Yummy Cupcakes!

Ok...for those of you that have been following me it would make sense that you'd be under the impression I've all but forgot about this blog...the truth is I have been experiencing  health issues over the past month that have left me a little under the weather to say the least! At this point the specialist I went to believes that I am protein deficient (a condition that has caused hair loss, involuntary shaking, passing out, hot flashes, etc) a blood panel will rule out the other contender, thyroid problems, but we are waiting to figure out an insurance solution before we proceed...at any rate I have been feeling better over the past few days and wanting to get back into the kitchen! This first recipe is not really a recipe rather a commentary on some new Pillsbury products. I first heard about the new sugar-free line at my local WW meeting and waited until I saw the new goodies appear at my grocery. Currently there are only two choices of batter and two choices of frosting...but who cares when the options available taste heavenly! I tried out the sugar-free devil's food cake and topped it off with the sugar-free vanilla frosting...to make things fall festive I added a bit of orange food coloring to my frosting to enhance the cute cupcake holders I found. I also added a bit of orange flavoring to enhance the vanilla and the end results are a wonderfully decadent cupcake that tastes absolutely as good as "the real thing!" These cupcakes will run you 3pts a piece but are well worth the points for a delicious dessert treat! For more information here's a link to the new products: Pillsbury

Hearty Harvest Beef Stew

Yesterday, as you are all aware, was the first day of Autumn! Fall is my favorite season; I am in awe each year looking at the colors of changing leaves, feeling the crisp hint of cool that enters the air, and of course the sight of pumpkins everywhere! In celebration of the season I decided to adapt (only in using the healthiest version of each ingredient) a WW Online recipe for Slow Cooker Beef and Vegetable Soup. This soup combines flavors I had never before seen in beef stew...cinnamon, honey, sweet potatoes and prunes! I unfortunately did not have any prunes and used golden raisins instead which not only added the texture of prunes, and a similar dried fruit essence, but came at a lower points cost. Cannot begin to tell you how great this thick, rich stew tastes...or how amazing your house will smell after having this savory concoction simmering away for 8 hours! Gotta try: Hearty Harvest Beef Stew

Shrimp Fried Rice with Edamame

Now that new year's feasting and Yom Kippur's fasting is over I will hopefully be making more new dishes for the fall season. The latest reason for no new posts...Repeat Cooking! There have been so many wonderful recipes that I've tried that it is really hard not to re-make things to savor again and again...at any rate this dish is from a new cookbook that my mom sent me, "WW Annual Recipes for Success 2006." If I have never told you before W is a sucker for Chinese food...as is my stepfather! This recipe will satisfy the Chinese food lover in your life, Shrimp Fried Rice with Edamame is a great and easy way to bring vegetables, protein and grain all together in a meal and have it actually taste good! The key ingredient in this dish is the sesame oil...for those thinking of skipping out, don't! The inclusion of sesame makes this rice meal resemble our greasy take-out favorites more than if you stick to just the rice. So for only 6pts per serving, gotta try: Shrimp Fried Rice with Edamame

Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash

This tasty treat comes from a recipe found in the October issue of "Country Living" magazine...the recipe practically begged to be made as the only change necessary was the exchange of olive oil for cooking spray! The use of barley for risotto would ordinarily not cross my mind but after tasting its sweet and nutty flavor and learning that it packs almost twice the amount of protein found in regular rice I will be looking to use it in future risotto dishes as a replacement. The butternut squash gets its own baking treatment prior to joining the risotto and I have to say the pieces that had a bit of burn to them had the best flavor; I think if I make this again I will let the squash go under the boiler for a few minutes to crisp burn the majority of pieces. The dish itself is a combination of sweet squash, nutty barely, fresh thyme, lemon, garlic, parmesan cheese, wine, onions and of course a subtle broth of rich stock. Perfect dish to make on nights when you are in the mood for something light yet filling, at only 5pts per serving gotta try: Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash

