Carrot Cake with Pareve Cream Cheese Frosting (4 points+)

Ok so I'm a bit of a cheater when it comes to my baked goods. When I find recipes, I look at the amount of servings, determine how big a portion it would be, and change it. Basically, I find recipes made in 9inch round springform pans. Said recipe is supposedly yielding 10 or 12 servings and the points value is a little high for my liking. I'll try out the recipe in a square 8x8 pyrex dish or even a 9x13 sometimes and divide the serving sizes into smaller pieces thereby lowering the points value. Do you think I'm completely out of my mind? More importantly, do anyone of you do the same thing?! In my experience it's worked out pretty well for me. This recipe is one of those examples. It's a WW recipe that was meant to be in a round pan and I make it in an 8x8 (the original recipe was 7 points+ per serving and yielded only 10 servings). The cake rises beautifully so the pieces are actually pretty big and fluffy, and that little bit of pareve cream cheese icing really makes me feel like Im eating something super fattening. I'm making it for Shabbos this week and can't wait to eat it. 

Recipe: (16 square piece servings)

3/4 C flour

2/3 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 egg whites

3/4 C honey

1/4 C oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 C carrots grated

Frosting:

3 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla 

3 oz. soy cream cheese

Heat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Lightly coat the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line with wax paper and lightly coat paper with spray. *I use an 8x8 pyrex dish instead and only spray with cooking spray*
In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs, honey, oil and lemon juice until blended. Stir flour mixture and carrots into egg mixture just until well blended.
Spread batter into a prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn out of pan and cool completely. *Because I don't make the cake in the round pan, I dont flip it out of the pan after. I just leave it in*
Meanwhile, for frosting, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread a thin layer over cooled cake and serve.

We now return to your regularly scheduled program...

It's been way too long and I apologize. I started the blog with the intention of writing a few times a week or basically whenever I could get a couple minutes to sit by myself! I've been busy with Pesach, and going to visit my in laws, and travelling back home. Today's my first day home (thank G-d, that was a looong trip) and I've decided to blog again.

A note about pictures. Im working on it! My camera is not in great shape and I mostly use my Blackberry camera for day to day pictures but it really doesnt take the kind of pictures I want to publish on the blog. So if a recipe doesn't have a picture, don't just get distracted and move on, give it a try! :)

More later, lots of unpacking and organizing, and grocery shopping to get to.

Spicy (Meat) Chili (4 points+ per half cup serving)

I really thought I'd have time to blog every day, but with Pesach fast approaching it really hasn't happened (that plus my daughter's been sick so it's been a little hectic around here). Thank G-d I am not making Pesach this year, I've never made Pesach. I'm still lucky enough that my parents or in laws want to host my family for Pesach. We've been busy with visiting family, which brings me to today's recipe. My brother and his family are visiting from Israel and I wanted to have them for dinner. I decided to make my mother's amazing chili recipe. I've doctored it a bit, it's probably spicier than it used to be, but my husband raves about it. He finds lots of things to do with the leftovers, chili dogs, chili burgers, chili fries, etc.

The point+ value is 4 points for a half a cup of chili. I dont think you'll want to eat more than 1 cup at most. We usually serve it with tortilla chips or tacos (check your package for points values) and a big salad.

Recipe:
1 large onion
1 jalapeno pepper (omit if you dont like too spicy)
1 tbsp oil
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 cans (19oz each) mixed beans (rinsed and drained- it lowers the sodium)
1 can tomato sauce (about 21 oz. or 630 mL) (use flavored sauce, I use spicy for extra kick)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp bbq sauce (I use honey)
1/4-1/2 cup salsa
*Sorry there are no measurements for the spices, this is how my mom's recipes work. Just shake a bit in*
salt
pepper
LOTS of chili powder
garlic powder
paprika
little cayenne
little red pepper flakes

Dice onion and jalapeno (use gloves when cutting the jalapeno). If you want a more mild taste, take the seeds out of the jalapeno and only use the pepper itself. heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large pot (you can try and only use cooking spray to lower points, but it just didnt work for me) and saute jalapeno and onion. Add meat and break down into smaller pieces. Saute until meat is browned. Add beans, sauce, syrup, bbq sauce, salsa, and spices. Mix and cook for a loooong time. You could get away with cooking it on a higher flame for an hour or so, but in my experience the longer this cooks on a low flame the better it tastes. I put my pot up at 8am and let it cook on low til 1 or 2pm.  Serve with tacos or tortilla chips, or whatever you like!

