nutritious junk

I’ve tried a lot in my effort to get my man to eat more veggies.  I have to admit he’s come a long way from when I met him and a regular meal was a slurpee and a few bagels.  When I’m home I work hard to come up with recipes that will give him the added nutrition of vegetables but hide the fact that he’s eating…gulp…healthy.  Honey carrots, baked potatoes, assorted vegetables on sandwiches, all seemed to have worked.  But when I’m away doing my photo thing I think he forgets how to boil water.  Naw, that’s mean, he’s just a really busy man.  It’s true.  He works a 9-

I’m not a stoner, I swear. But sometimes I get some wicked munchies. I’ve tried clearing up my non-drug-induced need to eat with veggies. But one can only eat so many carrots before you either run out of a Costco size bag or start to turn a little orange…yes both have happened. I then went to pretzels, which lead to drinking tons of water to get rid of my cotton mouth (again not drug related). Eating the pretzels actually helped for a while but only because I was spending so much time in the bathroom getting rid of my mouth moistener. Too much information, I know.

I like potatoes. They’re good roasted, baked, boiled, steamed, sautéed, fried, mashed…and, well they’re not very good raw but…. And they can be made even better with the addition of outside foods. And Mrs. T, god love her, has made the perfect combo. No, Mrs. T isn’t my imaginary friend (her name was Fluffer), she is a company, Mrs. T’s to be exact. Mrs. T’s is in charge of making these heavenly little pillows of pasta filled with potatoes and either onion, cheese or jalapeños, called pierogies. I usually get the onion or cheddar.

I’m not originally from California, I’ve only really recently started living here. Why does that matter you ask?

I notoriously lack a likeness towards cheese, but usually, the exception is pizza. So i decided to give Cedarlane's pizza wrap a go. Now, i've seen Cedarlane's healthy frozen products but never actually tasted any of them (i get them confused with Amy's). But my friend, Al, recommended these so i figured this would be a good introduction to Cedarlane. Anyhow, nutrtionally, this wrap is sound. Each wrap is only 220 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2 g of fiber, 3 g of sugar, and a heft 17 g of protein. Now these are microwaveable and i highly suggest you do that cause my friend Al she tried heating them in the oven and it was apparently not a good idea. It smelled good (but again, my roomates would think otherwise cause they hate everything i heat up! but thats ok, they dont have to suffer any more since i move out on friday) but i must admit it was a little hard to eat with your hand. I think wraps and burritos should be easily consumed via hands so this was a little disappointing. But it tasted nice, a good filling to wrap ratio, but the tortilla did get slightly soggy, but it didnt really affect the taste so i didnt mind that much. This is a good "part" of a meal or a snack or mini meal that can be made quickly and even if you usually snub cheesy things, i suggest giving this a try because its more saucy than cheesy. Not really like a pizza but still tomato-y (i did like the little tomato chunks) and flavor full. You'd think this be really fatty too, but its actually really low fat so this is a nice surprise. Overall, yes, a good quick wrap...er i mean...pizza.

This Mexican entrée is made with organic tortillas, black beans and a medley of organic vegetables; it contains 190 mg of sodium compared to 390 mg in Amy¹s regular black bean vegetable enchilada. two enchilads are in the package at 160 cals each, with 3 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protien (all each, so double that for the full meal). I actually stray from frozen entrees in case you havent notice, i dont usually review many of them. The reason for this is that i usually can prepare wonderful entrees that are way healthier and more flavor full than some of the stuff out there. and a big issue for me is that most are sodium infused. This entree smelled wonderful and i liked that it didnt have cheese. The veggies were nice for frozen food, and retained some crunch. Overall a really good meal for frozen food, my one complaint it tasted like it would be a "light in sodium" item. It was good, but there was a slight sense that something was lacking, (a bit of salt perhaps). But i liked it and would buy it again since its so hard for me to find cheeseless enchiladas. Thank god i dont have high blood pressure, cause i whipped out the salt shaker for this one.

