This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

A healthy, low point Valentine's Day dessert

I was so excited to see this healthy Valentine's Day recipe in the February issue of Woman's Day. Not only does it have only 4 Weight Watchers POINTS per serving, but it doesn't contain eggs - a big consideration since my daughter is allergic to eggs.

I also love the recipe because it uses ricotta cheese, one of my favorites. If you're trying to lose weight or just eat healthier, ricotta is a great source of calcium and it's high in protein - a nice change from milk or yogurt. Just this morning I used it in my egg white omelet - yum!

To lower the POINTS and calories, use Splenda or Stevia. Stay away from using using no-fat ricotta, because the hearts could fall apart without the extra little bit of fat.

Coeur à la Crème
6 servings

Heart Ingredients:

• 12 heart-shaped foil baking cups (Reynolds Fun Shapes are perfect for this, but may not be on the market anymore. Try finding similar sized round aluminum baking cups.)
• 6 (6-in.) squares triple-thickness cheesecloth
• 1 (15-oz) container part-skim ricotta
• 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise, seeds scraped

Raspberry Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 package (10 oz) frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 6 oz fresh raspberries (optional)
• garnish with mint sprigs

Directions:

1. Reinforce 6 foil baking cups by inserting a second foil cup into each; place on a cutting board. Using a small knife, poke multiple slits in bottoms of each set of double liners to allow for drainage of the cheese mixture. Arrange cups on a baking sheet with sides.
2. Rinse cheesecloth under water; squeeze until just damp. Line each foil heart with a 3-layer square of cheesecloth, letting excess cheesecloth hang over edges of cups.
3. Purée ricotta in food processor until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; fold in sour cream, confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until blended. Stir in vanilla extract or vanilla bean seeds until evenly distributed. Spoon mixture into prepared baking cups and spread until level; bring up sides of cheesecloth to cover tops. Cover with plastic wrap. Let drain overnight in refrigerator, or up to 2 days.
4. Raspberry Sauce: In a blender or food processor, purée the raspberries with syrup and lemon juice. Scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds; refrigerate sauce.
5. To assemble and serve: Unfold cheesecloth and drape it over the sides of the molds. Invert each baking cup onto a serving plate. While pressing down on the corners of cheesecloth, carefully lift off cup. Remove the cheesecloth slowly. Spoon drops of raspberry sauce onto plates around hearts. Drag a toothpick through drops to make hearts. Serve with fresh raspberries, if desired, and extra sauce. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Note: You can make raspberry sauce up to 3 days ahead. Make hearts at least 1 or up to 2 days ahead so that they have time to drain. Store unmolded in refrigerator.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving - 1 heart

Calories 218
Total Fat 6 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 10 g

Weight Watchers POINTS - 4

Picture courtesy of Richard Schiller/Woman's Day magazine

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My complete Thanksgiving meal (dieters beware)

I'm printing out all my recipes and making the final runs to the supermarket, cheese shop, and health food store. And yes, I'm off the diet bandwagon, so if you're trying to lose weight and not be tempted, you may want to skip this post even though I'm using several Weight Watchers recipes.

I'm going to make Alton Brown's Honey Brined Smoked Turkey and two Weight Watchers dishes - Cranberry-Cherry Compote and Weight Watchers Sausage, Apple and Cornbread Stuffing.

I'm also making a Cranberry Cocktail Sauce to go with the tail-on shrimp appetizers. (I love shrimp for the taste and because you can eat a lot even if you're on a diet.) Cranberries were being sold BOGO (buy one, get one) this year at my supermarket, so I needed a recipe to use up the other bag.

The November 2007 of Bon Appetit magazine was particularly inspirational. I will be making their recipes for Green Onion Gravy (gluten free since it uses cornstarch!), Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots, and Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie.

Oh, and I'm making a ham in the crockpot for Nathan who swears he hates turkey, and mashed potatoes.

TIP: This year I'm printing out everything and putting the recipes in plastic sheet protectors so my magazines won't get messed up from food stains and splatters. Afterwards, I'll put the recipes in my three-ring binder for next year's use.

Cranberry Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1⁄4 cup tomato ketchup
• 1⁄4 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 (1⁄4-inch thick) slice of a large onion
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor; pulse until smooth, yet chunky. Pause several times to scrape down the sides of the processor. Makes 1 1⁄2 cups.

Recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon, Relish magazine November 2007. Picture by High Cotton Food Styling & Photography.

Green Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (or more) Shortcut Turkey Stock (I'll be using plain old chicken stock out of a can. I'm a busy gal who believes in short cuts.)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 green onions, white parts and green tops chopped separately
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (we still have lots of fresh parsley left from our garden)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Directions:

1. Scrape juices and browned bits from reserved roasting pan into large glass measuring cup. (Since we're smoking the turkey, I'll be grabbing the juices from the drippings in the smoker. I just need to figure out how to do that.)
2. Spoon off fat, reserving 2 tablespoons. Add enough stock to pan juices to measure 2 cups. Whisk together 2 tablespoons water and cornstarch in small bowl until smooth.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons reserved fat in large saucepan over medium heat. Add white parts of green onions. Sauté until beginning to color, about 6 minutes. Add degreased pan juices, 2 cups stock, and cream. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Simmer until reduced to desired consistency, whisking occasionally, about 8 minutes. Stir in herbs and green onion tops. Season with salt and pepper.

emealsforyou.com update and a great pumpkin recipe

AFFLIATE UPDATE: emealsforyou.com just annouced that they're now offering their site membership at 50% off. This means that for only $36 per year (that's just $3 per month) you can enjoy their great meal plans, recipes, customized shopping lists, and more. With the busy holidays coming up, it's a great time to join! (Click here to read my review.)

Save Even More Money!

Since emealsforyou.com is a This Mama Cooks! On a Diet affiliate, my readers can receive $5 off the subscription price. Just enter MOMACK-38 as the "sponsoring identifier" when you register.

(Do you have a food or diet blog ? Email me to learn how you can earn revenue with your blog and emealsforyou.com.)

Great Changes at emealsforyou.com

As the leaves are changing colors so is eamealsforyou.com changing their recipes and meal plans in response to member requests. They've added the nutritional values to their diet friendly recipes and meal plans (great for you Weight Watcher POINTS folks and anyone keeping an eye on calories, carbs, fiber and fat grams.) They have also added a vegan recipe category and expanded the vegetarian entrée category.

Of course, they have wonderful seasonal recipes to help you with your holiday planning, like this one for pumpkin bread. I'll be making three loaves my children's school's Fall Festival and a loaf for my mom's club new member luncheon. I think it would be wonderful with butter or whipped cream cheese, don't you?

An eggless chocolate cake

When my friend Suzanne heard that my daughter is allergic to eggs, she sent along this recipe for an eggless chocolate cake. It's named after the mother of an old friend of hers who used to make it.

Since my daughter is also allergic to peanut butter, I'd make a traditional frosting or maybe a sugar glaze instead.

Shirley's Chocolate Cake - The best in the world!

Cake ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 9 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 cups of cold water
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 3/4 cup oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing ingredients:

1. 3 cups confectioners sugar
2. 1/4 cup milk (approximately)
3. 3/4 cup peanut butter

Cake directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer.
2. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes.

Icing directions:

1. Mix confectioners sugar and milk - it will be thin.
2. Stir in peanut Butter, which will thicken the icing.
3. Ice your delicious cake.

Photo credit goes to Diana's Desserts who offers her own version of an Eggless Chocolate Cake.

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A Review of PopularCookieRecipes.com

Did you know that the first cookie dates all the way back to the 7th century in Persia? Seems that sugar was first cultivated there and then spread to the eastern Mediterranean. At the end of the 14th century, you could walk along the streets of Paris and buy little wafers, and cookie recipes began to show up in Renaissance era cookbooks. From there it was only a matter before cookies took over the world - well its sweet tooth that is.

That's one of the fun things I learned about cookies at PopularCookieRecipes.com, a collection of popular cookie recipes from around the world - a website you should check out for basic, simple cookie recipes.

This time of year we don't think about cookies much since we're busy making pies and tarts from all the great fruit available in the summer. Still, cookies are classic and very portable - great for picnicking or taking to the beach for a snack.

Since I'm always on the lookout for eggfree dessert recipes, I thought I'd share PopularCookieRecipes.com recipe for shortbread cookies.

