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  Hungry Girl

  Hungry Girl

  Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World

  Lisa Lillien

  The author’s references to various brand name products and services is for information purposes only and is not intended to suggest endorsement or sponsorship of the author or her book by any company, organization, or owner of any brand.

  HUNGRY GIRL: RECIPES AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR GUILT-FREE EATING IN THE REAL WORLD.

  Copyright © 2008 by Hungry Girl, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design and book design by Elizabeth Hodson

  Illustrations by Jack Pullan

  Food styling and photography by Kelly Cline

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Upon Request

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4299-3845-7

  ISBN-10: 1-4299-3845-5

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  This book is dedicated to all the Hungry Girl

  subscribers. Your devotion and loyalty

  are appreciated and valued more than

  you will ever know.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction

  Chapter 1 Rise & Dine

  Chapter 2 Chop ‘Til Ya Drop

  Chapter 3 Souper Douper

  Chapter 4 Let’s Do Lunch

  Chapter 5 Junk Food Junkie

  Chapter 6 Manly Meals

  Chapter 7 Party Time

  Chapter 8 Chocolate 911

  Chapter 9 Fruity Call

  Chapter 10 Oven Lovin’

  Chapter 11 Zappuccino

  Chapter 12 Happy Hour

  Chapter 13 Fun With . . .

  Chapter 14 Survival Guides

  Index

  Acknowledgments

  The inspiration for Hungry Girl came to me in 2003 as I was speeding down the freeway with a car full of desserts I was taking to a laboratory to be tested for nutritional information. The pastries came from a local bakery, and I was obsessed with them because they were fantastic and (supposedly) very low-calorie. But they were just a little too good. I was suspicious. As I zoomed along, it occurred to me that my bizarre passion for guilt-free foods could somehow help the world. So I quit my cushy job and started a free daily email subscription service called Hungry Girl. The first HG email went out to less than 100 people, mostly friends. Today, Hungry Girl has over 400,000 subscribers. (P.S. The lab confirmed my suspicions—those pastries had WAY more calories than the bakery claimed.)

  I am the founder and voice of Hungry Girl, but running a company that churns out so much content isn’t something I could ever do alone. This book is the result of countless hours of hard work by a very small yet amazing group of people. And they all deserve to share the credit for it with me.

  Elizabeth Hodson, thank you for being with me since Day One, back when we had only seventy-eight subscribers (aka, our friends and families). You’ve always given a billion percent of yourself to Hungry Girl. Everything you design looks sooooo awesome and cute (including this book)! I’m also convinced that you and I share the same taste buds, which I value even more than you know. Please, PLEASE work with me forever.

  Jamie Goldberg, I love your feisty passion for detail, and your obsession with grammar and all things guilt-free. It’s obvious that Hungry Girl is much more to you than just a job. Thank you for putting your blood, sweat, tears, and tongue into this book and never giving up when you believe in something. Please keep on challenging me because this book wouldn’t be the same without you.

  Lynn Bettencourt, thanks for putting up with me, for lugging hundreds of food-filled boxes up countless steps, and for all that Turkey Taco Meatloaf (see page 132). You wear a lot of hats at HG headquarters, and you wear them all well (especially your Red Sox hat!).

  Alison Kreuch, I swear, you have the energy of nine nuclear power plants! It’s because of you that HG can pay its bills. I’d run Hungry Girl for free (seriously), but thanks to you, we don’t have to.

  John Vaccaro, you’re a guy, but you’ll always be an honorary Hungry Girl—even though you order two entrees at a time (and usually fatty ones) and I know you’d never eat anything I cook or write about. Your expertise in PowerPoint and Excel makes your greasy-food consumption 100 percent excusable.

  Tom Fineman, you put the “pro” in “bono” (yes, I know that makes no sense). You’re the best entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles—and perhaps even the tallest! I’m so lucky to have you on the HG team. I’d say you’re a great friend, but you’re really more like family.

