Banana Muffins

Recipe for 12 muffins:

Ingredients:
1/2 C  Brown Sugar
3/4 C  Whole Wheat Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour
1 C      Oats (Processed in a food processor until very fine)
2 t       Baking Powder
1/2 t   Baking Soda
1/2 t   Salt
1 t       Cinnamon 
3         Very Ripe Mashed Bananas
1/4 C  Unsweetened apple sauce 
4          Egg Whites 


Instructions: 
1. Combine all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
2. Add mashed banana, egg whites, and apple sauce. Mix just until combined.
3. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pan.
4. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 


Nutrition Facts: 
Serving Size-One Muffin
115 Calories, 0.5 g of fat, 25 g carbs, 2.5 g protein, 2 g fiber

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This sauce is so flavorful and a nice change of pace from regular tomato sauce. The only fat in it is healthy olive oil fat, so no guilt here. :)


Makes one cup of sauce


Ingredients:
1 jar of roasted red peppers (or you can roast your own peppers in the oven!)
2 t extra virgin olive oil
1 T chopped garlic
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t dried basil (or a couple fresh leaves!)


Instructions:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Saute until onions are translucent. 
2. Add roasted red peppers and sauteed onion, garlic, etc to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Add a little water too thin if necessary. 
3. Add to any whole wheat pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese! 


Nutrition Facts: 1/2 cup sauce 
92 calories, 4.5 g fat, 10 g carbs, 2 g protein, 1.5 g fiber

Pumpkin "Ice Cream" Sandwiches

 

I make these without the pumpkin quite often, but 'tis the season to use pumpkin, so I added some pumpkin puree to my recipe.


Makes 12 sandwiches


Ingredients:
12         cinnamon graham crackers (broken in half)
1           small tub of cool whip lite
1/2 C    pumpkin puree
1/2-1 t  pumpkin pie spice (to taste)


Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, wisk together whole tub of cool whip, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Return to freezer until semi-firm (about an hour or so).
2. Evenly distribute cool whip mixture onto 12 graham cracker halves. Sandwich together with remaining graham cracker halves.
3. Freeze, covered, for at least 2 hours before eating.


Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size-One Sandwich 
110 calories, 3.5 g fat, 12.5 g carbs, 1 g protein, 1 g fiber

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I tried this recipe out tonight and it was delicious and surprisingly didn't taste too far off from regular pizza. I added Trader Joe's chicken sausage, onion, and garlic and it was so good! This isn't exactly a low fat food but it is loaded with protein, low in carbs, and gluten free!


Makes 4 servings (2 servings if you're anything like me)

Ingredients:

1 C      cauliflower, cooked and processed in a food processor (I used a whole head of cauliflower)

2 C     shredded part-skim mozzarella 

2        egg whites

1/2 t  salt

1/2 t  pepper

1/2 t  dried basil

1/2 t  dried oregano

1/2 C pizza sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Grease a pizza pan or cookie sheet.
2. Cook cauliflower until soft. Process in a food processor. Pat with paper towels to absorb extra moisture. 
3. In a medium bowl, mix cauliflower, egg whites, and 1 cup of the mozzarella. Add salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. 
4. Place mixture on cookie sheet and pat out evenly with your hands.
5. Before adding sauce and toppings, bake crust for 15 minutes at 450ºF.
6. Add sauce, remaining cheese, and toppings. Broil at high heat until cheese is melted (3-5 minutes). 

Nutrition Facts (for crust, sauce, and cheese):

Serving Size- 1/4 Pizza

160 calories, 12 g fat, 5 g carbs, 18 g protein, 1 g fiber

Banana Pumpkin Bran Muffins

During fall I tend to go a little pumpkin crazy. If I find a recipe that has pumpkin in it, I will make it! I had two over-ripe bananas that I knew I needed to make some kind of baked good with. After a lot of browsing through different recipes, I realized I really wanted to make some muffins. However, I didn't want them to be loaded with calories and fat, as most muffins are. I wasn't sure how bananas and pumpkin puree would fare together, but I decided to experiment and create my own muffin recipe. Much to my surprise, they turned out so moist, delicious, and of course, healthy!


Recipe for 12 muffins:


Ingredients:
1/2 C  Brown Sugar
1/2 C  Whole Wheat Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C  Wheat Bran
1 C      Oats (Processed in a food processor until very fine)
2 t       Baking Powder
1/2 t   Baking Soda
1/2 t   Salt
1 t       Cinnamon 
2         Very Ripe Mashed Bananas
1/2 C  Pumpkin Puree 
1/4 C  Unsweetened apple sauce 
1          Whole Egg
2          Egg Whites 


Instructions: 
1. Combine all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
2. Combine egg, egg whites, mashed banana, pumpkin, and apple sauce in a separate bowl.
2. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until combined. Do not over mix.
3. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pan.
4. Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 


Nutrition Facts: 
Serving Size-One Muffin
110 Calories, 1g of fat, 23 g carbs, 3g protein, 3g fiber