Variety is extremely important for my success in almost anything I do. So, I am determined to bring more variety to the food eat. If you like to cook in a healthy way, please help out by sharing a recipe or a cooking technique.

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I decided to play around with the “create movie” feature of the Flip video camera software. I tried not to go overboard with it, but I still had a little fun.

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My philosophy with the Nutrisystem foods is that there will be some foods you like and some foods you don’t. Luckily, you can just pick the ones you like (of course).

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I wouldn’t usually make a hot dog my first choice for lunch, especially a turkey hot dog. However, I am all for trying new things when it means adding variety to my diet.

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We spend so much of our lives eating.  We might as well eat food that we enjoy.  The trick is that we need to also eat food that is good for us.

A heathy eating plan is a great framework for eating great food.  A plan with a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will provide many options.  However, we sometimes want something more.

NutriSystem Select

I am following the NutriSystem Select plan, and there is a lot of variety within the plan.  The list of foods I can eat is very long.  Today, I had roasted carrots and roasted cauliflower.  Yesterday,  I had eggs, cheese and Nova.  Tomorrow I might have a lemon poppyseed muffin.

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Even with all this variety, there is still a desire to have something else.  It’s not that I want to abandon all of the good eating I have been doing.  Sometimes, I just would like to have something different, maybe even something a little fattening, possibly unhealthy.

Fast Food Commercials

I’ll admit it.  Fast food commercials work.  I see some of the new foods these restaurants are offering, and I want to try them.  They just make the food look so good.  I almost want to get in my car.

Wendy’s has some new wings.  Checkers now has wings, too.  The burger places are always introducing new and different types of burgers.  Sonic also has a whole bunch of interesting foods, too.  Pollo Tropical is great for something different.

Satisfying Cravings

I believe there is a better way to handle cravings for fast food.  Instead of always wanting to try the food and having to constantly deny yourself, give yourself permission to enjoy the foods in some quantity.

I wouldn’t start having fast food everyday, but I think it can be enjoyed it in a limited amount.  Perhaps, a visit just once a week is not that bad, or every two weeks.  Just something that satisfies the craving, in a disciplined way, without destroying all of the hard work.

Other Favorite Foods

One of my favorite breakfast foods is eggs benedict.  However, one breakfast portion can get crazy with the calories.  Think of the english muffin, the two poached eggs, and the Canadian bacon.  Then, add the hollandaise sauce.  Serve it with home fries, and it the meal can be a disaster.  (I personally like Irish Eggs Benedict – corned beef hash instead of ham).

How do you still enjoy this food?  I suggest making it at home in a healthy way.  By using a whole-wheat English muffin and turkey instead of ham, you will be improving the nutritional value of this meal.  The hollandaise sauce will be a challenge, since it is mostly butter.  However, a small amount might just be enough.

What ideas do you have to satisfy your cravings while maintaining a healthy eating plan?

When I first started NutriSystem Advanced last June, the meal planner suggested eating salad vegetables with lunch.  Those vegetables include cucumbers, cabbage, and mushrooms.  They were meant to be eaten raw with fat-free salad dressing.  I have stuck to those vegetables, but I have “enhanced” them over time, possibly to the point of adding too many calories.

I started the NutriSystem Select plan a couple months ago.  With it, I received a new meal planner, and it allows many more vegetables.  At lunch, two vegetable servings, raw or cooked, are allowed.  At dinner, up to three vegetable servings, raw or cooked, are allowed.  There is no longer a distinction between salad vegetables and other vegetables.

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Although I’ve had this information, I have not done anything with it, but I am ready now.  Since it takes so much effort to make the salad vegetables enjoyable along with the fact that I actually enjoy many cooked vegetables, I am going to replace my salad vegetables with other cooked vegetables I prefer. 

I am thrilled I am now acting on this information, and I am excited to start enjoying these vegetables at lunch as well as dinner:

• artichoke hearts
• asparagus
• bell peppers
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts
• cabbage (but cooked)
• cauliflower (roasted!)
• eggplant
• fennel
• mixed vegetables (without corn, peas, turnips)
• mushrooms (cooked!)
• rutabaga (roasted!)
• spaghetti squash
• spinach
• tomatoes, grape
• turnips (also roasted)
• zucchini
• (there are others, but these are my favorites)

I create my shopping list on Thursday, and I prepare my weekly vegetables on Friday.  So, I’ll be eating these new vegetable options by Saturday.  I’m looking forward to it.

