As much as I’d hate to admit it, I am only human and tonight has been one of those nights. The ones where you spend hours diligently resisting a cookie craving, make tea, eat yogurt, call a friend, you know all those ‘get your mind off the craving’ activities you find in your favorite healthy living magazine. And yet, they all offer no help. There I was at 10pm and I surrendered. I went out to the supermarket and I bought some sugar cookies. I don’t even like store-bought cookies! I was desperate and certainly not proud of what I was doing.

Funny enough, four cookies deep and cutting myself off from the rest, amidst the shame of my indulgence, something miraculous happened : I regained my focus. All of a sudden, the writing and work I had been trying to do for the past few hours were at the forefront of my mind. I had killed all those sabotaging cookie fantasies simply by giving in.

While I’m not saying that this is an excuse to put yourself in full on sugar coma everytime you get an inkling for a brownie, I think there is a lesson to be learned. If I had gone out and got a cookie perhaps after an hour of thinking about it, maybe I would have had only one and maybe my focus wouldn’t have been quite so effected. I guess this one comes down to ‘know thyself’, sometimes it’s okay to indulge a little, just not all the time and always remember to get back on track and on with your life!

Some great treats to get you through ‘those nights’ are Skinny Cow Ice Cream, No Pudge Brownies and my recipe for ‘Chocolate Somethings’ which I’ll post right away.

My (only slightly altered) take on the Dukan Diet’s Oat Bran Galette

1 egg (or egg white)

2 tablespoons of toasted oat bran

2 tablespoons of non fat greek yogurt (fat free yogurt like Activa Vanilla can be used and provides a slightly different flavor)

a swirl of Agave nectar (or Dukan recommends Splenda)

Mix the yogurt and oat bran together and then in a separate bowl beat the egg or egg white till fluffy. Combine the two and add any additional seasoning. My personal favorite is adding a little Pumpkin Pie Spice ( sooo yummy!) but you can also add cinnamon or a little vanilla or almond extract to switch it up. For a savory pancake, you can leave out the agave and chop up some garlic or onions in there. When your doing the all protein thing, feel free to add some turkey bacon or shrimp in the mix but my personal tastes lie on the sweeter side! Also, if your not watching your carbs, try adding some berries or bananas in for a delicious pancake-alternative.

Hope you guys enjoy! As someone who absolutely loves breakfast and all its naughty carb-loaded treats this little recipe makes me want to personally send Dr. Dukan a little thank you note. Now I can actually have my cake and eat it too!

Have you heard about the Dukan Diet? Ever since rumor got around that it was Kate Middleton’s pre-wedding weight loss diet of choice, I knew I had to purchase the book. Don’t hate me, I can be a sucker for the flavor of the week diet. Now, to give you the spark notes version of what it entails, it’s a primarily protein based menu. For the first 3-7 days all you can eat is protein and then following that you alternate protein only days with vegetable/protein days. After reading this, I debated whether or not this was even possible for some one who “only eats fish occasionally” to do and let me tell it was no walk in the park!

The first two days were pure torture for me, ah, who I am I kidding, the whole thing was pretty hard. First, it’s not easy to pack anything to take with you for the day when the things you can eat consist of eggs, meat or fish. Sometimes it’s not even easy to grab something that fits into your ‘allowed’ foods on the go. (And I live in NYC where food options are seemingly endless) However, Dukan does give you a recipe for a “Dukan Galette” which is pretty much a protein pancake that he allows you to have once a day and this turned out to be a god-sent! In a later post, I’ll give you the recipe along with some fun variations I’ve created, of course!

Okay, okay, I’ll get to the good stuff, I did lose a few pounds and if you had more to lose, I’m sure you’d lose more. However, what really surprised me was the effect it had on my skin! After two days of no carbs at all and eating purely protein my skin looked FABULOUS! Most of my acne cleared up and my face looked great. This could have also been helped by the large amount of water you MUST drink while doing the beginning stages of this diet but I think I have mostly the lack of carbohydrates to thank for this.

So overall, I lost a little weight and I gained a few enlightening tools. I will continue to watch my carbohydrate intake (especially white carbs) because I love how my skin is looking and somehow that is even more gratifying than the numbers going down on the scale to me. I also, am completely in love with my protein pancake creation and think that it will become a regular on my menu! Thank you Mr. Dukan!

Here I am, sitting in my favorite East Village cafe, for the first time in a few weeks. And while, perhaps I feel slightly guilty for the indulgent piece of Vegan Red Velvet Cake, I’ve allowed myself to indulge in, I feel even more guilty about how much I’ve slacked off on posting for GoSweet&Skinny! So I’d like to apologize for being less then dedicated to updating this website. I have recently had pleasure of having a lot of film projects come up and steal my attention and energy. And while they will be continuing into the winter, I am fully committed to making this website current and improving my posts! I’m also excited to announce that by September, I will be posting video clips of myself making some of my favorite recipes!

