How To Make It Taste Good

After a long layoff I have come back to continue on with my blog. I apologize for my absence.

If you are anything like me you love fat. We tend to love fat so much because it is packed full of so much flavor. If it’s not fat it is salt or sugar that we tend to flavor everything with. When it comes to eating “clean” and have it still taste like something eatable I have tried just about everything. Here comes the good part, when fat is reduced it becomes the perfect opportunity to use spices, herbs and some condiments to offer new tastes. I have always found that experimenting with flavors produces some pretty tasty outcomes.

Chicken, tuna, white fish are the main meals that make up the “lean out” diet and I know, they are dry or flavorless, bland and just down right boring. Add some spice you will be pleasantly surprised at what they can do for your taste buds. I always find that keeping a good selection of spices on hand can really flavor up your fat-reduced recipes.

A couple of things I like to keep on hand:
• Low Sodium soy sauce
• Franks Hot sauce
• Low calorie and sugar free fruit spreads
• Lemon, lime or orange juice
• Red and green onions or shallots
• Salsa
• Cilantro or parsley
• Chutneys like peach or mango
• Fresh or dried herbs like basil or thyme
• Herb mixtures such as curry powder, Cajun seasoning or mixed herbs
• Anything Mrs. Dash
• Fat free low sugar dressing
• Fresh garlic
• Grated peel ( lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit)
• Mustard

It has taken me years of experimenting to find flavors that I like to help my bland chicken tasty. I have come up with a few recipes of my own that you may find use full. My favorites have always been my shredded wheat chicken fingers, tuna burgers or my weird concoction of egg white, oatmeal, cottage cheese and cinnamon.

Shredded Wheat Chicken Fingers
What you will need:
• 8 to 16 egg whites
• 3 to 6 bricks of shredded wheat
• Chicken breast cut into small strips
• Natural vanilla
• Stevia for extra flavor
Place your egg whites in one bowl and crush up your shredded wheat the best you can and place it in a second bowl then add some stevia. Add a little vanilla to your egg whites and mix. First take your chicken breast strips and roll then in the shredded wheat mixture before dipping in the egg white and then return it to the wheat bowl for one last coat. I like to start them off in a pan with some light Pam or even sunflower oil to get them a little crisp before I place them in a 400 degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Tuna Burgers
What you will need:
• 2 Cans of tuna
• Spices of your choice ( I like a little pepper, Cajun)
• 3 egg whites
• Add green onion or green peppers play around with it.

Now its simple, combine all your ingredients into a bowl and mix them together. Make patties out of your mixture just as you would a ground beef hamburger patty. You can either cook these on the bar-b-q or you can pan fry these until you have a crisp outer layer.

The last recipe I will give you is something that someone had told me about so I thought I would try it and surprisingly it is a very tasty way to start the morning without having to buy those not so “healthy” protein bars. Let’s call these the home made energy bar.

Energy/Protein bars
What you need
• Egg Whites 1 cup
• Oatmeal 1 cup
• Cottage Cheese 1 cup
• Cinnamon 1 tsp
• Sugar free Jam optional

Combine Oats, egg whites, cottage cheese and cinnamon into a bowl and mix until you have a batter like consistency. Use wax paper or Pam to coat a cake pan then pour your batter into the pan. Pre heat oven to 375 and then place your pan on the center rack and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares perfect for on the go in the mornings.

Hopefully these recipes will help you out and maybe even motivate you to try out some concoctions of your own. I know I have tried over and over again to make things taste good yet still be low fat and healthy. If you have some recipes of your own I would love to see them so feel free to post them here for everyone to try.

Be Safe and enjoy your food.
JJ Confalone