Curb Your Cravings - Not Your Enthusiasm 395

January is the month of revival, whispers all around of a better year - aspirations held for those resolutions you have either penned to paper, or kept quietly in your thoughts.

According to data published from various studies published throughout the last 5 years, every January, roughly 40% of Americans vow to change something in their lives, in the form of a resolution. One of the top 3 resolutions is to lose weight¹.

A study published in 2002 by Scranton University¹, shows statistics for the percentage of people who had made New Year's resolutions, as the resolve to keep those resolutions dwindles steadily over time:

• Resolutions held past the first week: 75%
• Resolutions held past 2 weeks: 71%
• Resolutions held after one month: 64%
• Resolutions held after 6 months: 46%

The Study gathered data on the usefulness of resolutions made in January. To gather data, 2 groups of subjects were followed over a 6 month period and interviewed. The groups were made up of:

1. People who had NOT sat down and made resolutions.
2. People who DID make the effort to create resolutions.

The Study found that after 6 months time 46% of the people who HAD made resolutions were successfully accomplishing their resolution goals - compared to only 4% success rate of those who did NOT create resolutions .

This is good news for people who have reachable aspirations this year. For those of you who are seeking to shed extra pounds this year, it may be in your favor to write down a resolution or two. By keeping your resolutions in an accessible place, you create a reviewable bookmarklet of your goals. This will help improve your willingness to keep your word, as well as serve as a constant reminder of what you are working toward.

Once you have established your basic goals for weight loss, it is time to confront the barrage of seemingly frustrating obstacles, some are - portion control, peer pressure, advertising, self esteem, cravings and lack of motivation.

One of the biggest problems dieters face is curbing cravings for high calorie foods. The salty, crunchy and mostly grease laden mass produced items like chips, are readily available via retail shelves and can be found virtually everywhere - vending machines, break rooms and parties etc.

What can be done about cravings? Deprivation - The act of denying oneself access to these treats? Well studies also reveal that denying cravings only results in more weight gain, because most dieters succumb to the internal turmoil caused by the denial, and then start the binges. Binges are mainly eating large amounts of high calorie foods for an extended period, disregarding portion control or the caloric values. This can create an ugly cycle with dieters. It can be quite disheartening.

I think one effective method to ward off cravings is to find a similar food - one that is close to the texture, and taste of that high calorie, unneeded food you might crave. The key is to find the version that is the least in calories, yet still as tasty.

Thankfully flavor technologies are starting to catch up with the science of creating and marketing low calorie products. The bland, obviously doctored tastes of diet foods past seems to have dissolved, much like the once bad after tastes.

So keeping in tune with this post, I wanted to share that I discovered something recently, that was pretty nifty. Kellogg's brand 'Special K ' has started marketing low calorie snacks as part of their pro-low calorie product line. I think by far the multi-grain crackers they just released are one of the tastiest store bought crackers I have had in a while.

The closest retail comparison I could think of is "Wheat Thins". Now I have not been a fan of "Wheat Thins", the crackers are a bit too substantial for my taste. And they have an overpowering taste that competes with anything you add to them. Plus I find that I get this odd after taste when I have had a few at a time.

But Special K's multi-grain crackers surprised me. They have a very light & airy texture with bits of whole grains - but can still hold their own when used with a thicker dip or soft cheese. The taste of the cracker comes off very pleasant, with a slight hint of onion. Very buttery.

I honestly can say they were extremely good. Something I will keep in my pantry.

There is a second variety of Special K's crackers I tasted. The flavor is Italian Tomatoes & Herb. Now if you are someone who loves the taste of tomato bisque or sun-dried tomatoes - you will appreciate this variety.

I am not a fan of tomato bisque. I love marinara sauces and sun-dried tomato but something about that kind of soup just doesn't do it for me.

I did taste the crackers enough to get a sense of their flavor. The tomato flavor is pretty heavy in these crackers. IThe crackers actually reminded me of tomato soup with an aged cheese melted into it.

My husband (who happens to be an avid tomato bisque consumer) loved these crackers. As did my 20 month old. Plus they passed the "picky eater" test with my 5 yr old.

So if you are looking for something to curb your cravings, these crackers seem like a win-win. Per serving of 17 crackers it is only 90 calories. They come in individual portion controlled .77 oz pouches, or you can purchase a box of 6 pouches, and for larger amounts, the 8 oz carton is great for parties.

You can view more about the crackers , such as the nutritional & allergy info, by clicking on the above links (which point to Kellogg's website) or visit their product pages:

Special K Multi-grain Crackers:

• http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=15751

Special K Italian Tomato & Herb Crackers:

• http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=15771

Related Posts:

• How sweet it is: The Skinny on Low Glycemic Sweeteners
• Lo-fat Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons
• Trace Produce : Come and Meet Your Farmer

Source::
¹Auld Lang Syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers, by John C. Norcross, Marci S. Mrykalo, Matthew D. Blagys , University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 58, Issue 4 (2002).

