Category Archives: Recipes

Real Life Diary Recipes

Day 79: Favorite Quick Bread Recipe

May 11, 2010 – 10:26 AM

Here’s my favorite baking recipe!…with some healthy modifications :)

Monica’s “Whatever you have In the House” Semi-Healthy Quick Bread

-4 eggs (substitute 4 egg whites & beat them separately before adding to the rest of the wet ingredients)

-16 Oz. Fruit or Vegetable puree (use a can of Pumpkin for Pumpkin bread, or 4 mashed bananas for outstanding banana bread – or whatever you want…see below for more suggestions)

1 ½ C. Vegetable Oil (use Canola)

2 C. Sugar (use Splenda in the bag – it works perfect and cuts your calories down by a landslide!)

2 t. Baking Soda

2t. Baking Powder

1 t. Salt

3 C. Flour

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and mix the eggs, puree, oil and sugar well.   Next, add the rest of the ingredients and mix each in well.   If you want an impressive dessert like muffin (or make it in a bunt tin with glaze) – then add chocolate or butterscotch chips.  Of course, this is NOT healthy…but will make this recipe unbelievably YUMMY!!!!  Here’s the exact measurements:

1 ½ C. Chocolate Chips (if you are making Pumpkin bread) OR 1 ½ C. Butterscotch Chips (for Banana Bread…I have used chocolate with Banana before and butterscotch is 100% better)

I have also served these muffins at events as a dessert because they are fast, easy, not messy, and delicious.  Frosting muffins with a cream cheese frosting offers a nice combo as well.  They present as an impressive dessert because it is surprising to bite into and see it is not just yellow or chocolate cake.  Plus an added bonus is that no one would guess that the “secret ingredient” was actually Butterscotch chips!!  These melt into the mixture and add more moisture – wowing your taste buds with flavor!  Even people who claimed to “hate butterscotch chips”, loved these treats!

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes and lower this to 375 if you are making traditional bread loaves.

Now…here’s the best part about this recipe:

You can literally use just about any fruit or vegetable you want – and it still comes out wonderful!  I have used canned pumpkin, blended apricots and pineapple with bits of dried cranberries, shredded zucchini and raisins, shredded carrots and dates, peaches and raspberries, poppy seed paste, almonds and coconut milk pureed, and more!… I use a food processor for ingredients like apples or carrots and really knock them down so they are like chunky applesauce – or carrot puree), and then I add some extra cut up apples or shredded carrots. Etc. to give it a little more texture.  Nuts go excellent with this as well!

From what I can figure, estimate about 100 calories for one large muffin (without frosting of course!).  Enjoy :)

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Diet Diary Recipes

Baking Day

May 10, 2010 – 7:46 PM

I love to cook, bake and try my hand at creating delicious foods via “healthier” – recipe alterations. My success rate is about 8 out of 10…at least for cooking; but when it comes to baking, that is an entirely different story.

When I think of baking, I can almost taste the yummy smell of rising bread dough, chocolate chip cookies or my favorite, Rum Bunt cake with Bavarian glaze…this is a real diet doozy! Just one peek in the oven sends a shiver to your senses! Delish!

But as far as baking something on the healthier side (granted, the very word “baking” is usually something to avoid completely – for those trying to strictly follow a healthy diet)…nonetheless, one of my favorite baking recipes that I have altered successfully, is a quick bread recipe that can be modified to compliment virtually ANY flavor (zucchini, pumpkin, banana, coconut/pineapple, carrot, – you get the idea!). Today I made carrot-pineapple-apricot bread with cranberries and it turned out amazing!

With baking, as opposed to cooking, it is much harder to tweak ingredients because it’s the unhealthy stuff that accounts for the core ingredients (carbs, fat, sugar). There are a few nice things about quick breads though – and reasons why I haven’t scratched them off my list completely: 1) they’re fast (good to make with your kids), 2) they’re flexible (you can use ingredients you have left over, etc.), and 3) they make great muffins (so you have your portions pre-set). I recommend using the mini-muffin tins because they still give you that great muffin top – but in a two-bite serving size. I make a batch, keep a few at home, and throw the rest in a basket for the neighbors or the office J (it is a nice way for the kids to experience making something for others – and a great way to keep any extra helping temptations away from me!) – Tomorrow I’ll write the recipe…too late and going to get some sleep

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Diet Diary Recipes

Day 26: Vegetable Stew

January 27, 2010 – 5:12 PM

The only good news about having a sore throat is that eating doesn’t feel good…

I had a successful day despite not feeling 100%.

I drug myself to the gym for an hour this morning and managed to drink about 12 cups of hot chocolate (I am counting that as “water” at this point – fyi).  I only ate 1347 calories which included two big salads, and I even got a 15 minute nap in!

Oh, the best part…I invented a great, super-healthy recipe that tastes good.  In fact (this is rare) – my whole family loved it!  Plus, it is ideal for days when you don’t have time or (in my case today) just don’t feel good.  The idea came to me when I looked in the fridge for something to cook for dinner at about 4:00PM (I did NOT want to have to go to the grocery store).  What I had was a lot of random vegetables…so I decided to make a “different” sort of vegetable stew.  So, here’s the recipe:

(I used a crock pot and set it up to cook on high for 2.5 hours)

Monica’s Vegetable Stew

1 C. (about 3)Thickly diced parsnips (these look like white carrots and taste sort of spicy)

1 C. (about 3)Thickly diced carrots

½ C. Onions (cut sauté style, don’t chop very fine)

½ C. Chopped celery (coarsely cut – not fine)

2 C. Water (may need to add more if boiling over stove because it will reduce more quickly)

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 medium size red potatoes cut up (about 1 ½ cups)

½ Can of Kidney Beans

Put the water, carrots, parsnips, onion, celery, potatoes and salt and pepper in the Crockpot and set to high to cook for about 2.5 hours – or if you use a regular stove top, just bring to a boil and boil until you can stick a fork into the carrots (not too soft though).  Then simmer for about an hour so the flavors meld.  Drain the can of Kidney Beans and add about half of the can to the stew.  Add more salt to taste and serve! (use from ½ to 1 can of kidney beans – I put in extra beans in my husband’s bowel:)  The liquid you started with should cook down substantially so it really isn’t like a soup broth…more of a filling stew.  The parsnips add a great flavor and surprisingly the kidney beans make it seem “meaty”.  My husband is not a fan of vegetables, but he LOVED this and I did too.  But the best part is, it is totally healthy, filling and from what I can figure, about 70 calories per 1 ½ cup serving!  Wa-lah!

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Diet Diary Recipes

Day 13: No Spice = Actual Food

January 14, 2010 – 7:09 PM

It’s my 13nd day on this diet program.  I worked out and I feel great!  I am not craving sugar or caffeine or anything actually and I am finding the best seasoning in the world is simply salt and pepper!

I made some amazing Tilapia for dinner with seared spinach and summer squash.  I am used to cooking fairly elaborate meals because I really do enjoy cooking…I like to use a lot of different spices…but interestingly the more simple my diet has become, the more I have been interested in just tasting the actual food (not the spices or flavoring).  Humm…

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Diet Diary Recipes

Day 11: Delicious!

January 12, 2010 – 3:42 PM

I made a great little dish this afternoon that even my husband liked.  Take artichoke hearts and put a little bit of fat free feta cheese with some sliced tomatoes and cook that together so it’s hot.  Then put this on top of a rice cake and sprinkle some grated carrots over it with salt and pepper…yummy!…and totally “safe”!

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