Taste and See That the Lord is Good

 I was scrounging around the kitchen looking for some protein- no meat was to found. so i pulled out the remainder of the egg whites, threw some stuff in there and microwaved it. to my surprise, it tasted almost like a sweet custard, but way faster to make. try about 2 minutes.

In a cereal bowl (decent sized, cuz it puffs up in the microwave before settling), i put 1/2- 3/4C of egg whites (depending on how much protein your looking for, that would be 12 grams versus 18 grams), maybe about 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 Tablespoons of orange juice (surprise!), and a teaspoon of sweetener (sugar, stevia, or splenda). I might try subbing a little of the OJ for some vanilla extract, but I don’t currently have any. mix it and microwave for about 1.5-2 minutes (be wise, depending on the might of your microwave!); You do not want to over cook it, it’s good if it still has a little liquid when you put it onto a plate. new staple of mine lately.

I made this modified version of a recipe from Peanut Butter Boy’s blog. this Mousse was absolutely delicous. I’ve had it with lunch and breakfast! It’s interesting if your used to only traditional food combinations, good thing i’m not. this tastes just likes pumpkin pie filling, but very peanut buttery. I plan on making this as a pie in a graham cracker filling in the near future. too bad ricotta cheese is rather expensive.

Heres the recipe I used:

 15-16 oz container lowfat Ricotta cheese

1 1/3 cups pumpkin puree (canned)

1/4cup agave nectar

4T(or 1/4c if that’s easier to think of) Peanut butter (i used peanut butter and Co.’s White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter)

1T Better ‘N Peanut Butter (regular flavor)

1tsp vanilla extract

2tsp cinnamon

Blend well in blender, chill before serving.

I found this recipe somewhere online, that I can’t remember. These were very good, the whole family liked them. cookies without refined sugars, and they taste just like banana bread!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp canola oil 
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used white)
• 1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350*F.
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until batter is blended evenly.
• Use a cookie scoop to portion cookies on a greased baking sheet, approximately 1-2 inches apart.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.
• Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on wire rack.

This made 17 small cookies.

I tried/ modified a recipe I found online for a low fat baked cheesecake. I made mine a lemon cheesecake, which was delicious, tasting far more decadent than it really is! This recipe I found here: http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/recipe.php?recipeid=124

I changed it a tad. heres the recipe i used:

1 graham cracker crust (recipe below cheesecake recipe)

2- 8oz tubs of fat free cream cheese (PLEASE USE PHILADELPHIA!!!)

2t whole wheat flour

1/4c skim milk (i used 1% cuz it was on hand)

1/2c egg white product

15 mini packets of Truvia (stevia) (about 3T of sweetener)

just over 1T lemon juice (use a tad more if you want it more lemony)

1Tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

Make Graham cracker crust (unless you chose to buy one from the store- lazy!)

Preheat oven 350 deg. Using mixer on low speed, combine flour and milk. Add
cream cheese. Increase speed to medium, add egg sub, sweetener, vanilla and
lemon juice. Pour into crust. Bake for 35 min or until center is set. Let cool.
Refrigerate before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust:

Preheat oven to 350′

1 2/3 C finely crushed graham cracker (use whole wheat graham cracker if you wish, or you could try Nilla Wafers)

1/4c + 1T unsweetened applesauce

1tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients until it forms a clump, spread evenly in a 9-inch dish/ pan

put in oven for about 8 Minutes

Unforunately, I don’t know how to prevent the cheesecake from cracking, but it won’t effect the taste. Top it with whatever your <3 desires!

 I haven’t been feeling particularly creative for a while, and haven’t been buying as many groceries (cuz they are about a million bucks!) to cook with. I was just throwing a bunch of stuff in a bowl and I ended up with what is an accidental rice pudding.

1/2c no-salt-added cottage cheese

3T syrup (whatever kind u want, I used SF pancake syrup)/ liquid sweetener (in the picture i put 1/4c, but since it’s a little too liquidy, try the 3T)

raisins (like one of those tiny, baby boxes of em)

1/4c cold brown rice (good get-rid-of for leftovers)

cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

 this morning’s smoothie (actually only 2 this time) was this:

That utensil is AWESOME, It has a fork, knife AND spoon!

