Competing diets: High Protein vs. Low Calorie

Can they work together?

As we get older our bodies require a focused concentration on movement and exercise. In general as we get older we get a bit more sedentary and require less calories. Why do we eat more then? You probably aren’t eating more than you did in your early years you just aren’t as active and you just don’t burn the calories at a rate needed to maintain proper weight control.

Excess fat = too many calories and maybe too many of the wrong calories which can show up in carbohydrates and not good carbs either. Exercise burns some of the excess calories, but monitoring your intake of calories is the smartest and healthiest approach to weight control. Eating primarily protein and limiting your carbohydrates will also burn fat, but at what cost? Do you really learn how to eat healthier? Can your body maintain this imbalance for a life time? Probably not and that is why many people gain back the weight they lost with a high protein diet… eventually. Of course there are success stories, but I’m betting the majority of dieters are not successful. There are so many reasons why too. I hope to cover a couple in the following paragraphs.

NOTE: (One really needs to read more about this correlation between calories and carbohydrates, what they are and what they do to really understand what is going on with weight loss and weight gain. Diabetics take notice!)

There are formulas that can show you how many calories you can take in and still lose or maintain a certain weight. When this balance tips in favor of more calories taken in than the body can use you starting producing fat. I’ve learned this from experience.

Food can be an addiction. Plain and simple. It’s one addiction where you can’t take away the source of the addiction. You need food to live, but you don’t need as much as you probably think you do. Your brain tells you one thing and your body shows the results of what your brain and your habits fight to control every day if you have a weight issue and you take in more calories than your body can process.

I’ve recently found a great website for cataloging your caloric intake and it will guide you on your quest to lose weight and maintain a healthier lifestyle. I joined for free and it seems to have an extensive database of food products both generic and brand name, so you can find what you are eating. The only stipulation is that you have to really be honest with yourself, weigh and measure your food, try eating healthier and start some kind of exercise program to reach the goals the program helps you outline. http://myfitnesspal.com ( I have no affiliation to this website other than I use it for my own personal gain or loss as the case may be!)

Now… I was talking about caloric intake and now I’m going to talk about a high protein diet which can really pack on the calories if you believe you can eat as much as you want and this can be part of the allure of a low carb/high protein diet that says you can ‘eat as much as you want’. (is this a run-on sentence?) Most of the diets like Atkins and South Beach actually used to preach this mantra, but in recent years they’ve modified their diets to include controlled consumption which in turn will lower your caloric intake. Remember… the more calories you take in the harder it will be to lose weight unless you are exercising enough to burn off the excessive calories. I have years of experience following the Atkins diet. In my earlier years… teens and early twenties I had my first encounter with Atkins. I got heavy after leaving school, playing baseball, swimming, etc and worked in my first restaurant. I ate. I got fat. I didn’t know it but I was setting myself up for problems later in life. My father recommended we do the Atkins together. I lost 75 lbs in about a year. It worked great and I ate as much protein as I wanted the entire time. It also did not really change my eating habits and my desire to always feel full. I bet a lot of you know what I mean by that. You’re not satisfied until you are full. Well… if you follow this pattern through your life it will come back to kick you in your big fat ass. I know this well also. So… it’s eat protein, control the carbs, watch the blood sugar because I’m Type 2 diabetic now and the most important part of controlling my blood sugar is to control my caloric intake. Count your calories. I remember a book from the 60′s & 70′s. “Calories Don’t Count” but oh baby they do!

In conclusion I will say that a high protein and low calorie diet can work as one if you are looking to lose weight, but you must have balance in your diet. The Lewis & Clark Expedition is a great example of a high protein, low carb diet that ended up decimating the expedition party by the time they reached the Oregon coast. They had little to eat but meat shot along the trail. It was a high protein, no carbohydrate diet except for a root or berry now and then and it nearly killed a majority of the men. This might be an extreme example, but it does point out the dangers of unmonitored, unbalanced diets. What this boils down to is the need for a nutritionists’ guidance or a much greater understanding of your dietary needs. I’ve experimented way too much with my body and my diet. I hope I’ve finally come to a reasonable solution to weight loss and eventually weight management.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist or health care professional. I am a life long struggler with my weight and a chef who seems to want to eat more than he could ever really need. Hence the obesity and life-long weight problems. I am only offering some of my experiences and opinions, conclusions, recent revelations and goals. Feel free to offer  your opinions on this matter of weight, diets, high-protein and calories. 

