These were sure a hit ! Whenever you cook bananas, you bring out the flavor 10 times and this recipe is no exception. The toast makes a perfect vessel to make this a finger food. Try putting some Redi-Wip on top. Next time I may even add a little nutella to the toast – that would make it even better.
Rum Glazed Banana Tarts
4 servings
266 calories per serving
4 large slices wheat bread, crusts removed
2 T butter
2 T light brown sugar
2 T rum
3-4 ripe bananas cut in half and then sliced thinly into long slices
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Flatten bread with a rolling pin to 1/8 inch thick and place on a baking sheet. Melt butter and brush both sides of bread with half the butter and bake until lightly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Reheat the leftover butter and add sugar and bring to a boil then remove from heat and add in rum. Place banana slices on bread overlapping them a little and bake 5 minutes then remove from heat and brush with rum mix.
Try serving with some celery and carrot stix on the side. If you use 45 calorie per slice bread, you can really BEEF up on the beef 😉
Cheesesteak
1 serving
320 calories per serving
6 slices shaved and lean deli roast beef
2 rings green bell pepper
2 slices FF Kraft singles
2 slices Marble Rye or bread of your choice (no more than 100 calories per slice)
Pam
ICBINB Spray
Make sandwiches. Spray skillet with Pam and heat. Spray outside of each slice of bread with 5 spritzes of ICBINB Spray. Grill 3 minutes each side.
Talk about decadent and delicious !! This breakfast dish will give you legendary ‘short order cook’ status ! The bananas and cream cheese make a perfect middle to the grilled raisin bread.
Grilled Banana French Toast
8 servings
206 calories per serving
8 slices 80 calories cinnamon raisin bread
2 medium bananas, in slices
1 c skim milk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c egg beaters
1/3 c Splenda
3 T flour
2 t vanilla
Powdered sugar (optional)
Pam
Spray skillet with Pam and heat well. Mix milk, cheese, eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla with a mixer until. Take 4 slices of bread and spread with cream cheese then add banana slices and top with the remaining bread. Gently dip into the egg mix and then place on pan and cook 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook another 2 minutes. Cut in half and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
I have been searching for a recipe that would turn out my Grandma’s babka, but, alas, I cannot find one that compares. After years of Grandma’s being passed around, something is surely missing as it just does not turn out the right product. This one is close – it has most of the right ingredients and it turns out a really nice tasting babka that is quite traditional (like many of the Polish delis sell), but it is not my Grandma’s babka. Hers was much flatter and less dense – it was drier and airier. It was more a cross between a cake and a bread (she even cooked it in a 9×13 pan rather than a bundt or in bread pans) whereas this one is more the traditional heavier bread. So if you’re looking for a traditional babka recipe, this is a great one to try.
If anyone out there knows of how to get the babka tasting more like I remember, please let me know !!
Polish Babka
20 servings
239 calories per serving
6 c flour
1 t salt
1 package of yeast
½ c warm water
¾ c sugar
1 ½ c skim milk
1 stick unsalted butter
¾ c golden raisins
2 eggs, beaten
1 egg yolk
2 T water
Pam
Soak raisins in some warm water to plump them up a little then drain before adding to dough. Heat milk in a saucepan then add the butter and cook on low until the butter is melted. Pour into a mixing bowl and add sugar and salt and cool for 20 minutes. Mix the yeast and ½ c water and let sit 5 minutes then add it to the milk and sugar mix. Add in the 2 beaten eggs and then gradually add the flour and mix. Then knead the dough ½ hour by hand or 10-12 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add the raisins during the last couple minutes of kneading.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour. Then punch down, re-cover and let it rise another hour.
Then take dough and place in a 13×9 pan (or in 2 bread pans). Mix the egg yolk and 2 T water and brush onto the top of the bread dough. Spray foil with Pam and cover pan and let rise again until doubled – again, about an hour.
Then uncover and bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour for a 9×13 pan or 45 minutes for a large pan or bread pans. It’s done when you tape on it and it makes a hollow sound. Let cool and then cut into slices.
