Candy Cane Cookies

The other day I was doing a search on Tasty Kitchen for recipes to help me use up my extra candy canes from the holidays and came up with this lovely cookie recipe, originally called Candy Cane Crinkles, that is my new holiday addiction. I just might have to stock candy canes in my cupboard year-round so I can make these whenever I want. Compared to the original recipe, my alterations save you 14 calories and 1 g fat and add 1 g of fiber per cookie. And, trust me, you are not going to eat just one!

Candy Cane Cookies

Cream together:
5 T margarine (or butter)
3 T ground flax seed meal
1 c white sugar

Add:
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 T nonfat milk

In a separate bowl, sift together:
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine until just mixed. Then add:
1/4 c crushed peppermint candy (about 4 regular-sized candy canes)

Roll dough into balls and lightly coat in:
powdered sugar (I use about 1/4 c for the whole recipe)

Place coated balls of dough on a well-greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until just barely done (Do not over bake! I bake these on the top rack of my oven to prevent over baking). Leave on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes and then move cookies to cooling rack (you want them to be movable but still quite warm so they don't stick to the pan). Makes 2 dozen.

HealthiFood Cooking Tip: Whole Grains

Why whole grains? And, more importantly, how?

Whole grains are a healthier choice in grains. Whole grains are usually brown--brown flour, brown rice, etc. Whole grains are encouraged in a healthy diet because they are a good source of fiber and are not refined, which is more natural. Refined grains and foods are too easy for your body to digest, which means your digestive system doesn't get the healthy workout it needs and you are able to imbibe more calories with less work.

Image from Microsoft clip art.

And how do you get your family to eat them? Start small. For example, start by using whole wheat bread for French toast. It's already coated with a yummy batter and doused in syrup, so your family will probably tolerate it. You can start making your own bread and using a small percentage of wheat flour--like half a cup--and move up to several cups or all whole wheat flour per recipe gradually. Use this same gradual system with all your recipes that use flour until you are using as much whole wheat flour as your family will eat.

The same trick works with brown rice. Start with mixing a little brown rice with your white rice. Start with just a third brown and the rest white. Then gradually move up to half brown, three-quarters brown, and then all brown. Did you know that white rice has no fiber per serving? You want the benefits of brown rice in your meals! And don't forget to soak your brown rice before you cook it.

Whole grain pasta is also an option, but be sure to buy it on sale as it's more expensive. Again, start with mixing half whole-wheat spaghetti and half regular and gradually move up to as much whole grain content as your family will allow.

 In choosing whole grains to feed your family, keep in mind that oatmeal and yellow corn meal are also whole grains. If you make oatmeal or corn bread regularly, you may be doing better than you think!

You'll notice in my recipes that sometimes I use all whole wheat flour and sometimes I use just part. The proportions of whole wheat and white flour in my recipes are the amounts that my family will eat.

HealthiFood Cooking Tip: Flax Seed

Flax seeds are a great source of omega-3 fatty acid, fiber, and protein. For my recipes, you will want to by ground flax seed meal, which looks like a golden, grainy, moist flour. If you're interested, the body can't digest whole flax seeds, and some studies say that it helps reduce cholesterol in women.

Why do I use ground flax seed meal so much? It is an awesome substitute for oil, butter, shortening, etc. Flax seed contains some fat, but replacing other fats with it reduces the overall fat content while adding a lot of fiber and protein. Your flax seed meal package my try to tell you a different ratio, but I have found that a 1:1 substitution of flax seed meal for other fats generally works pretty well. The measurements in my recipes are ones that I actually use and that my family actually eats!

I know purchasing a new ingredient makes me a little skeptical, but once I started using ground flax seed meal I have never gone back! I buy at 3 lb bag at Costco that lasts me about six months while the shelf life is over 18 months.

Does it change the taste of your food? Uncooked flax seed has kind of a funny taste that you'll notice in your doughs and batters a little, but it blends in pretty well when cooks and adds a mild, nutty taste and a slightly sticky texture.

I hope this answers your questions about flax seed meal and encourages you to give it a try so you can participate in the fat-reducing and fiber-adding benefits of my heathified recipes!

