Posts Tagged ‘healthy rethink’

During a hair cut yesterday my stylist asked what I was working on lately at work. “Christmas cookies” I replied. She groaned “Oh my Goddd, how do you not weigh 800lbs? Being surrounded by all that all day?” This is something that comes up occasionally when people first find out what I do. I am by no means a skinny girl, but I’m also not that overweight. My answer: lots of working out, everything in moderation, and cutting as many corners as I can during my non-work hours eating.

This light banana bread is a great example. Cue Sunday morning: lazily waking up and brewing a pot of coffee, seeing I have a bunch of overly ripe bananas on my counter. Banana bread is the #1 solution, but I always try to eat super healthy at home, so I start to backpedal. But reconsider, and attempt to make it healthy..er.

Starting with a Cooking Light recipe is a great foundation. But theirs was portioned out to 20 slices. 20 slices? They would be paper thin. I need a REAL slice, thank you. So I futzed. I played. And this bread slices into 12 pieces at 155 calories a piece. Victory! Plus it tastes delicious to boot. Fragrant and spicy from the cinnamon and unbelievably moist considering the low amount of fat and dairy in it. It’s all about cutting corners in everything but flavor in the end. And this does it perfectly.

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Salty and crunchy. The two characteristics I look for in my favorite kind of after-work snack. Usually the first thing I do when I get home from work is unload my crap, wash off my make-up, and open a bag of chips to munch on while I unwind. Although I’ve been good lately snacking on Popchips or other healthy alternatives, I decided to step up my game and get even healthier with these tasty treats.

Kale chips are pretty hot right now considering they have practically no calories, are incredibly crunchy, and have a pretty awesome flavor profile. You can make them as salty or spicy as you like, and they’re perfect for satisfying that salty-crunchy tooth. I’m trying to get back on the super healthy eating wagon since I started doing morning work-outs again and can actually control what I eat nowadays. Snacks like this really help, and I hope they do the same for you.

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I’m tempted to create a tag which reads “Slow Cooker Sunday” since that’s all I seem to be doing lately, but it’s just so perfect for my life (and food cravings) right now, y’all just have to roll with me for awhile.

I know this is far from what a real cassoulet is (mmm pork fat) but let’s just call this a lightened, long-cooked homage to the French classic. You still get the meaty, rich white beans and aromatics with vegetables, but just a whole lot less pork and fat. I’m just on a mad hunt for any slow cooker stews that are figure-friendly but also very filling, and let me tell you, it’s harder than it seems, so this recipe was a delightful surprise.

Be sure to leave your vegetables very chunky and thickly cut for this recipe. If you slice them too thin or small they’ll disintegrate over the long cooking period (same with the sausage, which I just add at the end). If you’re vegetarian, feel free to use meatless Italian sausage or just add more beans to make this a little heartier.