Trim Down Tuesdays: Q&A + Berries and Plum Granola Cobbler

Welcome to Trim Down Tuesdays with Karen Moreno, RD, CDN!  Each Tuesday Karen will post answers to questions that you, the readers, ask about diet and/or nutrition AND of course, she'll post one of her own recipes.
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Here's are the questions and answers for this week!

1. What is the most important meal of the day? Why? 

I know you’ve all heard this before, but BREAKFAST is the most important meal of the day. Even its name tells you that you are "Breaking the Fast." 

When you wake up in the morning after not eating for 7-8 hours, your body needs energy to fuel itself and start the day off right. After not eating all night, the first thing you want to do is rev up your metabolism. The wrong thing to do is actually skip breakfast because by doing this you are actually telling your body that you are starving it, therefore slowing down your metabolism. In this case your body feels like it needs to conserve energy so the next time you put something in your mouth, your body will STORE it instead of burning it off, exactly the opposite of what you want if you are trying to lose weight. Actually, when researchers looked at the eating patterns of people who maintained a weight loss in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) they discovered that eating breakfast is a characteristic common to successful weight loss maintainers and may even be a factor in their success.

So what should you eat? 

Aim for about 300 calories for breakfast.

·      try some nonfat Greek yogurt with berries

·      an egg white omelet with veggies and whole wheat bread

·      oatmeal with some fruits, slivered almonds, and cinnamon

·      a bowl of cereal (Puffins Original and Kashi Go Lean are my favorites)

2. How much protein should a person have on a given day??  What are the advantages of protein for your body and diet?

The amount of protein a person needs varies depending on their weight. A good way to calculate your average protein needs is to take your weight, in kg (divide your wt in lbs by 2.2 to find out your wt in kg) and multiply by a range of .8-1.0. This is the estimated amount of protein you should eat daily.

Ex. 150 lb women (wt in kg=150/2.2=68.2kg x .8=54.6 g 68.2 x 1=68.2 g)

Her estimated daily protein intake should be between 54.6-68.2 g per day.

Protein is great because it can help fill you up. I always like to combine foods high in fiber and protein when choosing a snack. For example, an apple with peanut butter, string cheese with a piece of fruit, or turkey on a high fiber cracker, such as Finn Crisps. 

Just don’t forget that not all protein is created equally. While a rib eye steak and chicken breast both have high amounts of protein, don’t forget that with protein usually comes fat. The rib eye steak is higher in artery clogging saturated fats while the chicken breast is much lower in total fat and has very minimal amounts of saturated fats. Opt for lean proteins such as white meat chicken or turkey without the skin, lean meats that are less marbleized, fish, and vegetarian protein options such as tofu, quinoa, and beans.

Here's Karen's recipe for this week, each serving has under 200 calories! Terrific!

This is one of my favorite year round desserts, which makes it perfect for both fall and spring. In the summertime, I make it with whatever fresh fruits I can get my hands on: usually berries, plums, and peaches. In the winter I make it with pears, apples, and a ton of cinnamon. Besides for the health benefits from the fiber filling fruit, this recipe calls for canola oil instead of butter, which has only 1 g of saturated fat vs. 7g in butter (per tbsp), and the oats help contribute to your intake of whole grains and have also been shown to lower cholesterol. Now that we’re officially in spring, feel free to stick with a summertime version, move on to fall, or mix the two with a berry and apple version. Whatever kind you make, serve with vanilla ice cream, and this is one treat no one will turn down!  

Berries and Plum Granola Cobbler

Serves: 10

Total time: About 1 hour

Base

5 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh

3 medium plums (or peaches, apples, or your favorite fruit), sliced, with the skin

Topping

1 ½ cups rolled oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup chopped walnuts and/or almonds [¼ CUP EACH]

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup canola oil

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray the bottom of a 9” circular Pyrex with non-stick cooking spray. Pour all the fruit on the bottom of the Pyrex.  In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the topping, except the cinnamon, until well incorporated. Mix with hands to get a more crumbly topping.  Pour topping evenly over the fruit and sprinkle the cinnamon on top.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit bubbles.  Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream. Some of my friends even love to have leftovers the next day in their Greek yogurt!

Nutrition content:

Per serving (2” slice, without ice cream): 175 calories, 21 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 4 g protein, 10 g fat

—Karen Moreno, RD, CDN

Momofuku Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies

Remember when I made these??  Well here's another amazing awesome cookie recipe from the one and only Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC!!  I have adapted the recipe slightly and they came out absolutely delicious, friend-tested, Feed Your Sister approved!  

