Jan 15, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 15, 2012 in breakfast, cookies, dessert, dieting, kid friendly, oatmeal, recipe make over | 3 comments
I have a HUGE pile of cooking magazines in my house. Some are mine, but the majority I got from another Mom in my hometown, and I have at least 50 cooking magazines! Vegetarian times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Rachel Ray, Food TV, etc…
So, when I am looking for inspiration – I just grab a few and see what there is that I can make. This recipe is based off of a 2005 Vegetarian Times recipe. I used that as a guide, but added what I had on hand. Their recipe called for currants, and I was going to use fresh cranberries, but then I also wanted my kids to eat these, so I subbed in 1/4 cup chocolate chips instead.
You don’t even need to get your mixer out, you can mix everything in a bowl with a rubber spatula.
This made 19 mini scones
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup (the recipe asked for Maple syrup – but I didn’t have any…)
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips
5 tablespoons of butter
*Melted chocolate for drizzle if desired
In a big mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients and stir. I sliced the butter into small pieces and using your hands, just start incorporating the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.
Add the milk and corn syrup and stir until the dough comes together. On a floured surface, remove the dough and knead a few times until it’s all combined. I made it into a log, then sliced it with a pizza cutter.
Bake on cookie sheet coated with cooking spray for 15-17 minutes at 425 degrees – they will be golden brown on top.
Jenn's 110 calorie scone bites
These were great – not too sweet, but just the right thing to hit the spot if you want a little special treat after dinner, or make an afternoon hot chocolate/tea/coffee to go with these.
I will definitely make these again!
EACH SCONE IS:
110 CALORIES
4.3 GRAMS FAT
15 GRAMS CARBS
2 GRAMS PROTEIN
.9 FIBER
Jan 6, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 6, 2012 in a day in the life of me!, Half marathon training, recipe make over | 1 comment
Hi everyone! I hope your first week of January is going well! Everyone is getting out of vacation mode and getting back to work – our kids are still off school – they start back Monday, so next week I’m sure will be more of a challenge now that there will be homework, making lunches, getting up earlier, etc.
My husband and I are super excited because tomorrow is the Kick-Off party for Team in Training for our event taking place on April 28th. I am running the half marathon and my husband is going to do the full marathon.
We are raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – SO we have started a 5 buck Friday – if you have an extra $5.00 to spare – please consider donating to this great cause!
Our FUNDRAISING PAGE IS HERE WHERE YOU CAN MAKE A DONATION ONLINE.
The kick off is always great. You meet the coaches, we get a mentor who we will also meet for support throughout the season, as well as getting to know the other runners. I will be updating everyone throughout the training about how we are doing, so come back to check up on me! 
*****
Since I love to cook, I record a TON of cooking shows. I am lucky to not only have Food TV, but also the Cooking Channel too. As I was scrolling to see what shows were on, I was intrigued by one show so I decided to record it.
Bobby Deen, Paula Deen’s son, has his own cooking show that feautures recipes that his Mom has made, but Bobby has revamped them into healthier fare! I’m including the link to Cooking Channel and the recipes he’s redone.
Check the recipes out here
The interesting part was he would compare the calories and fat of his Mom’s food (which has horrible stats of course) and then compare to his version. Did you know she makes a bread pudding casserole that has Krispy Kreme donuts as the base of the recipe??? He redid that one using skim milk, non fat whipped cream and whole wheat donuts as the base (and a lot less donuts too!)
So, if you don’t have Cooking Channel, they have tons of recipes on line.
So, what’s up for your weekend plans??? Have a great one!
Dec 27, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Dec 27, 2011 in breakfast, dessert, holiday foods, kid friendly, recipe make over | 4 comments
Happy Holidays everyone! My site was down for a few days but everything is back up and fine. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends!
I am off of work until January 3rd – so I am SUPER excited to have so much time off in a row. I don’t have any specific plans, but I know there will be some time spent in my kitchen!
I made these cinnamon rolls the night of Christmas Eve so that all I had to do was pop these in the oven while the kids were opening their gifts. The best part about this recipe, is it’s so easy – no yeast is required, you don’t have to wait for the dough to rise an hour before you roll it out. And the dough is super soft and pliable so it’s a great dough to work with, even if it’s your first time working with it.
This recipe is based on a Cooks Illustrated Recipe. It called for a cream cheese frosting and I just did a simple glaze. I DID figure out the calories, even though it is the Holidays, I’m trying not to go crazy and so far it’s working!
Each Cinnamon Roll without the glaze is:
247 calories
6 grams of fat
43 carbs
4 grams protein
1 gram of fiber
If you add 1/2 a tablespoon of the glaze – add 25 calories.
All in all, I didn’t think it was that bad – considering I analyzed Paula Deens recipe for Cinnamon rolls and hers were 478 calories per cinnamon roll with 22 grams of fat!
So – this recipe makes 10 cinnamon rolls (I split the prepared rolls between 2 pans)
Ingredients:
Rolls:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cinnamon Filling:
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Generously coat a 9 inch round cake pan and a wire cooling rack with vegetable oil spray.
2. Make the filling: combine together the brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated white sugar, cinnamon, salt, and the 1 Tablespoon melted butter until the mixture resembles wet sand.
3. Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour; 2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk and 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter together.
5. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until absorbed, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured counter and knead until smooth, about 1 minute.
