Dark chocolate oat clusters

PMS + Diet.......Not good! But I found this recipe that doesn't have so much sugar but still calmed my cravings! Just enough for me though! Sorry kiddos!

• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Preparation

1. Heat peanut butter, milk, and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat 3 minutes or until chips melt.

2. Stir in oats. Remove from heat.

3. With a spoon, small ice cream scoop, or melon baller, drop 8 ball-shaped portions on a wax paper−lined baking sheet. Let set in fridge 10 minutes.

Blueberry Bran Muffins

These are very yummy and healthy muffins!

1 & 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached flour
3/4 cup oat bran or wheat bran
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup vanilla or lemon nonfat yogurt
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
I also add 1-2 tablespoons of flax meal

1) Combine the flour, bran, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder, and stir to mix well. Add the yogurt, egg whites, and vanilla extract, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

2) Coat muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray, or use muffin cups, and fill 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or just until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

3) Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow it to sit for 5 minutes before removing the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Honey Oatmeal Cookies - uses no refined sugars!

I have been looking for some recipes where I could substitute honey for refined sugar and came across some on this website. www.honey.com Appropriately named! I tried this last night and the kids all like them. At first I skipped the step of putting the raisins in the hot tea, but then I realized it was pulling sweetness from the raisins to put in the recipe. Good idea! The first batch I omitted it and they weren't sweet enough. I did in the second batch and they were just right. I didn't put the raisins in the cookies, because my kids would turn their noses at them. I just used the sweetness from them. Give it a try!
Michelle

Honey Oatmeal Cookies

* 1/2 cup hot tea
* 1 cup raisins
* 2 cups flour (I used a 1/4 to 1/2 c more more bc my cookies were a little flat)
* 1-1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 cup shortening (I used coconut oil)
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine
* 3/4 cup honey
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
* 1 package (6 oz.) chocolate chips, optional

Directions

Pour tea over raisins; let stand at least 15 minutes. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly; set aside. Cream shortening and butter; gradually add honey until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Drain raisins; reserve 1/4 cup liquid. Alternately add flour mixture and reserved raisin liquid. Stir in nuts, raisins and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350°F about 12 minutes or until browned. Let stand one minute on cookie sheet; remove and cool on rack. Store in airtight container.

Whole Wheat Flax 'n Apple Muffins

My family really likes these muffins and they're pretty healthy.

If you haven't had milled flax seed before, buy a box and put some in anything and everything you bake. No one will know it's there, and it's really good for you.

1/4 cup milled flax seed
3/4 cup whole wheat graham flour (I just used whole wheat)
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup sugar (I used brown)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
3 Tbsp. oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped nuts
(next time Steve says to add cinnamon!)

Blend dry ingredients together in a bowl. In separate bowl; combine egg, oil and milk. Add dry ingredients to egg mixtures until just blended. Fold in apples and nuts. Batter will be thick. Fill wee-greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes.

yield: 12 muffins.

The best turkey chili ever

This chili is sooo good. It's healthy, but taste like comfort food - my husband loves it! I made this for Super Bowl yesterday, it's always a hit at any gathering.

3 Tbs. Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbs salt
2 Tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 TBS tomato paste
1 chipotle chili en adobo, coarsely chopped, with 1 TBS sauce
1 Lb ground turkey
1 12oz. Mexican lager-style beer
1 14 1/2 oz. can whole peeled tomato with their juices
1 15 1/2 oz. can kidney or pinto beans ( I like pinto beans)
Sour cream, jack cheese, scallions, cilantro, tortilla chips for garnish


Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 min. Stir in the tomato paste and the chipotle chile and sauce; cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes - crushing them through your fingers into the skillet - along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve with garnish of your choice. Enjoy!

Chocolate-Banana Bundt Cake (reduced fat)

This is from Fitness Magazine and is actually really moist and rich, especially for a reduced fat cake! It makes 16 servings, each at 240 calories and 5 grams of fat.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweened non-Dutched or nonalkalized cocoa powder
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk (I used lowfat)
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 T vanilla

Glaze topping:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 t nonfat buttermilk
16 banana chips
2 T mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, blend buttermilk, brown sugar, and bananas. Beat in whole egg and egg white. Stir in oil, corn syrup, and vanilla. Gradually fold in flour mixture until just combined (small lumps are ok). Pour into prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in pan onn a wire rack for 15 minutes. remove from pan to cool completely on wire rack. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and buttermilk until smooth. Drizzle over cake and top with banana chips and chocolate chips. Yummy!!!

Lowfat chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

These cookies are actually pretty good for lowfat...the only fat comes from the 2 eggs and chips. You could substitute raisins or craisins if you wanted them even more lowfat. Experiment with the additions--nuts, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, dried fruit, whatever sounds good! The texture is a lot different with lowfat cookies than regular, but the flavor is good.

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 3/4 to 2 cups flour (you might need to use more than 1 3/4 cups because there is a lot of liquid
in this recipe, so experiment)
2 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl mix together applesauce and sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake 12-15 minutes. I found they need to cook on the longer side, but the texture will be soft and moist.

Fruit Juice Knox Blox

Because our family has red dye allegeries, this is a great alternative to JELLO brand gelatine. Your product will not be as "jiggily" but much healthier. I got this recipe on the back of the Knox Gelatine Box.

4 envelopes of KNOX unflavored gelatine
1 cup of cold fruit juice (I use Welches 100% fruit juice)
3 cups fruit juice, heated to boiling
2 TB of sugar or honey optional (I use honey)
Lightly coat 13x9x2 pan or favorite molds (I have egg shaped ones) with veggie oil.

Start heating the 3 cups of fruit juice.
While waiting, sprinke gelatin over cold juice in large bowl; let stand one minute. Add hot juice to cold juice mixture and stir until gelatin completely dissolves about 5 minutes.
Stir in sugar or honey if desired.
Pour into 13x9x2 pan or favorite molds.
Refrigerate until firm, about three hours, generally longer for molds. When using pan, cut into squares or have fun with the cookie cutters--super fun thing with the toddlers.
TRICK for pouring into molds: Pour gelatin mix in smaller measuring cup and pour into molds. Makes about 12-14 eggs for egg mold.

TRICK for opening molds: Run both sides of mold under hot water for a few seconds.