Monthly Archives: January 2016

Smart Snacking

Surveys show that 90% of adults snack every day, often several times per day in fact. When you are snacking smart, it is actually a very good habit to have. It keeps your body’s fire burning while also keeping your blood sugar levels even. The problem is that most Americans snack on processed carbohydrates like chips and candy that are very low in fiber and nutrients.

A better way to snack is to choose those with a combination of food groups or a combination of macronutrients (such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat). An ideal snack would pack both protein and fiber, which will fill you up and boost your energy. As for the portion, a smart snack should fall between 100 and 200 calories for most people. This is just enough to satisfy the between meal hunger pangs without going over your daily caloric needs.

While we have also included an entire section of snack recipes in The Perfect Portion cookbook, here are a few quick and easy Grab and Go Snack options. Not surprisingly, they all contain 100 calories (or even a bit less)!

  • 1 medium apple
  • 5 dried apricots
  • 1 medium banana
  • 13 dry-roasted almonds
  • 2 cups Stovetop Popcorn
  • 40 baked Goldfish crackers
  • 25 grape tomatoes
  • 31 pistachios

 

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Blue Ribbon Barbecue Sauce

Store-bought barbecue sauces may be convenient, but they are typically loaded with sugar or corn syrup. We season a rich tomato base with a little molasses, vinegar, and liquid smoke for a standout sauce in a mere 15 minutes.

Blue Ribbon Barbecue Sauce
 
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Recipe type: Dressings, Sauces & jams
Makes: 4 Sauce portions
Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • ¼ cup finely diced yellow onion
  • 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 2 ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoon liquid smoke (sold near the spices)
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • Salt to taste
Directions
  1. Heat the oil and onions in a saucepot over medium-high heat, and cook until golden brown and softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in all the remaining ingredients, except the salt. Cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, and add salt to taste. Store covered and refrigerated for up to 10 days.
Perfect Portion Blue Ribbon Barbecue Sauce

HELPFUL TIP: This recipe makes 1 ⅓ cups of sauce, about the same amount as a standard bottle of store-bought sauce.
Serving size: ⅓ cup Calories: 100

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Boneless BBQ Ribs

Bob’s Farm to Table: Most pork ribs are riddled with fat, however boneless “country- style ribs” are cut from the pork loin, making them a far leaner, healthier option. We cook them low and slow, first coated with a spice rub and covered, and finally smeared with barbecue sauce and uncovered to caramelize. These sticky, sweet ribs “melt in your mouth” every time, just the way mom used to make them for Saturday night dinners on the farm!

Boneless BBQ Ribs
 
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Recipe type: Everyday Meals
Makes: 4 Dinner portions
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds boneless loin country-style ribs
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 batch Blue Ribbon Barbecue Sauce
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 250°F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to toss ribs in the olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, rubbing the oil and spices into the meat.
  3. Transfer the rubbed ribs to a sheet pan, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 2 hours.
  4. Drain the pan of all liquid, and coat the ribs with the Blue Ribbon Barbecue Sauce. Return to the oven, and bake, uncovered, for 1 additional hour before serving.
Perfect Portion Boneless BBQ Ribs

HELPFUL TIP: The nutritional information in this recipe was calculated for country-style ribs cut from the pork loin, not the shoulder. The pork loin variety is the most popular and easiest to find, though some stores will sell both varieties.
Serving size: 1½ oz Ribs with sauce Calories: 100

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Baked Fish Packets with Dill

Cooking fish in sealed parchment paper packets, or in papillote, not only makes for a beautiful presentation but also allows the fish to steam in its own juices instead of using extra butter or oil for sautéing. The fish stays incredibly moist, and its flavor can really shine!

Baked Fish Packets with Dill
 
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Recipe type: Everyday Meals
Makes: 4 Lunch or Dinner portions
Ingredients
  • 4 (4-ounce) tilapia fillets
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 sprigs fresh dill
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F, and lay out 4 large squares of parchment paper.
  2. Place a tilapia fillet in the center of each square of paper, and then squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top.
  3. Top each fillet with ½ tablespoon butter, and then sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon of minced garlic.
  4. Lightly season each fillet with salt and pepper, and then top with a full sprig of dill.
  5. Fold the sides of the paper up and over the fish, and then fold the edges over each other to fully seal. Place on a sheet pan, seam-side down.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes, and let rest for 3 minutes before serving.
Perfect Portion Baked Fish Packets with Dill

HELPFUL TIP: You can also make this in aluminum foil rather than parchment paper. It is far easier to seal the packets this way.
Serving size: ½ fillet Calories: 100

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3 Ways to Tip the Scales

There are several ways that you can help tip the scales in your favor when trying to eat healthy. Here are 3 tips to aid in your success.

