[Freebird!]

I love Talopia too! My favorite way is in fish tacos. Of course it's best when coated in Panko and pan fried - I use just a bit of olive oil - but it's still good if you season with Adobo seasoning, and broiled. Then just add tons of fresh veggies, salsa, even fruit like Mango. You can get Soft tortillas that are organic and lower in fat. Yummmm!

[red mares]

I don't think I saw this but a food scale is your friend. It annoyed me incredibley to use it. I actually bought it to make fruitcake - the recipe was in lbs & ounces not cups and teaspoons. It makes it easier to learn what an actual portion size looks like. Sometimes you will be surprised how much a serving really is. After a while you can ditch the scale.

Only cook what you need. I eat pasta, but I cook enough for that meal, no more. That amount is based on the serving size on the side of the box or less.

I hate fish unless it ground up, reprocessed and batter fried.

[wsmoak]

I don't think I saw this but a food scale is your friend. It annoyed me incredibley to use it. I actually bought it to make fruitcake - the recipe was in lbs & ounces not cups and teaspoons. It makes it easier to learn what an actual portion size looks like. Sometimes you will be surprised how much a serving really is. After a while you can ditch the scale.

This. AND you need it to adjust for the manufacturer's idea of how much 1/4 cup is. Go ahead... weigh a cup of your favorite cereal and then look at the panel on the side that says "1/4 cup (36g)" or whatever.

More often than not, a normal human using a measuring cup will end up with more than they say it should be. There are some products that I have *no* idea how they came up with that weight, unless someone sat there with tweezers and carefully balanced bits of the cereal to leave as much air space in the cup as possible.

And that means... mystery extra calories, even if you *think* you are doing a good job by measuring what you eat. It has to be done by weight if you want an accurate count.

I'm so used to it now I don't even think about it. All my recipes are converted to weights.

It's especially useful if you are reducing the fat -- when you're only using a little bit of butter or oil, too much flour, etc. will throw the whole thing off.

[Larksmom]

So far so good. It was a short walk, but i couldn't find the gentle leader for Snick and he tried to pull my arm out of the socket. Toffee was pretty good, but I need to walk HIM by himself, and Toffee says 'not while there's breath in my body.'
Now to shower, make a lunch, feed the 4 footers, go vote, run up to church to keep toiling in the office, come home and further contemplate the sad piece of tilapia in the fridge. I hate for it to have died in vain! I will reread some of the offers of recipes today, and to the one who offered, Indian is one cusine I simply cannot get to like. Either I have not had it prepared properly, or I don't know, don't like curry!
I wish the community colleges or Communiversity would offer real nutrition classes, and healthy cooking classes. I bet they would be filled instantly.

[BuddyRoo]

OP, I thought of a couple more things.

1) A lot of big grocery stores now have dieticians on staff that you can meet with. They will even walk you around the store and show you how to understand labeling and such. If you don't have a grocery store that offers that nearby, most hospitals have similar programs or you can even find a dietician to consult with in the phonebook.

2) Meal planning and grocery shopping with a list really cuts down on impulse buys and can reduce waste. If for example, I need cilantro for dish A on Monday, I try to find another dish that needs cilantro for that week so I'm not wasting half of the stuff.

3) Crock pop cooking can be healthy and very flavorful.

4) Perimeter shopping at the grocery store. If you kind of stick to the perimeter, all you see is produce, meat, dairy, juice, etc. If you can stay out of the aisles as much as possible, it is much easier to eat healthy foods.

The lean cuisine frozen meals are actually pretty good and are the lowest in sodium amongst the low cal meals. The dietician my mom saw after her CHF hospitalization spent a lot of time with us on salt intake obviously. THey hide a LOT of salt in most pre made/packaged meals! Yikes!

[Crackerdog]

So far so good. It was a short walk, but i couldn't find the gentle leader for Snick and he tried to pull my arm out of the socket. Toffee was pretty good, but I need to walk HIM by himself, and Toffee says 'not while there's breath in my body.'
Now to shower, make a lunch, feed the 4 footers, go vote, run up to church to keep toiling in the office, come home and further contemplate the sad piece of tilapia in the fridge. I hate for it to have died in vain! I will reread some of the offers of recipes today, and to the one who offered, Indian is one cusine I simply cannot get to like. Either I have not had it prepared properly, or I don't know, don't like curry!
I wish the community colleges or Communiversity would offer real nutrition classes, and healthy cooking classes. I bet they would be filled instantly.

