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Low Calorie Black Forest Cake

22 Feb

I post a lot of desserts. I love finding new “low calorie” versions of great sweets…for 2 reasons. 1. I have a major sweet tooth, and 2. A lot of people think you can’t eat dessert when you’re watching calories… and anyone who knows me, knows I can’t pass up a good opportunity to prove someone else wrong, especially if I can do it while eating cake! So, anyway, black forest cake has long been one of my favorites, and the first time I made my cool whip icing (pudding, cool whip, milk) I loved it, and I couldn’t wait to use it on 2 specific things that I had yet to create…. Tiramisu and Black Forest Cake. Now I’ve created recipes for both of those, and they are among my favorites, so I hope you enjoy. This one is DEFINITELY a repeat.

Ingredients:

– Devils food boxed caked mix (15.5 oz)
– diet cherry coke (1 can/12 oz)
– 3 egg whites
– 1 can of lite cherry pie filling (I used Kroger brand)
– 1 container of cool whip lite
– 1 small box of instant, sugar free, cheesecake pudding (the 4 serving one)
– 1 cup cold 1% Milk

Directions:

1. Mix cake mix, egg whites, and cherry coke together.

2. Pour cake mix into a 9×11 pan coated with nonstick spray, and bake according to package instructions.

3. Allow cake to cool completely. I sped this up by placing the pan on a wire cooling rack after baking.

4. Spread contents of lite cherry pie filling can evenly over top of cake.

5. Mix cold milk and pudding mix with a wisk until it begins to thicken. Fold in whole container of coolwhip until the pudding and coolwhip are well blended.

6. Spread cool whip mixture evenly over the top of the cherries, and refrigerate cake.

7. For best results with this frosting, Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Editors Note: If you really needed to eliminate sugar, you could use a sugar free chocolate cake mix, and sugar free cool whip here. However, I find that the sugar free cool whip does not allow this frosting to keep its texture as well as the lite or regular. It will still work. It just wont be as firm.

15 Servings= 185 Calories per serving

appx 5 ww points plus per serving

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Red velvet cookies

13 Feb

I made these in both Red Velvet and Strawberry for my daughters valentines day party at school. I really liked them both, but the red velvet were my favorite. These cookies turn out light and fluffy. You could do this in any flavor, and I’ve heard lemon is good.

Ingredients

– 1 box red velvet cake mix (15.25 oz)
– 2 egg whites
– 8 oz of cool whip (1 tub)
– 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Line baking pans with parchment paper.

2. Mix cake mix, egg whites, and cool whip together with a hand mixer. It will be very sticky. You may have to scrape beaters with a spoon.

3. Chill dough for 30 min or longer.

4. Use a small cookie scoop to form appx 1 tbsp scoops of dough.

5. Roll each scoop of dough lightly in powder sugar, forming a ball.

6. Place dough 2 in apart on baking sheets. (I used 2 sheets at a time)

7. Bake 8-10 min at 350. Mine took exactly 9 min. Take them out before they turn brown.

8. Allow to cool 1 min on pan and move cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Makes 36 Cookies- only 62 calories each

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Easy Microwave popcorn

27 Jan

This is not a recipe, as much as it is a quick tip for making quick, cheap, low calorie microwave popcorn… How can you go wrong!? Simple.

– 1 brown paper bag
– 3 tbsp popcorn kernels

-seasoning of your choice

Directions

1. Put kernels into bag.

2. Fold too of bag and crease. Should close but not be too tight.

3. Microwave 2 min, or until pops are 2 sec apart.

Season with low calorie spray butter and sea salt, or your favorite seasonings.

1 bag= 140 calories

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Chicken Fried Rice

25 Jan

My husband is a fried rice aficionado. He orders it every.single.time we go to any Asian restaurant. He says this was just as good as most restaurants. I thought it was pretty good too. I hope you like it.

Ingredients:

– 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast (chopped into 1/2 in cubes)
– 1/2 cup chopped onion
– 1 tbsp. canola oil
– 1 cup diced mushrooms (sliced, and then chopped up)
– 1/3 cup frozen peas
– 5 cups (2 1/2 bags cook in bag) Cooked, white rice. Cold
– 6 tbsp. soy sauce
– 1 egg scrambled

 

VF: Omit chicken and add chopped broccoli and water chestnuts to make this vegetarian friendly!

