Skinnygirl Cleanse & Restore

Summer Cocktails without the Calories!

A refreshing beverage is exactly what we want on a hot summer night, but who has 300-500 extra calories to spare? Thanks to the new trend in ‘Skinny cocktails’ many companies have come out with sugar-less/low-sugar options for mixers. Refine makes a delicious Cosmopolitan mix that uses Stevia instead of sugar, saving you about 60 calories per serving! Some sweet cocktails contain 160 calories before the alcohol!

The next time you want that whiskey sour remember it has 84 calories in 3 oz of the mix without the alcohol!  Try Baha Bob’s (Baja Bob’s Sugar Free Margarita Mix, Original, 32-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 3) (See all Cocktail Mixers))
and Skinny Chick’s Cocktail Mixer, around 10 calories and made of lemon and key lime juice! Add some Splenda and you’re good to go!  And we can’t forget to mention EatSmart’s favorite  margarita mix- Skinnygirl from Bethenny Frankel which saves you 100 calories per cocktail!! Bottoms up!

>>>Check out Bethenny Frankel’s book Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting (See all Health, Mind & Body Books)

Lean Dessert Protein Shake by BSN

Great Tasting Protein Powder

Lean Dessert Protein is a delicious tasting shake that refuels the body and is ideal for weight management after a hard workout. Used by celebrity trainers and athletes this protein shake contains 6 different ultra-premium proteins! (Chocolate Fudge Pudding Flavor is our favorite…

The low calorie/high protein combination makes this shake the best ‘after workout’ or meal replacement choice. This shake curbs hunger and will continue to feed hungry lean muscle mass even after your workout.

Quick Tips:

• Comes in 6 delicious flavors (Chocolate Fudge is our Favorite)
• Promotes fast energy
• Supports immune system
• Low Carb

Buy/More Info

Not long ago, I was watching an interview with the Obama family chef on segment on CNN. I wasn’t surprised at all about the fact that current Obama family chef was once the chef of Queen Oprah! Since Oprah is very close to the First Family, I’m not surprised one bit that she’s pass along her own favourite chef.

During the interview, the Obama family chef did reveal a lot of great information.

Art Smith has been cooking for many a lot of politicians and his Washington “Art & Soul” restaurant … which happens to be one of the most sought after eateries in the U.S. capital.

The interview with CNN host Campbell Brown was short, but Art was able to give us a good idea of the eating habits of the President and the First Lady!

To make this a simple and easy read, I’ve decided to go with bullet points in order to provide you with as much information as possible!

Chef Art Smith talks about the Obamas’ eating habits:

* It’s not surprising that both the President and the First Lady are very healthy eaters.

* Both Sasha and Malia have followed in their parents foot prints and are also healthy eaters.

* Grilled fish, greens and broccoli top the list of favourites for the Obamas.

There were no surprises for me from what Art Smith revealed about the way the Obamas eat because you can look at their physique and you can see that they respect their bodies. I know President Obama is a former smoker and he even recognized the need to clean up that part of his life.

Chef Art also talked about how President Bill Clinton liked a good old fashion burger and fries combo, but he’d never dream of eating it daily (see again, that didn’t surprise me, as I could totally see Bill Clinton gravitating towards that American classic).

I quite liked something Chef Art said at the end of the interview when Campbell Brown was asking him about the fact that the Obama menu was vastly different from the menu that helped him win the “Top Chef Master” competition with his fried chicken, smothered chicken and pie dishes. Chef Art responded, justifiably so, that you should eat healthy most of the time and indulge here and there in some of your favourite comfort foods. I honestly couldn’t agree with him more.

When asked about the skyrocketing cost of health care because of the burden of having to treat so many illness related to the huge obesity problem in America, Art Smith blamed portion size for the problem of growing fat bellies in America.

I’d add that poor quality foods in combination with the massive attack supersize portions are making Americans fatter and fatter and sicker and sicker.

I agree with Art’s very European point of view on the topic:

“If we spent more time at the dinner table, we’d have fewer problems because we’d be communicating way more”!