  Neeti Madan, you are a superhero and literally (get it???), the best agent a hungry girl could ever have. Thanks a million times over.

  Jennifer Enderlin and Matthew Shear, thank you both for believing in Hungry Girl, for trusting me, for publishing this book, and for making the whole process more fun than I ever could’ve imagined. Everyone’s “first time” should be with you guys (don’t take that the wrong way!).

  To Lisa Senz, John Murphy, John Karle, and the amazing marketing and PR crews over at St. Martin’s—thankyouthankyouthankyou!

  Special thanks to Jennifer Curtis, Ina Burke, Jackie MacDougall, Dena Krischer, Jack Pullan, and Lorig Koujakian. All of you made invaluable contributions to this book. Let’s do more fun HG projects together in the future!

  To my parents, Florence and Maurice Lillien, I may have conceived Hungry Girl, but you conceived me (nice work, guys!). Thank you for your neverending love and support. To my sister, Meri Lillien, a great friend and the ultimate super-sleuth, who can sniff out guilt-free finds as well as anyone I know. And to my brother, Jay Lillien, who I’ve always secretly envied for his ability to eat an entire box of Lucky Charms (with whole milk!) in one sitting and not gain an ounce.

  To Cookie and Jackson, my furry babies who keep me sane and calm when life gets crazy. And to sweet Mischief, who is no longer with us, but was a major part of Hungry Girl (not to mention a huge fan of Fiber One) from the very beginning.

  To the love of my life, my husband, best friend, and partner, Daniel Schneider. Your insight and brilliance inspire me every day. Thank you for your endless creativity, for loving me unconditionally, and making me laugh harder than I’ve ever laughed before. You are the reason Hungry Girl exists.

  Hungry

  Girl

  Introduction

  FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

  Who/What is Hungry Girl?

  If you’re holding this book in your hands, there’s a good chance you already know the answer to this question. But for those of you who don’t know, Hungry Girl is a free daily email about guilt-free eating. Our news, food finds, recipes, and survival strategies are read by hundreds of thousands of people every day. To sign up or see all of our past content, go to Hungry-Girl.com.

  Is Hungry Girl a real person? And is she a doctor?

  Yes, I’m a real person. I’m Lisa Lillien, and I’m not a nutritionist or a doctor. I’m just hungry, and a bit obsessed with foods that taste great but don’t pack on the pounds. I’m the nut who watches you shop at the supermarket, comments on your choice of low-fat ice cream, and tells you which brand to buy (FYI, Dreyer’s/Edy’s Slow Churned is the way to go). HG’s daily emails and all other HG content are the result of extensive research done by me and my super-dedicated and talented staff. Because much of what we do is a group effort, I refer to HG as “us” and “we” (the team as a whole) as opposed to “me” and “I” (an individual). The exception is when I have a personal story to share, because saying the awesome chili recipe was invented by “our husband” would be silly (and illegal in most states!).

  Is Hungry Girl a chef?

  Sort of, but not by traditional standards. And this is not a typical cookbook. If you’re looking for fancy, formal “chef-like” recipes you’ve definitely come to the wrong place. This book is filled with simple, fun, easy recipes that use lots of packaged foods and shortcuts to make great-tasting guilt-free snacks and meals. If you aspire to be a gourmet chef, there are more appropriate books out there for you. But if you want to prepare awesome, tongue-pleasing foods that won’t send you out shopping for bigger pants, you’ve got the right book!

  What makes a recipe “guilt-free”?

  When it comes to HG recipes, our goal is to make them delicious—but also to keep them low in fat and calories (that’s the guilt-free part!). We also aim for high-fiber counts, because we love fiber (it’s good for you, and it fills you up!). Even though we mostly focus on calories and fat, we provide nutritional information for carbs, sugars, protein, etc., so you can tweak any recipe to meet your needs. For example, people concerned about sodium can simply use low-salt versions of canned items called for in our recipes.

