Non-fat Refried Beans and Healthy Tostada

I decided that I could make my own non-fat refried beans that had no added sodium and tasted just as good as the canned beans. I started with pinto beans this time as it is more traditional and soaked the beans, rinsed them and changed the water, then cooked them (two cups dried) with two quarts of water, ½ cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 t. onion powder, and 1 t. garlic powder for about two hours. I then mashed them and spread about 2 T on a homemade tostado, added non-fat cheddar cheese, non-fat sour cream, chopped onions, and chopped lettuce.

To make the crisp tortillas, I preheated the oven to 400º and sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil spray and placed corn tortillas (normally low in fat and sodium) in the oven on the sheet and turned them about every five minutes until they were crisp.

Each tostada prepared this way has 83.75 calories, 6 g protein, 16.5 g carbohydrates, .5 g fat, and 110.75 mg sodium.

Here is my recap from yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-4/20/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1132.5	85.26 g	169.1 g	975.5 mg	19.92 g	15.74%

General Tso’s Tofu, and Roasted Turnips, Onions, and Garlic

Today I am going to share a couple of recipes that turned out really well. I’ll finish the diet secrets tomorrow.

General Tso’s Tofu

This recipe is based on a similar recipe from VegWeb. I made some changes to lower the calories, substituted a few ingredients (not strictly vegan), and was thoroughly happy with the delicious result. This recipe has lots of flavor and a delicious sauce. The next time I make it I will add some pineapple making it more of a traditional sweet-sour dish.

Ingredients

1 box of firm tofu (I used NaySoya Lite Firm Tofu)
6 T cornstarch (reserve 1 T to thicken sauce)
3 chopped green onions (with green parts too)
1 T grated ginger
1 T pressed garlic
10.5 oz. very low sodium chicken broth (for vegan version, use vegetable broth)
1 T low sodium soy sauce
5 T sugar (or other sweetener)
2 T white wine vinegar
1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped
red pepper to taste

Steamed broccoli (to serve with the main dish)

I prepared the tofu by freezing it overnight (this optional step gives it a chewier texture), let it defrost, and pressed the water out of it between two plastic cutting boards with a weight on top for 30 minutes. I cut the tofu loaf in half from the top and then into eight slices, I cut those slices into four pieces (essentially cubes) making 32 pieces. I put 5 tablespoons of the cornstarch in a press-to-close plastic bag and added the tofu cubes in batches, shaking to coat.

I then sprayed a skillet with olive oil pan spray, heated to medium low, and added the tofu. When one face of the cubes was golden brown, I turned the cubes so eventually all side of the tofu were a golden brown. In another skillet, also sprayed with olive oil pan spray, I tossed the green onions, garlic, ginger, and red bell pepper over medium heat for two minutes and set it aside.

I added the chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper, and vinegar to the vegetables. I mixed ¼ C water with 1 T cornstarch and added it stirring well. While the sauce was thickening, I added the browned tofu. I served it with the broccoli over brown rice. Serves 4.

One-fourth recipe (about 8 cubes with sauce) has 174.15 calories, 10.6 g protein, 18.7 g carbohydrates, 2.07 g fat, and 213.46 mg sodium.

Roasted Turnips, Onions, and Garlic

I know of few vegetables that aren’t enhanced by roasting. It seems to enhance their natural flavors. Roasting, and the vinegar, brings out the natural sweetness of the turnips and onions. Accompanied by the onions and garlic, it becomes a robust side dish. I served it with the tofu dish, and found that both recipes reheat well and made a great lunch reheated in the microwave at school. The aroma when it was reheating brought lots of positive comments so you might want to take enough to share. The proportions aren’t critical so you can use what you have on hand. Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 medium turnips peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 medium head garlic
3 small sweet onions cut into wedges
1 t. poultry seasoning
4 T white or balsamic vinegar
ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add turnips, onions, poultry seasoning, and vinegar to a roasting pan and stir to distribute the vinegar and spices. Add the garlic head whole, or if you prefer, simmer the garlic for 7 minutes in water, peel, and add the garlic cloves whole. Roast for about 45 minutes stirring three times and increase the temperature to 425 degrees. Bury the whole garlic head under the vegetables or add the previously prepared garlic and roast until the vegetables are nicely browned. Finish by grinding black pepper to taste, and serve hot.

