Recipe Makeover: Nancy's Pumpkin Bread

Every year for the past 5 years, a friend of mine brings a much anticipated and appreciated loaf of pumpkin bread over as a holiday gift. And every year I think to myself that it just might be one of the best-tasting pumpkin breads I've had. Well, this year I asked her for the recipe.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I did warn her that I would be "messing with" her recipe by lowering the fat, saturated fat, and sugar and switching to half whole-wheat flour. If you are a sweet potato fan, then by all means use cooked, pureed sweet potatoes in place of the canned pumpkin.

Here's what happened nutritionally:
The calories decreased from 258 to 169 and the grams of fat and cholesterol were chopped in half, saturated fat was cut by 2/3rds, and fiber doubled.

Nancy's Light Pumpkin Bread

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup lite pancake syrup or maple syrup
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
6 tablespoons lowfat milk or fat-free half-and-half
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with foil or paper liners, or if making bread, coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with canola cooking spray (dust lightly with flour if desired); set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients by beating on medium speed until well blended.
3. Pour the dry ingredients, all at once, into the mixing bowl and beat on medium-low until blended, scrape sides of the bowl and blend again.
4. Fill prepared muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter or pour all of the batter in the prepared loaf pan. Bake until top of muffins spring back nicely after gentle pressure (about 30 minutes). If making a loaf, bake for about 70 minutes.

Yield: makes 12 muffins or 1, 9 x 5-inch loaf. If you want to make 2 loaves or 24 muffins, just double the recipe.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 169 calories, 3 g protein, 29 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, .5 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 1.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 185 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 27 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .4 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 gram.

Original recipe contains 258 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams saturated fat, and 36 mg cholesterol per muffin or slice.

NOTE: If you want to add the Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze - In a mixing bowl, combine 1/4-cup light cream cheese, 1/2-cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons fat free vanilla creamer or similar, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
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Recipe Makeover: Homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole

Sharing a meal with your family has many benefits and is so important - especially these days. Here's new take on an old favorite for a homemade family supper. Typical tuna casserole recipes contain around 450 calories, 23 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, and 70 mg cholesterol per serving. This version is 100 calories less per serving and cuts the fat by more than 50%!

Elaine's Homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

6 ounces whole wheat blend extra wide noodles (about 4 cups cooked)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
2 cups sliced mushrooms (baby portabellas, crimini, or regular)
2 teaspoon minced or chopped garlic
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
3 tablespoons fat-free half-and-half (low-fat milk can be used)
1 cup fat-free half-and-half (low-fat milk can be used)
3/4 cup condensed or double strength low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano flakes
Black pepper to taste (1/2 teaspoon or more)
2 cups lightly cooked green vegetables of choice (sugar snap peas or broccoli florets) or 1 cup of green peas
10 ounces solid white albacore tuna, drained
1 cup reduced fat sharp cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup crouton crumbs (Put some croutons in a sandwich bag and use a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat mallet to transform your croutons into crumbs)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with canola or olive oil cooking spray.
2. Start boiling the water for the pasta in a large saucepan. When the water is boiling, cook the noodles following the directions on the pasta box or bag. When cooked al dente, drain the noodles in a colander and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, start heating a large nonstick skillet or large saucepan with the olive oil over HIGH heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic into the skillet and sauté for 5 minutes or until mushroom are lightly brown in some places.
4. In small bowl, combine the flour with 3 tablespoons of half-and-half. Slowly stir in the cup of half-and-half and the chicken broth. Pour the flour mixture into the skillet with vegetables and cook on low until the sauce is nicely thickened (about 3 minutes). While it's cooking, stir in the oregano and black pepper.
5. In the skillet, combine the green vegetable, tuna chunks, cooked and drained noodles, and cheeses with the sauce. Spoon the mixture into prepared baking dish and sprinkle the crouton crumbs evenly over the top. Bake the casserole, uncovered, in the oven until the edges and crumbs on top are golden brown (about 25 minutes). Enjoy!

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Analysis per serving: 350 calories, 27 g protein, 39 g carbohydrate, 10 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 3.3 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 39 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 391 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 26 percent calories from fat. Omega-3 fatty acids = .5 g, Omega-6 fatty acids = .5

Related Topics:

• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
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Fall Baking Part 2: Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

Do you like your daily dose of dark chocolate first thing in the morning? This scone will fix you right up! The original recipe called for all white flour (we used 1 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 cup of white flour), 5 tablespoons of stick butter (we used light margarine with plant sterols and froze it to make it easier to crumble into the flour). Instead of half and half we used fat free half and half and I added some orange zest to boost the flavor.

By making these changes we cut the calories (in these still delectable and satisfying scones) by about 50 per scone and we trimmed off 4 grams of total fat and 4 grams saturated fat per scone. Cholesterol plummeted from 19 milligrams to 2.

Chocolate Chip Orange or "Halloween" Scones

Photo: Elaine Magee

5 tablespoons light margarine with plant sterols added (whipped butter can be substituted if butter is preferred)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup miniature semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (or pulse regular size chocolate chips briefly in food processor)
1 tablespoon orange zest, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons fat free half and half

1. Place each individual tablespoon of margarine on a piece of wax paper or foil and place in the freezer to chill for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with canola cooking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the frozen butter, breaking each tablespoon into about 8 pieces each. Beat on medium-low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. On low speed, beat in the orange juice and fat free half and half just until a dough is formed.
4. On a floured surface, pat scone dough into a 9 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to cut out 8 scones and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown (about 12 minutes). Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Yield: Makes 8 scones

Nutrition information per scone: 183 calories, 4 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 2.5 g fiber, 307 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 25 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .2 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 grams.

Related Topics:

• Fall Baking Part 1: Overnight Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake
  
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Makeover Monday: Dutch Pancakes Go Under The Knife

Sunday morning meant my dad would make Dutch pancakes for the family. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, they are a lot like much bigger and much thicker crepes. Powdered sugar would dust the pancakes (and my mouth) as I recall. He used a mix that relatives of ours would send him periodically from the Netherlands. But it was on my first trip to the Netherlands when I tasted Dutch pancakes in a country restaurant attached to an actual windmill that ground wheat... that I really developed an appreciation for this traditional Dutch food.

You can make a more savory Dutch Pancake and top it with bacon and sautéed apples or with cheese and herbs or you can make a sweet rendition with fruit and whipped cream or powdered sugar. When I say they are "big" I mean imagine the biggest cast iron skillet you've every seen. That's how big they are.

The following recipe is for a whole-wheat lower fat version of Dutch Pancakes made with a 10-inch nonstick skillet though (a little more practical portion size wise).

Whole-Wheat Dutch Pancakes

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

1 large egg, high omega-3 if available
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 1/4 cup milk of choice (light vanilla soy milk, fat free half and half, or 1% lowfat milk)
1/4 teaspoon salt (this can be reduced to 1/8 teaspoon for a total of 158 mg sodium per serving)
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
Flavorings (optional): a teaspoon of finely chopped lemon zest or fresh herbs could be blended into the pancake batter, depending on the desired pancake flavors.
Canola oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. In blender bowl, combine egg, egg substitute, milk and salt and pulse until smooth. Pour flour into blender bowl and pulse again until smooth, scraping sides of bowl to incorporate all of the flour. Stir in any flavorings if desired.
2. Begin heating a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat. Coat bottom of pan generously with canola cooking spray and immediately pour in 1/2-cup of batter. Tilt the pan to spread batter evenly over the bottom. When bottom is well browned (about 1 1/2 minutes), flip over the pancake with a spatula and brown the other side (1-2 minutes more). Remove pancake and keep warm or serve.
3. Repeat step #2 with remaining batter, stirring batter often until batter is used up. Serve them with cinnamon spiced apples or fresh fruit for a breakfast entrée or dessert or sprinkle shredded cheese of your choice over the pancake when you are browning the second side and it will melt nicely.

Yield: Makes 4 large pancakes (4 servings)
To make 8 pancakes, just double the recipe ingredients.

Nutrition information per pancake (plain): 134 calories, 9 g protein, 20 g carbohydrate, 2.3 g fat, .9 g saturated fat, .8 g monounsaturated fat, .6 g polyunsaturated fat, 56 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 233 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 15 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .1 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = .5 gram.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Breakfast Ideas and Recipes
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Fall Baking: Overnight Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake

Okay, I live in one of the warmer states, but even I am beginning to feel the fall season approaching and you know what that means? Time to start your mixers...it's fall baking season!

Making some of the old favorites is a given, but I thought I would throw a new recipe your way to try on one of these cool fall nights - Overnight Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake. You mix up the batter in the evening and it sits in your refrigerator overnight and then you pop it in the oven in the morning. All there is left to do is enjoy it piping hot from the oven with a cup of tea or coffee.

Overnight Brown Sugar Pecan Coffee Cake

Photo: Elaine Magee

If you want to mix up the topping quickly and you haven't chopped up your pecans yet, just place the brown sugar, pecan halves and cinnamon in a small food processor bowl and pulse briefly to blend the topping ingredients and chop the nuts.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons light margarine (with plant sterols added if possible)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, higher omega-3 if available
1/2 cup fat free or reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (you can use 1/4 teaspoon if desired)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnut
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Coat an 8x 8-inch baking dish with canola cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar together on medium speed until nice and creamy. Add in the egg and sour cream, beating well after each addition.
2. In another bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, nutmeg and salt with whisk or fork. Add flour mixture to the margarine mixture, beating on low just until blended. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, chopped pecans and cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly over coffee cake batter. Cover baking dish and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove dish from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake coffee cake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut coffee cake into 9 squares and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!

