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- Blender: My immersion blender gets a lot of use, but a stand-alone blender is a more versatile tool for the masses. It works well to puree soups, making them thicker and creamier, eliminating the need for additional butter or cream. You can also whip up a batch of healthy smoothies (fruit, yogurt, ice, juice), your own low-cal mayonnaise (or flavored aioli for the foodies among us), and a week’s supply of low-cal salad dressing. Maybe you want to make a little pesto for your whole wheat pasta? A low-cal veggie dip with cottage cheese? No problem. And there’s even a site on the web with 6,170 blender recipes!
- Cookbook: Unless you’ve been to culinary school, you are probably not gifted with devising your own recipes on a regular basis. Let’s face it, we all need some inspiration. I have a collection of over 100 cookbooks, of all varieties, but you should try to choose one or two that suit your tastes and lifestyle, and believe me, there are a million of them out there. One of the more recent editions that covers, low-cal, high in flavor, and budget-friendly recipes is Biggest Loser Family Cookbook: Budget-Friendly Meals Your Whole Family Will Love. The book is a result of the television show of the same name, and provides recipes and helpful hints and tips. Priced at $13.97 on Amazon, it has a 4-star rating and is consistently in the Top 10 for diet/weight loss cookbooks.
- Crockpot/Slow Cooker: Make your life easier with one-pot meals utilizing cheaper cuts of meat. Crockpots are great any time of year. You can roast a chicken, make a stew or soup, and keep dinner warm for latecomers. Slow cooking allows the fat to cook off most cuts of meat, which you can skim off the top and avoid ingesting. Plus there is the convenience of putting all the ingredients in before work and coming home to a completely cooked meal. It’s also a great way to cook dried beans and legumes. Split pea soup, navy bean soup, homemade baked beans, barley and vegetable soup. The combinations are endless.
- Grill pan: This is one of my personal favorites. The grill pan allows you to cook meats, chicken, fish, and vegetables quickly and without added oil. Beautiful grill marks sear into the flesh, looking like you are preparing for a culinary photo shoot. Used on very high heat, the grill sears the juices in and provides for a tasty meal. You can buy reasonably priced ones for $25, or go high end with a Le Creuset version for $120.
- Kitchen Scale: So you think that portion of chicken was 4 ounces? While many can eyeball portions accurately, most of us get it terribly wrong, causing for additional unwanted calories. A small kitchen scale can take the guesswork out of portion control and also comes in handy for many baking recipes that list ounces instead of teaspoon or cup measurements.
- Nine-inch Dinner Plates: Americans, obsessed with bigger and better, have migrated away from the standard 9" dinner plate. What is standard these days is the 11" plate, meaning 2 additional inches and which hold almost 50% more food. Given the obesity epidemic, we don't need that extra 50%, and neither did our forefathers and mothers. So do yourself and family a favor and invest in smaller plates and smaller portions. (NOTE: some companies make extra-large "salad" plates which are 9 inches.)
- Nonstick Pans: These became popular in the late ‘70s in fry pans, allowing users to reduce or eliminate fat when cooking everything from eggs to grilled cheese to fish. Early and cheap versions of the nonstick pans can peel and break up with repeated use and age, so this is one kitchen staple it is worth spending a bit more on. You can now find nonstick soup pots, saucepans, omelet pans, and more, making all your cooking lower in fat. Just remember to keep metal utensils away from these pans, to keep the nonstick finish intact.
- Rice Cooker/Steamer: White rice, brown rice, red rice, black rice (the list is endless), and veggies can all be easily prepared in an electric rice cooker. This a no-mess, no fuss tool. Add rice and water, turn it on and Voila!, you have rice in about 30 minutes (longer for brown rice). Beats babysitting a pot on the stove. Bonus feature is the warmer, which can keep your rice at serving temperature for several hours. Most pots now have a steamer feature, allowing you to put a small amount of water in the pot, set in the steamer basket, add your choice of veggies, cover and set to cook. No watching the stove or checking for evaporation. Get creative and cook your rice in broth, with herbs or even diced veggies. You can also add garlic or herbs to your steaming water when cooking veggies to add another flavor component. The combinations are endless.
- Spices/seasonings/herbs: Individual jars make great stocking stuffers, but whole sets (on carousels or racks) make a tasty gift. You can also dress up little pots of fresh herbs in with bows to give as hostess gifts or to decorate a porch. Whether fresh or dried, seasonings are an easy way to perk up any meal and can add a punch of flavor. Specialty seasonings like Emeril’s Cajun Seasoning and Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic are a nice alternative. There is also a good variety of herb mixes with lower salt content.
- Subscription to Eating Well magazine: A monthly subscription to this great publication, where good taste meets good health, will provide them with ideas and recipes on a regular basis.
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Joy's LIFE Diet
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