madermouse's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/11/02 After yesterday�s entry, I thought I�d give a run-down of my other favorites in the frozen food isle. I�m combining all of these reviews into a single page called, �Fit Food� and sticking a link on my home page. That way I can add items as I think of them, and perhaps it will be a resource for anyone interested. My hope is to eventually include foods that are NOT frozen, and that ARE healthy...foods that I�ve grown to rely on in my daily life. I�m also going to add a recipe page to my site. I�ll try to include foods that I make frequently, and hopefully will be adding a new recipe every week. I�m not sure how I�m going to organize this yet, so it won�t be up and running until the middle of April at least. Although I�m trying to move away from eating frozen dinners altogether, sometimes it just can�t be avoided. Unlike Amy�s brand, these are the processed, loaded with preservatives, not-as-healthy kind of dinners.(look at the list of ingredients and shudder) But their appeal is convenience and price. Any of the Healthy Choice brand dinners I�ve tried pretty much make me want to puke. Their sauces are thin and watery, and their meat tastes like plastic to me. Lean Cuisine is o.k. I can tolerate their Glazed Chicken tenderloin meal or the Roasted Potatoes w/broccoli and cheddar cheese sauce in a pinch. But of all the �light� frozen foods I�ve tried, Smart Ones (a weight-watcher�s brand) has the best flavor, texture, and variety. (with exception of Amy�s of course) 1st runner up - Smart Ones Broccoli Cheese Potato. It�s a baked potato, smothered in cheese sauce and broccoli pieces. Then I dice up some turkey breast to throw in there, and top it off with a tablespoon of fat free sour cream. I usually eat this with a fresh apple, or a small side salad to make a complete meal. 2nd runner up - Smart Ones Shrimp Alfredo bowl. Picture linguine noodles tossed with Alfredo sauce, shrimp, onions and veggies... I love to eat this with a big serving of steamed broccoli stirred into it. 3rd runner up - Smart Ones Veggie Lasagna. This lasagna is layered with ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, zucchini, onions and carrots then smothered in a good tomato sauce. Again----with the side salad. 4th runner up - Smart Ones Tuna Noodle Casserole. This speaks for itself. Its very creamy, tuna-ey, and topped with those buttered breadcrumbs we all love so much. There�s nary a vegetable in sight with this one though. Sometimes I�ll throw some frozen spinach on top of this one before I pop it in the microwave - so it has some actual nutrition. 5th runner up - Smart Ones Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans. What can I say? Beans and rice form a perfect protein. And these happen to be covered with a jalapeno sour cream sauce that�s spiiizzzy and indulgently rich. This dish is good, but often leaves me craving tortillas to sop up the remaining cream sauce. Luckily, my forefinger works just as well and has far less calories. Now - onto the world of Gardenburger. I must say that I�m not entirely thrilled with Gardenburgers in general. And although the guy that owns Gardenburger was a neighbor of mine (what a cooool house!), I have to generally give them a thumbs down for taste. Most of their Gardenburgers taste like a potato patty to me with some onions thrown in for good measure. However - there are two products that I�d like to say KUDOS to Gardenburger for. 1st - Gardenburger �Riblets�. These mildly spicy, tangy, sweet, barbeque-sauce-drenched meatless ribs are truly worth trying. As one of the reviewers on the Gardenburger site says, �This is the best goddamn thing ever made. You weirdos at Gardenburger rule.� - Thanks, Brian. I pretty much have to agree. I cook this riblet according to package directions. Then I toast two slices of 100% whole wheat bread & spread one side with fat free mayo, lettuce leaves, chopped red onion, and a slice of tomato. I sandwich the riblet in between all of this, cut it in half and go to town. Its messy, but totally awesome!! And very very filling. (Granted, it�s a little higher in calories than some of my lunches, but I�m full from it until dinnertime.) 