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Cook onions and chicken until chicken is cooked through.

2. Add mushrooms to the mixture, and stir until mushrooms are cooked. Add Peas and stir.

3. Once peas are warmed, add rice and scrambled egg. Cook about 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly so egg can mix in and cook. Add soy sauce, and mix thoroughly.

Editors Note: I’ve tried other fried rice recipes, and they never were quite right. The trick is that the rice has to be cold. Day-old rice works the best. I just make it the night before. I highly recommend this.

4 Servings- 546 Calories per serving

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100 calorie dr pepper float

13 Jan

So this totally is not a recipe. Just a great way to satisfy a not-great-for-you craving. They make these 10 calorie sodas in many flavored, including root beer if you’re into that kind of thing. They are much better to me, than a true “diet” soda.

100 calorie coke float:

– 1 scoop double churn, 100 calorie ice cream
-1/2 cup 10 calorie soda of your choice

I’m not posting directions here 🙂 I have faith you all know what to do! Enjoy.

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Tiramisu

10 Dec

So, like so many other days of my life, I found myself in a hotel conference room having a staring contest with a piece of tiramisu last week. It’s one of my favorite desserts… a real treat… but I felt guilty not knowing how bad it was for me…so I walked away eating only half, and already formulating this recipe in my head. I came home and gave it a “test drive” just 2 nights later and I have to say I was VERY happy with the results. This is similar to standard tiramisu in that it’s delicious… it’s different than standard tiramisu in 2 significant ways. 1. It’s EASY to make… and 2. It’s LOW in calories! As I’m sure you’ll notice, this is based on a “poke cake” recipe I’ve used before… but it just seemed like the easiest way to get coffee Into your cake without having an overwhelming coffee flavor. yum.

Ingredients:

– 1 box yellow cake mix
– 3 egg whites
– 12 oz diet sprite (or diet 7 up, or 7 up 10, or any clear diet soda)
– 1 cup of strong brewed coffee
– 1 .3 oz envelope of unflavored gelatin
– 1 4 serving box of sugar free, instant cheesecake flavored pudding
– 1 cup cold 1% milk
– 1 tub of coolwhip lite
– Cocoa powder (about 1/2 cup total)

Directions:

1. Mix cake mix, egg whites and soda together and pour into a 9×13 pan which has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

2. Bake cake according to directions on package.

3. Once the cake is finished, allow it to cool about 5 minutes.

4. Mix hot coffee with gelatin, and mix until fully dissolved.

5. Use a 2 prong fork to poke holes throughout the cake, about 1 inch apart…which should leave you with a small hole appx every 1 inch. Poke hard enough to touch the bottom of the pan with the fork.

6. Pour coffee mixture evenly over the entire cake.

7. Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours (or overnight) before moving on to frosting.

8. When the cake has set, it’s ready to frost.

9. Place milk into a bowl, and whisk in pudding mix until it begins to thicken.

10. Once pudding has begun to thicken, gently fold in cool whip until blended, but don’t overdo it.

11. Spread mixture over cake. Sift Cocoa powder over top of cake. Cover and refrigerate at least a few hours before serving.

16 Servings= 152 Calories Per Serving!
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Faux Fried Ice Cream

2 Dec

I found this recipe on www.skinnytaste.com and it’s so good. I was looking for something fun to do with the kids, and here you have it. It was good enough that I bought more ice cream to make this again in the future.

Ingredients:
– 3 cups of Edy’s double churn vanilla bean ice cream
– 2 cups of corn flakes cereal
– 3 tsp cinnamon

– 6 tsp honey
– 6 tbsp. lite Hershey’s syrup

Directions:

1. Scoop out 6 1/2 cup portions of vanilla ice cream. Round them into balls, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Place these in the freezer for 2 hours or until they are very hard.

2. Place cinnamon and cereal in the food processer and blend until well crushed. Place in a freezer size baggie.

3. Roll each individual scoop of ice cream in cereal mixture until completely coated.

4. Drizzle each scoop with 1 tsp of honey, and 1 tbsp. of hersey’s lite syrup.

5. You can add whipped topping, nuts, cherries, whatever you like here… I’d encourage you to explore. However, this is where my fried ice cream ended, so this is what my calories will be composed of. (actually I added a few slivered almonds not accounted for here)

6 Servings= 183 Calories per serving

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Easy, Yummy 3 Ingredient Potato Soup

26 Nov

Ingredients
– 2 cans of chicken stock
– 1 bag of frozen O’Brien style potatoes (with onions and peppers)
– 1 envelope of pioneer White Gravy Mix
– 1 cup water

Directions:
1. Heat Chicken Stock in a large pan.
2. Add frozen potatoes. Cook until thawed and warm.
3. In a separate container, mix water with gravy mix packet.
4. Stir Gravy slurry into chicken stock and potatoes.
5. Cook on low for 20 min or so.

