TSG on HealthDecide -- "Healthy tips for making it through the summer without packing on the pounds!"

I was honored to be asked to author a post for Health Decide, part of Orca Health and provide some healthy tips for how to avoid extra pounds this summer.  Enjoy!

Ah, summer. Rocking on the porch swing, lazing by the pool, sipping lemonade….sound familiar? It doesn’t? Not to me, either!

Nope, my summer is spent frantically running between work and play, desperately trying to keep everyone cool, fed and entertained. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a complaint. My summer is jam packed with mini adventures, boating, and the sea breeze to keep us cool. Unfortunately, it also ends up packed with junk food. Consequently, my shorts end up packed with me. Ugh.

Why is it that the hottest months of the year – the ones in which we are wearing the least – are the ones we end up eating the most? For the picnics, parties and vacations we need ice cream, fried chicken (I live in the South!) and beer. I don’t eat like this the rest of the year, why now? Because everything is a special occasion. That’s my justification and I’m sticking to it. Or rather, it’s sticking to me.

I’m definitely in once-in-a-while denial. In the summer, my special occasions happen all too often. Fried chicken on the boat isn’t a big deal if it’s really once-in-a-while. But we use the boat every weekend. That means fried chicken every weekend. And all the “grab food” that goes with it – potato chips, carby corn on the cob, high calorie drinks, boiled peanuts (again, I live in the South!). You get the idea. Your “special occasion” food might be a bit different than mine, but I bet it follows the same lines. With summer comes socializing and with socializing comes eating. It’s the American way!

In our house, I’m the CFO – Chief Food Officer. Therefore, it’s my job to plan ahead and make sure that everyone is fed. Coming up with easy and healthy take-along “grab food” is tough, especially when we’re always in a hurry. I’ve devised a couple tips that I may not always follow, but I try to make the norm. This way, the special occasions really are special and my pants still fit.

• The next time you grill chicken (boneless, skinless breasts, of course!), make extra. The next day, slice it up and take it with you. No need to reheat – cold grilled chicken is delicious, easy to eat, full of healthy protein and NOT FRIED.
• Stick to the veggie tray like white on rice (basmati rice, of course – as low as brown rice on the glycemic index!). Heading to a party? Not sure if there will be a veggie tray? Bring one. Summer party hosts often request that their guests bring a dish, so I always volunteer for the veggie tray. That way, I don’t have to worry about what I’ll fill up on.
• There’s no scarcity of fresh produce around this time of year, so use that to your advantage. Instead of filling your beach bag with chips and cheese puffs, opt for cut up fruits. Trust me, the kids will devour those cherries, grapes and hunks of watermelon and you won’t have to feel the least bit of guilt.
• Pot luck? Sunday dinner at your house? Try this recipe. It’s comfort food at its best, but with a secret ingredient that makes this version guilt-free. With only 195 calories in ¾-cup (that’s a big helping!), this version has a fraction of the fat and calories you’ll find in most traditional recipes. Enjoy!

The Svelte Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese 
Serves 8

7 oz elbow or shell pasta (NOT whole wheat)
4 cups cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups lowfat (2%) shredded sharp cheddar or cheese blend
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2/3 cup 2% milk (skim would make the fat and calories even lower!)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp butter, melted 
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
butter spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain well. Steam cauliflower florets until very soft, drain well. Let pasta and cauliflower cool a bit while you prepare the other ingredients. Shred the cheese if it’s not pre-shredded. Beat the milk, egg and salt together in a small bowl. Mix the melted butter with the panko in another bowl.

Mash the cauliflower with a potato masher, a whisk, or whatever you have handy. Mix it with the pasta until well combined, being careful not to break up the noodles. Take a pinch of each of the cheeses and toss them with the panko/butter. Set aside. Combine the rest of the cheese with the pasta and cauliflower. Spray the bottom and sides of your casserole dish lightly with spray butter, then spread the mixture evenly in your casserole dish. Pour the milk/egg/salt mixture over the top. With your mixing spoon, carefully stir and fold until the milk mixture is combined with the pasta/cauliflower. Sprinkle with the panko/butter/cheese mixture and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes or until the top just starts to brown. Voila!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your summer! For more healthy tips and tricks or to purchase The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook, visit www.thesveltegourmet.blogspot.com.

