Healthy Holiday Stuffing

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[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

Here come the holidays. Are you ready for the stuffing? Well, hate to burst your bubble and all, but typical homemade or dry box stuffing is anywhere between 400 and 700 calories per cup. And how much were you planning to eat? Yeah, your diet is history...

But wait! Don't cry. I know you love stuffing. That's why this recipe uses low-calorie bread and low-sodium chicken broth, avoiding the calorie overload! Yaaayyyyyyy! The crowd goes wildddd.

Prep time: 10
Cook time: 35
Yield: 6-8 servings

Calories per serving: ~150 Calories

Ingredients:

• 2/3 pound Bread (Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delicious)
• 1 whole Onion
• 3 sticks Celery
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken broth (low sodium)
• 2 tablespoons Sage
• 1 tablespoon Thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Cracked black pepper

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Cut bread into small cubes.
3. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, rotating/tossing half way through.
4. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. Dice onion and celery.
6. In a pan, combine onion and celery with olive oil, Thyme, Parlsey, Salt, and black pepper. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. In a large bowl, combine with bread. Add 1 cup chicken broth and mix well. Add additional broth if it's too dry.
8. Serve!

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

[Click here for more Healthy Holiday recipes for a guilt-free holiday season!]

Grilled Eggplant "Nachos"

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Sometimes, everybody needs a little bit of nacho cheese lovin'. Can I get an Amen?

What You Need:

• Eggplant
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Cracked pepper
• Garlic (3 cloves)
• Sharp cheddar cheese'

What You Do:
(Preheat oven to 350)

1. Wash eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch thick discs
2. Mix olive oil, cracked pepper, and minced garlic. Use a brush to LIGHTLY coat both sides of each eggplant slice. 
3. Put on a raised rack in the oven for 10 minutes
4. Turn each eggplant slice, then add grated sharp cheddar cheese and put back in the oven for 10 minutes (or until cheese is melted)
5. Remove from oven and serve!

Reese's Cupcakes

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"What is this delicious awesomeness," you ask? 

...Why, 'tis Chocolate Cupcakes with Reese's Cups inside and Peanut Butter Whipped Cream icing.

"But that's like a thousand calories," you proclaim!

...Why, no, 'tis not! 

No butter. No oil. No eggs. No problem. :)

I'm pretty confident that these cupcakes go without much additional needed explanation...

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What you need:

• Reese's Cups (Mini) - Frozen
• Devil's Food Cake - Chocolate Mix
• 3/4 Can of La Croix (Sparkling/Seltzer Water - any brand will work - you need about 9 oz)
• 1/4 cup of Plain Lowfat Yogurt
• 1 8oz tub of Cool Whip
• 3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter
• 3 teaspoons of Brown Sugar

What you do:

1. Mix Cake mix with 3/4(ish) can of sparkling water. Add 1/4 cup of plain lowfat yogurt.

2. Spoon into cupcake tins. Unwrap Reese's Cups and drop into batter. [Don't push them down too much - they're going to sink much deeper than they start out!]

3. Bake in oven according to cake box (~24 minutes).

4. For icing: Mix cool whip and brown sugar. Add peanut butter and beat on high until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.

5. Spread on top of cupcakes or spoon into piping bag.

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Chocolate Mousse-filled Vanilla Cupcakes

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When I'm shopping, I love seeing 2-for-1 signs. Why? Because I love getting double the goodies in the same package.

Why shouldn't that apply to cupcakes?

Yes, that would be me filling a vanilla cupcake with chocolate mousse. Yes, I'm about to tell you how to do it!

What You Need:

• Sugar free vanilla cake mix
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup skim milk
• Chocolate mousse mix

What You Do:

1. Bake the cupcakes: Mash up bananas and combine with 1/2 cup of water and mix. After a few minutes, add cake mix. Place in oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then let the cupcakes cool entirely.

2. Meanwhile, make Chocolate mousse. Combine 1 cup of skim milk with chocolate mousse mix and beat on high for 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator while cupcakes cool.

3. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small knife to cut out cone-shaped pieces.

4. Using a pastry bag, fill the cupcake holes with chocolate mousse.

5. Rip off the bottom (tip) of the cone-shaped insert (since you filled the cupcake with mousse, the entire piece wouldn't fit back in), then put the cupcake tops back on.  

6. Pipe mousse on top of the cupcakes as frosting.

7. Optional: Top with homemade chocolate candies.

Pear For The Course

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One of the things I miss dearly about living in Memphis (besides the people, of course) is visiting Mollie Fontaine's. It's a little bar slash restaurant in an old victorian house that gets crazy creatives with cocktails and tapas. One of my favorite dishes was a balsamic grilled fruit and cheese. 

The other night, a crate of peaches magically appeared on my kitchen counter. Thank you, fairies of the night. You know me.

What You Need:

• 1/2 pear per person
• balsamic vinegar
• feta or blue cheese
• walnuts (mine were whole but it may be a good idea to crumble them!)

What You Do:

• Using either a stove top grill or saute pan, heat pear slices in balsamic vinegar
• After a few minutes, turn and add walnuts
• Add cheese only a few minutes before removing from heat
• Serve :)

Berry Good Breakfast

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Remember when I told you I'd be giving you blog treats all day?

Well, apparently, fruit is very good for you ;-)

But it's also delicious and this recipe tastes like home cooked pie -- so technically this is a freaking treat! :)

\

I love breakfast. I maintain that it is the meal of the champions! Did I mention I love breakfast?

Not everybody loves breakfast as much as me... unless someone cooks for them, and then, who doesn't love breakfast?

This breakfast is pretty much like eating a fruit filled pie in the morning... without the fat-filled crust and unhealthy pie filling. 

Instead, picture this: The aroma of bubbling, slowly liquefying fruit spreads through the house and it's not long before inquiring stomachs have wandered into the room. Mission accomplished. Good morning :)

What You Need:

• a whole lotta berries! Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries... whatever you can get your hands on. Three heaping cups will make enough for 4-5 people.
• 1/2 heaping cup of whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 dash of salt
• 2 tablespoons of oats
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tablespoon basil, minced

What You Do:

• Preheat oven to 400
• Warm honey in the microwave, then toss with balsamic vinegar and basil and fruit in a large bowl.
• Transfer to a casserole dish
• In a bowl, combine whole wheat flour, browns sugar, salt, and oats
• Knead butter into that mixture with your hands, creating a crumbly mixture
• Sprinkle crumbly mixture over fruit
• Put in the oven for 30 minutes or until top is beginning to harden
• Serve! 

Grilled Eggplant with Sharp Cheddar and Vine Ripened Tomatoes

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Warning: This. Is. Yummy. 

What You Need:

• 1 eggplant
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of Thyme
• 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Aged sharp cheddar, shredded
• Vine-ripened tomatoes

What You Do:

1. Cut the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch wide strips. Slice a bit off the side first, so that you don't include the outside edge as the entirety of one slice's top/bottom.

2. Mix together olive oil, thyme, and garlic.

3. Brush olive oil mixture onto both sides of eggplant and place on stovetop grill.

4.  Turn after 5 minutes.

5. Cover in shredded cheese and vine ripened tomatoes

6. Place two slices together and press down with spatula to compress.  Serve.