Yield: Makes 9 servings

Nutrition information per serving: 177 calories, 3 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 6.7 g fat, .8 g saturated fat, 3.2 g monounsaturated fat, 2.4 g polyunsaturated fat, 27 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 83 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 34 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .2 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = 2 grams.

Related Topics:

• White Chocolate-Cranberry Coffee Cake Recipe
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Making Over Martha: Oatmeal Berry Bars

Photo: Elaine Magee

They are called Oatmeal Bars on Martha Stewart's website and they call for white flour, 2 1/2 cubes of butter, heavy whipping cream, 48 caramels, and a cup of semisweet chocolate chips. We made them more whole grain, decreased the brown sugar by 25%, substituted a light plant sterol margarine in place of butter and used low sugar berry preserves instead of chocolate chips, heavy cream and caramels. Granted the berry bars aren't going to give you the chocolate fix the other version will...but you are better off getting your daily dose of chocolate with a couple bites of dark chocolate anyway...and this version can double as a breakfast bar!

Oatmeal Berry Bars

Use the margarine cold from the refrigerator, it will crumble more easily. Each bar contributes 1.4 grams of plant sterols as well.

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup light margarine with plant sterols (i.e. Smart Balance Heart Right Light with 5 grams fat and 1.7 grams plant sterols per tablespoon)
1 1/2 cups low sugar berry preserves (i.e. Smucker's Low Sugar Strawberry Preserves)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with canola cooking spray.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine oats, whole wheat and white flours, brown sugar, baking soda and salt by beating on low speed. Add the margarine to the oat mixture, cold from the refrigerator, breaking it up into small pieces with your fingers or two knives or forks. Run mixer on low speed just until a crumbly mixture forms.
3. Press half of the oat mixture onto bottom of prepared baking dish. Bake until just set (about 15 minutes). Spread berry preserves evenly over warm bottom crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top, breaking it up into smaller pieces with fingers if necessary. Bake 15 minutes more. Let cool in pan before cutting into 24 squares.

Yield: Makes 24 bars

Nutrition information per serving: 170 calories, 4 g protein, 28 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 1.4 g saturated fat, 1.6 g monounsaturated fat, 1.7 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 180 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 25 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .22 g, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1.5 g

Original bars contain 335 calories, 16 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 33 mg cholesterol, 46 grams carbohydrate, and 2 grams fiber per bar if the recipe makes 24 bars.

Related Topics:

• Beyond Oatmeal: Oat Recipes and Tips
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Taste Test Tuesday: Eating Right Light Poppy Seed & Caramelized Onion Dressing

Looking for a salad dressing off the beaten path? I saw this Safeway brand light salad dressing on the shelf and thought I would give it whirl. You have to really like those two flavors (poppy seed and caramelized onion) to even think about tasting this dressing. I never thought of poppy seed as being particularly pungent until I tasted this dressing. I guess the other times I've had poppy seeds they have been in foods that had other strong flavors going on - like lemon poppy seed or almond poppy seed muffins. I think the combo of poppy seed and caramelized onion works in this dressing, but then I've been known to sauté some caramelized onion just in case someone wants to add it to his or her sandwich or turkey burger.

How does it taste?
This pretty salad dressing has a pleasant flavor with the flavors of poppy seed and sweet caramelized onion coming through. This light option will work well in any salad recipe that calls for poppy seed dressing along with serving as a dip, spread on sandwiches, or as a sweet sauce for grilling.

The main ingredients are pretty straightforward in this dressing with the first five being water, sugar, vinegar, soybean oil, and salt.

2 tablespoons = 50 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 310 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrates.

If you like whipping up dishes or recipes that call for a poppy seed-like sauce or dressing, you may want to give this product a second look.

Would you rather make your own low-fat salad dressing? The try one of these!

• Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe
• Japanese Restaurant Salad Dressing Recipe
• Cilantro Lime Dressing Recipe

Related Topics:

• 4 Healthy Reasons to Eat a Salad Today
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Recipe Makeover: Asiago Bagel Breakfast Bake

Don't you just love the Panera bakery/sandwich chain? Apparently their asiago bagels are totally yummy. I make it a habit to only order whole-wheat bagels, so I can only speak for their whole wheat/whole grain selection. Anyway, they have a wonderful recipe for "Asiago Bagel Breakfast Bake" on their website and I thought I would give it a Recipe Doctor makeover.

It calls for their asiago bagels but we can use whole-wheat bagels and the whole "asiago" taste will still come through because the recipe also calls for 6 ounces of asiago cheese (although I dialed this down to 4 ounces)! We are also using half higher omega-3 eggs and half egg substitute and we are using reduced fat versions of the Jack or cheddar cheese and the milk.

Here are the savings!

Per serving:

	Original Recipe	Light Recipe
Calories	420	330
Total Fat (g)	22	12
Saturated Fat (g)	11	6.5
Cholesterol (mg)	273	143
Fiber (g)	1.8	5

LIGHTER WHOLE WHEAT ASIAGO BAGEL BREAKFAST BAKE

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients

4 large eggs, higher omega-3 if available
1 cup egg substitute (you can use the southwest flavor option if desired)
2 cups fat free half and half or 1% lowfat milk
1 teaspoon fresh chopped tarragon or ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Freshly ground black pepper to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon)
6 ounces reduced fat Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup grated or shredded asiago cheese (add more if desired)
4 large whole wheat or whole grain bagels, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. In large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, egg substitute, fat free half and half, tarragon, paprika and pepper (add more to taste).
2. In medium bowl, toss the cheeses together (whichever ones you are using). Coat a 2-quart casserole dish or 9 x 13-inch baking dish with canola cooking spray or coat lightly with canola oil.
3. Layer half of the bagel pieces in prepared dish then half of the cheese then repeat the layers with the remaining bagel pieces and cheese. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture then cover the dish and keep in the refrigerator overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Bake casserole, uncovered, until the top is golden brown (about 1 hour).

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Nutrition Information per serving: 330 calories, 22 g protein, 34 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat, 6.5 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 2.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 143 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 735 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 33 percent.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Breakfast Ideas and Recipes
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Recipe Makeover: Tyler Florence's Chicken Francese

Have you ever noticed how popular chicken is with all those Food Network television chefs? I often cruise through the Food Network website looking for some interesting recipes to lighten and I've got to say, poultry seems to reign supreme! So I wasn't that surprised when the recipe that appealed to me from Tyler Florence featured chicken.

The original recipe calls for dredging the chicken breasts in seasoned flour and then in beaten whole eggs. They are then fried in 1/4 cup of oil in a skillet. Instead, I used an egg substitute "with yolk" product that is lower in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than beaten whole eggs (and it's really easy to use too). I still used olive oil to brown the chicken breast, but I used 2 1/2 tablespoons instead of 4. With a nonstick skillet, this was just the right amount of oil. The original recipe then calls for a lemon sauce to be made in the skillet using all sorts of flavorful ingredients like sliced lemon, white wine, chicken broth, parsley, and a couple tablespoons of butter. I took out the butter completely and switched to a sweeter white wine that wouldn't need the butter to help mellow the flavor.

These changes cut the calories by 28% and fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol by about 60%.

	Before	After
Calories	475	340
Fat(g)	26	11
Saturated Fat (g)	7.5	2.2
Cholesterol mg)	217	96
Fiber (g)	.6	.6

Light & Easy Chicken Francese

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper (depending on preference)
1 cup egg substitute "with yolk" (if that product is not available, use 3/4 cup of any type of egg substitute and blend with 1 large egg)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, with rind, cut in thin rounds
1/2 cup sweet white wine
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon unbleached white flour
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (regular parsley can be substituted)

Directions:

1. Lay one chicken breast in between two sheets of wax paper and pound with the flat side of meat mallet until about 1/4-inch thick. Put the flour in a medium bowl and combine with salt and pepper. Place egg substitute or egg mixture in a wide medium bowl.
2. Add a tablespoon of the oil to a nonstick skillet or large frying pan and begin to heat on medium-high. Begin to dredge both sides of each chicken breast in the flour mixture and then dip them in the egg mixture to coat completely. When the oil is hot, add two cutlets to the skillet and cook until underside is golden (about 2 minutes). Coat the top of the chicken cutlets with canola or olive oil cooking spray. Flip chicken over and cook until second side is golden. Remove chicken to a large platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Repeat step #2 with the remaining oil and chicken breasts.
4. When all 4 chicken breasts are keeping warm on the platter, add the lemon slices to the same skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, broth, and lemon juice and when the mixture comes to a gentle boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to cook until the sauce is reduced a little (about 4 minutes total).
5. Blend about 3 tablespoons of the hot liquid with 1 tablespoon of white flour to form a loose paste. Add flour paste to the skillet and whisk into the hot liquid and continue to cook and stir until a nicely thickened smooth sauce forms.
6. Place the chicken back in the skillet with the sauce and place the lemon slices on top of the chicken as the chicken simmers for a couple of minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley right before serving!

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Information per serving: 340 calories, 41 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat, 2.2 g saturated fat, 6.5 g monounsaturated fat, 1.7 g polyunsaturated fat, 96 mg cholesterol, .6 g fiber, 238 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 29 percent.