Vegetable hide-and-seek...and other life lessons.

I tend to get really hung up on the little things. I let them bring me down. Maybe it’s winter blues (if you can call average Charleston temps in the 60s “winter”) or maybe it’s these five pounds of stubborn Christmas weight that just won’t fall off. Whatever it is, I need to snap out of it.

It’s true, the world will not end if I retain this five pounds. It does make me feel a bit hypocritical that I don’t always practice what I preach – but maybe that’s part of the reason you can all relate to me. Maybe this 5 pounds is part of my charm (in the form of a second chin), but I’m determined to lose it! But again, here I go getting hung up on the little things.

Last week I got an email from a reader, and it made me take a step back and remember why I started down this path in the first place. To help people. To teach people about the basics and provide them with ideas for transforming nutritious foods into tasty meals on which to build a healthy lifestyle. The letter said this:

Hello,

My name is Adrianne, and I am a huge fan of your cookbook and blog! I have made quite a few of your recipes, and I really love how easy and flavorful they are. That being said, I am currently starting a new project, and I would love to use one of your recipes for it.

My husband, Michael Liu, is currently a pediatric resident at the Children's Hospital of Oakland in California. This hospital and its doctors are actively involved in the fight against childhood obesity, and one of the ways they have approached this problem is by bringing the farmer's market to the hospital (http://www.phatbeetsproduce.org/farmers-markets/north-oakland-children%E2%80%99s-hospital/). Parents of patients at the Healthy Hearts Clinic (a clinic that prevents and treats childhood obesity and related illnesses) can receive vouchers that they then use to buy fresh produce at the farmer's market.

My husband and I have been inspired to take this a step further. The farmer's market and the vouchers do a great job of enabling access to healthy, fresh produce, but what about after the families buy these foods? Part of the problem is that people often aren't familiar with certain types of vegetables and don't know how they can incorporate them into their meals in a tasty way. So, our idea is to print recipe cards that can be given away for free at relevant stands at the farmer's market or at the Healthy Hearts Clinic.

We would love to use your recipe for Svelte Macaroni & Cheese. We have personally made this recipe several times, and we think it is a great example of how we can get kids to eat their veggies using a dish that they are already familiar with. We would of course give you and your blog credit on the recipe card, and I want to stress again that we are simply making these available for FREE.

Please let me know if this is okay with you, and if so, whether you have any requirements about how we should give you credit.

Thanks so much for reading this email, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Adrianne Rosales

I’m inspired again. I realize that what might be obvious to me isn’t always obvious to others. If you don’t know what to do with a head of wholesome cauliflower, I’ll teach you! Hide it in macaroni and cheese! Experimenting with recipes and spending the day in the kitchen is a joy for me. And if you think I’m crazy, that’s fine. If this isn’t your idea of fun, I’ll do the legwork and you can enjoy the cheesy reward!

Teaching the kids about healthy eating is ingrained in me. I can’t help but explain the food as they’re putting it in their mouths (Mom, I’m so you!). Taylor seems genuinely interested (most of the time) and Courtney’s disdain shows on her face. But hey, we juiced everything in the fridge last weekend and she drank banana-flavored spinach. I win.

Staying healthy and fit can seem like rocket science. Restrictive diets where all carbs are off limits, you only eat one type of food, or you ingest everything in the form of a liquid. You count calories (in and out!), take supplements, or eat certain foods at certain times of the day. This isn’t real life and you can’t sustain it.

