21st Jan2013

The Quickest “Banana Bread”

by Dana

 Bananas on Cream Cheese Bread

I am almost embarrassed to be posting this as it is super easy to prepare, but so delicious!!

Ingredients:

Just a few simple ingredients:

  • 1/2  banana (you can always use more if you want it – it only tastes better!)
  • 1 slice of bread

 

Bananas in pan step 1

Directions:

  • Cut the bananas into slices
  • Lay them into a well sprayed pan and allow them to heat up until they being to brown on both sides, flipping occasionally
  • Toast the bread, spray with spray butter
  • Lay the fried banana slices on the bread and enjoy!

Or!

  • Toast the bread, spread with a layer of fat-free cream cheese
  • Lay the friend banana slices on the bread and enjoy!

Calories:

Total Calories of “banana bread”: 85

  • 1/2 banana = 50, 1 slice of Healthy Life 35 calorie bread

Total Calories of “banana bread w/cream cheese”: 94

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03rd Oct2012

Restaurant Choices: Cracker Barrel

by Dana

Last Saturday, I went to brunch with a friend. Normally, brunches make me nervous because, while I love the delicious breakfast (my favorite meal of the day, anytime of the day), it usually messes up my meal-time schedule, the portions are usually huge and screw up my calories, and/or I don’t actually know how many calories are in it because it was a local restaurant.

But last Saturday, I went to Cracker Barrel.

You might be thinking, how is this better?

Oh, but it was!

So, their calories aren’t posted on the Cracker Barrel website, but I have triple checked the calories posted on this site, with many others and they seem to be consistent.

Cracker Barrel Breakfast!

My choice?

1 Pancake – 110 calories per pancake

2 Bacon Slices

  • 43 calories per serving
    • I found one site saying 1 serving is 1 slice and my phone app says 1 serving is 2 slices. I think it might be per slice, but I was using my app, so I had ordered two for my brunch visit.

1 bottle of Sugar Free Syrup – 1 bottle is 10 calories! (1/4 cup)

Total?

163 calories! (especially, if you just ordered it with one bacon slice, unlike me because I trusted my app!)

(206 calories, if you took the 1 serving is 1 slice serving site and get two strips)

AMAZING!

I also thought this would be a super picky request, but apparently, it was an easy kid’s meal!

Sticky Sweetness:

Let’s talk about the syrup for a minute:

I have been one to slowly wean off regular syrup onto light syrup because sugar free has that weird taste to it that I just can’t get over. Because of this, I sacrifice a lot of calories for this picky-ness.

Regular syrup is ~200 calories for 1/4 cup

Light syrup cuts it in half to ~100 calories for 1/4 cup

Sugar free syrup ranges, but can be anything less than 35 calories in 1/4 cup

Now, I don’t use 1/4 cup on my food, but I still end up adding like 40-50 calories to my breakfast when I use it, which can be a huge amount!

But, I will tell you, Cracker Barrel’s sugar free syrup is 100% maple syrup and the taste from that is much stronger than anything from the weird sugar free-ness, so it was pretty good! And, I got to pour the entire little bottle all over my meal! It was 1/4 cup all for 10 calories! I even bought a bottle to take home!

Brunch again? Heck yeah!

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27th Sep2012

Single Lady Pancakes

by Mandy

Dana posted about her Cream Cheese Pancakes and it got me craving some of my own. My problem is that I’m single and I live alone. Wait… no…. that’s not a problem. But when it comes to food, it means that I don’t have a ton of things on hand that other people who share fridges and pantries might.

So, I make some really significant modifications to recipes that I find based on what I actually do have in my house. Last week, I thought I’d try making pancakes since Dana had me craving them!