The only fish I like is salmon slathered in mayo and seasonings and baked and halibut/cod (deep fried) but I did try Tilapia once when DH needed to lose weight. Here is the recipe, it's 286 calories per serving:

Lemon-Horseradish Fish Cakes
serves 8

3 Tbs olive oil
2 pounds tilapia fillets (about 6)
salt and pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C light mayo
1/2 C coarsely chopped fresh parsley (flat)
1/4 C fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
3 Tbs prepared horseradish
1 1/2 C coarse cracker crumbs

Preheat oven to 400. Brush rimmed baking sheet with a little oil and place fillets on sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until cooked through, 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely and flake fish into small pieces with a fork.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, mayo, parsley, lemon juice and horseradish. Fold in the fish bits and 1/2 cup cracker crumbs; season with salt and pepper. Place remaining 1 cup cracker crumbs on a plate. Form cakes using about 1/4 cup of fish mixture per cake. Gently dredge in cracker crumbs, pressing to adhere.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbs oil over medium high. Place cakes in skillet, cook until golden brown, 4-6 minutes per side.

Serve with tartar sauce and green salad.

I realize you will have to cut this down a bit for yourself but it gives you an idea anyway to use up the fish and it really wasn't too bad. I still won't be buying any more tilapia in the future though.

The recipe is from Everyday Food Light from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

[wendy]

But I guess the point of this is really, how to make the transition from meatloaf and scallopped potatoes, to Tilapia and rice?

I suggest you DON'T. If you're heading towards diabetes, what you need is to eat a low-carb diet, not a low-fat diet- the fish, and moving away from red meat, and talking about fruit, sounds like you think you need to eat a low-fat diet.
BUT if you're developing diabetes, you don't need a low-fat diet, you need a low-carb diet instead. Look into South Beach, or Paleo. On these diets, you can eat buttered vegetables, sure, and lots of them. You can eat meatloaf. You can eat rich sauces (well, some of them; many sauces are full of sugar, those you can't eat). You can eat steak. You can occasionally eat scalloped potatoes.
If you're pre-diabetic you should lay off the fruit, too, not try to eat more of it.
I think you really need to do some research into what you should be eating because you're trying to move in the wrong direction with your diet. MANY people who can't manage to eat a low-fat diet find the low-carb diets fun and easy to follow.

And I know it sounds weird, but if you're tired, forcing yourself to exercise will actually make you less-tired. Start with the dogs- make yourself take a walk around the block, every day, at the same time. No choice, just do it. See how that makes you feel, and then gradually lengthen the distance of the walk. Gyms can be very overwhelming; I'd start with just walking. If you can work up to walking briskly for an hour every day, and eat a low-carb diet, that should fix you right up.

[fordtraktor]

I like tilapia cooked right. Roll it in cornmeal, sprinkle with sea salt, add Old Bay Seasoning and fry in a teaspoon of olive oil on a nonstick pan (really reduces the amount of oil you need to use). Good stuff -- tastes like Old Bay and not nothing. Grilled tilapia is useless. Food needs to taste good.

I have problems with portion control so I eat a lot of low calorie, high fiber food like vegetable soup, salad, fruit, etc. -- alongside a piece of protein. I can eat as much as I want of the low-cal food and stick to the protein easier. It really helps me get over the not feeling full problem.

I am also a "must have something sweet to finish" person. I keep a giant box of York Peppermint Patties in the pantry. One of those and I'm done. I save more calories not fighting this one and just eating something sweet instead of snacking after the meal because my body refuses to feel done yet.

[Louise]

The lean cuisine frozen meals are actually pretty good and are the lowest in sodium amongst the low cal meals. The dietician my mom saw after her CHF hospitalization spent a lot of time with us on salt intake obviously. THey hide a LOT of salt in most pre made/packaged meals! Yikes!

I hate to cook, so have become somewhat of an expert on frozen meals. Lean Cuisine is OK, but you must read the labels carefully, because they vary greatly in sodium. The best meals, as far as sodium goes, are the Healthy Choice meals. They're pretty good, and they tend to be fairly consistent in the amount of sodium that they have. It's lower than the other brands, but not what I would consider really low. I can generally stay under my daily sodium amount if I eat one a day. The rest, I have to cook myself. And, you can't even think about the Stouffers, the Marie Callenders and, much to my everlasting sorrow, the Zatarains (love that stuff). But, they are so loaded with salt it's sad.

I love cereal. I now stick to the ones in the organic aisle. I do that because they don't have high fructose sugar. Try and limit that as much as possible. It's addictive and makes you crave more. I've found that by eliminating as much of it as possible, I don't want sweets as much. And, along with the cereal thing, one of the biggest surprises I had was discovering that oatmeal wasn't as good for you as you would think. It's OK, and I eat it on occasion, but there are much better hot cereals out there.

[Larksmom]

Quote
'one of the biggest surprises I had was discovering that oatmeal wasn't as good for you as you would think.'
Thank God for small miracles!
Guess what! When I went to vote, the guy standing in front of me goes to my church. He is divorced, and we have er, if not canoeing, .....been paddling..........
He is always attentive, he has been overe for dinner, but NEVER speaks to me outright. ?!?!?!?! Anyway, I asked him this morning if he would help me walk the dogs-he keeps wierd hours...He said yes. First hurdle, OVER!

[kateh]

Yay!! And OooOoooh a paddling partner!


Another suggestion for the tilapia holdout: coat that sucker in Cajun spices, throw it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, then eat it on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato and some dijonnaise (fancy word for dijon + mayo).

[fordtraktor]

Louise, Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice box mix now comes in a Low Sodium in my grocery store. It isn't maybe exactly LOW sodium but it appears somewhat safe to eat now.

[Louise]

I saw that in the store the other day, fordtraktor. I just looked it up. 720 milligrams, or 30% of daily requirement, per serving. Sounds doable, except if you look at what a serving is -- 1/3 of a cup. I can't make a meal out of that. I should be able to make my own, for less sodium by far than that, if I can get off of my butt and do some of my own cooking.

[PeteyPie]

Regarding your aversion to tilapia, CLEARLY, you are not frying it and using enough butter.

[candyappy]

I second spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti. Also, when you're baking you can substitute 1/2 canola oil, 1/2 apple sauce for butter. There are a lot of little changes you can make that make a big difference! I love oatmeal cookies made with the fat substitute above and 1/2 the sugar. Way better than a bowl of oatmeal :-)

Apple sauce/ canola oil instead of butter ? Ugh that is so disgusting!

As a healthy family of 5 that raises and butchers our own beef, chicken, pork and lamb I can tell you it is all about balance and moderation in your diet. We also milk our own cow and eat real butter I make from her cream. We eat meat at most every meal and only butter on our stuff and in the things I bake.

We also eat salad and a variety of veggies at each meal as well as a side( potatoes, rice, pasta etc). None of us is overweight, sluggish, depressed and we have low cholesterol as well. What we don't do is eat much processed foods or eat out.

No food should be off limits to you, but portion control and exercise are a big influence on how you feel. Getting started is never easy and you may need to do some cold turkey methods on some foods that are troublesome for you and then try them again in moderation later.

[PeteyPie]

Seriously though, I have a very good tilapia recipe that is healthy. I also love to dredge it in flour and cornmeal (with pepper, a dash of red pepper and a dash of cumin) and fry it in olive oil. Unlike most fish, you have to be careful to cook it well, or it is a little chewy. Salt it after it is fried so you get the best effect of the salt without using so much in the recipe.

The healthier recipe is to place it in a baking dish, sprinkle with chopped fresh garlic and a little red pepper, drizzle a little olive oil, and then pour a can of stewed tomatoes over the top (I like to smush up the tomatoes so they are small). Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes -- until tender. You can top it with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, if you like.

Serve over a small plain baked potato, or with rice. It is much better than it sounds!

[linquest]

You don't *need* to fry Tilapia to make it taste good! My mom's recipe for steamed Tilapia, Chinese style:

1) Sprinkle white pepper on fish. Add sliced ginger.
2) Cover, steam in large ricecooker/microwave or a stovetop over medium heat til it flakes (about 8-15 minutes stovetop).
2) Dilute lite soy sauce with water (40% to 60% water), add brown sugar to taste.
3) Heat minced garlic with cilantro and/or chives in oil in a separate pan, low/med heat. When the greens are almost wilted, stir in soy sauce mixture.
4) Drain off any liquid from the fish when it's done steaming (this cuts down on the "fishy" taste).
5) Pour sauce over fish and serve family-style OR use it as a dipping sauce.

Steps 2 and 3 should be done while the fish is steaming.

Will PM some tips on veggies.

[cowboymom]

Thatta girl, Larksmom! Good progress-it's like turning a battleship, just a little bit at a time but don't lose ground!

[Larksmom]

with a buddy! And better, he is in my Sunday school Class! He is a bit of an odd duck, but he is vry nice, and perfectly willing to hang on to one dog so I can deal with the other. I am very excited about this....

[ArabX3]

Why is oatmeal not good for you? I eat that every morning.