Shortbread Cookies
I think these cookies would be marvelous to dip into a little fruit preserves or maybe eat with a bowl of fresh berries and a tall glass of iced tea.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix butter and sugar in large bowl.
3. Stir in flour. If dough is crumbly, mix in an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of softened butter.
4. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut dough with cookie cutters into desired shapes. The dough can even be cut with a knife into wedges or strips for interesting designs. Get creative and have fun!
5. Bake about 20 minutes or until set.
6. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

PopularCookieRecipes.com bills itself as a collection of popular cookie recipes. Yet the selection is pretty limited now. Since it's a new website, I look forward to seeing them expand their cookie recipe collection.

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Get your children to eat healthy with the Sneaky Chef

Missy Chase Lapine's The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals helps you prepare meals that your children already loves, but with secret, healthy ingredients. Missy also runs The Sneaky Chef workshops, which is a program of cooking classes and demonstrations that teach families how to eat healthier. You can learn more about her classes and book at TheSneakyChef.com.

Who knew brownies could be good for you?

Sneaky Chef Brainy Brownies
Makes about 30 kid-sized brownies

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup Purple Puree (see Make-Ahead Recipe below)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Flour Blend (equal parts white flour, whole grain flour, and wheat germ)
• ¼ cup rolled oats, ground in a food processor
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Butter or non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter or spray only the bottom, not the sides, of a 13-by-9-inch or 9-inch square baking pan.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a double boiler or metal bowl over simmering water (or in a microwave, checking every 15 seconds). Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool a bit. Meanwhile, in another bowl, stir together the eggs, vanilla, sugar, and Purple Puree. Combine this purple egg mixture with the cooled chocolate mixture. In a mixing bowl, stir together Flour Blend, cocoa powder, oats, and salt. Add this to the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. Mix in the chopped walnuts, if using, then pour the entire mixture into the baking pan.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in pan before cutting the brownies and use a plastic or butter knife. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Keeps for a week in the refrigerator, covered tightly.

Sneaky Chef Make-Ahead Recipe: Purple Puree

• 3 cups raw baby spinach leaves (or 2 cups frozen chopped spinach, or frozen chopped collard greens)
• 1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries (no syrup or sugar added)
• ½  teaspoon lemon juice
• 1-2  tablespoons water

Directions:

1. If using raw spinach, thoroughly wash it, even if the package says “prewashed.” Bring spinach or collards and water to boil in a medium pot. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. If using frozen blueberries, quickly rinse them under cold water to thaw a little, and then drain.
2. Fill the bowl of your food processor with the blueberries and cooked spinach, (or collards) along with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of water, and puree on high until as smooth as possible. Stop occasionally to push top contents to bottom. If necessary, use a second tablespoon of water to make a fairly smooth puree.
3. This amount of spinach and blueberries makes only about 1 cup of puree. Double the recipe if you want to store another cup of the puree. It will store in the refrigerator up to 2 days, or you can freeze ¼ cup portions in sealed plastic bags or small plastic containers.

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Bake sale help for the harried parent

Does your child's school have a bake sale coming up? Well Reynolds Fun Shapes has come to your rescue. As you already know it can sometimes be challenging to make delicious treats that appeal to the customers’ eye as well as their taste buds. Round cookies and square brownies are out, and new shapely treats are IN!

Now, thanks to Reynolds® FunShapes™ Baking Cups, making fun-shaped and beautifully decorated treats is a breeze. For a limited time only, FunShapes is giving away "Shape Up Your Bake Sale" kits, jam-packed with the tools you'll need to be the STAR of your next bake sale.

The "Shape Up Your Bake Sale" kit includes:

• Reynolds® FunShapes™ baking cups
• CD-rom with bake sale tips, recipes and signage
• FunShapes tablecloth
• FunShapes calculator (for tallying your customers' bills)

"Shape Up Your Bake Sale" kit winners will also receive a disposable camera and entry information for an exclusive photo contest, with a chance to win a donation to your bake sale from Reynolds FunShapes. To win a Shape Up Your Bake Sale" kit , fill out the entry form.

The Reynold's website also features bakesale tips, signage, and recipes. I especially like the recipe for Flying Ghost Lollipops.

Food Blog of the Week - Coconut & Lime

This week's Food Blog of the Week is Coconut & Lime blogged by 27-year-old Rachel R. of Baltimore, Maryland. (She also blogs at Food Maven.)

All recipes at Coconut & Lime are the original creations of the author. (How many of us food bloggers can say that?) The blog features great pictures in a clean and attractive blog design. The writing is excellent, especially the "My thoughts" feature where Rachel gives insight into her cooking experience.

