We find one of the most dangerous places to maintain our weight loss efforts is everyone else’s house! Going to a friends’ house for a social gathering can be challenging since you don’t know what food choices will be available to you. Even a salad can have a rich dressing on it that may not be best for you. Here are three ways to help you manage your next gathering:

Eat before you go – If you have a healthy meal you’re in control of before you go, you won’t be starving when you get there. Having a full or semi-full stomach will make that healthy choice significantly easier when standing over that buffet of food.

Eat an apple before you go – If it’s a smaller gathering, like a sit-down dinner party, and you feel it may be rude not to eat what your host is offering, you can make it about portion control. We handle this by just eating an apple before we go. It squashes our appetite just enough to stay out of the super hungry zone, and allows us to take and eat the food that’s offered in a smaller health friendly portion. It helps to know what that looks like if you can’t measure it. We found a good visual guide here.

Bring your own healthy food and eat that: Bringing your own food and sticking with what you brought will always be the best way to go, since you cooked it and know exactly what’s in it. What to bring? Here’s one idea you can bring to that end of summer pool party!

Low-Fat Cherry Tomato Poppers

This recipe has so many great things about it. First, there’s no cooking involved! Second, it’s easy to make ahead of time and can sit in the fridge overnight without issue. In addition to that, there are only four ingredients, which means low cost and fewer moving parts. The preparation of the tomatoes themselves can be a little tedious, but once you get by that you can knock it right out.

40 Cherry or Grape tomatoes (1-pint container)

3 slices Canadian Bacon

4 oz 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese, garden vegetable flavor

1 1/2 tbsp. fat free Half & Half

1. Cut a thin slice of both the top and bottom off of each tomato.
2. Using a paring knife, slice out the meat and seeds of each tomato making a cavity to fill.

Kevin’s tip: After you get most of the tomato cleaned out, it’s easiest to poke your pinky finger into the tomato to get a nice round cavity. This is of course a little messier so make sure you have a towel near by.

3. Place each tomato on a paper towel upside down and let them drain for about 30 minutes.
4. Coarsely chop the slices of Canadian bacon, place into a food processor and process until minced.
5. Add the cream cheese and the half & half to the processor and blend together.
6. Remove the cream cheese mixture and place it into a pastry bag with a tip or a plain plastic bag with the corner cut off.
7. Pipe the cream cheese mixture into each tomato.

Kevin’s tip: A drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar over the tops of these is a nice touch if you prefer.

Serves 10

Calories 20 | Fat 1g | Saturated Fat 1 |Carbs 1 | Fiber 0g | Sugars 1g | Protein 1g