I Can Make You Hot! (16 page)

Peanut butter on rice crackers

Jicama (a great substitute for chips) with guacamole

Hummus with baked tortilla chips

Kelly’s Cardinal Rule

Even though I do drink Diet Coke, when it comes to food, I’d rather have you stick to your sugar instead of artificial sweeteners and get more spice (or sweet) out of life.

Remember that hot isn’t just
caliente;
it’s also spicy and sultry. Red hot condiments can spice up your food and jump-start your metabolism without adding many calories. Here are a few of my favorites:

We keep reading about how bad sodium is for our health, but if you eat fresh foods that you prepare yourself, you can determine and control the amount of salt you want to use. I, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, am perfectly capable of deciding how much salt I want to put on my food. I don’t need anyone else to salt my food for me. I know that the amount of salt I choose to sprinkle on my food is not going to hurt me. As a general rule of thumb, taste first, salt after.

Kelly’s Red-Hot Food List

Baked corn tortillas with paprika

Baked potato skins with yogurt and chili powder

Boneless Buffalo chicken wings

Candied jalapeños (aka “cowboy candies”)

Cinnamon and cayenne almonds

Dehydrated corn kernels with chili powder

Hot tamales

Popcorn with sugar and cinnamon or cayenne pepper