Favorite Food Discovery

Along the journey of your diets, what are some of your favorite foods that you've discovered? Whether it be a vegetable you never tried, a recipe from hungry-girl.com, or a product you decided to try, which is your favorite?

I discovered that I learned to like so many veggies that I used to hate - tomatoes, mushrooms, and - never tried - brussel's sprouts.

As for products, La Tortilla Factory whole wheat tortillas. I could eat them everyday for the rest of my life, because you can do so much with them! I made a pizza with about an hour ago.

Annnnd for recipes, I'd have to say Hungry Girl's version of French Toast. I thought I'd have to give it up forever because who would think bread normally smothered in eggs, butter, and powdered sugar and fried in a pan could be made healthy or lowcal?

I've found that I love cauliflower, soy nuts, and edemame!

Tomatos, Cauliflower, Carrots, Peppers, Tofu, Green Tea... I could go on for a while... I was incredibly closed minded before...

I discovered broccoli! I love it! and mushrooms (which I never thought I would learn to like!)

Also discovered that I can in fact go without chocolate, contrary to my belief that it was "impossible" - I still crave it ever week or two, but the less I have it, the less I want it :)

Discovered I don't like feeling full, I'd rather little meals that make me feel satisfied

I discovered that I enjoy planning 5 serves of vegetables into my daily intake

I realized full cream milk is too creamy for me, I'd rather the skim type

I find that a lot of the time when I crave something "naughty" once I do the math, I lose the urge

I realized exercise is fun, and gives me a lot of energy, if I go for more than 1 day without exercise I become moody, restless and lethargic - so I have to get my dialy exercise in or I feel like crap! Whether it be a walk, a jog or a work out on gym equipment (even weights are sufficient some days!)

I learnt to eat slowly, now I really savour my food and it feels so much better than just shoving it in without thinking!

You can pretty much say I've established a new way of life

i have discovered steamed broccoli!!!! It taste so good.

I already liked a lot of fruits and veggies, but I used to like them smothered in butter and/or salt.  Now I've learned to enjoy most of them bare or with a little seasoning instead.  I've also learned to like a lot of foods I either didn't like or refused to try before, like sweet potatoes, squash, spinach, raspberries, asparagus, eggplant, etc.  I've also become more adventurous about trying things that would've seemed "weird" before, like squid or eel.  However, I still won't eat any food I associate with a pet (like rabbit-- used to have one) or beloved cartoon animal (like deer-- can't eat Bambi!).  I guess you have to draw the line somewhere ^_^; .

PB2 (great for peanutbutter fix with low calories)

French Bread (lowish calories, filling, tastes great)

Splenda and eggwhites (cooking cakes and other sweet things is much much easier and lower calorie now)

Gum (i liked gum before, but i have been finding lately it seems much sweeter then i remembered it... great for afterdinner and keeps me from snacking on something else)

Soup (soups are great, low low calories for the volume you get... full of flavor and so much variety, just stay away from cream soups)

Pumpkin - i used to hate it. Now I love it in any form - soup, roasted, steamed, mashed

fruits and veg - I used to lvoe them but would rather eat chocolate. Now I actually prefer a banana OVER chocolate!

Porridge - I thought it came in flavoured packets and needed tonnes of sugar

Yogurt - now one of my fav foods!

Cottage cheese - serious, fav food, never at it before, now I love it with everything!

Bascially I learnt a bit more about simplicity and how complex it can be. Sounds daft? I mean instead of getting a packet of instant porridge, I'd rather have a home-made bowl of oats with real apple and cinnamon i add. Sure the packet is easier, but its not as good for you because of added sugars/salts/lack of nutrients as its instant.

