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Holiday Recipe Makeovers - including cookies!

Holiday Recipe Makeovers

The Holiday season is upon us and with it the dilemma of balancing our new, healthier lifestyle with traditional holiday meals. During November and December we'll be doing extreme makeovers of favorite traditional foods, from rich, and calorie laden, to healthy and even more delicious. We'll also be introducing new and different dishes contributed by our members.

Contribute your own healthy version of traditional foods here!  To have your recipe considered for inclusion in the newsletter, it must be entered, correctly, into the Recipe Analyzer.  Post a link to the recipe or send it to me in a Personal Message.  We'd love to hear from everyone!

I'm half-way through my weight loss journey and really enjoy making over my old recipes to be healthier (and still yummy!) This is a make-over of a recipe I make every fall.

Pumpkin Muffins

 

 

Mashed potatoes!  We love 'em. But due to a dairy allergy in the family, I resorted to adding rice milk instead of milk, along with Smart Balance spread.  That went unnoticed at family gatherings.  But recently I substitued the Smart Balance with Flax seed oil.  It takes a little longer to get it to blend, but it eventually looks like the real deal, and it has a slightly nutty flavor.  My family ate every last spoonful.  So it's heart healthy and non dairy.

Instead of candied sweet potatoes

Wash and pierce the skins of sweet potatoes and either roast or microwave them.  Let them cool and scrape out the flesh.  Mash it well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Spread into a baking dish and top with a few spoons full of brown sugar.  This part can be done ahead.  Before serving heat in the oven until the brown sugar is bubbling.  The sweet potatoes don't really need all that gooey sugar and butter, or the little marshmallows.

Although, you could make a layer of mini marshmallows on top, if your family just has to have them.

Holiday Recipe Makeover II

Christmas (or Hannukah) Cookie MakeoverIs it Christmas or Hannukah if there are no cookies?  Well, yes, but... we sure would miss them.  We don't have to break the caloric bank though. With portion control and some cookies made with healthful ingredients, we can have our holiday treats!  Here is a selection of lighter cookies from our CC members

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies by star1020  163 calories for a large cookie, packed with oats and other healthy ingredients

Banana Drop Cookies by bethevans  66 calories for a medium size cookie, and very healthy too.

Cocoa Brownies by ninav  100 calories each.  Made with pureed pumpkin for a rich texture and flavor.

Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies by clairelaine.  105 calories for a large cookie and plenty of big flavor.  You'll never miss the fat.

Lemon Cake Mix Cookies by hgielrehtaeh.  76 calories for a medium cookie, and very easy to make too.

Oatmeal Cookies the CC Way by lizzlebizzle.  Only 46 calories for a 20 gram cookie! 

Cocoa Lava Kisses by sparen.  An amazing 20 calories per kiss.  Dry on the outside and meltingly gooey inside!

PB CC Cookies by laurdie11.  90 calories for a small cookie, bursting with peanut butter!

Marvelous Meringues by katlane.  130 calories for 6 of these sweet things!

Vanishing Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies by bpm.  An amazing 36 delicious calories for a 24 gram cookie.  These are fully loaded!

Walnut Butter Cranberry Orange Cookie by deanaw.  62 calories for an 18 gram cookie.  The combination of nuts and fruits is so festive.

Chocolate Souffle Cookies by satanspanties.  91 calories for a 21 gram cookie.  Chocolate meringue cookies with walnuts!

Per Ms. Claire's request:

Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing

Vegetarian Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing

Low Cholesterol Eggnog

Hearty Gingerbread

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Rolls

Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake

Seafood Stuffing by lisa34 - Something different, with crab, shrimp, apples and cranberries, to stuff the bird or bake in a baking dish (suggest baking at 350 f, for 30 minutes.)

Something's up with the link in (not the link to) Holiday Recipe Makeover II... I clicked on Seafood Stuffing and it takes me to butternut squash.

Black Bean Brownies

• 1 box No Pudge Brownie Mix
• 1 15oz can black beans 
• 1 cup water

1. Drain and rinse beans. Combine beans and water and blend until pureed (magic bullet, blender, or other food processor works best).
2. Mix brownie mix and pureed beans
3. Spoon into mini muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

These are better than most brownies and really low calorie with fiber and protein.  You cannot taste the beans, even knowing that they're there.  Add a dollop of whipped cream to taste.

Here is a delicious low-cal biscotti recipe from the Heart Healthy Magzine.

2T softened butter (can use something like Promise)

1 C sugar (can use Splenda)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C frozen egg product

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond exract

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour (I actually used a mix of rye and whole wheat flour with just a small amount of white flour)

1 C dried cranberries

3/4 C pistachio nuts

1/2 C snipped dried apricots

1 recipe White Chocolate Drizzle (optional)

In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Beat to combine.  Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour, the cranberries, nuts and apricots.  Cover and chill about 2 hours.

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease cookie sheet.  Divide doubht in half and shape each into 12 inch long loaf.  Place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet and flatten slightly to about 3/4 inch thick.

Bake 25-30 min till lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean.  Cool on cookie sheet for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Using serrated knift cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Place slices on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 6 minutes.  Turn over and bake for 6-8 minutes more till dry and crisp.  Transfer to rack, cool.  If desired decorate with drizzled white chocolate.  Makes 48 cookies.

White Drizzle:

In saucepan heat and stir 1/3 C coarsely chopped white chocolate baking squares (with cocoa butter) and 1/2 tsp shortening over low heat till melted, cool slightly.

Serving Size:  1 Cookie 

According to the magazine, with real sugar, white flour, and butter the stats read:

Calories:  65  Fat: 1g  Sat Fat 0g  Cholesterol 1 mg Socium 39mg  Carbs 12g  Fiber 1g

How would you provide a link to a recipe?  For example, if I wanted to put the above recipe (or another) somewhere and then just post a link here.

Thanks.

Like this:  get the URL from your address bar at the top of your browser/  The easiest way is to highlight it and copy (Control C)

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/645 28.html

Add the number of the post like this, and hit enter to add it to the end of the URL

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/645 28.html#9

Once you've copied the URL with the post number, go to where you want to put the link.  Type the title you want for the link.

Low Cal Biscotti

Then highlight that title.  Look at the edit bar at the top of the post and find the blue chain link.  Click on that and a small window will open.  Type or Paste (Control V) the URl into the top box that says Link URL.  Click on Insert, and there's your clickable link.

Low Cal Biscotti

Low Fat Sugar Cookies: Healthy Christmas Recipe!

I just found this recipe, I haven't tried it out yet but it sounds okay! 

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 egg whites or egg substitute equivilant to 1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup skim milk

Directions:
Whisk together first four ingrediants. Stir in remaining ingrediants until thoroughly mixed.

Chill dough at least 1 hour.

Roll out on floured surface to 1/8th inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on non-fat cooking sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

approx. 83 cal. per cookie w/out frosting

Note:
Recipe yield may vary depending on dough thickness and the cookie cutter used. The nutritional analysis was calculated by combining all of the ingredients and dividing by 30 servings.

Frost with powdered sugar with milk stirred in until desired consistency and colored sugars or other decorations of choice.

Number of cookies depends on the size of cookie cutters used, as does the amounts in the nutrition analysis.

Low fat Sugar Cookie Thread