Squash chips

Ingredients
One large zucchini or yellow squash
Salt
Other seasonings/spices of your choosing

Instructions
1. Slice up a zucchini or yellow squash and line the slices on a microwaveable plate without overlapping. You can make the slices as thick or thin as you want, but the microwaveable time will differ based on how thick you slice them. Mine are probably about 1/4 inch thickness.
2. Place a paper towl over the sliced squash and press down gently, dabbing away the moisture and dampness.
3. Gather any seasonings that you want on your squash chips. Use whatever you'd like - but you must have salt. I used garlic pepper salt and nacho cheddar seasoning.
An arms length away, lightly spray the squash chips with a nonstick oil spray. Then, lightly sprinkle salt and whatever else you chose over all of the chips.
4. Place plate in microwave and microwave on high power for at least five minutes. Check at five minutes, and microwave in one minute bursts after that if the chips are not done.
When done, the chips should be crispy, browned.

Letting them sit for a few minutes will make them more crispy. Store in an airtight container if not eating them all at once. Enjoy!

Nutritional info: 20 calories per one serving / one batch / one squash sliced

Chocolate Banana Caramel Chip Muffins

I did something right in the kitchen today. I created not only the most beautiful muffins I've ever made, but the most delicious, moist, most incredible combination of flavors. Who doesn't love banana and chocolate as a flavor combination? These muffins taste strongly of both, but not only that, they ooze delicious warm caramel as you eat them.

Um.. yeah.

Did I mention that these are made with  healthy ingredients? (Though they don't taste like it..)

This may actually be a slight problem, seeing as I kind of want these every day for awhile, now. The only reason I may refrain is so that I create more recipes!

Recipe yields 6 muffins.
Ingredients
    3/4 cups whole-wheat all purpose flour
    1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    1/4 cup splenda
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/8 teaspoon salt

    2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
    2 tbsp maple syrup or agave
    1/4 cup egg beaters
    2 medium bananas

Topping:
    2 tbsp kraft caramel baking bits or other caramel chips

Instructions 
Preheat oven to 350. Use two separate bowls and mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Whisk together dry ingredients. Mash the two bananas and incorporate other wet ingredients. Use a hand mixer and beat well until there are no clumps left. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix until you have a thick better and there is no dry clumps left.
Grease or spray a muffin tin (or use paper liners) and measure 1/4 cup of the batter into each cavity.
Evenly divide caramel bits onto the top of each muffin.
Bake for 25-30 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean in the center and muffin springs back upon pushing down on the top).
At 25 minutes the muffins will be done but moister. Bake longer for desired moistness.
Let cool or eat warm! (Eat warm or reheat for delicious melting caramel topping goodness.)


Nutritional info: 120 calories per muffin

Funfetti Strawberry Shortcake French Toast

This is taking french toast to a whole new level.

How do I even begin? This french toast is soft and fluffy like shortcake, with a vanilla-strawberry topping.

 Tastes like strawberry shortcake, and cake batter..

Breakfast just doesn't get better than this. It can't.

I'm still at a loss for words. I think I'm in love with my french toast.

Ingredients
2 slices of your favorite bread (I used Sara Lee 45 cal/slice)

French toast mixture:
1 tbsp egg beaters
1-2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp Da Vinci Sugar Free Vanilla syrup (optional)
1/4 tsp Betty Crocker decorating sprinkles

Topping:
1/4 tsp Betty Crocker decorating sprinkles
45g fresh or defrosted strawberries, sliced
3 tbsp vanilla yogurt

Instructions
Combine your mixture ingredients (except the sprinkles) and stir well in a shallow dish or on a small plate. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture, covering so that each side of your bread is drenched in the mixture. Sprinkle your first 1/4 tsp of decorating sprinkles over the bread. Heat a greased or sprayed skillet to medium heat on your stove, and place bread slices in the heated pan, flipping every few minutes with a spatula for about 7-8 minutes. Once they start to brown, you can turn them to a lower heat and to keep them slowly cooking and warm while you make your topping mixture.
They take longer to cook than regular french toast because of the yogurt in the french toast mixture makes the bread fluffier and softer than regular french toast, giving it the consistency of short cake.
For the topping, measure three tablespoons (or more, if you want) of vanilla yogurt into a small ramekin or dish and stir in strawberries. Once your french toast is done, microwave your topping mixture for 30 seconds on high heat. Pour your strawberry topping over your french toast and sprinkle with the rest of the sprinkles.

