Baked 'Sghetti

I am actually eating spaghetti as I type tonight. It isn't the baked spaghetti recipe I will share with y'all, but non the less it is a delicious bowl of turkey spag. Turkey spaghetti has been a long time staple in the Chiles' household. It is pretty cheap and fills up my hubs (who has 2 hollow legs).

This dish is a revamp of Paula's original Baked Spaghetti. Hers is made with lots of full fat and canned items. Of course I nixed those and added my own lower fat, fresh options.

Initially, I combined all of these beautiful ingredients in a large sauce pan. The original recipe calls to simmer the recipe for 1 hour. Well by now y'all should know, Laura and I do not sit around to let things simmer. I pretty much let this cook for about 20 minutes before I added the ground turkey.

I will say, the main downsides to this recipe was the amount of prep work involved and the number of pans/dishes needed. I prefer to use as few dishes as possible simply because I HATE doing dishes.

Now one major flavor change I made to this dish was omitting the cheddar cheese. I don't find cheddar to be the best flavor match for spaghetti. My mouth was screaming "Mozzarella or Parmesan please!" My answer? Kraft 2% Italian blend. A great lower fat/calorie cheese with the yummy creaminess that a typical mozzarella would provide.

What are some of your favorite low calorie substitutions?

I layered all of the spaghetti and beautiful sauce in a medium casserole dish. I did cut Paula's recipe in half because I did NOT need 10 servings of pasta just hanging out in my fridge. The recipe below represents the 6 serving final product.

How did it taste? I loved it! It had the great twice baked flavor and texture with creamy cheese scattered in between the layers. Rusty didn't hate it, but he didn't love it either. I think he is just not used to me using less salt in our recipes. His heart will thank me later :)

Here are the stats:

Baked 'Sghetti

Sauce:

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups no salt added tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp green bell pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp FNF seasoning (recipe here)

1 tsp no-salt seasoning salt (recipe here)

1 bay leaf

1 cup mushrooms

12 oz extra lean ground turkey, browned

Casserole:

6 oz whole wheat spaghetti, dry

1 cup Kraft 2% Italian blend

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot, combine the ingredients for the sauce except the turkey. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for at least 20 minutes. Add the ground turkey and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and set aside.

After adding the turkey, begin to cook the spaghetti. Cook according to package instructions, drain and set aside.

To assemble, spray a medium sized casserole dish with non stick spray. Put half of the noodles in the bottom. Cover with 1/2 the sauce and 1/2 the cheese. Then layer the remaining pasta and sauce. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the remaining cheese. Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings.

The Infamous Article

The blogosphere is in quite a tizzy today! Everyone’s chatting about The Marie Claire Article. Kat and I read the article and then we read the rebuttals of the bloggers named and we debated if we wanted to even address it on Foodies Not Fatties. Well, obviously, we decided to chime in with our opinion (note I said OUR opinion, even though I think it should be safe to assume that comments and posts on blogs reflect the writer’s opinion).

If you haven’t already heard, 6 well-known food bloggers were featured in an article in Marie Claire (see it here) that basically implied that these food bloggers encouraged disordered eating through their blogs (i.e. taking pictures of all their meals, documenting their double-digit runs, etc). The general consensus of the rebuttals was that the majority of the quotes were taken out of context.

Here are just some of the thoughts we had about the whole thing:

- The author points out that none of these women, except for one, have degrees in nutrition. That is true, but they all (or at least the 4 or 5 that we read) have disclaimers that state they are not Registered Dietitians and that their comments are their opinions. They provided a disclaimer for readers; they never once implied that they were ‘nutrition experts.’

- Bloggers have no control over how their readers interpret what they write. We post recipe modifications to make foods lower in calories, fat and sodium because we (and the majority of North Americans) tend to eat more than we really need. With our blog, we cook these modified recipes for ourselves, not to enable or help facilitate disordered eating. We try to emphasize balance and moderation not over restricting. It’s our opinion that the blogs mentioned (or the ones we read) do the same.

