I lost a fair bit of weight recently, due in part to intense exercise, but the last 10 pounds mainly to a careful diet. The main rules of this diet were limit carbohydrates after the morning meal, get lots of protein and vegetables, minimize fat, and eliminate refined sugar. This is a reducing diet, not a maintentance diet, meaning I don't have to live the rest of my life so ascetically, but did need to do so for a few months. Here are some tricks I collected to get me through things.
- Chicken
- Oven-broiled chicken - I found oven-broiling strikes a great medium between flavour and energy costs. I cut a chicken up as for frying, toss it with salt, pepper, and a little oil, then distribute the pieces, skin side up, in a broiler pan. Instead of broiling, bake at 400 °F for around 30 - 40 minutes, until done. Allow the fat to drain off and remove the skin before eating (though if you're not on a diet, the skin is delicious).
- Chicken salad - Chicken salad gets old a lot less fast than plain chicken. I eat it on a dressed salad or in sandwiches. The trick to making this healthy is to substitute lowfat yogurt for the mayonnaise in most recipes.I think it tastes just as good.
- Mature chicken - When I can I buy a mature chicken. It's almost twice the weight, for the same price, as a roaster. I cut it into pieces as for frying and simmer it in salted water to cover 3 - 4 hours. After I take it out I remove the skin and discard the bones; the meat I use in any cooked chicken application. The meat isn't as tasty on its own as a roasted chicken so it's better for salad, pot pie, crèpe fillings, etc.
- Crèpes - Crèpes transform leftovers, and are reasonably healthy. Many things that you're getting tired of can be rolled into a crèpe and taste a lot better.
- Vinaigrette - my salad dressing uses less oil than a classic vinaigrette, and is very strong so you don't use much. Toss as thinly as possible with salad greens. It can be used to season vegetables (e.g., broccoli), though sometimes they absorb more than desired.
- Béchamel sauce - it's amazing how a little Béchamel sauce goes a long way to liven up a boring meal. I'll pour it over the top of a "florentine" meal like chicken or fish with spinach on top. Or I'll use it as a cream sauce for leftover scraps of meat or vegetables and roll it in a crèpe.
- Whole wheat bread - For a while I was rigorously avoiding carbohydrates and not eating bread. Once I lost the weight, I resumed, but be sure to stick to 100% whole wheat bread, made with a minimum of added fat and sweetener.
- Yogurt - homemade from 1% milk, plus 1/2 cup milk powder per quart.
- Peanut butter - if my meal hasn't quite filled me up, or I'm really feeling hungry between meals, a spoon of peanut butter can go a long way. In Canada, natural peanut butter (without additional fat and sugar) is unsalted; I add 1/2 tsp salt to a 16-oz jar when stirring it together after first opening.
- Keeping costs down
- Frozen foods - certain foods come out just as well cooked from frozen as from fresh, and greatly cheaper and of more consisent quality. Vegetables that I have found are good to prefer frozen are spinach, peas, corn. Vegetables that I do not cook from frozen include broccoli.
- Canned foods - canned tomatoes are just as good and far cheaper when used in any cooking application, unless it's the height of summer and you have a surplus in your own garden. I usually use diced and crushed tomatoes, not usually whole or puréed.
- Dried beans are wholesome, filling, and cheap. They take some planning, as they must be soaked 8 hours (I am not a fan of the 1-hour "quick soak" method) and then cooked 1 - 2 hours. But they are practically free.
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