Ingredients:

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1/4 cup egg beaters
  • Optional: cinnamon

Directions:

  • Heat a skillet to med-hot with some  non-stick spray.
  • Mash up the banana. I don’t have a good way to do this with my kitchen tools (another single lady ‘problem’), so I put the whole peeled banana into a ziplock bag and mash it up with my hands. Works like a dream!
  • In a bowl, combine the banana with the egg beaters. Whip until it gets a little frothy. This is where I might use a whisk… you know, if I had one.
  • Pour the mixture onto your hot skillet. I made about three pancakes from my mixture.
  • It wont bubble up like a regular pancake, but if you watch closely you can see the edges of your pancakes taking shape. This should take just a few minutes. Flip ‘em when you can slide a spatula under there!
  • Lower heat to medium. Continue cooking for an additional 2 minutes.

Finished product:

Calories:

  • Banana- 90 cals
  • Egg beaters- 30 cals
  • Total- 120 cals of delicious!

Now, if you read my post about carbs, you’re probably not surprised that I found myself famished about an hour later. So, if I do make these again, I’ll try to have some more protein. But, in all likelihood, I’ll stick to my eggs in the morning!

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27th Sep2012

Bacon!

by Dana

We found some bacon at the store that is only 20 calories a strip!!  I had to just had to celebrate this with you all.

All the Bacons!

We also cut the bacon in half and put it into a ziploc bag in the fridge.  This way, each strip is 10 calories a piece.  It works really well for us for breakfast because we often have room for 30 calories, but not 40, so having them cut into 10 calories a piece is extra helpful.

I never thought I would be able to have bacon again on my eating plan and am so excited to be able to eat it again! Tastes just like bacon and it’s so delicious!

Imagine your breakfast:

1/4 cup egg beater omelet (30 calories)

3 strips bacon pieces (30 calories)

1/2 cup potatoes o’brien (25 calories)

=85 delicious calories! Add more or less to this as you need! Put the bacon in your eggs or make a burrito, so good!

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10th Sep2012

Cream Cheese Pancakes

by Dana

I must share this with you! I found this on Pinterest (see their recipe), and while I thought it sounded a little crazy, I also wanted to give it a try.  Let me tell you… oh. my. gosh. These little pancakes are the most heavenly bites of cream cheese delicousness ever put in my mouth.  Even Nathan, who was really skeptical, loved them!

I can’t wait to eat them again!

So amazingly delicious!

Basic Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Fat Free Cream Cheese
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 1 tbsp zero calorie sugar

Optional Additional Ingredients:

  • 1 dash of vanilla
  • 1 dash of cinnamon
  • Small amount of blueberries/other fruit

Ta-Da! Pancakes.

Directions:

  • Mix cream cheese and egg whites in small bowl until blended.
  • Sprinkle in cinnamon and dash of vanilla, mix in.
  • Pour batter onto hot skillet depending on how large you want your pancakes to be – I did quarter sized pancakes.
  • If you would like to add fruit, now is the time.

    • Fruit and Cream Cheese? Can’t Go Wrong.

      Lesson Learned: With this thin batter, the harder it is to flip with heavy fruit, keep your fruit cut small and light to flip nicely. Even my tiny blueberries were a little heavy.

  • When bubbles start to form (just like real pancakes!) flip them.
    • This part amazed me! I didn’t think they would look so good!
  • Keep on skillet another few minutes, then serve and enjoy!

Calories:

Some of this is guess-timation to the best of my abilities.

  • Total:103 calories
    • ~11 per pancake/serving
  • Servings: 9 quarter sized pancakes

Calories Broken Down:

  • Fat Free Cream Cheese
    • 2 oz = 52 cal
  • Egg White
    • 17 per egg white, 34 total
  • Zero Calorie Sugar
  • Vanilla
    • 1 tsp – 12 cal (I used way less than a tsp)
  • Cinnamon
    • 1 tsp – 6 cal (I used way less than a tsp)
  • Blueberries
    • ~A little less than 1 cal each
You know how I said I couldn’t wait to have it again? Well, I didn’t! I liked this so much I made it again for a snack later!

w/Strawberries!

