Low Fat Banana Bread that Doesn't Taste Like Crap

I know. I KNOW, the title is really not appetizing at all. But, I've been searching for a decent low fat banana bread recipe for ages and this title sums it up. Really, it shouldn't have been this hard. Let me tell you, we've tried some pretty gross experimental recipes. This recipe is somewhat original, but with a little tweaking it suits us just fine. If you're watching your fat and cholesterol like we are, don't be afraid of the butter in the recipe. It's a small amount and much needed for flavor.

*Please note that Sam is in the background working on a Dakota Indian diorama. He went above and beyond what was needed for this project. I was so proud! He's taken to checking his grades online (way more than I do--I think I last checked in before Christmas sometime). He's become so responsible and talks to his teachers if he disagrees with a grade or finds an assigment that appears missing on SchoolView despite the fact that he KNOWS he turned it in. I guess my "be your own advocate" speeches worked! Sometimes, especially during these years, you need a little parental validation that you've done something right!

LFBBtDTLC

4 bananas, peeled and mashed (I just throw them in the mixer and let em whirl)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 TB butter, no substitutes

1 1/2 tsp real vanilla, no substitutes

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 egg or 1/4 cup egg whites

2 TB applesauce (unsweetened is best, but use what you have)

Mix all until well blended. Place in a large loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variations:

• add 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts


• dust top with cinnamon and sugar before baking or dust the pan after greasing with cinnamon and sugar


• add raisins and/or chocolate chips and bake in a 9x13 inch pan as a snack cake (check after 20 minutes for doneness) Sam's friends love this.


• make in muffin tins for better portion control, add streusal topping to wow and amaze your family


• use leftover (if there is any) or double the batch and use one loaf for bread pudding


• I LOVE toasted banana bread for breakfast. You need a toaster oven or use your regular oven, but it's yummy and delightfully different. The toasting caramelizes the bread. Top with orange marmalade... or not.

We always have unpeeled bananas hanging out in the freezer. We use them in smoothies, I bake with them (add to a cake mix, any flavor, with a little water and some egg whites and you've got a wonderful cake). They're a must have for us and a great way to use up the bananas that we don't eat before they start looking nasty. Freezing makes them look even nastier. No worries. The inside is just fine and the peel is the only packaging that they need to survive the freezer.

Our Daily Bread...Pudding

You know what happens when you're expecting company and you light a fire in the fireplace without opening the chimney flue? You have to make bread pudding.

It makes perfect sense to me. Let me explain. Smoke doesn't smell good. Bread pudding does. By the time Young One's friend was here to finish working on their social studies project, our house only smelled like cinnamon and vanilla.

We needed a little comfort food this weekend. This is a super easy dessert. It's frugal because it uses up stale bread (or the ends of the loaves that no one seems to eat that find their way to a bag in my freezer to perish as breadcrumbs for breading or meatloaf). I lightened it up and I think it could use less sugar if you wanted to cut the calories even more.

Tastes best served nice and warm. I usually plan to take it out of the oven right before dinner is served. This recipe stands alone just fine or would be lovely with vanilla sauce, caramel, or sweet cream.

Super Sweet and Simple Bread Pudding

6 slices of bread
2 TB melted butter
4 eggs or egg substitute or equivalent egg whites
2 cups skim milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8x8 inch pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, tear up bread into bite size pieces. Drizzle with melted butter. Mix all remaining ingredients until well combined and pour over bread pieces. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let rest at least 10 minutes before serving.

And to Top it All Off, there's an Ed, Edd, and Eddy Marathon TiVoedI Demand Hazard Pay

I've come to the realization that I would not be a good single mother. Not only are my math skills terrible (more later), but I couldn't open a bottle of maple syrup without becoming a complete ninny AND I burned the pancakes I muddled together for dinner.

I bow down to all you single moms who hit the ground running from the early am and are able to keep it up all day without kicking a puppy.

Normally, I revel in the travels of D, but he was gone all weekend and headed out Monday morning to San Fran and I'm lonely. To top it all off, Young One has large math assignment that involves fractions and I "do them wrong." Apparently, there is a method involving a grid, an automatic pencil, and an extra hamster to run in the wheel that powers my brain.

Deep breath.

And, on we go.

We're experiencing 60 degree temps here in Mighty Minnesota, weather we should have experienced last month, but it was snowing then. I noticed on the way home from picking up the latest release of blood and gore in video game form, that my festive fall arrangements on the porch are rotting. Lovely.

It appeared that someone kicked in one of the pumpkins I had jauntily arranged by the front porch. On closer inspection, it was revealed that it was, literally, crumbling in upon itself. Learn from my mistakes. Never pick up an old pumpkin. Use a shovel or backhoe or other farm equipment. Said pumpkin oozed through my hands. I swear I'll be off pumpkin pie for ages.

I'm a mess without you, babe. Come home soon. (And please, don't tell me all about Fisherman's Wharf or the sad state of your room service breakfast--you might find an oozing gourd stuffed in your pillow case).

Emergency chocolate is required. I may have already posted this recipe or a variation of it, but I'm too pissy and tired to look for myself. Deal with it. (Oh, and enjoy.)