Vegetarian Noodle Soup with Roasted Asparagus, Garlic, Olive Oil and Sea Salt

How about a quickie meal with a bit of protein, manageable carbs, very little fat and only about 270 calories? Makes a great lunch or afternoon pick-me-up snack and it can be worked into a low carb diet on an occasional basis. It’s refreshing and fulfilling. I love fresh asparagus roasted in the oven!

How you do it!

I roasted (in an iron skillet) fresh asparagus (cut up in bite-sized pieces) and stirred with olive oil ( 2 tbls), sea salt ( to taste) and fresh chopped garlic (to taste) for about 1/2 hr on 450.

When the asparagus is done!

Then I boiled some broad noodles (el dente) (2oz) in some vegetarian soup stock (1/2 cup).

Added the noodles, stock and asparagus to a big soup bowl and thoroughly enjoyed my lunch!

 * You can use any type of noodle you wish in this recipe.

Approximate nutrition:

270 calories

40 carbs ( not an everyday splurge, but my body was craving some carbs and what better way than some wholesome pasta)

6 gm of fat

11 gm of protein

* I used “Better Than Bouillon Veggie Soup Base” for my stock. Quick, easy and tasty. A bit salty so be careful adding extra salt to this recipe.

Steve’s Roasted Italian Red Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 #10 cans of peeled plum tomatoes, cut each in half and remove excess seeds and water (this is probably 20 or so fresh tomatoes/can) (if you are using fresh plum tomatoes, blanch, peel, cut in half to remove excess seeds and water)
• 8 cups of tomato pure from cans or jars
• 10 large roasted sweet red peppers peeled & pureed
• 2 large vidalia onions peeled and roasted
• 15-20 large cloves of garlic roasted ( peel before or after roasting)
• Add chopped fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano and italian parsley (spice to taste)
  • (one bunch of each will be sufficient)
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb of sweet italian sausage. Precook and run through the food processor or finely chop. This is optional.
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions and hints:

Add all ingredients together in a large stock pot and slow cook in the oven for 12 hours. Cover with aluminum foil and put holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Foil will keep the sauce from decorating the inside of the oven.

Garlic, onions and sweet red peppers may be roasted at the same time in the same roasting pan. Lace ingredients with virgin olive oil. Scrape the pan clean when adding to the stock pot. You may puree these ingredients or let them cook down in the stock pot.

Pureeing the veggies makes a smoother sauce. Cooking down naturally will give you a chunky sauce.

Sometimes out of necessity I use processed dried herbs for convenience and obviously you can cut this recipe down. The sauce freezes very well.

Shopping and eating organic products from your local food cooperatives, farm stands and farmer’s markets.

Organic Summer Harvest

I shop frequently at my local food co-op in Littleton, New Hampshire. The quality and variety of organic product offerings is great and as summer rolls around the diversity of organic vegetables from the local farms is abundant. Our local cooperative carries many packaged organic products also, but the variety is not always there. It’s a small store and to drive an hour or more to a larger cooperative is not really an option so I buy on-line for many of my products. One of our consistent purchases from the Organic Wholesale Club is bulk tamari sunflower seeds. They make a great snack instead of all the chips and whatever we used to eat and they are delicious. Not very salty either compared to the Planter’s variety of packaged sunflower seeds. We’ve tried other vendors of bulk seeds, but this company has the most delicious product.

I know that eating organic can be pricy. The baby spinach at my co-op is double the price of the non-organic variety, but if you can afford to eat organic you are on your way to a more healthy lifestyle of eating foods free of all the bad things that are part of our volume food production outlets in our country and around the world. Save those pennies and spend them on a healthier way of life.

Eating organic may be a hard transition and sometimes it can be time consuming to actually read up on what you are buying and eating, but it is worth the investment of your time to make sure you and your family are healthy and stay healthy. I can’t wait for the summer farmer’s markets to open. We’ve got a great one in Bethlehem, NH center on Saturdays and another in Littleton, NH on Sundays down by the river. Check out your local organic farms and farmer’s markets this summer and in the mean time I hope you check out the link below.