If we did indeed communicate more, perhaps fewer people would use food as a friend, a lover and a confident because they’d actually feel their needs are being met in their relationships.

Obviously, this short post only scratches the surface of the almost-epidemic unreasonable weight gain problem in America and I hope you’ll keep reading this site because I’m determined to get more and more people to embrace the concept of healthy eating!

>>> You can read more about the Obamas eating habits, you can check out the posts below:

Start a summer garden to deal with food inflation!

President Obama’s favourite healthy foods

Photo by maggiephotos

gwyneth_paltrow

Gwyneth is getting a lot of heat for her lifestyle web site that’s not sitting well with most critics and bloggers. GOOP is generating a lot of negative press, but as I told my friend Natasha … I doubt that would faze Gwyneth in any shape or form.

Gwyneth is now getting more favourable press for her co-starring role in the American Public Television show Spain: On the Road Again, which premiered in September 2008, she joined forces with chef Mario Batali, food writer Mark Bittman, and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols as they explored the eclectic cuisine within Spanish culture.

I was on Epicirious.com (another one of my absolute favourite food sites) and I noticed they did a feature on Gwyneth Paltrow’s favourite foods.

I really enjoyed the article and I thought I’d put my two cents in.

The article stated that Gwyneth is known for her legendary mastery of two famous Italian dishes: cioppino and bruschetta. I know how to make bruschetta in my sleep, but I realized that I had no clue as to what cioppino was … so I had to do a quick search because I so need to try this new dish.

It turns out that cioppino is more or less the same dish as a “Zuppa di Pesca” (seafood soup). After reading the long list of ingredients and the many steps to prepare the soup … I decided to wait until my next trip to Italy to taste this dish.

That said, if you are bent on trying a new recipe this weekend, here’s a recipe I found: Genuine Cioppino

I met Gwyneth in person in New York many moons ago (May 2001 to be exact) and I was so shy in approaching her when I recognized her. The second I got back to my then-dot com job I told the entire office that I had met her and how beautiful she was in person.

She’s so thin and it’s good to read that it might be more a case of good genes than food deprivation.

In fact, Gwyneth loves to cook! And she indulges in cooking four to six nights a week AND she prepares lunches daily for her kid (that’s my kind of gal)!

Given that she’s been on the road with chef Mario Batali, it’s no surprise that Gwyneth favours Italian cooking because “you never get let down when you make Italian food”.

gwyneth_paltrow_in_paris

Gwyneth is no longer the macrobiotic she once was (according to Wikipedia, the macrobiotic diet is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating, by recommending against overeating, and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing).

Gwyneth used to follow the macrobiotic diet, but cravings from her pregnancies prevented her from keeping up with the strict restrictions of that diet … it appears that Gwyneth LOVES donuts! These days, Gwyneth eats organic foods, local foods, whole grains and she eats as seasonally as possible to ensure she maintains optimal health and that her kids grow up to be as healthy as possible.

There are so many celebrities or trophy-celebrity-wives like Victoria Beckham and Katie Holmes who make a point of not eating and who really look like they detest food, it’s refreshing to see that someone like Gwyneth Paltrow cooks, eats, enjoys food and loves sharing her passion for food with family and friends!

This is Gwyneth’s favourite dish from Epicurious: Gwyneth Paltrow’s spaghetti alla vongole

If you want to read the rest of the Epicurious interview with Gwyneth Paltrow, you’ll find it here: Gwyneth Paltrow Shares Her Passion for Food

Photo of Gwyneth Paltrow in Paris by philos from Athens

emily_blunt_auntie_annes_pretzel

I was watching one of those late night shows (I cannot remember the name of the host because I was channel surfing) and I noticed Emily Blunt being interviewed. As I was just about to change channel’s the host said that he knew of one of her food weaknesses and he sent someone from his staff to fetch it for her to enjoy while being interviewed. I decided to wait and see what they were talking about.

The staffer returned with two garlic flavoured pretzels from Auntie Anne’s Pretzel and Emily’s face just glowed with anticipation. After giving the second one to a lucky audience member, Emily Blunt explained, while enjoying her pretzel, that she had recently discovered the Auntie Anne’s pretzels while filming her latest project and she loved them sooooooooooooo much that she was eating two of them a day.