I served this with 1 tablespoon of bacon bits, 2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream, and 2 tbsp. shredded low fat cheddar, and it was YUMMY!!!

VF: Replace Chicken Stock with Veggie Stock to make this Vegetarian Friendly!

5 Servings= 196 Calories per serving

with bacon, cheese, and sour cream= 325 Calories per serving

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Banana Pudding Cake

25 Nov

Ingredients:
– 1 box of yellow cake mix
– 3 egg whites
– 12 oz clear diet soda (i used 7up 10 calorie. zero or diet would also work fine)
– 1 box (4 servings) of sugar free instant banana pudding
– 2 cups of cold 1% milk
– 1 container of coolwhip “light”
– 1 box (4 servings) of sugar free instant vanilla pudding
– 1 cup cold 1 % milk
– 2 fresh bananas, thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Mix cake mix, egg whites and diet soda together. Pour into a 13X9 pan sprayed with non-stick spray and bake according to package directions.

2. Remove cake from oven. Allow it to cool about 5 minutes. Using the end of a wooden spoon, poke several holes into the cake, about 1 inch apart, and press hard enough that the spoon end touches the glass.

3. Mix 2 cups of milk with banana pudding mix. Mix about 2 minutes until it begins to thicken, but is still pourable consistency. Pour pudding mixture across cake, purposefully filling all holes with pudding. Spread any remaining pudding evenly over top of cake.

4. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then proceed with step 5.

5. Place banana slices evenly across surface of cake.

6. In a separate bowl, mix vanilla pudding and remaining 1 cup of cold milk, just until blended. Gently fold in coolwhip until well mixed.

7. Top the cake with this frosting mixture, spread evenly.

8. Refrigerate at least 1 additional hour before serving. I think this cake is best the next day, but it’s delicious regardless.

12 servings= 240 Calories per serving.
16 servings= 180 Calories per serving.

Note: you could easily make this entirely sugar free by replacing regular cake mix with sugar free variety. Adjust calories accordingly.

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Lasagna Roll Ups

21 Nov

I’ve seen some version of this recipe on many different sites. I love to make lasagna, but I don’t do it often, so I thought this version might shave some time off the very time consuming process of making a full lasagna. It did, and it’s a healthy, delicious version. Freezes well too. Great leftovers.

Ingredients:
– 8 lasagna noodles
– 1 jar of Prego “light smart” traditional sauce
(or click here to make my easy, homemade marinara)
– 16 oz of low fat ricotta cheese
– 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
– 1 box of frozen spinach
– 1 egg
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1 tsp oregano
– 1 cup shredded, reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Boil noodles in salted water until soft and flexible.

2. While noodles cook: Place frozen spinach in a colander and run under hot water until thawed. Use a paper towel to press all water out of the spinach (by smooshing it into the bottom of the colander). It’s important that you remove as much liquid as possible from the spinach.

3. In a medium sized bowl, Mix ricotta, parmesan, spinach, egg, garlic, and oregano together.

4. Open Spaghetti sauce and pour about 1/4 of the jar into the bottom of a baking pan, coated in non stick spray.

5. Place a row of paper towels flat on the counter, long enough to accommodate all your noodles, and about 3 or 4 towels tall. Remove noodles and lie them each flat on the paper towel. Use additional paper towel to pat excess water from the top of the noodles. It’s important that the noodles are dry.

6. Spread Ricotta mixture evenly across each noodle (a little less than 1/3 cup per noodle) using all of the mix.

7. Roll each noodle up, and place it seam down in the pan.

8. Cover all rolls with remaining sauce and top with mozzarella cheese.

9. Cover pan with foil and bake on 400 for 25 min.

10. Remove foil and continue baking 5-10 min longer (until cheese reaches desired color and texture).

Makes 4 Servings= 460 Calories per serving

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