I have very little confidence in both of these areas because it is new and somewhat scary, as my husband has very selective dietary objectives and I have a naturally unhealthy default setting. With some recent health issues that I have encountered, I have taken it upon myself to consume large amounts of fruits and vegetables and really clean-up my diet. It has been a great success, but I don't want it to become a boring ritual with no zest or flavor. Eating healthy does NOT have to be boring. My husband's future profession centers on making all recipes healthy and to accomodate everyone's tastes, while also improving their diet. This along with the Fall season has fueled my inner domestic "diva" to attempt some new things in the kitchen.
The first attempt was caramel apples. Every year I think about them.......dream about them, but after several bad experiences in the past, I figured I just didn't have the gift for making them. This year, however, after following the recipe on the back of the caramel bag they turned out great. We even made enough for Chris to take to one of his classes as an incentive for participation in a presentation he was giving on Halloween. Worked out perfect!
Not bad. And pretty tasty, too!
Today, again being so inspired by Fall, I decided to google "low fat fall recipes." I was surprised how much is out there. I finally came across a recipe that was for reduced fat pumpkin cheesecake. I decided to just take a risk and go for basically fat free cheesecake (I mean, c'mon....cheesecake nutrition facts are SCARY!) and I think it worked out great! The taste was amazing and was exactly what I was hoping for! The recipe is as follows:
Crush 1/2 cup of ginger snap cookies and pour in the bottom of a 7 in. round pan. Spray with butter flavored cooking spray and cook at 350 for 10 minutes.
Mix together in mixing bowl with electric mixer:
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. sugar
2- 8oz. blocks of fat free cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix until well blended. Slowly add in 1/2 c. egg substitute until well mixed. Pour over cookie crumb crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until set.
I topped it off with fat free cool whip. Super easy and it did not disappoint!
So bottom line, I have become really excited about finding new recipes and shooting for making them as healthy as possible. It is a lot of fun when you have success and the lack of guilt after you eat it is just as exciting! I already have chocolate peppermint meringues, chocolate peppermint cheesecake, and low fat truffles on the menu for December (seasonal cooking is a major inspiration to me). We will see what happens!