Ten Second Emergency Chocolate Needed Brownies

A package of low to no fat brownie mix, No Pudge is good

Vanilla yogurt, fat free

Mix brownie mix with as much yogurt as it takes to make a thick batter. You know what brownie batter should look like. Google it if you don't, I have no patience right now. Bake at 350 until done (knife inserted comes out clean). These are relatively (cough cough) healthy and taste great. Lick the bowl while they're baking.

Chocolate Emergency

We have a delightful neighbor who doesn't like chocolate. I remember the first time he told us. I had to ask him to repeat it. Yep, doesn't like it. Doesn't get the obsession. Doesn't eat it.

I must have blacked out. D said that my mouth dropped open, my eyes blankly stared, and I was unresponsive. I just. Didn't. Get it.

I come from a long line of chocoholics. I remember my mom snitching chocolate chips from the pantry when nothing else was available. I've been known to drive many miles out of my way just to hit a small bakery that makes an exquisite chocolate cookie. My grandma has an odd allergic reaction when she eats it. She sneezes like one of the Seven Dwarfs, but that doesn't stop her. She indulges just like the rest of us.

When we lived out of state I had a fellow Minnesotan drive a chocolate pie from a local bakery across 4 state lines just to bring me my fix.

Yep, I have no shame.

Now, chocolate on Weight Watchers is a challenge. This is an old favorite. My mom used to make it when I was a kid, but it wasn't my favorite. She studded it with walnuts (her favorite and one I hadn't grown into yet), so that was enough to keep me from eating it. This version is sans nuts and I think could be lightened up even more. Obviously, I now love it.

I call it my Chocolate Emergency cake. It whips together quickly and with ingredients I always have on hand. And I know that if I don't have the daily Points to cover it that I can take a fast and furious walk while it's baking and come out even. (I know, this sounds extremely desperate, but if you're chocolate obsessed like me, you totally get this.)


Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Rich and delicious, this recipe doesn't seem like it could fit into a healthy lifestyle, but it does! Serves 9 at 5 WW Points per serving.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together:
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 TB cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar

Mix in:
1/2 cup skim milk
2 TB melted butter (NOT margarine)
1 tsp vanilla

Place in a greased 9x9 inch pan.

Mix:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup very hot water

Pour over batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

The Pie Plant... The Sequel

Rhubarb mania is alive and well at our house.

The last muffins I made were a hit, except that Young One thought they had celery in them and he got a little weirded out by that.

Apparently, he doesn't remember last Spring's rhubarb season!

I set out to make something that he would like and I succeeded! Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce is great on ice cream, but stands alone like apple sauce too. Young One is a huge strawberry apple sauce lover and this recipe is very similar. It's a great treat for those of us on Weight Watchers, but it doesn't taste like diet food.

Rosie Rhubarb Sauce

Tart and sweet, this sauce makes for a great dessert. Top fat free frozen vanilla yogurt with it and you have dessert nirvana. Delicious served warm or cool. You may enjoy it with a little granola crumbled on top. 1/3 of a cup equals 1 WW Point.

3 cup(s) rhubarb, thinly sliced
2 lb bag of frozen strawberries (sub fresh if in season)
3/4 cup(s) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine rhubarb, strawberries and sugar in a medium-size, nonreactive sauce pan; toss until sugar melts.

Cover pan and set over medium to medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil, about 5 to 10 minutes. Uncover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer until fruit breaks down into a sauce, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Chocolate Tantrums

When I first started Weight Watchers, I tried to fill my cravings for the things I loved with reasonable alternatives. I realized that my love of food wasn't going to go away. I was just going to have to change the way I went about making said food.

Chocolate was a challenge. By it's very nature and in the forms that we like to eat it, chocolate is high in fat and sugar. In other words: CALORIES. Give me a chocolate rice cake and tell me to call it a brownie? Um, excuse me? Munch a carrot and be satisfied with it's natural sweetness? Not gonna. Make unsweetened hot cocoa out of baking cocoa and hot milk? Are you out of your mind?

The marketing people of food companies know they have us fat chicks held over a barrel. Chocolate cravings are almost irresistible. I've been known to try every alternative under the sun and still not feel satisfied until I have the real thing. So, when they tell us we can have a quick fix for limited calorie expenditure, of course we're going to shell out the cash, right? It just went against the grain for me to want to spend that kind of money, though. Since I also don't use artificial sweeteners, it's made the chocolate fix even harder to score.

No Pudge Brownies are great. I love the convenience of the box, although the big pig on it is a bit offensive to me. I like that you can make individual size servings of the treat, right in the microwave. That's great for portion control. But, at about $4 a box, this isn't a treat that often finds its way into this cheapskate's cart.

So, thus began the quest for the perfect Weight Watchers friendly brownie. I know the search isn't over. The recipe below is just a jumping off point. It still doesn't have that crinkly top that ooey gooey brownies get. I'm working on that. I think that the addition of espresso powder would be nice. There could be some fruit puree balancing out the yogurt for added moisture.

Damn. I'm gonna have to bake again. I know, I know. It's a rough job, but I'm up for it.

