I think we’ve established at this point that eating healthy doesn’t mean bland rice cakes and water. You can eat right and still pack in the flavor. Today we’re going to learn a few simple dressing and dip recipes that make every day foods pop. Each recipe is low cal, tasty and takes only a couple minutes to make but if you’d rather avoid the kitchen all together there are lots of pre-made options available. Remember though that pre-made dressings and dips commercially available often contain a lot of salt, sugar and artificial preservatives so they can stay on the store shelves longer. In addition, they often don’t taste as good as fresh home-made dips and dressings, are expensive and may contain hidden food allergens. If you’re going to try pre-made dips and dressings make sure you check them carefully. A few good choices are organic salsa or picante sauce, organic spaghetti sauce and marinara sauce, guacamole, olive oil and herbs, etc. Below are a few of our favorite dips and sauces but there are tons of recipes (just do a Google search for healthy dip or healthy sauce).

Red Wine Vinaigrette
2 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard (do NOT substitute yellow mustard)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
Season to taste (Grind To A Salt is a good option here)
Make 2 servings, 65 calories per serving which covers 4 cups of salad/veggies. Replace the vinegar with orange juice for citrus vinaigrette.

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing
In a blender (or in a bowl using a hand held blender) put:
1 Roasted Red Pepper (We use Trader Joe’s brand)
½ Cup 2% Greek Yogurt (You can substitute sour cream or cream cheese. Calories will differ.)
1 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/8 tsp Black Pepper

Blend until smooth and creamy. It makes a great dressing for salads or pasta and well as a nice veggie dip. This recipe makes about 3/4 of a cup which is 100 calories or about 8.5 calories a tablespoon.

Teriyaki Sauce
Mix together:
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
1/2 tbsp Ginger Powder
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Water
4 Packets of Splenda

Mix together separately:
2 tbsp Cornstarch (or potato/tapioca starch)
1/4 cup Water

Pour the first mixture into a pot and set it to medium heat. When the sauce is heated and steaming slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture and stir briskly for 30 to 60 seconds. The sauce will thicken quickly. When it’s the consistency or gravy or chocolate sauce pour it into a heat safe bowl and let it cool. This recipe is for a glaze or marinade; it will be thick and strongly flavored. For a thinner sauce add ¼ to ½ cups of water extra to the first mix before heating it on the stove and reduce the cornstarch to 1 tablespoon. This recipe makes about 3/4 of a cup of marinade which is 80 calories or about 6.5 calories a tablespoon.

Fruit Dip
1 Cup Greek Yogurt (has a much thicker creamier consistency)
1 tbsp Honey (Want it sweeter? Add some Splenda.)
1 tsp Vanilla
(Optional – Add 1 tsp cinnamon for apples or 2 tsp citrus zest for tropical fruits like pineapple)
This recipe makes about 1 cup of dip. It’s great on fresh fruit, frozen yogurt or mixed with granola. One cup is 210 calories or 13 calories per tablespoon.

Veggie Dip
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
4 tbsp Light Cream Cheese
2 tbsp Sour Cream
1 tbsp Chives (fresh, chopped finely)
1 tbsp Parsley (fresh, chopped finely)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder (or 3 cloves grated finely)
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/3 tsp Salt
1/3 tsp Pepper
This recipe makes about 12 tablespoons of dip. 255 calories total, about 22 calories a tablespoons. It’s great on veggies or crackers.

Yesterday we learned about some basic pre-made spice blends. Today we’re going to talk about some individual spices and some spice blends you can make at home.

You may have noticed in yesterdays post that just about every spice blend included salt, pepper, onion and garlic. These are your base spices; they taste good with almost everything. Onion and garlic aren’t actually spices, their aromatics, but that’s another post. Since you’ll probably use a lot of these spices you’ll want to get a good kosher or sea salt, a good organic whole black pepper, an organic garlic powder and an organic onion powder. You’ll also need a spice grinder (though a dedicated coffee grinder works in a pinch) and some airtight containers. Spices should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place, not above your stove where they will soak up flavors, oil and steam.

For a long list of herbs and spices, as well as descriptions, photos and uses you can’t beat http://www.mountainroseherbs.com but I’ll list the most common here:
Basil
Bay Leaf
Cayenne
Celery Seed
Cilantro
Cinnamon
Cloves
Coriander Seed
Cumin
Curry Powder
Dill
Garlic
Ginger
Marjoram
Mustard Seed
Nutmeg
Oregano
Paprika
Pepper
Poppy Seed
Rosemary
Sage
Sesame Seeds
Star Anise
Thyme
Turmeric

Here are a few basic recipes we like:

Mexican Spice Blend
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Oregano
(This makes enough to season 1lb of meat or meat substitute. Omit the chili powder for an all purpose spice.)

Italian Spice Blend
2 tbsp Basil
2 tbsp Marjoram
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Oregano
1 tbsp Thyme
1 tbsp Rosemary
1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper flakes
(Try this on garlic toast, pizza, spaghetti sauce, etc)

Sweet Spice Blend
3 tsp Cinnamon
3 packets Splenda
1/4 tsp Salt
Sprinkle over 8 cups of popcorn, mix into plain yogurt or dip fresh fruit into it. Experiment by adding nutmeg, cardamom, cloves or ginger.

These are just examples to get you started. You can find more spice blends by doing a search via Google. Remember, you will mess up, it’s ok, experimentation is part of the fun. Be bold!

Todays results were a bit disappointing. Sean lost a pound and so did I. I really think that this is because we’re building muscle though so we’re not discouraged and plan to keep going. Plus, I broke the 300lb barrier which is a big deal for me. So to celebrate losing the first 30lbs I’m gonna buy myself a couple books at Borders this weekend.

I’m going to be posting a bunch of stuff about how we cook and exercise and all that so if you want to join us or have questions please let me know!