Banana Nut BRAN Muffins

These are yummy breakfast muffins, reputed to lower your cholesterol (originally published in The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure.)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups oat bran

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/4 cups skim milk (I used a combo of almond milk and whole milk)

2 very ripe bananas

2 egg whites (1/4 cup egg beaters

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix milk, bananas, egg whites, and oil in a bowl or blender. Add to the dry ingredients and mix. Spray muffin pans with Pam, and fill them with batter. Bake 17 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins, about 120 calories each.

Kodiak Banana Nut Muffins

Kodiak Power Cakes pancake mix has a muffin recipe on the back. (Of course, I adjusted it a bit to lower the calorie total so I could add in my favorite walnuts.) These are very yummy muffins. The mix is whole grain wheat and oats, but they are more tender than most of my whole grain bakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups Power Cakes mix

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup Eggbeaters (or two egg whites)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup splenda granulated (you could leave this out and they would still be sweet enough!)

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 ripe bananas mashed (10 ounces frozen banana cubes)

1 tsp cinnamon

2 ounces chopped walnuts

Directions: Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Fill muffin tins sprayed with Pam. (I had to fill each muffin cup to the top) Bake at 350 degrees for 18 or 19 minutes until toothpick comes out slightly moist.

Makes 12 muffins, each about 150 calories with 6.6 grams protein.

Debby’s Favorite Jello Salad

Ingredients:

SF raspberry jello (4 serving size)

4 wedges Laughing Cow Lite, cut into bite sized pieces

2/3 ounce walnuts, chopped

8 oz fresh raspberries or 1 pear, chopped into bite sized pieces

Make jello according to package directions. Allow jello to cool a bit (or you can use the ice cube method,) and then add in the fruit, walnuts, and Laughing Cow lite. I portioned out the jello into four serving dishes.

Makes 4 servings, about 100 calories each.

Debby’s Buffet Potatoes

Ingredients:

12 oz Yukon Gold potatoes

2 oz cheddar cheese

1 small or 1/2 large onion

1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper

Directions: Grate 2 oz. cheddar cheese. Wash and then slice potatoes into thin slices (1/8-1/4 inch.) Slice onion as thinly as possible, and then cross cut into quarters.

Spray an 8X8 pan with Pam, and start layering potatoes, onions, cheese, salt and pepper. You should be able to make 3 layers. Sprinkle milk over all. Cover pan with foil and cook at 325 for 1 hour. Remove foil and continue cooking for another 15 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

4 servings, 130 calories each. Carb 16g; Fiber 2.4g; Fat 5.3g; Protein5.6g

Asian Dipping Sauce

Excellent for dipping the Mini Chicken Cilantro Potstickers from Trader Joe’s or Costco!

Mix together:

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 Tbsp water

1/2 Tbsp vinegar

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp Splenda granulated (or sweetener of choice.)

Blueberry Yogurt Coffee Cake

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup gluten free flour (I’m pretty sure you could sub any flour)

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup Splenda granulated

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups yogurt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2-1 cup frozen blueberries

 

Cinnamon topping ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

2 Tbsp cold butter

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray Pam in a 9X12 baking pan. Mix all dry ingredients together (first six ingredients.) Add the wet ingredients (next three ingredients) and whisk together. Stir in the frozen blueberries. Put cake batter in 9X12 pan.

Make cinnamon topping: mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Cut cold butter into pieces, and mix into topping. It should still be a little crumbly. Put on top of cake batter. Bake at 375 for about 15-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (The baking time will depend on how many frozen blueberries you include.)

Makes 8 large servings, approx. 200 calories each.

 

 

Single Serving Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats (or you can use a multi-grain blend)

1 banana cube (this is about 1/4 mashed banana)

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/6 cup egg beaters

pinch salt, cinnamon and vanilla (or other flavors, if you desire)

1 Tbsp splenda (or sweetener of choice)

Add in whatever you desire. (I used a handful of frozen blueberries and about 4 walnut halves, chopped.)

Mix all ingredients together in an oven safe bowl, and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Base recipe (without add ins) is about 200 calories.

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped broccoli florets

3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

3 Tbsp raisins

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 apple, chopped

3 strips bacon, pre-cooked and chopped

Dressing: 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 4 Tbsp Splenda (or sweetener of choice,) 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Mix the dressing ingredients and set aside.

Chop all ingredients and mix together. Add the dressing and stir to coat.

Makes 4 servings, about 140 calories each. Keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.

Banana Split Frozen Yogurt Bars

These bars are a delicious treat in the middle of the summer heat. I’ve written a basic recipe for you here, but basically there are a million variations, depending on what yogurt you start with, and what mix-ins you choose. I just write down the calories of each item as I add it in, total the calories, and then divide through by 6 or 8, depending on how I choose to cut the bars.

Ingredients:

2 cups yogurt (if you use unsweetened yogurt, you might want to add your sweetener of choice.)

3/4 cup granola

1 cup frozen cherries

1 very ripe mashed banana

1 oz chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and put in an 8X8 or 9×9 pan. Freeze until firm, and then cut into bars. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and keep in freezer. To eat, take out about 20-30 minutes ahead of time to allow to soften up.

For this particular recipe, I used whole milk yogurt, divided into 8 bars, and my stats came out to about 135 calories per bar.

Blueberry Protein Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup brown rice flour

2/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder

1/2 cup splenda granulated

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 egg plus 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1 cup applesauce

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp water

2 cups blueberries

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13X9 pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix first 7 (dry) ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix next 5 (wet) ingredients. Stir until smooth, then add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until evenly moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

Bake 25 minutes. Let cool a bit, and then cut into 8 large pieces. Eat one, and wrap the remainder in foil and freeze. To re-heat, place in toaster oven at 425 degrees for 7-12 minutes.

8 servings. Per serving: approximately 220 calories, 14 grams protein and 5 grams fiber.