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Healthyish

Eat everything, Lose Weight!

in Healthy-ish on 05/15/15

Photo by Katka Pavlickova on Unsplash

I first came across hungry girl around ten years ago. I was in college and beginning to acquire a taste for daily 1 pm McChickens. I wasn’t happy with my food choices but couldn’t really do much about it when all that was easily accessible was greasy, delicious, crunchy, heavenly…erm I mean terribly bad for you  fast food.

It was the golden age of Google, where I was looking for help on how to replace unhealthy food with healthy things without sacrificing the taste or having to eat cucumbers all day long. And that’s how I found Hungry Girl. At the time it listed various American junk food and processed snacks that could be replaced with other healthier products. It didn’t help me, but I still followed their new posts and tried to apply the same approach on similar Egyptian brands.

Fast forward many years later, and I find the founder of the website on Dr. Oz, talking about “expanders”. I listen intently and discover that I’ve been doing this for a while but without having a proper name for it. “Expanders” are basically very low calorie foods you could add to small portions of rich dishes in order to expand the quantity of food on your plate and still keep it low calorie, all while enjoying the taste of your favourite foods.

Neat, huh?

Here are a bunch of expander ideas I’ve tried and liked:
1- Peas (or any green vegetable, chopped into small pieces), in pasta, stir fries and rice dishes. Just add a huge serving of steamed peas to your plate and mix it all up.
2- Sautéed vegetables can be added to anything, but I really like them with eggs, omelette or scrambled.
3- Zucchini can be made into “zoodles” to bulk up pasta dishes.
4- Cauliflower can be used with/instead of mashed potatoes, or else puréed into an alfredo like sauce. I even made croquettes with mashed cauliflower and it actually tasted like potato. It can also be pulsed in the food processor and used as a rice substitute!
5- Onions and green peppers can be sliced and sautéed with sliced beef or chicken in any sauce.
6- Lots of fresh fruit on top of a small piece of cake or pie.

Now this idea solves two huge problems people who want to eat healthier face:

  • No need to cook two separate meals every day.

You can eat whatever the rest of the family eats and just add your expanders to it (best thing is, most expanders are veggies that can be cooked in large batches and refrigerated for a couple of days, so no daily cooking for you).

  • No giving up favourite foods.

This is the best part. This is not a diet! You can adopt this as a lifestyle thing or as a once in a while trick when you feel that you’d like to lose a bit of weight. Either way, you never have to say no to lasagna. And that’s a wonderful thing:)

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Hey there! I'm Nevine; Nutrition Coach, twin mom, infertility survivor, wannabe writer, and lover of everything kitchen-related (including the occasional sugar-laden donut 🍩).

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What do you think these healthy-ish oat katayef ar What do you think these healthy-ish oat katayef are stuffed with?

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It’s almost the season for the holy month of fas It’s almost the season for the holy month of fasting for Ramadan. 

Fasting has historically been practiced as a way to temporarily abstain from life’s pleasures to get into a mindset of humbleness and gain a spiritual connection with God.

While there has been a fierce debate over the risks and benefits of fasting, what we know so far is that short fasts for healthy individuals are relatively safe and could provide some health benefits.

What we need to talk about is that WHY we fast matters a lot in how “healthy” it is for each one of us.

If you’re fasting to:
❌Starve your body for as long as possible 
❌Lose a lot of weight in record time 
❌Punish yourself for eating “too much”
❌Deprive yourself of food you love 

Then fasting isn’t serving your body or soul. 

Fasting for spiritual reasons should be a deeper experience than just abstaining from food.

Fasting for other reasons is something you should ask your health provider about so you can make the best and safest decision for yourself.

And even then, if you find yourself feeling restricted or unhappy, then fasting may not be the healthiest tool for you. 

#healthyramadan #ramadanquotes 

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You know that snack attack you get after iftar by You know that snack attack you get after iftar by 5 minutes when it’s too early for dessert but you really, really want a little bite of something?

These dark chocolate dipped apricots with crushed pistachios are made for those moments.

