5 Cinfully Delicious Foods That Don’t Ruin My Diet
Cheat Food for Cheat Days.
As important as it is to eat clean, it is equally important to take a day off diet once in a while because everyone has cravings, not just pregnant women! This is crucial in ensuring the longevity of a healthy eating habit. There is no need to suppress a craving that floats by as long as you indulge moderately and allow yourself not more than 2 cheat days a week. Not only does food / dessert becomes rewarding; you’ll also start appreciating them even more.
This is not a weight loss cheat post or a complete cheat diet plan. Instead of focusing on how to lose weight, today I am sharing with you my eating lifestyle and ideas. So no; we are not counting calories, but you will notice that all ingredients listed in my first 3 recipes are tasty good stuff naturally, while the remaining 2 pretty cinful, but only in small servings.
1. Low-Carb Diet Cheat Day: Salt and Pepper Popcorn
I’ve heard of butter, caramel or cheese popcorns, but salt and pepper? NEVER – until about 2 weeks ago when É made them from our humble kitchen for us to snack throughout a late afternoon movie in bed. This combination that has always came across to me as the most basic of seasonings, turned out to be my favorite popcorn flavor up-to-date! “How come I never thought of it?” was the only response I could give. He chuckled and told me that’s what people do in Brazil. Before you jump into conclusion that I’m exaggerating this plain Jane, try this weekend recipe at home and let me know what you think.
Ingredients:
2T olive oil
1 cup of raw corn kernals
Salt to taste
As much white pepper as you can take (we almost used up 1/4 bottle!)
Method:
- Heat pot with oil.
- Pour in corn and wait till the popping sound starts and stops.
- Remove from heat and empty content into a very huge bowl.
- Season with salt and generously with pepper.
2. Best Cheat Meals : Quinoa Salads
This versatile recipe can be made into a snack or a meal; a salad inspiration I stole while studying in Tasmania, except that they use cous cous instead of quinoa. Packed with nutrition, fibre, and super easy to prep; everyone I made this dish for loved it so far. I hope you will too!
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (+ 2t chicken granules)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 packet ready-to-eat spinach
1 carrot, shredded
8 dried apricots, roughly sliced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
Dressing:
3T extra virgin olive oil
2 – 3T lemon juice
2T curry powder
1t cumin
1t cayenne pepper or paprika
1t salt
1 clove garlic
1/2t ground fresh ginger (optional)
A dash of black pepper
Method:
- Cook 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups water and 2t chicken granules in a rice cooker.
- Mix all items under ‘Ingredients’ in a huge salad bowl (allow cooked quinoa to cool down a little).
- In a separate bowl, mix dressing together and stir till emulsify.
- Pour dressing over ingredients and mix well.
- Serve heartily and eat without any worry.
3. Healthy Cheat Meals / Snack : Kimchi
You can of course buy this from your local supermarket or certain Korean restaurants, but if you’re a crazy kimchi lover like me, it is definitely worthier to make them at home as a fun weekend project. Just make sure you have a packet of plastic gloves ready (you can easily find them at Daiso). Here, I made 3.6 KGs!
The best part of homemade kimchi is how you can keep track of its age (they can be kept up to 2 – 3 months) and knowing exactly what goes into it. Not only does it make a great veg snack – with this, you can very easily make your own jiggae (stews)! Just make them less salty, use lean meat, have half bowl of rice or totally leave it out.
Recipe here by Maangchi.
P.S. If you don’t like kimchi, edamame makes a great green snack option. You can easily find them at the frozen foods section.
4. Cheat Day Diet : Mini Sorbet
Let’s admit it – sometimes we just really feel like having an ice cream. Instead of going for ice CREAM, a better option is sorbet (which has no dairy or as little as 1-2%). If you can find one that’s less sweet and is made of real fruits, bookmark it. This one É and I discovered 2 weeks ago is made of fresh berries and red wine. Speaking of antioxidants, baybeh!
5. ONE Egg Tart
My mind gets stuck on egg tarts if I happen to see them or when they are around me. Tell me if I’m wrong, but how much can one harm me, right? When I found out that É was passing by a Portuguese restaurant one weekend, I told him to takeaway this piece of sweet morsel and boy, that made my day week! You don’t have to totally omit desserts out of your life – just have them on few selected days and don’t binge eat.
Remember that losing weight shouldn’t be your only goal but keeping fit and toned should. Dieting is a lifestyle, so be creative in having some fun occasionally while at it and cultivate a clean, healthy eating habit. I hope this post helps! 😉