Related Topics:

• Easy Rotisserie Chicken Recipes
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Recipe Makeover: Paula Deen's Chicken & Rice Casserole

I love doing Paula Deen recipe makeovers because:

1. She rocks the kitchen.


2. She has a tendency toward my kind of cooking (comfort food).


3. There are always quite a few changes I can make for a big ticket nutritional pay off.

Today we are making over Paula’s popular Chicken & Rice Casserole. The original recipe calls for canned green beans. I don't do canned vegetables (not that there is anything wrong with that - except the added sodium); I just would rather use frozen or fresh vegetables. I think they taste better, although it seems that people prefer whatever they were raised with.

I also used skinless roasted chicken breast instead of any type of chicken meat with skin. And I used the 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup instead of regular and reduced fat sharp cheddar instead of regular. I made a blend of light mayonnaise and fat free sour cream instead of real mayonnaise, which creates a wonderful tasting mixture with 75% less grams of fat compared to the real thing.

Lastly the original recipe calls for a box of long grain white and wild rice. I used 4 cups of cooked brown rice and it seemed to work great. The pinch of salt (or any salt or that matter) simply isn't needed with the other ingredients that will contribute some sodium.

We cut the calories by 45% and the total fat and saturated fat were cut by about 70%! Cholesterol was cut in half and the fiber increased by 2 grams per serving.

Here’s the best part...it still tastes terrific - savory and satisfying!

	Before	After
Calories	646	354
Fat (g)	38	11
Saturated Fat (g)	9	3
Cholesterol (mg)	120	62
Fiber (g)	3.5	5.5

Light & Easy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

10 3/4-ounce can condensed cream of chicken or celery soup
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
3 cups frozen green beans
3 cups diced, cooked chicken breast, without skin
1 medium sweet or yellow onion, chopped
8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
4 ounce jar or can pimentos, drained (optional)
4 cups cooked brown rice (or cooked brown rice and wild rice blend)
1 cup shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (or 3-quart casserole dish) with canola cooking spray.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine condensed soup, light mayonnaise and fat free sour cream.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and combine with mayonnaise mixture. Spread into prepared baking dish and bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: makes 8 servings

Nutritional Information per serving: 354 calories, 25 g protein, 38.5 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat, 62 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 435 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 28 percent.

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• Quick, Easy Recipes: More 'Halfway Homemade' Dishes
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• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake Makeover

Who doesn't love the idea of mixing up chocolate cake batter in a coffee mug and then cooking it in the microwave for a warm chocolaty treat? A recipe for "5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake" is making the rounds on the Internet... so much so that a few different people emailed me the recipe so that I could give it a makeover.

I tried out a lighter, higher fiber version of this cake and it was definitely moist and flavorful. My teenage daughters gave it a taste too and gave it the thumbs up. I used all whole-wheat flour instead of white flour and reduced the sugar by 25%. Instead of 3 tablespoons of oil I used 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream.

Making these changes made quite a difference in the nutritional content. Check this out:

• Calories went DOWN from 415 to 240
• Fat grams went DOWN from 25 to 8 grams
• Saturated fat went DOWN from 2.8 to .7 grams
• Cholesterol went DOWN from 113 to 2.5 milligrams
• Fiber went UP from 1.4 to 3 grams

Here's the new and improved version of this recipe!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup egg substitute (with yolk) or 1 egg
3 tablespoons lowfat milk or fat free half and half
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)
light vanilla bean ice cream (optional)
sliced strawberries or other fresh fruit (optional)

Preparation:

1. In microwave-safe coffee mug, combine whole-wheat flour, sugar, and cocoa.
2. Pour egg substitute or egg, lowfat milk, canola oil, sour cream and vanilla into the mug with dry ingredients and mix well with fork.
3. Stir chocolate chips into the cake batter in mug, if desired. Place mug in center of microwave (preferably one that has a turn table) and cook on HIGH for 3 minutes. The cake will rise about an inch or so above the top of the mug (don't worry it won't drip down the sides of the mug).
4. Let cake cool in mug for a few minutes then turn mug upside down over a serving bowl (the cake should slide out fairly easily).
5. Cut cake in half for a smaller sized serving and top with a small scoop of light vanilla bean ice cream and sliced strawberries (or other fresh fruit).

Serving Suggestion: Serve with a scoop of light vanilla ice cream and some fresh fruit like sliced strawberries or raspberries.

Yield: Makes 2 servings

Nutritional Information:
Per serving (if two per recipe): 240 calories, 7 g protein, 35 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, .7 g saturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 115 mg sodium. Calories from fats: 30 percent.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Fruit Dessert Recipes
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

The original recipe for these cookies is a top rated recipe on the Food Network website and it was contributed by Wendy Gaynor, the owner of the Ruby et Violette cookie bakery in New York City. The original recipe calls for a stick of butter; I switched to a less fat margarine with a low amount of saturated fat and no trans fat. I decreased the sugar by 1/3 and used a majority of whole-wheat flour to make the dough, which adds nutrients and fiber. The original cookie recipe calls for 3 types of chips (peanut butter chips, toffee chips and semisweet chocolate chips). I kept the two types of chocolate and took out the toffee chips.

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cut from each cookie:

• 63 calories
• 5 grams total fat
• 4 grams saturated fat
• 17 mg cholesterol

And fiber increases by about 1 gram per serving!

Lightened NYC Bakery Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

1/2 cup less fat margarine (8 grams fat per tablespoon and no trans fat)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
1 large egg, higher omega-3 if available
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup peanut butter or butterscotch chips
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (60% cocoa if possible)

Preparation:

1. In large mixing bowl, combine margarine with dark brown sugar until thoroughly blended, scarping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat on low speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl, until blended.
2. In separate bowl, combine flours, salt and baking soda. Add flour mixture to margarine/sugar mixture while beating on low speed until combined. Stir in both types of chocolate chips and marshmallows with a scraper or spoon. Cover bowl and refrigerate until cold (at least two hours).
3. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and use a cookie scoop to drop balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons each), 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes (bake longer if you like your cookies crisp and not chewy). Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes then remove cookies to a wire rack and let them cool.

Yield: Makes 18 bakery size cookies

Nutrition Information
Per serving: 168 calories, 2 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 7.5 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 11 mg cholesterol, 1.2 g fiber, 112 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 40 percent.

Journal as: 1 portion medium dessert

The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• 100-Calorie Chocolate Treats
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf

But lighter!

One of the top-rated meatloaf recipes on the Food Network website comes from the Joe Allen restaurant. We are making this meatloaf lower in saturated fat and higher in fiber by making a few switches. Instead of using 1 cup of white bread breadcrumbs, I used 100% whole-wheat bread. Instead of sauteing the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, I used 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Ground sirloin (around 7% fat) is the base for our light meatloaf instead of regular fat ground beef and I used 1 higher omega-3 egg plus 2 tablespoons egg substitute (or 1 egg white) instead of 2 regular eggs.

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cut from each serving:

• 110 calories
• 14 grams total fat
• 5 grams saturated fat
• 25 mg cholesterol

And fiber increases by about .5 gram per serving!

Light Restaurant Meatloaf

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (1/2 teaspoon dried thyme can be used)
3 pounds ground sirloin or extra lean ground beef (around 7% fat)
1 cup whole wheat fresh bread crumbs (put 2 to 3 slices of firm whole wheat bread into a small food processor and pulse until breadcrumbs form)
1 large egg, higher omega-3 if available
2 tablespoons egg substitute (or 1 egg white)
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard (add another tablespoon if desired)
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (add more if desired)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Coat a 9 x 9-inch round or square nonstick baking dish lightly with canola oil.
2. Heat tablespoon of canola oil in medium nonstick frying pan. Stir in onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme and saute until soft. Let cool slightly.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients, along with the cooled vegetables, and mix with your clean hands or a strong mixing spoon. Shape meat mixture into a loaf in the prepared baking dish.
4. Bake for about 1 hour or until meat is cooked throughout and nicely brown on the edges. Serve with mashed potatoes or any other favorite side dish!

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Nutrition Information
Per serving: 280 calories, 35 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 10.5 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 1.5 g fiber, 314 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 34 percent.

Journal as: 1 serving "lean meat with sauce"

The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• Cheap and Easy Recipes and Dinner Ideas
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

The Fried Chicken Makeover

To lighten up the traditionally deep fried chicken, we marinated skinless chicken pieces in buttermilk and coated them with a seasoned flour mixture, then sprayed with canola cooking spray, and baked them in the oven. This chicken is great cold, too!

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cut from each serving (compared to a deep fried chicken breast):

• 147 calories
• 22 grams total fat
• 7 grams saturated fat
• 86 mg cholesterol

Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper- increase to 1 teaspoon if extra "heat" is desired)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Canola cooking spray

Preparation:

1. Combine chicken breasts and buttermilk in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Refrigerate sealed bag in a medium-size bowl for several hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Use a pastry brush to coat the bottom of a 9 x 9-inch baking dish with canola oil.
3. In a new gallon-sized zip-top bag or medium-sized shallow bowl, stir together the flour, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and white pepper to blend well.
4. Remove a chicken breast from buttermilk and gently shake off any excess. Immediately dip chicken into flour mixture; coat well. Holding chicken piece over a plate, spray both sides well with canola cooking spray. Dip chicken piece into flour mixture a second time and spray again with canola cooking spray. Place into prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining chicken.
5. Bake until chicken is cooked throughout and coating is golden brown (about 25-30 minutes). If needed, switch the oven to broil, and broil the chicken 6 inches from the heat for a minute or two (until outside of chicken is nicely browned), watching very carefully so as not to burn.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Information:
PER SERVING: 194 calories, 28 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 5.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 74 mg cholesterol, 0.5 g fiber, 225 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 26%

Journal as: 1 serving "lean meat with 1 tsp fat maximum"

The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• 'No-Fry' Fried Foods
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Macaroni and Cheese, Please!