7. Press the dough out into a 9 by 12 inch rectangle using your hands. (I used a rolling pin)
8. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Press the filling firmly into the dough.
9. Loosen the dough from the counter using a bench scraper or a metal spatula.
10. Starting at a long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log.
11. Pinch the seam to seal. Slice the dough into 10 even pieces.
12. Place the slices in the greased pan. (I used Pam Cooking Spray)
13. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
14. Use a knife to loosen the buns from the pan. Flip the buns out onto the prepared wire rack, then turn buns upright and let cool for 10 minutes before adding the icing. Prepare the icing while rolls are cooling.
For the icing, I just mixed 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk. If it’s too thick add a touch more milk to get the right consistency. (You will have leftover icing).
*I lessened the amount of butter by 4 tablespoons. The original recipe called for brushing the dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter before putting the filling in and then adding another 2 tablespoons of butter over the top before baking. I didn’t really think this was necessary – so I omitted that part.
These turned out great! So tender and gooey. After making these, I just covered the pan with saran wrap and placed in the refrigerator overnight. As the rolls cooked, they spread out covering the whole pan.
Enjoy your week if you are off! I did overindulge on Christmas, but was back on as of yesterday and I ran 3 miles yesterday with my hubby on the local high school track. We were both wearing shorts and t-shirts the day after Christmas! It was 45 degrees and sunny out – no signs of winter yet here in Chicago – but I am fine with that!
Aug 11, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Aug 11, 2011 in breakfast, Muffin of the Week, recipe make over, Successes!!, vegetables | 5 comments
Do you have a ton of zucchini in your garden and you are running out of ideas of what to make with them? Make these muffins – you won’t be disappointed! I haven’t made these in a long time I forgot how good they are.
This recipe is my adaptation of Heidi from 101 Cookbooks. I printed out the recipe, but then gasped when I saw it called for 1/4 cup melted butter + 3/4 cup of oil! Not figure friendly! So I decided to tweak the recipe to make it healthier. This is my version I made 6 Giant muffins + 24 mini muffins. Each giant muffin is only 217 calories!
Chocolate zucchini muffins by Jenn/Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
1 cup unpacked brown sugar
1/4 cup Canola oil
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 banana, mashed
1 container yogurt (the one I used was vanilla at 90 calories)
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (squeezed of excess moisture)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. banking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
In a mixer, mix together the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl add the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet batter and mix until incorporated.
For the mini muffins, I baked those at 375 for about 10 minutes.
For the Jumbo muffins, also bake them at 375 for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
These muffins taste like chocolate cake!
Things I did to make them healthier:
Lessened the brown sugar by 1/2 a cup and did not pack down the brown sugar
Used only 1/4 cup canola oil vs. butter and 3/4 cup oil
Used 1 egg + 2 egg whites instead of 3 eggs
Used skim milk in place of whole milk
Cut the chocolate chips in half
Added the banana
Added yogurt
Added ground flax seed
Cut the cocoa in half
You won’t miss the changes at all!
Are you growing zucchini? What is your favorite thing to make with it?
May 22, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on May 22, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, breakfast, pasta, recipe make over, sauces | 4 comments
I love macaroni and cheese – and I make it at least a few times a month. It’s quick and easy and my whole family loves it – especially my daughter Claire . One morning last week when I was thinking about what to make for breakfast to bring to work, I got an idea in my head to make macaroni and cheese, but just in 1 serving portion. I had another idea instead of using elbow macaroni, I would use pearl barley and it would make like a cheesy yummy dish. I measured out 1/4 cup of the pearl barley, added the water to a small pan and started cooking that. I thought I would make that first, then start my sauce, so I continued to get ready for work. I came back in the kitchen, opened the pot and was sad that my pearl barley was burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan. 
It was 8:05, I have to be at work at 8:30 about 1.5 miles from my house – I knew I could still make it happen! I measured out 2 oz. of elbow macaroni, put that in a microwave safe plastic bowl, filled it with water and cooked that in the microwave for 6 minutes.
In a small saucepan I added 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 cup of skim milk, salt and pepper, a dash of oregano, a squirt of brown mustard and stirred that on medium heat until it starts to thicken. I weighed out 1 oz. of cheddar cheese and added it to the sauce and stirred until the cheese melted. I took about .5 oz. of ham out of my freezer and diced that up small to add as well.
I drained the pasta and added it to the cheese sauce. By the time I got to work it was perfect. It kept me full until well after noon. Do you like to eat non-traditional things for breakfast?.
One side I had with my lunch that same day was pea pods. I love them! I took a big handful, drizzled it with a new favorite dressing Fit & Active Brand (from Aldi) poppyseed dressing. It’s only 35 calories per tablespoon. And I threw in a few sunflower seeds on top too. So good!
So, I’m concentrating again on my weight loss, I have a new weight loss buddy – someone I met through a weight loss group on Linked In. I’m not going to say who this person is, but they’ve lost 100 pounds 4 times in their life and has gained a bunch back again, so we’ve made a pact to check in with each other every Friday. Day One was this past Friday, so I’ll let you know how I do next week. Sometimes just knowing another person is doing the same thing as you helps.
Kudo’s to my twin Biz who has lost 14 pounds doing Weight Watchers, she’s in the 150′s now – so I have 30 pounds to catch up with her – so that’s my other goal. I can’t even remember the last time we weighed the same, its been many years!!
Have a great weekend!
