Caramel Pumpkin Pecan Cake!

Know what I love about this time of year?  Pumpkin EVERYTHING.  Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin muffins…bring it on.  I will devour every. last. morsel.  However…while pumpkin itself is quite good for you (Vitamins A, C, B, & E, antioxidants, dietary fiber)…what we tend to make with it is typically rich, fatty, and sugar-laden.

I offer you a DELICIOUS alternative.

This recipe comes from my amazing friend/coworker Suzan.  Why is Suzan so amazing, you ask?  Well, aside from her decadently sarcastic & witty demeanor, and being one of the most experienced scientists in our company, she’s also lost over 100 pounds in the last year.  Yes, you read that right… OVER. ONE. HUNDRED. POUNDS.  No gastric bypass, no crazy diets, just the tried & true common sense “eat less, move more” methodology.   Or, what I call the “get off the couch & back away from the Krispy Kremes” method…which I could stand to implement a bit more in my own life.  (I currently have a Chefville addiction… *sigh*)

Anyway…Suzan has started her own wonderful blog which you can read HERE, and you should, because she cracks my schtuff up. For realz.  Go there.  (Then come back here…we have CAKE to discuss.)

…you’re back?  Great.  Now, in case you missed it…this recipe came from my awesome friend who just lost 100 lbs.  And she ate this cake while on this plan.  I won’t go so far as to say, “this cake will make you lose weight”…but you CAN eat it while implementing your own personal “eat less, move more” lifestyle change.  It originally comes from this Weight Watchers recipe*, but I modified it a LEEETLE bit to taste & based off Suzan’s recommendations.

Dear Reader: Please meet 217 calories of HEAVEN.

Ingredients: (makes 16 servings)

15 ounces canned pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
12 ounces fat-free evaporated milk
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute (or 2 egg whites)
1/2 cup Splenda or other sugar substitute
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 box unprepared white cake mix - (18.25 oz; Check labels & pick the lowest calorie option, as there’s a lot of variety between mixes.  Best Choice ended up being the lowest at my store.)
1 cup pecan halves, chopped
1/4 cup reduced-calorie margarine – melted (if you have spray butter substitute, like the Smart Balance spray, use this.  It makes it a lot easier to fully coat the top of the cake.)
2 tablespoons Sugar-Free Caramel Topping

Sugar Free Whipped Cream (optional garnish)

More sugar-free caramel topping (optional garnish)

 

Directions:

Heat your oven to 350F, and then lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Mix the pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, and pie spice together in a large bowl, then pour into your cake pan.

Spread the dry boxed cake mix over the top of the pumpkin batter.  Use a spatula to press the cake mix down into the batter until the mix starts to become moist. (Note: If you leave any dry mix, it will still be dry after baking.  Just FYI.)

Next, sprinkle your chopped pecans on top, and then drizzle the margarine over as well.  Try to cover as much of the cake as possible with the margarine to get good buttery coverage. :D

(In retrospect, I should have totally used Suzan’s suggestion about the spray bottle.  I ended up with a lot of dry cake batter on the top of mine.)

 

Now: this is where I deviate from the original recipe.  I have sugar-free caramel topping in the fridge.  And pumpkin & pecans just scream “GIMME CARAMEL!”, so I drizzled 2 tablespoons over the top.  I used a fork to get a really fine drizzle & good  coverage.

Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes, let cool, then slice into 16 pieces (you’ll end up with pieces that measure about 2” x 3”).  The pecans, butter, caramel & dry cake mix combine to make a nice crispy, streusel-y topping.

 

Serve garnished with an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie seasoning, a dollop of sugar-free whipped cream (if desired), and a wee drizzle of additional caramel sauce (about 1 tsp). 

NOTE: Whipped cream & extra drizzle of caramel sauce adds 25 calories to each serving.

 

*NOTE: try as hard as I might, I could NOT get my NutriFacts to match up with “86 calories” shown on the original recipe page, even after accounting for the slight recipe changes.  I double- and triple-checked all my ingredient stats, so my best guess is that they have a typo & their page should read “186 calories”.  The white cake mix alone is 127 calories/serving.

