Easy Tortilla Chips

I made lunch for my husband this morning, a Mexican feast with chicken tacos and tortilla chips. But rather than break out a bag of greasy chips, I whipped them up in the microwave.

In 2 minutes of cooking time, you can have crisp, low-fat corn tortilla chips! All you need is taco-sized corn tortillas. These are the flat discs of corn that you heat in the oven to make soft tacos, as opposed to a box of the already crisped taco shells. I can get a bag of 36 of the soft corn tortillas from my local Aldi for less than $1.50. You'll see that this will keep you in tortilla chips for a long time.

Here's what to do:

• Get two to four tortillas, depending on how hungry you are.
• If desired, cut the tortillas into triangles. Cut in half, stack the halves and cut those in half. (If you want, you can cut smaller by stacking the quarters and cutting them into half. Or, you could leave the tortillas whole to crumble in the end, if you're eating them with a tortilla soup, a taco salad or something similar.)
• Put the tortillas on a plate. This should be a Corelle plate (which I use), melamine or ceramic, as opposed to a paper plate or a foam one.
• Heat the tortilla pieces for 1 minute; turn them over and heat for another 30-60 seconds, or until crisp and dry from the steam created during cooking.

That's it! As I mentioned, you could crumble the hardened tortillas over tortilla soup or a taco salad, eat them with salsa as a snack (1/2 cup of a fat-free salsa is a generous portion), or make a nachos meal with reduced fat cheddar (1 oz., or 1/4 cup), fat-free sour cream (1/4 cup), veggie toppings and beans (pinto or black), grilled chicken or lean ground beef or turkey (3 oz.).

Buen provecho!

Kid Lunch, Grown Up

I did something you're really not supposed to do today: I went to the grocery store on an empty stomach. I did resist the fried chicken and hoagies, though, settling on sushi.

That was at the front of the store. By the time I got to the back of the store, I had my doubts that the sushi, whole wheat crisps and fruit that I had selected was really what I wanted.

And then I laid my eyes on Kraft's Lunchables in the dairy section. I fondly remembered Lunchables from my childhood--the little package of neatly organized circles of meats and crackers, and stack of square cheese slices. Though tasty, the little meal packed a lot of fat and sodium.

Fast-forward nearly 25 years later, and Lunchables now makes a low-fat version that has earned the "Sensible Solutions" logo. And it's not just cheese and crackers, either, it's a complete meal!

The meal I had, at 360 calories, 8 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber, was a mini turkey sub (complete with a packet of fat-free mayo and reduced-fat cheese), an 8-oz. water with sweetened Kool-Aid fruit punch powder to shake in, a 4 oz. cup of applesauce, and a small bag of Nila Wafers. I felt like I hit the jackpot!

The other Sensible Solutions variety is the Deep Dish Cheese Pizza box. Like the turkey sandwich combo, it comes with applesauce, water and Kool-Aid, and Nila Wafers.

White Chili With Chicken

This one was not only easy, it was economical, too!

• Half-pound of frozen grilled chicken breast strips
• 1 15-oz can of white beans, drained (Great Northern, small white, cannelini—any type will do)
• Jar of salsa verde
• Diced red onion to taste
• Cilantro to taste

1. Heat the chicken in the microwave; dice into small pieces and add to a bowl.
2. Add in the salsa verde.
3. Add the red onion.
4. Add the cilantro.

When I made this, I actually didn't cook anything, besides the chicken. I just heated the end product in the microwave when ready to serve. I served it with corn tortillas crisped in the microwave, and low-fat cheddar cheese.

An Egg-static Fan!

Before joining Weight Watchers, I was a major fan of IHOP's massive omelets. Ham and cheddar, steak, it didn't matter. As long as there were pancakes on the side (and butter pecan syrup on the table), it was all good.

These days, I have not banished omelets from my eating repertoire. In fact, I eat at least one a week. I've just learned to lighten up.

For starters, I now go with the carton of egg whites or yellow Egg Beaters rather than whole eggs. Instead of butter, I use a nonstick pan and cooking spray. And I use reduced fat cheddar or part-skim mozzarella over the higher-fat stuff. Aside from those ground rules, the sky's the limit!

Favorite omelets of mine lately have been center-cut bacon, spinach (fresh baby spinach leaves, frozen, or sauteed fresh) and cheddar; and Mexican-spiced ground turkey or lean ground beef and cheese, topped with salsa and/or fat-free sour cream.

You could make a more hearty meal (and add more fiber) by rolling up the omelet in a flatbread wrap.

As far as technique, I learned from the best! I saw Julia Child plying her craft several years ago, in an old episode of her show, "The French Chef," on public television.



To put it in non-chef terms:

1. Heat your nonstick pan on high. It's ready when a drop of water evaporates in the pan just about instantaneously.
2. Coat the pan well with cooking spray.
3. Pour in the egg, moving the pan to evenly coat the bottom.
4. Add your other ingredients. I suggest starting with anything that needs the heat most, like cheese or raw veggies.
5. Monitor the egg mixture.
6. As the egg mixture gets closer to being solid, shake the pan in a circular motion to loosen the omelet.
7. When loose, use a jerking/dragging motion, with the pan still on the burner, to flip the omelet closed.
8. If needed, cheat! Flip the omelet onto a plate to shape or use a spatula on the omelet in the pan to shape it.
9. If needed to cook the egg further, flip the omelet over after a few minutes. Flip onto a plate and then back into the pan, if needed.

Dessert Idea

I've been crushing on the various flavors of fat-free ice cream from Breyers over the past month or so.

I had a brilliant idea for jazzing up my fat-free vanilla ice cream last night—adding candy. I had some Weight Watchers toffee bars (by Whitman), and I whacked them with the flat side of a meat tenderizer to crush them. They were a delightful addition to my half-cup serving of ice cream!

The Whitman chocolates come in many flavors, including double chocolate fudge, mint chocolate, and chocolate peanut butter, to name a few. The Breyers ice cream comes in vanilla, French chocolate, strawberry, chocolate cookies & cream, and more.

Berries Jubilee!

'Tis the season for those small fruits with the big benefits, berries. Rich in antioxidants, and other important nutrients, I've been taking advantage of the abundance of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to give my diet a sweet/tart kick.

Here are some ideas for berries:

• Eat them raw.
• Mash them and serve them on top of fat-free vanilla ice cream..
• Mash them, mix with a little Splenda, and serve them in a peanut butter sandwich.
• Eat them in cereal.
• Whip them into a smoothie.
• Incorporate their puree, with some Splenda, into lemonade.
• Add them to a salad. Keep the other flavors light so the berry flavor shines through.