- What about reader responsibility? Just because something is on the internet doesn’t make it a reputable. What works for one person isn’t going to work for everyone. Kat and I know we will probably never run marathons, so we know better than to follow the training plans of these ladies. Kat brought up a good point: there are lots of stores that sell alcohol, but does that mean that they’re enabling alcoholics?? They do sell alcohol, but it’s the up to the individual to use it responsibly.

- We acknowledge that food blogging can be used to fuel or mask disordered eating habits, but it’s unfair to categorize these bloggers in that genre, given that the majority of their posts focus on maintaining a healthy diet for an active lifestyle (marathons, biking, etc).

Since this came up, we just want to be perfectly clear about the intent of our blog. You can read our introduction here, but here’s what we want our blog to represent:

1. How to make recipes healthier, in terms of calories, sodium, fat and fiber. We chose to focus on how to make foods more reasonable for US (two young, healthy women trying to maintain a healthy weight). Some of our favorite foods are high in fat and sodium and while it’s OK to enjoy these foods in moderation, we want to make them healthier so we can eat them more often.
2. Accountability for what we eat. For patients that are overweight, we’ll often recommend food journaling what you eat as a way of keeping yourself accountable. Weight Watchers is a reputable program that monitors intake using a Point system. Kat uses WW and I use a different method, but the blogs helps both of us stay on track.
3. Share our recipes and our thoughts about nutrition related things, like we're doing right now.
4. Meet others out there with a similar love of food and health. We enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie of the food blog community.

This article may have caused quite an uproar amongst the food blog community, but it is a great reminder that we should always try to take a minute to reflect on how we each use these blogs. It is important to assess whether you use these blogs for ways to gather tips on healthier living or if you are using them as a way to fuel an unhealthy and harmful lifestyle. These blogs should never make you feel guilty about what you eat nor is it ever their purpose. If you find yourself too wrapped up, take a break!

Of course, if you do have an eating disorder or practice disordered eating, please see a medical professional for help! If you want to use food blogs as part of your treatment, please address it with your Registered Dietitian to assess if it will actually help or hinder your treatment. Although Kat and I are Registered Dietitians, treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating is complex and requires a multi-disciplinary team for effective treatment and we are far from experts on the subject!

Next post, we're on to much lighter subjects...Kat's making Baked Spaghetti! Stop by tomorrow for a yummy classic recipe!

Say What?!

Any Registered Dietitian will tell you we often get the reputation of being called "The Food Police." Sometimes when I'm talking to a patient about their diet, I'll ask them to tell me what they eat on an average day and I can tell when they're just telling me what they think I want to hear. They so afraid of being called out by "The Food Police" that they recite what they know is healthy, not necessarily what they actually eat. It can be frustrating because I really do want to know what they eat! That's how we can identify areas that may need a little work and areas where they're already doing well.

But every once in awhile, I'll talk to someone that has no problem telling me what they eat and what they think nutrition is. I've heard some pretty crazy stuff! Usually when I hear something that sends off sirens in my head, I'll ask them where they heard that from and the response is always, "Oh, I read it in an article somewhere." I really want to know!

As dietitians, our recommendations are based on research and evidenced based practice. There is a lot of research out there and we're trained to look at that research and assess if it's something that can be applied in our practice. But only if it's legitimate. We have to ask what kind of study was it? What was the population size? Can this be applied to everyone? What were the limitations of this research? If you look hard enough, you can find "studies" to back up any claim, but there's not much weight in them.

But I digress . . . I only bring this up because I wanted to share with you some of the oddest things I've ever heard!

"I can meet my daily protein needs from fruits, veggies and 6 almonds."

"I like to pop my popcorn in my saved bacon fat."

"Why should I have to limit how much fat I eat? The Eskimos in Alaska eat blubber."

