Hot Fudge Cake

24 Nov

I have a long history with chocolate.  It’s a love hate relationship. I love it. It hates my diet.  I grew up with my mom, a true chocoholic…and my best friend, who used to sneak entire tubs of fudge icing into the attic with me, where we’d eat them with 2 spoons.  Chocolate is part of who I am.  It’s one of those “necessary evil’s” I’ve come to accept in life.  There will be chocolate, and I can either hold out for cheat day, or I can find a way to do it without breaking the calorie bank.  So, that’s what I did.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp splenda
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • 1 tbsp light margarine or butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 egg yolk
  • dash of salt

 Fudge sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon light margarine
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup water

Cake Directions:

1. Mix sugar and splenda together, and divide mixture in half.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix 1/2 the sugar mixture, butter, 1/4 cup water, and egg yolk.  Wisk until smooth.

3. In a small bowl, mix flour, corn starch, salt, and cocoa powder.  Stir all ingredients together, and then wisk into yolk mixture until smooth.

4.  In a small bowl, beat egg whites, adding remaining sugar mixture, until stiff peaks form.

5. Fold about half of egg white mixture into sugar and yolk and flour mixture in medium bowl.  Then mix remaining whites into the bowl, stirring lightly until all ingredients are incorporated into batter.

6. Spray the insides of 3 individual ramekins or souffle dishes with nonstick cooking spray (i used square dishes, about 3 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches).

7. Distribute batter evenly among the 3 dishes.  Each one should get about 1/2 cup of batter.

9. Set Souffle dishes on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for 20 min.

If you really want to kick this up a notch, and you have a few more calories to burn, I recommend making the semi-sweet fudge topping:

Fudge Sauce

In a small pan, on medium heat, melt butter.  Add sugar, cocoa, flour and water.  Wisk all ingredients together, and heat on medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly.  Once it begins to thicken, remove from heat for about 2 minutes before dividing over tops of cakes.

1 cake with fudge= 227 Calories  (appx 6 weight watchers points plus)

1 cake without fudge = 166 Calories (appx 4 weight watchers points plus)

* I went a little extra crazy with these and added 1/2 a scoop of double churn ice cream, which added 55 calories.  Ice cream is not included in the calculated calories above.

IMG_8407.JPG

IMG_8408.JPG

IMG_8412.JPG

IMG_8409.JPG

Tags: , , , ,

Crockpot lasagna

18 Nov

A coworker recently brought me a recipe she had found for a crockpot lasagna. Naturally I was inclined to take it and use it to experiment on a low cal version. Lasagna is a dish I love to make, but it’s time intensive. This recipe still requires some prep time, but I can do it the night before and just have my husband pop it in to cook.

Ingredients:

– 12 oz lean ground beef (I used 93%)
– 12 oz Italian turkey sausage
– 1 jar prego light smart sauce
– 1 can diced tomatoes
– 1/2 cup water
– 1 medium onion, dice
– 2 TBSP minced garlic
– 15 oz part skim ricotta
– 3 egg whites
– 1 tsp dried oregano
– 1 tsp dried basil
– 1/2 tsp garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 9 standard lasagna noodles
– 1 cup 2% shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Sauté beef, sausage, onions and garlic together in a skillet, breaking up meat until it’s all cooked through.

2. Add tomatoes (don’t drain them), prego, water, salt and garlic powder to the skillet and mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl mix ricotta, egg whites, oregano, and basil.

4. Line the inside of your crockpot with aluminum foil. I used one large piece going longways, and one long piece going too to bottom. Press foil down to conform to the shape of the crockpot. Spray with nonstick spray.

5. Pour 1 1/2 cups of sauce mixture in crock and spread evenly across the bottom.

6. Use 3 noodles and lay them side by side across bottom of crock, longways. They’re too long for the crockpot so you’ll need to break the end off to make them fit. Lay the middle noodle down first. The edge noodles may overlap the middle noodle which is fine.