Enjoy your warm and delicious strawberry shortcake breakfast!

Nutritional info: 155 calories

Baked Gingerbread Cake Donut

 Light and delicious gingerbread cake donut with that unique molasses aroma.

And it's gosh darn beautiful.. look how the molasses shines.

Maybe I'm just weird and have gingerbread cravings.. does anyone else get those? This goes perfect with coffee.

Ingredients
Dry
2 tsp coconut flour
1/2 tbsp splenda
1/8 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
pinch ginger
cinnamon
cloves
nutmeg

Wet
1/8 tsp butter extract
1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp yogurt
1/2 tsp applesauce
1 tbsp egg beater
1 tsp maple syrup

(glazed with 1/8 tsp molasses)

Instructions
 Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then, mix wet and dry together, taking care to mix well until you have a nice batter. Gently spoon into a greased or sprayed standard size donut pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Glaze with molasses. Let cool or enjoy warm.

Nutritional info: 45 calories

Pumpkin Spice Powdered Sugar Cake Donut

I love donuts, especially powdered donuts, but I haven't eaten one in ages because, let's face it, donuts are never healthy. Unless of course they're baked and full of fiber like this one.

But wait, baked? Full of fiber? That doesn't sound like an appetizing donut.. or so you'd think.

However, this regular size donut tastes exactly like a cake donut because it is made with coconut flour. I really can't taste the difference. It has a light, airy, pumpkin flavor, with the same consistency and sugariness of a beloved classic powdered donut.

Best of all, it's only 60 calories for the entire donut, powdered sugar and all. That being said, feel free to double the recipe, make two, and eat them both. ;)

Ingredients
Dry
1 tbsp coconut flour
1 1/2 tbsp splenda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice
pinch salt

Wet
1/8 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp egg beater
1 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
4 drops liquid stevia (optional)

coating: 1 tsp powdered sugar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Combine wet and dry ingredients together, separately. Mix well, then gently mix wet ingredients into the dry until a cakey batter is formed.
Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray and gently spoon in the batter, working around the donut hole until the batter is smooth. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in donut pan for a few minutes, then gently remove and let cool on wire rack or plate. Once completely cool, sprinkle or brush a tsp of powdered sugar over your donut. Enjoy!

Nutritional info: 60 calories
*I used a Wilton standard sized donut pan to make this.

Breakfast Dessert Tarts

My favorite meal of the day? Breakfast dessert. Let's face it, I only ever eat dessert for breakfast.

However, often, I can't decide what I want! I want chocolate, I want warm berries, I want cream cheese, I want peanut butter...

 This is where dessert cookies come in.

I had for breakfast, pumpkin butter on a soft chocolate chip cookie tart crust, as well as lemon curd and cranberry apple butter on a warm blueberry cookie tart crust.

Yeah, this might become a daily thing. Oops ;). You're welcome.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp splenda
2 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp butter extract
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
+optional extras (berries, chocolate chips, whatever you'd like!)

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until you have a batter. Pour into two separate sprayed or greased tartlet dishes or ramekins. Add optional extras now to the batter, so you can create two different dessert tarts! Or, you can do it before hand, if you only want one kind, or before hand, if you are just making one big one. Place your crusts in the oven and set temperature to rise to 425 while cooking. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how soft you want the crust. I baked mine for 15 because I like it soft exactly like a cookie!
Take out of oven and eat immediately, spread on your choice of topping for warm topping (icing, cream cheese, etc) or let cool and spread! So many different options.

Nutritional info: 110 calories for two medium breakfast dessert tart crusts/bases, or one large.