The weather is warming up and your clothes are covering less and less of your physique. Now is the time of year that everyone becomes a little more tummy-conscious, with beaches and bathing suits on the brain, it’s a little easier to step away from that second helping. However, if your anything like me, despite posting pictures of Gisele and Adriana Lima all over your fridge, your still freaking hungry! So here’s some snacks to keep on hand for when that bikini-body fad diet your doing (despite knowing better!) is leaving you with the tummy grumbles. And yes, you can enjoy them all guilt free! Just maybe not them all at once, if you can help it!

Berries + Cream
Forget about this old classic? Well tsk tsk! Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries..you name it, there all super delicious and healthy for you. Buy them fresh, at your local farmers market (if possible) and look for the organic stamp (best if these don’t have any chemicals touching them since you won’t be doing any peeling). As for the cream, my favorites would be Fat Free Reddi-Whip or Soy Whip. Personally, I think Fat Free Cool Whip or Reddi-Whip taste just as decadent as the real thing and have significantly less calories and fat – but if you feel attached to the old classic, use your measuring eye and keep it to a single serving!

Fro -Yo
Pinkberry, Red Mango, YoGo, frozen yogurt shops and trucks are almost as plentiful in NYC as Starbucks so you should never be more than a block away from low calorie satisfaction! Yes, you heard me, take a step away from the Shake Shack line and think of the bikini!! A small (or even tinier MINI size) with two toppings will only run you 150-250 cals and cool you down as your battling the heat. Of course, be mindful when choosing toppings, fruit is the most calorie friendly choice but nuts are also great if your on the hungrier side. And hey, if you decide you need a little chocolate fix – a scoop of the milk chocolate shavings at Pinkberry will only run you about 50cals – have fun!

Frozen Fruits
If you managed to get this far with out freezing grapes or bananas, my friend, you haven’t lived. Go out and buy grapes now (seedless! or you’ll hate me) and put them in your freezer. You’ll thank me. These little treats single handedly got me and my first nyc roommate through some poor, hot, summer nights in our tiny little apartment. A must try!

Sorbet
Sorbet, or as I like to call it, Gelato’s sweet and skinnier sister! She is indeed your friend when those ice cream craving strike and your not quite in the mood for anymore Fro-Yo. Sorbet, should be ingested with caution however, some tend to have TONS of sugar, so read labels and be a savvy shopper! My personal favorite is Ciao Bello’s Raspberry Sorbet, a tiny pint has 4 servings that will run you only 120cals each. Yummm!

 

Want more low calorie options of your favorite foods? email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com and we’ll get ‘em up on the site! :)

These delicious cupcakes are a perfect treat for a special someone or for yourself if your in the mood for some chocolately

“I YUMMMM YOU” Cupcakes

1 CUP ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1/4 CUP UNSWEETENED COCOA POWDER
1/2 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
6 TABLESPOONS OF UNSALTED BUTTER SOFTENED (You can substitute all or half of the butter with applesauce for a lower calorie treat or use Earth Balance/Soy Butter)

1/2 CUP GRANULATED SUGAR
2 LARGE EGGS (You can substitute for 6tsps of flaxseed meal mixed with 2tsps of water)
1 TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT
1/2 CUP OF MILK (YOU CAN USE SOY, RICE, ALMOND OR REGULAR MILK)
— OPTIONAL ADD INS (I USE BUT NOT NECESSARY)
4 HEAPING TBLSPNS OF RASPBERRY PRESERVES
CHOPPED UP MILK AND DARK CHOCOLATE BARS

THE ICING –
2 PARTS NUTELLA 1 PART MARSCAPONE
(EX  1/2 CONTAINER OR MARSCAPONE AND 1 WHOLE CONTAINER OF NUTELLA)
*I USE 2 CONTAINERS OF NUTELLA AND 1 FULL OF MARSCAPONE
OPTIONAL — WHITE CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS ON TOP

First, I’ll start this post off with my good old fashioned sugar cookie recipe. Pretty standard, no frills. Then following it, I’m going to show you how you can mix things up a little to make it a little lower in calories or vegan-friendly.

Your Mama’s Sugar Cookie..

3 1/4 cups of All Purpose Flour

1 1/2  tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup of butter

4oz of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and cream cheese together till fluffy, then gradually add the egg and vanilla till batter is well combined. Finally mix in the rest of the dry ingredients until a dough is formed.

