These are not exactly low in calorie density - but they are low in saturated fat and trans fat (okay so now we feel like the cookie package making these claims!). And the recipe is easy enough for a kid to make, tasty for everyone and a low-cost treat for all - it is our favorite!
1/2 cup trans-free, light margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
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1/4 cup egg white
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1-3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Cream the margarine, sugars and vanilla together until fluffy using hand beaters or the paddle on a mixing machine.
2. Add the egg whites slowly in 3 parts.
3. Add the flour, baking soda and chocolate chips; scrape the bowl, then mix for one minute.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop the cookies with a tablespoon onto nonstick trays. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool then transfer the cookies to a plate. Cover and store up to 3 days at room temperature. Makes about 2 dozen and the cost is about .15 each - much cheaper than a dessert out and half the price of store bought one!
Tips for kids:
- Always wash hands before starting any kitchen projects.
- Assemble and measure all ingredients before starting recipe. Have an adult assist in using beaters or mixing machine and oven.
- Clean as you go - put ingredients away as they are no longer needed. Keep counters clean and rest spoons and spatulas on cups so you don’t have extra mess.
- Be careful to use a clean dry towel or mitt to remove hot cookie trays from oven. Wet towels cause burns!
- Unless you are using pasteurized egg whites, do not eat or lick the raw cookie batter.
Serves 24. Each cookie: 127 calories, 3 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 66 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, <1 g fiber, <1 g protein.
Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by admin
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That price got your attention, I bet! Everyone is concerned about fuel and food prices at present and with good reason.
Lately I have been making a greater effort to keep the food budget on target. I have been stocking up on sale items that we use on a regular basis (gotta love the 2 for 1 specials!), not buying so many convenience/treat type things like diet soda, crackers, cereals and chips, and taking at look at each item and the other choices instead of just flying through the store like a 747 buying everything I buy out of habit. I am buying “ingredients” much more than “prepared foods.”
This has led me to notice one thing I was spending a lot of money on - lettuce. 2 people in this house go through 4 bags of lettuce a week. Pre-washed lettuce is now $2.50 a bag in our store which would equal $10.00 per week. BUT this doesn’t mean we are not eating salad or lettuce!! I did notice that whole heads of red leaf and romaine, that are very robust in size, are $1.25 each. So, I opted for 1 of each of those.
Tonight I decided to shoot photos while I was preparing the lettuce. When I weighed the lettuce, I discovered that one head is actually equal to 2 bags (One head of prepared lettuce without the core weighed 15 ounces while one bag prepared lettuce weighs about 8 ounces) - hence the discovery that I now have it for just 62 cents per bag instead of $2.50. And I must say, last week I was surprised that the cut lettuce lasted 4 or 5 days - we ran out before it went bad.
So here is how I prepared it:
Cut the lettuce in bite-sized pieces with a sharp stainless steel knife and place into large pot of cold water and stir well; allow to sit for a bit so that all the dirt sinks to the bottom. Remove the lettuce from the top of the water and allow to drain well in colander (and yes, instead of a colander you can use a lettuce spinner to remove the water). Place drained lettuce in plastic bag with a few holes cut in the bottom and keep refrigerated. The lettuce should last about 4 days.
Here are a few other vegetable specials I found this week:
- Campari tomatoes - these are slightly larger than cherry tomatoes and were the best value per pound this week in the store. I like to quarter them and put them on salads or use them in pasta or salsa.
- Mild Cubanelle peppers - these are not that hot - just a bit spicy. They were 3 for $1.79 while green bell peppers were $2.99 each and red bell peppers were $4.99 each. I was able to use one of them to make salsa and the others will be used for salad for the week.
And voila - the finished products:
Fresh garden salad with summer specials on produce.
Salmon with fresh-roasted salsa made in the food processor with oven-broiled campari tomatoes, onion and cubanelle pepper, lemon juice and Gourmet Garden’s cilantro paste.
Microwave fresh corn - I put an ear of corn that was wrapped in plastic in the microwave for 2.5 minutes.
