A few weeks ago I got hooked on watching episodes of Lifetime's Cook Yourself Thin, a show that helps women tweak their favorite food indulgences and "drop a dress size in 6 weeks." The show is hosted by well-known food personalities-Candice Kumai from Season 1 of Top Chef, Harry Eastwood, food writer and cookbook author and Allison Fishman, owner of The Wooden Spoon a Brooklyn-based cooking school. The goal of the show is not to replace your favorite food with a low fat option, but to teach you how to substitute high-fat ingredients with natural and low calorie options like vegetables and fruit. I'm someone who loves how vegetarian and vegan foods taste just as good or even better than the original version so naturally, I've been trying to adopt the same behaviors in my own cooking.
While I was at the local library looking for the Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook, I found one called The Sneaky Chef which is pretty much the same concept. Missy Lapine, the brain behind Sneaky Chef, takes normally high-fat/high calorie /guilty pleasure foods and sneaks in substitutes like Spinach, Blueberries, Chick Peas and more to create healthier but just as tasty versions. While there were a lot of really yummy options, I could not WAIT to make her Barbell Burger recipes with.....BLUEBERRIES!
The burgers called for a Purple Puree of Spinach, blueberries, lemon juice and water. It made enough for 4 batches of burgers so I saved the rest in my BPA-free baby food containers. Adding to the moisture was tomato paste and oat bran added healthy fiber. 
These burgers are sure to please even the Hungry Man in the family. My husband, who love a good juicy burger or piece of steak really liked the burgers and took the leftovers to work!
Here's all of the ingredients:
- 1/4 cup tomato paste (this week I ran out and used Sweet Potato instead)
- 1/4 cup Purple Puree (see Make-Ahead Recipe #1)
- 1/4 cup oat bran, plus additional as needed (I used ground oat meal)
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 4 hamburger buns or English muffins, preferably whole grain
- Optional extra boost: lettuce, tomato slices, or grilled onions and mushrooms
For full cooking instructions, you can view the full recipe for free at the Sneaky Chef website.
Cooking Classes for the family
If you're still a novice in the kitchen, but want to learn how to cook for you or your family, there are plenty of cooking classes around the state that offer healthy ideas and even some classes just for kids! Here's a listing:
The Natural Chef: Cooking classes, training program, cooking parties | Princeton
Viking Cooking School: Demos, Kids & Teens, Hands-On Classes | Fairfield
The Kid Connection: Cooking workshops, kitchen safety and parties | Lincoln Park
Creative Kids Celebrations: Offers pizza, kebab and Organic cooking parties | Traveling/Northern
Miele USA: Master chef class, demos and kids classes | Princeton and NYC
Cook 'n' Tell: Class for adults and kids ages 3+ | Colts Neck
The Health Shoppes: Organic and Raw Food cooking | Morristown
The Pop Shop: Healthy cooking classes for kids, adults and NEWBORNS | Collingswood
Retail Cooking Classes
Williams-Sonoma
Whole Foods Market
Shop Rite
Follow The Sneaky Chef and Cook Yourself Thin hosts on Twitter!
Missy Lapine
Allison Fishman
Candace Kumai
Healthy eats for the whole family & Cooking Classes
Mrs Mo's healthy picks for 2009
If this is the year you are going to finally lose that last 10 lbs or if you have set a goal for drastic weight loss, I'd like to share some of the food/drink items that have made me successful with my Weight Watchers journey. The best part of WW is that I haven't really skimped on any of my eating and have actually found new snacks, seasonings and sides. Good luck to all of you and I'd love to hear from you on your journey to health.
PS. If you'd like a visual reminder of where you started and where you'd like to end up, get your Virtual Weight Loss Model over at Cosmetic Makeovers. I have mine on my Google Homepage. It's easy!
Here are Mrs Mo's Must Haves for 2009:
1) 100 Calorie Popcorn (1-2pts on WW depending on the brand): This easy snack is full of healthy fiber and low in calories. It's a great way to ease the hunger pangs. It's also a nice evening treat.
2) Chick Peas (1 pt/serving): Another great fiber rich food. Throw chick peas into any meal. I eat them with lettuce and FF dressing for a 2-point snack, but I've also made dinners with crab meat and chick peas in a tomato sauce. These a versatile bean since they are mild in flavor and not too mushy.
3) Fiber One Yogurt (1 pt): Are you noticing a trend here? Fiber, Fiber, Fiber! I can't stress how important it is to add fiber to your diet for achieving weight loss. My favorite is the Key Lime Pie.
4) Arnold Double Fiber or Double Omega Bread (1 pt/slice): I usually have a 1/2 sandwich at lunch on one of these breads. By having the 1/2 sandwich, I can also have a salad or another side so I can get a filling meal and not exceed my ideal points.
5) Eggland's Best Eggs (2 pts): My husband calls them the eggs with the stamp on them. But I call them my favorite eggs that have less saturated fat than other eggs and contain Omega 3s. Their hens follow an all-natural diet that DO NOT include hormones, steroids or antibiotics. They have Cage-Free and Organic Varieties as well.
6) Tyson Frozen Chicken Breast (2-3 pts): Tyson chicken is hormone/steroid/antibiotic 
free chicken and can be found in any supermarket. I get the frozen bags that run about $14 (but Acme usually puts them on sale from time-to-time for $8).
7) Fruit! Apples, Clementines, Raspberries, Peaches.
8) McCormick Garlic & Herb Spices with Cayenne Pepper: This is a great combo for any meat. No oil. No butter. No added Salt. Sprinkle onto chicken, fish, etc and you have a yummy spicy meal.
9) Measuring cups: Make sure you have these when serving anything from peas to pasta. You may think you're eating healthy, but if you eat TOO MUCH of a healthy food, then you defeat the purpose.
10) Food scale: Another helpful item when measuring food where the serving size is given in grams. I've used it with ground meat, pasta and even deli turkey.