This dish contains 105.25 calories, 3.3 g protein, 24.26 g carbohydrates, .31 g fat, and 77.75 mg sodium per serving.

When these two dishes are served together with the broccoli, they make a veritable feast that is low-sodium, low-calorie, and very low fat.

Here is my recap for the lst two days.

Daily Dietary Recap-4/1//2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1104	63.10 g	154.11 g	850.53 mg	14.05 g	11.45%

Daily Dietary Recap-4/2//2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1346.98	68.4 g	223.26 g	1022.74 mg	14.78 g	9.86%

Notable Blogs on Diet, Cooking, and Exercise

I thought I should acknowledge some of the fabulous blogs I have been reading lately. Some of these are well-established with hundred of recipes and articles while others are brand new. I hope to encourage the newcomers and acknowledge the truly great.

Periodically I will share blogs I would like to acknowledge. If you would like for your blog to be considered, please submit the URL as a comment.

In no apparent order, here they are.

Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
Susan has the most mouth-watering vegan recipes (or recipes of any persuasion for that matter) with gorgeous photos to accompany them.

Old Salt - New Tack
Old Salt is apparently an old guy like me to like to cook and eat. He also writes very well and isn’t afraid to experiment.

Eat Know How....Tips for Palate Transformation

Kimberly is a dietetic consultant and shares her considerable expertise. She has tips and even sample menus for low-fat, low-sodium, and specialized diets along with recipe-modification tips.

Experimental Vegan Daze
Dizzy is a self-proclaimed experimental vegan chef and her blog is new (just started in March 2007) but I hope she continues as her recipes are daring and eclectic. I hope to see more from her.

Cheap and healthy cooking
Boris, who is apparently from Slovenia, has put together an incipient blog with recipes using inexpensive and eclectic ingredients.

Eve's Health & Fitness
Eve is a certified group fitness instructor, and shares an amazing collection of tips on nutrition, physical training, and weight-loss.

The Healthy Cook
The Healthy Cook blog is a collection of recipes and tips from four contributors. I just wish they would post more.

Gary Moller Online
Gary writes about health, fitness, lifestyle sports coaching and conditioning, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and nutrition. He has a good section of recipes as well.

Whole Gourmet Natural Cooking Blog
Alison is a Certified Nutritional Chef, food writer, and culinary instructor who teaches cooking and nutrition classes and shares her recipes with us on her blog. I especially like her three-part series, Homestyle Cooking of the East that features food from Japan, Thailand, and India.

Vegweb
Vegweb has an amazing assortment of vegan recipes. The comments from readers are well worth reading too.

Healthy Living|Healthy Foods|Healthy Diets
The name says it all. This blog by Daria has a few nice recipes, tips for weight-loss, and nutrition.

Quick, yummy, and ohmygoodness, healthy recipes
This new (march 2007) blog has nice recipes and photos of healthy food that can be prepared quickly.

Kreative Healthy Cooking
This is another new (March 2007) blog that is off to a good start featuring a recipe for a tasty-looking Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Cheese. I want to see more from this one.

The ND Blog
Monica does a great job of weaving recipes, nutritional and fitness advice, and food facts into this blog sponsored by one of my favorite sites, Nutrition Data.

Here’s my recap from yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-3/28/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1135.54	56.86 g	189.08 g	1217.22 mg	17.39 g	13.78%

Diet Recipes-Sweet Sour Baked Tofu and Crispy Cheese Cauliflower

This is a good day for recipes. I tried two new ones and they were both winners. I tried the tofu warm last night and put it cold inside a half a whole wheat pita with onions and tomato for lunch. Yum.

I also weighed in at the fitness center today and my total cumulative weight loss is 29.5 pounds. I’ve lost almost thirty pounds since January 3.

Sweet Sour Baked Tofu

Ingredients

I found a bottled sweet and sour sauce that has no fat and is low sodium, House of Tsang Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Sauce. I used 2 oz. for one block of tofu.

