How to measure spaghetti servings

I often cook myself pasta for lunch. I am pretty good about measure out smaller pasta such as bow tie or elbow but when it comes to measuring out dry spaghetti noodles I ALWAYS struggle. I swear I always make more than I need (but I eat it anyway). I found the following tip on EHow.com. It is seems like an easy way to remember portion size.

When you have adults for dinner, the portions vary considerably for measuring spaghetti. Since the pasta gets a bit thicker after it is cooked, the measuring can be offered to the people or you can just decide for them yourself.

Thoroughly wash hands for 2 or 3 minutes with an antibacterial soap and rinse before touching food. After removing the spaghetti from the box or plastic wrapper, hold it in between the index finger and the thumb

After removing the spaghetti from the box or plastic wrapper, hold it in between the index finger and the thumb making a circle around the pasta. For each adult consider a portion about the size of a nickle. For the larger appetite make a portion of either 2 nickles or a quarter.Children's portions are considered adequate if you measure each to have the size of a dime.If pasta is not the main dish you can consider smaller for each person. When you ask someone to tell them which size portion they want; ask them in terms of these coins for validation. Before you know it, everyone will be in tune to this measure for spaghetti.

Read more: How to Measure Spaghetti Servings | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4730645_measure-spaghetti-servings.html#ixzz1ZGDFSqDG

FUZE SLENDERIZE

These were on sale at Costco this week so I decided to pick some up. I LOVE their normal drinks (Pina Colada ROCKS but has tons of sugar & calories). These drinks are JUST AS YUMMY! Here is the nutrition info per bottle:

Calories 10
Total Fat 0
Sodium 90mg
Total Carb 1g
Sugars 1g
Protein 0
Vitamin A 40%
Vitamin C 200%
Vitamin E 40%
Pantothenic Acid 40%
Chromium 30%

It also contains:

Super Citrimax
An extract from the South Asian Fruit Garcinia Cambogia
L-Carnitine
An ingredient that the body uses in metabolism
Chromium
A micro nutrient known to help the body get energy from food.
Vitamin A, C, E
Triple Antioxidant power that helps fight free radicals and helps support good health
Vitamin B5
A vitamin necessary for normal metabolism of fat.

AND IT TASTES GOOD!!!! Now beware it's a little pricey but if you are looking for a juice replacement that will give you a boost you have found it! Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Ripped in 30

Okay my cute friend at work let me borrow her Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. I did the Week 1 and thought this is great but nothing too difficult. Today I started Week 2...WOWZA! I thought the workouts were supposed to get progressively harder! NOPE! She went from mild/easy to KILLER! I can't wait to see what workout 3 & 4 are like! My shoulders were literally shaking for 3 hours!

PS Do any of you like Yoplait's Whipped Yogurts!? I LOVE them but I'm trying to get more out of my yogurt so I have been eating Chobani. Well I stumbled across Chobani Champions! LOVE it! It is meant for kids but it has the fruit whipped into it! I LOVE it!

10 East Ways to Lighten Up Any Recipe

Thank you SparkPeople.com for this GREAT Article!!!

Choosing healthy foods is an important part of eating right, but cooking them in a healthful way is another huge part. For example, zucchini can take on two completely different forms when it's quickly sautéed in olive oil versus battered and deep fried. What we add to foods makes all the difference when it comes to home cooking.

The first step to healthier cooking is to take recipes as suggestions. Before you start chopping and mixing, scan the recipe to see if there are any unnecessary calories. Look for excess cheese, butter and oils, as well as sugars.

Here are some tasty, healthy ideas to help you become a professional recipe overhauler!

1. Sauté—the skinny way! A couple of tablespoons of low-sodium vegetable broth can be used instead of oil or butter in your stir fry or as the basis for a sauce. This method will add a nice flavor to your dish as well as a little moisture—and you'll save calories to use elsewhere. To get a dose of unsaturated fats, serve your broth-sautéed veggies with a side salad, and pour an olive oil-based dressing over the top.
   