Husband Bait Brownies

Sometimes you just have to have chocolate and sometimes he does too. Cut, set on a plate, and wait for him to find it. Serves 16 at 3 WW Points per serving

1 package brownie mix (Nutritional for mix only, per serving: 110 cal/2 g fat/1 g fiber or see if you can do better!)

1 cup vanilla fat free yogurt

2 egg whites

Mix all and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Do You Believe in Sabotage?

Sticky Toffee Pudding!
a low fat version

Do you believe in sabotage?

I don't.

I think that people may try, but that ultimately, it's up to you to stand firm. You can't blame anyone for the things you do or the stuff you put in your mouth. The blame game is a very dangerous route to take. A healthy lifestyle isn't just about physical health. Emotional and spiritual health go hand in hand with it.

My delightfully dear neighbor brought over Prune Cake made from a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I love her even more for doing this. Cause I just needed me some Prune Cake.

Now, that title just doesn't do this cake justice. Prunes conjure up images of constipated Senior Citizens to me. I don't even want to go there.

This cake, oh my, it's amazing. But, if you make it, be forewarned: It has 711 calories and 42.5 grams of fat per serving.

I read that after I ate a piece. AFTER.

If I would have read it before, I would have had a small taste and been satisfied. Nutritionally, it's like getting a piece of really good tasting lard.

I love my neighbor dearly and I know she wouldn't sabotage me. She doesn't have it in her. I hesitate to even write this down knowing that if she stumbled upon it, it would hurt her feelings. So, MEL, if you read this, I know that this was a particularly amazing cake that you wanted to share with your friend. No worries!

This whole train of thought got me thinking about sabotage. Self sabotage or by another person. Do you believe in it? Like I said, I don't. Not that I don't believe that people do try to harm each other intentionally or not. But, I don't believe that you can blame someone else for your actions, especially when it comes to eating or working out.

I don't blame MEL for every, sinful, decadent, delicious, moist, bite of cake. I put fork to mouth. She didn't.

So, back to the recipe. I'm determined to make this lighter. I think it can be done. It's a very sweet, rich cake as it is, so it could do with less sweetener. I'm thinking applesauce or bananas for the oil. Off to the kitchen to start experimenting. I'm thinking this one might take a while.

In the mean time, Sticky Toffee Pudding is a reasonable substitute. This is a lower fat version that is pretty darn delicious. Sticky Toffee Pudding is a recipe from my Scottish side of the family. Nutrionally, the original version is healthy lifestyle suicide.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Serves 9 at 2 WW Points per serving. You can drizzle with more maple syrup or vanilla yogurt, but those are not included in the nutritional total. I like it just the way it is, hot from the oven. If the dates keep you from wanting to make it, please try it anyway. It tastes like rich, caramel, pudding cake.

3/4 cup Dates (pitted)
1/2 cup Maple Syrup,divided
1 tablespoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Simmer the dates for 5 minutes in 3/4 cup water. Put dates and water into a food processor and blend to a paste. Add 6 tablespoons of the maple syrup and the vanilla.Transfer to a bowl, let cool. Mix in the egg yolks, and then the flour. Whisk or beat the egg whites stiff in another bowl, then fold into the date mixture.Put 4 tablespoons of maple syrup in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour the date mixture on top. Cover with tin foil. Put the pan in a water bath. The water comes half-way up the baking dish.Bake for an hour, checking every ten minutes after 30 minutes have passed. When cooked, a skewer or knife will come out of the center clean.Uncover, and run a knife around the edge to help it come out easily. Tip onto a plate, serve hot!

Kiss the cook. This one is yummy.

I'm not a Twit

I Twied to Twitter, Weally I did.

I can't get into Twitter. Maybe it's because the past tense of to twit is a naughty word. I don't know. I think it's mostly because I just want to live my life and not type about it in three second blurbs throughout my day. I honestly can't figure out how people can do this except that perhaps they have styluses for thumbs and have mastered the fine art of cell phone domination while driving.

So, technically, right now I should be twitting that I'm typing. But, I'm on a roll here. The thoughts are flying and I just must get them down. So, should I twit, thus ending this creative streak and forever banishing all further witty words to that blank space in my brain?

Um. No.

I don't even think I'm going to remove my account there. Perhaps one day someone will stumble upon it and feel sorry for the sad person who couldn't keep up.

Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying real life, in real time.

Here are some cookies. Cause you should bake instead of twittering. Really.

Somewhat Healthy Cookies that Even a Discriminating (Notice I didn't say picky) Kid Will Eat

3 WW Points a piece, yes, that's a lot for a cookie. But, when have you found a chocolate chip cookie that tastes good and will still satisfy the kids in your house and you can eat them without doubling size of your butt? Hmmm? Eat while you're working out and maybe the point count won't even matter.

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened (I'm going to make these again with light or Brummel and Brown and see what happens)

1/2 cup canola oil (could you sub applesauce. Damn, guess I'm gonna have to make cookies again)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips--miniature would be great

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, and egg. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips and mix to combine. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake 7-9 minutes or until very light brown, the centers will still be soft. Cool one minute on pans before removing to cooling racks.

I'll play around with the changes I suggested. I think this is a great basic recipe and could do with a little twittering tweaking!

Dangle that Carrot

I hate to work out. I'm finally going to admit it. I'm never going to be a Gym Bunny, let alone a Gym Rat. I will never have cute coordinating workout clothes, nor will I look glistening and glowing as I work.