Copycat Momofuku Cornflake Marshmallow Cookies

Adapted from The Cookbook Chronicles

(makes 20 cookies)

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1 ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp kosher salt (plus more for sprinkling)

2/3 cup oats, not instant

1 cup lightly crushed Kellogg's Cornflakes (about 1 1/4 cup cornflakes before crushing)

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips (see note)

3/4 cup mini marshmallows

NOTE: The chocolate chips in the original Momofuku Milk bar cookie are minis, though substitute with regular-sized chips if you prefer.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and beat on low speed, just so the dry ingredients become incorporated. With a wooden spoon, mix in the oatmeal, crushed cornflakes, and chocolate chips, and marshmallows.

On a silpat-lined baking sheet OR greased muffin top pan, scoop up and roll the dough into golf ball-sized spheres. (Six will fit comfortably on one pan–give them room to spread!)  Sprinkle tops with a touch more salt. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake for 9-10 minutes. The cookies will still look soft in the middle when you take them out of the oven. Allow them to cool directly on the tray completely before removing them and placing them onto a platter.  Enjoy!

Quinoa Oatmeal Breakfast Pudding

This has become my new go-to breakfast!! It's delicious, at least I think so.  And if you don't like it my way doctor it up with a smashed banana, peanut butter, agave, coconut, berries, raisins, nuts, and whatever else you can think of!!  The best part about it is you can make it the night before and just pop it into the microwave at work with a little extra water and it becomes just-off-the-stove fresh again!!  This recipe makes enough for 2 breakfasts, you can double the recipe to make more!  Also each serving, if you follow the recipe exactly, has about 335 calories and 15 grams of protein, this equals a great start to your day! Try it!!

Quinoa Oatmeal
(makes 2 servings)


1 cup skim milk (110 calories, 8 grams of protein)
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (360 calories, 14 grams of protein)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or good vanilla extract (try another flavor extract if you want to be different)
1 cup water
2 packets of instant oatmeal, not prepared (200 calories, 8 grams of protein)
6 packets splenda (you can substitute sugar or agave, to taste)
* If you want you can use any flavor oatmeal and omit the sweeteners, or not!

Place the first 3 ingredients in a medium pot and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until milk is mostly absorbed into the quinoa.  Watch the pot carefully because it might overflow and you must stir every few minutes.

To the pot add the oatmeal packages and sweetener along with 1 cup water (for a super creamy texture substitute milk for the water).  Stir ingredients well until combined.

Divide into to air-tight containers and store in the fridge for the next morning.  To heat up in the morning add about 1/4 cup boiling water to the mixture, stir and then microwave for 2 minutes.  Eat and enjoy!!

An Elia Pancake

Regular Oatmeal with 2 egg whites, 2 Splenda, and 1 mashed banana.

The Elia Pancake after the flip, see how brown it is???

Voila! The final product that was so enjoyed by me!

I started making these pancakes, now dubbed the "Elia pancake," when I was in Aruba over winter break. They are super healthy and low in calories and ridiculously easy.

Here's what you need to make Elia Pancakes:

1 package of instant oatmeal (any flavor, I use regular flavor and add 2 splenda, total of 100 calories)

2 egg whites (about 40 calories, 6 grams of protein)

*(A Large egg can be substituted for the 2 egg whites, that's 70 calories and 7 grams of protein.)

Mix together in a bowl, spray a small pan with Pam spray, and pour batter in. Let cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes till golden brown. Put on a plate and enjoy plain (since you put the splenda in it, it's already sweet) or with syrup, agave nectar, or I sometimes eat it with peanut butter. Make sure to measure out the peanut butter, I think 1 tablespoon is the perfect amount (90 calories).

So to recap, this whole breakfast is just 220 calories, if you do it my way. I tried adding a mashed banana into the batter and it was even more yummy than the plain one (total calories would be 320)! This breakfast leaves you with another 100-200 calories for a mid-morning snack at like around 10 or 11am. This is when I'll eat a fruit or a greek yogurt to boost up the protein count for breakfast. If you put a banana in the pancake don't eat another fruit for your mid-morning snack, stick with the yogurt!

The only negative thing is that these pancakes are best eaten right off the pan. You can make them ahead and keep in the fridge for a couple of days. I have tried reheating in the microwave and they are fine, just not as soft as they were when they were fresh. The same issue arises when you toast them. So stick to eating them fresh, they literally take 5-8 minutes to prepare and make!