That's healthful and delicious!

The two keys to a more healthful mac & cheese are to use a whole wheat or whole grain blend pasta (there are lots of products to choose from) and to make a lighter cheese sauce that's lower in fat and saturated fat. Traditional recipes call for several tablespoons of butter, whole milk or half and half and whole milk cheese, but in this recipe we cut the butter to one tablespoon and switched to whipped butter or less fat margarine, used fat free half and half and lowfat milk and reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese.

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cut from each serving:

• 318 calories
• 36 grams total fat
• 23 grams saturated fat
• 129 mg cholesterol

And fiber increases by about 6 grams per serving!

Light Mac & Cheese

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

3 cups dry macaroni noodles, whole wheat or whole grain blend
1 tablespoon whipped butter or less fat margarine
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
5 tablespoons Wondra quick-mixing flour (white flour can also be used)
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
1 1/2 cups fat free half and half
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch or two of cayenne pepper
3 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 cup croutons of your choice, crumbled (optional)
Paprika to taste

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat two loaf pans (9 x 5-inch) with cooking spray. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni noodles and boil until al dente (about 8 minutes depending on the noodle), then drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized saucepan melt the butter, remove it from heat, and blend in the sour cream and flour to make a paste. Whisk in the milk and half and half and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to simmer, stir in the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, and stir frequently until the sauce thickens (about 5 minutes). Whisk in an additional tablespoon of flour if needed for desired thickness.
3. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the cheese and stir well. Pour the cheese sauce into a large saucepan, add the drained macaroni, and stir to combine. Serve immediately or pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle crumbled croutons and paprika (if desired). Bake for 30 minutes, or until the mixture bubbles and is lightly browned around the edges.

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Information:
Per serving: 408 calories, 27 g protein, 43.5 g carbohydrate, 13 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 41 mg cholesterol, 7 g fiber, 420 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 29 percent.

Journal as: 1 cup "starchy foods with 1 tsp fat" + 2 ounces low fat cheese OR 1 frozen dinner light, pasta dish with light sauce + 2 ounces lowfat cheese OR 1 1/2 hearty stews

The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• Healthy Eating: Cutting Unhealthy Fats from your Diet
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

The Mashed Potato Makeover

Comfort Food Makeover #1

The original recipe for this dish comes from MarthaStewart.com and it calls for a stick of butter (which we completely deleted) and 1 1/2-cups heavy cream (which we substituted with fat free half and half).

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cuts from each serving:

• 180 calories
• 20 grams total fat
• 12.5 grams saturated fat
• 65 mg cholesterol

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

2 large heads garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice about 1/4-inch off the top of the garlic heads, throw the tops away, and place heads on a piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the garlic heads and wrap them well in the foil. Bake until tender and golden, (about 35-45 minutes). Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel the skin away from the garlic cloves.
2. Add the garlic cloves to a small nonstick saucepan along with the fat-free half-and-half. Simmer the mixture over medium heat until cream is hot. Reduce heat, cover the pan and continue to simmer for a couple of more minutes. Turn the heat off and lift out the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon, place in custard cup, and set aside. Leave the saucepan with half-and-half on the stove until needed.
3. Place quartered potatoes in a large stockpot, cover with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potato pieces in a colander.
4. Add hot, steaming, and drained potato pieces directly to a large mixing bowl and beat on low while you slowly pour in the fat-free half-and-half. Season with salt and pepper if desired and gently stir in the roasted garlic cloves. Serve!

Yield: 10 servings

Nutritional Information:
Per serving: 200 Calories, 7 g protein, 45 g carbohydrate, 0.7 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 1 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 55 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 3 percent.

Journal as: 3/4 cup starchy foods without added fat.


The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• Healthy Eating: Cutting Unhealthy Fats from your Diet
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Comfort Food Makeovers

Lightening Up Your Favorite Comfort Foods!

There's something about favorite comfort foods that just speaks to our hearts as well as our stomachs.

Piping-hot macaroni and cheese with a crunchy golden-brown crust, chewy and gooey chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven, or a big mound of fluffy white mashed potatoes with a pool of melted butter dripping down the side: Who doesn't like comfort food? We all need a little extra comfort every now and then but in the current economic climate we want and need our comfort foods more often than every before.

"When we are anxious or fearful, we fall back to foods we associate with times of lowest stress-that is, with childhood," says Dr. John Foreyt of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Comfort foods are "feel-good" foods, soothing and nurturing us, but they usually come with a rather steep nutritional price tag: they are usually high in fat, saturated fat and calories and sometimes sugar. So what are some of these all-time favorite comfort foods? While men seem to prefer warm, hearty meat-related comfort foods, such as steak, casseroles, and soup, women prefer more snack-related foods like chocolate or ice cream. A few years ago more than 6400 people took my comfort food survey on www.allrecipes.com and these were the top 3 comfort foods:

• Mashed potatoes and gravy
• Macaroni and cheese
• Chocolate chip cookies

Wondering where some of your favorite comfort foods are on the list? Pot roast was the 7th ranked comfort food with fried chicken as the 8th, pasta as the 9th, and meatloaf as the 11th.

For the next few days, I'll be lightening up some of these all-time favorite comfort foods... proving to you along the way that you can have your favorite comfort foods and eat light too!

Sources: John P. Foreyt, Ph.D., Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas.ESHA Research, Food Processor nutrition analysis software.

The Series:

• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• Emotional Eating and Weight Loss
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

5-Minute Dark Chocolate Rocky Road

Photo: Elaine Magee

There's something about Easter time that conjures up thoughts of one of my favorite chocolate treats-rocky road. Was it all of those Rocky Road Easter Eggs in my Easter basket over the years?

This year, you can save yourself time (driving to the chocolatier) and money by whipping up a batch of homemade rocky road. One bag of high cacao chocolate chips, a bag of walnut pieces, half a bag of miniature marshmallows and a microwave is all you need. Get all of the food products on sale and the batch will only run you about $6.00!

5-Minute Dark Chocolate Rocky Road

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

11 ounces 60% cacao semi sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons canola oil
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces

Photo: Elaine Magee

1. Add chocolate chips and canola oil to medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat on HIGH for a minute. Stir to help melt remaining chocolate chips or heat on HIGH for 15-second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.


2. Let cool about 5 minutes (meanwhile set up 12 muffin papers) on a flat surface or jellyroll pan.


3. Stir the marshmallows and walnut pieces into the melted chocolate mixture. Portion the mixture evenly into the 12 muffins cups. Refrigerate until set (about 30 minutes). Share them with your friends and family!

Yield: Makes 12 big rocky road servings
Per serving: 250 calories, 5 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 14 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 13 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 50%

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Dark Chocolate - Heart Healthy Benefits
• WebMD Slideshow: This History of Chocolate in Photos
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

New 360-Degree Indoor Grill

Oh it's big, all right. It will handle grilling 6 medium-sized burgers or 4 skinless chicken breasts in a single bound. It's the new 360-degree indoor grill by George Foreman. This appliance requires a commitment not only because it costs more than the smaller indoor grills, but because you'll need to clear some major cabinet space for this baby. I think it's worth it though.

The one thing you will also need with this grill is a counter top area with enough cabinet clearance so you can prop the top of the grill up while you are loading on your food to the bottom plate, without hitting something. I have an electrical outlet on my kitchen island so that worked perfectly (no cabinets above this counter space.) When you see the size of this thing, you will understand why I raised this issue.

I have been using my smaller indoor grill for panini sandwiches for a couple of years now so with this 360-degree griller, I can make several sandwiches at a time...definitely a plus when you have several hungry teens in your kitchen.

This grill also comes with upper and lower plates for making quesadillas and a lower plate to make pizzas, which admittedly I haven't had a chance to try yet. One tip on the quesadilla plates though...Use gravity to help you keep your cheese in your quesadilla and not in the drip tray. Set your folded quesadilla so it isn't open on the down side of the 360-degree grill. Using less greasy (and slippery) reduced fat cheese will also keep it in your tortilla too.

One of the biggest differences I can see with this new grill, besides its grilling capacity, are the temperature control options. You can dial in LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH.

Temperature Settings
According to the company that makes and distributes this George Foreman grill, Applica:
LOW works best for reheating fully cooked foods.
MEDIUM LOW works for sandwiches and wraps.
MEDIUM works best for vegetables.
MEDIUM HIGH works bests for vegetables, fish, pizza, quesadillas, pork, poultry and lamb.
HIGH works best for beef.

Here's a recipe for easy grilled asparagus that is designed for any indoor grill!

Easy Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus spears (about 20 spears)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat indoor grill (like the George Foreman) to Medium-High. Meanwhile use a silicon brush or pastry brush to lightly coat the outside of asparagus with olive oil.
2. Lay asparagus over bottom grill (either direction works-going with or against the grooves) and lower the top grill. Cook until asparagus is just tender but still a little crispy and bright green (about 6-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears).
3. Place grilled asparagus on serving plate and sprinkle some freshly ground salt over the salt. Simple but delicious!

