" For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. " Song of Solomon

August 19, 2010

Friendly Foods and A Recipe: Coffee Toffee Crunch Mousse

In the movie "You've Got Mail" Meg Ryan's character loved daisies because they were so friendly.  In my world there exist friendly foods.

With my food revolution and changing my relationship with food I began thinking in terms of 'eat often'  and 'eat once in a while'.  In my world there are no longer any forbidden foods.

As well there are no longer 'good' and 'bad' foods.  There are instead friendly foods.  And while I may not consider a food friendly in the sense of my goal--to lose and maintain that loss--that does not make the food unfriendly.  It might be a wonderful food--but too high calorically to eat often, and therefore reserved for once in awhile.

One of my favorite friendly foods is Fat Free Cool Whip.  It is versatile, fat free and tastes quite good.  One quarter of a tub of FF CW is only 90 calories...ninety fat free calories.  It is one of my favorite friendly foods.

Recently I've been eating what I've named Coffee Toffee Crunch Mousse.  It tastes so good and for only 220 calories can't be beat in my book.

Here's how to make it.
  • Into one fourth of a tub of FF CW sprinkle a teaspoon of instant coffee powder.  I rub it between my fingers to make it very fine.  Fold in the coffee powder to mix/combine.  The powder will dissolve in the FF CW.  Now break up 3 Heath Miniatures--I leave them in their wrapper and smash them with my can opener.  Add to the coffee mix and combine.  
That's it.  Eat and enjoy.  You could use just 2 Heath minis and save 43 calories.  It would probably taste just as good.

Other friendly foods I use often:

---sugar free gelatin
---goat cheese
---tea rusks
---fat free cheese singles
---Laughing Cow Light cheese
---fat free cream cheese
---fat free Breakstone Cottage Cheese
---Hostess 100 calorie chocolate cup cake minis
---almond milk or my own fake version
---fat free plain yogurt
---tomato juice
---V8 juice (a great way to get in some veggies and fiber)
---buttery margarine spray (here's a tip to make it seem decadent.  Toast your bread, then add jelly, and over the jelly spray a generous amount of the buttery spray...wow..it looks like it's dripping in butter..tastes good too)
---dill pickles (great on a fat free cheese sandwich)
---Oscar Myer precooked bacon (4 slices are only 70 calories)
---nutritional cheese made into sauce/dressing
---hummus
---salsa
---chickpeas (roasted, as in Honey Curry )
---iced coffee
---brown rice cakes (lots of crunch and chew and very few calories..I like to spread them with a low calorie butter flavored spread, sprinkle with cinnamon and a sugar substitute like Sun Crystals or Splenda, then over-spray with butter flavored spray--it helps the cinnamon stick better...2 cakes with a tablespoon of spread is only 120 calories)

That's all I can think of right now...fresh fruit is always friendly.  And if I could eat popcorn it would be at the top of the list.

Yesterday the Arnolds sandwich thins were on special so I picked up a package...I really like them toasted and for 100 calories and 5 grams of fiber they are a good option too...a friendly option.

What are some of your friendly foods--foods that are not a trigger, that you can indulge in daily/often, that you really enjoy eating and are low in calories?
"....there have been many times when I have shed bitter tears, when if I had understood the situation better, I would have celebrated my good luck instead."

DISCLAIMER

I am not a doctor and all information, suggestions, etc are my personal opinion only.