7. Spread 1/2 of ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles.

8. Spread 2 cups of sauce mixture over ricotta.

9. Repeat steps 6-8. Noodles. Ricotta. Sauce.

10. For the The last layer of your lasagna, arrange noodles, too with remaining sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

11. Place lid on crockpot and cook on low about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

12. Use aluminum edges to carefully remove lasagna and foil from the crockpot. Set the foil and lasagna on a platter and allow to cool 15-20 min.

13. Peel aluminum edges away and slice and serve your lasagna.

6 servings= 605 calories per serving
Appx 16 weight watchers points plus

8 servings = 455 calories per serving
Appx 16 weight watchers points plus

IMG_8336-3.JPG

IMG_8338-3.JPG

Tags: , , ,

Pork chops with white wine and mushrooms

13 Nov

Ingredients:

– 4 (5 oz) boneless pork chops
– 1 TBSP light margarine
– 1 Medium onion, thinly sliced
– 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
– 3 TBSP flour
– 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
– 1/4 cup white wine
– 1 TSP dried rosemary
– Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Salt and pepper both sides of your chops.

2. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.

3. Place chops in the pan and cook about 4 min on each side.

4. Remove chops to a separate plate.

5. Add mushrooms, onions, rosemary, and a little broth to the pan. Sauté about 5 min, and sprinkle with flour.

6. Stir flour around, incorporating it into mushrooms and onions. Add remaining broth and wine. Stir until Lumps disappear.

7. Replace chops back into the pan with mushroom mixture. Cover pan with lid and summer 10 min.

8. Uncover and cook 5 more minutes until sauce begins to thicken a bit.

9. Allow to cool 5 min.

Makes 4 servings

1 serving= 210 calories

Approximately 5 weight watchers points plus per serving

IMG_8315.JPG

IMG_8312.JPG

Low calorie tuna salad sandwiches

9 Nov

This is your basic tuna sandwich, with a few substitutions to bring down the calorie count and up the flavor. My memories of tuna sandwiches are based on a slightly sweet variety of tuna salad, which is what this recipe is based on. It tastes just like my Granny’s and my Moms. If you prefer a more savory version, you can sub fat free mayo and dill relish for great results and about 5 calories less per serving.

Ingredients:

  • 2 (5 oz) cans of chunk light or white tuna in water
  • 3 tablespoons fat free miracle whip
  • 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
  • 2 tablespoons of onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of celery, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 egg, hard boiled and chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain tuna and mix in a bowl with all other ingredients.

editors Note: Serve with 2 slices of 35 calorie bread for a 140 calorie sandwich!

Makes 4 servings.

105 calories per serving

Approximately 3 weight watchers points plus per serving

IMG_8299.JPG

Tags: , , , , ,

Pork, Sauerkraut and Dumplings

8 Nov

This recipe was handed down from my mother-in-law. It is a comfort food for my husband, who remembers it fondly from his childhood.  I have to admit, I had never heard of sauerkraut and dumplings, and I wasn’t sure about it.  After trying it at my in law’s house, I had a change of heart.  This stuff is pretty good, and, it’s way outside my comfort zone, which, for me, makes it even better.,

 

Ingredients:

– 4 boneless pork chops, 4 oz each

– 1 cup original bisquick mix

– 1/3 cup 1% milk

– Chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups

– 4 cups, or 1 bag of sauerkraut, with juice

– Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1. Mix Sauerkraut and chicken broth in a crock pot.

2. Salt and pepper pork chops, and add to crock pot, on top of sauerkraut mixture.

3. Cook on low 5-7 hours.

4. Remove pork from crockpot. Pour sauerkraut mixture into a large pan (with lid) and place on the stove, on medium heat until nearly boiling.

5. Mix bisquick and milk in a bowl.  Divide mixture evenly into 4 segments, and use a spoon to drop each one into the pot.

6. Allow dumplings to cook for 10 minutes uncovered.   Cover with lid and continue cooking and additional 10 minutes.

7. Serve Pork with 1 dumpling, and 1/4 remaining sauerkraut.

 

*Note: this is delicious with mashed potatoes

 

Makes 4 Servings: 408 Calories per serving

Approximately 11 Weight watchers points plus

IMG_7959.JPG

 

Tags: , , , ,

Crockpot Taco Soup

1 Nov

This is prime soup weather, and it doesn’t get much easier than this delicious soup! Serve with a little 2% shredded cheese , Greek yogurt and tortilla strips if you’ve got calories to spare!

