Recipe of the Day: Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Warning: You might be addicted to this easy recipe.
Well, why wouldn't you be? It's delicious and way more filling than a 100 calorie pack. Yeah, that's right, these will only knock off 100 calories off your day! How? Oh... there's no butter!

What you'll need:
- 4 medium white potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled [Tip: Smash them with the flat of your knife to peel off the skins easily]
- 1/3 cup of skim milk (or more, if you like really thin mashed potatoes)
- 1/3 cup of non-fat sour cream
- Salt & pepper (to taste)

The Recipe:
1. Boil the potatoes and the garlic in a pot for approximately 16-20 minutes, until tender
2. Drain, let sit for a moment
3. Add milk to the pot while its still warm
4. Add the potato/garlic mixture back into the pot
5. Add sour cream into the pot
6. Take your potato masher, and get all that stress out. Mash them up to whatever texture you like.
7. Season your potatoes the way you like them. (I usually put a ton of pepper, and no salt)

This recipe should make about 4 servings. I sometimes eat them without anything on top, or sometimes with ketchup, but...

Can't eat mashed potatoes without gravy? Try this:
1. Spray pan with cooking spray
2. Add 1 small onion (diced) and 1/2 cup of mushrooms (chopped) to the pan, cook until tender, pour into a bowl, and leave aside.
3. Add 1 & 1/2 tbsp of flour to the pan with 1 tbsp of non-fat sour cream, and stir until thick-ish
4. Add 1/2 cup of red wine, and 1 cup of vegetable broth, stir
5. Add 1/2 a cube of vegetable bouillon (or if you're not making this vegetarian, you can use poultry seasoning), and a small can of low-fat cream of mushroom soup into the pan, and whisk together until completely homogenous
6. Add the onion and mushroom mixture to the pan and let simmer until thickened

You'll have plenty of gravy, but if you divide it into 4, it's also only 100 calories a serving!
Personally, I'd probably just eat the potatoes as a meal alone...
But add 3 oz of chicken or turkey to create a delicious meal for about 350 calories!

It almost like having the holidays all year round!

Ew. Diet? What?!

More than ever, people are trying to lose weight and stay in shape. Typically, a person will try a fad diet, it will work for a little while, and then BAM - the weight is all back (and more!)...

Why? Truth is: if you do a stupid fasting diet (the cayenne pepper & lemon water for example), you are only really just flushing out your system. You lose the weight you want, and then as soon as you put something REAL into your mouth again, your body goes into a euphoric shock. It starts thinking "HOLY MOLY, FOOD!" and decides to store as much as it can because it NEVER wants to lose out on nourishment EVER again.

This information isn't anything new.
You need to eat to lose weight. Your body needs fuel. DUH.
This also doesn't mean that eating ANYTHING will make you lose weight. Another DUH.
There are certain foods, as I'm sure you've learned by watching The Biggest Loser or by sitting in 9th Grade Biology class, that will help you shred the lbs more than others. Foods high in saturated and trans fats and/or have a high sugar content would likely NOT be the best choices for someone wanting to lose weight.

HOWEVER.
This does not mean you need to cut out your favorites completely. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
AND this doesn't mean eliminating ALL fats and sugars all together.
That would be a BIG MISTAKE. We need these in our diet. And, we all have cravings.
So what do we do then? How do we lose weight?

MODERATION & A WELL-BALANCED DIET.
OBVI.
Although we hate to admit it, The Canada Food Guide isn't lying folks.
FUN TIP: they make 100 Calorie packs FOR A REASON! Because you really shouldn't be eating more than that for a snack!
Unfortunately, we are trained to think that we need MORE of everything, its the sort of society we live in.

EAT UNTIL YOU ARE CONTENT. Not more.
Why give your body more fuel than it can burn? Do we fill our car more than the tank can fit? No.
Your body is that way too. The food that isn't being burnt off is excess and therefore, it is the bit of extra luggage you've got to carry around with you. You can still eat the things you like, but you need to be careful about HOW MUCH of it you take in. Remember, you burn off calories with you exercise and therefore you can consume more if you burn more. Incentive? I think so.

An easy way of finding out how much you eat, is by keeping track of the amount of calories you eat in a day. You can find out how many calories you SHOULD be consuming per day by calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Then again, not everyone can be bothered with numbers. An average male should consume about 2500 calories a day, and an average woman about 2000, according to Health Canada.

Now that the formalities and background information are out of the way... What's the point of this blog? Who am I telling you this?
Well, I've been there. I've carried many more pounds more than I needed to, and hey, I still carry at least 10 more than I should. I'm NOT here to convince you of anything, that's for sure.
And I'm by NO MEANS any sort of nutritionist or whatever.
I don't think you should follow a diet at all, REALLY.
The point of this blog is to provide you with easy recipes, sneaky tips, and short cuts in order to promote a healthier lifestyle AND STILL have all the foods you've grown to love and crave!

Happy Eating! xo