Organic Wholesale Club

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic

(NOT LOW CARB, but can be part of a low carb diet if eaten in moderation)

This is a pretty simple recipe and other than the potatoes it only requires a cast iron frying pan, a 450 degree oven, a bowl to mix the ingredients in and 30 minutes of oven time.

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes

If you are diabetic only have 3 or 4 potatoes. It’s ok. Well it is for me anyway. I’m not your doctor! They won’t mess up your Blood Sugar that much at least they don’t mine. However, if you keep going back to the frying pan after you finish and nibble, nibble, nibble you will be in trouble. Show some restraint!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (or more if you like) of New Baby Red Potatoes ( These are the little round guys! MMMMMMM!! )
• 8 or so fresh chopped garlic cloves or 1/4 cup of chopped from a jar ( I LOVE GARLIC! )
• 4 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/4 stick of salted butter (unsalted if you have to)
• Big pinch of course sea salt or whatever you have.
• A light sprinkle of ground pepper
• Fresh Chopped Parsley

What to do now:

1. Melt the butter (it will coagulate as it mixes with the ingredients. It’s ok.)
2. Place everything in a bowl to mix it up good.
3. Place everything in the cast iron frying pan. (or a roasting pan is fine I guess too)
4. Place into pre-heated 450 degree oven. (There are Celsius conversion charts for you metric folks)
5. Bake for 30 minutes. 35 if you really like them dark.
6. Stir in fresh chopped parsley before serving

You won’t regret serving these with anything! Cooked too many? AWE… you’ll have to have them for breakfast or lunch or dinner again.

My wife thinks I am a god when I make these for her. Well… it’s a pretty easy way to please anyone. I love them with pan-fried sliced mushrooms. She hates mushrooms so I cook them separately then combine on my own plate. YUMMY!

Any questions? Make a comment if you aren’t SPAM.

Organic Wholesale Club

Chicken Breast Pan Fried – Low Carb Lunch or Dinner – Tasty Results (Pork works too)

Pan Fried Chicken with Victoria's Tuscan Spice

This recipe is quick and easy. (15-20 minutes) I usually have all these ingredients in my kitchen including the Tuscan spices for this recipe. I love these ingredients on a roast pork tenderloin also. This recipe works great with dinner or with lunch. The Victoria’s Gourmet Tuscan Spice is something I use regularly. When combined with some extra garlic and onion powder it dramatically enhances the flavor of the spice. Victoria’s Gourmet Spices has a diverse spice assortment for sale. Just do a web search for their website. You know the drill. I have no monetary connection to their product. I just happen to love the flavors and the ease of having it in the spice cabinet.

Victoria’s Gourmet Spice Website is: www.vgourmet.com. It redirects you to their store site so don’t be bedazzled.

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken Breast Skinned & Boned ( I buy this already done from my local CO-OP) Otherwise save trimmings and bone for soup. I freeze all my chicken trimmings in zip locks.
• 1 teaspoon Victoria’s Gourmet Tuscan Spice
• 1 teaspoon of granular garlic (or 2 crushed fresh cloves)
• 1 teaspoon of granular onion (1/8 cup med. onion chopped if fresh)
• 2 Tablespoons virgin olive oil or better yet… butter!
• 1 Tablespoon of sour cream if you like sour cream otherwise forget it.

Preparation:

1. Slice the chicken breast horizontally. (2 or 3 times depending on thickness of the breast)
2. Lightly pound the strips of chicken just to break down the membrane. (cooks faster & makes it really tender)
3. Place all the ingredients in a bowl including the olive oil
4. Place the pounded chicken in the bowl with the ingredients and hand mix so ingredients are well dispersed
5. Preheat your frying pan on medium high heat with the butter or some extra olive oil if you have a diversion to cooking with butter

Cooking:

1. Place the chicken into the hot buttery oil and step back a bit because it might splatter
2. Add salt and pepper to taste as the chicken cooks.
3. Crisp up one side before turning to the other.
4. Chicken should be done within 7-10 minutes. (my advice is to NOT time it, just check it)
5. Take chicken from pan when done and place on your lunch plate with a small salad of your choice.
6. Add a dab of sour cream on the side to the chicken flavors to a new level if you are bold and daring.

Alternate:

• As Salad: Cut up the chicken and add to your salad. Add a light coating of olive oil or caesar dressing to the mix.
• You make bake or broil the chicken. Preheat the oven. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Broil on high for about 5 mins a side. Use your cooking savvy to not OVER cook your chicken. Times are approximate and have a lot to do with your own oven’s quirks.
• You may substitute pounded pork chops or pork tenderloin slices with this recipe. Cooking time is pretty similar.