Bake till doughs puffs and edges turn golden.

Skinny Style Sugar Cookie..

To modify this recipe (or your favorite sugar cookie recipe/mix) to be a little more friendly to your waist line, you can make one or all of the following substitutions:

4 oz cream cheese for FAT FREE cream cheese ( you’ll barely notice the difference, I promise) or Applesauce (which will make cookies sweeter and less creamy)

1 cup sugar for 1/2 cup splenda  OR 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup Agave Nectar

You can also substitute the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour but this will effect how your cookies taste slightly. I tend to add flax seed meal to my sugar cookies because I don’t like them too sweet and I don’t mind the slightly nutty flavor it adds because it’s a great source of omega 3′s.

Vegan-ized Sugar Cookies

To make these yummy treats vegan friendly simply trade the following animal products for an equally delicious alternative:

Egg – for each egg needed mix 1 tsp flaxseed meal with 3 tsp of water and beat till gets a gooey consistency

Cream cheese – trade regular cream cheese for tofu cream cheese or applesauce

Butter – Soy butter works just as well but you can also substitute with coconut oil, which can be really tasty if you don’t mind a slight coconut taste to your baked goodies.

Of course, remember this is just a blue print! My favorite part of baking is experimenting with different ingredients and playing around to create some magic in the oven. You can use any of the above suggestions with your personal sugar cookie recipe or with the box of cookie mix you bought at the store! Sugar cookie dough is a great base for lots of fun and creative cookies!

Yes, obviously Whole Foods Supermarket is an amazing skinny girl grocery shopping spot because they have TONS of uber healthy, low fat, sugar free, vegan, gluten-free and all natural versions of your favorite foods but this post is about why Whole Foods is a skinny spot for a meal when your running around during the day.

Top Ten Things You Can Grab to Eat at Whole Foods:

1. Anything from their yummy salad bar or fresh (healthy) food buffet.

2. Hot and homemade soups or oatmeal if it’s breakfast time.

3. Fresh cut veggies and fruit in snack size portions.

4. Sushi with brown rice and Edamame!

5. Vegan, Gluten-free and low fat scone and muffin options.

6. Premade Salad in three different sizes.(My Fav. is the goat cheese,walnut and cranberry one with baby spinach and fat free balsamic — yummm!)

7. Organic fruit and veggie juices and smoothies.

8. Their nut bar is absolutely delicious if your looking for a yummy little sweet snack.

9. All different macrobiotic dumplings/rice/sushi in meal size containers.

10. Just about every protein bar, meal bar, snack bar you could imagine and in all kinds of organic,all natural and vegan varieties.

Take a little trip to ‘Whole Foods’ – you will find a hard time not falling in love with this heavenly place made for anyone who cares about what they put into their body.

Just cause it’s the holidays is not an excuse to binge eat and ruin all the hard work you’ve been putting in all year! Yes, I know those comfy winter sweaters and stretchy pants make it oh so easy to forget how stuffed we are but the scale won’t. With Thanksgiving upon us, I decided I’d kick off our holiday tips but I’m sure they’ll be more to come before Christmas/Hannukah.

Thanksgiving Eve : I bet some people gain more weight on the night before Thanksgiving than on the day itself. Just because alcohol is a liquid does not mean it has any less calories! Be conscious of what you put into your body, stick to clear beverages with soda water and low calorie light beers. You’ll still get drunk I promise, which is what leads me to my next point. Don’t get drunk and binge eat. Yes, it’s 4am and I know that pizza looks appetizing but stop and think of how you’ll feel in the AM and resist!!

Wear tight clothes. Do it. Trust me. You’ll have a much better indicator of how full you are and be more likely to pace the amount of food you eat. That comfy sweat shirt is not your friend when it comes to holiday eating. Show off your cute little figure in a cute little dress or tight jeans and you’ll help keep your figure that way.

Veggies!! Vegetables are your friend. Learn to love them. While your impatiently waiting for your turkey or tofurkey to be ready, let the the vegetables in your crudite keep your mouth and tummy busy. Not only will you fill up on all that fiber and be less likely to overdose on stuffing or sweet potato caserole but you’ll save your self hundred of calories by avoiding the cheese/crackers or any other dip/fried/fattening h’ors deurves.

Help the host: (if your not hosting) Not only is this polite but it will also keep you from vegetating on the couch while watching football and eating chips. Keep yourself busy setting things up or preparing food and you won’t be tempted to eat out of boredom. Your friend or family member will surely appreciate the help and we can keep your true intentions between us. ;)

Good luck! Remember, it’s only one day, if you want to indulge pick your favorite dish and go for it but try to remember moderation and portion control. And a gym sesh on Friday if all else fails..

