I'm in a fruit rut... mostly because I'm too lazy to come up with healthy low cal alternatives... My husband is getting annoyed with me because he wants me to eat something we can have together (he's coming around... just slowwwly LOL)
Pumpkin brown rice pudding (I have always cut down the sugar a bit and made it with skim milk, still comes out great)
Makes 12 servings
4 cups 1 percent milk
1 (15-ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups cooked long-grain brown rice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Toasted pumpkin seeds, optional garnish
Whipped cream, optional garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine milk, pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir about 2 cups of pumpkin mixture into the eggs; whisk well, then return all to the saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rice and vanilla.
Pour into a 9- by 13-inch pan that has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable coating. Bake, uncovered, 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Cooking Light)
1/4 margarine (65% vegetable oil)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 instant nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 regular oats, uncooked (or quick oats)
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 crispy rice cereal
Beat margarine a medium speed of mixer until fluffy. Add brown sugar and beat well. Add egg, corn syrup, and vanilla and beat well.
Combine flour, dry milk powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to margarine mixture and mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and cereal.
Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Drop cookies by 2 rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 36 cookies.
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Butterscotch Bars (from Cooking Light)
These are like rice krispy treats.
3 tbsp margarine (you could use light margarine if you want)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups mini marshmallows
4 cups rice cereal
2 cups whole wheat flake cereal
Lightly spray 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray. Measure out cereals and set aside (you can mix them together at this point).
Melt margarine in large saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and marshmallows, stirring until marshmallows melt and everything is well mixed. Remove from heat and stir in cereals (be quick). Press mixture into prepared pan (quick, quick, like a bunny). Let cool 1 hour and cut into 18 bars.
I got the calories down to 82 per bar by using a low calorie, high-fiber flake cereal in place of the wheat flakes and margarine that was 70 calories per tbsp. Since you aren't really baking these, you don't need to worry about the vegetable oil content in the margarine.
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Cornmeal Guava Thumbprint Cookies (from Better Homes and Gardens)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine (65% vegetable oil)
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp vanilla
guava jelly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. In different bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together until fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.
Form dough into 1/2 tbsp sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a depression in each ball. Fill depression with 1 tsp jelly. Bake until bottoms of cookies are brown, about 10 minutes.
You can substitute any kind of jelly you want for the guava jelly.
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My partner and I also eat pudding for dessert these days. I buy it in the pre-measured single serving packages. I get the fat-free no sugar added variety for myself and the lots of fat and sugar variety for him. No cooking, we're both eating the same thing, and my dessert is only about 90 calories.
Dreyers slow churn ice cream (or any low fat ice cream)....the sneaky part is that you put it in a small cone - 20 calories for the cone, 130 calories for the ice cream....I'm gonna go get one right now.
Dessert!!!
