Low Fat Mushroom Omelet

This morning I diverted from my normal breakfast of cold cereal, Kashi GoLean Crunch with plain yoghurt, wild blueberries, and non-fat milk, or oatmeal with flax meal and raisins, in favor of a mushroom omelet. I had some nice mushrooms and some EggBeaters, so I chopped two large mushrooms and sautéed them in a skillet sprayed with olive oil spray, then added a half cup scrambled eggbeaters and topped it all with a tablespoon of Frieda’s Mild Salsa. When I logged the meal on my diet spreadsheet, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the whole meal tallied only 70 Calories, with 102 grams of protein, 4.27 g carbohydrates, .18 g fat, and 271 mg sodium.

On those mornings I have a taste for an omelet, I sometimes chop onions, mushrooms, red or green bell peppers, and sometimes a seeded jalapeño pepper. I frequently top it with either fat-free cheddar or mozzarella cheese. I always sauté in pan spray without additional oil. I sauté the vegetables separately and cook the yolkless eggs at low heat so I can turn it once without it breaking up. I then add the veggies and cheese and fold it over. This is a substantial, but low Calorie, salt, and fat meal

I have a fondness for mushrooms of all types and find that they add real flavor without adding much in the way of calories, fat, or salt. I sometimes slice them long ways and put them on the grill with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Sometimes for an evening meal, I will grill a four ounce patty of extra lean ground beef (96/4) and top it with grilled or sautéed mushrooms, peppers, and onions-lots of flavor for very few calories. And, I am getting servings of vegetables. I even have a neighbor who prepares his own inoculants and logs, growing his own shiitakes, my favorite.

I’ve found that mustard is the most forgiving condiment when it comes to calories, fat, sodium, and flavor-lots of flavor at very little cost. The Griffin’s prepared mustard I use has only 35 mg of sodium per teaspoon and no fat. The label lists 0 Calories, 0 grams fat, and 0 grams carbohydrate, so I checked the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ and found that they list 3 Calories, .22 g protein, .27 g Carbohydrate, of which .2 is fiber and .04 is sugars, and 57 mg sodium for the prepared mustard they tested-still quite a bargain.

I am leaving Saturday for a conference in New Orleans so I will be eating restaurant food for five days. I hope my new-found ability to estimate four ounce portions and choose food low in fat, calories, and sodium, will keep me on track. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Here is my recap for yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-2/28/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1357.17	86.77 g	239.19 g	1205.17 mg	10.25 g	6.80%