What is your favorite vegetable, and how do you like to prepare it?  I’m really interested in roasted beets.  Do you have a sure-fire way of making perfect roasted beets?

Breakfast:  Cranberry Orange Pastry; Egg; Banana; Morning Coffee; Cracker, Honeymaid Graham Crackers (Nabisco)

Morning Snack:  Ham, low-fat; Banana

Lunch:  Pasta with Beef; Mushrooms, raw; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  Zesty Cajun Style Chicken and Sausage with Brown Rice; Asparagus, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Pasta, cooked al dente

Dessert:  Chocolate Crunch Bar

Drinks:  Crystal Light

Exercise:  none again today.

Pedometer:  ?

There is a possibility to eat somewhat healthy at an Easter dinner.  If you start with ham and add some great vegetables, and maybe a sweet potato, your meal could be both tasty and nutritious.  I expect to enjoy the holiday with family and eat such food.

There is also the candy at Easter, and that can be an issue.  It’s way too easy to pick up a candy egg and pop it in your mouth.  Jellybeans seem pretty harmless (they’re small, right?), but they are full of sugar.  It can be a challenge to avoid those calorie-laden sweets.

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If you are around kids on Easter, it is pretty difficult to eliminate the dangerous sweet treats.  A decision must be made.  Will you completely avoid them?  Will you have a limited amount?  Will you give your healthy eating plan a holiday?

Personally, I am going to try to show some restraint, but I will eat enough holiday foods to enjoy the holiday.  I realize I’ll probably consume more than 1500 calories.  In order to offset the additional calories, I am going to try to add some additional exercise this week.  Of course, I have “Climb Miami” a week from tomorrow.

What food are you eager to enjoy on Easter?  Is there a sweet treat you have to have (Cabury Eggs?)? 

Breakfast:  Lowfat Granola Cereal; Egg; Raisins; Bread, rye; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Yogurt, nonfat; Applesauce, unsweetened

Lunch:  Pasta with Beef; Cucumber; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Honey Mustard Pretzel Sticks

Dinner:  Pasta Fagioli; Brussel Sprouts, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Bread, oatmeal

Dessert:  Fudge Swirl Sundae

Drinks:  Crystal Light

Exercise:  none today.

Pedometer:  ?

For many years, I enjoyed a dish at Easter I thought to be called “Pizzaguine”.  That’s how I heard it, and that’s how I expected to see it in writing.  No such luck.

So, after an exhaustive search on the internet, I found out that the dish was actually probably “pizza chiena”.  Some people might called it Easter pie, pizza rustica, carnival pie, etc.  Whatever you call it, it is basically meat, cheese and eggs in a nice crust.

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I figured out the name, but the other trick is determining which recipe is the right one.  Unfortunately, there are so many recipes, because “pizza chiena” means different things in different families.  Secondly, the nature of the recipe is that it has traditionally used leftover meats. 

With this information in mind, a friend and I set out to try to replicate the recipe we both know and love.  Remarkably, she and I had very similar ideas of what the dish should be.  Rather than slicing the meat, we would cut it into chunks.  Instead of layering the eggs and cheese mixture with the meats, we would mix it all together.  We even had similar ideas about the meat.

Tonight was the night to make the “pizza chiena”.  We ended up with four versions.  We used pie dough, pastry dough, and homemade dough for the crusts.  We used basically the same egg and cheese base with some “base” meats.  Each version was enhanced with variations of sharp and mild meats and cheeses. 

Here are most of the ingredients I used.  I need to get the recipe from my friend, then I’ll fill in the details.

• ricotta cheese
• mozzarella cheese
• parmesan cheese
• eggs
• mortadella
• ham
• capicola
• salami
• prosciutto

It’s not healthy eating, but it sure is delicious.  Have you made “pizza chiena”?  What is your recipe?  Do you call it something else?

Breakfast:  Lowfat Granola Cereal; Yogurt, nonfat; Raisins; Bread, rye; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Ham, low-fat; Mandarin Oranges

Lunch:  Chicken and Pasta in Cacciatore Sauce; Cabbage, raw; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  Chicken Pasta Parmesan; Brussel Sprouts, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Pasta, cooked al dente

Dessert:  Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Drinks:  Crystal Light; diet soda

Exercise:  none today.

Pedometer:  ?