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| EatSmart Pro Scale Pictured Above |
Whenever I make myself a sandwich with french bread, baguettes, rolls, or even a bagel, I always scoop out some of the bread to make room for my filling, and save calories at the same time. A 4 oz piece of French bread with 1 oz scooped out saves about 65 calories or 2 WW points plus!
I love using good quality bread for sandwiches because let's face it, some of those reduced calorie sandwich breads just don't cut it! Considering how a large portion of the calories in a sandwich come from the bread, I am usually faced with 3 options.
Option A: Use reduced calorie bread slices or wraps. I am not knocking reduced calorie sliced bread and I think it has it's place. Toasted whole wheat bread with some skinny egg salad or tuna salad is wonderful as well making wraps or burritos.
Option B: Make a small sandwich with crusty bread. I prefer a sandwich made with a good quality crusty bread. The quality of the bread makes the sandwich. There are lots of great tasting, low-fat or fat-free options including French bread, baguettes, and Ciabatta, to name a few. However, a 2 or 3 oz slice of French bread is pretty small and leaves little room for whatever you want to fill your sandwich with.
So here is my favorite option...
Option C: Cut a larger piece of bread and scoop out some of the guts (and resist the temptation to eat it). I love this option because it allows me to enjoy a larger sandwich without the guilt. I usually cut a 4 oz piece of bread and scoop out 1 oz which saves about 65 calories or 2 WW points plus based on French bread.
This works great for bagels too. Buying those 100 calorie bagels don't taste anything like a real New York bagel so I usually scoop out the guts and enjoy the flavor of my favorite bagel.
And if you're wondering what to do with the extra bread? Well, I give it to my one year old, or I throw it to the birds, but another great idea would be to save it to make your own homemade breadcrumbs.
20 comments:
I am having one of those "duh" moments. This makes the most sense! 2 points is nothing to ignore!
Brilliant idea!
Haley @ The Girly Girl Cooks
Love this tip! Started doing it last week. Just wondering what type of scale you have, is that showing ounces?
you can get a scale like that in any kitchen store, they have them at Kohl`s too in the kitchen dept.
Meredith, lol
The scale is the EatSmart Precision Pro, they sell it on Amazon for $25. I can change to to grams, oz, lbs, etc.
I never thought of this! Very smart! Thanks!
Weight Watchers has a great scale.
What is a point value of your modified bread after the scooping? in points plus? That way I can use my WW scale to get the same value. (or use some other bread) I need to know what value I'm trying to reach. Thanks!
This is probably the most helpful tip I've gotten from this site (which is saying a lot, as I get a ton of helpful tips here). I just can't give up my better quality bread, and having this option changes everything! Assuming i can resist the temptation to eat the part I'm supposed to toss... :)
Also, I've never thought about making my own bread crumbs. Good idea!
Dana, I have to check again. It will vary by bread so I just calculate based on the weight I have left after scooping.
Amy, great! Glad I can help!! I always do this when I buy a good bagel too.
Genius!
Gina, If you scoop the innards out of the roll, does that make a serving 9pp as verses 11pp?
The only way to be accurate is to weigh it. It will certainly be less because it will weigh less.
I'm starting to believe you're one of the most brilliant people I know! This is an AMAZING tip for when I go to my in-laws too. They love crusty breads (as do I)... but now I can "lean" it down a bit!!
Wow, love this idea! I'm going to mention this one in my next WW meeting.
I used to do this and have forgotten it. It makes a lot of difference.
Yes I had forgotten about this too. It makes the sandwich "fit" and makes it more tasty IMHO because its an equal balance of breading to filling. Thanks for the reminder
Not having had bread in over two months, I decided to give in to my craving for nice crusty Italian bread before all h*** broke loose. I did scoop out the guts to make room for the grilled eggplant, whipped cottage cheese, and sauce. Dopey me didn't think to weigh the scooped-out bread and NOT eat the dough. Great tip! Love my Italian bread ...
My heart just skipped a beat! I love this idea! THANKS MUCH!
I love this tip! Especially since, living in West Africa, I don't have any access to low-calorie bread. I make most of my bread myself, so now I can try your great idea. I can't wait! I don't know if you are into bread making, but I love crusty bread, and it's super easy to make with the no-kneed method that's so popular right now. Have you seen this site?: www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ I love their book (I have their first one, and their sequel on healthy breads is on its way), and their website is great as well. They answer your questions and are super helpful. Anyways, just in case you weren't already familiar with them, I thought I'd share. Have a great weekend, Gina!
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