Let’s bring it back to basics. The foundation is this – eat less, exercise more. Get moving. Eat whole foods and eliminate preservatives by cooking at home. Watch the salt, fat and sugar. Watch your portions – stop when you’re no longer hungry, not when you have to put on your elastic pants. (This, I've figured out, is my problem. I eat every meal as if it's my last. We get three a day, for crying out loud! Put down the fork!)

Do I need a system reset when I over-indulge? A few days or weeks of restrictive eating to get back on track? Yes, I do. That’s life. Don’t beat yourself up. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And I promise, you can go the distance!

So what’s my point? I guess it’s that if we build a foundation of healthy eating, the rest will fall into place. If we teach our kids how to eat right, they’ll take that lesson with them as they grow up and leave the nest. Their battle won’t be so hard. I am inspired by Adrianne and Michael’s mission. I can’t wait to hear how it goes…and I’ll be sure to share it with you!

Let’s help them – and each other! If you feel so inclined, please post your kid-friendly, wholesome recipes in the comments below. We could all use a little more inspiration!

Thank you for reading. I’m truly honored by your responses to what I have to say. And if you need an extra nudge to get rid of your holiday pounds, consider The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses. Hide all that health food in something yummy!

Recipe Makeover #1 - Svelte Macaroni & Cheese!

What?! Yes, you heard that correctly. Traditional, homemade baked macaroni and cheese. YUM!

I'm saying "yum!" now, but this week in The Svelte Gourmet test kitchen did NOT run as smoothly as usual. Last week, as you may remember, I blogged about eating at home and sending in your favorite "not-so-svelte" recipes for a makeover. Many of you jumped on the opportunity to send me scrambling! And I'll tell you, this one was certainly a challenge.

The suggestion for a lightened version of mac 'n cheese came from Amanda Cook, creator of one of my favorite blogs, Vintage Savoir Faire. Taking a cue from her tag line, I tried my best to make my great-grandmothers proud! But it wasn't easy...

So first, let's break it down. What is macaroni and cheese? Well, first there's macaroni. Pasta. Not svelte, especially when consumed in large quantities, since one ounce has 100 calories. And cheese. Oh, glorious cheese! Cheese is quite good for you if you exercise portion control -- but just one ounce (yes, ONE!) of most cheeses packs a whopping 100 calories. So what do we have? A dish based solely on pasta and cheese (each 100 calories per ounce). And I promised you I'd try to keep it under 200 calories per serving, so already you can see the challenge!

Since Amanda didn't have a specific recipe in mind and there are a million ways to make this traditional dish, I browsed some of my favorite cooking websites -- both gourmet and home style -- to figure out some common themes with mac 'n cheese. Here's what I found to be average for most of the recipes that serve 8 as a side dish (1/2 to 1 cup serving size):

1. 2-3 cups of cheese (one TV chef's recipe had 6 cups of cheese -- for 6 servings! Ahhh!)
2. At least 4 tablespoons of butter (at 100 calories per tablespoon!)
3. A cup of whole milk or sometimes heavy cream (gasp!)
4. 4 tablespoons of flour (often cooked with the butter to make a roux)
5. Varying amounts of breadcrumbs
6. Typically 8-12 ounces of pasta
7. About half the recipes included at least 2 eggs

So let's say that this is our recipe. Calculating this conservatively (with 2 1/2 cups of cheese, milk instead of cream, etc.), I get 433 calories and 20 grams of fat per serving! For a side dish! Does your recipe resemble this one? Yikes!

So how in the world am I supposed to make a dish that has virtually NOTHING healthy in it "svelte?" Let's just say I started on Sunday and we've had failed mac 'n cheese every night this week. But I never give up!

I started the week fully believing I could perform miracles. Let's just take all the bad stuff out, add some healthy (and sneaky!) substitutions, and OF COURSE it will taste authentic. Makes sense, right?! And of course I have to make it gourmet. That's what I was going for originally, so my first version starred Gruyere and white truffle oil. YUM! At least that's what I hoped. Trying to make a roux with whole wheat flour just wasn't a good idea. The Gruyere is usually a stand-out flavor, but it was overshadowed by the faulty roux. The truffle oil added a nice touch, but that was about the only redeeming quality. NEXT!