Yield: Makes 4 servings
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic Members journal as: 1/2 cup vegetables without added fat
Nutrition Information per serving: 36 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 2 g fat, .3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 147 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 45 percent.

Related Topics:

• Indoor Grilling: Tips and Recipes
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Lighten Up, Chicken!

Food Network Chicken Recipe Gets a Visit From The WebMD Recipe Doctor

I get a lot of requests on my Recipe Doctor website to lighten up various dishes from The Food Network. People usually write that they want to try the particular recipe, but are put off by all of the rich and fatty ingredients. I actually got three requests for this same chicken dish, so I decided to lighten it up and share the simple and savory recipe with all of you!

Basically I dramatically reduced the cooking fat and switched to a smart oil, plus I doubled the vegetables and used a reduced fat cheese.

The original recipe calls for half a stick of butter; I used 4 teaspoons of canola or olive oil. I used 2 cups of mushrooms and 1/3 cup of shallots compared to 1 cup of mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of shallots in the original recipe. I eliminated the salt and used 1 cup of part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese instead of whole milk mozzarella. I also eliminated a preparation step to keep it all in one pot. Less to do and less to wash!

Here are the SAVINGS:

Calories decreased from 386 to 330
Fat grams decreased from 22.5 grams to 14 grams
Saturated fat decreased from 13 grams to 5 grams
Cholesterol decreased from 152 to 111 mg
Sodium decreased from 429 to 236 mg (mushrooms have a lot of natural flavor)
Fiber went up from .3 gram to almost 1 gram
Omega-3s went up from .2 gram to .6 gram (using canola oil)

Light & Easy Georgia Chicken

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons canola or olive oil, divided use
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (available pre-washed and pre-cut)
1/3 cup minced shallots (chopped onion can be substituted)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese (or cheese of choice)

Preparation:

1. In large, nonstick skillet begin heating 2 teaspoons of canola or olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and shallots and saute until lightly brown (about 5 minutes). Spoon out mushroom mixture to medium bowl and set aside.
2. In same large, nonstick skillet, begin heating the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over medium-high heat. Coat both sides of chicken breasts with hot oil in pan and continue to brown both sides until cooked throughout (about 8 minutes on each side). Sprinkle pepper over the top.
3. Sprinkle cheese even over the top of chicken then top evenly with the mushroom mixture. Turn off heat, cover skillet, and let the chicken dish rest for 5 minutes to melt cheese and blend flavors.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic Members journal as: 1 serving lean meat with sauce + 2 ounces lowfat cheese OR 1 frozen dinner light + 2 ounces lowfat cheese OR 1 1/2 cups hearty stews

Nutrition Information per serving: 330 calories, 44 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 14 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 111 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 236 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 38 percent.

Related Topics:

• Tips for New Cooks - Chicken
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Bacon Explosion Recipe - Heart Attack Waiting to Happen

A big hit on the internet is a heart attack waiting to happen!

Photo Credit: BBQ Addicts

Superbowl 2009 is a couple of days away, so I totally get that some appetizer recipes are going to be circulating around the internet right about now. But the New York Times took note of one that's over the top. The big one this year comes to us from the BBQ Addicts website and it's so fatty it makes the Bloomin' Onion from The Outback seem like diet food. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but when I saw the picture of this Bacon Explosion appetizer with layers of bacon and fatty Italian sausage all rolled up, it really did look like an artery filled with plaque to me. I may not have been so far off...

Photo Credit: BBQ Addicts

There are 4 ingredients to this recipe, half of which are two of the fattiest, highest saturated fat foods you could put on your plate-bacon and sausage.

I figured the 2 pounds of bacon, 2 pounds of Italian sausage; jar of barbeque sauce and jar of barbeque rub would make 16 appetizer servings which means each appetizer serving contains:

506 calories
43.5 g fat
15 g saturated fat
82 mg cholesterol
15 g protein
13 g carbohydrate
1263 mg sodium

But if you are interested in making a lighter mini version of the Bacon Explosion (let's call it "Bacon - Save Your Life- Appetizer"), check out the following recipe that you can make in your oven and that contains half of the calories and 2/3rds less fat, and saturated fat compared to the Bacon Explosion.

Mini Bacon-Save Your-Life Appetizer

Ingredients:

12-ounce package Louis Rich turkey bacon (or similar)
1 tablespoon favorite
barbeque rub or spice blend
12 ounces Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Pork Sausage
(or similar)
1/2 cup favorite barbeque sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with foil.
2. Create a square of woven turkey bacon slices by laying 5 slices of turkey bacon on a flat surface from north to south and 5 more from east to west then create a tight weave of turkey bacon.
3. Sprinkle a teaspoon or two of your favorite barbecue seasoning on top of your bacon weave. Fry up the remaining turkey bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels then crumble the slices into smaller pieces; set aside.
4. Unwrap your package of light sausage and stretch out the sausage to create layers so it covers the bacon weave, leaving one row of bacon uncovered at one end.
5. Take the crumbled pieces of bacon and sprinkle them evenly over the layer of sausage. Drizzle the barbecue sauce all over the bacon pieces. You can sprinkle some more barbecue rub (a teaspoon or two) over the top of this if desired.
6. Carefully separate the front edge of the sausage layer from the bacon weave and begin rolling up the sausage with the bacon filling, Once the sausage is all rolled up, pinch together the seams and ends to seal all of the bacon goodness inside. Now roll the sausage forward completely wrapping it in the turkey bacon weave. Set the rolled up turkey bacon and sausage roll into the prepared loaf pan (it will just barely fit).
7. Sprinkle some barbecue seasoning on the outside of the bacon weave roll if desired. Cover the loaf pan with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Uncover the dish and continue to bake until the sausage is cooked throughout and the bacon weave on the outside is dark brown (about 10 to 15 minutes more). Let the bacon roll rest for 10 minutes. You can brush a couple of tablespoons of barbecue sauce over the outside of the roll if desired.
8. Cut with serrated knife into 8 or more slices. Serve this by itself as an appetizer or serve it with whole wheat crackers or sliced baguette bread.

Yield: This mini version makes about 8 appetizers.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: 220 calories, 12 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 15 g fat, 4.4 g saturated fat, 59 mg cholesterol, 930 mg sodium.

Photos reproduced with permission from the BBQ Addicts.

Related Topics:

• Super-Fast and Easy Appetizer Recipes
• 10 Foods that Are Health Horrors
• Get the Healthy Recipes Newsletter delivered to your inbox!

Designer Hot Cocoa

Two fun flavors you can make at home!

Hot cocoa is a favorite evening beverage in the Magee house during the winter months, so I came up with a couple of twists on this old favorite…one for the whole family (Peppermint Twist) and one just for the grown ups (Tiramisu Hot Cocoa). You can use a hot cocoa powder, such as Moonstruck American Hot Cocoa which has the cocoa already blended with powdered sugar, or you can stir 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa together with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in a small cup, which you then stir into the warmed milk.

Photo: Elaine Magee

Peppermint Twist Cocoa (a great way to use leftover candy canes)

Ingredients:

1 cup (8 ounces 1% lowfat milk (or similar)
1/4 cup hot cocoa powder (cocoa and powdered sugar), such as Moonstruck American Hot Cocoa
1 smidgen mint extract (there are measuring spoons available that measure a "smidgen")
1 candy cane stirrer (optional)

Preparation:

1. In microwaveable mug, warm milk up until nicely hot (usually about 1 minute on high).
2. Stir in the hot cocoa powder and mint extract.
3. Serve with a candy cane for a stirrer!

Yield: Makes 1 serving

Photo: Elaine Magee

Tiramisu Hot Cocoa

Ingredients:

1 cup (8 ounces) 1% lowfat milk (or similar)
1/4 cup hot cocoa powder (cocoa and powdered sugar)
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons rum
Ladyfinger cookie

Preparation:

1. In microwaveable mug, warm milk up until nicely hot (usually about 1 minute on high).
2. Stir in the hot cocoa powder, espresso powder and rum.
3. Serve with a ladyfinger cookie for garnish!

Yield: Makes 1 serving

Related Topics:

• WebMD Slideshow: This History of Chocolate in Photos
• Health by Chocolate

Lightening Up The Inaugural Luncheon

White House Chef Meets the WebMD Recipe Doctor

Are you surprised that the most visited page on the official inaugural website was the Inaugural Luncheon Menu & Recipes? We are, after all, a nation of kitchen voyeurs who have made countless chefs and cooks celebrities. If millions of interested Americans can't physically be one of the 200 guests attending the luncheon, maybe they feel like they can at least eat the same dishes that were served...which by the way were apparently fashioned after dishes favored by Abe Lincoln. This was done in tribute to the bicentennial of the birth of the 16th president of the United States. Can't argue with that!

But glancing at the luncheon recipes, I couldn't help but notice how making some small ingredient changes could translate into BIG savings in calories, fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. So humor me a little here and let's take a look at some of the menu changes I would have made if the Inaugural Luncheon Committee had dialed "Recipe Doctor 9-1-1."

First Course: Seafood Stew
Bring on all the seafood - lobsters, scallops, shrimp, and black cod. Loving all the vegetables too - carrots, celery, leeks, potato. But there are two ingredients in this recipe that could single-handedly undo any health benefits from the seafood and veggies:

• Heavy cream
• Puff pastry

Each serving of the Seafood Stew contains .4 cup of heavy cream, which translates into:

328 calories
35 grams total fat
22 grams saturated fat
130 milligrams cholesterol

WOW! But if we switch to whole milk or fat free half and half, each .4 cup now contributes: about 58 calories, 1 to 3 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 5 to 10 milligrams cholesterol.