Traditional Egg in a Hole is served in a hollowed out piece of toast – – this one uses nutritious veggies and places the whole thing on top of a slice of toast. The side salad is a great flavor boost.
Egg in a Hole
4 servings
189 calories per serving
2 t oil
1 green bell pepper cut into 4 rings ½ inch thick
4 large eggs
Salt and pepper
2 t parmesan cheese
4 slices whole wheat bread (45 calories each)
8 c mixed salad greens
In a large skillet heat 1 t oil and add peppers then crack eggs into each pepper hole and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until egg whites are mostly set. Flip gently and cook another minute then sprinkle with cheese and place each on a slice of toast. Mix greens with 1 t oil, salt and pepper and serve next to the eggs.
A simple sandwich that tastes anything but ordinary. Want to lower the calories? Use Kraft fat free American singles for a fraction of the calories and great results.
Grilled Ham on Rye
1 serving
340 calories per serving
2 slices rye bread
1 T Miracle Whip
1 slice cheese (70 calories allotted for this)
6 slices deli shaved smoked ham
Spread both slices of bread with 1 t Miracle Whip and add the ham and cheese. Spread the outside of the sandwich with the rest of the Miracle Whip and cook in a skillet 3 minutes each side or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
Spicy hot and spicy good. You can tone this one down by using chili powder instead of chipotles, but it you like it hot, roll with it 🙂
Southwest Chicken Panini
4 servings
360 calories per serving
2 c finely chopped cooked chicken breasts (Perdue Shortcuts work great here)
1 ½ t diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (available in the Mexican section of your grocery store)
2 T Miracle Whip lite
2 T light ranch dressing
8 slices Italian bread
8 slices tomato
4 fat free cheese slices
ICBINB Spray
Heat Panini grill. Mix chicken, chipotles and dressings and fill bread slices, then add tomatoes and cheese and spray outside of bread with I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter spray (about 5 squirts per slice of bread) and grill about 2 minutes per side or 4 minutes total in a Panini press.
This is a great quick recipe that produces a really moist and flavorful fish fillet. And you even get enough cod broiled to use it in a great chowder recipe that I’ll post in the next day or two 🙂 If you are not going to make the chowder, just reduce the cod to 1 ½ pounds and proceed accordingly.
Lemon and Herb Cod
4 servings (plus leftovers for chowder)
255 calories per serving
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 slices whole wheat bread torn into pieces
2 T parsley leaves
1/2 t lemon zest
2 t oil
2 T plain fat free yogurt
2 t lemon juice
1 3 lb. cod fillet cut into 8 pieces
16 oz. package frozen stir fry vegetables
Pam
Mince garlic in food processor. Add bread and parsley and pulse until crumbs form. Add lemon zest, 1 t oil and 1/8 t salt and pulse to mix. Place in a bowl. Combine yogurt, lemon juice and 1/8 t salt. Preheat broiler and spray the rack of a broiler pan with Pam. Place fish on rack and broil 4 minutes. Turn and broil another 4 minutes or until fish is done.
Take 4 pieces and refrigerate up to 2 days for the New England Chowder recipe. Spread yogurt mix on the other 4 pieces and then sprinkle with the bread crumb mix and press so that the crumbs stick. Spray with Pam and broil 1 minute to brown crumbs. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Heat 1 t oil and add vegetables and stir fry 4-5 minutes. Serve with the fish.
This is a great take on a bacon and egg sandwich – the addition of the mustard and mayo give it a great extra zing and the watercress adds a great dimension not usually found in a sandwich like this.
Open Faced Egg and Bacon Sandwich
1 serving
297 calories per serving
Bottom half of a hoagie roll
1 t whole grain mustard
1 t light mayonnaise
2 slices bacon, cooked
1 egg, cooked over easy in a skillet sprayed with Pam
1 handful watercress, stems removed
Coarse salt
Pepper
Spread roll with mustard and mayo and then layer with bacon, watercress and egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve open faced.