Perfect Portion - Make the meal Make the Meal – Cooking at home not only allows you to control which ingredients you use and in which amounts, it also requires you to literally work for your food, burning calories in the kitchen before you sit down to eat.
PerfectPortion-TippingTheScales-vegetables Bulk Up on Veggies – Most vegetables, especially green vegetables, are so low in calories and high in fiber and nutrients that you should consider them “free” foods. Add them to any dish to create larger, more satisfying portions that keep you feeling full for a longer period of time. To increase the portion size of these recipes, we frequently increased the veggies and reduced the protein with rave results. Bob’s Chicken Pot Pie is an excellent example.
PerfectPortion-TippingTheScales-bread Control the Carbs – Carbohydrates should be a side dish, not the main attraction. When it comes to carbs, especially pasta, we have a tendency to fill the entire surface of our plate before topping with a protein. For a balanced meal, your protein serving should be about the size of a deck of cards, your carbohydrate serving should be slightly smaller, and your vegetable serving should fill the rest of the plate.
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100 Calorie Brownie Bites

Mona’s Family Favorites: I LOVE chocolate! I found that using semisweet chocolate chips produced knockout fudgy flavor and allowed us to slightly reduce the butter without noticing! Also, I bake the brownies in mini-muffin tins for a PERFECT portion with plenty of the crispy edges that we all crave. Yum, no, super yum!

100 Calorie Brownie Bites
 
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Recipe type: Desserts
Makes: 24 Brownie Bites
Ingredients
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon 2% milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F, and spray a 24-cup mini-muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, melt butter into milk, then whisk in sugar until dissolved.
  3. Bring mixture to a simmer, remove from heat, and slowly fold in chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and stir until all is combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt before folding into the chocolate mixture to create a smooth and thick batter.
  5. Split the batter evenly amongst the 24 prepared muffin cups, adding 1 ½ tablespoons of batter to each cup.
  6. Bake for 15–17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a brownie comes out mostly clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Perfect Portion 100 Calorie Brownie Bites

HELPFUL TIP: You can also prepare this in an 8 x 8-inch baking dish by increasing the baking time to 22–25 minutes. Cut the cake into 4 rows by 3 rows to make 12 delicious brownies with only 200 calories each.
Serving size: 1 Brownie Bite Calories: 100

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Classic Meatloaf

Our culinary tricks were at work with this recipe to make it better for you without compromising on flavor. We used extra lean ground beef, but added minced zucchini and onion to make it moist. Plus, we added some extra veggies to your dinner! Shh, the kids will never know!

Classic Meatloaf
 
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Recipe type: Everyday Meals
Makes: 6 Dinner portions
Ingredients
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 ½ pounds (93%) lean ground beef
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
  • ½ cup minced yellow onion
  • ½ cup minced zucchini
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ¾ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ cup ketchup
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to mix all the ingredients except the ketchup, folding until well combined.
  3. Spread the meatloaf mixture into the prepared loaf pan, and pat it down to smooth out the top. Spread the ketchup over the top of the entire loaf.
  4. Bake for 1 hour. Let rest for 8 minutes before slicing into ½-inch-thick slices.
Perfect Portion Classic Meatloaf

HELPFUL TIP: Mincing the yellow onion and zucchini can be done quickly in a food processor, though you can also grate the zucchini using a cheese grater.
Serving size: ½ inch slice Calories: 100

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Number Crunching

Keeping track of your calories and monitoring your weight are keys to learning what works for you. The Perfect Portion cookbook makes calorie “counting” a snap, so it’s easy to keep track of how many calories you are eating. All of the recipes in the book are broken down into 100 calorie portions – whether you are looking for a 100 calorie snack or a 500 calorie dinner, we have the perfect portion you are looking for.

If you do want to lose weight, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends slow, steady weight loss by decreasing calorie intake and increasing physical activity. Whether your goal is a small calorie reduction to prevent weight “creep” or a larger reduction for greater weight loss, you can generally equate a reduction of 3,500 calories for a pound of weight loss. Therefore to lose one pound in a month you would need a daily reduction of roughly 100 calories, and to lose a pound in a week you’d need a reduction of 500 calories a day. Consult your doctor before making dramatic changes in diet or physical activity.

No matter what your weight loss goal, The Perfect Portion cookbook helps you find the healthiest way to cut calories by featuring fabulous recipes, meal planning guides and more… which in turn helps you to reduce empty calories from added sugars, fats, and alcohol ALL WHILE helping you with perfect portion sizes!