And each serving of the puff pastry adds:

239 calories
17 grams total fat
3.7 grams saturated fat
129 milligrams cholesterol

Actually we could eliminate this ingredient completely (the stew is served in a ramekin and the puff pastry is baked on top of the stew) and top the stew instead with a nice mixture of panko crumbs, fresh herbs and shredded Parmesan.

For a grand total savings of:

509 calories
50 grams total fat
25 grams saturated fat
249 milligrams cholesterol per serving!

Second Course: Duck Breast with Cherry Chutney
I love how lots of flavors are coming from wonderful ingredients like garlic, shallot, cumin, Dijon mustard, red bell pepper, etc. And I'm digging that 1 tablespoon of olive oil (high in the preferable monounsaturated fat) was chosen to sauté the vegetables. And then we come to the featured fowl - duck breasts WITH skin. Duck is already a fairly rich and oily meat so why would they feel inclined to include the skin, which is where roughly half of all the fat is? Don't answer that - I already know what you are all going to say.

You can shave off all kinds of calories and fat just by taking off the skin before cooking. It depends on the type of duck used, but just by taking off the skin you could potentially save (per serving):

150 calories
13 grams total fat
6 grams saturated fat
10 milligrams cholesterol

The duck is served with a side of Winter Vegetables featuring a lovely assortment of veggies doused in butter and twice as much olive oil. Each serving of vegetables comes with almost 1/2 tablespoon of butter and almost 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I think we can get away with 1 1/2 teaspoons of cooking fat total! The butter (4 tablespoons total) is blended with orange zest and is used to top the carrots and wax beans. We can keep the orange zest, switch to whipped butter and drop down to 1 1/2 tablespoons total or 1/2 teaspoon per serving. Then we'll drop the olive down from almost 9 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons total or 1 teaspoon per serving.

Add these savings to the skinless duck savings and you've got a grand total savings of:

245 calories
23 grams fat
8 grams saturated fat
18 milligrams cholesterol per serving!

Note: Another side dish served with the second course is Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes. The recipe is abundantly flavored and sweetened with orange juice, molasses, and maple syrup, so they probably technically don't need the 2 tablespoons of butter called for in the recipe. But since the recipe makes 16 servings (1/2-cup each), the savings aren't going to be that big per serving. That would just be nutritional knit picking.

Third Course: Cinnamon Apple Sponge Cake
This wasn't what I expected when I read the recipe name. This is a complicated dish that includes pieces of brioche bread dipped in a total of 14 tablespoons butter (for 10 servings) used to line individual serving molds. A homemade apple filling made with 4 tablespoons butter is at the center of the individual sponge cake and then a stovetop caramel apple sauce is drizzled over the cake and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Here's the thing...given our last two courses, I'm thinking we can lose the sponge cake altogether and go straight to a nice scoop of light vanilla ice cream topped with that stove top caramel apple sauce.

I'm including a recipe for a lighter version of their recipe using double the amount of diced apples sautéed in 1 tablespoon of whipped butter (instead of regular) and tossed into half the amount of caramel sauce. I added 2 tablespoons of lowfat milk to help cream up and thin out the thick caramel sauce too.

Do this, and we save a grand total of:

662 calories
36 grams fat
21 grams saturated fat
120 milligrams cholesterol per serving!
(And this doesn't even include the brioche bread!)

Inaugural Inspired Cinnamon Apple Ice Cream Treat

Ingredients:

1/2 cup caramel sauce (store bought ice cream topping)
2 tablespoons lowfat milk or fat free half and half
1 tablespoon whipped butter
2 1/4 cups granny smith apples, cored, diced small
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5, 1/2-cup servings of light vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1. In 2-cup measure of small bowl, combine caramel sauce and lowfat milk using whisk or spoon. Set aside.
2. In medium nonstick saucepan, begin to melt whipped butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the diced apples, granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. Continue cooking until the apples are lightly browned (about 4 minutes). Remove saucepan from heat and stir in the caramel sauce mixture.
3. Add a 1/2-cup scoop of light vanilla ice cream to five dessert dishes and top each with a nice spoon of the warm cinnamon apple topping.

Yield: Makes 5 servings
Nutrition Information: Per serving (using light vanilla ice cream): 230 calories, 4 g protein, 42 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 22 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 176 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 20 percent.

Related Topics:

• The Obamas: First Couple of Fitness
• Diet Tools and Tips Board
• Healthy Cooking: Elaine Magee, RD

Frugal Food Gift #4: Chocolate Dipped Cookies

An Easy, Decadent Treat That Everyone Will Enjoy

Admittedly there is nothing healthy about this food gift. Well, you could use high cocoa chocolate chips to pump up the antioxidant value of the melted chocolate...but that's about it. I can tell you though that these chocolate dipped peppermint sandwich cookies are loaded with flavor and if you take your time eating and enjoying it, just one cookie is usually very satisfying. This is a great way to use up some of the leftover holiday sprinkles you have hanging around in the back of your spice cabinet. You could recycle holiday bowls, plates, and small gift boxes or place the cookies in holiday gift bags you have lying around.

Each box of cookies cost about $2.50 each ($5.00 total) plus you can pick up a bag of chocolate chips for about $2.00 for a total of $7.00. Since the batch makes about 6 food gifts, each gift will cost about $1.16.

Chocolate Covered Candy Cane Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

• 11.5-ounce bag semi sweet chocolate chips (milk can be substituted)
• 2 boxes of peppermint sandwich cookies, about 66 cookies total (I buy mine at Trader Joe's - they look like Oreos but the vanilla filling has crushed candy cane in it--but if you can't find them, just use Reduced Fat or regular Oreos)
• Holiday sprinkles, or if you are using regular chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed candy cane works well

Preparation:

1. Pour chocolate chips into a 2-cup glass measure (or similar) and microwave on LOW for about 1 minute. Stir gently and if not melted, microwave in 30-second intervals until almost completely melted. Stir with spoon to distribute the heat evenly and finish melting the chips.
2. Line two jellyroll pans with wax paper. Dunk one of the cookies halfway into the melted chocolate and scrape away some of the excess chocolate with the flat side of a dinner knife or use the edge of the glass measure. Lay dipped cookie on the wax paper.
3. Repeat with remaining cookies until all the melted chocolate has been used (about 33 cookies per cup of chocolate cups). Sprinkle holiday cookie decorations/sprinkles or crushed candy canes over the chocolate of each of the cookies. Place jellyroll pans in the refrigerator to harden the melted chocolate.
4. Place cookies in holiday gift bowls, bags or boxes or on cookie plates. If you use about 11 decorated cookies for each gift, this recipe will make about 6 gifts!

Yield: makes about 66 halfway dipped cookies

Nutrition Information: 77 calories, .6 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 3.8 g fat, 1.4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, .6 g fiber, 60 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 44 percent.

Frugal Food Gifts...The Series

Holiday Food Gifts That Make Cents
#1: Light Cran-Raspberry Sauce
#2: Tea Time
#3: 5-Minute Peanut Butter Rocky Road Fudge
#4: Chocolate Dipped Cookies

Related Topics:

• Healthier Holiday Cookie Recipes
• Holiday Cookie Swap

Frugal Food Gift #3: 5-Minute Fudge

Peanut Butter Rocky Road Fudge

One of the food gift ideas one WebMD community board member shared was a really easy recipe for peanut butter fudge. I played with her microwave instructions for the fudge and turned it into an 8 x 8-inch pan of higher fiber, higher cocoa rocky road by adding some Fiber One bran cereal and using high cocoa chocolate chips.

You can buy the chips for $2.50 and we are only using half a bag for one batch of the recipe ($1.25), plus one cup of natural-style peanut butter which will cost about $1.25 (on sale a small pint jar will run about $2.50). A cup and a half of the added marshmallows will add a cost of about $.75 and a cup and a half of Fiber One will add a cost of about $.50, for a total cost of $3.75. The batch of rocky road will make about 4 food gifts.

Each food gift will cost about $.93 if you recycle some holiday dessert plates or wrap each slab (cut the square of rocky roady into 4 smaller squares) of the rocky road in plastic wrap, and decorate with holiday stickers and some ribbon.

5-Minute Peanut Butter Rocky Road

Ingredients:

• 1 cup high cacao bittersweet chocolate chips (ie. Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips)
• 1 cup natural style peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups Fiber One bran cereal

Preparation:

1. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with foil.
2. In microwave-safe glass bowl, combine chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Remove bowl and stir with spoon for a minute to finish melting chocolate chips. If necessary, microwave mixture for an additional 30 seconds and stir again.
3. Stir in the marshmallows and Fiber One cereal and pour mixture into prepared dish, smoothing mixture out to cover the bottom of the dish. Keep in refrigerator until hardened (about 1-2 hours). Lift foil from dish and place rocky road on a flat surface. Cut into 4 square slabs and wrap each with plastic wrap or cut rocky road into bite-size squares.

Yield: Makes 36 large bite-size pieces.

Nutrition Information per serving: 77 calories, 2 g protein, 7.5 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g fat, 1.3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 11 mg sodium (this value will be higher if there is salt added to the peanut butter). Calories from fat: 52 percent.

