A New Direction

Sorry I've been so absent on this blog lately...but there's a very good reason for that.

See, back in November I decided to start Weight Watchers again. My weight started creeping up little by little and I knew I needed to get back to eating healthier and try and lose a few. Well, let's just say that Giada's recipes aren't exactly low fat!! So, I stopped cooking from her book.

I have, however, started cooking from a different book - a MUCH healthier one. It's called Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 - 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories by Lisa Lillien (aka Hungry Girl). Mike gave it to me for Christmas after I got hooked on the Hungry Girl website. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of it, but it's great. Lisa and her staff basically try to find low fat/low cal versions of things that still taste good. Plus, they're masters at creating recipes for things that we love at restaurants but making them a lot better for you. Plus, if you happen to be on Weight Watchers, she figures out all the Points for everything she talks about, which is awesome.

We've made several recipes from the book and the website, and everything has been good. Really good. And healthy. One of our favorites is for a swap for the Taco Bell Crunchwrap. Ya know, the little packet of goodness that looks like a 1960s flying saucer! Well, the actual Taco Bell version is, as you would imagine, not very healthy. She makes a version that's a fraction of the fat and calories. You'd think it would taste bad with all the reduced fat alternatives. But shockingly...it tasted pretty darn good. Very close to the original. We were impressed.

The other night, we even made her swap for the McDonald's McRib! I've never had a real McRib, so I can't compare, but the swap tasted good - even if there was fake meat in it. Mike said it's pretty close to the McDonald's version but the sauce is a little sweeter.

Anyway, aside from the swap recipes, there are just lots of other healthy but still yummy recipes. So in case you haven't guessed it, my new quest is to cook my way through this Hungry Girl book instead of Giada's. I will share with you my experiences and any cool products I discover in the process. Plus I'll warn you of anything yucky!