NutriFacts: (Weight Watchers Points per serving = 5)

Calories 192.8 (217 calories with whipped cream & addt’l caramel drizzle garnish)

  Total Fat 7.9 g

  Saturated Fat 1.3 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.7 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g

  Cholesterol 1.0 mg

  Sodium 243.8 mg

  Potassium 119.0 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 28.3 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.9 g

  Sugars 14.6 g

  Protein 4.5 g

Salsa Rice: Versatile Dish Extraordinaire!

Once upon a time (i.e. 2009), there was a recession.  Wait, what?  Are we still in it?  I can’t tell—plenty busy here…
ANYWAY…in this Once-Upon-A-Time land, there were two friends:

(I promise she’s not naked.)

…who worked for a consulting company that catered to oil-drilling clients.  And crude oil prices had bottomed out to $40/barrel.  And you know what happens when the price of oil drops below $60/barrel, my friends?  Oil-Drilling Companies don’t drill.  It’s not cost-effective.  So our phones weren’t ringing, and we weren’t working overtime, and we were even FORCED to take one-hour lunches and leave when we hit 40 hours at the end of the week.  Tough times, I tell you.

(Clean desk = not enough work.)

So what to do, when you’re not working, but you still have to BE at work?  Well, these two friends invented a game called “Google Dat”.  Which basically involved spending a lot of time on Google.  Don’t know the answer to a question?  Just Google dat.  What was the name of the guy in that one movie?  Google dat.  How long does it take to fly to Hawaii?  Google dat.  What’s the lunch special at Chung King today?  You should Google dat.  What’s on the Green Dragon Roll at Osaka?  Google dat.
So when one of these friends (aka: me) decided to test out Dr. Ian’s “Detox Diet” for two weeks, I needed a plethora of recipes that involved brown rice and beans, and no meat.  What’s a girl to do? 

You got it:  YOU GOOGLE DAT.

You know…because Pinterest didn’t exist yet.  Also, there were dinosaurs.

I still have a stockpile of recipes that we downloaded during this period of time, but this one is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. 

I still make it all the time because it’s quick, easy, super-flavorful & just really fresh-tasting.  And it goes with anything—or, is totally awesome on its own, because garbanzo beans are a nice protein source (1 cup gives you 29% of your daily requirement).

And normally, I make this with Minute brown rice for a quicker cooking time, however, we were out of that so instead, I finally used up the last of my Louisiana “popcorn rice”.

This rice was a gift from my friends the Trahans (pronounced “Trah-hahns”, not “Tray-hands”) and it comes from one of my favorite lil’ towns in Louisiana: Gueydan.

Which is, of course, pronounced “Gey-don”, not “Gooey-dan”.  Just FYI. It’s a fun word to say.  Particularly if you have or can mimic a Cajun accent.

ANYWAY…it’s a long grain rice that supposedly smells like popcorn while cooking…thus the name.  And it’s an authentic Louisiana product.  And it’s delicious and fluffy & cooks perfectly. If you’ve got the cash & the means, I highly recommend picking some up.

Ingredients (makes eight 1-cup servings):
2 cups uncooked rice
1 can beans (we used garbanzo this time, but black beans are equally awesome)
1 cup your favorite salsa (can add more to taste)
1 cup corn kernels (sweet Missouri corn preferred!)
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add your rice, then drop the heat to simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes. 
Then remove the lid, check for doneness, fluff with a fork, and remove from heat.
(Updated 2019: You can alternately make your rice in the Instant Pot--I like to use brown rice, which takes 2 cups rice and 2.5 cups water, for about 18 minutes, and then let pressure release for 10 minutes.)
Add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Taste for flavor—add more salsa or seasonings as needed.
Then NOM down!

NutriFacts: (per 1 cup serving)
Calories 233.3
  Total Fat 1.2 g
  Saturated Fat 0.2 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg
  Sodium 323.2 mg
  Potassium 269.1 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 49.6 g
  Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
  Sugars 0.7 g
  Protein 6.5 g

Make your own “Zapps” Potato Chips?

Before I even start, I have to say—this was entirely my husband’s idea. 

Somewhere, on the interwebz, without even having a Pinterest account to get addicted into, my husband found a blog about making homemade potato chips…in the microwave. And they’re actually pretty healthy…. less than 75 CALORIES per serving.

Mind = blown.

I refer to them as “Zapps” because you “zap” them in the microwave.  Get it?  Get it???  I know, I’m friggin’ hilarious.

