Funky Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Chocolate-dipped pretzels are yummy and easy to make.  I wanted to kick things up a notch by giving them some funky flavors.  So, for a Christmas party, I created Whiskey Praline Pretzels, White Chocolate Chili Mango Pretzels and Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seed Pretzels.  They were all really good, and it was fun to watch people try out the unexpected combinations.

Ingredients

• Pretzel rods
• Light chocolate candy melts
• Dark chocolate candy melts
• White chocolate candy melts
• Dried chili mangoes, chopped into small pieces
• Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds
• Jack Daniels pralines, broken into small pieces

Directions

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Melt candy melts according to package instructions.
• Dip pretzel rods into melted chocolate, tapping off excess back into the bowl.
• Drop mango pieces or pralines or sunflower seeds onto pretzels.
• Drizzle with alternate flavor of candy melt if desired.
• Place in freezer for 10 minutes or until hardened.

You can also make candy bark by blending candy melts and toppings in a thin sheet, freezing it and then breaking it up into chunks. The Whiskey Praline Chocolate Bark, pictured above, was especially tasty!

Cream of Rice with Mixed Fruit, Goat Cheese & Toasted Pine Nuts

I am a huge fan of Amy's frozen foods.  They are super healthy convenience foods.  I especially enjoy their breakfast cereal bowls: the cream of rice and the multi grain bowl.  I got thinking these bowls would be a great base for a savory side dish.  This dish isn't quite as savory as I thought it'd be; it'd still be a great choice for the morning meal.  But, it's a good start - and I think it'd be fantastic with a Quorn cutlet for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Amy's Organic Cream of Rice Bowl
• 1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/8 cup dried mixed fruit, unsweetened, chopped
• 1 ounce of goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

• Warm cream of rice bowl in microwave according to package instructions.
• Mix in dried fruit, goat cheese and toasted pine nuts until well blended.
• Top with crumbled goat cheese and few pine nuts before serving.

Makes 1 serving

Nutrition Stats: Calories 395, Fat 17.5g, Fiber 6g, Protein 8.5g

Spicy Salmon & Corn Flatbread Pizza

I had an odd craving for salmon salad, but I wanted something hot.  So I decided to turn the salad into a pizza topping and see what happened.  It was good... and surprisingly spicy because of the salsa.  I had no idea how much kick that salsa had!  I don't normally like spicy stuff, but this was tasty.  The cheese wedges gave the topping a nice creaminess, and the flatbread was pleasingly crisp because I kept it in the oven while it was preheating.

The only thing I'd do differently next time is to use shredded mozzarella, rather than the string cheese I had in the house.  The string cheese didn't melt as well as I'd hoped, so shredded is the way to go.

Ingredients:

• 1 Flatout Healthy Grain Flatbread
• 1 packet Chicken of the Sea Pink Salmon
• 2 Laughing Cow Light French Onion spreadable cheese wedges
• 6 tablespoons World Table Sweet Corn Salsa
• 1 Frigo Light String Cheese 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• While oven is preheating, spritz a pizza pan with non-stick olive oil spray.
• Place flatbread on pizza pan and spritz with olive oil spray.
• Place pan with flatbread in the oven as it preheats.
• While the oven is preheating, use a fork to mix together cheese wedges and salsa, blending well.
• Mix in salmon and blend thoroughly.
• When the oven is done preheating, remove the pan with the flatbread and flip the flatbread over.
• Evenly distribute salmon mixture on the flatbread.
• Pull string cheese into strings and criss-cross on top of the salmon mixture.
• Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 1 serving.

Nutrition Stats: 345 calories, 34g protein, 10g fat, 11g fiber

Double Chocolate Cookies

It's been unusually cold here in Vegas, and I've been craving something chocolaty that's warm from the oven.  I  had a scant 1/4 cup of flour remaining in the house and didn't feel like braving the chill to get more.  So, I turned to the always-handy Internet and found a flourless cookie recipe that would make use of the cocoa and unsweetened chocolate I had on hand.

This super simple recipe uses only 5 ingredients and whips up in minutes.  As a bonus, these cookies are gluten- and dairy-free.

These are quirky treats, crispy on the outside and fudgy on the inside.  Despite being made with a full box of confectioners sugar, they are not overly sweet.  In fact, they would be delicious with a small scoop of premium vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound confectioners (powdered) sugar (approximately 3 3/4 cups)
• 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 5 large egg whites

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa and salt.
• Stir in chopped chocolate.
• Stir in egg whites until just blended.  Be sure not to overmix.
• Drop by tablespoon-fulls on parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving room between cookies.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookie tops are dry and crackled.

Makes about 16 large cookies.

This recipe is adapted from the Bitten Word's Flourless Double-Chocolate Cookies recipe.  

