and then eat it in a variety of ways throughout the week. Here is another variation that I enjoy.

Rice and Cottage Cheese

• 1/2 cup of brown rice (3 points)
• 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese (2 points)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of jalepeno peppers (0 points)

Total: 5 points

Mix the rice, cottage cheese and jalepeno peppers in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for one to two minutes on high. The cottage cheese will melt and create a cheesy, creamy rice that tastes a lot like risotto without the extra calories.

If you use 1/2 cup of jalepeno peppers, this with count as one vegetable serving and 1/2 of a dairy serving.

Try this recipe and tell me what you think.

I got this recipe last week at Weight Watchers. I have no idea where the member got the recipe, but she was SO excited to share it with all of us and I can understand why. It’s delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fat-free milk – 100 calories – 2 points
• 6 ice cubes – 0 calories – 0 points
• 2 Tbsp of sugar-free fat-free pudding mix – approx. 15 calories – 0 points

Total: 115 calories – 2 points

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. The pudding gives the milk flavor and a little bit of creamy smoothness.

This recipe is a fast, 2 point dessert that REALLY fools me into thinking I’m eating a Wendy’s Frosty. I’ve also tried the white chocolate flavor, which has a malted milk and vanilla taste. There are so many pudding flavors to choose from, you could have a different milk shake every day of the week!

Yum!

The rice cooker has been a boon to eating healthy for me. Honestly, cooking rice on the stove top is difficult. Most times, I would end up with a sticky glue instead of fluffy rice. Brown rice and other whole grains are even harder. Now, I just cook up three to six servings of rice, divide them up into Ziploc bowls and put them into the refrigerator to eat in a myriad of ways.

Here is one of my favorites: Mexi-Rice

• 1/2 cup pre-cooked brown rice – 140 calories – 3 points
• 1/3 cup canned dark red kidney beans (drained) – 100 calories – 2 points
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes – 25 calories – 0 points
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried onion
• Smidgen of dried chipotle peppers
• Optional additions: Two sprigs of fresh cilantro and/or a few drops of Tabasco sauce.

Total: 265 calories – 5 points

These are the ingredient sizes for one serving. It’s a HUGE serving, so you might want to cut everything in half if you have a small appetite.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Mix together and add the fresh cilantro and Tabasco sauce for extra flavor.

If you are following the Weight Watchers Core Plan, this is also a Core Food. It counts as one serving of whole grains, one serving of lean protein and two servings of vegetables.

If you don’t own a rice cooker or know how to make brown rice on the stove, you can purchase pre-cooked packets of brown rice from Uncle Ben’s. It’s not quite as good as making it yourself, but it’s really easy.

If you try this recipe, please leave comments here about how you made it better. Considering how horrible a cook I am, I’m SURE there are ways to make it better!