I absolutely adore any kind of seasonal baking, so I decided to experiment with an old classic, chocolate chip cookies, and see if I could vegan-ize them and make them festive. I put the recipe below, but you can use your personal favorite choc. chip cookie recipe or even a box mix and substitute canned organic pumpkin (make sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling! that will taste different!) for the eggs and soy butter for regular butter. Butter, I found was relatively unnecessary and if you’d like the cookies to be less cakey, you can cut the pumpkin to about half of a can, use your own judgment.

Vegan Friendly Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 can of Organic Pumpkin
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups of dark chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Cream together the soy butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in a can (or a half of can) of pumpkin then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate , and nuts(optional). Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
  3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray your muffin pan with fat-free cooking spray or whatever non-stick agent of your choosing.

In a bowl, combine Jiffy’s Oatmeal Muffin Mix, an individual cup of no sugar added, all natural applesauce and three tablespoons (or thereabouts) of coconut oil.

In a small cup, whisk three tbsps of flaxseed meal with six tbsps of water till it has an almost egg like consistency.

Combine and mix well! It should be a rather wet mixture but if you feel like it’s too wet, a quick fix is just adding some rolled oats to dry it out. Of course you can spice it up by adding raisins, craisins, blueberries, etc but I find it to be rather delicious and moist on it’s own.

Pop ‘em in the oven. I’d say approximately 5-10 minutes, more importantly till you can start to see the nooks and crannies on the top of the muffins and the edges get slightly golden brown. Drizzle ‘em with some agave nectar (lightly!!) if you want to pump up the sweet factor a notch and serve!!!

happy snacking :)

So after a long hiatus and completely burying the idea of blogging about my little cooking/healthy eating fascination under a mountain of unfulfilling part time jobs, I am back, thanks to a DVD of “Julie and Julia” I received in the mail a few days ago. And I decided tonight, after a particularly amazing yoga class, that I would treat myself to an evening of watching it while baking some vegan oatmeal muffins. Lo and behold, the muffins are AMAZING (and I will post the recipe! ) and here I am at my computer resurrecting this wonderful website back from the dead.

So where have I been and what have I been eating? Well, shortly after finishing my juice fast, I went back to the completely vegan side and stopped dabbling in animal products. My body feels fantastic and I really don’t have a terribly hard time eating healthy and staying full. In fact, being vegan has given me a kind of freedom I have never had before in my life. It gives me the freedom of not being on a diet. I don’t count calories anymore and I eat till I’m full. If I can make it vegan, I can eat it. Bagels, muffins, cookies, ice cream, anything at all I want, I allow myself to eat it. Now let’s be honest, I don’t live on these kind of treats or I would surely gain weight, but I never deny myself them. It’s a whole new world for me. I’m pretty sure this is the longest in my life I have gone without being on a diet. To be honest, I now finally understand what they mean when they say ‘it can’t be a diet, it has to be a lifestyle’. Vegan is my lifestyle, it’s not some crazy fad I’m doing for the next 3 months till bathing suit season or something ridiculous like that, it’s just how I eat.

I don’t want to preach and I would never force my views on anyone else (or judge them for eating meat!) but I figured I’d explain a little more about my particular lifestyle choice because I know it might seem a bit extreme. I love animals, yes, I have an awesome little Westie named Charlie who might as well be my little brother. However, I am not a vegan ONLY because of this. I truly disagree with the way our animals are handled in mass quantities and pretty much bred to be slaughtered. It’s gross and I personally don’t need that kind of karma in my life but for the sake of food chain logic, let’s go beyond that. The hormones, the pesticides, the infections, and the illnesses of these animals are seeping into our food supply and that is truly what I want to stay away from. Cows, chickens, pigs, etc are fed hormones to make them grow faster and gain weight so that the farms can expedite the slaughtering process. Now I absolutely do not need those kinds of hormones in my system, nooo thannk youu! Not to mentions the illnesses and infections these animals get because of the treacherous conditions they live in or the pesticides put on the grass/greens their fed – completely unappetizing.

Enough about that though, in all fairness I must admit I do slip off the vegan wagon from time to time and as a lover of food and cooking, it is hard to deny how amazing some animal products taste. I can’t promise I’ll be vegan for the rest of my life but I’m pretty sure I’ll always err toward the vegan side of the scale. I confess to missing fish (particularly salmon) and brie the most but I don’t ever see myself eating steak or drinking milk again.

* If your interested in learning more about living vegan, I strongly recommend checking out the books “The Kind Diet” and “Skinny Bitch”.