I will, forever, be reluctantly working out while wearing torn yoga pants, an industrial strength jogging bra, and a red faced grimace.

I've finally put it down in print and I intend to stand by this. Like flossing, working out will NEVER be on my joy list. NEVER.

I will do it because I have to. Like I have to check everyone's pockets before they go into the laundry. Like I have to clean toilets. Like I have to make dinner when a yogurt cup would suffice for me. Like I have to clean out my car or weed my garden or nag encourage Young One to wash his face and not just wet the wash cloth to fake me out.

Today was one of the dreadful days. I didn't enjoy one bit of my workout, but I had a goal to work towards. Nope, I'm not talking about buns of steel. (I seriously doubt I will ever own a set of THEM.) Nope, it was a food reward. Probably, this is very psychologically telling of some bizarre eating disorder. I don't care. It got me moving and the reward was well worth it (especially since breakfast was meager this am)!

My piano teacher was a wise woman. She always called Spring the time of year when it was time to throw out the rhubarb that we had frozen last year, just to replace it with the fresh stuff sticking up out of our defrosting gardens. I think of her every time I pull rhubarb out of the freezer. And she was right, I am using up the frozen stuff! I'm not sure if rhubarb is a midwest regional thing, but I do know that when I lived in the South, I could find it in the freezer section of the grocery store by the frozen fruit.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Sweet and tart with a crumbly brown sugar and oatmeal crisp on top. I developed this recipe last Spring when the rhubarb was fresh. Serves 8 at 3 WW Points per serving.

1 pound fresh strawberries (if frozen, unsweetened berries, defrost and drain a bit.)

4 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb

2 TB honey

2 TB cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the above and place in an 8x8 pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the next four ingredients until crumbly.

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TB Brummel and Brown soft margarine spread

Sprinkle over strawberry rhubarb mixture. Bake for 40 minutes.

I usually put it in the oven so that it's done right when we sit down to dinner. Then, it's cool enough to eat when we are.

Diary of a Birthday Cake

Is it possible to make a Weight Watchers friendly birthday cake? Yes. Is it possible that said cake will be delicious? Not always. I fiddled with this recipe for what seemed like forever and finally came out with a final product that fooled the greatest critics, my two guys.

The recipe comes in at 6-7 Points per serving, but that's not what anyone will notice. What they will taste is rich, decadent, moist, chocolate cake with sinful peanut butter frosting. This is D's favorite combination. Regular birthday cake can top 20 Points per serving (most likely much more).

I figured anyone could call and order a cake. Homemade is so much better. And this one, I have to brag, was better than anything I could have ordered. Bonus that it fits in with our healthy eating!

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

1 box cake mix, devil's food
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 egg white
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp fat-free skim milk
8 TB margarine, Brummel and Brown
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix, pumpkin, and egg white on high in mixer for about 2 minutes. Batter should appear light and fluffy. Grease and flour your pans. You can make this in layer pans or in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake as directed on the cake mix box. Cool.

While cake is cooling, make chocolate curls. Melt 3 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 TB vegetable shortening. Spread chocolate on cookie sheet and freeze until chocolate no longer shows a fingerprint when pressed. Using a spatula (to make big curls) or a citrus zester (which is what I used), make curls or chocolate spaghetti (as Young One put it!) Simply push the chocolate with the spatula or quickly pull your zester through it. If it breaks, the chocolate is too cold. If it melts, it's too warm. Take in and out of the freezer at will! Place chocolate curls in the freezer until ready to use.

While chocolate is in the freezer, make the peanut butter frosting. Remember the recipe that's way up above, well, look at it again, OK? Using a mixer, mix the peanut butter, Brummel and Brown margarine, vanilla, powdered sugar, and 3 TB of milk. Mix until well combined. Add a little more milk if it's too stiff to spread. Dip finger in and appreciate your mastery.

Go ahead, lick the screen. You know you want to.

Spread on cake, decorate with chocolate curls. Add trick candles that relight every time they are blown out. Sing Happy Birthday. Eat. Hug. Love your family.

Slowing Down When You Want to Just Get it Done

I can't even tell you how much this blogger's post meant to me. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all I needed to do. I had also just had a conversation with someone who made me feel like my work at home couldn't possibly be as rewarding as working outside the home. Funny that she seemed to forget that I used to be a Mompreneur, working 24/7 for my business. I've been on both sides of the Mommy Wars (working vs. working at home). Neither side is easier or harder (so stop fighting ladies).

Down to Earth is a blog that I just adore. It's author and her husband live in Australia and live a mindful, simple life. Her post The Secret Life of a Happy Homemaker was so wonderful. She talks about slowing down and being more present in your work.

I did just that yesterday and it made my day so much happier and productive. I couldn't believe it. Just focusing on the present and not worrying or thinking about all the things that I have to get done was wonderful. I think I worked better and I know I worked happier. I also took a lot more pleasure in the reward of seeing a job well done.

I've talked a lot about the relentlessness of the work of homemaking. When it gets down to it, I'm making a home: the place that my little family feels the happiest and most content. What better job could there be? I'm going to pay less attention to the relentlessness and more to the happy making.