NaSoya Lite Firm Tofu-1 14.5 oz. package

Preheat oven to 400º. I sliced the tofu in half by width (horizontally), placed the two halves between two plastic cutting boards and put two 1 gallon water jugs on the top board. This presses the tofu and squeezes out the excess water. I left the tofu to press for 30 minutes and then sliced the tofu into 10 slices. I coated the tofu slices with the sweet and sour sauce and put them on a pan sprayed cookie sheet. I covered the sheet with foil and baked for 30 minutes, turned the slices, and baked uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.

The tofu had a nice chewy texture and a wonderful flavor. The recipe makes 5 servings and it’s good cold. It has 68 calories, 7 g protein, 7.4 g carbohydrates, 1.5 g fat, and 65 mg sodium.

Crispy Cheese Cauliflower

I modified this recipe from the Healthy Cooks Yahoo Group. It was originally published in USA Today Weekend. It is great, and has only 78 calories, 4.78 g protein, 5.41 g carbohydrates, .76 g fat, and 98 mg sodium. This recipe makes 3 servings.

Ingredients

Olive Oil Spray
2/3 c Parmesan Cheese, Freshly-Grated
1/2 t Cumin, Ground
1/8 t Cayenne Pepper, Or To Taste
1/2 Cauliflower, Broken Into -Pieces
2 Egg-Substitute
1 Lemon, Cut In Wedges

Preheat oven to 450º. Combine cheese, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl (next time I might try some dry mustard either in addition to the cumin or instead of it). Dip the cauliflower into the egg substitute and then into the cheese mixture. Place the pieces on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with the olive oil spray and then lightly spray the completed pieces. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with wedges of lemon.

Here’s my recap from yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-3/20/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1082	61.73 g	186.3 g	1439.5 mg	11.47 g	8.29%

Diet Recipes-Tofu Meatballs and Whole Grain Tortillas

I thought today would be a good day to share a couple of my diet recipes. In my attempt to reduce salt, fat, and calories I’ve tried a few experimental recipes. Here are a couple that worked particularly well.

Tofu Meatballs

Tofu meatballs are a vegetarian alternative to high fat meatballs with the added benefits of low salt, fat, calories, and they contain soy protein. This recipe makes about 24 meatballs and each contains only 55.88 Calories, 2.05 g fat, 6.39 g carbohydrate, 77.73 g sodium, and no saturated fat or cholesterol. These meatless meatballs freeze well and I usually add a few to my pasta sauce and freeze the rest.

Ingredients

• Tofu-NaSoya lite firm or other firm tofu 14 oz.
• Garlic Clove 1
• Plain Breadcrumbs 1 ½ Cups
• Eggbeaters .25 C
• Onion Powder to taste
• Garlic Powder to taste
• Parsley Flakes 1 T
• Italian Seasoning 1 ½ t.
• Medium onion, chopped 1
• Walnuts (shelled halves, chopped) ½ Cup

Preheat over to 350º. Add the first eight ingredients to the food processor or blender and process until it is smooth. Add the onion next and process minimally in order to leave some chunks. Stir the chopped walnuts into the mixture after it has been processed (better texture). Form this mixture into balls and bake them on a cookie sheet for 40 minutes at 350º, turning once.

If you are not too concerned about the fat content, you could easily increase the walnuts to 1C without adjusting any other ingredients, and I think the recipe would be improved. I didn’t have low-sodium breadcrumbs, but using them would significantly lower the salt content.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

These are really good! I put boiled chicken breast and mozzarella or non-fat cheddar cheese in them. I sometimes use them for fish tacos or just a bean burrito. Served with brown rice and red beans, these make quite a meal. Calories: 66.83, Fat: .67 g, Carbohydrates: 14.76 g, Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 2 g, and Sodium: 78.71 mg.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
• 1/2 cup warm tap water plus enough to make a good dough

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add warm tap water 1 T at a time until the dough makes a good ball. Add more water as needed 1 T at a time. Knead ball on floured surface 25-30 times. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal portions and shape into balls. Roll the balls out from the center on a floured board until they become roughly circular. Cook the tortillas on an ungreased skillet over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds on each side until they become puffy. Cover the completed tortillas with a moist paper towel while you cook the others. These are also good cooked longer until they are crisp.

Here's my dietary recap for yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-3/9/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1349.45	72.72 g	211.34 g	1249.91 mg	21.64 g	14.42%