And of course because, as you already know since they feature frequently on this blog, Zapp’s are the very bestest potato chips on the planet, made right in Gramercy, Louisiana.

And thankfully, a few places outside of Louisiana are starting to realize how awesome they are, because there are now THREE eateries right here in Springfield, Missouri who actually carry Zapp’s.  Do you realize how awesome this is?  Probably not, but that’s probably because you’ve never had to try to smuggle a bag of potato chips in your luggage without pulverizing them or having them pop on the plane.  Seriously.  Not fun.

But as much as I love Zapp’s chips (okay, okay, ANY potato chip), they are generally NOT GOOD for you. Lots of fried fat, lots of salt, lots of preservatives, lots of artificial mono-di-gly-whatzahoozits and Yellow 5 (seriously, it’s in everything). 

But How does THIS look in comparison?

1 serving of Zapp’s Cajun Crawtator chips (1.5 oz) = 220 calories, 12 g fat

1 serving of our homemade chips (1/2 potato, or about 2.8 oz) = 72.5 calories, 2.2 g fat

Seriously.

(yes….I use the word “seriously” WAY too much.)

ANYWAY… without further ado…. let’s make with the chips.

Ingredients:

1 potato, washed, skin-on (Yukon Gold was recommended, but we used a large red potato), sliced thin with a mandolin (or the long skinny side of your shredder)

Olive oil cooking spray (or olive oil in a hand-pump mister, like this one that I love) 

Your favorite seasonings (we used cracked black pepper & sea salt on half, and Cajun seasoning on the other half)

 

Directions:

Step One: Let your husband do all the work, because you’re holding the camera. :D

Step Two: Lightly spray the WELL-CLEANED* glass turntable from your microwave (because that thing gets gross, yo) with olive oil, and then evenly place your sliced potatoes on it.

Then lightly spritz the facing-up-side of the potatoes with olive oil as well. 

Step Three:  LIGHTLY season the facing-up-side of the potatoes with your seasoning of choice (I think one of those multi-flavor popcorn seasoning shakers could really come in handy for a snack like this). I say lightly because we accidentally overdid it on some of our chips.  Better to underseason now, and then if they’re a little bland after cooking, you can dip them in something, or sprinkle on some extra seasoning.

Step Four:  Place turntable back in your microwave & nuke your potatoes for 2 minutes & 30 seconds.

 

Step Five: Remove turntable, flip the slices, LIGHTLY season the opposite side, and then place the turntable back in the microwave for 2-4 minutes, or until the chips start to brown & get crisp. (Go for 2 minutes to start, then additional 30 second increments as needed.)

 

(The closeup above shows some of the overseasoned chips.  Go lighter than this.)

Step Six: Let cool for a bit, then CHOW DOWN!

I was actually really surprised.  There were a couple slices that were still a little chewy, but for the most part, they were totally crisp & crunchy.  Really delicious.  And since they’ve got just the slightest amount of olive oil on the outside (figure about 10 calories worth of oil per spray, if you’re using a pump mister), they’re pretty low fat!  Opt for salt-free or low sodium seasonings and you’ve got yourself an afternoon snack that hardly anyone could turn down.

 

I totally want to try this again with some sweet potatoes and a little cinnamon sugar.  YUM!

 

NutriFacts:

Calories 72.5

  Total Fat 2.2 g

  Saturated Fat 0.3 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 290 mg

  Potassium 373 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 13.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.3 g

  Sugars 0.5 g

  Protein 2.1 g

 

 

*That’s for you, JoJo.

Blackberry FroYo!

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom?  I’m sure it goes without saying, but I do.  And I know every child is biased, but my mom is my favorite mom on the planet.  Why?

Because even at 32 (my age, not hers) she still does what she can to help me out.

My folks aren’t well off, so I paid for & worked my way through college, but my parents always did what they could.  Every time I came home to do laundry (a couple times a month) my mom always gave me a $20 for gas (remember when that got you a full tank?  *sigh*) and would have a huge BOX full of groceries for me.  If I had casually mentioned in conversation a week or so before that I needed to watch for tuna on sale, sure enough, when I came home there would be a 6-pack of tuna cans, a few boxes of mac-n-cheese, cans of ravioli and Spaghetti-Os, miscellaneous cans of veggies, snack cakes, chips/crackers, etc. waiting for me in the kitchen.