Guilt Free Chocolate Brownie Muffins (approx 1 point+)

I have a passion for anything home baked. Seriously. I have trouble going a day without some kind of baked goods. When I started WW, I realized I'd have to give all my recipes a major makeover or start finding new recipes. This kind of started to stress me out. I began searching online and through the WW community forums (for those of you with WW Etools, a great resource there is the Community Recipe Swap) and started testing out lots of new cakes, cookies, and muffins. Every Shabbos was a new experiment (I dont know how happy my family was- they were stuck eating all my experiments). In my research I've found a few great recipes but I thought I'd start with the absolute easiest (and lowest point+ value). This should satisfy your need for baked goods and chocolate without overusing your daily point allowance.
*This is a classic recipe that I'm sure some of you have heard before but I figured it was good to post in case someone out there didnt know it yet!

Sorry there's no picture. I made these before I had started the blog. I'll add pictures soon. If you make these muffins send me a picture!

Recipe:
1 package Devils Food Cake Mix (just the powder mix, don't add anything to it)
15 oz. can pure pumpkin (in my experience the Libby's brand is the only one with a hechsher) *Dont worry if you dont like pumpkin flavor! You will NOT taste it at all in this recipe. If you do like pumpkin flavor see my variation below the recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ingredients well (you can do this by hand). Dont add anything to the cake mix. It will be thick but don't worry. Pour mixture into 12 lined muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester is clean.

A great variation for those of you who LIKE pumpkin taste (the brownie muffins have no pumpkin taste at all). Use a yellow cake mix and add some pumpkin pie spice (I added nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves). Bake using same directions. 

Pesto Crusted Salmon (approx. 9 points+ per serving)

Last week I had this intense need for pesto. I only recently begun liking pesto, though I've watched friends enjoy it forever. This time I decided to find a recipe that combined my loves for salmon and pesto and I found this one.   It's not too fattening and good for you too :) My husband, parents and 2 year old absolutely loved it. *WW tip, I lowered the point value of the whole meal by serving it with green beans and salad with low fat Caesar dressing.

This recipe was easy and super delicious. There weren't too many steps and I was able to do it all in my processor. I would definitely make it again.

I plan to post my own pictures but since the blog was not in existence when I made this recipe, I'm using a picture from online. The salmon did come out looking something like this. 

Recipe: (Click here for the original recipe)

3 slices white bread ( I used whole wheat)
1 Tbs. pine nuts 
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
4 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves 
1/3 cup olive oil; more for the pan 
4 boneless salmon fillets (about 6 oz. each) *MY serving size is 4 oz servings. See note at bottom. 

Pulse the bread in a food processor to make breadcrumbs. Remove about 1/2 cup of the crumbs and reserve them. Add the pine nuts, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper to the crumbs in the food processor and pulse. Add the basil and process again. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow stream, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the pesto is spreadable.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Brush a small baking sheet with oil, put the fillets on it, and season them with salt and pepper. Spread a 1/4-inch layer of the pesto evenly over the top of each fillet. Sprinkle the reserved breadcrumbs over the pesto. Bake until the salmon is cooked -- it should just start to turn opaque, with a trace of bright orange in the middle -- and the topping is lightly browned, 10 to 15 min., depending on the thickness of the fish.


**The points plus value is approximated. I inputed the recipe as 16 oz of salmon for 4 servings. That is a 4 oz serving. It's a little more points than I would regularly allow myself, but since salmon is a power food and I only had 0 point side dishes, I figure it's okay.

And we're off...

I've finally decided to start this thing. I'm sitting here thinking, what am I doing writing a blog? Well, I guess the more I think about it the more I realize....what have I got to lose? So here I am, smack in the middle of naptime and potty time (with each of my kids respectively), sitting at the computer typing away.

What's it all really about? I think I just got sick of looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw. And yes, regardless of how long ago I had the baby (and at the time, it was probably only 2 months post partum), I still didnt like what I saw. On the advice of a good friend, a little farther along in her own journey back to the skinny life, I started to take charge of my life and weight loss. Which in turn brought me to Weight Watchers. Now this blog is completely not about WeightWatchers, though I absolutely love it! This is just about my journey and mainly the recipes I've been trying to help keep me on track. The only difference is that I will be posting point values as I go (which is just an added perk for all you WW-aholics out there).

First recipe coming later, my 2 year old just called me from her throne (the potty). Duty Calls!