Your New Favorite Oatmeal

This oatmeal is so easy and so tasty, and one of my new favorite ways to begin the day. This oatmeal is so rich and decadent, it tastes like you might be spending a ton of calories on it, but really you aren’t and instead you are going with a very healthy alternative. I got this recipe for oatmeal out of my America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook and couldn’t be happier with it. I switched only one thing, just because I didn’t think that it was really necessary, which was using butter to toast the oats. The original version of the oatmeal comes to 190 calories, 3 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber, my version comes in at 162 calories, 0.5 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber. This basic recipe lends itself to so many different toppings like: walnuts, pecans, almonds, cranberries, strawberries, apples, raisins, orange zest, flax seed, honey, figs, brown sugar, bananas, cinnamon and the list could go on and on. All you have to do is make the oatmeal, top it however you like – just remember the calories for those toppings still count! For diabetics the great part about this oatmeal is there is no sugar added to it, so dress it however you like, but at least you have a blank canvas to start with instead of those oatmeals that contain a ton of sugar from the start.

Your New Favorite Oatmeal
Serves 4

Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cup 1% lowfat milk
1 cup steel-cut oats ( I like Bob’s Red Mill – but that is just a personal preference)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Bring the water and the milk to a simmmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, heat a 12 inch skillet over medium heat and add the oats and toast stirring constantly until golden and fragrant about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir in the toasted oats into the simmering liquid and reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick about 20 minutes. Stir in the salt and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until almost all of the liquid has been absored and the oatmeal is creamy about 10 more minutes. Let the oatmeal stand about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy topped with all of your favorite things, and relax first thing in the morning – you have already made a great choice!

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America’s Test Kitchen – New York Style Crumb Cake

This crumb cake is amazing, and so much fun to make. The topping is crispy and delicious and the cake is slightly dry, in that wonderful coffee cake way. This cake is perfect to go with a cup of coffee or tea and is the perfect fix to any coffee cake/cinnamon craving. To make this recipe a little healthier I made a couple of modifications, I used Splenda brown sugar in the crumb topping and regular Splenda in the cake. For the butter, I replaced it with Challenge whipped butter, you could use light butter in the cake like Brummel and Brown instead to lesson the fat grams for each tablespoon by 2 grams of fat. For the cake I used white whole wheat pastry flour in place of the cake flour to add a little more fiber. For the eggs I used the original Egg beaters to replace the whole egg and egg yolk that was in the original recipe. Lastly I used powdered buttermilk in place of the liquid kind, it reduces the amount of calories slightly and has great flavor. The original version of this delicious cake came to 443 calories and 19 grams of fat with 0 grams of fiber, and honestly I don’t think that the cake is worth that — sorry! My version came to 181.4 calories, 6.2 grams of fat and 1.2 grams of fiber for each piece, a little high but much better for the occasional treat. Enjoy this cake the next time you have a craving for cinnamon and give yourself a pat on the back for saving so many calories!

New York Style Crumb Cake
Serves 16

Ingredients for Crumb Topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted Challenge whipped butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups cake flour

Ingredients for Cake
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon powdered buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted Challenge whipped butter or Brummel and Brown light butter, softened
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Egg beaters, original
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup room temperature water if using powdered buttermilk, if using liquid buttermilk – 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk omiting the water

Directions for the Topping
Whisk the granulated sugar, Splenda brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and melted butter together in a medium bowl to combine. Stir in the flour until the mixture resembles a thick cohesive dough. Let the crumb topping mixture rest at room temperature until needed.

Directions for the Cake
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, line an 8 inch square baking pan with a foil sling and spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, Splenda, baking soda, salt and powdered buttermilk, if using. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time about 30 seconds. Continue to beat the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs 1 to 3 minutes. Beat in the Eggbeaters and vanilla until combined about 30 seconds. Beat in the water or buttermilk until combined about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Giver the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and gently tap the pan on the countertop to settle the batter. Break apart the crumb topping mixture into large pea-sized pieces and sprinkle it in a even layer over the batter, beginning at the edges and working towards the center. Bake the cake until the crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25–30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan, about 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy with a cup of coffee and some of your favorite people!

