Thursday, January 18, 2007

Prunes (natures candy)

Prunes get a bad rap. I don't know why exactly, after all they're just dried plums. They're plump, juicy and chewy bites of nutritious goodness! A few months ago I topped a prune with peanut butter and stumbled on currently my favorite snack.

In fact I compare it to a Reese's PNB cup! If you think about how long it takes to eat a package of Reese's (2 pnb cups), it takes seconds! Before you know it, it's over and did you really enjoy those 250 calories? Most of the time it would only leave me wanting more (why do you think the make king size pkgs.?)

But one plump, juicy prune topped with 1/2 teaspoon af PNB and a sprinkle of kosher salt lasts about minute in your mouth and is more satisfying (to me). I've recently forced these yummy treats on friends and co-workers that first turned up their scrunched noses, but those scrunched up noses quickly turned to smiles and surprised responses like, "omg I would of never thought this would be so good!".

1 prune (20-30 cal.)
1/2 teas. natural PNB (20-25 cal. I use fresh ground from Whole Foods)
sprinkle of kosher salt

Use the prune to scoop the PNB out of the measuring spoon, sprinkle w/salt and top with an almond (10 cal.) or place on a triscut cracker (20 cal.) or you can even dip 1/2 way into some melted dark chocolate and make you own version of candy. You can eat 5 pieces for the same amount of calories of 2 Reese's cups (250 cal.)!

Tues AM weight 127.2

Menu

coffee w/cream, cocoa 205 cal.
oatmeal w/lowfat milk and sugar 285 cal.
prunes, PNB, triscut 320 cal. (6 pieces)
apple 120 cal.
red grapes 60 cal/
veg soup w/chicken and butternut squash puree 350 cal.
prune PNB, triscut 200 cal. (3 pieces)

Total cal. 1540

Wed. AM weight 127.4

Menu

4-7am coffee w/cream 85 cal.
11:00 prune, PNB, almond, 2 peices 100 cal.
11:30 coffee w/cocoa 100 cal.
1:00 cabbage salad w/chutney dressing and chinese pork 500 cal.
3:00 prune, PNB, almond 2 pieces 100 cal.
5:30 veg soup w/chicken 250 cal. roasted butternut squash 250 cal.
8:30 small piece of chinese pork tenderloin 60 cal.
Misc. 60 cal.

Total calories 1505

I weighed the veggies in my salad today (Wed.) and they weighed just under 1 lb. (15.5oz). 5.5oz. green cabbage, 3.5oz. red cabbage 3oz carrot, green onion, jalapeno, cilantro 3.5oz.

Chinese pork marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. oil (veg. or olive)
1-2 cloves garlic, crushes
1 tbl. sweet/hot mustard
1t. honey (or sugar)
1t. chinese five spice powder

All measurements are approx., I just usually throw them all in a ziploc bag and add 2 pork tenderloins, marinate overnight.

6 comments:

Sarah said...

Tracy,

Can you post your recipe for the butternut squash soup?

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try your prune discovery. Mike and I really like dates. Date rolls can get expensive, so we found a way to make our own version for super cheap without losing any taste.

Royce said...

I love Peanut Butter.
I love prunes.
I will have to try that.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Sarah, I just had an incredibly exhausting day, sorry I couldn't respond sooner.

Basically butternut squash soup is;
butternut squash and chicken stock!
There are many different ways to add all kinds of other flavors. For instance cream, yogurt, apple, curry all kinds of veggies, garlic etc..

I don't use a particular recipe. I would rather teach some one the cooking method rather than how to cook from a recipe. I'm going to write a post in the next few days just for you explaining what I mean. And I'll tell you how i make it MOST of the time.

I believe learning to cook without a recipe is the biggest time saving factor in the kitchen.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Sara, please share your version of date rolls!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Royce, I know I don't need to remind any one that CALORIES COUNT!

Use common sense and don't eat a large amount of these! But I think it's a great way to satisfy that "sweet & salty" craving.