I just talked about Hungry-girl.com the other day and here I am doing it again. When I read today's newsletter I was cracking up! She is bonkers! What I love about it though is food can become fun and stop being the enemy...depends on your perspective and she offers a great one! Check it out and sign up for your own copy!

It's free!

 

MON TUES WED THURS FRI 08.10.06 These recipes sound yummy...but don't eat them! Melted Chocolate Malt Bubble Bath Ingredients:  -1 cup powdered milk -2 tbsp. cocoa powder -2 capfuls unscented bubble bath   Directions: Mix milk and cocoa together.  Pour half of mixture under running bathwater.  Follow with one capful of bubble bath.  Repeat, and get ready to relax in chocolate heaven!   Benefits:  Milk hydrates the skin, while cocoa tones and oxygenates, leaving skin glowing.  You'll smell great, too!   HG Fun Fact!  Research says the smell of chocolate may fool the brain and eliminate cravings.  So next time you are jonesin’ for a choco-fix, dive into this sea of chocolate instead!   HG Tip!  Still hankerin’ for a chocolate treat?  Try one of Jell-O’s Sugar Free, Reduced Calorie Pudding Snacks.  They have just 60 calories each.   Honey Oatmeal Peach Yummy Yogurt Face Mask Ingredients: -2 tbsp. plain oatmeal  -1/2 cup peach yogurt -2 tbsp. honey - splash of milk   Directions: Mix oatmeal into yogurt and allow it to soften for a few minutes.  Stir in honey.  Add milk until a thick and creamy texture is reached.  Spread mixture onto your face and let sit for 10 minutes (until slightly stiff).  Rinse off with water, and enjoy your baby-soft and yummy-smelling skin!      Benefits:  Oatmeal attacks and washes away dead skin, while the honey, milk, and yogurt moisturize.       HG Tip! With only 130 calories and 2.5g of fat, Peaches & Cream Quaker Instant Oatmeal makes a great breakfast or anytime snack! Coffee 'N Cream Dream Body Scrub Ingredients: -1/2 cup freshly ground coffee beans (try a flavored blend like hazelnut-vanilla) -1/2 cup buttermilk -2 tbsp. olive oil   Directions: Combine all ingredients and stir or shake well.  Add more oil for a thicker mixture.  Use this creamy and fragrant body scrub in the shower to jump start your morning.  But remember, buttermilk is perishable, so don't store this yummy stuff in the shower!   Benefits:  Coffee exfoliates and the caffeine wakes up tired skin.  Buttermilk sooths and smoothes, while the oil will leave your skin unbelievably soft and silky.   HG Fun Fact!  Coffee was originally used for medicinal purposes, treating everything from heart disease to fevers and coughs.  It wasn’t until people started craving the caffeine-buzz “side-effect,” that coffee took on the hot beverage form we know and love today!     HG Tip!  For a guiltless but satisfying coffee treat, indulge in one of Starbucks' 35-calorie Iced Coffee Italian Roast Light drinks.  This stuff is available at supermarkets, so you don't have to wait in coffee lines or use words like "venti."   CHEW ON THIS: Today, August 10th, is National S'mores Day.  Make yours guilt-free (and tiny!) by using Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs Honey Maid Cinnamon Thin Crisps, mini marshmallows and some chocolate chips.

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Hungry-girl.com has gone bananas! I am always intriuged by what she has to say  because she tries things that are different but healthy for you. This article proves it!

	We love food a lot. Because of this, we will often do things that others (who don't love food as much as we do) may consider embarrassing or weird. Today's "Bite It" is a perfect example of this. After being tipped off about Gerber Fruit Puffs for toddlers (by subscribers who actually have toddlers), we decided to give 'em a chew, and much to our surprise and delight, we dig 'em.  A lot.  Like a cross between banana chips and banana cereal, these little puffs are sooo light and airy you know you're eating something that's really low in calories, yet it's crunchy and satisfying enough to be a great snack.  And these things have soooo much banana flavor that they'll without a doubt satisfy any urges you have for banana chips. Pop 'em straight or use 'em as a topping for yogurt (frozen or otherwise). Oh, and you get 80 (yes, 80!) of these puffy little critters per serving. Woohoo!
	Serving Size: 80 pieces Calories: 25 Fat: 0g Sodium: 0mg Carbs: 6g Fiber: 0g Sugars: 1g Protein: 0g * 0.5 Points!

Who'da thunk it? I guess I'm gonna hafta try these lil babies. I'm not a fan of banana chips...flavor, texture, calories, etc but I LOVE cereal and I love bananas so this might be perfect!

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Road trips or a day doing errands can really throw me off from eating healthy. I realized this during our vacation to the Pacfic NW a few weeks ago. So I was thrilled to see hungry-girl provide this list of ideas for snacks and wanted to keep a copy of the list along with some of the snacks on hand for those busy homeschool days when we are running to the library. field trips, errands, etc. Some of these are geared toward staying over night in a hotel with a microwave btw but might help in making better decisions at a quick stop...sometimes you can pop these items in the microwaves in those places.

I do try to take water and munchies in a cooler whenever I know we are going to be gone for too long. I just throw in those little ice thingies to keep it cold.

nutrition bars (keep 'em low, like 100 Calorie Balance Bars, Pria Bars or Gnu Bars),

miso soup packets,

rice cakes,

single-serving low-fat microwavable popcorn,

low-cal hard candies,

instant oatmeal packets,

fresh cut fruits and veggies,

great Supermarket picks: Yoplait Light, a bag of baby carrots, or even some lean lunchmeat

controlled-portion snacks (i.e. 100 Calorie Packs)...Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs, Q-Smart's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Snack Bars, and Glenny's Soy Crisps. 

convenient protein-packed snacks...
Cereal:  Throw some crunchy Total Protein  in a ziploc bag, and you'll have a great portable 100 calorie high-protein snack.