#healthyramadan #healthyramadandesserts #healthyramadanrecipes #healthydessertideas #healthydessert #healthysnacks #healthysnackideas #nocookmeals #nocookdesserts #easydesserts #easydessertrecipes #kidfriendlydessert #kidfriendlyrecipes #ipreview via @preview.app
You know how some healthier versions of junk food You know how some healthier versions of junk food claim that they’re “just like the real thing” but they’re not? 

This is not one of them.

After much trial and error, I can happily claim that this hazelnut spread is pretty darn close to the real thing. 

⭐️Healthier Nutella Recipe⭐️
A powerful food processor (keyword is powerful because this recipe could easily break a regular one)
200 grams peeled and toasted hazelnuts 
100 grams excellent quality chocolate (I used milk not dark-hence why it’s health-ier not health-y)
3 TB coconut oil
3 tsp excellent quality cacao 
Honey to taste (I used around 2-3 TB)
Pinch of salt (around 1/2 tsp)
Tiny pinch of cinnamon 

⭐️Directions⭐️
1- Add toasted hazelnuts and blitz in pulses until you have creamy hazelnut butter. Or you can buy ready-made hazelnut butter as a shortcut.
2- Add cacao and pulse together.
3- Melt chocolate in a double boiler and then add it to the hazelnut butter slowly and pulse again.
4- Add melted coconut oil and honey then blitz until creamy. 

It will get a bit hard in the fridge but can easily be warmed back to a creamier consistency. 
 
#nutritionist #nutrition #healthylifestyle #health #healthyfood  #nutritioncoach #healthy #healthyeating #healthyliving #food #wellness #nutritiontips #lifestyle #motivation #foodie  #healthcoach  #healthysnackrecipes #healthysnackideas #healthyfoodporn #kidfriendlysnacks #kidffiendlyrecipes #easysnackrecipes #healthynutella #healthynutellarecipe #healthifiedrecipes #hazelnutrecipes #healthychocolaterecipes 

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How many times have you been told that you’re un How many times have you been told that you’re unable to change your eating habits because you don’t have enough “will-power”?

That it was your fault for not “controlling” yourself around food?

Well, they were WRONG. 

Because our relationship with food is far too complex than that, and will-power is a FINITE resource. 

You know how you start a diet, stick to it perfectly for a while, then quit? That doesn’t mean you failed, it just means that you’ve run out of that resource called self-control. And yes, it was INEVITABLE. That’s why it happens to almost EVERYONE who’s ever gone on a diet. 

So relying on will-power alone to change habits just.doesn’t.work!

You know what does? 

What works is:
✅ Finding your why
✅ Finding your will 
✅ Self-love

Your WHY will get you started, and your WILL can keep you motivated through the ups, downs, and everything in between. 

Self-love helps make the journey as gentle, pleasurable and durable as you need to reach your goals❤️ 

#nutritionist #nutrition #healthylifestyle #health #healthyfood  #nutritioncoach #healthy #healthyeating #healthyliving #food #wellness #nutritiontips #lifestyle #motivation #foodie  #healthcoach #healthhappinessandpizza

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Chickpeas are the perfect plant-based protein sour Chickpeas are the perfect plant-based protein source for a reason: they’re absolutely delicious in every way. 

Tossed in a salad? Tasty! 
Mashed into hummus? Amazing!
Made into curry? 😋😋

This roasted version is no exception.

⭐️Roasted Cajun Chickpeas⭐️
2 cups boiled, drained and peeled chickpeas
1 TB olive oil
Salt
Cajun spice mix

⭐️Directions⭐️ 
1- Toss chickpeas with olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet.
2- Roast in a 200-220 c oven until golden and crunchy.
3- Immediately sprinkle with salt and Cajun spices.
4- Eat while hot and crispy because they tend to get chewy after a while. 
5- You can re-bake leftovers to get the crunch back. 

#nutritionist #nutrition #healthylifestyle #health #healthyfood  #nutritioncoach #healthy #healthyeating #healthyliving #food #wellness #nutritiontips #lifestyle #motivation #foodie  #healthcoach #chickpeas #plantbasedsnacks #vegansnacks #healthysnackrecipes #healthysnackideas #healthyfoodporn #kidfriendlysnacks #kidffiendlyrecipes #easysnackrecipes 

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