Recipes for Savory Salsas and Sauces 7

Here is a listing of all the savory salsas and sauces featured on Renaissance Culinaire. This page will continue to be updated as recipes are added.

Green Tea Sesame Sauce

Sweet & Sour Chili Sauce

Tomatillo - Avocado Salsa

Mango-Ginger Salsa

Lime-Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons 9

I am a fan of bananas, and this Banana-Rum Napoleon is a recipe to satisfy your dessert cravings, and it is low-fat to boot!

Thanks to ian_ransley for use of his photo.

I love napoleons, they work really well in a restaurant kitchen, because they are relatively easy to assemble, if you prep before hand, and the presentation looks very elegant, and your patrons or guests will think allot of time was spent
creating it.

Sweet Nothings
Low Fat
Low Calorie Desserts

This recipe is adapted from Sweet Nothings by
Jill O'Connor. It makes 10 portions.

If you aren't feeling like bananas - You can
substitute peach, nectarine, or a favorite
berry puree - and flavor
with a liqueur of your choice.

It is better to prep the pastry in
advance(up to 24hrs ahead),
to speed up the production of this dessert.
The cream filling cannot be made more than
2 hrs ahead of time if using the original recipe.

If using real cream, you must make right before serving.

For The Pastry

• 6 Sheets of phyllo dough (12 x 17 inches), thaw if frozen
• Butter flavored vegetable cooking spray.
• 6 TB granulated sugar

Tip: When working with phyllo dough - to thaw, allow the box of phyllo dough to rest out on a counter if the inside temp is relatively low, it will take 3-5 hrs for proper thaw. Otherwise put in the fridge 2-3 days ahead of time. Take out as many sheets as needed, then wrap the remaining in plastic wrap , tightly and use within 5 days. When you are working with phyllo dough it is best to have a tray to lay out the sheets, then keep totally covered, under a damp kitchen towel. If exposed to air, the moisture from the phyllo dough will be wicked out and it will become dry and brittle - which means non workable for you. So work quickly.

Procedure:

1. Preheat Oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet w/ parchment paper.
2. Place the first phyllo sheet on a clean flat work surface. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1 tsp of the sugar. Add a new sheet onto the previous prepared layer. Repeat as instructed above, using 3 of the 6 phyllo sheets only.
3. Cut the layered phyllo into ten 6 x 3 inch rectangles. Place rectangles on prepped baking sheet. Bake in oven until crisp and golden - 3-5 minutes. WATCH THE BAKEOFF - thin phyllo burns very quickly, so don't get distracted while waiting for them to brown.
4. Remove from oven and transfer phyllo triangles to a rack to completely cool.
5. Repeat the above 4 steps again with the remaining 3 phyllo sheets.

{There will be scraps - the books says to discard, but as anyone in the culinary trade knows - use everything you can, so save the scraps and bake last, use as garnish for another dessert, or a smoothy etc.}


For The Cream Filling:

• 1 1/4 cups pureed banana (1 1/2 - 2 large bananas) OR Measure out your favorite substituted puree - peach, nectarine, or a favorite berry puree.
• 1 to 2 TB freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 1/2 TB Dark Jamaican Rum OR If using other fruit, the use the liqueur of your choice.
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat non-dairy topping
• 4 medium bananas, sliced on the diagonal, 1/4 inch thick
• confectioners sugar for top of finished pastry

Procedure:

1. Place pureed fruit, lime juice, Rum or liqueur, vanilla and nondairy topping in a bowl. Fold together ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
2. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Dessert Assembly:

1. Just before serving place a phyllo rectangle onto a plate. Spoon 1/4 cup of the banana cream onto the pastry.
2. Top the cream with 8-10 banana sliced OR your substitute fruit pieces other berries.
3. Top the filling with a 2nd phyllo rectangle, sieve confectioners sugar over the top.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have created 10 napoleons.

To create a decorative pattern - such as a herringbone or cross hatch : heat a metal skewer over a gas flame or use a mini blow torch, until very hot. Quickly lay the hot metal skewer on the top of your napoleon for the desired marking, repeat until you have the desired effect.


For an nice presentation - garnish plate with drizzles of fruit puree; add a bit of mint, or some citrus zest curls.

105 calories per serving; 1.5 grams of fat - 13% calories from fat.

VEGAN:

This dessert can easily be converted into a Vegan dessert: Use melted Earth's Balance in place of the cooking spray - or use soy milk to brush over the layers of phyllo (you might need to adjust baking times, so watch the pastry closely). Replace the "non-dairy topping" with silken tofu. Yum!

Full FAT:
And for those of you who cannot stand fake cream - go ahead and use the real deal, just use heavy cream in place of "nondairy topping", as heavy cream has a higher fat content which will help stabilize it a bit better than traditional whipping cream. Whip this up right before serving, as real WC will separate quickly. You may need to adjust the amount of puree also - try a little at a time.

Original recipe© Jill O'Connor.