"I never eat sweets (when there's a pile of candy bars on the bedside tray)!"

What are some odd things you've heard about nutrition??

Sunday Sweets

For the month of October, Laura and I have decided to have Sunday be "sweet" themed. This weekend I decided to recreate one of my favorite cookies. I LOVE the cranberry and white chocolate sugar cookies at work. The texture is incredible, and in every bite you get a bit of sweet from the cranberries and chocolate. These cookies are about 4-5" in diameter and definitely made with white flour and butter.

Of course, in true FNF fashion, I decided to give them a little makeover. I think the hardest part of giving cookies makeovers is figuring out what to substitute for the butter. I have made cookies in the past using part margarine, but the final consistency was more cake like and didn't work out for cut out cookies. Since I wasn't going to cut these out or ice them I figured Smart Balance would be just fine.

Here are all of the ingredients:

I started by creating the cookie "base." Basically everything but the festive additives. I was afraid of over mixing the chocolate pieces if I added everything all at once. Once the base was combined thoroughly I added in the fun stuff.

When making a good lower calorie cookie, the fun stuff makes a huge difference. This recipe was hard to really cut back on the calories simply because the chocolate and dried cranberries are naturally calorie dense. One day I may try to make this cookie without fun extras to see how the base would be on its own.

What are some of your favorite "fun extras" to put in cookies?

I did stick the mixture in the fridge for awhile to let it set up. The cookies don't set very well just because I used the Smart Balance instead of butter and probably the use of applesauce. When you are scooping the dough onto the baking sheet you can mold the dough to have smooth rounded edges if you want since it is so soft.

Here is the final product:

The cookies tasted pretty good and were very light for a whole wheat cookie. One noticeable difference was the texture. These cookies are very cake like. One of my favorite characteristics of my cookies from work is the slightly crunchy texture. I will have to play around with the recipe to see if I can ever fix that.

Here are the stats for each cookie (the batch made about 27):

Calories: 90

Fat: 3.4

Sodium: 48

Fiber: 1.4

On a non-food note...aren't my blog helpers adorable?!

White Chocolate Cranberry Almond Cookies

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup Splenda
¼ cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
¼ cup Egg Beaters
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tbsp Chia seeds
½ cup Cranberries
½ cup white chocolate chips
¼ cup almond slivers

Combine all ingredients except the last three in a medium bowl. Fold in last three ingredients until distributed evenly.

Chill dough for 20 minutes.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough out onto baking sheet covered with a Silpat. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool for a few minutes then remove from baking sheets and let cool thoroughly on a cooling rack.

San Francisco Treat - Finale!

And so begins the end...

Our last day was one of our favorite days. Surprisingly, we weren't really visiting the "typical" San Francisco monuments.

Our morning started out with a quick breakfast at Starbucks. I tried their English muffin with turkey bacon sandwich. It wasn't too bad, but for a quick breakfast it was certainly better than Jack In The Box (that Rusty wanted). We hopped on another double decker bus and headed towards....Golden Gate State Park!!! We had another great tour guide that showed us the old Victorian homes...

Yes, that is where they filmed the intro to "Full House!"

We also drove past a park that was hosting a free concert. The line was soooooooo long. I think Sara Bareilles was playing?

We ended this tour at the GGSP. We hopped off the bus (after buying discount tickets!) and headed in to The Academy of Sciences Museum. It was AWESOME! We checked out the planetarium first..sorry no pics allowed. It is not for people who get motion sickness easily!

We watched a film about the lifespan of stars. Very interesting but I could have done without the narration by Whoopi Goldberg.

We then checked out the penguins...

Then the swamp to meet Claude...

Then to the (2 acre) living roof...

Through a really cool aquarium where the pictures stunk...

And last, through the rain forest, where we met this guy...

After our fact packed museum experience we crossed the beautiful courtyard? over to the Japanese Tea Garden.

