Chocolate Torte

This one came via email today from Self Magazine.... nice treat after a long week of working & working out. not too bad for you, either.... at least there's lots of FIBER!

Chocolate Torte
Eating at a spa, you get the best of both worlds: rich, tasty meals and luscious desserts sans the added fat or empty calories. Bring the delight of spa dining home with you. Bake this delectable treat and then try your hand at our other spa selections.
Serves 4

Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1/3 cup cocoa powder, plus 1 tsp for dusting
1 cup prunes, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup hot coffee
1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg white
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preparation
Heat oven to 350°. Coat a 9” square cake pan with cooking spray. Dust with 1 teaspoon cocoa. Set aside. Combine prunes and coffee in a bowl. Set aside to cool. Combine remaining 1/3 cup cocoa, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large resealable plastic bag; shake. Add sugar, applesauce, egg white and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla to coffee-prune mixture. Empty bag into bowl; mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before removing and slicing. Mix 1 tablespoon water, remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and gelatin in a small pan. Set aside until gelatin becomes clear, 10 to 15 minutes. Heat over low heat until gelatin melts. Mix gelatin, sour cream and confectioners' sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate until topping is firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Beat until smooth. Add a dollop to each slice.

The skinny
300 calories per serving
1.4 g fat (0.6 g saturated)
72 g carbs
6.8 g fiber
6.3 g protein

Weight Watchers Chicken Gumbo

Yet another recipe from my BFF.... she's doing something right when it comes to eating right... -63 lbs!! :) I can't wait to try this one!


WW Chicken Gumbo
serves 4

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet and add two thinly sliced onions...cook until softened about 5 minutes

put the onions in a 5-6 quart slow cooker and stir in
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs trimmed and cut into chunks
3 cups thawed frozen or fresh okra (we didn't have any, so I had a cup of corn and a cup of green beans both frozen, I just threw it in)
1 14 1/2 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
5 celery stalks with leaves sliced (I used only 3)
3 garlic cloves peeled

In a separate bowl wisk together
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
( I actually used a creole seasoning...just sprinkled some in until I thought it was good rather than the salt and cayenne)

Add that and then cook until chicken is fork tender 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low...

I just made some brown rice and a serving is 1/2 cup of rice with 1 cup of stuff!! I also added RED HOT SAUCE to the mixture...I could have had a little more heat, but it was good both as dinner and lunch the next day!!

Weight Watchers Beef & Bean Soft Tacos

This one comes to me from the Weight Watchers Queen..and my BFF - Tracy Rebstock.
Haven't tried this one -- but thought it looked good & worth a post!

WW Beef and Bean Soft Tacos - serves 6

Put 1- 14oz can of reduced sodium beef broth and 1 tbsp of chili powder (I like it a little spicy) into a crockpot and wisk together (recipe calls for 1 tsp...personally you can add or take away what you like.

Add 1 lb flank steak trimmed (or I just got the smallest I could find)

Cook on high 4-6 hours or Low 8-10 hours...

So, when it is done..falling apart...take the steak out, shred it with forks...dump out all but 1/4 cup of the liquid then put the meat and reserved liquid back into the crockpot and add the following

3/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (I have dried for this time of year)
2 tbsp canned chopped mild green chiles drained

Cook on high til heated through, about 5 minutes. I sometimes come home, do this and we won't eat for another hour...so put it on low until you are ready to eat!

so, you will need 12 7 inch flour tortillas, warmed
1/4 cup fat free sour cream (I am a fan of light)

top each tortilla evenly with beef/salsa mixture and sour cream, fold in half and serve with some additional salsa on the side

Tim and I used a little 2% milk cheddar jack cheese...less than 1/8 cup per person (well for me)

It was YUMMY!

Lemon Shrimp Scampi

I just found this one & am going to try it this weekend.... i LOVE Shrimp and love finding new ways to cook it & new side dish ideas. I have had a box of Orzo in my pantry forever....so this will be fun to try. Will let you know how it goes...seems too easy to be bad!


Lemon Shrimp Scampi

4 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup orzo mixture and about 7 shrimp)

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
7 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Preparation
1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.
2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.
3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.



Nutritional Information
Calories:
403
Fat:
10.4g (sat 4.8g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:
40.1g
Carbohydrate:
34.7g
Fiber:
1.7g
Cholesterol:
276mg
Iron:
4.3mg
Sodium:
549mg
Calcium:
97mg

New Cookbooks

I just received three new cookbooks -- two of which are Biggest Loser brand cookbooks (never fear Tracy -- I promise to post healthy stuff now!!) and one is Way To Grill - by Weber Grill Kitchen. So...here is my vow not only to myself and Eric...but to my loyal readers (all two of you?) - I will try ONE new recipe a week until summer and post the recipes & results here each week. Deal?
So keep reading.... and eating....and working out :)

Coming soon.... Old Bay Shrimp Lettuce Wraps...

Herb Infused Olive Oil

i'm addicted to dipping oil....when I was in Boston last year we ate at Pizzaria Regina in North End and they had crushed red pepper infused olive oil for their pizza. TO-DIE-FOR. So, i decided I would make my own. I did a little research (thanks martha stewart) and found an easy - CHEAP recipe. I watched Meijer for a sale on Olive Oil -- their brand goes on sale about once a month -- and purchased two small bottles to start with. The "pour spout" pops right out so you can add what you want to it.

Italian Infused Olive Oil

olive oil
3-4 bulbs of garlic - peeled
dried oregano

remove pour spout & drop in garlic & then fill bottle about 1/4 of the way full with herbs. Replace pour spout & recap. Let sit for a month -- shaking every few days. Oil will be good for up to a year.


I also made this with Crushed Red Pepper flakes and garlic - really good!

NEW!! Biggest Loser Grilled Chicken Parm

A nice lady at work brought in her Biggest Loser cookbook for me to see (and I turned around & ordered my own from Amazon...so more to come). This one caught my eye b/c I always have so many bags of frozen chicken breasts in my freezer b/c Meijer runs them on sale every 3 minutes. This was really good..and easy! And good....and easy :)

This would be a great George Foreman grill meal, too!

Boneless Skinless chicken breasts
Olive Oil ( I used my own home made herb infused oil...recipes to follow)
Salt & Pepper

Marinara sauce
Parmesan cheese
Provolone cheese (i omitted this...mine was a little green!)

Lightly baste chicken with olive oil & sprinkle with salt & pepper. Grill until chicken is done.
Place in baking dish - pour small amount of sauce on chicken & top with cheeses. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes, until cheese it melted.

Serve with grilled veggies (or pasta...if you aren't anti-carb)

This again ...was really good and really easy!

Fruit Dip #2

I made this yesterday & always forget how much i LOVE IT! AND....i always use the "free" cool whip and fat free/sugar free pudding mix so it's extra healthy. This one comes from the kitchen of my best friend - Tracy Hays Rebstock! Great with strawberries....or even just to eat by itself :)

small tub cool whip
one small box of instant pudding (i use cheesecake or white chocolate)
one small can crushed pineapple

Drain juice off pineapple - mix with cool whip & pudding. Refrigerate for at least an hour - stir again before serving.

Fruit Dip #1

This is an all time favorite - not sure where this one even came from, I have been making it for years.

1 8oz tub Whipped Cream Cheese
1 80z jar marshmellow fluff

Mix together & chill for an hour -- stir again before serving

Really good with fresh Strawberries or Apples!