Slow Cooker Mixed Berry Bread Pudding

On a chilly, blustery Vegas day, this was the second of the two slow cooker recipes I made, using Dawn Hall's super simple, fantabulous guide: Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook.

As I frequently do, I made several ingredient changes to the recipe, to slim it down just a tad and hopefully add nutrients.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup Just Like Sugar (Dawn uses Splenda in the original recipe.  I am trying to get away from using artificial sweeteners, and I've found Just Like Sugar to be a terrific, no-calorie, natural sweetener.  You can get it at the Whole Foods or online.  To me, it's virtually indistinguishable from sugar, with only a teeny tiny aftertaste depending on the recipe. Of course, you could also use plain old sugar if you'd like.)
• 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice (Dawn uses only cinnamon.  You could also use pumpkin pie spice.)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (Dawn uses non-fat milk. I almost always sub unsweetened vanilla almond milk for any milk called for in a recipe.  It's only 40 calories for a cup, has a gram of fiber, and is richer tasting than non-fat milk.)
• 1/2 cup fat-free French Vanilla non-dairy liquid creamer
• 4 cups French Bread, torn into approximately 1/2-inch cubes (I would like to try using whole wheat French Bread next time.)
• 1/2 cup Sunsweet Antioxidant dried fruit blend of blueberries, cherries, cranberries, and plums (Dawn calls for dried cranberries or raisins.)

Directions:

• Preheat a slow cooker to high.
• Spritz with non-stick buttery spray.
• In a bowl, stir the egg whites, Just Like Sugar, apple pie spice, almond milk, and creamer - until well blended.
• Gently stir the bread pieces and dried fruit into the egg white mixture.
• Pour into the slow cooker, and cook on high for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Serve hot.

Serving size: 1/2 cup
Makes six servings

Nutrition stats from the original recipe:

• Calories: 142
• Fat: 1g
• Carbohydrate: 26g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sodium: 191mg

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

On this chilly, blustery day in Vegas, slow cooked comfort food seemed the way go to.  I found the most amazing slow cooker cookbook at the Barnes & Noble: Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Dawn Hall.  Each recipe is seven ingredients or less and is very easy to prepare.  Although not all of  the recipes are low-calorie, Dawn uses healthier ingredients whenever possible.  Each recipe includes full nutrition information, too, which is great.

I made a couple of substitutions to increase the protein in the dish and add a few more nutrients.  It's delicious and tasty fare!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni (Dawn recommends Mueller's brand.  I used Barilla Plus because of the extra protein, Omega 3s, and fiber.)
• 1 14-ounce can fat-free, low-sodium beef broth
• 1 12-ounce can roast beef
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1 6 1/2-ounce can of mushroom stems & pieces
• 1/2 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt (Dawn uses fat-free sour cream in her recipe.  I increased the protein by subbing Greek yogurt.)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Spritz a slow cooker with non-fat olive oil spray.
• Turn the cooker on high. Put the pasta and the beef broth in the cooker, making sure all the elbows are covered with the broth.
• Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours.
• Stir in the roast beef, minced garlic, mushroom, and Greek yogurt.
• Cover and let sit for 5 minutes or until everything is heated through.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Serving size: 1 cup
Makes 7 servings

Nutrition stats for Dawn's recipe are below.  Mine will be higher in protein and fiber and lower in sodium.  The calories should be the same.

• Calories: 183
• Fat: 4g
• Carbohydrate: 22g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 15g
• Sodium: 825mg

Pork & Beans Bread

Isn't this a kooky-sounding recipe?!  I simply couldn't resist making it for Mike when I read about it in Joanne Fluke's "Plum Pudding Murder".  It was just too odd not to try!  Turns out, it's really good: moist, not too cakey, subtly sweet with a hint of spice.  Perfect with a cup of tea.  I waited to tell Mike what it was called 'til he tried it. No need for preconceptions, right? :)  He loved it.  I plan to make it for everyone for Christmas this year.  Everyone should have Pork & Beans Bread at least once in their lives! :D

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can of Pork & Beans
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup of vegetable oil (not canola or olive - be sure to use vegetable oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3 cups flour

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray 3 loaf pans with non-stick spray.
• Pour the Pork & Beans into a blender and puree until they're smooth with no lumps.
• Pour the beaten eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix in the pureed Pork & Beans.  Blend thoroughly.
• Mix in the vegetable oil and vanilla.
• Mix in the sugar.
• Mix in the baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly.
• Add the flour into the batter, one cup at a time, blending thoroughly after each cup.
• Divide the batter evenly among the three loaf pans.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the bread.
• To freeze it, let the loaf cool completely.  Then wrap it in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag.  It can be frozen for up to three months.