OK, so the next night, humbled, I went back to the old standbys. No more showboating. I have to get it right this time! So I went with cheddar, but instead of a lot of regular cheddar, I opted for considerably less "extra sharp" cheddar. I thought the best way to get it to coat the pasta, since I didn't have that much cheese to work with, was to make a cheese sauce. So off I went, heating the milk (I skipped the roux after the first incident!), and melting the cheese. I wanted to use whole grain pasta, since you know I prefer whole grains over those stripped of their fiber. Oh, and I thought a little crushed red pepper would give it a nice pop of flavor.

Well. What I had this time was what tasted like chili pepper and wheat, with maybe a hint of cheese somewhere in there. Dry as a bone, too. Where did all the cheese sauce go?!?! Foiled again!

One more shot...I figured if it didn't work this time, I would have to just tell you to eat less (or none!) of the real stuff. That would have gone over like a lead balloon, I'm sure! So I had to do a little compromising. After all, you're looking for comfort food, and I really wanted to deliver.

Tonight, my friends, I had success! I loved the end result and Keith said it tasted like real mac 'n cheese! It was the perfect texture, full of flavor, and not at all dry! And get ready for this -- it has less than half the calories and a quarter of the fat of our traditional recipe above! At only 195 calories and 5 grams of fat per 3/4 cup serving (that's big!), consider Macaroni & Cheese made over! Now promise me that you'll read the whole recipe and don't be alarmed by the secret ingredient! I'll explain at the end!

The Svelte Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese
Serves 8

7 oz elbow or shell pasta (NOT whole wheat)
4 cups cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups lowfat (2%) shredded cheddar or cheese blend (I used lowfat 4-cheese Mexican blend and it was fabulous!)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2/3 cup 2% milk (skim would make the fat and calories even lower!)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp butter, melted
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
butter spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain well. Steam cauliflower florets until very soft, drain. Let pasta and cauliflower cool a bit while you prepare the other ingredients. Shred the cheese if it's not pre-shredded. Beat the milk, egg and salt together in a small bowl. Mix the melted butter with the panko in another bowl.

Mash the cauliflower with a potato masher, a whisk, or whatever you have handy. Mix it with the pasta until well combined, being careful not to break up the noodles. Take a pinch of each of the cheeses and toss them with the panko/butter. Set aside. Combine the rest of the cheese with the pasta and cauliflower. Spray the bottom and sides of your casserole dish lightly with spray butter, then spread the mixture evenly in your casserole dish. Pour the milk/egg/salt mixture over the top. With your mixing spoon, carefully stir and fold until the milk mixture is combined with the pasta/cauliflower. Sprinkle with the panko/butter/cheese mixture and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes or until the top just starts to brown. Voila!

OK, hold on. Who said anything about Macaroni-Cauliflower & Cheese? That's cheating! But trust me on this, you will not be able to taste the cauliflower at all. I had it in all three versions, and despite how terrible the first two were, Keith had no idea there were veggies in any of it. The bite of the cauliflower disappears and it melts into that lovely, cheesy, custardy texture that you're looking for. Try it! I think you'll be surprised. It adds volume to the dish with negligible calories, and you won't even know it's there! Magic!

Is this version as good as the "real thing?" Some may think so, some may not. But try it and then ask yourself this -- is the fattening one really worth it? 433 calories and 20 grams of fat? Maybe for a special dinner, but at least with this new one, you can enjoy it more than once a year without the guilt!

I truly hope you enjoy this recipe -- I wouldn't have dared attempt mac 'n cheese if it weren't for Amanda's suggestion, and I hope you all continue to share your suggestions and ideas with us! Thank you, Amanda!

For more "magic" recipes, try The Svelte Gourmet: A Month of Main Courses cookbook, available at www.thesveltegourmet.com/products.html.

Enjoy!