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I made these special sweet potatoes as part of my mama’s Mother’s Day present and they were incredible. They are reminicient of sweet potatoe fries and really bring out all the wonderful flavors of the sweet potatoes without the need of anything special because they are tasty enough just as they are. They take a little bit to make, but they are really worth it! Also sweet potatoes have a ton of benefits like being a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber and potassium. I got this recipe from my America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. I modified it a little by taking down the amount of oil from 2 tablespoons to only 1 tablespoon and took the serving size down a little bit, because the amount of sweet potatoes for one person was a lot. The original recipe came to 219 calories, 7.2 grams of fat and 3.75 grams of fiber. My version of this recipe came to 96.5 calories, 1.8 grams of fat and 2.2 grams of fiber. Enjoy these sweet potatoes anytime you like, you will love them

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Serves 6, 1/2 sweet potato each

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes, about 6 – 61/2 inches long, scrubbed and ends trimmed and sliced 3/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon canola oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with vegetable oil spray. Toss the potatoes with the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a bowl. Arrange the potatoes in a single lay on the prepared baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, place the potaotes on the rack, and heat the oven to 425 degrees and cook the potoatoes for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to roast until the bottoms of the potatoes are golden, 15-20 minutes. Flip the slices and continue to roast until golden on the second side, 18-22 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve. Enjoy with a sandwich or a fancy steak dinner they go with everything!

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Mother’s Day Bread Pudding

My sister, Amanda, my mom and I for Christmas a couple years ago

Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all those moms out there! I was fortunate to be able to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom and we had a great night. To top off the evening of fun and food, I made my mom her all time favorite dessert bread pudding. This recipe is inspired by the Bread Pudding recipe in my America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. This bread puddidng recipe goes together very quickly and is so tasty, a perfect end to any day with your mom, but special enough for Mother’s Day. To make this recipe a little lighter, I replaced part of the eggs with egg whites, replaced the the sugar in the custard with Splenda brown sugar and replaced the whole milk with 1% milk and the heavy cream with whole milk. The butter is replaced with Challenge whipped light butter and tada! A lighter bread pudding was born. The original bread pudding came to 261.2 calories, 17 grams of fat and 0.6 grams of fiber for the same size serving as mine, but mine comes in at 132.6 calories, 3.6 grams of fat and 0.6 grams of fiber. A decrease of almost 14 grams of fat! Start serving up my version and I’m sure that you will be pleased with the taste and nutritional benefits!

Mother’s Day Bread Pudding
Serves 9

Ingredients
1/4 cup Eggbeaters Egg Whites or 2 egg whites
1 large egg
3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
1 1/4 cups 1% milk
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoon bourbon, optional
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 ounces (4 cups) french bread cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon Challenge whipped butter, melted
1 tablespoon ultra fine granulated sugar or raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray an 8×8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside. Whisk the egg whites, egg, and 3 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar together in a large bowl. Whisk in both milks, bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Stir in 3 cups of the bread pieces and toss together until the bread is well saturated. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Toss the remaining cup of bread pieces, sugar, the whipped butter, and cinnamon together, then sprinkle over the top of the bread pudding in the baking dish, pushing down gently to partially submerge. Bake until the pudding is golden brown, puffs around the sides and jiggles just slightly in the center 50 – 60 minutes. LEt cook on a wire rack until set but still warm before serving about 45 minutes. Enjoy with your mama on a “Just because I love you day.”

Optional Bourbon Glaze
Serves 9 – 27 calories, 0 grams of fat and 0 grams of fiber per serving

Ingredients
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 tablespoon fat-free milk

Directions

Whisk all ingredients together until desired consistency, drizzle over warm bread pudding as it cools prior to serving! You can add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of both the bourbon and fat-free milk to aquire the desired consistency without raising the calories of the glaze.

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Sarah’s Favorite Frittata

Sarah and I for our 1920′s birthday party

This frittata recipe is inspired by a recipe in my America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook for a Frittata with Herbs and Parmesan Cheese. I have made my take on this frittata a few times and everytime my best friend, Sarah tries it, she will always say it is her favorite frittata that I have ever made. The best part about this awesome frittata is it’s simplicity. I use fresh herbs (that’s the key to this frittata) and switch the parmesan cheese for feta cheese and automatically you have a frittata that tastes like something from the Mediterranean. Sarah loves mediterranean food, so it is a perfect fit, but this frittata is very customizable so don’t be intimidated! To make this recipe a little healthier I switch some of the eggs to Egg Beaters or egg whites, and use a smaller amount of olive oil. The original frittata comes to 191.2 calories, 14.2 grams of fat and 0 grams of fiber for each serving. My version comes to 125.2 calories, 8 grams of fat and 0 grams of fiber for the same size serving, so why not save a little calories and fat for another meal, this scrumptious frittata is the easiest and one of the tastiest ways to save a little.

