by Gina Marie Hall

I see you have already found a seat, so sit back and relax while you browse my favorite recipes and diet tips,

(use the header to navigate, just point and click)

Introduction

This cookbook is especially designed for the low fat dieter. It gives easy and tasty ways to prepare low fat meals. You won't find many egg yolks, whole milk, oil or sugar. I have created these recipes in my kitchen without the extra fat (some recipes are borrowed). These recipes are quick and simple to prepare so no one has an excuse.

The American diet is loaded with unnecessary sugars, syrups and calories. I have decided to give people a choice. You don't need to load chicken up with a sugary sauce to make it taste good. Eating healthy and smart should be a way of life. Unfortunately most of us from the time we were young have been taught that eating foods high in fat or sugar is ok. We are a people of convenience. More often people will grab a lunch at McDonald's before they would take the time to prepare and pack a lunch that is wholesome. And even if you would like to eat a healthy lunch you probably couldn't find one at the local deli.

If weight and appearance mean something to you than so should your diet. Food is the same thing that fuel is for an engine. It is eaten to be used as energy, it isn't a means of pleasure, although you should enjoy what you are eating. If everyone would follow a few simple guidelines and read labels more carefully there wouldn't be the excessive overweight problem that exists in today's society.

I have laid out some simple rules and tips to follow. No one under a doctors care should ever attempt a drastic diet change without consulting your physician.

The Meal Plan

Each meal consists of:

Eat 4 - 5 times a day, small meals, - eating speeds your metabolism, foods are used and- not stored.

Best & Common Types of Starchy Carbohydrates

Beans

Rice

Corn

Potatoes

Flour

Bran

Oatmeal

Tomatoes

Peas

Popcorn

Dark Enriched bread

Pasta

Best & Common Types of Fibrous Carbohydrates

Broccoli

Peppers

Green Beans

Onions

Cauliflower

Mushrooms

Asparagus

Egg plant

Carrots

Zucchini

Celery

Lettuce

Best & Common Types of Protein

Chicken Breast

Turkey Breast

Tuna Fish

Fish (not oily types)

Egg Whites

Whey Protein

Lean Red Beef

Best and Most Common Types of Snacks

Sugar free Gelatin

Unsalted Pretzels

Carrot Sticks

Celery Sticks

Rice Cakes

Plain Bagel

Measuring Tips

Measure your food portions don't take for granted what a 1/4 cup of raisins looks like or you can easily go over your daily caloric limit.

Use Labels a bag of mixed vegetables will read that it has x # of carbs, x # of grams per bag, x # of calories then you know exactly what your eating if you spread that bag throughout the day.

Metric Equivalents	Fluid Measurement	Capacity	Weight
28 grams = 1.00 oz. 100 grams = 3.50 oz. 150 grams = 5.30 oz. 200 grams = 7.05 oz. 400 grams = 14.10 oz. 800 grams = 28.25 oz.	1/4 cup = 2 oz. 1/3 cup = 2.7 oz. 1/2 cup = 4 oz.	1 quart = 4 cups 1 cup = 8 fl. oz. = 1/2 pint = 16 tbl sp. 2 tbl. sp. = 1 fl. oz. 1 tbl. sp. = 3 teaspoons	1 pound = 16 oz. 3.57 oz. = 100 grams 1 oz. = 28.35 grams

A Measure using ounces is how much something weighs, a cup is a Measure of how much space it occupies.

Diet Tips

• Keep your fat intake to a minimum. The ideal is 25-30 grams of fat per day or 15% of your caloric intake.
• Read labels, you'll be surprised.
• All vegetables should be fresh or frozen.
• Stay away from preservatives they slow metabolism and fat burning because they take more time to digest.
• Keep sugar to a minimum that also means corn syrup, fructose, glucose - read labels
• NO butter, oil, margarine or fried foods, use Pam for cooking.
• Use FAT FREE dressing, mayo, and desserts only
• You should exercise at least 3 times a week.
• Drink as much water as you want. Preferably eight 8 ounce glasses per day.
• Coffee and diet soda is fine but try to drink decaffeinated. Caffeine can hinder your progress by blocking the absorption of vital vitamins.
• Eat fruit only early in the day (and minimize juices they are mostly sugar)
• Cook your meals in advance - no excuse for grabbing something.
• Your body needs .5 - 1 gram of protein per lb. of body weight just to maintain lean muscle tissue and receive all your proteins.
• Use Fat Free Cheese only
• Eat lean red meat only - venison steaks can be eaten 2 - 3 times a week.
• You can have fish (no blue fish) as much as you want.
• Eat 1 egg yolk per six egg whites (too much fat, 6 grams of fat per egg yolk)
• Skim milk is best - even 2% gets 30-40% of its calories from fat .
• Use seasonings in cooking instead of sauces, butter or dressings
• The absolute No's - hot dogs, bacon, sausage, scrapple, butter or margarine, cream, cheese, fried anything, nuts, ice cream, chocolate, cooking oil, whole milk, and
• many other things - use your common sense.
• Stay away from high glycemic (high sugar) foods, they are absorbed in to the blood stream too rapidly to be utilized by the body and usually end up stored as fat.
• Anytime - carrot sticks, celery sticks, lettuce, seasonings, nutra-sweet.