   
2. Say no to skin. Three ounces of chicken breast meat with skin has almost 150 calories; three ounces of chicken without the skin has 50 fewer calories. Tasty as it might be, the skin contains mostly heart-unhealthy saturated fat. You can cook with the skin on to retain moisture (add fresh herbs or citrus zest underneath it to really bake in some flavor), but be sure to remove the skin before you enjoy your meal to save on calories and saturated fat.
   
   
3. Squeeze on the citrus. To add a powerful flavor punch with minimal added calories, use citrus on steamed veggies instead of butter or over a salad instead of a dressing. It’s even great on fruit salad in place of sugar and adds some zip when squeezed onto a pasta salad. Don’t forget to use the flavorful zest of citrus fruits as well! Wash a lemon, orange or lime, then use a zester or grater to add the zest to dishes such as baked seafood.
   
   
4. Be choosy about cheese. When using a mildly flavored cheese, such as Monterey Jack, you need more cheese to taste it. But when you choose a cheese with intense flavor, you can use less and still get the desired effect. Try a reduced-sodium feta, sharp Cheddar or aged Parmesan next time. Light cheese wedges such as The Laughing Cow brand are useful when you're watching fat and calories, too. Try mixing one of these soft cheeses into your scrambled eggs or noodle dishes instead of loading on the shredded mozzarella.
   
   
5. Go Greek. Tangy, fat-free Greek yogurt is a healthful replacement for sour cream. Try this switch in herbed and spiced dips, tacos, nachos, enchiladas, or throw it in a cooked dish as a thickening agent. You’ll save 45 calories for each 2-tablespoon serving.
   
   
6. Puree your produce. Add body to soups and sauces with pureed vegetables instead of heavy cream, evaporated milk, butter or cheese. This move will also add fiber and nutrients to your dish for very few calories. A puree of carrots will add texture to meatless spaghetti sauce, and mixing a blend of beans into a chili or soup will add flavor and thicken it—all with very few added calories. In this recipe, Chef Meg thickens a taco soup with chickpeas!
   
   
7. Get cozy with cottage cheese. When a recipe calls for a significant amount of a crumbled cheese, such as feta or ricotta, substitute half the amount with reduced-fat cottage cheese. This will retain taste, texture, protein, and calcium while ditching some of the fat and calories. This works well for stuffed peppers and most baked pasta dishes.
   
   
8. Pump up the veggies! You can easily reach the recommended five servings of fruits and veggies when you’re cooking at home. Veggies can compliment any dish on your menu, adding nutrient-packed bulk to the meal for few calories. Add chopped asparagus and mushrooms to your next omelet, red peppers (or a frozen stir fry mix) to baked casseroles, or any kind of beans to a pasta salad. Include fresh or frozen spinach in pasta sauces and soups, and broccoli in your casseroles. The opportunities for adding veggies are endless for almost any dish!
   
   
9. Cut the cream. When making cream-based soups, sub fat-free half-and-half for any heavy cream. The switch gives the soups a creamy taste and velvety texture without all the saturated fat of heavy cream. This works great in pasta sauces as well.
   
   
10. Make your own marinade. Marinate lean meats in vinegar and citrus combos (with a bit of oil added) rather than a pre-made oil-based dressing. You can also try a fruit juice or wine. These agents will still tenderize and flavor the meat, and a mix of herbs and spices will bring out the flavor! (You'll also save sodium by not using the store-bought varieties!) Try cutting the meat in strips before dousing it to really let the marinade take effect.
    

As you can see, there are endless ways you can boost the nutrition and reduce the calories of almost any recipe. Get creative and experiment in the kitchen. You may just find that you like these new ways of cooking just as much—or even better!