Hunter's Stew

The first time I had hunter's stew (bigos) was at a Polish festival...for those of you that have never heard of or had this delightful dish it is basically a very meaty/thick stew. The popularity of this stew lies in its utility in using up all the "odds and ends" remaining in one's cupboard as well as any mixed meats remaining from hunting parities. So of course wanting to please my Polish love I began to make bigos at home following traditional recipes and ingredients and achieved excellent results; however when made in this manner bigos is more like heart attack stew rather than a heart healthy selection. The challenge then became adapting a traditional recipe into something WW friendly...to accomplish this task I merged two separate bigos recipes from, "The Art of Polish Cooking"  into one health conscious concoction. The end results were a very flavorful combination of vegetables, fruits and meat that not only resembled bigos but got a W stamp of approval! The mixed textures of apples, sauerkraut, onion, mushrooms and carrots alongside the smoked turkey sausage simmered together in a hearty wine and tomato broth made this dish a new household favorite at only 5pts per serving! If you have never had bigos, now's the time to try! Hunter's Stew

p.s. If you have the points serve this up with a hunk of fresh, crusty bread to soak up all the juices!

Lubiya and Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze

L'Shanah Tovah! Happy New Year! Rosh Hashanah began last night as dusk settled and started off the High Holy Days for Jews around the world...to celebrate I made a traditional black-eyed pea soup and a WW adaptation of a apple spice cake from the, "WW Healthy & Happy Celebrations" cookbook. The use of black-eyed peas as a celebratory new years feast dates back as far as ancient Egypt where the bean was served up in a turmeric colored broth to symbolize fertility...other cultures, including U.S. Southern culture, still use this legume as a hallmark of the season. The recipe I used makes a hearty soup called Lubiya; the richness of the beans along with the spice of hot chilies and the distinct flavor of fresh cilantro make this a warm and spicy soup to prepare us for the cool fall days ahead (assuming you don't live in Texas!) for a mere 3pts. And of course in keeping with the traditional idea of consuming apples and honey in anticipation of the sweetness of the year to come I made a Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze. The cake is a great way of upholding this tradition with nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh apples, cider and brown sugar to name a few. At only 4pts per serving this cake will add a great end to any fall menu. With the Gregorian New Year coming up and fall/winter holidays in abundance before hand now is as good as time as any to re-energize our efforts and continue our healthy living into the season ahead. Happy Cooking! Lubiya and Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze

Sweet and yummy goodness!

Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe was a suggestion by mom...she has been following another fellow WW lady that has been quite busy developing her own blog of recipes which sadly puts mine to laughable shame (I should mention however that she has been working on it for years, not months!) Anyhow, my mother made a recipe from her site SkinnyTaste.com last week and raved about the Italian/cheesy goodness of it all. Not being one to turn down a good recipe I decided to follow in her footsteps and make the same dish...the taste is wonderful! Every bite had a fresh from my Italian grandmother's garden type of feel...and the best part is that by sheer coincidence I followed the recipe using what I had in pantry and got the original recipe down from 6pts per serving to 3pts! I think the difference lies in using olive oil cooking spray rather than oil to coat eggplant, fat free mozzarella over reduced fat and egg substitute over real. The taste is amazing and so I think my accident is worthy of its own write up for those that want to recapture the 3pt model. The whole dish hangs on one thing however, the sauce! The sauce recipe she uses is from what she describes as her friend, a good Italian cook...I will describe her as genius! I never in a million years would have used carrots to make a tomato sauce but it added such a great flavor that I will be using this from now on. The sauce is an entirely different recipe and I will supply the link, note that it makes extra so despite the drudgery of making this from scratch version you will have multiple uses from your efforts. So there you have it...a dish so great that it comes taste test approved by three fellow WW ladies and very satisfied Wojtek! Happy Cooking: Eggplant Parmesan and the link for sauce: Filetto di Pomodoro