Outside The Media. Beyond the News. Live from Greensboro, NC.

This is more of a shopping list then anything, but it's a few of the products "we have" to get when shopping for meals. Surprisingly they're all very low-fat, and with them you can make almost anything with them.


1) The basis of any meal, meat. Chicken is great, and we buy alot of it, but when it comes to beef for meals such as chili, and hamburgers Wal-Mart's 96/4 comes to the rescue with only 4.5 grams of fat. Oddly not all the local Walmart's carry the variety. The one on Elm-Eugene does, but Carolina Circle WM doesn't. Food Lion doesn't either. (Losers!)


2) Cabot's 75 Sharp Cheese. Only 2.5 grams of fat. Tastes just like regular cheese but without the fat. Be careful as there is a Cabot's 50 which is 2g more of fat. Can buy at Wal-Mart, Fresh Market, but not at Food Lion (Losers!)


3) Butterball Turkey Bacon. Not all Turkey Bacon is made the same. Butterball's is 1.5 grams of fat. Makes wonderful BLTs and is available just about everywhere. When real bacon is needed we opt for "Center Cut Bacon", but often feel guilty with it's 4.5grams of fat.


4) Egg Beaters. Is anything as good as non-fat eggs? Sure every once and awhile I splurge on a fried whole egg, but for burritos and eggs slathered in A-1 for breakfast, Egg Beaters can't be beat. Just about any recipe with eggs, gets made low-fat by beating off on the eggs.


5) Ore-Ida Fries. There are alot of low-fat options on french fries. They range from about 3g-15g of fat so you have to watch out. Most fall within a middle range of that number, but Ore-Ida seems to do the best. The ones pictured are 3.5g of fat. They do have a version at 3g.


6) Baked Dorritos. These things are sinful. At 4.5g of fat they're not completely healthy. Our main choice is UTZ's baked chips at 2.5g of fat, but it's odd, as it's one of the few items I can get at Food Lion and not at Wal-Mart. The Baked Doritos can be had anywhere.


7) Fat-Free Whipped Topping. Place it in a bowl with some fat-free angel food cake and strawberries for a delicious desert, or in-between two graham crackers for a Cold Smore- Ice Cream Sandwich. The possibilities are endless.


8) Morning Star Mushroom Burgers. These are just bloody addictive. Only 6g of fat, and completely vegetarian, I never missed the animals in these. I'm not a big vegan person, but if you love Mushrooms, you'll love these burgers.


9) Mama Mary's. It's a full size 12" crust that really tastes good, and is only 5g of fat per serving. It's still a bit higher then I'd like, but for store bought preservatives it's not too bad. I made my own sauce and then topped the pizza with green peppers, onions, portobello mushrooms, and skim Mozzarella cheese. All said and done it weighs in (based on my guess) around 11 or 12g of fat. If Food Lion carried the low-fat Mozzarella it would have been closer to 8g of fat. Opt for 17 slices of turkey pepperoni and add 4.5 grams of fat. Still a huge improvement over the other options out there.


10) Krusteaz Fat-Free Muffin Mix. When you have to have a baked good, when it's cold outside and you want a bit of baking magic, Krusteaz's fat-free muffin mix, available at Food Lion is great. They've got blueberry and a orange-cranberry which is a magnificent way to let down at weeks end with a bottle of french wine.

Liv wrote:1) The basis of any meal, meat. Chicken is great, and we buy alot of it, but when it comes to beef for meals such as chili, and hamburgers Wal-Mart's 96/4 comes to the rescue with only 4.5 grams of fat. Oddly not all the local Walmart's carry the variety. The one on Elm-Eugene does, but Carolina Circle WM doesn't. Food Lion doesn't either. (Losers!)

The best I've come across at Food Lion is 93/7.

Pineview Style wrote:The best I've come across at Food Lion is 93/7.

We actually use alot of the 93/7 from Food Lion as we're 1 block from the store, but check your Walley World. If you're near the I-85/ Elm-Eugene location, I can vouch they do have the 94/6 for $4.00 a 1lb.

Are you sick about hearing about me and my passion for food yet? A few weeks I posted my top 10 diet foods. It's actually been really handy, as I've been referring people to that thread for some great stuff to buy, and where to buy it. I've got 7 more I wanted to mention today, for anyone who may care:


11) Jimmy Dean's D-Lights: They're about 7g of fat, which is about 5grams better then the lowest fast-food sandwich available (Mickie D's Original Egg McMuffin), and better for you with egg-whites, and turkey sausage. They're delicious, high in protein and ready in just a few minutes in the microwave. Available at Food Lion and Wal-Mart for about $6.00 a box.


12) Blue Bonnet Light Butter: It's not the only "light" butter out there, but it's one of the least fattest at only 4.5g of fat, and at Wal-Mart for .98cents a LB, it's an awesome deal. Better yet it tastes great.


13) Fat Free Pringles: Available in original, sour-cream-onion, or Barbecue. 0g of Fat, means you can pop, and not stop. They're great for the salt & sweet cravings, and while available just about everywhere, I've found Wal-Mart has the "flavored" versions.


14) Turkey Sausage: This one is very hard to fine locally. Wal-Mart does have the low-fat sausage pictured, but it's not near the sausage, it's generally near the ground meats, and ground turkey. It's cheap, only 4.5g of fat and allows you to have alot of breakfast foods that would normally be out of question. Even better I make Dirty Rice using a 1lb of this and Zataran's dirty rice, but great Cajun Rice.


15) Soy Meat/ Veggie Meat: I like this stuff because, a) it's low fat (2.5g of fat) b) real easy & quick, and c) works well in heavily seasoned foods. It's real good in spaghetti, or as a quick batch of tacos. I'm not about to give up my 6% fat beef for alot of foods, but when you need a quick dinner and/or tight on fat grams for the day this is a great additive. Also in the cases where low-fat beef isn't available, sometimes this is.


16) Marshmallows: They're fat free, sweet and make a great treat. We mix it with brown puffed rice for rice-crispy treats. The kids love it, and there's no guilt. Got a sweet tooth at night and are about to lose your mind? Shan sticks a couple on a fork and roasts them over the stove burner.


17) Angel Food Cake: This stuff is God's gift to a dieter. Cake, and it's 0g of fat. Makes a killer strawberry Shortcake when you add fresh cut strawberries and some fat-free whipped topping.

I find skipping breakfast and lunch altogether helps.

You know... I've always done that. Every nutritionist out there disagrees though. I've found the most effective diet no matter when your first meal is, is to not eat anything after 3pm. It's a bit tough, but yields big results for me.