Recipes Shrimp Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce Build a Better Plate Makes 6 (1 cup) servings Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 16 minutes Ingredients • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into ¾ inch cubes • 1 package McCormick® Chili Seasoning Mix • 1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained • 1 can (15-16 oz.) kidney, white or pinto beans, undrained • 1 can (11 oz.) Mexican-style corn or whole kernel corn, drained • ½ cup water • 1 ½ cups broken tortilla chips (bite-size pieces) • Shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped cilantro (optional) Directions 1. Heat lightly oiled large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes or until lightly browned. 2. Stir in Seasoning Mix, tomatoes, beans, corn, water and tortilla chips. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 3. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and chopped cilantro, if desired. NUTRITION INFORMATION per Serving Calories: 240 Fat: 4 g thrive! tip! Carbohydrates: 30 g If a thinner ch ili Fiber: 7 g consistency is desired, Cholesterol: 34 mg stir in an addi tional Sodium: 800 mg ½ cup water. Protein: 21 g Recipe inspired by mccormick.com Take One Makes 6 servings Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes INGREDIENTS • 1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, no salt added, undrained • 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste, no salt added • 1 cup water • 2 tsp sugar • 1 tsp McCormick® Basil Leaves • 1 tsp McCormick® Garlic Powder • 1 tsp McCormick® Oregano Leaves • ½ tsp salt • ¼ tsp McCormick® Red Pepper, Crushed • 12 oz. whole grain pasta, such as linguine or spaghetti • 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined Tortilla Chicken Chili FREE DIRECTIONS 1. Mix tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, garlic powder, oregano, salt and red pepper in large saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package, adding shrimp during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return pasta and shrimp to saucepot. 3. Pour tomato sauce over shrimp and pasta. Toss gently to coat well. Serve immediately with shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired. NUTRITION INFORMATION per Serving Calories: 300 Fat: 2 g SATURATED FAT: 0 g Carbohydrates: 51 g Fiber: 9 g Cholesterol: 95 mg Sodium: 465 mg Protein: 19 g Recipe inspired by mccormick.com Monica Amburn, RD, LD BI-LO Corporate Registered Dietitian January 2012 Eat More and Lose Weight If your resolution is to lose weight this year, don’t jump on the latest diet-craze bandwagon. Instead, focus on eating MORE! More fruits & vegetables, more whole grains, more snacks, and more caloriefree beverages. By turning your attention to all of the foods you CAN have, you’ll see that there are lots of delicious foods to choose from that won’t leave you feeling deprived! MORE Fruits & Vegetables Fruits and vegetables are great for weight loss because they are rich in fiber and contain a high percentage of water, which creates a sense of larger volume in your stomach and helps you feel full. Non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, peppers and mushrooms are also extremely low in calories. By being conscious of how you prepare fruits and vegetables at meals and snacks, you can fill up quickly on very few calories! MORE Whole Grains Eat more whole grains in place of processed or fried carbohydrate-rich foods to save calories and stay full throughout the day. Whole grain foods tend to have a lower glycemic index than their refined counterparts, which means better control of blood sugar levels between meals, and less temptation to reach for sugary snacks. MORE Snacks Smart snacks help you maintain normal blood sugar levels, which keeps your energy high and hunger cravings at bay. Snacks are also great opportunities to sneak in more fruits and vegetables! To make smart snack decisions, look for foods at BILO that are tagged “Sensible Carbs” on the price tag, and pair with a protein-rich food. Here are some examples: • One handful of whole grain crackers and a reduced fat mozzarella string cheese • One small apple with two tablespoons of peanut butter • One container (6 oz) plain Greek yogurt with 1 cup of fresh or frozen berries MORE Low-calorie Beverages For weight loss, it is crucial to eliminate hidden calories, and fluids are one of the worst culprits! By focusing on more water, more unsweetened teas, and less soda and other sugary drinks, you’ll easily eliminate hundreds of calories daily! Being properly hydrated also ensures your metabolism is working at top speed, so drink up to slim down. Good, Better, & Best…Pasta Dinners When it comes to cooking at home, there are lots of ways to modify your favorite foods to make them just a little bit healthier. And it is okay to take baby steps when modifying recipes. Here we give you a step-by-step way to lighten up one of your favorite family meals, the all American pasta dinner. BETTER Spaghetti Dinner BASIC Spaghetti Dinner Key ingredients: • ¾ pound of 85% Lean Ground Beef • 1 16-ounce jar of basic spaghetti sauce • 1 pound dry spaghetti pasta • 1 cup cheddar cheese This is an example of the typical American spaghetti dinner. While it is a comfort food that warms the soul, it also packs over 600 calories, and almost half of its total fat content comes from saturated fat. And with 70 grams of carbohydrates, there are only 3.5 grams of fiber. Some small changes can help lighten this caloric load. See the “good” choice! GOOD Spaghetti Dinner Key Ingredients: • ¾ pound 90% lean ground beef • 1 pound dry whole wheat spaghetti pasta • 1 16-ounce jar of