Posted on June 20th, 2008 by admin
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Every time I grocery shop, I am always looking for new products to try as well as new trends and label tricks. We had fat-free, then we had carb-free and now we have a variety of trends including whole grain, calcium added, trans-fat free, 100 calorie servings and flavor decadence. Most of all right now we have the worry that food prices have gone up. Recently I just saw whole chickens for $9!!
I think one of the worst shopping mistakes one can make, though, is to shop based on assumption. Assumption meaning buying things that you think are healthy without checking out the Nutrition Facts panel.
Currently we are working on a really fun new PowerPoint show called, The Label Says - Nutrition Facts Panel Game. I managed to find and buy, on one fell swoop, about $166 worth of food that sounds okay but has a different story on the back of the box - all for the purpose of photography and research for this game. Some food items look like one serving, but they are really more. Others make all sorts of single nutrition claims but fall short on the whole picture. While others are dietary disasters with regards to total calorie, saturated fat or sodium content.
Most of us would assume fish or chicken is healthy, right? Well, maybe if you are buying a small, fresh piece and cooking it yourself without a lot of fat or salt. But most likely not if the food manufacturer has gotten ahold of it first.
Consider this fish product that claims 0g trans fat:
One would think that fish with 0g trans fat is okay, right?
But, flip the box and see the Nutrition Facts!
This product, per 3.8 ounce serving, contains 17 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat and 720 mg sodium.
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 by admin
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I had no idea I was going to take a picture of this dinner last night - but it ended up looking good and being really easy to make so I thought I would share!! It all started with a 1.5 hour hard bike ride and I came in starved. I guess a starved chef makes a good cook, eh?!
Tilapia - First off was a nice fillet of tilapia fish bought at Walmart in their freezer section. The fillets are sealed in cryovac inside zip lock bags so are very high quality. No need to defrost - this puppy went into the microwave and I used the “fish” setting to have a delicious piece of cooked fish in just 3 minutes. I am always surprised at how fast and perfect it cooks. (I do remove the fillet from the bag and I put it in a glass dish and cover it.)
The fish was topped with sliced red peppers and ginger sauteed with just a spray of olive oil. See the tube of chopped ginger that we keep handy as well as the spray bottle that has the olive oil.
Skinny mashed potatoes - baking potatoes were rinsed well to remove the dirt and then cut in chunks - skin and all - because that is faster and it makes a delicious home-style mashed potato that has more nutrients and fiber. They were covered in water and cooked for 20 minutes until tender and then mashed with low-cal margarine and skim milk. Seasonings included granulated garlic with parsley mix and black pepper.
Spinach - Finally, I sauteed garlic and olive oil and then added a bag of fresh spinach leaves. That was the base for the fish.
Voila - dinner is ready in 20 minutes!
We do have a section on microwave cookery in our new MyPyramid Cooking Demo Kit, which is great for cooking demonstrations.
Posted on May 9th, 2008 by admin
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This is such a simple dish to make. Chop up a selection of fresh veggies - saute with a little (2 tsp) olive oil in a nonstick pan and add broth and fresh herbs (basil, oregano). Serve over heated pasta. Top with parmesan cheese. We find this is a great way to use up extra veggies and offer a low-cal, low-fat dinner that is a new twist on pasta with red sauce.
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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Tortilla pizza is so easy to make - great for an appetizer, snack or light dinner. And really great to feed a bunch of kids who are hungry now!
We started with our favorite salt-free sauce, Enrico’s No-Salt-Added Pasta Sauce and some tortillas. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Then added a light sprinkle of reduced-fat cheese. You can add other favorite ingredients as well - the sky is the limit. But the kids wanted just cheese so we stuck to their order.
After 10 minutes baking - pizza is done!
Serve with salad:
And our 10 minute Microwave BBQ Chicken Tenders:
For the chicken tenders - we buy them frozen in large bulk packages from the Walmart super store. Put them frozen in one layer in a baking dish and then dab with a bit of barbecue sauce on top - go easy on the sauce because it is very high in salt. Cover with plastic wrap.