Please check out Down to Earth. I think you'll really enjoy exploring her world. I am eternally grateful to her for giving me a new look at my life.

In her honor, I offer a recipe featuring a fruit that not only is she able to grow in her climate, BUT she took 2 years doing so!

Broiled Pineapple
One of my favorite fruits, pineapple tastes fantastic broiled or grilled. It caramelizes it's natural sugars and is delicious served right out of the oven. Serves 6 at 1 WW Point per serving. If you're like me and enjoy eating fresh pineapple often, you must invest in a Pineapple Corer and Slicer. You can have a pineapple ready to serve in just a few seconds!

1 large pineapple
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Lime wedges

Peel pineapple. With a sharp knife, cut it crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Brush the slices lightly with 1 teaspoon oil and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Turn slices over, brush with remaining teaspoon oil and broil for 5 to 7 minutes longer. Immediately sprinkle pineapple with brown sugar. Cut into chunks and serve with lime wedges.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 68 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrate; 0 g protein; 1 g fiber; 1 mg sodium.; 90 mg potassium

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles! Fun to say and fun to eat.

I knew when I found the blog Snickerdoodles, that I had met a kindred spirit. You simply must visit. She's a talented writer, wonderful mom, and amazing artist.

I just won a give away on her blog and I'm thrilled. So thrilled, that I just had to bake some cookies in her honor. (We Weight Watchers gals are great at rationalizations.)

Here's my favorite Snickerdoodles recipe. Have these fresh out of the oven when your kids get home and you'll get some big smiles!



Snickerdoodles
Cinnamon and sugar dusted, chewy vanilla cookies. They won't last long. 2 WW Points per cookie.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

I Heart You

We aren't big Valentine's Day celebrators. I've always seen it as a great marketing opportunity for companies. Flower companies, greeting card companies, and just about everyone else make you feel guilty if you're not spending a ton this time of year.

We all know, the greatest things in life are free, so to me, spending a lot on the greatest thing of life--LOVE--seems silly to me.

We'll hold each other close on Saturday. There might be a card, homemade or not. There may be flowers. There may be heart shaped pancakes in the morning, but most likely they'll look like misshapen blobs. I'll make a special dinner and maybe we'll crack open a bottle of bubbly that some friends of ours made and shared with us.

It certainly won't be a material holiday. In fact, I wouldn't go near a restaurant or anything deemed "romantic". We'll celebrate with our son. Maybe hit the movies. We'll just be together, that's all I could wish for.

My mom and her cousins hit White Castle every year. I think it's hysterical. It's become so popular that reservations are now required. They put white tablecloths on the tables and I believe there is candlelight and the workers dress up. What started as a joke celebration has turned out to be something bigger and more and more people go every year. Sliders all around and maybe a little heartburn later in keeping with the holiday's theme.

The most important thing to remember is that you can't put a price on love. With a little thought, you can make the day special without spending much if anything.

This is a dessert that my mom made throughout my childhood. There's very little fat and so is a very Weight Watchers friendly dessert. Put it in the oven right before you're ready to have dinner and it will be ready at dessert time. I think it would be the perfect ending to a homemade romantic or love filled family dinner.

Moms Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

Rich chocolate pudding on the bottom, decadent fudge cake on the top. You can make this in the crock pot too. Serves 12 at 3 Weight Watchers Points per serving.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In ungreased 9 inch square pan, stir together flour, white sugar, cocoa, the baking powder, and salt. Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla with a fork until smooth.
Spread batter evenly in pan (batter will be thick). Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Pour boiling water over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes, then spoon into dessert dishes or cut into squares. Invert each square onto dessert plate and spoon sauce over each serving. Top with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Want to control your portions and really make a wowie zowie kapowie impression on your loves? Well, bake these cakes in ramekins or coffee mugs. Each cup will get two tablespoons of batter, 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa mixture and two tablespoons of boiling water. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are cracked. Cool slightly, top with mini marshmallows and broil until marshmallows are browned like you toasted over them the most perfect campfire (without turning them into horse crap, like we always did as kids, allowing them to burn to a crisp). Marshmallows are not included in the Point count.

Remember that List I'm Supposed to Be On?Well, I'm Not On It.

I was bored today. I did all the usual morning routine. I worked out. I put away several loads of laundry. I pulled recyclables out of the trash and growled at my little family (even thought they weren't home) as I was doing so. I spent an hour or two clipping coupons and menu planning around the grocery ad sales. I cleaned two bathrooms and dusted our bedroom. I made Zero Points Soup and put it in the crock pot. My version is similar to this, although, it's more like Clean Out the Cupboards, Refrigerator, and Freezer Soup. I fought with the printer. I scrubbed two mystery stains out of the carpet. I sorted through a ton of junk mail. I filled out a ton of forms for school. I made sure Middle School registration was signed, sealed, delivered. Every bit of it was yawn city.

I wanted to write, to do a few sewing projects (I'm a sloppy sewer, but I have a great idea for a re-tilized object that I'm just dying to try), and I wanted to sit and chat on the phone with a friend. Every time I felt like I would get close to getting things done so that I could do something for me, I'd see something else to do.