Bits & Bytes Recipes

BREAKFAST ITEMS	MAIN PROTEIN DISHES	SIDE CARB DELIGHTS	HIGH POWER DESSERTS	NO-GUILT DRESSINGS & DIPS
Tex Mex Omelette Oatmeal Pancakes Baked Potato Patties Multi-Grain Oatmeal Biscuits Killer To-Fu Omelette Ground Turkey Sausage Barley Skillet Cakes Almond Crepes	Brown Rice Burgers Savory Black Eye Pea Patties Fiesta Turkey - Sloppy Joes Baked Chicken with Tomato Rice Stuffing Shredded Wheat Skillet Chicken Ground Turkey Chili Chicken Tenders Quick Chicken Vegetable Salad Power Fish Cakes Sesame Fish Spiced Rice with Chicken Lemon Spice Chicken	Soybean Casserole Soy & Brown Rice Loaf Potato Kugel Lentils & Brown Rice Lentil Pilaf Lentil & Mushroom Casserole Barley-Mushroom Pilaf	Potato Chips Carrot Cake Sweet Potato - Multi-Grain Muffins Mock Pumpkin Pie Brown Rice Pudding	Tomato Sauce Mexican Bean Dip  Super Soybean Spread

BREAKFAST ITEMS

Almond Crepes

Mix all ingredients together by hand. Mix until batter is thin add more water if necessary. Pour batter into an 8-10 inch skillet sprayed with Pam until batter covers skillet. Turn over when edges are easily lifted, cook for another minute or so. Sprinkle with Equal ® to give them a sweet taste.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
69.80	36.00	7.50	495.00

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Barley Skillet Cakes

• 200 grams egg whites
• 1/2 cup barley flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 100 grams grated carrots

Separate eggs and beat until fluffy. Add cinnamon, barley, and carrots, blend together. Cook in a skillet sprayed with Pam. Make cakes about 4 " in diameter.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
45.00	22.90	2.60	224.00

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Ground Turkey Sausage

Mix all ingredients together well. Make sausage patties and brown in a skillet on medium to high heat. To drain any excess fat, lay patties on 2 paper towels and squeeze excess fat into paper towels.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
00.00	42.40	2.40	191.20

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Killer To-Fu / Egg Omelette

Preheat a medium nonstick skillet. Spray pan with Pam, put onions, vegetables in skillet and heat for 1 minute. Combine whites, tofu and yolk, beat together and add to vegetables, sprinkle wheat germ on top of omelette. Cook well on both sides with lid on until completely done.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
15.00	30.30	7.60	286.00

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Tex-Mex Omelette

In a large skillet put potatoes, mushrooms and turkey burger, cook until mushrooms are tender. Pour egg whites on top and cook until top is soft, then pour salsa on top and cover until completely done.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
126.20	48.24	4.35	319.00

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Oatmeal Pancakes

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Heat in skillet until top bubbles then turn over. Makes 10-12 pancakes, 1/8 cup of batter per serving.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
91.80	72.10	7.40	750.00

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Baked Potatoes Patties

Beat egg white well and Mix all ingredients together and make into patties. Bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam for 30 minutes or until browned.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
170.00	20.00	1.00	760.00

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Multi-grain Oatmeal Biscuits

Use a Braun hand blender to make flour with oatmeal, blend until fine. Mix all ingredients together well stir with fork until mixture will hold. Kneed dough on a cutting board sprinkled with flour, roll out and Use a medium size glass and cut biscuits out . Bake on a cookie sheet that has been lightly sprayed with Pam for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
128.20	42.40	2.40	191.20

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MAIN PROTEIN DISHES

Spiced Rice with Chicken

While rice is soaking cut chicken into small tenders. Saute chicken with spices until is done.

Drain rice and rinse very well with cold water. Put 2 cups water into pan with chicken. Bring to a bold, add rice, return to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until water is absorbed. Makes four servings.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
160.00	112.40	8.40	1219.50

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Chicken Tenders

Beat egg well, crush garlic clove, and mix all ingredients together. Take chicken tenders and roll in mixture. Place chicken strips on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
68.20	32.20	11.40	636.00

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Quick Chicken Vegetable Salad

Mix all ingredients together well. Make sausage patties and brown in a skillet on medium to high heat. To drain any excess fat, lay patties on 2 paper towels and squeeze excess fat into paper towels.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
28	52.40	2.40	382.20

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Shredded Wheat Skillet Chicken

Mix shredded wheat, onion powder, Mrs. Dash, oat bran, and Chili-O together well. Coat chicken tenders with egg whites and water till they are covered. Roll chicken tenders in mixture until they are thickly coated. Spray a large skillet well with Pam, and pre-heat. With heat at medium-high, place chicken tenders in skillet and cook with lid on turning over several times until both sides are browned and chicken is tender .