basic spaghetti sauce • ½ cup reduced fat parmesan cheese, grated To lighten the original spaghetti, we switched from 85% to 90% lean ground beef, and used 100% whole wheat pasta in place of regular white pasta. We also ditched the cheddar cheese, using instead reduced fat parmesan. Because of its strong flavor, you don’t need as much, so you can get away with using half of the usual cup. By making these small changes, we saved 100 calories per serving, cut total fat by 7 grams and doubled the fiber content! Want to get a little more adventurous while still lightening the recipe? Move on to the “better” spaghetti! Key ingredients: • ¾ pound 99% lean ground turkey breast • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, diced • 1 16-ounce jar basic spaghetti sauce • ¾ pound dry whole wheat spaghetti pasta • ½ cup reduced fat parmesan cheese, grated In this recipe, we used 99% lean ground turkey in place of 90% lean beef. And to keep more of the meaty flavor, we tossed in a cup of diced mushrooms (portobello works great) when browning the turkey. We also kept the whole wheat pasta, but slightly decreased the portion size to allow for 1 cup of cooked pasta per serving, which is more in line with MyPlate portion recommendations. By doing this, we saved 130 calories per serving, dramatically reduced total fat and saturated fat (down to 2g!), and reduced overall carbohydrates while keeping 6g of fiber. Not only does it taste great, but this is a healthy meal worthy of regular rotation in your kitchen! But if you are ready for a really bold step, move on to our BEST pasta dinner recommendation. BEST Spaghetti Dinner – Shrimp Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce Key Ingredients (full recipe on back cover): • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined • ¾ pound dry whole grain linguine pasta • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste, no salt added • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, no salt added • McCormick spices & herbs For this recipe, we used shrimp in place of turkey, and made our own sauce instead of relying on canned. With lots of flavor from spices and herbs, you won’t even miss the cheese (but you can sprinkle some parmesan if you wish). This recipe brings us down to 300 calories per serving, with only 2g of fat and 0g saturated fat. Carbohydrates remain in line with our “better” choice, but we were able to increase the overall fiber to 9g! This is a filling, lean meal that is packed with flavor and is very easy to make. Check out the back cover for the full recipe, and give it a shot! Ask Monica Question: I want to lose weight, but I’m confused as to what is most important to watch when I read food labels. Should I watch my overall calories, or focus on limiting carbs? What is best for weight loss? Monica’s Full Circle™ Favorite Product Pick of the Month: Full Circle Organic Frozen Berries ™ Answer: Great question! This is a question that stumps many of us because we are bombarded daily with countless sound bites of diet tips. But at the end of the day, calories count, so it helps to have an idea of how many calories you need to fuel your body while still allowing for safe and steady weight loss. Here are my steps for plotting out your own personal weight loss plan: 1. Estimate how many calories you need to sustain your weight. There are several calorie calculators available for free online, from websites such as www.sparkpeople.com and www.fitbie. msn.com. Enter your height, weight, age and activity level into the calculator to find out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Save that number. 2. For weight loss of one pound per week, subtract 500 calories from your daily caloric needs. This gives you the number of calories you should target in order to obtain a weight loss of about one pound per week. For example, if your first caloric goal resulted in ~2100 calories, subtract 500, which results in ~1600 calories daily. This is how many calories you should try to eat daily to help you lose weight. 3. Don’t eliminate food groups when trying to lose weight. When cutting down calories, make sure you continue to follow the MyPlate model of eating. If you make ½ your plate fruits & vegetables, ¼ plate lean protein, ¼ plate whole grains, and include 3 servings of low-fat dairy daily, you will be on track to a healthy weight loss diet. To trim calories, limit excess fats and oils, and limit sugars and sweetened beverages. Don’t forget that alcohol calories also count, so limit alcoholic consumption as much as possible to help you achieve your goal weight. Best of luck in your health goals this year! Happy New Year! Do you have a health or nutrition question? Email Monica at [email protected] for an answer. Your question may be featured in the next newsletter! You can also follow Monica on Twitter (@ MonicaAmburnRD) and facebook (facebook.com/ bilosdietitian). More thrive! articles are available at bi-lo.com/thrive too! Anytime you open my freezer door, you are sure to find lots of Full Circle frozen blueberries, strawberries and raspberries! I love to keep them on hand so that I can have a berry smoothie anytime I want. They are also great thawed out and added to spinach salads with balsamic vinaigrette for a fast suppertime side salad. And because they are frozen, you don’t have to worry about them going bad before you can eat them all. BONUSCARD® COUPON 50 OFF ¢ FULL CIRCLE™ ORGANIC FROZEN BERRIES 10 oz • Any Variety No cash back. Redeemable at your local BI-LO store. Limit one per customer per visit. Valid only on product indicated. Coupon may not be duplicated or photocopied. Any other use constitutes fraud. Good thru 2/15/12 #00000-DBBDAe