I'm supposed to be putting myself back on the list, but it's not working very well. I'll try to do better tomorrow. I think I have such a hard time, especially with writing, when I look around and see unfinished stuff. I know my house will never be completely done. Lord knows, it will never be completely picked up or clean. Maybe I need to leave to write. I don't know.

Why do I feel guilty taking time out of my "work" day to work on something for me? When I owned my business I felt guilty every minute that I didn't work on the business. Are you sensing a pattern here?

My work day as a stay at home mom often goes on longer than my husbands, but it's much more flexible than his. And I'm thankful every day that I'm back here at home where I'm meant to be. But, the boredom. It can be relentless some days. I think I cleaned the kitchen four times today. Make a mess, clean up a mess. Make a mess, clean up a mess, throw in a load of laundry. None of it is rocket science. I honestly do get a great deal out of being at home. I do. This is just a challenge that I'd forgotten about when I was barely keeping my head above water working more than full time.

Ugh.

So, this is the one thing I did for me today. I was craving apple pie today. Not just any apple pie. My mom's. With her homemade crust and delicious filling that only a woman who owned 300 apple trees could perfect. Knowing just how many WW Points that would be, I decided I needed something similar. Baked apples it is.

They don't photograph real well, but man were they delicious.

Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Growing up with 300 apple trees meant we ate a lot of apples. Mom, however, didn't make a lot of baked apples. She didn't like them. Dad and I did! This recipe filled a craving for apple pie and it's definitely a keeper. Serves 4 at 2 Weight Watchers Points per Serving.

4 medium apple(s), cored
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz fat-free instant vanilla pudding mix, about 2 Tbsp
3/4 cup fat-free skim milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash and core apples. Place apples in a 9 X 9-inch baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger and sugar. Place 1 tablespoon of cinnamon mixture in cored-out center of each apple; sprinkle remaining cinnamon mixture over apples. Combine water and lemon juice in a cup; pour liquid around apples.
Bake until apples are soft when pierced with a knife, about 15 to 20 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.
Pour pudding mix into a medium bowl; whisk in milk to make a fairly thin sauce. Place one apple on a plate and drizzle with sauce. Yields 1 apple and about 1/4 cup of sauce per serving.

Snowball's Big Adventure

(Disclaimer: The above hamster is not ours. It's a stunt double. Snowball's privacy is very important to her and so, she would not be photographed. Actually, she's tunneled into her little den and is soundly sleeping. I would imagine she may remain that way for some time. She's been through a lot.)


Young One has a rodent pet hamster in his room. Well, we thought she was in his room. Five days ago, D and Young One cleaned out her cage and left the back door open. You can see where this is going, can't you?

I don't pay much attention to her. It took a Valium (I'm kidding) and Lamaze breathing for me to even be able to hold her. D is still terrified of her, although he won't admit it. We both grew up in the country, so the only little furry critters we knew of in our houses were caught in traps. I find it hysterical that D won't hold her. He gets all tense and clenches his teeth and says repeatedly, words firing rapidly, "I'm good. I'm good. No, really, I'm good. She's cute. I'm good."

This morning D was stumbling to the basement in search of something when he caught a white streak out of the corner of his eye. I'm sure he gasped, perhaps shrieked. I'm picturing a housewife on a chair in a Tom and Jerry cartoon reaction. I heard the story a half an hour after it happened, so he'd had plenty of time to calm down and act all manly about it. Of course he wouldn't pick her up, so he had to get Young One. But, first he had to take a closer look to make sure that we didn't have a new species of infestation. Nope, short tail, calmly approaching the human in search of a treat, it was Snowball.

Young One swooped in to the rescue getting her back, safely to her cage.

We wondered why she wasn't eating much this week!

I can only wonder what she did for the last five, FIVE, days. This was a big adventure for her, down two stories, foraging for food (oh man, please tell me she ate dog food out of the dish). She's nocturnal, so this all took place under the cover of night. Maybe she partied, dancing and enjoying her freedom. I can picture a little tiny disco ball spinning while she assumes the Saturday Night Fever pose. I hope she's a he (we're really not sure of her sex having not looked very closely at her girl or boy parts--something I really don't want to add to my list of life experiences). We have had little grey mice in the house, so if in a few weeks (months?) we have a litter of little grey and white Hammouses I'll either have to figure out how to sell this new species to the designer dog girls with their giant handbags or we'll be making a little trip to the humane society.


Snowballs
These cookies come in at one point each, but you won't be able to tell. They're very rich and packed with fruit, something that our Snowball really loves. In fact, aside from the All-Bran and the sugar, she would love these!

4 cups All-Bran
1 cup pitted dried plums
1-2/3 cups raisins
1-1/2 cups dried apricots
2 cups chopped pecans
Confectioners' sugar

Place cereal and prunes in a food processor or blender; cover and process until cereal is crumbled. Add raisins, apricots and pecans; process until finely chopped. Shape in 1-in. balls; roll in confectioners' sugar. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Roll in sugar before serving. Yield: about 5-1/2 dozen.

One serving:
One piece
Calories:
59
Fat:
3 g
Saturated Fat:
0 g
Cholesterol:
0 mg
Sodium:
10 mg
Carbohydrate:
10 g
Fiber:
2 g
Protein:
1 g

Black Bean Brownies?