This time, I put a few strawberries in the mix and blended it slightly in the magic bullet. This helped keep the fruit from being too heavy.

I used 1 oz cream cheese and 1 egg white, but I’d recommend 1.5 oz cream cheese or a little less egg white, as mine was a little egg-y.
These three above/below were 45 calories.

Cream Cheese & Strawberry Pancakes!

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04th Aug2012

Holy Crepes!

by Dana

I had the craving to change up my routine and one thing I have learned in this process is to listen to your cravings carefully. For example, if I am craving toast for breakfast, I need to make sure to incorporate it. If not? I will be craving it all day and it could lead to other temptations.

Once I start craving things outside of my typical routine? I start thinking outside of the box on how to create that menu item in a low-calorie option, which is how I ended up on making some crepes the other night!

Thanks to She-Fit.com, I found a recipe for only 32 calories a serving.  With my whole wheat flour and somehow able to make 18 crepes, I got it down to about 30 calories a crepe.

I wanted to make crepes because I felt they could easily be used for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and dessert! I tried to come up with examples for you in each category, or at least ideas for each.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1 cup Flour (I used Whole Wheat, making mine look darker than regular crepes, but taste fine)
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 1/2 cup Water
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl!

Directions to make the crepes: 

  • Heat up the skillet on medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray
  • Measure out about 3 tablespoons or 1/4 cup of the batter
  • Life the skillet off of the heat and drop the batter onto the skillet
  • Quickly move the batter around so it forms a thin and even surface on the skillet
  • Put back on heat for about 45-60 seconds or until the edges start to curl (I tried to take a picture of this for you)
  • Once the edges curl up, it’s time to flip for about 15-20 seconds
  • Remove from skillet and let it cool

Edges are Curling

Calories:

Some of this is guess-timation to the best of my abilities.

  • Total: About 30 calories per crepe, I made about 18 crepes!

Freezing and Re-heating:

I love freezing food as it saves time and makes for easy prep later!

Stack it up!

  •  Layer the crepes bewteen parchment paper (or whatever you have)
  •  Store in freezer within a ziploc bag or container
  •  When you are ready to eat, remove from freezer and lay out on a plate –  needs to defrost entirely, about 10 minutes?
  •  Warm up skillet to medium heat, lay the crepe on the skillet and heat up on  both sides back and forth until it’s hot
  •  Eat and enjoy!

What I Would do Next Time:

  • Add a dash of vanilla extract into the batter for a little extra flavor

Egg Crepe with Blueberry Syrup

Filling Idea for Breakfast:

  • Egg Crepe with Blueberry Syrup:
    • 1/4 cup Egg Beaters, sprinkle of cheese, 1 tbl of salsa – mix together in measuring cup and pour into skillet and scramble. When ready, pour into crepe and fold. Pour homemade blueberry syrup on top. Total calories: 110
      • Homemade blueberry syrup – About 10 blueberries in blender (I used my mini magic bullet blender cup), tiny bit of water, puree.  Heat up in microwave for 5 seconds. Blend again. Can add 0 cal sugar to taste (just a sprinkle). Heat up again for 5 seconds. Stir. Enjoy!

Turkey and Spinach Crepe with Mustard

Filling Idea for Lunch:

  • Turkey and Spinach Crepe with Mustard:
    • Tear turkey and 3.5 slices of Turkey Pepperoni into bite size pieces and put into warm skillet and heat up, when warm, add to warm crepe and put a little low-fat mozzarella cheese on top. Add small amount of diced tomato, torn spinach leaves, and mustard. Total calories: 100