HealthiFood Whole Wheat Pancakes (or Waffles)

My husband is a breakfast man. He could eat waffles every day of his life if I didn't mind. Thanks to the principles in Deceptively Delicious, his pancakes or waffles have a richer flavor and are fortified with added fiber and vitamins from whole grains and vegetables. And compared to the basic recipe my husband grew up on, HealthiFood Whole Wheat Pancakes have 1.6 less grams of fat, 1.8 more grams of fiber, and 1 more gram of protein per serving.

HealthiFood Whole Wheat Pancakes (or Waffles)

Sift together:
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt 
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 T ground flax seed meal

Mix together in a separate bowl:
1 1/4 c nonfat milk soured with 1 T lemon juice
1 T canola oil (use 2 T for waffles)
1 egg
1/2 c sweet potato puree
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Mix wet and dry ingredient until just combined. Drop 1/4 c of batter onto greased 350 degree griddle or frying pan or cook according to waffle iron directions. Makes about 10-12 pancakes or about 8 waffles.

HealthiFood Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Praise the heavens when frozen strawberries went on sale at the grocery store for 99 cents a bag (!) and I came up with this delicious dessert. FYI, a serving of HealthiFood Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (half this recipe) has 75% less fat and 50% more protein than a 1/2 c serving of strawberry ice cream.

HealthiFood Strawberry Frozen Yogurt


6 oz frozen unsweetened strawberries
6 oz lowfat vanilla yogurt

Blend together and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Image from Microsoft clip art.

The olive oil and honey in this dough make a really nice flavor. One recipe makes 2 lbs. of dough, which is enough for two 14" pizzas. I like to use one half of the dough and freeze the other for a quick pizza later. I've written the instructions below to make it by hand, but the recipe is also bread machine ready (just follow your manufacture's directions) or you could mix and knead in a stand mixer. This recipe originates from Breadman, but my alterations save you 50 calories and 1 gram of fat and add 5.5 grams of fiber and 1.5 grams of protein per serving (or quarter of a pizza).

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Dissolve together:
1 1/2 c warm water
2 tsp honey
2 tsp yeast

Add:
2 tsp salt
1 T ground flax seed meal
1 T olive oil

Add and knead until smooth and elastic:
4 c whole wheat flour

If you're in a hurry, you can use this dough for pizza right away. However, the more you let it rise (up to two times before rolling out), the softer it will be. When ready, roll out dough and top with tomato sauce, cheese, and whatever else you like. Bake on the top rack of your oven for about 20 minutes (until cheese is slightly golden) at 400 degrees.

HealthiFood Basic Red Pasta Sauce

I've been developing this pasta sauce for many years. The added vegetable purees, based on the Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious programs, add richness, texture, and a lot of vitamins to your ordinary tomato sauce. The three tomato products (soup, sauce, and paste) are easily to substitute one for another if you happen to be out of one, but all three together create a fabulous creamy blend that is just right in flavor and consistency. The vegetables could be substituted one for another as well if you don't have them available, but the full blend gives you a good, healthy variety. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste as well. I like to add cooked and drained ground sausage for a quick spaghetti sauce. I compared my nutrition facts to Prego spaghetti sauce with these results: HealthiFood sauce has half the calories, 11% of the fat, 3 grams less sugar, and .3 grams more protein per half-cup serving compared to Prego. That's a success to me!



HealthiFood Basic Red Pasta Sauce
Makes a little more than 4 cups.

1/4 c butternut squash puree
1/4 c yam puree
1/4 c carrot puree
1/4 c zucchini puree (or cubes, if desired)
2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce (no salt added, if possible)
1 - 10.75 oz can tomato soup (lowfat, if possible)
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper (freshly cracked, if possible)

Blend ingredients together. Store in the fridge for up to a week. Freezes well. Warm on stove and add water to desired final thickness before serving. Serve on pasta, pizza, lasagna, with bread sticks, etc.

Chocohotopots

Warning: This is an addictive substance! And it's all Frieda's fault for sharing! This however is probably one of my best healthified chocolate recipes. It works so well and you won't believe that you can add that much flax and not tell a difference, but you can! It's amazing! The original recipe is from Nigella Lawson on Food Network (fancy, huh?), but I got it from Frieda Loves Bread. My alterations cut out 250 calories, 20 g fat, and 20 g sugar, and add 3 g fiber and 2 g protein per serving--not too shabby!