Microwave using the “chicken” automatic setting on the microwave (or 80% power for 12 minutes) and in about 12-15 minutes you have perfect cooked moist chicken tenders. Chicken is done when it is firm and no longer pink in the center.
If you teach cooking demonstrations you will be interested in our new MyPyramid Cooking Demo Kit:
Posted on April 17th, 2008 by admin
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The store had a special on strawberries today - and a good find in the produce section as well was a package of Melissa’s crepes. I was delighted to find that one crepe contains just 51 calories and a gram of fat. Plus purchasing crepes is a lot easier than making them!
Here is what I made:
Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on a crepe and then microwave for 15 seconds. The chocolate will not be melted fully - but will be melted a little. Add strawberries and then
A little light chocolate whipped cream - about 3 tablespoons per crepe.
Roll up and set on a plate and cut in half. Garnish with more strawberries and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Enjoy!
We did a quick analysis and guess one crepe to ring in at about 222 calories and 9 grams of fat. (1 crepe, 1 tablespoon chocolate morsels, 1/2 cup strawberries, 3 tablespoons chocolate whipped cream, 1/2 tablespoon chocolate syrup)
OH - and here is a kitchen trick. We always keep a large roll (can find this online or in warehouse type stores like BJs and Sam’s Club) of plastic wrap on the counter - that makes wrapping all of the cut fruits and salads and vegetables easy in our kitchen!
If you do cooking demonstrations, you might be interested in this new product!
Posted on March 29th, 2008 by admin
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We found an 8 ounce package of fresh linguine in the store today - so I was inspired to make a fresh fresh pasta dish for dinner.
Cook the pasta in boiling water - only needs about 5 minutes when you are using fresh pasta. Drain and set aside.
Saute 2 cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until nutty brown and then add 3 chopped fresh tomatoes (remove seeds and core, dice medium). Saute tomatoes and garlic until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add a good squeeze of store-bought Italian herb pesto and 1/2 cup fat-free low-sodium beef broth. Bring to a boil and simmer briefly. Then add the pasta.
Meanwhile, in another pan, saute 2 cloves of garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil until nutty, about 1 minute. Add a bag of baby spinach and saute 1 minute or just until the spinach wilts.
Plate the pasta with the spinach bordering.
Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!!
We served this dish with mint tea and a Mediterranean style salad - recipe and photos below.
If you do cooking or food demonstrations, you might be interested in this new product!
Posted on March 29th, 2008 by admin
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I am always trying to think of ways to put a new spin on salad. We eat it at least once if not twice a day and I like to keep it fun and new. Tonight when I was shopping they just seemed to have all of my favorite Mediterranean ingredients in the store and looking good. So it was a Mediterranean inspired salad to go with our fresh pasta listed below.
There is really not some magical recipe - I used a bag of mixed Italian greens, fresh mint, green onion, red bell pepper, julienne strips of sundried tomatoes and fresh cucumber. I topped it off with grated fresh zest of lemon.
And voila! It was served with fresh cracked black pepper and balsamic vinegar - fat and sodium free!
Now, since I didn’t use all of the mint in the salad, I thought it would be fun to use some more of it in a mint tea:
It really is just as easy to make as it looks - bring a pot of water to a boil and add fresh mint. Boil one minute and remove from stove. Pour over ice. Serve over ice. Of course you can get fancy and use a bag of green tea or add lemon or sugar or whatever you desire!
If you do cooking or food demonstrations, you might be interested in this new product!
Posted on March 29th, 2008 by admin
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This is one of my favorite photos - a delicious and elegant fruit salad that is so easy to make.
Apricot puree (babyfood)
Fresh berries
Orange segments and zest
Fresh mint, shredded
Place the apricot puree in an elegant stemmed glass or footed bowl. Top with fresh berries and orange segments. Garnish with strips of orange zest (remove orange zest carefully with potato peeler and slice into thin julienne strips) and shredded mint. Serve and enjoy!!
Feel free to use a variety of fresh fruit in season. Nothing like a fresh produce market! Below is a picture of a produce market in Florida - 62 miles roundtrip by bike and one of my favorite rides!!
Posted on February 14th, 2008 by admin
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