Turkey Potato Marinara Crepe

  • Turkey Potato Marinara:
    • 3/4 c Frozen Potatoes O’Brien in skillet with 4 tablespoons of water, covered, for about 8 minutes, stirring about twice. Add a little salt and pepper near the end to season. Add a small amount of pizza sauce and stir (a little goes a long way). After 8 minutes, the water soaks into the potato, and you may need to spray the skillet with a little non-stick spray. Keep cooking, striring, and covering until potatoes are done. Should only take 10 minutes.
    • Put into skillet and stir with potatoes: Torn up slice of turkey, diced 1 slice of tomato, torn up 3.5 turkey pepperoni slices, sprinkle of low-fat mozzarella cheese, spoonful of pizza sauce and mix.
    • Spoon into crepe, push sides of crepe into center and sprinkle cheese in middle, top with a spoonful of pizza sauce, a little more cheese, and heat in microwave for about 7 seconds.
    • Total calories: 190
    • Enjoy! You can always add to this to make it more for dinner!

Quinoa Crepe

Filling Idea for Dinner: 

  • Quinoa Vinaigrette Crepe:
    • Cook a little less than 1/4 c quinoa in low sodium fat free broth, as I have described previously.
    • Combine 1/2c frozen veggies, 2 slices of salami, 1/4c pinto beans, diced tomato into a skillet. Add the quinoa to the skillet at the very end. Calories before putting into a crepe with toppings, total: 315. Makes 2 servings. Per serving: 158
    • Scoop half of the skillet into a crepe, top with cheese, and a tablespoon of fat free vinaigrette. Total calorie per serving: 243
    • Doesn’t seem like a lot, but the quinoa and beans are really filling. You can also add more to it if you need.

The Inside of the Quinoa Crepe

Filling Idea for Dessert:

  • Warm Apple Cinnamon:
    • Well, I want to give this recipe credit as the crepe recipe itself stemmed from She-Fit.com’s site. I have not been able to make it yet, but you can see the recipe on her site and it’s only 62 calories!
So, holy crepes, I have made a ton of crepes this week! But, it has been a lot of fun!
Enjoy!
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23rd Jul2012

Winning Waffles

by Dana

Ever have a craving for a delicious breakfast but don’t want to spend those calories? Thanks to Laura DeLallo’s post on her blog LivingFit Fairfield County I found a recipe for some low-cal wheat waffles and had to give them a try.  One word? Winning.  We also froze them, lay them flat in the freezer and have them later in the week for breakfasts (instructions on how-to do so below).

Ingredients:

  • 1 egg (60) (can use 1/4c egg beater – 30 cal)
  • 2 egg whites (17 ea)
  • ½  cup white flour (200 cal total)
  • 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (550 cal)
  • 1 ¾ cups fat free milk (175 cal)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (I used no-cal sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil (120 cal)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon (optional)
LivingFit Fairfield County Blog states these are 137 per waffle (makes 4 quarters). 3 quarters filled me up perfectly.
They also state the waffles contain: 20g carbs, 2.3g fat, 5.3g protein, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 231mg sodium

Directions to make the waffles:

  • Mix up ingredients in bowl, not too much or it becomes too thin. Some lumps are okay!
  • Spray a little pam on your heated waffle iron.
  • Pour a little more than a 1/2 filled ladle into the waffle iron, close and let it do it’s thing.

Calories:

Some of this is guess-timation to the best of my abilities.

  • Total calories: (I used 1 egg and 2 egg whites and 1% milk): 1139
  • Number of waffles made: I managed to make 10
  • Total: 114 cal for 1 waffle
  • I added a tiny amount of low-cal butter, syrup, and strawberries, so I estimated my entire dish at 130 cal.  Either way it was delicious!

Freezing and Re-heating:

This part is amazing!

  • after the waffles have cooled down when you made them the first time, break them apart into quarters and put 4 quarters flat into ziploc bags.
  • Lay the ziploc bags flat in your freezer.
  • When you are ready to eat, preheat your oven to ~350 degrees.
  • Take out the bag and lay out the waffles on a cookie sheet for approximately 8 minutes to let them start to defrost.
  • Put them in the oven for 6-7 min (depending on your oven) and then flip for 1 min.
  • Eat and enjoy!

Update: Added calories to each item, total calories, number of waffles made, and new per waffle calorie count.

 

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