This recipe makes the rounds at Weight Watchers Meetings and online on the message boards. I've avoided it because I just can't get around the fact that there are beans in the brownies. I'm all for pumpkin in my chocolate cake and zucchini squash in my muffins, but this one was a tough sell for me.

Little did I know they would be so delicious. Low in WW Points because the beans are so high in fiber, you won't notice there are legumes in your dessert.

Black Bean Brownies

1 can (15oz)black beans
1 box (16 oz) plain brownie mix
2 egg whites

Process black beans in food processor till smooth. Add to dry brownie mix with egg whites and stir till mixed. Bake in 9 x 13 pan sprayed with PAM. Bake at 350 for 15-18 min. minutes or as directed on the brownie box.

I'm a Little Late with This One

As you have read, I OD'd on gravy this Thanksgiving, but for some reason, I haven't met my pumpkin quota. Still craving pumpkin pie, I had to come up with something.

Actually, this recipe is the result of buying way too much bread for stuffing. I HAD to make it to use up the bread! It's a very Weight Watchers friendly recipe, coming in at about 4 WW Points per generous serving. (The recipe nutritional information included raisins and I left them out, so actually, my version is probably closer to 3 WW Points per serving) I wish I would have made it for the holiday because it really is delicious. You could add nuts, golden raisins or currents, or dried cranberries might be nice.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

8 slices whole wheat bread--about 8 cups of any kind of stale bread
1 cup egg substitute or egg whites
2 1/4 cups skim milk
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly oil a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside.
Crumble the bread by hand or food processor to make bread crumbs.
Combine the egg substitute, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, spices and vanilla.
Fold in raisins and bread crumbs. I think it's necessary to let the bread soak up the custard for a bit (15-30 minutes). It worked really well to put this in the oven about a half an hour before dinner is done. That way it's cool enough to enjoy shortly after
Pour mixture into prepared casserole and set dish in larger baking dish which has been partially filled with hot water.
Bake 40 minutes to 1 hour (mine was done very quickly) or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

The Five

Sight

Land of a Hundred Wonders by Lesley Kagen

Gibby survived an auto accident that claimed the lives of both of her parents. She survived, but she's NQR (not quite right) and now lives with her Grandpa. This book is filled with Southern charm and characters. Set in the 1970s, you get a peek into the way of the world there and then. This novel has a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of humor. Gibby's inside view of a head injured patient was fascinating to me. It was an easy read, a nice story, and a great way to spend a few hours.

Thanks to Booking Mama for this recommendation. You can follow a link to her blog on the right sidebar of mine.

Sound

Spring Awakening The Original Broadway Cast

Warning, you just might sing along. This isn't one that you want to listen to with the kids around, the lyrics are explicit. This musical is based on Frank Wedekind's scandalous 1891 drama, but kicked up a bit with modern rock music. Teen angst is universal. This musical is filled with "rage, frustration, confusion, excitement, joy, anger, and of course budding lust of those hormone-driven years" (Elisabeth Vincentelli). Unfortunately, this musical is closing on Broadway. I had so hoped I would get to see it.

Scent

Clove oil. I just love essential oils and clove is one of my very favorites. I have some sprinkled on some scentless potpourri and it's making my first floor smell like I'm baking or like those oranges studded with cloves.

Taste

Crustless Pumpkin Pie. So simple and hits that pumpkin pie craving without going overboard. Simply purchase a can of pumpkin pie filling, mix a directed using fat free evaporated milk, and bake in a 9x13 inch pan until a knife comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool and top with fat free Cool Whip. Serves 12 at about 1 Point per serving.

Touch

I got a beautiful hand painted antique plate at a thrift store this morning with my mom. It's muted shades of blue and gold with a Dutch windmill. Very soothing and very well painted. Mom and I love to go antiquing, but we don't like to pay antique store prices, so we go and search garage sales and thrift stores. I also got a great coat for our little dog who gets really cold in the winter and a Puzz3D for Young One.

Wanna Date?

My Great-Grandma Nettie had one measuring cup. It really wasn't even a measuring cup, I don't think it had any markings or measurements on it. It was red, faded plastic. For all I know, it was a detergent measuring cap! She didn't have or need a lot of kitchen tools and yet, she was a fantastic baker and wonderful cook.

I was so lucky to have gotten to spend as much time with her as I did. She was always present at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. They had moved a little pink trailer for her to live in right next to their big, white farmhouse. Grandpa would have morning coffee with her every day. She listened to the radio, and sometimes listened in on the party line (Country folk shared a single phone line. You had your own unique ring, so you knew when a call was for you. But, many people listened in on other conversations. Hey, this was before cable!). Great-grandma had an amazing button jar to sort through. She also had a jar of pennies that we could play BINGO with. The local radio station played the game over the air waves. You'd call in if you won. It was a simpler time and our family was always together.

Great-grandma moved into a senior living apartment that had a lot of great hallways for silly grandkids to run through. It also had an old fashioned Coke machine where you could get a bottle of soda pop for a dime. It even came with a crabby guy named Charlie who would yell at us and teach us new words while waving his cane in the air. My cousins and I loved to visit her. Her little apartment overlooked the street and she watched the world go by with the ever present background blaring of her TV "programs" (soap operas). I remember once she told me that the high school kids that were walking past her window to the bowling alley for gym class were all going to get Mononucleosis because they kissed all the time. I was young. I was impressionable. I didn't know what Mono was. From that moment on, I feared bowling.