2nd - Gardenburger �Meatless Meatballs�. These little puppies are addicting, so it can be hard to stick to the serving sizes. But even if you double the serving size to 12 meatballs...you�re still getting a good deal calorie-wise. (220 cals) I�ve had these with pasta sauce & noodles. But the way I love them is on a whole wheat roll, drizzled with marinara sauce, topped with low-fat mozzarella, & broiled to perfection. Yum!! Next I�d like to shed some light on a little place I call Morning Star Farms... Its hard to believe that mini-corn dogs, meatless buffalo wings, and soy breakfast strips could come from a farm. Maybe they have little soy chikens and little soy cowz running around... BUT - whenever I eat these products, I try not to look at the ingredients list on the back....its pretty scary. No, I take that back, its f-ing frightening!! The things they can do with soy now is incredible though. I�m not saying these are healthy choices by any means. These foods are loaded with TVP, additives, and crap crap crap. The benefit of eating these foods would be when you compare them to the high-fat, chock-full-o�-meat originals and some of them aren�t really any better. 1st - Morningstar Buffalo Wings. Oh, my, gosh. These are deadly good. They are flaming hot though, the kind of hot that burns so good you have to keep eating them to keep the burn at bay. I�ll dunk these in fat free ranch dressing to tame the burn, and eat them with a baked potato and some veggies. They are best cooked in the oven, where they can get really crisp and crunchy. If you don�t like things spicy, try the chikn nuggets instead but I don�t think they�re as good. 2nd - Morning Star Ground Meatless Crumbles. Calorie-wise, at 60cals per � cup, it doesn�t get any better than this. You gotta dress these crumbles up though. Season them with cumin, jalapenos, green chilies, salt & pepper and sauteed onion and they make a great taco or burrito filling. I�ve stirred them into pasta sauce, made vegetarian shepherds pie with them, and formed them into a meat-loaf looking thing. All of which were very tasty. You have to get creative with these, but there�s usually a recipe or two on the back of the bag. At zero fat and such low calories, it makes �hamburger� type meals more accessible to those of us watching our weight. I could go on about Morning Star Farms products, as I�ve tried a lot of them. But I don�t think they are very healthy. I resort to the Buffalo wings whenever I�m craving fried chicken or chicken nuggets, figuring they must be better than the real thing. The crumbles are good for anyone who likes hamburger but can�t take the cholesterol or calories in regular hamburger, or when cooking for a vegetarian friend. (The Shepherds Pie I make wins them over every time..) If you�re going completely for taste - I also suggest the Finally, I have to say something about a food I eat and use about 4 times a week. Some stores carry these in the frozen section, while others stock them in the refrigerator section. While egg subsitutes are okay - there�s always this strange *off* aftertaste in the back of my mouth when I eat them. I suppose that�s why they are only 99.9% real eggs and not 100%. Whatever is in that other .1 % makes me wanna gag. So, just when I thought I could never enjoy eggs again - I found the alternative. Egg Whites by Egg Beaters. To see these up close, click on the �what�s new� link on the Egg Beaters web site. These are a life-saver!! Not only do they taste perfectly natural, they don�t have any phony colors in them. It does take a little getting used to - perfectly snow-white omelets and scrambles... But imagine healthy egg dishes with none of the weird flavors associated with egg substitutes plus you�ll never have to figure out what to do with the leftover egg yolks again! They are a good source of protein, completely fat free, and low calorie. They are a staple in my house now. It seems I could go on and on.... but I�ll spare you. Basically, try to remember that frozen foods need to take the back shelf to fresh fruits, veggies, lean protein sources, good fats, legumes and carbs. Most of you know this already, and probably use frozen dinners as a quick meal when you�re running out of time. But my best advice is to urge you to only eat them when you honestly don�t have time or resources to eat real food. This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend a few weeks ago. She said to me something to the effect of, �I eat crap for dinner every night, and I�m gaining weight because of it.� She went on to explain that if she is offered a healthy, balanced meal, she�d choose that over the cereal or the cookies every time. She explained how she�s unhappy about the weight she�s put on (about 15 pounds), and wishes she could lose it. I told her to stop and listen to herself. She said two very important things there that really hit home. First, she said that if she had a healthy meal sitting in front of her, she�d eat it every time over the junk food. Secondly, she said that she�s really unhappy about her weight but doesn�t know how to lose it. It was so obvious to me, that I couldn�t help but point it out. I told her bluntly, �You need to take the time to cook for yourself.