Chocohotopots

3 T butter or margarine
2/3 c semisweet chocolate chips
5 T ground flax seed meal
1/3 c white sugar
2 eggs
3 T whole wheat flour

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave until just melted (cook for 30 seconds at a time, stirring a lot between each 30 seconds). In a separate bowl, mix sugar, flax, and eggs. Add melted chocolate mixture. Add flour. Pour into four greased 3-4" ramekins or custard dishes. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees until pots are shiny and crispy on top (they will still be gooey in the middle, that's part of the beauty of it all).

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Image from Microsoft Clip Art.

I'm in love with pumpkin! And it's so good for you: low calorie, high fiber, high in vitamins. I have been searching for an awesome pumpkin bread recipe, and I think I might have finally found it! Really moist, warm and spicy, with A LOT of pumpkin, and even better tasting the next day. Feel free to substitute out more white flour and oil, as you wish. Original recipe from Food for My Family. Makes two 8" loaves (each cut into 12 slices, or 24 servings per recipe). My alterations save you 23 calories, 4 g fat, 43 mg sodium, and 3.5 g sugar and add 1.4 g fiber and .6 g protein per serving/slice.


Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Sift together dry ingredients:
6 T ground flax seed meal
1 c brown sugar
2 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp cardamom (or replace with a 1:1 blend of cinnamon and nutmeg)

Whisk wet ingredients in a separate bowl:
2 T canola oil
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c nonfat buttermilk (or 1/2 nonfat milk soured with 1/2 T lemon juice)

Combine wet and dry ingredients until smooth. Pour into two greased 8" loaf pans. Back at 350° F for 70-75 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before inserting onto cooling rack. Serve warm or cool completely and wrap tightly in the fridge to serve the next day.

Lemon Cornmeal Breakfast Cake

My husband just called this "the best breakfast ever!" This cake is super moist (even with taking out most of the fat) and the cornmeal adds a fun whole-grain texture. The original recipe is from Joy the Baker, but my alterations save you 86 calories, 5 g of fat and 11 g of sugar, and add 1.5 g of fiber and .5 g of protein per serving.



Lemon Cornmeal Breakfast Cake
makes one 9-inch cake (cut into 12 slices)


Whisk together:
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 c ground flax seed meal
1 T baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt



Combine in a separate bowl:
1 c nonfat buttermilk (or 1 cup nonfat milk soured with 1 T lemon juice)
2 large eggs
1/4 c yellow or butternut squash puree
2 T canola oil
2 T unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoons lemon zest (or 1 T lemon juice)


Add wet to dry until just combined. Pour into a greased and floured 9" cake pan (I usually use a glass pie pan, which works as well). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then puncture top of cake sporadically with a fork. Pour lemon glaze over top of cake, spread evenly, and cool for 30 more minutes before slicing and enjoying.

Image from Microsoft clip art.

Lemon Glaze
Whisk together:
3/4 c powdered sugar
2 T lemon juice

Sweet Bread Loaves

Image from Microsoft clip art.

Original Recipe: "Swedish Bread" by Marie Calder Ricks. My changes reduce calories by 11%, fat by 40%, increases protein by 21%, and adds almost two more grams of fiber per serving--hopefully my husband's Swedish grandmother would be proud! Each recipe makes two large loaves (cut each loaf into a dozen slices to match the nutrition facts serving size)--and they go quick! You can make the dough by hand or knead in a KitchenAid or bread maker.

Sweet Bread Loaves

Dissolve together:
1 3/4 c warm water
1.5 T yeast
3/4 c sugar

Add: 
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c powdered milk
6 T canola oil
6 T ground flax seed meal
3/4 t crushed cardamom seeds (equals about 15 seeds)

Gradually add and knead-in:
3 c white flour
3 c whole wheat flour

Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Raise to double twice in a bowl. Form into loaves (add decorative slices, if desired) and let rise on greased cookie sheet until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Delicious warm or cold. Freezes well.