(Better Than A Tortilla) Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

 

I happen to love pizza. I've made a lot of pizzas on top of tortillas for a low cal/healthy option, but sometimes I really miss pizza crust.

Today, I decided to make my own. I like the taste of whole wheat, so I used whole wheat flour, but you can also use all purpose, or a mix of the two. This is what it looked like after coming out of the oven,

Then, I threw my toppings on, and baked it!

Perfect personal size pizza with a healthy crust, that was much thicker than a flimsy tortilla.

I paired mine with a side salad for a great lunch. I also really enjoyed putting spices in the flour, such as parsley flakes and other seasonings. See what you can come up with!

Ingredients:
    1/4 cup whole wheat flour
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/8 tsp salt
    -add in spices such as parsley flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, etc!
    2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
    2 tbsp water
    1/2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin
    1/4 tsp butter extract

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425. Combine dry ingredients and stir. Then, add wet ingredients and stir. Don't worry, your dough is going to be a little runny. Spray a baking sheet well with nonstick spray and spread out your crust to desired thick/thinness. The thinner it is, the crispier the crust will be.
Bake for 17-20 minutes and pull out. Gather up the toppings you want and add them on to the crust. Place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Enjoy your pizza!

Nutritional info: 100 calories for crust

Magical Pumpkin Bread Muffin

There's a couple great things about this recipe. One, it's a giant pumpkin muffin that has a comforting, gooey, cinnamon fall taste.

Two, it's ready in less than five minutes.. because you can make it in the microwave. I'm not kidding.

Top it with pumpkin butter for extra yumminess like I did.. or anything you want, for that matter. Next time, I may just go with icing for more of a cupcake.

Ingredients:
Slice of bread (I use Sara Lee's 45 calories per slice)
2 tbsp egg beaters
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
1 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tbsp splenda (or sweetener to taste)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Tear up a piece of bread into small pieces and place it in a small ramekin sprayed with nonstick spray (works best) or mug. Combine ingredients together and beat well. Then, pour your mixture over the bread and place in the microwave for 2-2 1/2 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and devour.

Nutritional info: 74 calories for one plain muffin (without pumpkin butter or hershey's kiss)

Sweet-Wheat Blueberry Pie Pancakes

Breakfast is definitely my favorite meal. I  use it as an excuse to have dessert, every day, I feel like.

 

But I love warm blueberries..and I love pie.. and wheat.. and pancakes.

I have so many blueberries to use, it's not even funny. So, here's a healthy, single serving, recipe for pancakes that taste exactly like blueberry pie.

This recipe makes two, thick, medium size pancakes, at 130 calories for the whole recipe, including a tbsp (4 kcal) of Mrs Butterworth's sugar free syrup.

Double the recipe for more, if you want. I find recipes are easier to double or even make half a serving more than to divide by ridiculous proportions.

Pie in pancake form for breakfast. Mmm.. You're welcome. :)

Dry ingredients:
2 tbsp wheat flour
2 tbsp pastry flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp splenda depending on how sweet you want them
Wet ingredients:
5 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
30g blueberries
1/4 tsp butter extract
1/4 tsp almond or vanilla extract

Top with whatever you like! I used a tablespoon of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.

Instructions: 
Mix wet and dry ingredients in two separate bowls. Combine the two bowls and mix well until there are no more clumps of flour, and you have pancake batter. Pour into skillet that has been sprayed with non stick spray, on medium heat. Flip until done. (These cook faster than normal pancakes, so just be careful!)

Nutritional info: 130 calories for whole recipe

Luscious Lemon Cheesecake (for one!)

The flavor of lemon compliments cheesecake quite nicely. This is a nice, thick, and creamy lemon cheesecake all for yourself.

Oh, did I mention chocolate crust which is 24% of your daily fiber?