While in London, a friend and i stubmbled upon a tiny hole-in-the-wall asian food shop in between Picadilly Circus and Regent Street. I wasn't expecting to find the Shiritaki noodles i buy in the U.S. in stores like Traders and Whole Foods, but i was suprised to find another version of shiritaki noodles that I've never tried before! The noodles i buy in the U.S. are "Tofu" Shiritaki noodles while is a combination of both yam and tofu. These noodles are just the yam noodle so they are actually caloire free (according to various websites that sell these types of noodles online). Apparently they aremade up of a lot of fiber and some calcium, but other than that, i really cant go into that much detail about the nutrtionals because its all in Japanese. The picture above is the what the bag i bought looked like, and if you cant see the noodles, they are clear (unlike the tofu shiritaki which is an off white color) and resemble thin, rice noodles. I made these with some soy sauce, splenda, oyster sauce, and chili powder for an asian stir fry and it was delicious. A little different from tofu shiritaki, and i dont think i'd use these noodles in mock kuggle dishes or italian dishes like i do with the tofu kinds. I guess these are better suited for asian dishes like in a nice miso broth. It a good break from the other shiritaki and if you find them i suggest you try it and get creative. However, i know many websites sell them and if you ask me, these noodles aren't THAT fantastic that you should shell out for shipping costs.

I did a rather favorable review a long while back for Quorn's naked cutlets. I had no idea this is actually a UK based company and hence has LOADS of other products in the UK. My eyes lit up with glee (pathetic, no?) as I saw dozens of Quorn meals at the London Supermarket. I want to try them all, but my budget is not unlimited and i can only handle so much. I decided to try their Cottage Pie (which is really just a Sheperds Pie but i guess they cant use that label for copyright reasons). Let first deal with the nutritionals shall we? a whole pack (which is rather large) has about 176 calories(they are soooo exact in the UK, they never round off, even i diet coke hassomething like .5 calories or something). the fiber (or as they say in Britain, fibre) is also impressive as about 7 grams per pack. Its low in fat (4 grams) and sodium (1.2 grams) as well. I loved the taste too! the potato top layering was not soggy at all and was a perfect complement to the vegitarian and vegan friendly Quorn mince mixture on the bottom. It was flavorful without being too overly salty and very filling. Its a classic British meal made figure friendly without the sacrifice of flavor! If you can, i highly suggest you try it (but i suggest to forgo the microwave if you can and heat it up in the stove to really get the crispy layer on the potatos and enhance the homely vibe.

well, incase you haven't noticed, i am jewish although for some reason Adam Sandler didn't mention me in his Hanukkah song. Maybe i am not famous enough. Anywho, I do love chrsitmas and all too, dont get me wrong, i used to be so jealous of all the other kids getting loads of gifts and decorating this massive tree and all those good stuff. But i guess i have to appreciate the holiday i was born into, and during this time of year, its hanukkah. To my luck (yes, i am being sarcastic here), hanukkah is the holiday where my most trusted friend, OIL, is celebrated! horray! this means absolutly everthing must be drenched in the stuff! well umm, not for me. Latkes are one of the many things Jews like to fry up during this time of year, so i actually found a much healthier and lower calorie recipe. O, and incase your not jewish, latkes are just a yiddish word for potato pancakes. These are a little different from traditional kinds but thats because they are also 1/4 of the caloric content of tradtional ones. Enjoy, and happy hanukkah!

1 large potato, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup egg substitue
salt pepper
combine all ingredients, spray a pan or griddle with no-stick spray and cook them in 1/4 cup portions like pancakes. in my opinion, they definitely needed more seasoning, so i added onion and garlic to the mix. but experiment, it's fantastic. i bet they'd be wonderful with some no-fat sour cream or sugar free apple sauce too. here's the low down per pancake (using 1/4 cup mix per pancake):22 cal, .8g protein, 0g fat, 5g carbs, .2g fiber.