Shortcut to Fabulous Yummy, Low Calorie, Good For you Breakfast

Every once in awhile, I get a hankering for a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. While the calorie count is not bad for McDonalds, it is not a figure friendly breakfast choice. Recently, while tinkering in the kitchen I discovered a delicious five minute egg sandwich that makes me think I am eating an Egg McMuffin. However, my sandwich is under 200 calories.

Here is what you need:

Thomas’s Better Start Light Multi Grain English Muffins (100 calories, 8 grams of fiber)

3 Tablespoons Egg Whites from a carton (25 calories)

Low Fat Canadian Bacon like Schneiders (12.5 calories per slice for Schneiders)

1 Slice Low Fat American Cheese like Boar’s Head (60 calories per slice)

Pam or for an extra 10 calories and extra flavor olive oil to coat a pan

Non-stick pan

Spatula

Toaster

How to make it:

Place English muffin in toaster. While muffin is toasting. Heat pan on medium high heat and coat pan with Pam or olive oil. Once pan is heated add egg whites and scramble until light and fluffy (about two minutes. Just keep stirring with spatula). Remove egg and set aside. Add one slice of canadian bacon to pan and top with cheese to heat. Remove toasted muffin and place open on plate. Add eggs to one side of muffin. Remove bacon from pan with fork and add to top of egg. Place other side of muffin on top of cheese and voila! You can also make the sandwich sans cheese for an even lower calorie sandwich that is just as yummy!

So, add the items above to your grocery list and enjoy this shortcut to a fabulous nutritious breakfast sandwich.

Shortcut to Fabulous Figure Friendly Soup

A nice bowl of soup is perfect when it is cold outside. But making a homemade soup can seem daunting to many and making it figure friendly, yet delicious in under thirty minutes seems impossible right? Well not with our shortcut recipe! We promise this soup will become a staple in your life when you taste it and realize how good it is, how filling it is and how figure friendly it is!

What you need to make it:

1 large pot or dutch oven

1 mini chopper or food processor (if you don’t have a chopper, you can buy one at your local drugstore for around $10 or click here to get one at Target.)

1 tablespoon of olive oil or enough to coat bottom of pot

1 medium yellow onion

1 medium jalapeno

1 tablespoon of minced garlic (the minced garlic they sell in a jar works best)

1 packet goya sazon season culantro and achiote flavor (never heard of it? That’s okay you can find it in the spice or Latin section of most grocery stores or click here to order it on Amazon)

½ can of peeled diced tomatoes

1 14 oz. can of chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

5 cups of water

1 bunch of cilantro

Either 1 packet of No-Yolk Noodles OR 1 small bag of fingerling or small Dutch potatoes (depending on your tastes)

1 10-16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables

How to make it:

Cut jalapeno into slices. Take seeds out if you do not want any spice in your soup. Add Jalapeno to chopper. Cut onion into wedges and add to chopper with jalapeno.  Run chopper until medium to finely chopped. Heat pot on medium high heat. Add olive oil to coat bottom of pot. Heat olive oil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add Goya Sazon packet and stir. Add ½ can of diced tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken  broth. Turn heat to high. Add water and chicken bouillon cube. Bring liquid to a boil. While the liquid is coming to a boil, pull a handful of cilantro from the bunch and wash it. No need to take all of the leaves off  of the stems, just remove the big stems. Throw the washed cilantro into pot. If you are adding potatoes you can either cut them into smaller pieces or add them whole. Add them to the boiling water and boil until barely fork tender. Then add bag of frozen vegetables and boil until veggies are crisp tender. If you are using egg white noodles add vegetables first and bring back to a boil. Then add egg noodles and follow package instructions for cooking time.

This recipe yields 8-10 servings. You can freeze several servings in glad ware containers for the next cold day and the rest of soup can be refrigerated for up to one week. The beauty of this soup is that measurements do not have to be exact, it will turn out delicious every time with different variances in the amount of each ingredient, so don’t stress and have fun!

Once you try this recipe and see how quick, easy and absolutely delicious this soup is, you will be hooked on this shortcut to fabulous figure friendly soup!

Shortcut to Fabulous Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

If you are looking for some cookies to leave for Santa, bake for a friend or neighbor or chow on yourself this holiday, these cookies are for you! The recipe has been tested and perfected for over ten years ever since we got our hands on this fabulous little concoction.