Apples and different types of seasonal fruits (they taste their best when they're in season AND are the cheapest!) dipped with unsweetened dutch cocoa powder (REALLY low calories! 1 tablespoon has only 12 calories adn that's more than I need for 1 serving of fruit!...sometimes i even put some equal sweetner to make it less bitter but its a dark chocolate taste with mega low calories which i love!!!) instead of regular chocolate (high fat and high calories!)

veggies! roasted vegetables instead of pepperoni on pizzas!

beans!! bean burgers instead of chili's bacon cheeseburger

whole wheat toast lightly toasted warm with cinnamon and equal instead of bagel loaded with butter, cinnamon and sugar

 

- Kelp Noodles, Konbu Noodles & Yam Noodles (all with 5 to 10 calories per serving)

- Nori Sheets

- Tomato Paste

- Olive &/or Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade 

- NuNatural Stevia or Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia

- Flavored Coffee 

- Grass-fed & Finished Animals 

- Vital Choice Sea Food 

- Flaxseeds 

- Canned Green Beans & Button Mushrooms 

- Calorie/Sugar/Carb Free Flavor Concentrates 

- ABBA Diet Turbo Tea 

- Xyience Xenergy Drinks 

 

Chickpeas!  Now I make them 'from scratch', ie. not canned.  Just after I drain them I toss in a little vinaigrette then I put them in the fridge and snack on them for a few days.  So filling and delicious.  They taste so much better than canned.

I figured out that I really like most of the vegetables that I usually hate (broccoli, lima beans, peas, tomatoes, etc) if I combine them with other things (either soup or in stir fry or with rice). And that I like cooked carrots WAAAAY better than raw.

 

SO many things:

• dark green vegetables (chard, kale, broccoli, spinach)
• Bison
• plain yogurt
• cottage cheese
• sweet potatoes/yams
• various types of squash
• canned pumpkin
• whole grains, other than wheat! (millet, bulgar, cous cous, kasha, QUINOA, etc...)
• steel cut oats
• agave nectar/cane sugar/stevia
• Heirloom tomatoes
• egg whites
• chickpeas
• eggplant
• organic apples & pears (vs. non-organic... I can't even eat those anymore!)
• various spices
• flax seeds
• non-dairy milks (soy, almond, hemp, oat, etc)
• Tofu/Tempeh/Edamame
• Green tea

I've become quite a foodie in the past year!

Also, this vegan food blog and Tastespotting are just two of the many blogs that have had a major influence on the recipes I try.

Clean Eating magazine & Vegetarian Times magazine bring out a lot of creativity.

I've discovered

-bananas tastes really good with laughing cow light

-i LOVE cottage cheese!

-Fat free ranch is actually pretty good

-When food is fresh you don't really need any sauces to drown them in.

-coffee and tea doesn't need to be sweetened

 

I discovered that dominos thin crust pizza with just cheese is only 109 calories a slice for a large pizza, that made my day because i thought i wasn't going to be able to have much pizza for a long time.

There are so many;

I discovered that I like...

• Broccoli (and other veggies that I used to avoid - all of them)
• Kiwi
• Oatmeal
• Beans
• Cottage cheese
• Salads
• Flaxseed
• Fish (which I was always afraid of before)
• Almond butter and REAL peanut butter
• Plain yogurt and Greek yogurt

I now almost always buy...

• Ezekiel pita pockets
• Garden of Eatin' WW Tortillas
• Friendship's Unsalted Cottage Cheese
• Purdue ground chicken breast
• Fage or Chobani Greek yogurt
• Kashi 7-grain Pilaf

I've found so many

• Mixed beans
• Peanut butter
• Many dried fruits inc dates, prunes, figs
• Greek yoghurt, plain yoghurt, creme fraiche
• Mushrooms
• Cooked celery
• TOFU (staple in my life)
• Cottage cheese
• Goats milk, goats cheese
• Soya desserts
• Sushi
• Raw food bars, e.g. Nakd/trek

Brothers All Natural Chips, freeze dried fruit.  Not easy to find, I got them from Costco.  Very flavorful and great when you want something crunchy like other chips but only 40 cal a bag.  Twenty bags for $13 not bad either.

I am in love with mushrooms and dates, rasins, dried apricots, hummus, tuna and salmon fillets which i had a strong hate for about a year ago but they are soooooooooooooooo yum

never used to like fish.. now i love it

Darcyskywolfe: just an FYI, dominos thin crust with cheese (large-14") is actually 195 calories per slice.