Sushi Cheat-Sheets

It has taken me a while to jump on the sushi bandwagon.  I would try it if someone else offered me a piece, but I never had a desire to go and get sushi.  Until now.  Something changed and now I really love sushi.  Maybe it’s the fact that the two places I’ve tried sushi in Kansas City were both amazingly delicious.  And then I found some in my workplaces’ cafeteria.  Win for them.

But then the questions start popping up in my head.  How much sodium is in this?  What is the calorie count?  Can sushi be made to order or is it something that you don’t mess with and eat as is?  I did some investigating and found some good information.  Several sites recommended asking to switch the white rice with a  brown rice, avoid “tempura” dishes, and be cautious of spicy dishes.  Spicy generally means a higher calorie count (although there are always exceptions).  A common thought about sushi is that it is a low-calorie food.  But the per-roll calorie count can vary greatly from 140-500 calories.  Some top picks for rolls that are lower in calories per six pieces and a little lower in sodium are:

• Veggie Roll
• Tuna (Maguro) Roll
• Avocado Roll
• Cucumber Roll
• Salmon and Avocado Roll
• Yellowtail Nigiri
• Shrimp Nigiri
• Rainbow Roll
• Salmon Cucumber Roll
• Mackerel Roll
• Sashimi

I’m guilty of ordering two-three different kinds of sushi every time I’ve had it.  I want a variety of flavors to try and it’s just so easy to order several.  However, that means I’m eating two-three servings for one meal.  One website had this to say about serving size:

Portion size is very important when it comes to sushi. For most types, six pieces is considered one roll, or one serving. Since each piece is practically bite-sized it’s easy to eat a bigger portion than you mean to. So stick to six pieces and add a salad, steamed veggies, or a bowl of soup.

Below are some good websites I found that offer great guidelines.  The first link is an easy to follow list of what’s good and what’s bad on sushi menu’s.  The second list is a compilation of “6 Best Low-Calorie Sushi Rolls” that breaks down their nutritional information.

http://www.eatingrules.com/2011/03/healthy-sushi-options/

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/6-best-low-calorie-sushi-rolls

Honey Lime Tilapia

I tried this dish a long time ago and realized I never posted about it.  When I find a recipe I like, I automatically save it to my WordPress account and go back through to pick one to try.  I was going through all my draft posts this morning trying to find something for dinner and saw this one.  I don’t normally cook fish, but have been wanting to learn to expand my cooking horizons.

I remember not having a lime but having one of those small lime juice containers, so I used that.  When I made the marinade, it seemed like it wasn’t quite enough to cover my fish.  I would recommend adding a little bit of volume to it (don’t go nuts).  This dish was very refreshing and delicious.  Now it might be a little out of season, but I still would encourage you to try it!

Honey Lime Tilapia.

Grape Jelly Meatballs

A confession:  I didn’t actually try to make this recipe.  I found it on Pinterest and recognized it as a recipe my mother has been making for years, only with Little Smokies.  She would by two or three packages of the smokies, one jar of grape jelly, and one jar of chili sauce.  Mix together on the stove over medium-high heat, stir in meat and occasionally stir until meat is fully cooked.  This could also be done in a crock pot as the recipe suggests.

I’m sure this would be delicious with the turkey meatballs like the link calls for.  I just haven’t tried it.  But it’s truly that simple.  No need for extra spices or prep or anything.  Just one pot on the stove!

“Point-less” Meals: Grape Jelly Meatballs.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

I made these one morning a little apprehensively.  I love pancakes (especially with blueberries or chocolate chips in them) but was worried about the taste of the whole wheat flour.  I was also nervous because it’s been awhile since I’ve personally made pancakes and I was convinced that I would fail at flipping them and would end up burning them.

Fortunately, the only mistake was making two pancakes before I mixed in the blueberries (oops).  And I’m pleased to tell you that they were delightful.  We had no syrup in the house so I put some margarine on them and ate them basically plain.  My roommate put some honey on hers and said that they were delicious that way too.  I would love to try a flavored syrup with them (strawberry, maybe?) and see how that compliments.  If you do use syrup, make sure to go easy on the amount and try some lighter version.  There is no “healthy” syrup, but there are some that are better than others.  Read the nutrition label to find out.

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes Recipe – Allrecipes.com.

Spicing it Up

Kansas City has a great farmers market. One of my favorite aspects of it are the spices. There are a couple vendors that have so many types of spices. And for one to two dollars a scoop, I can try so many of them. I’ve tried Sweet ‘n’ Smoky, Applewood Smoked Hickory, Jamaican Jerk, Curry, Apple Pie, one made for seafood, one made for poultry, etc.

If you don’t have a farmers market near you, or maybe it doesn’t have any spices, check out some mom and pop shops around your city.  When I lived in St. Louis, down the street from me was a Penzeys Spices.  The walls were lined with spices and herbs and the shop always smelled delicious.  They even had some recipe cards throughout for a select few of their spices.

I’ve found that the easiest way for me to use them, is to just cover some pieces of chicken or fish with one and cook it on the stove. Add some vegetables and a starch and you have a fabulous meal.  I tried the Apple Pie flavoring in some oatmeal and it was very tasty.