Ingredients:

– 1 lb lean ground beef
– 1 onion, chopped
– 1 envelope Taco Seasoning or 2 tbsp homemade taco seasoning
– 1 envelope ranch dressing seasoning
– 1 can black beans
– 1 can corn
– 1 can chili seasoned beans
– 1 can rotel original
– 1 can petite diced tomatoes
– 1 can diced green chiles
– 1 can beef broth
– 1 small can (6-8 oz) tomato sauce

directions:

1. In a skillet, cook ground beef and onions until done. Drain fat if there is any.

2. Throw all ingredients in a crockpot and mix.

3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Makes 10 (1 cup) servings.

215 calories per serving

Approximately 5 ww points plus per cup

IMG_7765

Apricot Chicken

29 Sep

This was good, easy, and definitely a repeat recipe 🙂 Enjoy

Ingredients: 

  • 4 (4 oz) boneless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup apricot preserves
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions: 

  1. Heat your grill to high heat and let it sit about 5 minutes before cooking chicken.
  2. Salt and pepper chicken to taste.
  3. Mix apricot preserves, vinegar, salt, and rosemary together in a microwave safe measuring cup.
  4. Turn grill down to medium heat, and add your chicken breasts.  Cook about 5 min on first side, or until chicken is cooked about 1/2 way through.
  5. Turn Chicken over on grill, and spoon/brush half the apricot mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.  Continue grilling another 3-5 min or until completely cooked through.
  6. Remove chicken from grill, and distribute remaining apricot mixture evenly over the top of the chicken breasts.

 

Makes 4 servings= 207 calories per serving

approximately 5 weight watchers points plus per serving

 

20140929-191814.jpg

 

Beef Stew Shepherds Pie

25 Sep

This is not a pretty dish, but it tastes SO good! I’ve always been intrigued and a bit weirded out by the concept of shepherds pie. I mean, why would you mix all those foods together when you could eat them nice and separately, in their own little OCD compartments??? It just seems so strange to mush everything together like that!! So, i thought to myself “self. i don’t think you’ll ever be a true shepherds pie kind of girl..but you know what’s delicious together? beef stew and mashed potatoes!” and so beef stew shepherds pie was born! It’s so rich, and flavorful, and hearty. This will really be great this fall and winter, and I’m so glad I made it. I hope you enjoy! PS you could make your own mashed potatoes and probably lower the calories further, but since i found these little gems, potato mashing has become a time consuming effort reserved only for Christmas, and days off. We do what we do to get the kids fed, homework done, piano, softball, girl scouts meetings, and school plays in, right? right.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of stew meat
  • 1 onion, quartered, then cut in half (so, eighthed, that’s a word right?)
  • 15 baby carrots
  • 2 Cups hot water
  • 1 packet mcCormick beef stew seasoning mix
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 2/3 cup frozen peas
  • 2 TBSP cornstarch
  • 1 container of prepared bob evans original mashed potatoes

 

Directions:

1. place beef, onions, and carrots in a medium crockpot.

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups of water with beef stew seasoning mix, and pour over top of beef mixture.

3. cook on low for 5-7 hours, stirring occassionaly if you’re available to do so.

4. Once 5-7 hour time is up, transfer mixture to a large oven safe skillet (cast iron if you have one). Add frozen peas and mushrooms to mixture.

5. Remove about 1/4 cup of liquid from stew mix, and mix with corn starch in a separate container, until mixture creates a smooth slurry.

6. Add the corn starch slurry into the stew and stir well with mixture. Continue to cook on low for about 10 min, or until mixture begins to thicken.

7. Microwave the bob evans mashed potates according to package directions. Spoon carefully and evenly over top of stew inside the skillet.