  Is there a Hungry Girl diet plan?

  No, there is no Hungry Girl diet plan. While there are HG recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and more, the idea is to incorporate these recipes into an eating plan that works for you.

  Why a Hungry Girl book?

  Hungry-Girl.com offers many recipes. They have become the most sought-after content we provide. Over the years, we’ve received thousands of requests for a Hungry Girl recipe book, and we agreed that it was a good idea. So here ya go!
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  Why don’t you use as many name brands in the book as you do on the site?

  As you read this book, you’ll see that while some of the recipes call for very specific name-brand items, most do not. The idea behind this is to keep the recipes as generic as possible, so people can easily find all the items they need at local supermarkets. The nutritional information in the book has been carefully calculated based on the averages of many brands, so you don’t have to find our favorite low-calorie picks for your recipes to have the same stats. When a very specific ingredient is super-important to a recipe (like it simply will not taste the same or have as impressive nutritional stats without it), we will call out the name brands and specific products needed. We feature more specific products in our daily emails because we can easily give you up-to-the-minute information on where to purchase them. We simply can’t do that in this book. (For a list of our recommended brands, see page 6.)

  What happens if I make substitutions for ingredients in some recipes?

  Your oven will explode. Okay, not really! You can, of course, make substitutions for products and ingredients, but the taste and nutritional information will vary accordingly, so keep that in mind when swapping.

  How was the nutritional information in this book calculated?

  The stats for each recipe were carefully calculated using extremely reliable nutritional databases, countless product labels, and by doing extensive research. When recipes call for generic ingredients (like light vanilla soymilk or light bread), we used average nutritional information for those products. Those averages were calculated based on a wide variety of national brands. Also taken into account were the small amounts of calories and fat in many so-called “no-calorie” and “fat-free” ingredients. We take great pride in determining the most accurate nutritional information possible. After all, we make these recipes, too!

  Are optional ingredients included in each recipe’s nutritional information?

  No, they aren’t. If you choose to use the optional ingredients listed in the recipes, the nutritional information will change accordingly. However, all optional ingredients are guilt-free items, so they won’t add crazy amounts of fat or calories to any of the recipes.

  Some of your recipes call for ingredients (like chicken) that are already cooked. What’s the best way to cook without adding any fat?

  There are so many simple ways to cook chicken, shrimp, and beef without adding fat and calories. Just cook your food in a pan with a spritz of nonstick spray, boil it in a pot of water, or steam it in the microwave or over the stove. Easy!

  Typically, HG recipes include Weight Watchers POINTS® values. Where can I find Weight Watchers POINTS® values for the recipes in this book?

  Good question. If you’re a Hungry Girl fan, you know how much we love and support Weight Watchers. Their plans are healthy, easy to follow, and can fit into your lifestyle. That’s why we co-developed a bunch of recipes with them for this book. For a listing of POINTS® values for all the recipes in this book, go to hungry-girl.com/book.

  Where can I find photos of all the recipes in this book?

  While the book is cute and pretty as is, we know it’s important to see photos of our recipes. Luckily, we have pictures of every recipe in this book online at hungry-girl.com/book (and a bunch in the book, too!).

  Why are there so many single-serving recipes in this book?

  Throughout the years, we’ve heard over and over how easy Hungry Girl recipes are to make, and how often people prepare food for themselves. Single-serving recipes are ideal for this reason, and HG subscribers always eat up (pun intended) these made-for-one recipes. That being said, it’s easy to double, triple, or quadruple any of the single-serving recipes—so you can adjust them to feed as many hungry people as you like. Just don’t quadruple a recipe and eat the whole thing yourself, or you’ll be in BIG trouble!

  How can you have FAQs about the book when this is your first book?

  Yep, we’ve been caught! These aren’t really frequently asked questions. They’re actually questions we anticipated you might have. But “QWAYMH” didn’t sound as good as “FAQs.” Now quit asking so many questions and start readin’ already!