If you ever have the opportunity to try some awesome spices, don’t hold back.  Try just a basic recipe to start and once you get an idea of how it tastes with other foods/spices, add it to your existing recipes or come up with some of your own.

Salsa Roll Ups – Weight Watchers

I made these for a Bachelorette pre-party (amongst other delicious finger foods) and they were a hit. Two roll ups are a serving and each serving is two Weight Watcher points.  They were super easy to make, just a little bit hard to keep together when moving them into my serving dish.

I did find it important to use a salsa with some good flavor to it.  The creme cheese will dilute some of the taste so it needs to be a bit strong to start.

Weight Watchers Salsa Roll Ups | chef in training.

Taking the Stairs

The company wide weight-loss competition that I’m participating has officially begun and so has my efforts towards winning. It was a rough start, however, because I caught some sort of bug.  I was coughing, sneezing, constantly tired, achy, and grouchy.  I typically gain weight when I’m sick so I was not looking forward to the first team weigh-in.  Luckily, I did manage to drop a couple pounds since my Starting Weight weigh-in, so I didn’t completely let my team down.   We’ve decided to try to weigh-in every Thursday to keep track of our progress.  I will not be posting weekly updates on that.  I will post monthly like I have before.

So what have I been doing to get healthy again?  I’ve been able to maintain my diet, so that hasn’t changed much.  And I sit in front of my computer all day while I’m work.  So I’ve had to find something to do.  And the easiest thing to change at work?  Taking the stairs.

The building that I work in has six floors and I’m stationed on the bottom level.  However, I often work with people on the fourth and fifth floors.  So there are three to four flights of stairs for each meeting.  What about did me in was a trip to the sixth floor.  I figured “hey, it’s only one more flight.  I can do that, no problem.”  Wrong.  By the time I got to the top of the stairs, I saw the health cricket congratulating me.  I have never had such a desire to rip down a sign and yell profanities at it.  I was out of breath for the first several minutes of my meeting and I realized how pathetic that was.  It had to change.

I’ve been continuing the stair habit and the health cricket’s face is getting less irritable.  Luckily I only see him when I have meetings on the sixth floor and those are few and far between.

Back At It!

I know it’s been months since my last post, but I’m back!  I’m moved to KC, I’ve started my new job, and gotten settled.  I have slacked in my visits to the gym, but I’ve kept up my diet and I’m proud to say that I’ve maintained my weight loss.

But now I need to stop slacking and get back to work!  The company I work for is doing a team-based weight loss competition and I am partaking.  The team that loses the highest combined weight percentage wins.  And I refuse to let my team down.

You can expect more recipes coming your way and more weigh-ins.  There are only two official weigh-ins for this competition, so I’ll be doing unofficial weigh-ins as I go.  So stayed tuned!

March Weigh-In

I know it’s already April, but this weigh-in counts for March.  My original weigh-in was scheduled for March, but we had to reschedule.  I’m not going to lie, I was worried about this month.  It was a stressful month in addition to a very fun St. Pat’s weekend at my Alma Mater (lets just say my diet was not even close to the front of my mind).

In addition to a stressful month, I was in the ER last week because of back pain.  My best friend was doing my hair (like we’ve done numerous times before) and my back began to get really sore.  When she was done putting the dye in, I stood up and could barely walk.  Every movement cause my back to scream at me.  I was leaning over a table with my bestie near me when I just fainted.  I woke up on the floor leaned against a side table squeezed between a wall and couch and her yelling at me to open my eyes.  After I came back around we called my parents.  Side note: no hair dye got anywhere on my furniture or floor (my bestie is just awesome that way).  So I am finally able to stand up so I get in the shower to wash out the dye (praying my hair doesn’t fall out because of how long the dye was on).  I am then whisked away to the ER to learn of a couple internal infections that caused the pain that lead to the fainting.

I am, obviously, fine.  But my weigh-in was suppose to be that week.  Since I couldn’t walk 30 minutes without my back being angry with me, we postponed the weigh-in for today, April 3rd.  We did, however, skip the plank and mile tests and just too measurements. So be sure to check it out and see how I did!

Skinny Cow

One day, an unassuming young woman was perusing the ice cream aisle at her local grocery in search of a decent option of ice cream to satisfy that cold, sweet tooth she had.  To her great surprise, she discovered Skinny Cow!  There were ice cream cups that were only 150 calories each, ice cream bars, ice cream sandwichs, and her heart just fluttered with excited.

Ok, so it wasn’t as dramatic as that.  But I’m so glad I came across these in ice cream aisle.  They are delicious and I’m actually able to satisfy my cold food desire with less than one serving (of course I could just be weird like that).  Skinny Cow also has candy available (although I could not locate it at my grocery store).  Below is a link to their website to see all of their products and their nutritional info.  As well as a link to an article that proclaimed Skinny Cow ice cream to be the #1 Best Packaged Food.  Check it out and be sure to try all the flavors.  I can’t pick a favorite.

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/desserts

http://www.skinnycow.com/