Soo Good You Won't Believe It's Low Fat!

I am in a deceivingly healthy mood today and these are two recipes I've made, one for a dessert, one for a wee "healthy" splurge, at one time or other...


I made this Cherry Chocolate Dessert courtesy of Company's Coming; for a gathering I went to in which there were a few diabetic ladies and I thought they should be able to enjoy too. It is split into 2 parts. First the brownie bottom, then the cherry topping:

Brownies:

• 1/4 c1/2 cup frozen egg product
• cup canola oil
• 4 1/2 oz. jar of strained prunes
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 baking power
• 1/8 salt

Glaze (optional if making not in cherry dessert)

• 1 tbsp. cocoa
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp. hot water

Beat egg product, oil, prunes and vanilla until smooth. Beat in both sugars and cocoa. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt until smooth.

Bake brownies in a greased 9 inch springform pan. Cool in pan. Do not glaze. do not remove from sides of pan.

(Typically one would pour into a greased 8x8 baking pan and bake in 325 degree oven for 30 - 35 minutes just until center is set. And for the glaze combine all three ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over warm brownies. cool. cut into squares.)

Cherry Chocolate Dessert:

• brownies (see above)
  
• 1/4 oz. Envelope of unflavoured gelatin
• Reserved cherry syrup
• 1/3 oz Package of sugar-free cherry-flavoured gelatin
• 14 oz. can of pitted cherries in syrup, drained, syrup reserved, chopped
• 8 oz. package non-fat spreadable cream cheese
• 1 cup Light liquid topping (such as Nutriwhip)
• Chocolate curls, for garnish

In a small saucepan sprinkle gelatin over reserved syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes. Heat and stir on medium until boiling. Pour into large bowl.

Stir in package of cherry-flavoured gelatin until dessolved. Stir in cherries. Whisk in cream cheese until well-blended. Chill for about 15 minutes, stirring 3 to 4 times, until syrupy and cherries stay suspended.

Beat nutriwhip in large bowl till peaks form. Fold into cherry mixture. Spread over brownies to edge of pan. Chill 4 to 5 hours until set. Remove sides from pan.