I'm having a tough time deciding on which recipe to feature. Should it be the Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes since I'm always on the lookout for egg-free recipes for the Boo Girl? Should it be the Blackberry Clafouti because it looks like a great way to deal with two large bowls of blackberries in the fridge I have? Then I found it - Key Lime Pie, my most favorite dish on tbe planet.

Key Lime Pie
by Rachel of Coconut & Lime

Ingredients:

• 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (fat free is fine)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup key lime juice*
• 2 1/2 teaspoons key lime zest
• 9 inch round graham cracker crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using your electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and zest until the eggs are creamy.
3. Slowly add condensed milk and mix until well combined. Add key lime juice and mix to combine thoroughly.
4. Pour into crust and bake 15 minutes or until the pie is "set" and no longer feels liquid to the touch. Cool on wire rack, refrigerate.

*Note: For an authentic pie, you need the juice of fresh key limes. Using a juicer is the most efficient way to extract the most amount of juice from tiny key limes limes. I was able to yield 1/3 cup of juice from only 10 (2 inch diameter) limes using my juicer. If you have to use bottled juice, make sure it is from actual key limes (the juice will be a pale yellow) and not just (Persian) lime juice with citric acid added to make it tart.

Rachel's thoughts: Who knew key lime pie was so easy to make? It's one of my husband's favorites so when I saw fresh key limes in the store, I couldn't resist. The bag came with a recipe, but I upped the amount of zest and juice it called for to yield a more tart pie. It came out as well if not better than the pies I've had from places that specialize in key lime pies.

This Mama's thoughts: Piping a little sweetened whipped cream around the edges would be a nice touch.

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Frozen strawberry margarita pie

Big Bad Dad's workplace is having a BBQ and pie making contest on June 16. I've been wracking my brain to find a recipe that's easy, fast and doesn't have too many exotic ingredients. Plus, it needs to be portable enough to survive a 30 minute drive. And it should have a cracker crust, since I'm dreadfully baking challenged here at elevation (we're over a mile up).

Luckily for me, I just started receiving Women's Day magazine. Not only is the magazine very good when it comes to simple recipes, but they post everything in their magazine on their website, too.

Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie
Serves 16
Active prep time: 20 min / Total: 9 hr to make
Planning Tip: Can be made through Step 5 up to 1 week ahead.

Ingredients:

CRUST

• 2 1/2 cups (4 oz) thin salted pretzel sticks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted

PIE

• 1 large container (16 oz) strawberries, rinsed and hulled
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk), well chilled
• 1 tub (8.75 oz) mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tsp (6 Tbsp) tequila
• 1 Tbsp grated lime zest
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• Strawberry and lime slices for garnish

Directions:

1. Lightly coat a 9-in. pie plate with nonstick spray. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. Thinly slice 3¼4 cup strawberries; set aside. Cut remaining berries in half; toss with sugar and spread on lined baking sheet. Freeze about 30 minutes until partially frozen.
3. Crust: Process pretzels and sugar in food processor until fine crumbs form. Add butter; pulse until blended. Press evenly over bottom and up sides of pie plate. Freeze 10 minutes, or until firm.
4. Clean processor. Add sugared halved strawberries; process until puréed. Add remaining ingredients (except sliced berries); pulse until smooth. Transfer to a bowl; stir in sliced berries.
5. Spoon into crust and freeze uncovered at least 6 hours. Wrap airtight and freeze at least 2 hours more.
6. To serve: Garnish pie, then refrigerate about 15 minutes for easier slicing.

Per serving: 269 cal, 4 g pro, 27 g car, 1 g fiber, 15 g fat (10 g sat fat), 37 mg chol, 162 mg sod

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Chocolate raspberry pavlova

Thanks to the Library Lady for introducing me to Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova, a fantastic recipe by Nigella Lawson. I love Nigella's website since with a click of a mouse, you can get recipes in either metric or US measurements. Since I have a sister in Switzerland, this is very handy. She often wants to send me recipes but converting them is a bit haphazard.

While Library Lady made hers with strawberries, I'll wait until later this summer when raspberries come into season. I'm always on the lookout for raspberry recipes. The four little raspberry plant sticks that came to us via mail order have now taken over the garden and is beginning to take over the side yard. Big Bad Dad finds new raspberry branches popping up in the grass two feet from the rest of the bushes. It's wonderful having buckets and buckets of raspberries every summer, but not if the plants turn into a small jungle.