Frugal Food Gifts...The Series

Holiday Food Gifts That Make Cents
#1: Light Cran-Raspberry Sauce
#2: Tea Time
#3: 5-Minute Peanut Butter Rocky Road Fudge
#4: Chocolate Dipped Cookies

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Dark Chocolate's Heart-Healthy Benefits
• Chocolate Pictures Slideshow: This History of Chocolate in Photos

Frugal Food Gift Idea #1: Light Cran-Raspberry Sauce

Around the holidays, cran-raspberry sauce comes in handy for turkey dinners or turkey sandwiches or as topping for brie served as a holiday appetizer. The beautiful bright red color brightens up any holiday table.

Making the recipe below for Cran-Raspberry Sauce will make 3 gifts of about 1-cup each. You can use three 8-ounce jars that you have around the house (just make sure they have been washed well preferably in a dishwasher). Add a bow or some ribbon and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to give it as a gift.

The fresh cranberries can cost about $3 plus the raspberries (one pint) will cost around $2.50. By using jars you have around the house, an orange you have in the fruit bowl, and some sugar from your pantry, the total cost is about $5.50 with the cost per gift around $1.83.

Lite Cran-Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 15 ounces fresh cranberries (about 4 cups)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Zest from 1 orange, finely chopped
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Preparation:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange zest, and water. Bring to a boil, reduced heat to LOW and cook for about 5 minutes.


2. Stir in raspberries and continue to simmer on LOW heat for 5 minutes more.


3. Ladle mixture into three 1-cup jars (or similar), cover and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve or give as a gift.

Yield: Makes about 3 cups

Nutrition Information (per tablespoon): 17 calories, .1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, .2 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 0 percent.

Frugal Food Gifts...The Series

Holiday Food Gifts That Make Cents
#1: Light Cran-Raspberry Sauce
#2: Tea Time
#3: 5-Minute Peanut Butter Rocky Road Fudge
#4: Chocolate Dipped Cookies

Related Topics:

• Crazy for Cranberries!
• THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (FOOD GIFTS)

A Favorite Appetizer Turns Into a Light Dinner

One of my family's favorite appetizers is the 7-Layer Mexican Dip. You know the one - seasoned refried beans topped with guacamole, then sour cream, and then shredded cheese, green onions and chopped tomatoes (sliced olives if desired).

Well, this "appetizer" has fast become a favorite light dinner at the Magee headquarters. I just assemble the dip sometime during the day (it takes about 10 minutes) and then when the troops are ready, you just take it out of the refrigerator, open a bag of multi-grain tortilla chips (or homemade oven baked crispy tortilla wedges) and dinner is served! I usually serve some fresh fruit with it too.

Think about it, it has the makings of a light & healthy dinner entrée - protein and fiber from the bean base, some smart fats from the avocado, some protein and calcium coming from the reduced fat shredded cheese, and some phytochemicals and antioxidants courtesy of chopped tomato and green onions.

Here is the recipe for light 7-layer dip. Pair it with my recipe for Light Baked Tortilla Triangles. They go great together!

Light 7-Layer Dip

Everyone loves this fun party dip, even kids! Keep it light by serving it with multigrain tortilla chips (homemade or store-bought) Include 1/2 cup store-bought guacamole or make homemade by blending the following together in a small food processor:

Ingredients:

Guacamole:

1 avocado peeled, pitted, and diced
2 teaspoons lime juice, fresh or bottled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons salsa
Garlic powder or garlic
Salt to taste (optional)
black pepper to taste

Dip:

8 ounces fat-free sour cream
1-ounce packet taco seasoning mix
15-ounce can fat-free or vegetarian refried beans
1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
2 cups shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese blend (i.e. Jack and cheddar)
2 1/4-ounce can sliced black olives (optional)

Preparation:

1. Make guacamole if you haven't already and set aside.


2. In small bowl, blend sour cream with taco seasoning.


3. Spread the refried beans in the bottom of a deep-dish pie plate (you can warm the beans up in the microwave briefly to make them more spreadable.)


4. Top the beans with the sour cream mixture, then top that with the guacamole.


5. Spread the tomatoes on top, then sprinkle the green onions over the top, followed by the shredded cheese and black olives if desired.


6. Serve with reduced-fat and/or multigrain tortilla chips.

Yield: 6 dinner servings

Nutritional Information:
Per serving (dip only): 226 calories, 14 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 11.5 g fat (5 g saturated fat, 5 g monounsaturated, 1.5 g polyunsaturated fat), 19 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 688 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 46%.

Related Topics:

• Oven Baked Tortilla Triangles
• Mexican Diet May Cut Breast Cancer Risk

Oven Baked Tortilla Triangles

Have you ever wanted to make your own tortilla chips? There are benefits to doing this...

1. You get to choose the type of oil that is used like canola oil, which is higher in plant omega-3s and monounsaturated fat than most other vegetable oils.


2. You get to reduce the amount of oil used (by baking instead of deep frying) so that your chips are still crisp and tasty but lower in calories and fat grams compared to chips at the supermarket.


3. You get to enjoy FRESHLY made tortilla chips instead of chips that have been sitting in a bag for weeks and maybe months.

Oven Baked Tortilla Triangles

Ingredients:

3 corn tortillas
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
Canola cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning (sold in packets)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
2. Stack corn tortillas on top of each other and cut the stack into 8 wedges (so you will have 24 triangles altogether). Coat a nonstick cookie sheet with canola oil (you can use a silicon brush or spatula to spread it out). Lay the tortilla triangles on the cookie sheet firmly so that they are coated lightly with the oil.
3. Spray the tops of the triangles with canola cooking spray and with your fingers, sprinkle the taco seasoning over the top.
4. Bake for about 8 minutes, watching carefully because they burn easily, until crisp and golden brown. Serve with bean dip or salsa or use them as garnish for soups, chili, taco salads, or other Mexican entrees.

Yield: Makes 2 servings

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic members Journal as 1/2 cup starchy foods without added fat, OR 1 slice whole grain bread + 1 teaspoon margarine light

Nutrition Information per serving: 118 calories, 2 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 4.2 g fat, .4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2.5 g fiber, 75 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 32 percent.

Related Topics:

• Award-Winning Garlic Fries Recipe!
• Hot Tamales

Fall Favorites: Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Week #4: GINGER PUMPKIN BREAD

Photo Credit: Elaine Magee

What's November without some pumpkin bread? This is a moist and mildly flavored pumpkin bread recipe that you can embellish with any other favorite fall ingredients like pecans or walnuts, chocolate chips, or dried fruit of any kind.

The original recipe called for a stick of melted butter; I've trimmed this down to 3 tablespoons and used canola oil instead. Some lowfat buttermilk was added in place of the lost butter. Mostly whole-wheat flour was used instead of 100% white flour and the sugar was decreased by 25% and the 2 eggs were replaced by a higher omega-3 egg and an egg white.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 large egg, omega-3 if available
1 large egg white
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Coat the inside of a loaf pan (8 1/2" x 4 1/2") with canola cooking spray or light margarine and dust lightly with some white flour; set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl on low speed, combine canola oil, buttermilk, sugars, pumpkin, egg and egg white and beat until completely blended, scraping bowl after about 20 seconds. In medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, ginger and salt.
3. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating on low speed only until just combined, scraping bowl toward the end.
4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 50 minutes). Let it cook for 10 minutes then invert pan and transfer the pumpkin bread to a wire rack to cool completely, if desired. Serve warm or cold.

Yield: Makes 10 slices

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic members journal as: 1 small muffin OR 2 slices whole grain bread

Nutrition Information per slice: 169 calories, 3.5 g protein, 29 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, .5 g saturated fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 178 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 26%

Week #1: Topless Chicken Pot Pie
Week #2: Super Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Week #3: Spiced Apple Cake
Week #4: Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Related Topics:

• Winter Squash: Recipes and Tips
• Pumpkin Recipes Packed with Nutrition

Fall Favorites: Spiced Apple Cake

Week #3: SPICED APPLE CAKE

Photo Credit: Elaine Magee

This is a double fall favorite because it has spice cake and apples all wrapped up in the same dessert. I made all sorts of changes from the original recipe. I replace a majority of the white flour with whole-wheat flour and I cut the amount of granulated sugar in half. The 2 sticks of butter in the original recipe were replaced, in part, with 5 tablespoons canola oil and some applesauce. And instead of throwing away the rum (after soaking the dried fruit in it), I added it to the batter to replace the rest of the butter that was originally called for. Lastly, only 1 egg and some egg substitute helped blend the batter instead of the 3 eggs originally called for.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries or dried berries
1/4 cup dark or golden rum, apple cider or juice, or amaretto liqueur
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 large egg, higher omega-3 if available
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups diced, unpeeled, apples* (cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped (optional)

Preparation:

1. Position rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350-degrees. Coat the inside of a bundt pan with canola oil or canola oil cooking spray. Dust the inside with flour and shake out any excess.
2. In small, microwave-safe bowl, combine dried fruit and rum. Microwave for about 30 seconds on HIGH and set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt by beating on low for a minute. With mixer off, pour in the brown and granulated sugars, canola oil, applesauce, egg, egg substitute, vanilla, and the rum from the dried fruit mixture (reserve the dried fruit for the next step) and beat on HIGH speed, until batter is smooth (about 1 minute), scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Stir in the apples, pecans and/or (if desired), and the rum-soaked dried fruit.
4. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Bake in center of oven until a fork inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean (about 1 hour).
5. Cool the cake in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then invert cake pan onto a serving plate and cool completely. The cake can be stored at room temperature wrapped tightly in foil or plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

* Sweet apples, like Red Delicious, work well in this recipe. To test the recipe though, I used a combination of Red Delicious and Granny Smith (because that's what I had in the fruit crisper) and it worked out wonderfully.

