Loaded Faked Potato Soup

I grew up on potato soup that consisted of four ingredients. Potatoes, Heavy Cream, Butter and Black Pepper. As if that wasn’t indulgent enough, we’d fill it with homemade crumbled corn bread. If I grew up with that kind of soup and love this one, you’ve got to be willing to give it a shot!

You’ll need:

! bag or about two cups of steamed cauliflower, you can also boil it, you’re choice. Just be sure it’s nice and tender to puree.

2/3 cup of diced cooked potato

1 tablespoon of garlic

1/2 tablespoon of onion powder

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

2 cups of unsalted chicken stock

For toppings: fat free sour cream, fat free cheese, turkey bacon, green onion if you have it!

In a large food processor or blender, puree your cauliflower and chicken stock until smooth.

In a large pan,sauté your garlic, onion powder, black pepper, and diced potatoes. Do not over cook the potatoes so that they begin to brown. Just get the garlic cooking and keep the potatoes tender. When this is done and your kitchen smells amazing, move all ingredients to food processor.

Puree again until smooth and transfer back into large pan.

Bring to a gentle boil and then turn down heat and allow to simmer for an additional 20 minutes or so. This allows the flavors to really come together.

Stir in additional seasoning or toppings as you like before serving. You won’t even have to confess how few potatoes are actually in the soup! Enjoy!

I haven’t completely lost my mind.

Believe me, the candy bars pictured are a better choice than a box of chocolates.

You know “the life like a box of chocolates, you never what you’re gonna get” Forrest Gump philosophy? Lies. I know exactly what I’m going to get, a tummy ache and 5 lbs.

My mother was born with a gift. A talent, even. Some sing and dance- others have he ability to portion their dessert. Growing up, we’d get the big heart box of chocolates. Mine- gone that day. Except the coconut, of course. My mothers would last weeks to where she would eventually throw them away. She has even forgotten about m&ms in her purse before!! I was not passed this blessing. But,Valentine’s day without chocolate is just wrong. So -we’re celebrating with my favorite couple, chocolate and strawberries.

Did you know you can stretch one candy bar into a dozen strawberries?! A lot less calories than those truffle boxes  and cost about three dollars per dozen. Save your dollars and calories! Choose your favorite candy bars: dark for me, Reese’s for my husband, and cookies and cream for my daughter. Break into bite size pieces and microwave for 15 seconds and stirring between each time until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Here is the slimmed up trick, dip ONLY THE TOPS of the berries. They’ll be beautiful and delicious. Allow them to dry on wax paper for at least an hour or until chocolate is set before serving.

Happy Valentine’s Day! You know, if you celebrate that sort of thing.

Fake and No Bake Spaghetti – made with Broccoli Slaw and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

If your eyes were closed when you were eating this, you’d think you were indulging in a calorie packed baked spaghetti or even lasagna! The smell. That sauce. The cheese. Okay, open your eyes. Taste forbidden, but thank Goodness, it’s not. Coming in under 300 calories and only 7 WWPP. Indulge on friend. You might even have seconds!

I’m often asked about pasta substitutes and Broccoli slaw is my favorite. It’s a family staple and on our grocery list every week. It’s perfect in salads and slaws of course. But it is a great pasta stunt double.

You’ll need:
A crockpot! message me if you’d like alternate cooking directions though 🙂
2 small cans of no salt added tomato sauce, just the plain jane kind
1 small can of basil, oregano tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of minced garlic, split
2 teaspoons of onion powder
1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained
1 pound of Ground Turkey, ideally you want this to be 99% lean, but I used 97/3 today and drained the meat before adding to the slow cooker
1 1/2 bags of shredded broccoli slaw
1/4 cup of egg whites, trust me here
1/4 cup of fat-free mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons of parmesan cheese

It doesn’t get much easier than this. Pour your slaw and all three cans of sauce into the crock pot. Along with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir well to coat. Set timer on HIGH for 6 hours.

Meanwhile add the other tablespoon of garlic and onion powder to a large pan on medium heat. Add your ground turkey and brown. Stirring and breaking into small pieces. When turkey is no longer pink, drain off any excess liquid and add the your slow cooker.

In a blender or food processor, puree your roasted red peppers. I use the store-bought kind and drain off all the liquid. Oh my, they smell so good! Pour the roasted red pepper sauce on top of turkey and stir to mix well.

 

About an hour before you are ready to eat add 1/4 cup of egg whites and stir to mix well. Sprinkle cheese on top and place lid back on. Go run some errands, clean something, or kick up your feet and relax! Your house will smell divine and you’ll have a delicious, nutritious meal in no time.

Now for the dishes… that’s a different story! 🙂 Enjoy.

 

Sweet Potato Souffle Cupcakes

Not every recipe is going to be low-calorie, no sugar, and no fat. But I can guarantee, I will always try to SAVE calories, and limit sugar and fat. A balanced, healthy diet is all about moderation. Which is why I LOVE cupcakes! I have eaten cake with a fork out of a pan or cake plate with no real idea of the amount I’m consuming. Lost in the world of buttery goodness, I lose all accountability and have no idea how to balance the rest of my day. Not with cupcakes! With the cupcake wrappers, you literally have a paper trail. I also used Marshmallow Crème to frost these- costing your 45 calories per two tablespoons instead of 100-200 a traditional buttercream may cost you. This recipe is SO easy, they turn out beautiful, and taste even better. Even your guest that pass on the ole’ sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving will be intrigued by these!

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1/2 cup of fat free milk

1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes or sweet potato puree. UNSWEET. Not the candied kind. 🙂 You can mash them yourself or buy them canned or frozen. I went on a mad hunt for unsweetened Organic Puree and only found it at Whole Foods. But you can most certainly use your own or even left overs!

1 tsp, vanilla

1 tsp. butter extract (optional)

3 eggs

mini marshmallows (optional, I’ll explain later!)

marshmallow crème (the jar kind)

Here’s How!

• Preheat your oven to 350 and lightly spray your cupcake liners in the pan.
• In a large bowl mix your cake mix, sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, and extract. Batter is somewhat thick, so be sure the scrape the sides of the bowl constantly while mixing.
• When batter is evenly mixed, it’ll be a gorgeous color and smell fantastic, evenly distribute (about halfway full) among the cupcakes liners. We topped our raw batter with mini marshmallows to “roast” and in the oven. However, ours puffed up and deflated. Leaving them looking like this:

They puffed up and then sort of deflated. They still taste FANTASTIC here. Good enough to eat without the Fluff Frosting. BUT, if you’re going for beautiful toasted marshmallow presentation, I’d skip this step and just go with the crème on top.

• Bake your cupcakes 15-20 minutes. Watching carefully after the 15. They will take a little longer to bake if you add the marshmallows before baking.
• Allow to cool about five to ten minutes. The cupcakes should still be slightly warm so your Marshmallow Crème will slightly melt and spread evenly. They don’t have to be iced perfect like a cupcake, the heat will melt them and spread out to cover the cake.
• If you have a Brule torch, you could certainly use it here. If not- switch your oven to broil. Place marshmallow crème topped cupcakes still in their liners on a cookie sheet. DO NOT LEAVE THESE UNATTENDED! Don’t even take your eyes off of these babies in the oven! Or you’ll end up with black, charred topped cupcakes. Allow then to turn a light brown on top. You may want to rearrange the cupcakes every few seconds to be sure they’re evenly toasting. This doesn’t take long at all, when nice and golden on top, remove and allow to cool and additional ten minutes.

How sweet potato it is!