Getting Started

So I had a friend at work ask me to write something up in response to a question she got on a forum. A gal, about college age just moved back home and has gained a bit of weight. She was looking for information on how to get motivated and where to start. This was my response:

Where to start: Weight loss is simple math -calories in and calories out. Start tracking. First figure out your caloric intake (you can google caloric intake and it will give you some great websites to figure this out). Once you have that figure it is all a matter of keeping track. This will be a VITAL key in your weight loss. There are DOZENS of ways to help you track. There are free calorie counting websites (caloriecount.com, sparkpeople.com, livestrong.com, fitnesspal.com etc.) most of which have free apps as well. I love sparkpeople.com--I use their app on a daily basis. Each of these websites has a huge data base of nutritional information, as well as support groups, fitness challenges and a recipe data base. Basically they are chuck full ofgreat information.

Support: Whether you think you need it or not you need support. Tell your family you are trying to lose weight if they care about you and your happiness they will support your decision and try to be helpful. Clear a shelf in the pantry & refrigerator and keep JUST your stuff on it. You have to take some control of your environment.

Exercise: Working out for 3-5 days a week for thirty minutes is great…if you are trying to maintain your weight. If you are trying to LOSE weight (and you don’t have any injuries and have been cleared by a doctor to work out) you should be working out at least 5 days a week for 30-45 mins a day. Of course it will be hard at first but once your body adapts you will feel great. Ever seen the Biggest Loser-those people have a little bit more than 15 pounds to lose and they are still pushing it. You can do it too. Strength training is probably the fastest way to lose weight. I always recommend Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. This DVD is great! It is a contains 3- 25 minute workouts. Starting with a more basic workout and building up to harder workouts. She has MANY other wonderful DVDs but I would start there. Remember though variety is key. Run one day, then do strength training the next, yoga the next, etc. Remember when you are working out you need to fuel your body properly. Eat BEFORE & AFTER working out or else your body with burn muscle instead of fat. Eliminate soda and stick to water.

Motivation: This is the tricky part. You have to motivate yourself. Sure someone or something may be your motivation for a month or even several months but it won’t last. YOU have to find something in yourself that makes you want to be healthy, want to work out, want to eat better. Until you find that something you can lose the weight but you will eventually gain it back.

Do you have any other advice?

Podcasts & Realizations

Preface: Since working I have gained a TINY bit of weight. Which saddens me because really I want to lose another 5-10lbs. I haven’t been super strict on my diet but I AM FINALLY settling into a workout schedule!

Since I have been working my ‘free’ time has become very limited. I had hoped to read JM’s Master Your Metabolism & Unlimited (which I did start and can’t wait to get back to). I also had several other books on nutrition and diet that I wanted to get to and I have missed reading my weekly articles from various websites. Anyway needless to say I am not keeping up on my ‘studies’ as much as I would like. So the other day I decided to start listening to more of JM’s podcasts. And I have learned a lot--some about nutrition, some about exercise, but mostly about myself. Here is what I have learned from the last couple of podcasts I’ve listened to. (WARNING: Some of this may appear to be glaringly obvious (meaning you know it and have read it before) but let me tell you until you really internalize it you won’t ‘get it’.)

#1 DO IT FOR YOURSELF: Jillian took a call from a listener who had lost something like 100lbs. She claimed to have hit a plateau and couldn’t push through. Jillian dove into why she had gained the weight in the first place. Well this gal’s father was a PE teacher and all of her brothers and sisters were runners. As the conversation went on the girl basically said ‘I’m losing the weight to prove to them or to make them proud’. Jillian stopped her and said something to the effect of you have to do it for yourself!

#2 BEING THIN DOESN’T EQUAL CONFIDENCE OR SELF WORTH

Again Jillian took a call from a woman who was 4’11 and used to weight 165lbs. She now weighs 117lbs. The woman was calling for two reasons 1-she looks in the mirror and doesn’t know how to respond to her reflection and 2-she is also feeling awkward about the way others are treating her. The first sounds to me like losing the weight was a band aid to help with self confidence issues. The second is VERY easy for me (and I am sure others who have lost weight) to relate to. Others were ALWAYS watching her eat and criticizing her choices. They were also messing with her emotions—telling her husband that they thought she’d leave him now that she was thin, etc.

