What Not to Add to Your Salad! #1 Bacon

I found this on VeryWell.Com

Dieters often choose salad as a meal option because they think it will help them to lose weight. But many times the salad that they make at home or that they order in a restaurant is full of fat and calories. The result is that they gain weight instead.

If you want to slim down faster, avoid these ten unhealthy salad ingredients. While they are popular ingredients in many salads, they add very little nutritional value to your meal. Instead, they fill your salad bowl full of needless fat grams and useless calories. 

#1 - Bacon

The bacon loaded on top of your favorite weight loss salad might add a whopping 400 calories and 30 grams of fat to the total nutrition. Of course, the number will depend on how much bacon is added. But bacon on any salad is bound to boost the fat and calorie count through the roof.

So are bacon-style toppings any better? Not really. Many processed bacon (flavored) bits aren't really made out of meat, so they provide no nutritional benefit. In fact, some contain a mixture of trans fat, salt and, believe it or not, sugar!  So skip the salty, fatty toppings and add crunch and flavor with savory vegetables like radishes or peppers.

Comment:  I do love bacon on my salad.  I've tried the imitation bacon but they just won't cut it. I don't add a lot of bacon, just enough for the flavor.  I've tried turkey bacon and the flavor is there as well as the texture so, I checked into Turkey bacon vs pork bacon.  This is what I found.

Turkey bacon has slightly fewer calories and less fat than regular bacon. A 2-ounce portion of cooked pork bacon contains 268 calories, while an equivalent serving of cooked turkey bacon has 218 calories. They both have beneficial protein -- 20 grams per serving of pork bacon, or 17 grams for turkey bacon -- which supports hormone production and helps you maintain or repair healthy tissue. Both types of bacon also come packed with fat. A 2-ounce portion of pork bacon contains 20 grams of total fat, while an equivalent serving of turkey bacon contains 16 grams of fat.

With no more bacon than I actually add I think I'll try to add my bacon, decreasing the portion with each salad until its no longer needed.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2 Green Pepper

1 lb(s), lean ground beef

0.25 cups, Onion

1 tsp, minced garlic

1 cup spaghetti sauce, meatless

¼ cup, cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown the ground beef, onion and garlic.  Drain.  Stir in spaghetti sauce.  Slice the peppers in half, remove seeds and core.  Place in a baking dish.  Fill each with the ground beef mixture.  Bake 30 minutes.  Sprinkle evenly with cheese and bake another 5 minutes.  Serves 4.

Comments:  Most recipes call for boiling the peppers.  I didn't do that because I wanted the flavor to go into the meat mixture and not into the boiling water.  This recipe can be cut in half and made for 2 or you can do it like I did and freeze one or two for a later date.  I put mine in a tight sealing container and will be eating it within the next couple of weeks.  To cook I'll simply thaw and heat in the microwave or that and put in the toaster oven.  Both will work.

The cost of this dish for 4 ended up being - $4.50 for the ground beef, $1.75 for the 2 peppers, the cheese came from a package I had already opened costing me for 1/4 a cup about $.25 (I buy my cheese when it's on sale for $2.00 per pack), the sauce was left over from a dish I made a couple of days ago so I'll give it a cost of about $1.00, which is probably a high estimate.  Total cost is about $7.50 or about $1.90 each.  Can't beat that.  Add a small salad or even some slaw and you have a great meal.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 247
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8 g	13 %
Saturated Fat 2 g	10 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 65 mg	22 %
Sodium 717 mg	30 %
Potassium 303 mg	9 %
Total Carbohydrate 19 g	6 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g	18 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 27 g	54 %
Vitamin A	23 %
Vitamin C	232 %
Calcium	4 %
Iron	12 %

Spinach Lasagna

1 lb, extra lean ground beef

2 Tbsp, Onion

1/8 tsp., Spices, garlic powder

1 cup Spaghetti, meatless, canned or jar

8 oz, cream cheese

1/8 tsp. pepper

10 oz. Frozen Spinach – thawed, chopped, drained

4.00 oz, Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

2 Tbsp, Cheese - Parmesan, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef with onion.  Drain off fat.  Mix in the garlic powder and spaghetti sauce.  Soften the cream cheese in a medium-size microwaveable bowl for about 40-60 seconds.  Stir until creamy.  Beat in the egg and pepper until well mixed.  Blend in the spinach.  Spread half of the meat mixture evenly in the bottom of a greased, 8 x 8 glass baking pan.  Spread the spinach mixture over the meat.  Top with the rest of the meat.  Sprinkle the mozzarella over the meat.  Bake about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Let stand 3-5 minutes before serving.  Serves 6