I must say this was one of the places I was most excited to see. It was a modest sized garden of impeccably kept grounds. This is when I really hate not having an awesome camera. At least we still ended up with some neat photos:

Luckily we made it back to the AoSM in time to catch the last tour bus back to town. We jumped off at Union Square and made our way to our last experience, Chinatown! Their are two important facts you should know about Chinatown. 1) Don't buy any souvenirs until you go to Chinatown. 2) Don't buy something when you see it the first time. The further you walk down the street the trinkets get cheaper! I must say Rusty was a little frustrated every time we bought something because we would walk next door and find it cheaper!!! Not a happy camper! Sadly, our camera died before we got to Chinatown. This is a pic of the gate at the entrance that we saw on one of our tours:

After our crazy shopping experience we tried to find a sushi joint for dinner. Using our iPhones we found a place not too far away. I was thrilled that it was close because my feet were killing me, and so were Rusty's. Well, we walked all the way down one hill to get to the restaurant, and wouldn't you know it, it was closed!!! Insert frustration here! Luckily we found another spot and confirmed that it was open.

When we walked into Sushi Toni's we were a little concerned. It wasn't a very nice place, a little rundown, but all of the reviews on Yelp were great so Rusty and I stayed. We started off with some wine, seaweed salad and edamame and then ordered dinner. The waitress didn't know much, but what she did know made our night incredible. She happened to say "the tuna is VERY fresh today." So what did we do? We ordered a bunch of tuna. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Ahh, I am salivating just thinking about it. I had a roll with crab and avocado, topped with tuna (yes, I ordered a second one it was so good). Rusty has Nigiri with White Tuna, Yellow Tail, Salmon and Tuna and some other sub par rolls. Holy Cow! If you are in Chinatown and want yummy and reasonable sushi ($65 including apps and drinks) go to Sushi Toni!!!

After our most filling meal of the trip, we headed back to the hotel to survey our treasures and pass out!

We headed back to Houston around 12 on Monday and went straight to pick up our boys.

We were happy to be home, but so thankful for an amazing vacation. I hope y'all have enjoyed my recap of my trip, I know I have!

San Francisco Treat - Part 3!

This morning I continue sharing my recent trip to San Francisco with you guys!

On the third day, Saturday, Rusty and I did several VERY fun things. We had to get down to Fisherman's Wharf to pick up our tickets for our Alcatraz tour.

In order to get there we thought we would take a classic cable car. Well, we got up early and made our way to the first stop and were surprised to find such a long line. It took us about 30-45 minutes before we got on the car, but it was worth the wait to actually ride the iconic car of San Fran. A little hint for you soon to be travelers, don't go to the main turn-around to get on. They don't fill up the cars, and you can hop on at the next stop. That would save you lots of time. Also, you can either buy an all day pass (a great deal) or just a one way ticket on the car. I believe the one way ticket was $5 and the all day pass on public transportation was $13 (a total steal).

We finally made it to the tour store to pick up our tickets. We were a little frustrated because it was first come first serve and the ticket guy was running late. Once we actually got our tickets we were given a 3:20 loading time. That wasn't exactly what we wanted. This is why I would recommend going straight through the Alcatraz Tours Company. There is only one company that has a license to dock at Alcatraz. Do not be fooled by the other companies who say they tour Alcatraz...they only float around the island.

Anyway, back to our day ahead. We picked up our tickets and grabbed a quick breakfast at Joanie's near the tour shop. It wasn't too bad but nothing special. Very typical Denny's or IHOP style food.

After breakfast we took the double Decker bus to the Ferry Market. For you foodies this is a MUST!!!! It is a huge farmer's market with incredible fare. All kinds of local produce, local soy, local honey...ahhhhh I want to go back!

We sampled a few things and then went inside the Ferry Building for another surprise. There were tons of shops and little restaurants. We loved Cowgirl Creamery (I hate weird cheeses but they had some that changed my mind). We sampled cheese, wine and chocolate and bought a few things to take home.