Here is what you need:

12 oz package of semi sweet chocolate morsels (Nestle Toll House or Ghirardelli work well)

2 sticks of butter softened (either salted or unsalted depending on your tastes or what you have)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar (regular white sugar, you could substitute white baking Splenda)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups whole oats (do not get instant oats)

Cookie sheets

Cooling rack, but if you don’t have one have a plate handy to transfer cookies

How to make fabulous cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl. Mix with a fork or whisk to combine. Beat the butter, both sugars and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. If you don’t have an electric mixer you can do this by hand with a rubber spatula (be prepared for an arm workout). Add the eggs and beat well. The mixture should take on a grainy texture. Add the bowl of dry ingredients gradually. Stir in the chocolate chips and oats. The mixture is going to become almost crumbly. You may want to mix with your hands at this point.  Place rounded teaspoons on an ungreased cookie sheet and pop into the oven for 7 to 9 minutes. You want the cookies to be  a light golden brown on the edges and the center will still look slightly uncooked. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Then transfer to a wire cooling rack. If you do not have a cooling rack, leave the cookies on the cookies sheet for five minutes and then transfer to a plate to continue cooling. Makes about 4-5 dozen cookies.

So, put on your apron, buy some organic milk and some cookie tins and enjoy this shortcut to fabulous chocolate chip oat cookies!

Shortcut to Fabulous Chocolate Dessert

My friend Eddie had a dessert party a few years ago and served a dessert he invented called, “Chocolate Dump Cake.” It was so yummy and fabulous, I went for seconds and thirds. On my way to a fourth helping, I asked him for the recipe. When he told me how he made it, I was shocked at how easy it was. Over the last few years, I have used the idea of Eddie’s dish to create desserts of my own when I need a fabulous dessert in a pinch. In one version, I have modified Eddie’s recipe to speed up preparation and tweaked ingredients to suit my love for chocolaty goodness. I call my version of Eddie’s creation “Chocolate Yum Trifle.” This dish can be prepared with less than twenty minutes of active prep time and less if you buy a store bought chocolate pound cake and store bought chocolate pudding. There are two keys to the quick prep time of this dessert: 1) A food processor or food chopper that can be purchased from a drugstore or big box retailer for under $10 (I promise it will become your new best friend and every fabulous person must own one) and 2) Instant cake mix.

This dessert makes a beautiful presentation and makes you look like you have a fabulous knack in the kitchen. It is great for dinner parties, barbecues, movie nights, even kids parties.

What you will need:

-A glass trifle dish

-2 cups of skim milk

-Cool Whip (the kind that comes in a tub in the freezer section)

-Jello Instant Pudding Mix (chocolate flavor)

-Chocolate cake mix (and ingredients called for in mix, usually eggs, water and vegetable oil)

-10 Oreo cookies

-Colored sprinkles for garnish

First, if you have not thawed the Cool Whip take it out of the freezer to thaw. Next, prepare the chocolate cake according the directions on the box (5 minutes). You will be crumbling the cake, so the size and shape of the baking dish is not important. Once you have placed the cake in the oven to bake, make the chocolate pudding according to the directions on the box (5 minutes). Once you have mixed the instant pudding, cover it with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Go hang out and watch tv until the cake is done. When the cake has baked fully, take it out of the oven and let it cool until you are ready to put the dessert together. (You can wait two minutes or all day if you like). Once you are ready to put the dessert together, put the Oreos in the food processor or food chopper and pulse until they reach desired consistency (1 minute). I like mine to be fine, like coffee grounds, but if you want crunchy chunks that is okay too. Take the pudding out of the fridge and add the ground Oreos and half of the tub of Cool Whip. Mix well (2 minutes). Place a layer of cake in the trifle dish (I just scoop it out of the pan with my hands and crumble it into the dish). Then, place a layer of the pudding mixture. Continue layering until you have finished the mixture, finishing with a layer of the crumbled cake (5 minutes). (Usually, the mixture yields two layers of pudding and three layers of cake). Dollop a bit of leftover Cool Whip on the top in the center with a spoon and garnish with sprinkles or another pretty topping such as slivered almonds, strawberries, caramel, etc. (2 minutes).

Next time you need a fabulous Martha worthy dessert, but don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen, try this Chocolate Yum Trifle. When people tell you how awesome it is, grin internally because you know you’ve found a shortcut to real baking with this fabulous dessert!

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