Thursday, April 30, 2009

Cinnamon Toast - It's all about moderation

Ok this is my new midnight snack - cinnamon toast. Tasty, tasty cinnamon toast. The point is not necessarily to eliminate things form your diet (i.e. carbs) but to make sure you're not going overboard. Case in point - cinnamon toast. I have two slices of Trader Joe's sprouted wheat bread (30 grams of carbs) and make a paste of 1/2 teaspoon of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of canola oil, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of Splenda. The intensity of the cinnamon totally overwhelms any fake flavor you might get from the Splenda. Yes there's butter and you definitely want the flavor of butter but you can get that by using butter and also using canola oil. Eat it but don't go overboard.

The other key about moderation. Get the good stuff. You need a lot of cheap cheese. There's less flavor there. But if you get some awesome cheese (Mt. Tam, I LOOOOOVE you), you don't want to eat more than a couple of ounces. It satisfies you more. There's more flavor and more intensity. Same with chocolate. Artisinal Tome Acu (four bars left (IN THE WORLD!). You can't eat a whole bar yourself. It's hard to eat half a bar just because the flavor is so full. You feel satisfied with less.

I think that's why diet food sucks so hard. One of the few good things that came out of my diabetes management class was the warning to stay far, far away from anything labeled diabetic food. It's chemicals. It's fake food. You will WANT more food because it's not as satisfying.

2 comments:

Laura P said...

Hey DCFB --

Thanks for the recipe... got any ideas for high protein snacks? I don't eat processed carbs or white flour and I'm getting tired of my almonds and craisins :)

Glad to read about the diabetes medications...

Have a good one!
LP

DC Food Blog said...

Trader Joe's has some great lowfat cheeses - havarti, smoked gouda, and feta. A late night snack for me has been cheese, tomatoes, and crackers. Another tack to try is a dip that is half pureed tofu and half ricotta cheese along with lemon juice, parmesan cheese and chopped herbs (try basil, dill, and mint). Have that with carrot sticks and crackers.