Jerky:  Chewy and Salty, this non-perishable food  is perfect for keeping in the car.  Our fave?  Tillamook Country Smoker Beefsteak Nuggets.  They've got just 70 calories and 1.5g of fat per serving.

Light String Cheese:  Grab a 60 calorie, 3-gram-of-fat Frigo Cheese Heads Light String Cheese on your way out the door, and chew it up -- completely guilt-free!

Slurp It Up!   Ever want to cave and take part in a Slurpeefest at 7-Eleven?  You can!  The chain offers up Diet Pepsi Slurpees that are calorie-free, as well as reduced-calorie Crystal Light Slurpees that come in several fruity-licious flavors.  Go for it!

We All Scream...  Dying for ice cream?  McDonald's Lowfat Vanilla Ice Cream Cones have just 150 calories & 4.5g of fat.  Well worth it!

Frappe Attack!   There are Starbucks locations on practically every block in the U.S., so its good to know that you can stop in and enjoy a Frappuccino Light if you have to.  Most contain just 140 - 180 calories for a Grande size.  Go for it!

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Recently we got to stay with our friends at their Grandma's home in MT. Over the years she has become Grandma Sally to all of us. This lovely, gracious lady is one of the best comfort foods cooks I've ever met. Here is a salad we enjoyed often while there this summer.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

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Another great tip from HungryGirl.com

Have you been staring at that sad jar of pennies, dimes, quarters and nickels for far too long?  Maybe it's time to grab that thing and turn it into something you can actually use.  Head on over to your nearest Coinstar location, dump those suckers into the machine and walk away with some loot!  Now the fantastic Coinstar folks are offering you a special deal.  You can exchange your change for cool stuff -- free of charge.  Turn it into cash and you need to pay a small percentage. But turn it into Starbucks, iTunes or Amazon gift cards and there's no fee at all!   Just think about how many Frappuccinos all that loose change will get ya...

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For GUILT FREE Restaurant Spinach Dip....

you know the one I mean. I thought I'd never be able to eat this stuff without a guilty conscience again. Thank you Hungry Girl!

Restaurant Spinach Dip (1/8 recipe, approx. 3-4 Tbsp. - 70 calories, 0.5g fat, 305mg sodium, 7.5g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 2g sugars, 6.5g protein = 1 Point) Ingredients: 4 oz. Lifetime Fat Free Monterey Jack Cheese (or another fat-free white hard cheese, like Muenster or Mozzarella) 4 tbsp. fat-free sour cream 10 tsp. Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tbsp. shallots, chopped finely 6 tbsp. fat-free mayo 1 oz. light soy milk 1 – 10 oz. pkg. chopped spinach, thawed and drained 4 oz. water chestnuts, chopped Directions: In a medium-sized saucepan, melt your Monterey Jack over a low flame.  In a s eparate pan, saute garlic and shallots with some nonstick cooking spray.  Add soy milk to melted cheese, stirring continuously. Next, add mayo, sour cream and parmesan into your cheese mixture, still stirring over low heat.  Add your sauteed garlic and shallots, as well as water chestnuts. Add your well-drained, chopped spinach and mix thoroughly. Spoon your dip into a medium-sized casserole dish and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Voila! Your spinach-y masterpiece is complete. You may add salt and/or pepper if desired.  Serves 6-8.

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While I was on vacation in the NW, HG ran an article on my fav fruit...the luscious mango so I HAD to share it here!

Mangos ROCK! They are actually one of the most popular fruits  in the world but live their lives under the radar here in the US. With a peachy/pineappley flavor, they are ideal to use in recipes and fantastic eaten straight.  A large mango (no skin) contains about 135 calories, less than 1g fat, 35g carbs, 4mg sodium, 30g sugars and a whopping 4g of fiber. Slightly unwieldy and tricky to slice (that giant pit is so irritating!), I recommend using a mango spliiter to do the work for you. Here are some more interesting mango facts. There are hundreds of varieties of mangos, they continue to ripen once they're off the tree (and in your home), they contain vitamins A & C, as well as beta carotene and are known as "the king of fruit" throughout the world. Still want more mango info? Check out Chef Allen Susser's The Great Mango Book for info and awesome mango-rific recipes!

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I've told you before how much I LOVE mango so...couldn't pass this one up! And only 4  Pts!!!

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Stoneyfield Farms brings you this yummy recipe that I can't wait to try!

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Ingredients:
1 3-oz. can tuna, packed in water, drained and flaked
1 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijonnaise
***2 slices Wonder Light Bread
2 teaspoons chopped dill relish
1 slice Kraft Fat Free Cheese
1 slice tomato
salt and pepper as desired

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In bowl, prepare tuna salad by mixing tuna, mayonnaise, dijonnaise, and relish. Toast bread then pile the tuna mixture onto one slice and place the slices of tomato and cheese on the other. Bake for about 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted and tuna is heated through. Place the cheese side of the sandwich on top of the tuna side. Cut in half and enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 Calories: 255 Fat: 5.5g Carbs: 23.5g Fiber: 5g Protein: 28g

*5 points

vs deli style!!!

Serving Size: 1 Calories: 800 Fat: 32g Carbs: 83g Fiber: 6g Protein: 44g

*18 Points

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