(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
No matter how much we love to cook and treasure the togetherness and excellent nutrition that it brings to our families, sometimes take-out chow is a reality of modern life. It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition, though. In the time you are waiting for the delivery to arrive, or in just seconds before you or a loved one goes out to pick it up, there are lots of healthful accompaniments you - and your kidlet helpers - can prepare that will add both homemade and healthful touches. Soda, for instance, has been named the greatest source of empty calories in American diets and diet soda, too, is often full of artificial ingredients and caffeine. Homemade "lemonade," though, adds the zing of fresh lemon juice that's full of vitamin C and helps cleanse the body and aids in digestion. Prepare it with now widely available packets of stevia, the zero-calorie sweetener that's derived from an herb. Easy "recipes" like this take your take-out to new levels.
Food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast - as the following split-second sensations prove. They take just
10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The dishes are delicious proof that everyone has time for tasty home cooking and, more importantly, the healthy family time in the kitchen that goes along with it! Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since
there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you choose to use can't help but draw "wows" at the otherwise take-out strewn family dinner table.
APPETIZERS
A poor choice for an appetizer order at a take-out restaurant could nutritionally destroy an otherwise acceptable meal. Gobs of chicken wings, loads of cheese-filled breadsticks and the like are saboteurs, but it's easy to turn the tables.
"Anti"pasti to be Very Pro About
Chop romaine lettuce and on top add turkey pepperoni, diced ham, either mozzarella- or provolone-style soy cheese or low-fat cheese, black olives, jarred pickled peppers, red bell pepper, carrots and celery and toss with low-fat Italian dressing as well as a splash of the liquid in the pickled pepper jar.
Better Bruschetta
Top Rye Krisp or other rectangular whole-grain crackers with olive oil, finely diced red onion, finely diced garlic and freshly ground black pepper and broil for a moment until hot, being careful not to burn.
BEVERAGES
"Empty Calories" could instead be the name of the beverage section of the menu at many quick-serve establishments. Caffeine, too, is often a hanger on! Prepare wholesome - but still tempting - choices at home and you'll be well ahead of the game.
Lemonade that Aids You
Mix water with lots of the juice of fresh lemons, to taste, and add stevia natural no-calorie sweetener, to taste. For flavored lemonade, add a small amount of bottled no-sugar-added pomegranate, berry or cherry juice. Serve over ice.
Ice Blended Mochas that Blend with a Good Diet
In a blender container, combine chocolate soy milk (or regular soymilk and a no-sugar-added chocolate milk powder, like Nestle), decaffeinated instant coffee crystals, almond extract, sliced almonds, stevia natural no-calorie sweetener and ice and blend until creamy.
SIDE DISHES
Skip the fat-laden, empty-calorie side dish selections that often take up much of the menu at take-out spots even though many of the main dishes - like rotisserie chicken - may, in fact, be healthful.
A More Chipper Macaroni 'n' Cheese
Keep extra multigrain penne, elbow or macaroni pasta cooked and stored in the refrigerator. Mix together a quick sauce of packaged shredded low-fat cheese, soy milk, cayenne pepper, freshly ground black pepper and garlic powder in saucepan or in microwave-safe container, heat just until hot (don't overcook) and toss with heated pasta.
Mash Out Poor Potato Choices
Microwave small red potatoes until tender. Mash (including the fiber- and vitamin-filled skin) and continue mashing while adding soy milk, freshly ground black pepper, lemon-pepper salt substitute and a very small amount of butter. Reheat in microwave oven for a moment if necessary after mashing.
DESSERTS
Possibly wise to mostly skip the often carbohydrate- and fat-packed desserts on drive-thru menus, but don't feel you need to forego desserts altogether. When it is part of your daily recommended calorie count and filled with health-promoting ingredients, dessert becomes a plus rather than a minus.
Healthy Angle for Upside-Down Apple Pie
Sometimes popular fast-food apple pies are prepared with high-carbohydrate pastry and deep-fried. Instead, heat store-bought apple pie filling in microwave-safe dish in microwave oven and top sugar-free vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt with it and crown with crumbled whole-wheat graham crackers or crumbled sugar-free gingersnaps.
Party with These Parfaits
Layer parfait glasses with store-bought sugar-free pudding, low-fat yogurt, chocolate-covered raisins (preferably dark chocolate), fresh blackberries, slices of fresh kiwis and repeat.
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: When you enter teashops that have become popular in shopping malls, you'll find lots of samples of delicious combinations brewing for you to try. Whether buying solo or in combinations to match those tasty samples, when paying by the pound, it gets pricey: up to $20 for just a few ounces. Don't think you can't easily prepare your own custom combinations at quite a savings. Instead, buy an herbal tea sampler of a commercially popular brand in the supermarket. Tie together compatibly flavored teabags before brewing (like cranberry-apple, lemon, orange, cinnamon, mint, green and decaffeinated black - the last two are good "foundations," of which you may want to have individual boxes from the supermarket on hand.) The water doesn't need to match the number of teabags: Though you could use more water if preparing multiple servings for family or friends, selections like the aforementioned seven teas can be brewed in just three cups of water, which would match a large one-serving tea from a coffeehouse/teahouse chain. Combinations like these, especially starting with the mixed black tea/green tea base, are packed full of potent antioxidants - and the aroma alone while they brew probably will draw you to this economical method.
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet (Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on Dr.Laura.com.