  Hungry Girl’s Recommended Products . . .

  We’re not shy when it comes to naming names, and it’s no secret that we have favorites. While the recipes in the book work well with many different products, we definitely have our favorites as far as taste and nutritional information are concerned. Here are some of our recommendations:

  Light Soymilk (Vanilla, Chocolate, or Plain)

  8th Continent Light Soymilk

  Silk Light Soymilk

  Almond Breeze Unsweetened (technically not soymilk, but it’s SO good and much lower in calories!)

  Fat-Free Liquid Non-Dairy Creamer

  Coffee-mate Original Fat Free

  Fat-Free Powdered Non-Dairy Creamer

  Coffee-mate Original Fat Free

  Fat-Free Cheese

  Kraft Fat Free Cheese

  Lifetime Fat Free Cheese

  Reduced-Fat Cheese

  Sargento Reduced Fat Deli Style Sliced Cheese

  The Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges (used in specific recipes)

  Light Whipped Butter/Light Buttery Spread

  Brummel & Brown

  Land O’Lakes Whipped Light Butter

  Smart Balance 37% Light Buttery Spread

  Fat-Free Liquid Egg Substitute

  Better’n Eggs

  Egg Beaters Original

  Nulaid ReddiEgg

  Fat-Free Yogurt

  Yoplait Light (for creamier, more decadent yogurt)

  Dannon Light & Fit (for extra-low-cal, thinner yogurt)

  Fat-Free Greek Yogurt

  Fage Total 0%

  Oikos Organic

  Fat-Free Ice Cream

  Breyers Double Churn FREE

  Dreyer’s/Edy’s Slow Churned Light (not completely fat-free, but

  it’s awesome and will barely affect recipe nutritional information)

  Light Bread and Buns

  Weight Watchers Bread

  Wonder Light Bread and Buns

  Nature’s Own Light Bread and Double Fiber Wheat Buns

  Arnold Bakery Light Bread

  Pepperidge Farm Light Style Bread, Very Thin Bread,

  and Classic Whole Grain Buns

  Sara Lee Delightful Bread

  Whole Wheat (or High Fiber) Pitas

  Weight Watchers 100% Whole Wheat Pita Pocket Bread

  Western Bagel The Alternative Pita Bread

  Light English Muffins

  Weight Watchers English Muffins

  Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffins

  Thomas’ 100 Calorie Original English Muffins

  Western Bagel Alternative English Muffins

  Low-Fat Flour Tortillas

  La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Carb/Low-Fat Tortillas (sometimes labeled Smart &

  Delicious Low Carb High Fiber), large

  Mission Carb Balance, Soft Taco Size

  Tumaro’s 8-inch Low in Carbs or Healthy Flour Tortillas

  Boneless Skinless Lean Chicken Breast

  Tyson Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

  Perdue Fit & Easy Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

  Fat-Free or Nearly Fat-Free Hot Dogs

  Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Beef Franks

  Hoffy Extra Lean Beef Franks

  Yves Meatless Hot Dogs or Tofu Dogs

  Ball Park Fat Free Franks or Bun Size Smoked White Turkey Franks

  Ground-Beef-Style or Sausage-Style Soy Crumbles

  Boca Meatless Burgers (ground-beef style)

  Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Grillers Recipe Crumbles (ground-beef style)

  Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles

  Veggie Burger Patties

  Gardenburger Veggie Burgers

  Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties

  Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers (blot the oil!)

  Amy’s Veggie Burgers

  Low-Fat Turkey or Veggie Chili

  Boca Meatless Chili (found in the freezer aisle)

  Health Valley Chili (no-salt-added versions available!)

  Dan Good Chili (recipe on page 122)

  Extra-Lean Turkey Bacon

  Jennie-O Extra Lean Turkey Bacon

  Extra Lean Ground Turkey

  Jennie-O Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

  Butterball Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast

  Turkey Pepperoni