After our trip to the market, we made our way to the Alcatraz Tour. We recommend getting there AT LEAST 30 minutes early or you will be stuck waiting in the hot sun. We made it there early enough to cool off with a few bottles of agua. We hopped on the ferry boat and took a beautiful but short ride over to Alcatraz. The park offers a free audio tour of the prison....but beware it is a nice climb to the top where you pick it up...WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES! I was wearing my typically ballet flats but by day three I was up to about three band-aids per foot :(

Once up at the top we grabbed the audio tour guides and checked everything out.

My husband in jail...

Some of the famous prisoners like Al Capone...

Rusty trying to put me in solitary confinement...

The island tour was really neat and we are really glad we took the time to do it. Once we made it back to the mainland we maid our way to dinner of course!

We made our way back to FW and ate at Ciopinno's. It had a weird name but as far as location it was bay side across from The Cannery. It was an Italian seafood joint with great outdoor seating. Rusty and I enjoyed a great bottle of wine and some decent seafood risotto. I think I could have made it better :/

After dinner we walked across the street and took the night tour of the city. Seeing all of the city lit up was a wonderful way to end the day.

Come back this afternoon for the final installment of my trip! I have to head to a meeting so it should be up sometime around 3pm central time! Have a great weekend!

San Francisco Treat - Part 2

Today's blog entry is all about....San Fran! If you are just joining us today, I am spending the next two days writing about my trip to San Fran.

On day two, Rusty had decided we HAD to go to Muir Woods. Muir Woods is a national park that protects a forest of Redwoods. They are incredible!

In order to get to the park we had to hop on the double Decker bus. We took a cab back to the Wharf to hop on.

This particular bus drove us past The Palace of the Arts (which was closed for renovations)...

Then to the Golden Gate Bridge!!! We actually hopped off an walked the whole thing!

Rusty being really cool, "holding up the bridge"

It was beautiful, the weather was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better GGB experience!

We hopped on another bus on the other side of the bridge that took us to Sausalito. The bus dropped us off and we had about 20 minutes to grab lunch. Unfortunately, we didn't realize we only had 20 minutes until we only had 10 left. This lead to crazy attempts to get fast food, me waiting for the bus and begging the driver to not leave, then ending up with a frustrated hubby on the bus with no food.

It all worked out in our favor because we ended up having a wonderful lunch at the organic cafe in the park! Check out my food pics on Twitter!

Here are some pics of the most incredible trees I have ever seen,

Look at how big the tree is compared to my husband!

A view from one of the mini bridges...

After our walk amongst giants, Rusty and I headed back on the bus to San Francisco. Once we were back at the wharf we decided to tour Ghiradelli Square.

We checked out the chocolate store where we sampled the new Pumpkin Spice Squares...yummo!

We saw the vats of chocolate in the Ghiradelli cafe...

Honestly after that I would say there wasn't a whole a lot to see in Ghiradelli Square other than a few cute boutiques.

After our mini tour we dined at the Blue Mermaid. There was a huge sign outside saying they had the #1 chowder in town. They weren't lying! We had some of the best corn and Dungeness crab chowder ever! Mmmm Mmm I am salivating just writing about it.

For dessert, Rusty and I stopped in at a place called Jack's. It is a local bar inside the old cannery building. They have 85 beers on tap, most of which where local. Rusty had a few glasses and I had a flight of 5 tasters, most of which were girlie ciders. I still haven't gotten used to the idea of heavy beer :) Maybe someday.

After our "dessert" we hit the hay. I will say we had a very hard time getting used to the time change. We were kind of losers and were in bed between 8 and 9 which was more like 10-11 Texas time. And 10-11 is well past our bedtime...insert loser comment here.

Well join me twice tomorrow for a breakdown of the last 2 days of our trip. This includes the Wharf, the Market and Alcatraz...and much much more!