Tag Archives: sugar

Grilled Banana French Toast

April 9, 2011 admin Leave a comment

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.

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.

Dessert, Kid Friendly, Summer

Fudge Pops with Bananas

March 25, 2011 admin 4 Comments

I recently got a Zoku Quick Pop Maker. BEST THING EVER ! I love making pops but hate the wait time. Now I have ‘em in 7-9 minutes 🙂 This is one of the recipes I pulled from the Zoku book – of course, I’ve tweaked many of the recipes to suit my own tastes, bring down calories, and to get creative with the pops, but some are in their original goodness.

You can make any of these recipes in traditional pop makers – each pop here is 2 oz. so adjust accordingly. And if you love pops like me, then do yourself a favor and get a Zoku 🙂

6 servings
132 calories per serving

1 c water
2 1/3 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli bittersweet morsels)
1/3 c sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 c skim milk
1 T fat free half and half
½ c very thin banana slices

In a saucepan whisk chocolate, sugar, water and salt and cook until completely melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes in the fridge and then whisk in the milk and half and half. Then return to the fridge and cool completely (about ½ hour).

Working in 2 batches – Place bananas on the sides of the maker molds then pour in the mix. In 7-9 minutes you’ll have creamy, fudgy goodness with a bit of banana thrown in for interest 🙂

If you are using traditional molds, you can suspend the bananas by filling the molds half way, freezing a bit, then adding the bananas and the rest of the mix. Or you can just let the drop to the bottom – it will still taste dandy ! Freeze 6 hours.

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Chocolate Cheesecake

March 18, 2011 admin Leave a comment

Rich, decadent, creamy goodness – this has a great cream cheese / cheesecake flavor while screaming CHOCOLATE !! It makes a great special occasion dessert.

10 servings
265 calories per serving

1 Oreo crust
1 c nonfat cottage cheese
½ c Egg Beaters
12 oz. Nefchatel (low fat cream cheese) at room temperature
1 c sugar
½ c unsweetened cocoa
¼ c flour
1 t vanilla
¾ c powdered sugar
¾ c nonfat sour cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a blender or food processor, mix cottage cheese and eggs until smooth. In another beat cream cheese and sugar with a mixer until smooth and then add the cottage cheese mix, cocoa, flour and vanilla. When smooth pour into the prepared pan. Bake 60-65 minutes or until set. Cool 15 minutes and then cover and chill 4 hours. Just before serving, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the cake.

Dessert, Snacks

Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps

March 7, 2011 admin Leave a comment

A perfect accompaniment to ice cream, perfect served alone, a great dipper for Fruit Salsa – these are super easy to prepare and great tasting.

Makes 96 crisps
24 servings (4 crisps per serving)
52 calories per serving

12 – 7 or 8 inch flour tortillas, cut into 8 wedges
Pam (butter flavored)
1 t cinnamon
½ c sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a baking pan with Pam. Place as many pieces as will fit on the pan and spray with Pam then sprinkle with a mix of the cinnamon and sugar. Bake 5-10 minutes or until crispy. Repeat with other tortillas. Let sit and cool a few minutes to finish crisping.

Dinner, Pork

Orange Glazed Pork

February 25, 2011 admin Leave a comment

The orange flavor in this dish is subtle and this is a perfectly easy way to make a great pork dish. The brine solution definitely tenderizes and flavors the pork so don’t skip that step !

6 servings
263 calories per serving

½ c kosher salt
½ c sugar
2 1 lb. pork tenderloins, trimmed
½ c orange juice concentrate, thawed
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 t Italian dressing

Dissolve the salt and sugar in a bowl with 4 cups of water and add the meat and let stand 45 minutes. Then rinse the meat and pat dry. Heat a grill. Place the orange juice concentrate in a pan and on low heat cook until it is reduced by half them mix in the dressing and garlic and brush over the pork. Cook the pork about 7 minutes per side or until well seared and done throughout.

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

January 29, 2011 admin Leave a comment

You won’t even miss the frosting when you make this awesome raspberry sauce – the extra flair is a nice touch to add to a holiday table.

8 servings
210 calories per serving

Cake:
9 oz. package devil’s food cake mix
1/3 c light sour cream
¼ c water
¼ c Egg Beaters
2 t powdered sugar

Pan prep:
Pam
1 T flour

Sauce:
10 oz. frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
3 T sugar
1 t cornstarch
¼ t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with Pam and then lightly flour it. (INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO) Combine all cake ingredients except the powdered sugar and beat 2 minutes at medium speed then spread into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool ½ hour and then invert onto a plate and sprinkle with sugar. In a blender puree berries until smooth and strain out the seeds by pushing the puree through a sieve. Combine puree, sugar and starch in a saucepan and cook on low heat until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm sauce over cake. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Dessert

Fruit and Creamsicles

December 24, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Healthy, sweet, frozen, different – these make a great snack ! Try serving with a little cookie pressed into the top.

12 servings
94 calories per serving

¼ c walnuts
2 ripe bananas
2 c non fat sour cream
8 oz. can unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained well
1/3 c mini marshmallows
¼ c sugar
1 t vanilla

Pulse walnuts in a blender to chop finely. Add bananas and pulse to blend then add cream, pineapple, marshmallows, sugar and vanilla and pulse to mix. Spoon ¼ c in each of 12 muffin cups and freeze 2 hours them remove and serve (I use silicone muffin cups).

Dessert, Kid Friendly

Cinnamon Tortillas and Ice Cream

November 19, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Vanilla ice cream AGAIN? Well – that’s not what you’ll be thinking when you eat this one up ! The crispy, sweet tortillas make a regular dessert a SUPER dessert.

6 servings
248 calories per serving

2 T sugar
1 ½ t cinnamon
3 8 inch fat free flour tortillas cut into 6 wedges each
1 T butter, melted
1/3 c caramel topping
3 c light vanilla ice cream

Preheat broiler. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Brush butter over both sides of the tortilla wedges and sprinkle with the sugar mix. Broil 1 minute each side.

Microwave caramel topping 45 seconds. Scoop out ice cream and top with caramel sauce. Serve with cinnamon wedges.

Dessert, Kid Friendly

My Chocolate Fudge Brownies

October 12, 2010 admin Leave a comment

No matter what brownie recipe I try, I always go back to this one – it is a great recipe that serves up a cakey yet fudgy brownie that does not skimp on the chocolate flavor. The other great thing about this recipe is that is it ONE POT for prep – that’s it. And the baking pan stays clean because you line it with foil.

24 servings
211 calories per serving

1 c walnuts, chopped
2 sticks of butter
2 c semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 ¼ c flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 pan with foil extended over the long side edges so you can grab the foil and pick up the whole brownie after it cools. Melt the butter in a pan on the stove and add chocolate and stir until all melted. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Then add in eggs one at a time (just stirring with a wooden spoon). Stir in vanilla and then stir in flour in 4 batches. Pour into foil lined pan and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake 20-25 minutes. Do not overcook.

MUFAs, Snacks

Candied Walnuts

October 8, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Think Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal – that is the flavor you get from this deliciously sweet treat. You can add or remove flavorings as you see fit – I added bunch more cardamom than the recipe calls for because I am addicted to it’s flavor 🙂 This is a perfect healthy treat with tons of MUFA for you ! The won’t last long – you might want to make 2 batches !

Makes 5 cups
2 T nuts = 129 calories

1 egg white
1 t water
5 c walnut pieces
1 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
¼ t cardamom
1/8 t ground cloves
½ t salt
Pam

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with pam. Mix egg white with water and add nuts and mix well. Combine spices and toss with nuts. Spread on pan and cook 30 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.