I’m 6 years out of school and married w/ a professional job, but my mom, may the Lord bless & protect her, still loves to take care of her only daughter.

So when I asked my mom to keep an eye out for blackberries at the local farmer’s markets up around my hometown…she came through like a champ.  She called me up last weekend & asked to meet me for breakfast at a town about halfway between here & there (We live about 2.5 hrs apart), and THIS was the haul waiting for me:

That’s EIGHT pints of blackberries, and a huge pile o’ maters—the little ones are from her own plants, and one lil’ onion.  All I had to do was buy her breakfast.  And since my mom eats like a bird, that’s a pretty cheap date.

Never mind that she’d also given me two pints a week prior to this.  TEN PINTS of blackberries!  I’m the richest girl on the block.

Now, I suspect at least ONE person out there is whispering under her breath: “I thought this was a CAJUN food blog? She hasn’t posted anything Cajun in like, a month!”  This is true…Pinterest has stolen a lot of thunder from my Cajun recipes.  However, the FIRST thing I think about when I see blackberries is Louisiana.

One of my favorite things about my job in Louisiana was the constant source of mid-day snacks while out in the woods.  Wild blackberry bushes (Rubus argutus) are everywhere—dewberries too (Rubus trivialis), which are extremely similar, but slightly sweeter and more pinkish.  And then there are the mulberry trees (Morus rubra), and the occasional stray satsuma tree.

(Deer like to hunt for berries as well.)

 

Anyway…After a good soaking, half of my blackberry haul went in the freezer…but what to concoct with the other half? The world is my oyster. Or, my blackberry bush.

My first adventure was a blackberry cobbler….but I forgot to include baking powder and it sorta flopped…it was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but not photo-worthy.

Next mission?  BLACKBERRY FROZEN YOGURT. And this time, I SHALL NOT FAIL.  It’s the perfect treat for this sweltering summer weather, nicely tart and sweet, and FAT FREE. 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups blackberries, washed & patted dry

2 cups plain greek yogurt

1/2-2/3 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk (depending on how sweet your berries are, or if you have to use a flavored greek yogurt)

 

Directions:

First: prep your ice cream maker.  For us, this means freezing the metal canister for about 24 hours.

Then, 24 hours later, in your blender or food processor, blend your blackberries & the condensed milk.

 

Then add the greek yogurt and pulse until combined.

Look at that color!  Is that not gorgeous????

Now, set up your ice cream maker, & pour the mixture in.

(Avoid making off-color jokes about your ice cream maker’s “extra large opening”.  Teehee.)

Let mix until frozen—for our maker, that’s about 15-20 minutes.  You can hear when the mixing paddle starts to strain.

Then scrape into a freezable storage container.  If your froyo isn’t 100% set up, let freeze for an additional hour or two.

Serve w/fresh blackberry garnish.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

The Greek yogurt has a pretty strong flavor, so that will be predominant in this dish.  For that reason, I think I’d love to try making this with a flavored greek yogurt next time—maybe honey or vanilla?  Or even lemon!

NutriFacts:

Calories 165.3

  Total Fat 0.2 g

  Saturated Fat 0.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 4.8 mg

  Sodium 64.8 mg

  Potassium 196.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 31.6 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.5 g

  Sugars 25.5 g

  Protein 9.9 g

Peanut Butter Dip.

 

This post might as well be titled “Pinterest Strikes Again”.  I saw this & it was just too good to resist.  It makes a great high-protein, low-cal spread for apples, toast, biscuits, crackers… but mainly apples, because they’re lower-calorie.  Ya dig?

(UH-MAZE-ING.  150 calories of sweet, cinnamony, fruity, peanut-buttery HEAVEN.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 tsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

 

Directions:

Super quick, super simple.  Combine all the ingredients in a sealable container.

Then mix, mix, mix senora, mix it all the time…

(Jump in de line, rock your body in time… OK, I believe you!)

…until you have THIS!

Makes four servings.

NutriFacts:

Calories 43.3 (with a medium apple & 3 strawberries, a total of 150 calories)

  Total Fat 2.1 g

  Saturated Fat 0.4 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 28.9 mg

  Potassium 68.8 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 3.5 g

  Dietary Fiber 0.6 g

  Sugars 2.3 g

Protein 3.5 g

Calcium 4.2 %

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesdays & Crazy for Crust.