I remember making a mental note and thought that the next time I’d find myself in the U.S., I would absolutely have to try those pretzels. I mean we are talking about warm-chewy dough and salt … what’s not to love?

During a recent business trip to the U.S., I was at a mall trying to score some incredible fashion deals when I saw an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel store.

I approached the store with great caution knowing in advance these might be quite addictive. I looked at the flavours on the board and then decided that I was going to pass because I felt I could go back home and resist the temptation.

I continued my shopping, but unfortunately for me I was forced to pass by the Auntie Anne’s Pretzel store on the way to the parking area where my car war parked to drive back home. I decided that it would be irresponsible of me to drive all the way back home and not at least taste the Auntie Anne’s pretzels so that I can intelligently describe them on the site.

I’m happy I only bought one and quickly walked away from the store, because after one bite of the salt flavoured pretzel I knew I was in trouble because the pretzel was warm, chewy and obviously freshly made.

It took me about one minute and a half to finish my pretzel (yes, I practically inhaled it). And may I say for the record Emily Blunt was right … these Auntie Anne’s pretzels are delicious and can easily become a serious addiction!

During my research for this post, I visited Auntie Anne’s Pretzel’s Web site and here’s something I’d never buy: Auntie Anne’s special recipe, just for at-home baking. “Mix, twist, and bake 10 Original or Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels.” This, my friends is a surefire recipe for gaining weight without realizing it. I strongly believe in the rule of: “if it’s not in my home … I CANNOT eat it!”

These pretzels are way too delicious and too addicted for me to take a chance and order their bake-at-home option. That said, if you have a stronger will power than I when it comes to pretzels, be my guess.

One thing is certain … during my next business trip to America, I will certainly make a point of finding an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel store to buy a few more!

One last thing, the humour at Auntie Anne’s Pretzel kills me … there napkins are inscribed with this hilarious message: “For crumbs. (In the unlikely event you leave some).” I can assure you, once you bite into an Auntie Anne’s pretzel there will be NO crumbs left.

One month ago, I caught about five minutes of Nicole Kidman’s interview with Queen Oprah while the Aussie-model-actress was doing the junket round to promote her latest movie “Australia” dubbed the Aussie “Gone with the Wind”!

During the few minutes I watched the show, I was able to catch a glimpse of Sunday Rose (Nicole’s and Keith Urban’s little baby girl). I have to say that baby is quite adorable. I also have to say that Nicole looked quite content … there is still limited mobility to her face due to the rumoured over-indulgence of Botox Cosmetics, but that was still not able to hide how pleased she was with her new role as a mother.

At about 5’10 ½ and sporting a small clothing size (it’s rumoured to be a size 6) before she gave birth, it’s no surprise that Nicole looked as slim as she did before she gave birth.

With all those rumours of weird Hollywood diets like the “baby food diet” where you ONLY eat baby food (puke) or the “apple diet” (yup, only apples ALL day long) or simply the model diet (I’ve heard former models admitting to eating two apples a day accompanied by a massive dosage of laxative pills … they also gave a graphic depiction of the scene in the women’s bathroom when so many girls adhere to the same diet, but I’ll spare you the details), real people like us never really know if celebrities and models are actually able to appreciate and enjoy food.

In one of the latest newsletters from Food & Wine, they featured Nicole Kidman’s favourite foods!

I have to say that I quite approve of many of Mrs. Kidman-Urban’s food selections. Some of the OMG-(Oh my God)-I-so-HAVE-to-try-this recipes include: Grilled Shrimp with Mangoes and Chile, Mixed Grill with Rib Eyes, Sausages and Bacon Chops, Spaghetti with Clams and Green Beans (a variation of the Italian classic spaghetti vongole) and Oven-Roasted Lamb Chops with Mint Chimichurri.

You can print all seven of Nicole Kidman’s favourite recipes on Food & Wine‘s Web site: Nicole Kidman’s favourite foods

Photo of Nicole Kidman by mikegoat