Serves 2-4 people. If cooking for yourself enjoy the leftovers!

Nutritional Information for Victoria’s Gourmet Tuscan Spice (from their website)

Serving Size is 1 Teaspoon ( for complete info see their website)

• Calories (cal) 7.21
• Protein (g) 0.26
• Total Fat (g) 0.03
• Carbohydrate (g) 1.16
• Fiber (g) 0.50
• Sodium (mg) 24.06

Organic Wholesale Club

Haddock, Cod, Salsa, Mushrooms, Garlic & Cheddar Cheese

Haddock Recipe

When you are looking for something a bit more edgy when it comes to cooking with a mild white fish like Cod or Haddock you need not look further than some salsa to add to your recipe. Salsa in any form works great with white fish. I’d even try it with Salmon if you’re adventurous. Here’s what I did recently with some haddock I bought fresh from the local COOP.

This is not a precise recipe. It requires some experience in the kitchen and some knowledge about ingredients and proportions. What you need is:

• Cod or Haddock or some other white fish.
• Your favorite salsa – mild, medium or hot
• Fresh white mushrooms
• Shredded cheddar cheese – the sharper the better!
• Chopped or granular garlic – yes you can use fresh too
• Salt & Pepper
• Butter or Light Olive Oil – Extra Virgin is fine if you like the heavy flavor

Atlantic Cod Recipe

Making ready to Broil: Preheat on high and broil about 6″ from broiler.

1. Preheat a cast iron oven safe pan or something along these lines
2. Melt the butter in the pan or add the olive oil or heck… use both!
3. Add the garlic to the pan.
4. Place the fish in the hot pan – how much fish is up to you
5. Salt & Pepper to taste – or not
6. Top with sliced mushrooms – how many is up to you
7. Spoon some thick salsa onto the fish and mushrooms. Be generous!
8. Sprinkle the sharp cheddar over the ingredients in the pan. Do not over-cheese!
9. Broil on high for about 10 minutes. Won’t take long.
10. It’s probably done when the cheese and salsa start to darken and this is when they are good!

Serve with roasted veggies. Remember it is low carb so don’t serve it with pasta, rice or potatoes!!!  I hope you enjoy it!

PS. I’ve done the same recipe and added Taco Seasoning too, even some Chipotle Peppers (ground)

Chicken Breast Grilled – Low Carb Lunch – Tasty Recipe

This recipe is quick and easy. (15-20 minutes) I usually have all these ingredients in my kitchen. I love these ingredients on a roast pork tenderloin also, so I thought I’d try it today for lunch on pan-grilled chicken. The chipotle is something I use once in a while when I’m looking for a bit of a change in the taste. It adds a nice smokey spicy quality to the final product. The ground chipotle I buy from Atlantic Spice Co. on Cape Cod via the internet. They have quite a nice herb and spice assortment for sale. Just do a web search for their website. You know the drill.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Chicken Breast Skinned & Boned
• 2 Tablespoons of Grape Seed Oil Vegenaise (See Below for info -dairy free- and purchase)
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground chipotle
• 1/8 teaspoon of granular garlic (one clove if fresh)
• 1/8 teaspoon of granular onion (1/8 cup med. onion chopped if fresh)
• 1 Tablespoon white horseradish
• 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
• 2 Tablespoons light olive oil or corn oil
• 2 heaping Tablespoons of sour cream for topping (not mandatory)

Preparation:

1. Slice the chicken breast horizontally. (2 or 3 times depending on thickness of the breast)
2. Lightly pound the strips of chicken just to break down the membrane. (cooks faster & makes it really tender)
3. Place all the ingredients in a bowl except the olive oil and sour cream
4. Place chicken in the bowl with the ingredients and completely cover
5. Preheat your frying pan on medium high heat with the olive oil

Cooking:

1. Place the chicken into the hot oil and step back a bit because it might splatter
2. Add salt and pepper to taste as the chicken cooks.
3. Crisp up one side before turning to the other.
4. Chicken should be done within 7-10 minutes. (my advice is to NOT time it, just check it)
5. Take chicken from pan when done and place on your lunch plate with a small salad of your choice.
6. Add the sour cream to the chicken. (add a little ground chipotle to the sour cream if you like more spice)

Alternate:

• Cut up the chicken and add to your salad

Boneless Fried Chicken – Pounded Into Gastronomical Submission

Use this fried chicken recipe for appetizers or a main course. Also works well for picnics, late night munchies, game day snack or just a good thing to have in the fridge for a midnight raid.

