[Its Courtney]

We all talk about binging and cheating and falling off the wagon because we give in to our weaknesses----JUNK FOOD! Pizza, burgers, fries, etc.

In fact, my bf and I are chatting online right now discussing our cravings. Mine is super loaded nachos, and I'm literally salivating over the thought of it!

So let's swap recipes or junk food makeover ideas! How do you turn your favorite junk food into a healthy (or healthIER) version?




*I actually think I'm going to make a revised super-nacho tomorrow night for dinner. (Sounds more like a big taco salad, but whatever!)

-Chicken breast with seasonings from my spice rack (to nix some of the sodium from buying a seasoning packet) on top of:
-bed of lettuce
-chopped tomato
-cut black olives
-fresh chunks of avocado
-black beans
-chopped fresh jalepeno pepper
-fresh salsa
-fat free sour cream
-sauteed onions
-lowfat shredded cheese

Aaaand I think I may toast a piece of pita bread or 2 till crispy and drizzle lime juice over the entire meal for a little tangy zest!!

I have no idea how many calories this is, but it's gotta be better than fried tortilla chips that have turned soggy from greasy melted cheese! LoL

[brooksrm]

I do a healthier taco salad.
I start out with lettuce, add some diced onion and some cooked kidney or black beans. I top it with taco sauce instead of dressing and some low fat Weight Watchers mexican cheese. Tastes almost like the taco salad at Wendys with all the chili drizzled on top.

[blissclaire]

MMMM.... Courtney, I am a Nacho fanatic too... And that salad sounds YUMMY.

[anmitche]

I make homemade pizza. Well, from a box, which probably isn't the best but better than Pizza Hut or Papa John's. I take the box kit and make half the dough at a time, then put on my toppings. The whole thing is less than 800 calories, and I usually eat half of it and feel full!

[brooksrm]

I tried my version of spaghetti tonight. I used whole grain rotini (1 cup dry = 1 serving) and for the sauce I used only half a teaspoon of olive oil and cooked down a few tablespoons of diced onion and garlic until they were cooked through, and then added one of those small cans of tomato sauce with no added salt. Added in a shake of italian seasoning and cayenne pepper (I like when red sauce has a kick to it) and a half teaspoon of grated reduced fat parmesan cheese.

How is this a re-make? One serving is very filling and was only 333 calories by my calculations (I add up each ingredient on an excel chart where I keep my food journal). That might not be any different from spaghetti until you realize that with the no added salt in the tomato sauce, total sodium was only 51mg. Keep in mind, a serving of spaghetti sauce like prego has 580 mg of sodium. This was a much lower salt alternative and I didn't feel like I was missing a thing. Some ground turkey would have made the meal perfect, but it really wasn't too bad without meat. Also with the whole wheat pasta, it was about 9g fiber. 6.4g fat, 61.9g carb, 10.6g protein.

[Its Courtney]

Brook: Pasta is my weakness! I'm gonna have to try that...mmmmM!!! And maybe make my own turkey meatballs.

[blissclaire]

Turkey meatballs are SO easy to make... (AND yummy!) There's a Hungarian Dumpling Soup that I make that uses turkey and it's amazing... I'll have to find the recipe!

[dcslm]

For you nacho fans, Hungry Girl has a pretty decent cheese sauce recipe.

http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chew....php?isid=1077

[sweet_talker]

yeah hungry girl is an amazing website for everything! i would totally recommend it and the food it suggests. thoughhh, their recipes definitely focus more on calories and fiber rather than if things are natural or not (i've seen some recipes for shakes using coffee mate and stuff like the that)