 I glazed mine with whipped cream..

and topped with blueberries! I think this is my best recipe yet, actually. The crust is practically magic, and I know that I will never crave store bought cheesecake again.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
half serving (14g) fiber one chocolate cereal
2 tsp almond milk (or any)


For the filling:
2 tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 tbsp eggbeater
2 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt
1/4 cup splenda
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp lemon emulsion or lemon extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure out half of a serving of cereal, and put in food processer until blended to the consistency of graham cracker crumbs. Or, you can mash up the cereal yourself, but it takes awhile and is frustrating unless you have something good to grind it up with. In a bowl, combine the crumbs and the 2 tsps almond milk and mix until sticky. Use a greased or well sprayed ramekin dish and push the crumb mixture down hard into the bottom of the ramekin and against the sides until crust is resembled. Set aside.
Measure and mix filling ingredients vigorously until you have a runny batter. Pour batter slowly into middle of ramekin until the crust is completely covered. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheesecake is firm and lightly cracking. Take out of oven and let cool. Refrigerate for at least an hour and then serve. After refrigerated, the cheesecake should be able to pop out of the ramekin very easily.

Nutritional info: 110 calories with light whipped cream spread on top

Lavishly Light Lemon Blueberry Scones

Starbucks has nothing on me. Their nutritional info for their blueberry scone frightens me (Calories; 460). But.. I want scones for breakfast sometimes!

I love scones.
This is sort of a double post, because I created a recipe for a small, well, sort of medium sized scone, for a breakfast side, and a large scone for a more filling version.

Nutritional info included for both recipes, cutting Starbucks calories by 67% with my large scone and 83 percent with my smaller version!
This scone is oozing with lemon flavor mixed with fresh blueberries. It's good, cold, warm, or even reheated.

 
One regular/large scone

Dry ingredients
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
3 tbsp sugar 
1/4 tsp baking powder 
1/8 tsp baking soda 
1/8 tsp salt


Wet ingredients
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp egg beater
1 tbsp applesauce
1/4 tsp lemon extract
blueberries (20g, about 8-10 blueberries)

One smaller scone
Dry ingredients
1 + 1/2 tbsp flour
1/2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tbsp splenda
1/8 tsp baking powder 
pinch baking soda
pinch salt

Wet ingredients
1/2 tbsp yogurt
1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tbsp egg beater
1/2 tbsp applesauce
1/4 tsp lemon extract
blueberries (20g, about 8-10 blueberries)

Directions are the same for both of these scone versions! Combine dry ingredients, and then mix wet ingredients with the dry. Measure out how much blueberries you want and roll into the dough. Drop onto greased or sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Nutritional info: 150 calories per 1 large scone, 75 calories per one small scone

Fluffy Herb Biscuits

Have you ever wanted one biscuit? Or two? I had actual pasta last night for dinner for the first time in a long time and I really wanted biscuits to go with it.
I wanted them to be good, though, like Red Lobster biscuit equivalency good. So I came up with this recipe.
I will never crave restaurant quality biscuits again at home, because they are now at my disposal whenever I want.

Ingredients:

To make just one biscuit, use:
1 tbsp + 2tsp all purpose flour
1 tsp coconut flour
1 tbsp milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk)
1 tbsp vanilla (or plain) yogurt
pinch of salt salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
Spices to taste (I used parsley flakes and garlic powder)

To make two biscuits, use:
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
2 tbsp milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk)
2 tbsp vanilla (or plain) yogurt
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Spices to taste (I used parsley flakes and garlic powder)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until the texture you get is bread dough. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick, and dollop onto the pan. If you're like me and like making food cute, set a cookie cutter on the sheet and push the dough into it and gently bring the cookie cutter up. These biscuits will retain the shape. Don't worry about their thickness, they will bake just fine and rise! Bake for ten minutes. Serve warm, or let cool and reheat later! These are great reheated. You can also freeze them once cooled and reheat them if you want to have some easily saved.

Additional Notes: If you want a more buttery taste, all you have to do is add a tiny bit of butter extract, or spray dough a couple times with spray butter. This won't add calories but there will be even more of a butter taste to your biscuits!

Nutritional info: One biscuit, 60 calories