I also formulated a different  smoothie like this one:

one frozen, partially thawed nanner

5-6 large frozen strawberries

1/2c frozen blueberries

1cup plain yogurt

4T chocolate syrup

1T decaf coffee grounds

I like breakfast foods, often for breakfast, lunch, second lunch, and dinner. today for lunch I made pumpkin french toast w/ 1/2 a peach on top and maple syrup. this isn’t an original idea however. I saw the idea of pumpkin french toast on another blog, and (not following any particular recipe) formulated my own.

in two shallow plates, in each one i put:

1 whole egg

2T egg white

1T orange juice

1/4c pumpkin puree

tiny bit of vanilla extract (maybe it was about 1/4- 1/2 tsp?)

few pinches of pumpkin pie spice

few dashes of cinnamon

I soaked two pieces of bread in each dish and cooked them on a big pancake skillet. There was much excess of the pumpkin mixture, so i had to keep adding a little on top of each piece and turning them repeatedly to cook it evenly. Don’t leave these on the pan very long, or they’ll burn because of the pumpkin. I reccomend flipping each piece multiple times.

Ok, ok! So i just realized that this actually looks pretty gross- but it tasted amazing! so here are the amazing omelet oats:

i cooked 1/2c rolled oats on the stove in 1/2c water and 1/2c milk (i used almond milk), while it is cooking, add 2T of a spicy salsa,  1/4c egg white (i did this for extra protein and consistency), and some chopped spinach. cook ’til desire consistency. put oats in bowl. I topped it with a slice of soy cheddar cheese, 1/4c (regular) shredded mozzarella cheese, and a sunny-side-up egg. Poke the yolk so that it is all runny into the oats. Really, I know how disgusting it may look, but it was very good! if you dished it up w/ a corn tortilla, it’d almost be like juevos rancheros… maybe you could prepare it w/ part cornmeal, then it would be…. maybe next time i’ll make dem Juevos Rancheros in a bowl.

Once again- looks gross- tastes great! :p

I also had a big ‘ol summer salad w/ red wine and raspberry vinegar

so it was 4 o’ clock and i decided that it was pancake time. so I made these pancakes. WARNING- if you don’t like whole wheat, turn back now.

with almond butter and black cherries. and of course, it has to be on my favorite pancake plate.

Recipe:

mix:

1 1/4c ww flour

1tsp baking powder

1tsp cinnamon

3/4c applesauce (i use unsweetened)

1c some type of milk

1/4c egg white (or you could use an egg or two, though i’ve never done it that way)

1/2c water (a tiny bit shy)

gently fold about 1/2c small blueberries  into the batter after you mix it.

cook like a pancake, however they taste very good kind of half- done. these pancakes are rather dense, but that’s how i like them!

Lately i’ve been craving two things, sweet and burritos- don’t ask. so this morning, i made another amazing breakfast bowl.  I started w/ 1/2c cottage cheese, 3/4c canned pumpkin (puree preferably), 1/4c maple syrup, raisins, and chopped almonds. I mixed this well and microwaved it. I then added 1/2c Kashi GoLean cereal, and microwaved it a little more (this gives it a chewier consistency and extra protein). At last I put 1/2c of maple granola and a dash of cinnamon on top. Oh man, it was good!

After claims on a recipe that their pancakes tasted like cheese danishes, i tried it and was disappointed to find out that-THEY LIED! so i was excited to take up the challenge to formulate an easy pancake recipe that tastes just like a cheese danish- but much healthier. I was even more excited when i took the first bite of my experiment and found great success! These pack a ton of protein! Make them right, and they actually do taste like cheese danishes.

In a bowl, with a hand whisk, whip:

1/2c reduced fat cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp pure lemon juice

1tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk (save the white in a seperate bowl for later)

set mixture aside.

In a blender, blend well:

1c rolled oats

1c cottage cheese

1/2c egg whites

1/4c any type of milk (I used soymilk)

1 average- sized banana;  freeze the banana overnight (make sure you peel it before freezing it) first, then fully thaw it in the microwave before adding it to the blender; the freezing changes its consistency.

pour the blender’s contents onto a pancake skillet like you would normal pancakes; the batter makes about 8 medium- size panckes. while each pancake is cooking on the first side, place an equal spoonful of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of the raw side of each pancake before flipping them. this may require some  mad skillz.

please don’t try to cook these until they are “done” in the middle, because they don’t have flour, it isn’t going to happen- you’ll just burn them. they are supposed to be a little “gooey.” Who likes fluffy cheese danishes anyways. I would also add that i strongly recommend using Philadelphia cream cheese, especially if your going to use fat free. I once made them w/ the cheaper store brand and they were nowhere near as good.

I just put maple syrup on mine, because the pancakes have so much of their own flavor. you can get creative. maybe cherries would be good- like a cherry- cheese danish (hmm?) ENJOY!