Cooking When You're Dieting But Your Family Is Not

Cooking for One Dieter

Banishing comfort foods and forcing your children and husband to eat nothing but low-fat, low-cal food is a one-way ticket to getting voted out of the family.

For those nights when your brood is pining for pizza or Mac and Cheese, make sure you’ve got a stash of low-calorie substitutes for yourself. Some staples to stock your fridge with:  Lean Cuisine single serving microwave Pizza, (I love the Marghartita Style - 300 calories), Nature’s Own Double Fiber Hamburger Buns (80 calories), Boca Veggie Burgers (120 calories), La Tortilla Factory 100 Calorie Tortillas, and Oscar Meyer 98% Fat Free Hot Dogs (only 40 calories per dog).

For more ideas pick up a copy of Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You): Low-Fat Recipes with Half the Fuss and Double the Taste, or The 300-Calorie One-Dish Meal Cookbook: Fast and Fabulous Recipes for Easy Low-Calorie, Low-Fat Dinners. Or peruse hungry-girl.com for tons of low-cal recipes for one, like the decadent Totally Stacked Steak-Style Burger (250 calories) or Chick on the Barbie Pizza (340 calories).

My favorite low-cal meal (only 75 calories!) is a bag of Shirataki Noodles microwaved with a wedge of The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese. It’s such a low-cal meal that you can add a side of veggies, a side salad, or a light roll. Or add these versatile noodles to fat-free chicken broth for a hearty ramen soup-style meal for less than 70 calories.

I also love this quick low-cal grilled cheese recipe: Take 2 slices of Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat Bread Light and combine it with one Laughing Cow Light Wedge and 1 slice of Kraft Singles Fat Free American Cheese. Use a little zero-calorie butter spray to fry up a healthy sandwich under 150 calories.