Both of these things hit me like a TON OF BRICKS! The whole time I have been losing weight I have wanted to be healthier but in the forefront of my mind it was to be an example to my siblings, to make sure my daughter has a mother around for as long as possible, and to try to keep up with my ULTRA SEXY husband. I was doing it for myself but the other reasons were my main push. I specifically remember working out and keeping Kaci nearby so I could look at her and push myself through the workout. I am not saying that being an example is a bad reason to get healthy but what happens when you have the knowledge , lose most of the weight and people see you as an example… then what? Do you stop losing and just sit stagnant? Do you gain it all back? What motivation do you have to lose those ‘vanity pounds’? The answer my friends is NONE! Unless YOU are the reason you are getting healthy then you can forget it! My initial reasons got me to make a change in my life and they are still reasons that I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle but I have realized now that the rest of my journey has to be for ME.

The other thing that hit me was still looking in the mirror and seeing the ‘chubby girl’ or to take it one step further as say to eat like the ‘chubby girl’. I still have these issues that I have to work out. At first when I was losing the weight it was easy to see it. I SAW the pounds come off and new muscles reveal themselves --it becomes VERY exciting. But once I got to a certain point (ie a healthy weight) all I see is what is left. Why do I still have flab here? Why isn’t the saddle bag gone yet? Etc. etc. etc. It is very difficult to get a grip on that. Then there is the eating like a ‘chubby girl’ part. I grew up in a family of social eaters. We ate when we were happy and we ate when we were sad. We rewarded ourselves with food. Eating was funny too—‘look at how short and little I am and how much I can eat’. IN FACT I still to this day will make comments when I eat like ‘I’m a good eater’ or I will tell Kaci ‘You eat like your momma’. Why do I still think like this?

Anyway I know this is a LONG post and if you’ve stuck with me to the end I thank you. I just had several realizations this week due to fabulous podcasts. Now I am not saying I agree with everything JM says for example today I completely disagreed with what she was saying to the point that I had to fast forward through a particular segment.

THE TAKE AWAY:

I am going to look for the good in the mirror and congratulate myself for my accomplishments more.

I am going work on my attitude toward food and be careful about the way I talk about food.

I am recommitted to my calorie count.

I am no longer eating after 7PM.

I am going to work on drinking less Diet Coke.

In the future I will keep better track of which podcast I've listened to. If you want you can download JM's Podcasts HERE.

Again sorry for the long post! Have a wonderful day!

Interesting info

So the other day at work my friend and I were craving butter mints. You know the fluffy little pillow like mints! Love them. Anyway I was googling the nutrition info to how many calories there are. I found the following information on Livestrong.org

Overview

A bowl of butter mints is not an uncommon sight at weddings and on buffets. Known for their light pastel colors and silky-smooth texture, butter mints are low in calories if you limit yourself to one or two.

Calories

One butter mint provides seven calories and can last a few minutes as you savor it after a meal. Grab a handful of seven or eight butter mints, however, and you'll be eating more than 50 calories.

Sweetener Myths and Facts Sweeteners & Your Dietary Health: Learn the Dietary Facts Here. www.SweetSurprise.com/

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Basic Nutrition

The calories in butter mint come from carbohydrates, which in turn, are derived from the sugar that butter mints are made of. Each butter mint has 2 g of carbohydrates and no protein, fat or fiber, although some homemade butter mints may contain butter, and thus fat. Butter mints are not a good source of vitamins and minerals.

Warning

While eating an occasional butter mint won't add too many extra calories to your daily intake, eating a handful on a regular basis will add too many refined carbohydrates to your diet. Refined carbohydrates, such as those in butter mints, can promote obesity, heart disease and diabetes, according to The Harvard School of Public Health.

I LOVED The warning part. My friend and I chatted for a bit and wondered if all sweets contained that warning would we eat as much as we do? I mean didn't a law just pass that all cigarette cartons must have a graphic warning label? So why doesn't the sugary, high sodium, food that is killing our country have to provide a graphic warning label? Interesting...

PS I have been LOVING my Eat This Not That books! More to come on those!!