Yield: Makes 12 servings

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic members journal as as 1 piece small muffin + 1 piece fruit OR 1 medium dessert + 1 piece fruit OR 2 pieces pancakes, waffles, french toast + 1 piece fruit

Nutrition Information Per serving: 281 calories, 4.5 g protein, 51 g carbohydrate, 6.5 g fat, .6 g saturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 229 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 21 percent.

Week #1: Topless Chicken Pot Pie
Week #2: Super Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Week #3: Spiced Apple Cake
Week #4: Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Related Topics:

• Healthy Fruit Dessert Recipes
• Common Spices May Help Diabetes

Fall Favorites: Super Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Week #2 SUPER SLOW COOKER POT ROAST

Photo Credit: Elaine Magee

The slow, moist simmering of a slow cooker can turn an extra lean cut of beef into a tender, flavorful entrée. So, armed with the mighty magic of a slow cooker, we can take the leanest roasts around (a lean chuck arm pot roast with no visible fat and a beef bottom round roast with no visible fat) and turn them into a tender and savory pot roast. What makes this pot roast "super" special is the high antioxidant and phytochemical-packed veggies cooked with the roast.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
4 tablespoons merlot (or other red wine), non-alcoholic beer, or water
2 medium onions, outer skin peeled and top trimmed off then each cut into 8 wedges
About 16 whole garlic cloves, peeled (about 1 bulb)
4 cups baby carrots (16 ounce bag) or 4 medium carrots, cut into three or four pieces each
1 chuck arm pot roast, beef chuck cross rib roast or beef bottom round roast, lean with no visible fat (about 2.5 pounds)
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

1. In measuring cup, combine flour and red wine. Add to crock of slow cooler and stir in onions, garlic cloves, and carrots.
2. Sprinkle the outside of roast with salt and pepper and set on top of carrot/onion mixture. Pour Worcestershire sauce over the top of the roast, Cover slow cooker, and cook on HIGH for 5 1/2 hours or on LOW for 9 hours.
3. Spoon the juices from the bottom of the slow cooker over the vegetables and roast then sprinkle fresh parsley over the top and continue to cook 30 minutes on HIGH or 1 hour on LOW.
4. Place roast on a serving plate and let sit 10 minutes. Place vegetables in a serving dish and pan juices in a gravy boat. Cut the roast against the grain into slices with your desired thickness and serve!

Yield: Makes 8 servings

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic members journal as: Per serving: 279 calories, 35 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 77 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 148 mg sodium (365 mg sodium with added salt). Calories from fat: 26 percent.

Week #1: Topless Chicken Pot Pie
Week #2: Super Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Week #3: Spiced Apple Cake
Week #4: Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Related Topics:

• Slow but Sure Recipes
• Greener Pastures

Fall Favorites: Topless Chicken Pot Pie

THE FALL FAVORITES RECIPE SERIES!

Is Fall your favorite season? I must admit, I really love this time of year. In my neck of the woods, the days have noticeably become shorter and the temperature cooler. Each year when this happens I automatically start cooking some of our favorite fall foods. This includes several savory dinner entrées, yummy fall breads, and basically anything with pumpkin.

So, for the next 4 weeks, I am going to do a Recipe Doctor "makeover" on 4 Fall Food Favorites, starting with two favorite savory entrées (healthful variations on Chicken Pot Pie and Slow-Cooker Pot Roast) and working our way to a a favorite fall bread and dessert!

Week #1: TOPLESS CHICKEN POT PIE

Photo Credit: Elaine Magee

Break your addiction to frozen pot pies with this recipe for Topless Chicken Pot Pie.

Your typical chicken pot pie has fat, saturated fat and calories coming at you from three directions; the top crust, the creamy filling, and the bottom crust. We are making a lower fat, higher fiber crumb topping to replace the top pie crust and we are making a lighter filling using only a couple teaspoons of olive or canola oil to sauté lots of vegetables; plus a cream sauce made with 2 tablespoons of whipped butter or less fat margarine, fat free half and half and skinless chicken breast. If you want to keep the bottom crust, choose a whole-wheat pie crust if possible. Or, if you are really feeling like trimming calories and fat grams, the pot pie can be bottomless as well.

Time Saving Note: If you want to trim some prep time, substitute 1 2/3 cups Bertolli Mushroom Alfredo (bottled) for the homemade white sauce. You can also make this dish with or without the bottom crust.

Ingredients:

1 whole-wheat pie crust, uncooked (optional)

Filling:
2 teaspoons olive oil or canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped or sliced celery
3/4 cup chopped carrot (baby carrots can be used)
1 teaspoon minced or chopped garlic
3 cups diced roasted or grilled skinless and boneless chicken breast

Homemade White Sauce Option:
1/2 cup light cream cheese
1 cup fat free half and half
1 tablespoon unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon ground white or black pepper

Topping:
1/3 cup Panko crumbs
1/3 cup quick or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
Olive oil or canola cooking spray

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Set pie crust, if desired, in a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan if not already in one or divide crust into 5 equal circles if using individual pot pie dishes. If making individual pot pies, place each of the crust circles into an individual dish or ramekin about 4- to 4.5-inches wide, set aide.
2. Pour 2 teaspoons oil into a medium nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, stir in the onion, celery and carrot and sauté for a few minutes. Stir in the garlic and continue to sauté for another minute. Scoop this mixture into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Combine light cream cheese, half and half and flour in a small food processor (or electric mixer) pulsing until smooth. In same medium saucepan over medium-high heat, pour in the cream cheese mixture and continue to stir and gently boil until it thickens (about 2 minutes). Turn off the heat and stir in the pepper, sautéed vegetables and diced chicken. Spoon mixture into the crust lined pie plate or if making individual pot pies, divide the filling between the 5 individual dishes (about 1 1/4 cups).
4. For the topping, in medium sized bowl, combine the Panko, oats, and Parmesan cheese and parsley flakes. Spread topping over the top of the large pot pie or 5 small pot pies. Coat the top generously with canola or olive oil cooking spray. Place pot pie(s) on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for about 30 minutes (for one large pie) or 20 minutes (for individual pies) or until crust is nicely browned.

Yield: Makes 5 servings

With Bottom Crust
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic Members journal as: 2 cups "hearty stew" OR 1 portion frozen dinner regular + 1/2 cup vegetables with 1 tsp fat OR 1 serving of "lean meat with sauce" + 1 cup vegetables without added fat + 1 slice bread (1 serving of regular crackers can be substituted)

Per serving (with bottom crust): 440 calories, 36 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate, 18 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 93 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 564 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 36 percent.

Without Bottom Crust
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic Members journal as: 1 1/2 cups "hearty stews" OR 1 portion light frozen dinner + 1/2 cup vegetables with 1 tsp fat OR 1 serving of "lean meat with sauce" + 1 cup vegetables without added fat.

Per serving (without bottom crust): 320 calories, 35 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 11 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 93 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 401 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 31 percent.


Week #1: Topless Chicken Pot Pie
Week #2: Super Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Week #3: Spiced Apple Cake
Week #4: Ginger Pumpkin Bread

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• Fall Foods to Be Thankful for
• Frighteningly Fattening Fall Foods Slideshow

The Soda Fountain Gets a Makeover

What screams "ice cream social" or "American soda fountain favorite" more than a root beer float? With the awesome light vanilla ice creams out now and a couple of diet root beer sodas on the supermarket shelves, a totally cool but low cal root beer float is only a minute away. Here's how to put one together for only 100 Calories!

The 100-Calorie Root Beer Float

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup (ice cold) diet root beer
1/2 cup scoop of light vanilla ice cream or low fat frozen yogurt

Directions:

1. Pour ice cold diet root beer into a tall mug or glass (ice cold root beer so the vanilla ice cream won't melt as quickly).
2. Plop in a scoop of light vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt into the glass. Serve with a long spoon and/or a straw.

Yield: Makes 1 serving

Per serving: 100 calories, 2 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 1.5 g
saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 90 mg sodium. Calories from
fat: 27 percent calories from fat.

~~Elaine

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• Frozen Treats Pack Calories
• Cool Summer Treats That Won't Wreck Your Diet

Technorati Tags: diettips, recipes, desserts, icecream, rootbeerfloat

Heaven, I'm in Heaven: Lemon Cream Spread

I have no idea why the thought popped into my head this morning to blend some lemon curd with some Take Control margarine, but I've learned to roll with these random food thoughts.

I toasted a slice of honey oat bread from my bread machine and spread some of this lemon cream spread on it and suddenly my taste buds were singing!

Just in case you have these two ingredients in your refrigerator and some whole grain toast that needs to be dressed up a little, here's the recipe.

Lemon Cream Spread

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Take Control Margarine (Promise), with 8 grams fat per tablespoon
2 tablespoons lemon curd (available in jars)

Directions:
1. Add margarine and lemon curd to small custard cup and stir together until blended.
2. Spread on toast or muffins!

Yield: 4 servings
Nutritional Analysis per serving: 85 calories, 0 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 5.5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 1.5 g monounsaturated fat, 2.3 g polyunsaturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 50 mg sodium.
Calories from fat: 55 percent (not including the toast).

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Recipe: Thumbprint Cookies, Rate the Cooking Fats

Technorati Tags: recipes, lemoncreamspread, lemonspread, takecontrol, lemoncurd