Sarah’s Favorite Mediterranean Frittata
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Egg Beaters or 8 egg whites
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, Egg beaters, feta cheese, salt and pepper, set aside. Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until sofented, about 4 minutes. Add the herbs and eggs to the skillet and stir gently until the eggs on the bottom are set and firm, about 30 seconds. Continue stirring the egg mixture slightly until the top is mostly set but still moist, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the frittata top is set and dry to the touch, about 5-8 minutes. Run a spatula around the skillet edge to loosen the frittata and invert it onto a serving plate. Enjoy this tasty easy breakfast with your best friend, and who knows maybe it will become a new favorite for you too!

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Strawberry Refrigerator Jam

I found this recipe in my America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and thought that it would be the perfect way to use up some strawberries that I had purchased the day before. This jam recipe goes together super easily and is so tasty. With my dad being a diabetic, I do my best to keep things around the kitchen sugar-free or low in sugar and this is a great way to do that, without a large pricetag. The recipe only takes 20 minutes to do, and you can keep the leftovers for up to 5 days in the fridge. The only change I made was using a mixture of Splenda and raw sugar as opposed to regular granulated sugar. This change took the jam from 48.5 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0.8 grams of fiber and 10.9 grams of sugar to only 28.2 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0.8 grams of fiber and 5.3 grams of sugar, for each 2 tablespoon serving. For the same size serving of Smucker’s Simply Fruit comes to 80 calories and 16 grams of sugar. Take the next half hour and make a simple change by making your own jam, your body and your tongue will thank you .

Simple Strawberry Refrigerator Jam
Makes 1 cup, Approximately 8, 2 tablespoon, servings

Ingredients
2 cups strawberries, sliced thin
1/4 cup Splenda, granulated
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

Directions
Set a small bowl over a larger bowl of ice water and set aside. Simmer the strawberries, Splenda, sugar and lemon juice in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the mixture begins to look syrupy, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and spoon a 1/2 teaspoon of the fruit mixture into the small bowl set over the ice water. Let sit for 30 seconds. Tip the small bowl to one side, the jam should only move slightly. If the mixture is too fluid and runs to the side of the bowl easily, return the skillet to the heat and continue to cook until the mixture looks thicker, 2 to 4 minutes. Repeat the testing process and continue to cook if necessary. Cool the jam at room temperature before serving, about 1 hour. Enjoy on some whole wheat or whole grain bread and taste the summer.

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Chocolate Dream Cookies

These Chocolate Dream Cookies are inspired by a recipe that I found in the Better Homes and Garden Ultimate Cookie Book that my sister gave me this last year for Christmas. With over 500 cookie recipes, it’s hard to decide what I wanted to make, but these just seemed to jump out at me. They are almost flourless and completely worth the small amount of time it takes to make them, because the results will put you in a state of chocolate euphoria. I made some fairly simple swaps that resulted in a lower calorie and fat cookie which is what makes them worth it to me. I made these for the first time last night while visiting my grandparents, my Grandad loves cookies and I thought that he would really enjoy these, and boy was I right. As soon as my Grandad finished eating one, he was reaching for the next, which is a great identifier to a good cookie I would say. To make these a little lighter I swapped the regular butter for whipped butter, the regular flour for whole wheat and swapped Egg beaters for the real egg. I also used a blend of half sugar and half Splenda instead of all sugar and cut down the amount of nuts and the amount of chocolate chips. These small swaps really made a difference in the caloric numbers, and it was super simple. The original cookies came out to 140 calories, 10.2 grams of fat and 1.1 grams of fiber – my same size cookies came to 87.5 calories, 6 grams of fat and 0.9 grams of fiber. I know that I would pick my cookies any day of the week, especially because they have the same great flavor, for a lot less.

Chocolate Dream Cookies
Serves 20

Ingredients
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon Challenge whipped butter
1 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup Egg beaters, original
3 tablespoons ultra fine granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Splenda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium saucepan cook and stir bittersweet chocolate and butter over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool mixture for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl whisk together flour and baking powder, set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat together Egg beaters, sugar, Splenda and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened and pale yellow. Gently stir in the flour mixture and cooled melted chocolate. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop drop dough in mounds 1 inch apart onto prepared cookie sheets (dough will thicken as it stands). Bake both sheets of cookies at the same time on seperate racks for 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are set but centers are soft, swithing sheets to the opposite racks halfway through baking. Cook cookies compeltely on cookie sheets set on wire racks. Peel cooled cookies off the foil or parchment paper and enjoy a little piece of chocolate heaven with someone that you love .

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