Thirsty Thursday: Microwave Mug Muffin!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the alliteration.

What? Okay, so you can't DRINK it...but it comes in a mug... Drinks come in a mug... Follow my logic train here...

I saw the recipe for this on Pinterest a week ago.  Since I love to sleep in, I pretty well always end up eating breakfast at the office, and I figured this would be a perfect healthy breakfast option.  I can toss all the ingredients into a tupperware container the night before, grab & go, and then make it at the office.

Ingredients:

Base

• 1/4 cup quick oats (or 1/8 cup instant oatmeal + 1/8 cup rolled oats)
• 1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg beaters for less calories)  --NOTE: If I’m prepping this up the night before, I leave the egg whole, & then crack it when I’m actually making the muffin at work.
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• a pinch of baking powder (it adds a little fluffiness)
• dash of salt
• 1 tbsp milk

Fruit (choose one)

• 1/8 cup blueberries
• 1/8 cup frozen or fresh peaches, diced
• 2-3 strawberries
• 1/8 cup blackberries

Optional

The strawberry version is AWESOME with about 10-15 dark chocolate chips baked in as well.  Only adds about 30 calories.

 

Directions:

Couldn’t be easier.  Grab a coffee mug, mix the base ingredients together with a fork.  Then mix in your fruit (plus chocolate chips if you’re going with that option), and microwave for 1 minute.

(Used a glass mug.)

After one minute, check for doneness.  If it still needs to firm up, zap it again for another 30 seconds or so.

(With the peaches, add in a little extra cinnamon & nutmeg & it’s like peach cobbler.)

 

(164 calories of pure decadence.)

 

Now, the original photo looks quite pretty, like the muffin had fluffed up over the top edge of the mug & was then removed from its container:

 

However, I never got this to happen. Which bummed me out because I was really looking forward to the fun photo ops, showcasing the mug I’d cooked it in:

(“Yeahh….I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Saturday. Mmkay? Thanks…”)

 

It does grow a bit, obviously, because it’s oatmeal, but not as much as I thought it would.  So my best guess is that the original user made it in an angled coffee mug/cup, and then removed it to show the more “muffin-like” shape.  Either way, it’s still super tasty and a really filling breakfast, despite being so light on the calories.

 

NutriFacts: (Per Serving)

Calories: 134 (164 if you add 1 tsp of chocolate chips)

Carbs: 22 g

Fat 2 g

Protein: 10 g

Sodium: 126 mg

Shared on Live.Laugh.Rowe

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (And Healthy, Too!)

 

So as I’ve mentioned, the hubs & I are trying to be good, food-wise.  However, it proves difficult a lot of the time because we’re pretty social creatures (in our circles, anyway—I know plenty folks that would consider us total introverts), which means that we always seem to be eating out at restaurants with friends or family, or on Date Nights.  And while I doubt that will change much in the next few months, we will be trying to make healthier choices & have healthier options around the house.

And here is one of my favorites.  It’s no secret that I have a sweet tooth (just look at my “tags” section—’chicken’ & ‘dessert’ are the two most common tags), so having some sort of sweet treat in the house is a necessity.  But sweets don’t have to be awful for you.

This recipe is based off my mom’s, with some changes to boost the health value.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup sugar-free maple syrup
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the first 6 ingredients together & stir, then add in the applesauce, syrup, sugar, eggs, and vanilla; beat well to combine.

Then fold in the oats & raisins. (Note: you can also add in chopped pecans or walnuts, or swap the raisins for dried cranberries/cherries if you like—just note that adding nuts will change the calorie count a bit.)

Drop by the spoonful onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

NutriFacts: (per cookie)

• Calories 81
•   Total Fat 0.8 g
•   Saturated Fat 0.2 g
•   Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g
•   Monounsaturated Fat 0.4 g
•   Cholesterol 10.9 mg
•   Sodium 95.9 mg
•   Potassium 132.5 mg
•   Total Carbohydrate 22.9 g
•   Dietary Fiber 2.1 g (8.5%)
•   Sugars 10.6 g
•   Protein 1.8 g
•   Magnesium 7.6 %
•   Manganese 36.3 %
•   Phosphorus 8.5 %
•   Thiamin 10.2 %