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
97.90	189.90	18.25	1632.00

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Lemon Spice Chicken

Cut chicken into strips and place in medium size bowl with CapTri and 1 tbsp. lemon juice, coating chicken thoroughly. Place in hot nonstick skillet and add other 3 tbsp. lemon juice and sprinkle chicken with Mrs. Dash. Cook over medium heat about 15 minutes until chicken is done throughout.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
08.60	140.45	13.40	1774.00

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Ground Turkey Chili

Brown ground turkey in a skillet, medium-high heat. Drain any excess liquid. With a Braun hand blender mix up tomatoes until liquid. Mix in green peppers, onions, kidney beans with tomatoes, pour over browned ground turkey. Add Chili-O and kidney beans. Mix together in skillet well. Cook on low-medium heat 30 minutes.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
240.50	175.90	58.40	1972.00

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Brown Rice Burgers

Soak soybeans overnight in 2 1/2 cups of water. Cook soybeans until softened (3-4 hours) In a small skillet on low heat, using skim milk, flour and margarine make a white sauce and add garlic. Add other vegetables and put together with soybeans in a medium casserole dish, sprinkle bacon bits on top and bake with lid on at 350 degrees until liquid is absorbed.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
136.10	26.27	3.30	1616.50

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Savory Black Eye Pea Patties

Soak black eye peas for 1 - 2 hours in 1 1/4 cups water to soften, cook for 1/2 hour and drain. Grind in 1 cup of water until fine. Add seasoning and rolled quick oats, let stand for 10 minutes to soak up liquid. Lightly spray a medium skillet with Pam. Make medium size patties and cook on medium-high heat until browned.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
81.00	23.50	2.00	430.00

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Power Fish Cakes

Mash all ingredients together. Salt to taste. Shape into cakes and bake on a greased cookie sheet until golden brown. Serve with tomato sauce.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
38.00	49.05	8.20	449.50

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Sesame Fish

Season fish with salt and pepper. Beat egg and milk together, dip each filet in flour, then liquid then in wheat flour and seeds mixed together. Bake or pan fry until golden brown.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
102.00	97.95	23.80	948.50

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Fiesta Turkey-Sloppy Joes

Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover; and cook 25 minutes. Serve on whole wheat buns.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
43.70	122.25	9.75	1250.00

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Baked Chicken w/ Tomato-Rice Stuffing

Mix all ingredients in a baking dish. Cover; bake 1 hour until chicken and rice are tender.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
102.00	97.95	23.80	948.50

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SIDE CARB DELIGHTS

Lentil & Mushroom Casserole

With a Braun hand blender blend tomatoes until liquid, add mushrooms, onions, carrots, seasoning, vinegar and barley let stand for 10 minutes. In a medium casserole dish add mix lentils, chicken broth and other mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
 

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
449.10	73.80	2.20	1626.00

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Barley-Mushroom Pilaf

  Mix all ingredients together except chicken broth. Fill a greased casserole dish with broth and add other ingredients to it. Bake at 350 degrees until all liquid is absorbed. Approx 50 minutes.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
237.30	34.00	6.00	994.00

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Lentils & Brown Rice

Boil water and add rice, reduce heat and cook rice for 30 minutes. Add lentils mushrooms and garlic. Simmer and cook another 30 minutes until lentils are soft and water is gone. Remove from heat and add carrots.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
319.80	67.45	5.20	1605.00

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Lentil Pilaf

Soak lentils overnight or until soft. Mix onion powder and green peppers in a skillet sprayed with Pam, on medium heat, add lentils and cook with lid on until tender. Remove from heat and add carrot.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
129.40	50.70	4.70	913.20

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Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
319.80	67.45	5.20	1605.00

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Soybean Casserole

Soak soybeans overnight in 2 1/2 cups of water. Cook soybeans until softened (3-4 hours) In a small skillet on low heat, using skim milk, flour and margarine make a white sauce and add garlic. Add other vegetables and put together with soybeans in a medium casserole dish. Sprinkle bacon bits on top and bake with lid on at 350 degrees until liquid is absorbed.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
87.60	68.20	34.30	908.00

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Soy & Brown Rice Loaf

Soak soybeans overnight in 2 1/2 cups of water. Cook soybeans until softened (3-4 hours) and mash. Cook brown rice until done, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Mix all ingredients well. Place in a pan sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
78.80	11.70	2.40	868.00

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Potato Kugel

Grate potatoes, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients, adding milk slowly. Spray a cooking pan with Pam and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes - 1 hour until browned.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
302.20	73.71	3.40	1632.00

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HIGH-POWER DESSERTS

NO-GUILT DRESSING & DIPS

Tomato Sauce

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a Braun Hand blender, or put in a blender. Tastes great over chicken.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
60.00	8.35	0.00	193.00

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Mexican Bean Dip

Mash beans or puree in food processor. Add rest of ingredients and continue to blend until smooth.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
134.50	47.50	2.70	617.00

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Super Soybean Spread

Mash soybeans well. Add other ingredients and mix together. Use on top of chicken or turkey, it has a strong taste, best to use as a condiment.

Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat	Calories
78.10	46.50	23.00	680.00