Great-grandma moved her red measuring cup to her apartment with her and she continued to be a great baker and wonderful cook. She measured by proportion and cooked by feel and had many recipes right up inside that white haired head of hers.

I wish I had her recipes. I wish we would have taken the time to have her write them all down. In fact, if you have a wise one in your family that's getting up there in years, have them write things down for you, film them, set down memories!

Grandma made fantastic Date Cookies and Date Bars. I'm sure they involved a pound of butter, another pound of brown sugar, and a pound that goes on your thighs each time you eat one. I created this recipe when I was craving Grandma's date anything. I found a basic recipe online and then lightened it up tremendously.

I hope you enjoy them. I think they're quite delicious and taste ALMOST as good as Grandma's.

Date Bars

Serves 24 at 3 WW Points per serving.

1 package regular yellow cake mix
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
2 large bananas
1/2 cup egg substitute or two eggs
1 1/2 cup dried dates
1/4 cup pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place first four ingredients in your mixer bowl. Mix on low until combined, turn to medium-high and let it whirl until mixture is light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes). Lower mixer speed and toss in dates and pecans. Mix until combined. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter in pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly before cutting (if you can wait that long!).

Dear Diary

I had a bright red diary with a gold lock on it. Maybe it was green and I wanted a red one. I think Anne Frank's diary was red. Yep, I'm now officially old enough to not remember what color my childhood diary was. It's in a box of memories somewhere in the house. I really need to go look for it again. I do know for sure it had a gold lock on it. I kept the key in my desk drawer. Probably not the most brilliant of hiding places, especially having two older brothers who were quite savvy at figuring out my hiding places. I wonder if they read it. Hmmm. I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that.

It was a great diary. I tried to keep it updated as often as I could, but I wasn't really good at it. Those times that I did sit down with it were usually filled with angst. Somebody had done me wrong or some pre-teen boy wouldn't pay attention to me. It's pretty much a record of my woes. I didn't often turn to it in times of celebration.

Throughout my diary, I tried out different handwriting. Sometimes I dotted my i's with circles, sometimes hearts, sometimes, in a fit of creativity, I made smiley faces. I practiced my latest crush's last name as my married name. Mrs. Michael Jackson was repeated a few times along with some blurbs about how much our age difference wouldn't have mattered. Every once in a while, I put PhD at the end of my name.

Does anyone actually write a diary anymore? Do they even sell these little books with the locks? I ask because when I found my childhood diary in my thirties, I was almost more interested in my handwriting, the color of the pen that I chose, the stickers and scribblings in the margins as I talked on the phone-- all of these things that can't be seen in blogging. Will today's teenagers be without these historical documents from which they can later, analyze these years of their lives? Will they have any little snippets of their handwriting or their doodling?

One particularly picky teacher of Young One's once commented on his handwriting and that it wasn't his best work. Seems to me he was in first grade. My answer to her, "Well, he's only 6, so I think he has time to perfect it. AND who cares? These kids aren't going to write anyway." I admit, it was the mother lion in me responding to a person who felt she needed to find SOMETHING to pick on (and she WAS a pain in the arse teacher)--but, really. These kids aren't going to write. How many of us hand write anything anymore? In another generation, they'll probably have implantable keyboards on their knees.

I remember one particularly angst-ridden entry in my diary just as clear as it was yesterday. It was all about my Home-Ec teacher and how she criticized my Balloon Rolls. It got me thinking, just what the heck were balloon rolls. Oh yes, a delectable concoction comprised of refrigerator biscuits (those bizarre creations found in tubes), marshmallows, and cinnamon and sugar. I think she was upset with me because I didn't grease my pan and the roll's caramel center leaked and burnt, leaving permanent stains on the pans. We had a horrible nickname for her that I won't repeat here, but it was dead on! Poor teachers who have names that rhyme with bodily functions. She also criticized my sewing--apparently, you have to trim all the loose threads inside your horridly put together duffel bag that you're never going to use anyway because it's so hideous. Once again, I'm rambling.

I'm sharing the recipe for Balloon Rolls here. They're not complicated or gourmet cuisine, but they're easy enough that your kids can put them together and taste like a treat that took much longer to make. They're fun to make at a cabin or on a sleepy Sunday morning. And I bet you could make them in a Dutch oven over a campfire. Who doesn't love cinnamon, sugar, butter, and hydrogenated oils? I make Young One open the biscuit tube--the anticipation of the pop just pushes me over the edge.

Balloon Rolls

Serves 10 at 3 WW Points each. The marshmallows disappear making a caramel-like center.

3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated biscuits
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup butter melted


Combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Flatten biscuits. Roll marshmallows in butter and then in cinnamon-sugar. place one marshmallow on top of each biscuit; wrap biscuit around marshmallows and pinch seams. Place seam side down on greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. I dip in more cinnamon and sugar once they're just warm to the touch (painting with melted butter to make it stick).