� She sat there, stunned, like I was telling her to go climb a mountain or something. I mean, yes, it IS easier to grab a frozen pizza, or eat 10 cookies and a glass of milk for dinner. But there is a price to be paid for that. And if you really want to lose weight you have your answer right in front of you. Apply it to your life, and watch those pounds melt away. Then feel good about those extra 30 minutes your spending on your health every day. I don�t know if she will do this. But I think a lot of people get caught up in eating fast foods and/or frozen foods out of being pressed for time. We all live busy lives. If you are incorporating exercise into your life, you may have already had to sacrifice some of your precious time for this. Some of you have children and a family and a career and it really doesn�t leave much for the preparation of food and cooking. Maybe you say you don�t know how to cook, you don�t like to cook, or you aren�t very good at it. Perhaps you don�t eat enough throughout the day, so by the time you get home you�re making poor decisions based on low-blood sugar and a deep knawing in your gut. Honestly? You only need minimal cooking skills to eat healthy, and most meals don�t require more than 20-30 minutes of your time. And, just like your exercise, its something that you have to make a priority in your life...before t.v. for instance. Plus, there are ways to save time in healthy cooking. Salads come pre-washed and bagged, ready to be dumped into a bowl. Frozen veggies are easy and almost as good for you as the fresh ones. Fruit is the perfect, no-fuss dessert that comes in its own edible package!! BUY A GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL!!! They come in single bachelor sizes, and family sizes. I don�t own one, but would love to. You don�t have to know how to cook to use a George Foreman grill. Just throw a chicken breast, a fish fillet, a pork loin chop, a steak, some marinated veggies on that thing and you have yourself a meal in minutes. Get yourself a 30-minute healthy foods cookbook or get on the net and find tons of time-saving, healthy recipes for free. And in the instances that you must eat frozen foods, try to catch a sale on the organics in the �health-food� section if you can. Most of those meals don�t cost more than $3.50 each. Consider how many times you�ve went to McDonalds and blew $3.50 on a quarter pounder & fries!? Ultimately, you will spend a bit more time in the kitchen than if you just pop a frozen dinner in the microwave....I won�t lie to you. But there is such a health benefit from eating real, whole foods that it completely obliterates the time-saving factor if you ask me. And leftovers can serve as a lunch the next day, or your hubby�s lunch. There is a direct connection when you touch, wash, chop and prepare your own foods from scratch. It�s a way to maintain an awareness there that would otherwise be lost when some factory somewhere prepares your food. Not to mention you can feel good about spending a little time each day to make your life better, to make your health better, and over time you�ll feel better. Not ready for that kind of commitment? Understandable. Start small. Pick one new, easy recipe a week and cook that for you and/or your family. Start adding fresh foods to your frozen lunches....a side of steamed broccoli or an apple. Instead of eating a sugary cereal (a nutritionally void substance in my opinion) for breakfast, eat some oats with a banana on top and a slice of 100% whole grain toast. Or try the �heather mader�s fast egg-beaters breakfast� on my new recipe page. (It only takes a few minutes and its easy. Grab a can of Health Valley Spicy Black Bean chili and pour it into a bowl and press �2 minutes� on the microwave. Its unbelievably good for you, full of fiber, and you can pronounce every single thing that�s on the very short ingredients list. I know it takes time, and you�re tired, and you�re lazy...(did I say that in my out-loud voice!?) But you owe it to yourself. You deserve it. And the bottom line is - your body will thank you a thousand times over. I promise. 2:05 p.m. - 4/11/02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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