I’ve spent a lot of time lately on urbanmoms.ca, reading what the other members and contributors have to say. It’s kind of like sitting in on a coffee klatsch with a bunch of new people that you’re excited to get to know.
One of those women whom I’ve decided to get to know a bit better is Kath. Initially, I just thought it would be a fun twist to invite her over here to Kitchen Party – you know, after all the chocolate and heavy cream of the last few weeks, it’s time to get the weight loss expert to visit! But the more I thought about it, the more it began to make sense. This is, after all, a page devoted to "all things kitchen". And for most of us, that means food! But just because we love food, and cooking, and baking, and bartending, and entertaining (and so on) doesn’t mean we necessarily make bad choices (well, not all the time, anyway)! Since we’re heading into the full-on holiday season, I thought it would be prudent to get some tips from Kath on how she plans to stay on-track and svelte in front of all the holiday temptations!
So I dropped her an email and asked for her suggestions. Here’s what she had to say:
One of the things I need to remind myself of all the time, is to make the right choice first. Then I can consider going "off track" for a treat, once in a while. For example…if I’m tempted by something sweet at home (we have 8 unsold boxes of Girl Guide cookies in the cupboard), I’ll go for a cup of grapes instead, or I’ll make my "signature smoothie" which is a wonderful treat, but only one point! Usually I’m full and the sweet-tooth is satisfied, so the cookies can be easily ignored. When I’m out at a party, I’ll reach for the veggies and dip first – usually that does the trick so I can bypass the chip bowl.
Kath’s "signature smoothie" got me intrigued, so I asked for more details and the recipe (to try here, of course!). Here’s her response:
I invented the signature smoothie this past summer as an answer to the high-calorie drinks I love to indulge in from Jugo Juice and Booster Juice and the like. I was at a street festival with my family one hot (and I mean HOT) summer day, and I bought a big berry smoothie from a juice bar to share with my kids. We all adored it, but when I looked up the nutritional information I was stunned at the amount of calories and sugar. Obviously a cup of berries isn’t so bad (1 point on Weight Watchers) but it was all the real juice and fruit sorbets they added that really revved up the calories.
So I set to work to invent an alternative. After a bit of tweaking, here’s what I came up with:
1 cup water
1 cup frozen mixed berries (I buy these in huge bags at Costco)
***as an alternative, you can mix fresh berries in with the frozen berries when in season***
1 "single" Crystal Light sachet, any flavour (I prefer Raspberry Ice)
1 sachet sucralose or other sweetener (if you use fresh berries, you may not need artificial sweetener)
Add all ingredients to blender, and blend on high for 30 seconds. You may want to use the "ice crush" feature if you have one (alternatively you can add more water) if the mixture gets too thick. I like mine to be really thick, like the ones at the big juice bar chains.
Well, Kath, thanks for your input! Sounds delicious, if a little chilling on a cold winter’s day. I did find myself hankering for something a bit sweet & juicy on the weekend, so I decided to give this one a try, instead of just having a tall glass of OJ on ice. See below for my step-by-step pics and tips on "Kath’s Signature Smoothie":
Here are the berries from Costco – they come in a 2kg bag. They also carry different varieties of frozen fruit (e.g. peach, mango, etc.); and you can buy frozen fruits, berries, etc. at all the major grocery stores (in smaller packages) as well.
Here’s me adding the ingredients to the blender:
And whipping it all up…
And here is the final – delicious – product!
See how much it looks like the commercial product (pictured at the top of my post)? Well, it tastes just as good – actually, even better – than the store-bought variety, and you can feel good about having it as a treat anytime. Who’d go running for sweets when you can have this, instead?
Do you have a special recipe or trick you use to avoid temptation? If so, share it below, in comments. Goodness knows, we can all use a few ideas to help us get through the temptations of the holiday season!