This isn't the first thing you think of for healthy lifestyle, but I made it work. I had to break out some advanced maths for this one.
2.5 servings of tots: 330 cals
2 servings of cheddar: 220 cals
light sour cream: 50 cals
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So exactly 22 tots, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
Incidentally, to make room for tots and cheese, I had to omit any meat. So this is the first vegetarian meal on the Daily Favorites roster.
One of the reasons that things like loaded tots or nachos are usually so detrimental to weight loss efforts, is because we eat them as appetizers or late night snacks. So the hack here is, take the appetizer and just make that your lunch. Would also be a good way to work in things like french toast or breakfast foods like that. A little harder to do with this delicious but destructive 800 calorie cookie from Panera.
Is this going to be as filling as my Italian hoagie or turkey meatballs? No. So it's definitely more of a once in a while kind of thing. But it sounded good and made it work for 600.
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This was undeniably tasty and exactly what I wanted to make. Definitely satisfied that bar food itch of loaded tots. But honestly, tater tots work better as a side. Next time, I would rather just go two servings of tots for 260 cals on the side of a chicken patty sandwich. Season with salt, pepper, dip in bbq sauce. You'd have room for a filling entree and you'd get more crispy edges anyways.
Makes sense that it's hard to think of this one as a meal. You could add some zing by replacing half the sour cream with bacon bits! A teaspoon of them is surprisingly low on cals.
ReplyDeleteAnother option would be forming the tater tots into a patty so you could paper towel some oil away (more cals for toppings!), but it'd be hard to tell how many calories you actually reduced with that method.