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All About the Perfect Portion

Whether you are looking to plan every aspect of your meals or are just looking to better understand portion sizes and the calories contained within them, the 100 Calorie Counting System was developed to truly adapt to you, your needs, and your goals. In this digital age, there are plenty of ways to track the calories you’ve already had. Now you have the perfect way to plan and portion those calories out before you eat them.

An example of a healthy 500 calorie dinner includes our Classic Meatloaf and Green Beans Almondine recipes as well as a comfort food favorite, Stovetop Mac & Cheese – try the recipe below.

Creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese doesn’t just come out of a blue box; in fact, you can make it from scratch in nearly the exact same amount of time as the boxed stuff. Making an extra creamy cheese sauce from real Cheddar cheese can be difficult to do without the sauce separating, but this recipe uses both cornstarch and reduced-fat cream cheese to bind things together and keep things easy and foolproof.

Stovetop Mac & Cheese
 
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Recipe type: Casseroles & One-Pot Meals
Makes: 12 Lunch portions
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces elbow macaroni
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 ½ cups chicken broth
  • 1 (12-ounce) can fat-free evaporated milk
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
  • 3 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
  1. Boil the macaroni according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse.
  2. In a stockpot over medium-high heat, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth, until dissolved. Bring up to a simmer, and let cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Whisk the evaporated milk and salt into the thickened chicken broth, and bring back up to a simmer.
  4. Remove sauce from heat, and stir in cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese, until melted and creamy.
  5. Add the cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce, and stir to combine before serving.
Perfect Portion Stovetop Mac and Cheese

HELPFUL TIP: It is best to make the sauce as the macaroni is boiling, so that you can add hot macaroni into the sauce. If the finished dish has cooled too much, simply warm over medium-low heat and stir constantly, until hot throughout.
Serving size: ⅓ cup Calories: 100

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Make your own dressings and Save $

You can save a lot of money and be healthier this year by making your own dressings. These will be fresh and healthy alternatives to the preservative-packed versions on your grocery store shelf.

Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki is a creamy, tangy Greek sauce and dip made from fresh cucumber, dill, and yogurt. It makes a refreshing topping for meats seasoned with Mediterranean spices like oregano, in the same way that you would top a Mexican dish with sour cream. Beyond that, it’s also an incredibly low-calorie dip that is excellent with baked pita chips or fresh-cut vegetables.

Tzatziki Sauce
 
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Recipe type: Dressings, Sauces & jams
Makes: 10 Topping or 5 Dip portions
Ingredients
  • 1 medium cucumber, peeled
  • ½ teaspoon salt, divided
  • 18 ounces nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • 2 tablespoons minced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Directions
  1. Slice cucumber in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds, making sure to get all of the translucent flesh around the seeds and discarding it.
  2. Chop the seeded cucumbers, and place in a colander. Cover with a paper towel, and press down to squeeze as much water as possible from the cucumber.
  3. Sprinkle the cucumber with ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and toss in the colander to mix. Let drain in sink for 15 minutes, as the salt brings out the liquid in the cucumbers. Press cucumbers through a paper towel once more before proceeding.
  4. Add the drained cucumbers and all the remaining ingredients, including the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt, to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse in short bursts for 1 minute to finely grate the cucumbers and combine everything into a sauce.
  5. For the best flavor, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours to let the flavors marry before serving.
Perfect Portion Tzatziki Sauce

HELPFUL TIP: Some brands sell nonfat plain Greek yogurt in 18-ounce tubs (Fage brand is 17.6 ounces, which is close enough), but if you are having any issue finding that size, the easiest thing to do is purchase 3 (6-ounce) cups.
Serving size: ½ cup Calories: 100

Avocado Caesar Dressing

Mona’s Family Favorites: I LOVE avocado. It’s one of those healthy ingredients that creates creaminess with less fat than mayonnaise. In this recipe, we used puréed fresh avocado instead of the egg yolk and Parmesan cheese. Not only does the avocado make this dressing thick and creamy, it also adds nutrients, great flavor, and only unsaturated fat! This delicious Avocado Caesar Dressing knocks it out of the park.

Avocado Caesar Dressing
 
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Recipe type: Dressings, Sauces & jams
Makes: 6 Dressing portions
Ingredients
  • 1 medium Haas avocado, halved, peeled, pitted, and chopped
  • ½ cup 2% milk
  • 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
  1. Place the avocado in a food processor, and process until mostly smooth.
  2. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the Parmesan cheese, and process until smooth and combined.
  3. Fold the Parmesan cheese into the dressing, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Store refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Perfect Portion Avocado Caesar Dressing

HELPFUL TIP: Anchovy paste can often be found in the Italian food aisle, although 2 whole canned anchovies can be used in its place.
Serving size: ¼ cup Calories: 100

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