Friday, January 7, 2011

Banana Split Delight

I have a wonderful new friend, Marsha Joy Baker, who has a wonderful blog that brings back family memories of my childhood, mainly the food LOL

She has on her blog a recipe for a caramel apple salad. I haven't been in the mood for caramel apples since I totally over did it during the holiday season so I ran to the store after dinner to see what kind of dessert I could make.

I found a few flavors of sugar free instant pudding so I thought hey, lets give it a try.


Banana Split Delight

1 regular sized fat free cool whip
1 small box sugar free banana cream instant pudding mix
1 20oz crushed pineapple in it's own juice

Slightly drain the pineapple, should have about 2 tablespoons of juice coming out. That can be tossed.

Mix all ingredients together (cool whip, pineapple and dry pudding mix).

It may look watery but it does set up.

I put it in the refrigerator for about 20 min and it was great.

It's a rich dessert so about a 1/2 cup will do ya good.

Enjoy

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bobby's Lighter Corn Chowder

I'm a huge fan of Paula Deen and her boys. I so want to be her :)

I see that her son, Bobby Deen, has been remaking recipes that are a healthier version of the original recipe, like I have been doing.

Here is a great recipe from Bobby that I wanted to share with you.


Bobby’s Lighter Corn Chowder
By Bobby Deen

240 Fewer Calories
35mg Less Cholesterol

Ingredients:
3 strips center-cut reduced-fat bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (32-ounce) container chicken stock
2 russet potatoes, cubed (I'm staying away from spuds so I'll use cauliflower)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (16-ounce) package frozen baby gold and white corn kernels (3 cups)
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons fat-free half-and-half
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
Spray a large nonstick saucepan with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned, 2 – 3 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.

Add the onion and jalapeno to the saucepan. Cook, over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour; cook 1 minute. Add the broth, potatoes, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Add the corn, milk, half-and half. Cook 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese and cilantro; sprinkle with the bacon.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Yield: 8 cups

Per Serving (1 cup): 167 Cal (15% from Fat, 23% from Protein, 62% from Carb); 10 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 27 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 5 g Sugar; 117 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 668 mg Sodium; 6 mg Cholesterol

Original recipe courtesy Paula Deen (Chef Jack’s Corn Chowder)
Lightened Up recipe courtesy of Bobby Deen and the Paula Deen Test Kitchen

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Progress in two weeks

I'm so happy.

In the two weeks that I've been watching, not so closely but still watching my intake of food and exercising at the gym in the morning, I've lost 5 pounds.

This little accomplishment is so huge for me.

Thought I would share.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Green Salad with Shrimp

I love reading all the wonderful recipes from Eating Well website. Eating salads for lunch is so refreshing to me and I love to have at least 1 salad a day. I know the dressing has tons of calories in the bottled version so I like to make my own.

When I came across this recipes I was delighted and had to give it a try.

I hope you like it as well.

4 servings

Total Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients

* 1/2 avocado, peeled and pitted
* 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon or chives
* 2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar, or white-wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, or minced anchovy fillet
* 8 cups bite-size pieces green leaf lettuce
* 12 ounces peeled cooked shrimp, (21-25 per pound)
* 1/2 cucumber, sliced
* 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
* 1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed
* 1 cup rinsed and chopped canned artichoke hearts
* 1/2 cup chopped celery

Preparation

1. Puree avocado, buttermilk, herbs, vinegar and anchovy in a blender until smooth.
2. Divide lettuce among 4 plates. Top with shrimp, cucumber, tomatoes, chickpeas, artichoke hearts and celery. Drizzle the dressing over the salads.

Per serving: 292 calories; 7 g fat (1 g sat, 3 g mono); 134 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrates; 28 g protein; 9 g fiber; 790 mg sodium; 843 mg potassium.