Good Food Made Better: January 2012

"Good Food Made Better"

I have really enjoyed cooking lately. After years and years of a “love-hate” relationship with food, I began my quest to modify favorite foods and recipes to yield healthier results. In the past, at times when I felt the need to drop extra pounds, I would turn to those specialty food products, guaranteed to be so disgusting you’d lose weight simply because you couldn’t stand to eat them… The alternative was to eat a deprived and boring diet – with the occasional splurge which left me feeling guilty.

I felt there had to b a better way! There must be a way to incorporate those foods I love so much into a healthy way of eating. I set about tinkering with recipes to develop healthier alternatives – lower fat, higher protein, less sugar/carbs, more fiber, etc… But without sacrificing flavor.

It has been a journey of much trial and error. Many times I’ll go through a recipe 3 or 4 times, each flop improving on the last, until I have a perfected recipe. At times, it has been more “science experiment” than anything! But I have had some great success, and I’m so happy to share.

No more “forbidden foods”, no more guilt…

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Cheese Blintz Crepes - Low Carb/High Protein

Oh yeah baby! Crepes aren't just for Mother's Day anymore!
These are so good, no one will know how healthy they are. Healthy enough for any diet, but yummy enough for special occasions - but why restrict yourself to one day a year? You're special EVERY day!

Filling one serving-multiply recipe for more servings
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup reduced fat ricotta
splenda to taste
1-2 drops almond or vanilla extract

Crepes (makes about 8 crepes)
1 cup Bob's Lowcarb Baking Mix
3/4-1 cup milk
4 eggs
40g protein powder of choice
splenda to taste (3-4 packets)

Warm filling in microwave and stir well. Sometimes the cottage cheese makes the mix watery. I have been using 1 tablespoon of coconut flour to absorb the moisture.

Blend crepe ingredients in blender. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto a hot, nonstick pan sprayed well with Pam. Turn over when the top looks almost cooked. Crepe will only need to cook for less than a minute on the other side.

Fill crepes with cheese filling and top with fruit of choice!

Nutrition info for 2 crepes and filling:
calories - 450
carbs - 29g
fat - 15g
protein - 55g

Defatted Coconut

I'm always on the lookout for "better" ingredients. Coconut is one of those things that usually don't fit into my diet because they're coated in sugar and high in fat. Let's Do...Organic is a company that puts out, among other things, partially defatted coconut. This stuff is great in lots of things - cookies, cakes, pancakes, coconut cream pie, etc. The nutrition profile is much better than the other stuff!