Hungry Girl

Of course I eat healthy because I know it's good for me and helps me maintain my weight, but that doesn't mean I don't crave French fries, brownies, and other sweet and fattening foods. To keep my taste buds satisfied, I just found a unique recipe book that has low calories and low fat ideas for some of your favorite dishes. Hungry Girl: Recipes ($13) contains recipes with cute names like Eggs Bene-Chick (183 calories), Ooey Gooey Chili Cheese Nachos (216 calories), Big Bopper Burger Stopper (202 calories), and Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (65 calories).

The directions are easy, and many of them are for one serving only, so you're not tempted to eat four servings at one sitting. I love the photos of the foods, although I wish there were more. The book also has recipes for low cal cocktails. Since I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners, and that is what many of the recipes called for, I opted to use Sucanat instead. Of course some of the recipes were better than others (like with all recipe books), but overall, I thought this was a great one to add to my collection.

Last week I planned KatieSugar's 1st birthday party with a menu that was packed with traditional all American party food, but in miniature sizes. I know that some of you are on diets and in many cases my food is not the most figure friendly. Since I put together a great menu that can be adapted to any sort of party, I thought it would be nice to offer the same menu but with healthier versions. Luckily our friend Hungry Girl does this daily and I took some help from her for this one. Start with a twist on my Mini Crab Cakes by serving her healthier crab stuffed mushrooms. Instead of making my indulging (and perhaps thigh-bulging) Spinach Dip, prepare HG's equally delicious version. Choose her de-pudged pigs in a blanket over my Mini Hot Dogs and pair them with her hamburgers. She's even come up with an almost calorie-free pink drink to wash everything down! To get these amazing recipes read more