Banana Applesauce Bread

This is a low fat must have recipe!

Banana Applesauce Bread


Ingredients:
4 eggs whites, beaten until fluffy
1 Cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup skim milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 Cup unsweetened or no sugar applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup rolled oats
1 tsp of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat pan with Pam spray and dust with flour.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. In large mixing bowl combine wet ingredients first and mix on low speed.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the mixing bowl until blended. Add chocolate chips last and mix on low speed.
5. Pour into loaf pan or 9x13 pan and bake for 40-45 mins
6. Let cool completely before cutting.

Some Tips
-You can put frozen bananas in microwave for 30 secs and then peel and use in banana bread.
-Putting banana bread in the fridge will make a cool yummy treat.
-This bread is also a great breakfast on the run! Enjoy!!

Thai Chicken Stir-Fry

This is super good and really quick! It serves 4 and the points value is 4 and then you serve it with rice for a filling meal.

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium scallion, sliced
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups green snap beans, each sliced into 3 pieces
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Asian hot sauce, such as chili paste (adjust amount according to how spicy you like your food)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat; add oil and swirl to coat pan. When hot, add chicken, saute for 3 minutes.
Add scallion and garlic; saute until quite fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add green beans, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and chili paste; saute until green beans are crisp-tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add basil and cook for 1 minute more. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Don't Trifle with the Power of Brownies!

I was assigned to bring a dessert for a church dinner last night, and this is what I ended up making. I think it was really yummy and easy to make, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I like how it looks fancy. It's always nice to have a good visual presentation.

Chocolate Brownie Trifle

1 (9X13 ") brownie mix
1 large box instant chocolate pudding
1/2 C water
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened-condensed milk
1 (8 oz.) cool whip
1 (12 oz.) cool whip--unfortunately, they don't make this size anymore, so you'll have to buy a
16 oz. and have leftovers
1 regular-sized Hershey bar (you know, the 50 cent kind)

Prepare brownies according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1-inch squares (these don't have to be perfect squares, you just want brownie bites). In a medium bowl, combine pudding, water and sweetened-condensed milk. Mix till smooth and fold in 8 oz. cool whip.

You're trifle will consist of three layers: the brownie layer, the chocolate pudding layer, and the cool whip layer. Start by layering 1/3 of the brownies on the bottom of a bowl. Now add 1/3 of the pudding mixture, then add 1/3 of the cool whip (remember that if you've bought a 16 oz cool whip you may want to use less than a third or the finished product will be too "cool whipy". I think that thinner layers of cool whip are better, but if you're a huge cool whip fan, feel free to indulge!

You should finish with a layer of plain cool whip on top. Using a potato peeler, make chocolate curls with the Hershey bar and place on top.

This is very rich, so it will feed quite a number of people. Enjoy!

Personal Savory Pepperoni Pizza

Okay so I recently discovered this recipe and now I am constantly making it. It’s a very low sugar meal only about 2 grams for the whole pizza if you are able to find the exact ingredients that it calls for and about 4-5 weightwatcher points. Also the kids love it. We let them decorate their own and then bake away.


Pizza:

4 (6”) Sara Lee Mr. Pita Whole Wheat Pita Breads
8 Tbsp. Ragu Homemade style Pizza Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella
12 oz. sliced pepperoni
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Warm pitas on a baking sheet in the oven for 5 minutes; remove.

2. Spread 2 Tbsp. of pizza sauce over each pita; top with cheese and pepperoni. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with grated Parmesan.

Obviously you can add more toppings, but remember that will change point’s values. Enjoy!

I Love Anything Wrapped

I don't know why, but I do, lol. I've recently discovered a few recipes that are pretty healthy and have great flavor. They are both fillings for wraps. Yum.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Directions:
Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

*I didn't have any onions when I made this and so I substituted asparagus (sounds weird, but I had a lot of it that needed to be used). I'm sure that the onions will be better next time I make this, but I was really good even with the asparagus.

Click here to find the printable version

Salsa Chicken Burrito Filling

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup salsa
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
hot sauce to taste
Directions

Place chicken breasts and tomato sauce in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then add the salsa, seasoning, cumin, garlic and chili powder. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
With a fork, start pulling the chicken meat apart into thin strings. Keep cooking pulled chicken meat and sauce, covered, for another 5 to 10 minutes. Add hot sauce to taste and stir together (Note: You may need to add a bit of water if the mixture is cooked too high and gets too thick.)

*I accidently added double the tomato sauce on this and it still turned out great! I was nervous adding all of the spices because I thought it might be to strong for the kids. I knew it was a winner when Grace loved it. She's the picky kid these days and she asked for seconds. She's even asked when I'm going to make it again.

Click here to find the printable version

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Well, we titled this blog "What's For Dinner?" and here we are starting out with a breakfast recipe. Oh well, breakfast for dinner is good, too, right?

We make these whole wheat pancakes pretty often at our house, and everyone likes them. You just mix it all up in a blender--no need to grind the wheat into flour first. All you need is a decent blender.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Put in blender:

1 C unground hard white or red wheat
1 C cold milk

Blend for 3 minutes or till smooth

Add to blender:

1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 Tbs baking powder
2 Tbs sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C oil

Mix 1 minute more. Pour onto hot griddle.



Now, if you think you or your family won't appreciate the wholesome goodness of completely whole wheat pancakes--or if you're pretty sure your digestive system won't, try this recipe that calls for half whole-wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.


Whole Wheat Pancakes
from ourbestbites.com

3/4 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour
3 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C buttermilk*
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs canola oil
1 egg
1 egg white

Mix these up like you would any other pancakes. Mix dry ingredients first then mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add the two together. The batter may be a little runny. This is normal.

Both these recipes are really good. When I made the half whole wheat ones for the first time, I accidentally added twice the amount of flour called for, but didn't realize it until I had mixed it up and added a bunch of extra milk, all the time wondering why in the world the batter was so stiff when the recipe had stated that it might seem runnier than most pancake batter. I even tried cooking up a few with the stiff batter and ended up creating a new recipe--"Homemade Frisbees" which the kids and I had a delightful time playing catch with. I had doubled the recipe in the first place, so by the time I fixed it all, (and used up EIGHT eggs!), I was amazed that they were still good, and with a sigh, added "eggs" to my shopping list.

I hope you all enjoy these and PLEASE post your favorite recipes here so that we can all share in the gluttonous goodness!