10. Place the oven-safe skillet into the Oven, and Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

 

Makes 4 servings= 530 Calories per serving

Approximately 14 weight watchers points plus

20140925-173914.jpg

20140925-173931.jpg

20140925-173944.jpg

Tags: , , , , ,

Ham and Havarti Frittata

27 Aug

This was pretty good, and it was really quick. I served it with some fresh fruit in a 1/8 serving size, but it’s pretty low-cal and full of protein, so i’ll list different serving sizes today, in case you’re a little hungrier 🙂 Great for Breakfast, Brunch, or Dinner, and Frittatas are versatile, so I’ll be posting more versions with different ingredients in the future.

Editors Note: I used a 10 Inch cast Iron skillet for this. I’m not sure how else you could make it, because of the high heat needed to finish this in the oven. Most oven-safe skillets are only “oven safe” to a certain temperature, so be sure yours will work in the oven.

 

Ingredients

  • 4 Egg whites
  • 5 whole eggs
  • 1/3 cup 1% Milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup diced onion
  • Diced Ham, 4 ounces (i bought a 4 oz pre-diced pack in the deli section)
  • 5 ounces Havarti Cheese (I used Boars Head creamy havarti from the deli)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to broil.

2. Heat oil in your cast iron skillet, on a medium setting on the stovetop. Sautee onions and diced ham until onions become translucent.

3. In a medium bowl, mix egg whites, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and thyme. Whisk until everything is well blended.

4. Once onions and ham have been sauteed, spread them in an even layer in the skillet, and cover with the sliced havarti cheese.

5. Pour egg mixture over the top of the ham, onions and cheese and cook on medium on the stovetop 3-4 minutes until eggs appear to be set on the bottom, and are beginning to set through the middle. Don’t stir the eggs. Pay attention here to the heat. If your heat is too high your eggs will scorch. I set mine on about 4-5 on a 1-10 setting.

6. CAUTION: USE A POT HOLDER: The skillet handle will get very hot both on the stovetop, and of course, in the oven.

After bottom and middle of eggs have begun to set, place the whole skillet into the oven and allow it to broil 4-6 additional minutes.

7. Remove from oven when eggs appear set all the way through and top has just begun to turn golden in spots.

8. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before slicing the frittata like a pie to serve.
6 Servings= 225 Calories per serving

8 Servings= 165 Calories per serving

Approximately 5 weight watchers points plus for 1/6, or 4 points plus for 1/8.

 

20140827-112717.jpg

20140827-112729.jpg

20140827-112741.jpg

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Stuffed Shells Florentine

20 Aug

This recipe is pretty classic, pretty easy, but not all that “quick” so it makes a good weekend recipe at my house. If you want to make it on a weeknight, and you’re short on time in the evenings, i’d recommend making the sauce, and stuffing the shells the night before, and then just adding the sauce, cheese, etc for the baking the next evening. Also, if you don’t want to make the sauce i’ve linked to here, you can use Prego Smart Light without affecting your calorie count. Any other jarred sauce will increase your calories.

 

Ingredients:

  • 30 Barilla Jumbo Shells
  • 1 batch (or about 3 cups) Marinara Sauce
  • 15 oz Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 Tsp Garlic powder
  • 1/4 Tsp Salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 Cups mozzarella cheese shredded (divided into 1/2 cup, and 1 cup)
  • 1 Box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

 

Directions:

1. Boil a large pot of water, and boil your shells until al dente.

2. Mix ricotta, egg white, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup mozzarella in a medium sized bowl.

3. Lay about 4 stacked paper towels flat on your counter. Spread the thawed spinach out on these towels, and top with about 3 additional paper towels. Press hard to remove all the water from the spinach. This is very important. Otherwise your pasta will be watery.

4. Mix Spinach into ricotta mixture until everything is well incorporated.

5. Spread about 3/4 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8X13 baking pan.

6. Carefully stuff each shell with about 2 TBSP of Ricotta mixture, and set them into the 8×13 pan on top of the sauce. Arrange them in rows. They will be a tight fit.

7. Once all shells are stuffed and arranged, pour remaining Marinara sauce evenly over the tops of the shells.

8. Sprinkle evenly with remaining mozzarella cheese.

9. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 min. Uncover and continue baking an additional 5-10 min.

10. Allow shells to sit/cool for about 5-10 min before serving. They will be hot.

20140817-164510.jpg

20140817-164518.jpg

20140817-164530.jpg

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →