The Substitute

There should be a candle that smells like fresh baked bread. I love carbs - bread, pasta, cereal, potatoes... and I knew if I removed them from my diet I would only crave them more. BUT I know I have to limit them because they go directly to my hips, and butt, and arms... and well pretty much everywhere.

I started doing a little research and found some recipes for cheesy mashed cauliflower. DO NOT believe anyone that tells you it tastes just like mashed potatoes, because it doesn't, BUT it was still amazing. I went with a recipe from sparkpeople.com but wanted to alter it a little. I doubled the cauliflower, but only used the amount of other ingredients that were in the recipe, and since I didn't have parmesan cheese I added a little skim mozzarella. It resulted in cutting the calories to only 60.5 per serving (1/2 cup,) and while it was nothing like mashed potatoes, it was delicious and very satisfying.

But since I can't live on veggies alone (no seriously, I can't!) I made a diet coke chicken which was very simple and equally delicious. The recipe comes in at 162 calories, but I don't think I actually consumed them all because most of the sauce you cook it in (diet coke, catsup and salsa) stays in the pan. I did top it with 1 tablespoon of extra salsa for flavor and was very happy with the results. So for the sake of argument, I'm counting the full 162 calories because I would rather overestimate than underestimate.

Finally, I added a few blackberries with a pinch of splenda because they were a little bitter, bringing my total to 228.5 calories for the whole meal. My whole dinner was delicious, and something I will make again for sure. For the first time tonight, it really hit me, it's all about substituting, not eliminating.