Battle of the Bulge - Raw Materials

It may have appeared based on my last two posts that I have abandoned the weight loss path. Not so. Actually in spite of all the travel I have this month, I've been able to stay under good control. What I haven't had is a lot of energy to keep up the posts. But in April there is NO travel planned so I'm hoping to do serious posting of recipes.

But first let's talk about basic raw materials. The key to keeping under 400 calories is focusing on vegetables and broth as THE major components of dishes. The veggies provide texture and flavor components while the broth provides the component that is filling and low in calories. If you're going to try to eat this way, I suggest you get a wide variety of vegetables from all the families of vegetables. Here are some examples of things that we stock up on:

Greens - Cooking - Cooking greens offer a lot of texture, flavor and nutrients with minimal calories. Included in these are:

• Mustard greens
• Kale
• Collards
• Beet greens

Crossover Greens - These are greens that can eaten raw in salads (we'll have a post just devoted to salads) or cooked. Included here are:

• Endive
• Escarole
• Spinach

Cabbages - Like the crossover greens cabbages can be eaten raw or cooked. Also really low in calories so when you need some volume to fill you a pound of green cabbage is around 70 calories. They also absorb flavors really well.

• Green cabbage
• Red cabbage
• Napa cabbage
• Bok choy
• Kohlrabi

Squashes - These offer variety between the summer versions and winter versions. The latter provide color and sweetness.

• Yellow squash
• Zucchini
• Butternut
• Acorn

Other stuff - A lot of these can be used both cooked and raw

• Mushrooms, fresh
• Mushrooms dried
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Carrots
• Green beans
• Peas
• Corn
• Fennel
• Jicama
• Bean sprouts
• Daikon

For salads

• Iceberg lettuce
• Romaine lettuce
• Green and red leaf lettuce
• Radishes
• Cucumbers
• Hearts of palm