Serves 2-4 depending on your ability to share.

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ Large Boneless Chicken Breast trimmed of all fat and bone fragments
• ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs (I like Progresso with Parmesan Cheese or 4 C seasoned)
• ½ cup of plain panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder or granular garlic (preferred)

Note: If you don’t use the Progresso bread crumbs with parm ADD maybe a tablespoon of grated parmesan to the mixture. Use finely grated as anything else will cause cheese strings. ICK!

• 1 egg
• ½ cup half and half or light cream
• 2 tbsp of sour cream

OPTIONAL Southwestern Kick:

• ¼ tsp of dark chili powder (use this to spice up the recipe)
• ⅛ tsp of ground chipotle pepper (a little dab will do ya)

Note: What I put here is a nice compliment to the chicken, but the hotter you like your food the more you can add. Not my fault if you burn yourself or you can’t taste the chicken!

PREP:

1. Mix bread crumbs, flour, salt, pepper and garlic in a large bowl for breading chicken
2. ** Mix in the optional chili powder or ground chipotle pepper at this time too
3. Set aside for now
4. In a smaller bowl blend well the egg, sour cream and cream and set aside.

PREPPING CHICKEN:

1. Slice the trimmed breast horizontally in thin strips (place hand on top of chicken breast and cut with boning knife horizontally. Light pressure to hold the breast in place works fine.
2. Pound the thin strips with a flat mallet or tenderizing mallet
3. Cut the thin tenderized strips into small pieces and place in the egg/cream mixture
4. Individually bread each small piece of chicken with your flour/bread crumb mixture
5. Set all the pieces on a plate until all pieces are breaded

FRYING CHICKEN:

1. Heat either EXTRA LIGHT olive oil or pure corn oil or an oil of your choice. Do NOT use a heavy oil like extra virgin olive oil. Place about ½” of oil in a frying pan. Do not use a huge pan that won’t heat evenly. An eight to nine inch skillet will work fine.
2. Preheat to a good frying temp so that a drop of an egg/bread/cream ball sizzles like a hot Texas afternoon
3. Fry both sides until crispy and drain on paper towels and pat down with extra towels to remove excess oil.

Hoard all the crispiest pieces for yourself. They will soften as they cool down. I don’t use a dipping sauce for my chicken. It stands alone.

If you have any questions please email me at: steve@a notch above home chef . com (take out spaces if you decide to copy the email address)

I love roast pork loin. I usually buy a small tenderloin, but on the cheap at 2.49/lb at the Littleton Coop in Littleton NH this week is boneless pork loin. Huge hunk of meat, but I just cut it in half and add the list of stuff below and roast it for about 45-50 mins turning it once and voila. Meat for a few days!

• 1/2 cup of vegenaise which is a grapeseed based dairy free mayonaise
• heaping tablespoon of course sea salt
• heaping tablespoon of cracked pepper
• 1/4 cup of horseradish
• 1/4 cup of spicy mustard
• heaping tablespoon of granular garlic or equivalent of fresh or minced
• 1/2 cup or so of extra light olive oil or equivalent light tasting oil

The amounts of spices are not especially important. I’m not much for measuring. It’s by sense and quantity of the main ingredient which is a slab of pork loin.

Rub it all in. I like to cut a few slices in the fat that is usually found on one side of the loin. Slice it the long way so the spices get to the meat on fat side too.

Temp the meat before removing from the broiler. 160 degress F or if you want  it well done let it go to 175. Resting will cook it further. 160 is about 50-55 minutes under my broiler. Yours could vary due to temperature variations.

After removing it from the broiler, I broil it on high about 6″ from the heat so it gets nice and crusty, let it rest for about 10-15 mins and then slice to order. Thin slices are the best as this is NOT a tenderloin to speak but it is going to be very tender as long as you don’t cut it in thick slices.

I hope you enjoy this flavorful recipe. I can smell it broiling in my broiler now. MMMMMMMMM