Comment:  This is a really good dish that has low carbs due to it having no noodles (which aren’t really needed).  I started to cut the recipe in half but that just wouldn’t be very practical, so I froze half for a later date.  Add a small salad and you have a great meal.  This is also an inexpensive meal with the main cost coming from the ground beef.  The spaghetti sauce I used was in a jar, so I used half refrigerating the rest for another dish.  The estimated cost of this was $4.00 for the ground beef, $2.00 for the full jar of spaghetti sauce, $1.00 for the frozen spinach, $2.00 for the cream cheese, the cheeses I always have on hand and buy on sale, so the cost of the cheese was $2.00 using only about ¼.  Total cost was just under $6.00 which equaled about $1.00 per serving.  Not bad for a delicious, healthy dish.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 325
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 13 g	20 %
Saturated Fat 5 g	23 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 54 mg	18 %
Sodium 232 mg	10 %
Potassium 98 mg	3 %
Total Carbohydrate 5 g	2 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	5 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 32 g	65 %
Vitamin A	15 %
Vitamin C	4 %
Calcium	20 %
Iron	9 %

Cheesburger Pie

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 1/2 cup shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese, divided

4 eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink; drain liquid. Stir in onion powder and 1 cup cheese. Place mixture in prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg substitute, mayonnaise, half-and-half, salt, and pepper; pour over beef mixture.

Bake 25 minutes, sprinkle remaining cheese on top, and cook another 5 to 10 minutes, or until firm in center. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  

Comments: This is also a fairly inexpensive dish to make.  Your biggest cost will be the ground beef.  If you don't have half and half, try evaporated milk (canned cream).  The eggs on top come out light and fluffy and oh so good.  I froze a serving of this dish and when thawed and heated in the microwave it came out not as good as fresh but still good enough for me to freeze it in the future.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 360
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 21 g	32 %
Saturated Fat 9 g	43 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 218 mg	73 %
Potassium 123 mg	4 %
Total Carbohydrate 3 g	1 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	1 %
Sugars 1 g
Protein 36 g	72 %
Vitamin A	10 %
Vitamin C	1 %
Calcium	27 %
Iron	17 %

Panko Cod

5oz Cod Filet

1 tsp(s), Mayo

1/4 cup(s), Panko

Preheat toaster oven to 400 degrees.  Place a piece of foil in the bottom of the oven tray.  Rub the cod filet with Mayonnaise.  Press them into the panko.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until cod is done and lightly browned on top.

Comment:  This is a simple, yet delicious dish.  I sometimes make it with crushed vinegar and salt potato chips and sprinkle it with a little malt vinegar.  Also, if you have one that fits your toaster oven pan, place the cod on a raised rack allowing the juices to drip into the pan and the bottom to brown some.  You can also increase the portions and even cook it in the oven if needed.  The cost of this dish depends on how you buy your cod.  I normally buy a package of about 4-5 costing about $6.00.  The panko and mayo are items I always have on hand so this dish will cost around $1.25 per serving.  I serve this with a salad keeping my meal healthy.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 143
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4 g	7 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	2 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 50 mg	17 %
Sodium 106 mg	4 %
Potassium 0 mg	0 %
Total Carbohydrate 3 g	1 %
Dietary Fiber 0 g	1 %
Sugars 0 g
Protein 21 g	41 %
Vitamin A	2 %
Vitamin C	2 %
Calcium	2 %
Iron	2 %

Cauliflower Patties

1 lb. cooked cauliflower

1 egg, beaten

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 375F. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl combine cauliflower, egg, cheese and breadcrumbs.  Mash ingredients with a fork until well mixed. Using clean hands form into 8 cakes. Place cakes on prepared baking sheet and spray the tops with cooking spray cooking. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

These are delicious.  I ate them in place of meat along with a small salad.  And It's is inexpensive too!

I bought the Cauliflower at Food Lion which was on sale for $1.00.  The cheese was $2.00 for the full package and I used just under 1/2 the package making it approx. $1.00.  The Panko was $1.79 and I used about 1/3 of the package costing approx. $.60.  And of course the egg which was just pennies.  This ended up costing about $.65 per serving.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 415
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 23 g	35 %
Saturated Fat 14 g	69 %
Monounsaturated Fat 7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 147 mg	49 %
Sodium 1538 mg	64 %
Potassium 259 mg	7 %
Total Carbohydrate 17 g	6 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g	7 %
Sugars 2 g
Protein 34 g	68 %
Vitamin A	12 %
Vitamin C	39 %
Calcium	97 %
Iron	8 %