Garnish with chocolate curls. Cuts into 12 pieces.

~~~~

And secondly I am really enjoying these microwavable recipes and received this one with a Heart and Stroke Foundation "Heart Healthy Snacking Tips for Kids" flier and thought they'd be tasty and easy:

• 1/2 cup soft non-hydrogenated margarine
• 1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups rolled oats

In an 8 inch/2 L square glass or microwave-safe dish, microwave margarine at high power for 40 - 60 seconds or until melted. Stir in extract and sugar; mix well. Stir in rolled oats; mix well. Firmly press mixture into pan. Microwave at high power for 5 minutes. Let cool. Makes about 25 squares.

Here is "simplicity" for the day (seeing as it is still raining). It cooks up so nicely and makes a good dessert on the go.

I will be sure to type up a good opposite for later tonight. I am thinking perhaps a dinner or a salad to compliment the cake!


Chocolate Microwave Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold water or cold brewed coffee
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients. Combine the liquid ingredients. Stir both together till well blended.

Pour into a lightly oiled 9 inch square glass or pyrex pan or a microwave tube pan. Cook high heat (use turntable) 6 to 8 minutes or until cake tests done in center.

Cool completely in pan. Store airtight.

To serve, cut in pieces and serve with a chocolate pudding or sauce over the pieces.

shivers down my spine

I know its not a recipe but if you like dancing you sooooo have to go watch this on YouTube!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waSa7TXWgLY

Relative Frequency of Plot Devices in the Princess Bride as perceived by Fred Savage

(courtesy of graphjam.com and my love of the movie The Princess Bride)

Ok I officially bite my tongue... it has been raining for almost two days strait now... and our basement flooded... and I think it can stop raining any time...

I've gotten what I need to get done done and now I've run out of things to do so I've got a real hankering to bake! But we have no eggs so I had to get creative with the peanut butter cookies I felt like making.

My search results came up with these:

Alternate Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe has no egg or baking soda, and uses vegetable oil instead of butter / margarine; it also adds honey.

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy makes good cookies)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (or white sugar and 1/4 tbsp. of molasses)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (other flours work fine)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF
2. Cream all ingredients except flour together.
3. Add flour and mix sparingly (should be dry enough to form into balls by hand without sticking).
4. Form into walnut-sized balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Flatten with fork.
6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes.

They baked up great and are a nice addition to my cook book of the intriguing and yummy.

Bring on the Rain!!

Todays' post in celebration of this marvelous, humid, sticky summer heat: a recipe that requires no oven!!

Mom's "Peanut Butter Cups"

3/4 cup of melted butter
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
2 1/3 icing sugar (i only add 2 cups)

• Mix together and press into a 9x13 pan.
• Melt 6 oz. of bakers chocolate or 1 cup of chocolate chips and pour over top, smooth with spatula.
• Let set - then cut into squares. (works best if put in fridge or freezer)

Simplicity the Sugar of Life

So my brother and I were craving a snack today and I found this brownie recipe!
Definitely a keeper. Simple and oh so yummy.

Five Minute Microwave Brownie

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa

Directions

1. Cream sugar and butter together.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.
3. Stir flour and cocoa together, then add into egg mixture.
4. Mix well.
5. Grease a GLASS pie pan and then coat with sugar.
6. Pour brownie mixture into sugared pie pan.
7. Microwave 4&1/2- 5 minutes.
8. Let sit until cool.

Notes: definatley cool if want cuttable squares, and i found they really needed the full five minutes.

Here is a glasswing just in case you saw my likes and were wondering...

Go here! Go here! For a nostalgic summer memory...

http://www.nabiscoworld.com/smores/



mmmmmm s'mores

Mmmmmm OREO......

O.k. one more post for today just because it is hot and summerish and I am in a baking mood!!

I've wanted to get this recipe off my friend for a while and have just found out that it has been on-line the whole time! Way to go Mar. :-P (I'll still leave it for you to make don't worry)

Here is the marvelously dee-lish:

Cookies N' Cream Cheesecake

• 1 cup crushed OREO Cookies (about 12 cookies)
• 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
• 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 20 OREO Cookies, quartered

PREHEAT oven to 325°F if using a silver springform pan (or 300°F if using a dark nonstick springform pan). Mix crushed cookies and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently stir in quartered cookies. Pour over crust.

BAKE 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional cookies, if desired.

(recipe found at kraftfoods.com)

Berry Bliss

Good morning Star shine! The Earth says: "hello!"

I am seeing as I am looking out the window that it is such a beautiful day, an instant pick-me-up! And to share in such joy I really want to give you a couple berry recipes!!

First I found a personal berry shortcake which I find very cute and makes a wonderful presentation at the table...


Personal Berry Shortcake


In a large bowl combine and whip until firm:
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. sugar

take 1 package of sm. sponge cakes and slice each in half horizontally

To assemble:

1. Lay one half of each cake in serving dish.
2. Spread half of whipped cream over the six cake halves.
3. take 3 cups of mixed berries (raspberry, strawberry, blueberries, blackberries) washed and cut and arrange half over the top.
4. Repeat with next layer of sponge cakes and other half of whipped cream and berries.
5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Can be made large by using the 8inch spongecake and using the same quantities of berries and cream.


Secondly I would love to share my mothers trifle of which is wonderful for a large gathering or picnic... and you will definitely want to try some time... trust me :)

Strawberry Trifle

one 6 oz. or two 3 oz. packages of strawberry jello
2 cup boiling water
1 cup strawberry syrup (drained from frozen strawberries)
2 packages of frozen strawberries - thawed and drained
1 pound cake or one cake mix (white or yellow)
whipped cream (i use nutri-whip)

Custard topping
cook until thick - stirring constantly:
3/4 cup of sugar
6 tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
add 2 cups of milk

once thickened remove from heat then add 3 egg yolks and 1 tsp. vanilla.

1. cut up cake into cubes and line bottom and sides of trifle dish or deep bowl.
2. make jello.
3. put strawberries in the dish with cake and pour jello mixture over sides and bottom being careful and slow to give the cake time to absorb.
4. set.
5. when properly set put custard on top and whipped cream on top of that.

NOTE: You may decorate top if desired (fresh strawberries, chocolate sprinkles etc...)

Soo... I know I promised raspberry pie tonight... but I had a VERY looonnng/short night at work and I feel like a comfort recipe tonight... so raspberry pie will be saved for Wednesday... sorry to disappoint.

Tonights yumminess of choice will be the classic and versatile Toll House Chip Cookies :-D

Beat until fluffy:

1/2 cup of soft shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp. of vanilla


Add and blend well:

1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp. Baking soda (b.s.)
1/2 tsp. salt

• Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips (or addition of choice...)
• Drop from rounded tsp. full onto ungreased cookie sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees

MAKES 2 1/2 dozen

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood...

In the marvelous chaos of this sunshiny morning I have had no time to post!!
I attended a picnic; a gathering of sorts...which was sooo much fun! A bunch of ladies(the majority of who being elderly), food, fellowship and flowers!!! Ohh I will have to post the "name it" challenge we played, and... the recipe I have decided to post later tonight shall be for raspberry pie :D
So I hope you look forward to it!

I'm wearing my "FREE HUGS" shirt today so give some one you love a hug to brighten their day!!



Until tonight...

Miss S.

Ok ok one more for today! I can't help it.

These are dee-lish and everyone keeps begging me to make them so they must be yummy (oh they are by the way)

Bake Sale Lemon Bars
(my variation of allrecipes.com recipe)

Combine:

1 ½ cup flour
2/3 cup icing sugar
¾ cup butter

• Pat into greased 9 x 13 pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes at 375°

Meanwhile...
Whisk together until frothy...

3 eggs
1 ½ cups of sugar
3 tbsp. of flour
¼ cup of lemon juice

• Pour lemon mixture over crust while it is still hot
• Return to the oven for 20 – 25
• Cut apart and cool on rack.
• Dust generously with icing sugar.

Chocolatey Chai and Mexican Hot Chocolate morning!

So I woke up and decided to have a cup of tea... not just any tea might i add but Chocolatey Chai tea :-D Oh man it sooo quickly become my favourite tea! It's by Presidents Choice and is an herbal tea. I don't know if it's the carob or the licorice root... but yummm... I'm a fan of cinnamon and chocolate which is kinda the flavour of this tea but there is something more which just makes it so tantalizing to my taste buds! Now the way I ended up with this tea mind you is because my friend was thinking of me when she bought it but ended up not liking it so yay I ended up with it... all the more for me hee hee. So... now that my day has begun in such a marvelous way I can get some typing done... yay!


I was at my best friend Becki's house this weekend, we rotate visiting each others houses every month; definitely remind me to tell you about that venture later... anyhoo... I've come home with so many awesome recipes I just don't know where to begin!!

Oh hey! In keeping with the cinnamon-ish and chocolatey feel of this post I shall give to thee...

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE!!

• In a heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt 4 0z (125 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped.
• In saucepan, combine 4 cups (1 L) milk; 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar; 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) cinnamon; pinch salt; and melted chocolate; heat over medium-low heat, whisking, for about 5 minutes or until smooth and hot.
• Stir in 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) vanilla; and dash almond extract. Whisk vigorously with whisk or immersion blender with whisk attachment until foam forms. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Now I haven't made this drink yet but my friend keeps telling me how good it is so you must tell me about it when you make it.. I think I shall try it this week but please if you beat me to it I would LOVE to hear comments and suggestions.