In our new book, Embracing Your Big Fat Ass (Atria), we say what everybody knows by now: Diets don’t work. Ouch, in fact they hurt. They cause you to end up losing lean muscle mass and increasing fat in the muscle/fat ratio thing that causes you to burn fewer and few calories – because muscle burns more calories than fat you can eat more. So if we have more fat then we burn fewer calories doing exactly the same thing as the annoying thin people. Hrmph.
While we do think restrictive diets don’t work, we do think that everybody – even the skinniest of Minnie’s have to try to eat in a healthier way. Fruit and vegetables have been proven in all kinds of studies to make a significant impact on diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. So…yeah. We don’t believe in going on all the tormentuous, restrictive, often expensive diets out there; we do believe in making a daily effort to live healthier lives regardless of the size, shape or rubbery ness of our hind quarters.
We’re saying: Live life. Love yourself. And do the darn best you can with the eating thing. We’re not going any further than that and don’t push us or Janette will bite back. Speaking of…Janette is an actual, real life expert in cooking. She had her own cooking show on the TV Food Network for crackers sake. (Clever, huh? Crackers…cooking…get it??!) Okay. She really can cook, look her up, she’s a Celebrity Chef! So there. If you want dessert come to our website and go In the Kitchen at Janette’s Blog. She posted her newest invention Peanut Butter Makeover Cookies. She’s replaced all the fat with a secret ingredient. And there’s lots more fiber. Yum. But for now we leave you with one of her favorite recipes to prove that eating your vegetables isn’t so hard after all.
Janette’s Spinach Baseballs in a Whole Wheat Mitt
Ingredients
BASEBALL “GLOVES”:
4 whole wheat pocket less pitas
Vegetable cooking spray
Salt and pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
SPINACH “BASEBALLS”:
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup grated parmesan
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ medium white onion, finely chopped
½ red pepper, seeded and de veined and finely chopped,
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 Portobello mushroom, stemmed, cleaned and finely chopped
1 pound fresh spinach, steamed and well squeezed and chopped
5 egg whites
2 cups spicy Marinara sauce, such as Classico, heated
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F.
TO MAKE THE BASEBALL “GLOVES”:
Using your hand for a model, cut each pita loaf into the shape of a baseball glove, separating each finger. Place each in small oven proof bowl and push down in center to conform to the shape of the bowl. Spray the top of the pita with vegetable spray, sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from bowl.
TO MAKE THE SPINACH “BASEBALLS”:
In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, nutmeg, parmesan, salt and pepper. Add the onions, peppers, basil, and Portobello mushroom and toss until well coated. Mix in the well drained spinach and stir until fully incorporated. Mix in the egg whites.
Form into 4 large ‘baseball,s’ place on nonstick baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
To serve, place a spinach ‘baseball’ in each whole wheat mitt. Top with ½ cup marinara sauce and serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings
Per serving
409 Calories
8.5 Total Grams of Fat
1.9 Grams of Saturated Fat
6.8 Grams of Fiber
Author Resource:-
Laura Banks and Janette Barber are the bestselling authors of Embracing Your Big Fat Ass (Atria). They write about positive body-image, weight-acceptance, self-esteem with humor. It's time to love your BFA (Big Fat Ass). Janette is a 6 time Emmy-Award winning producer/writer and Laura is a columnist at http://Tarot.com. http://www.embracingyourbigfatass.com.
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