Peanut Butter, Oats and Protein Fiber Bars

18 to 20 Servings

Ingredients:

•    1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Simply Jif Peanut butter
•    3 tablespoons butter/canola or olive oil blend (Land ‘o Lakes)
•   1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
•    3/4 cup Splenda Granular
•    2 eggs
•    dash of ground cinnamon
•    1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
•    2 cups old fashioned oats
•    ½ cup nonfat milk powder
•    ½ cup unprocessed miller’s wheat bran (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
•    ½ cup whole grain oat flour (also Bob’s Red Mill)
•    1/4 teaspoon sea salt
•    ½ teaspoon baking soda
•    1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate

1.    Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray.
2.    In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter blend and applesauce.  Add Splenda, eggs, a dash of cinnamon and vanilla.  Beat until smooth, about 2 – 3 minutes.
3.    Stir in remaining ingredients (Except Chocolate)
4.    Press mixture into baking pan and bake for 12 to 14 minutes.
5.    In a small glass bowl, melt chocolate in microwave on high.  Chocolate turns shiny in the microwave and doesn’t appear to melt.  The time will vary from one microwave to another.  But it should take anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds.  (Be careful, you can burn the chocolate).  When the chocolate is melted, stir it a little then, using a fork, drizzle chocolate over the bars.
6.    Cool, cut and serve.

Tostada Pizza is a Bisquick recipe and it’s been a family favorite for a long time.   In it’s original form, it’s not horribly unhealthy,  if you use very lean ground beef and drain (and/or rinse) any excess fat.  In fact if you use Heart Smart Bisquick (reduced fat and sodium) with ground turkey or chicken, it’s not bad at all.

But to cut sugar, reduce fat AND add fiber, I made my own biscuit dough.  Because reduced fat cheese alone is pretty dry, I mixed regular sharp cheddar with 2% milk fat cheddar.  I use beef when I make this, but if you usually cook with ground turkey or some other substitute, you won’t have any trouble adapting this one to suit your preferences.   In addition, you can make it as spicy or bland as you like.  Add hotter peppers, or just use your favorite spices to kick up the flavor of the meat or beans.

I serve it with salsa, reduced fat sour cream and a large lettuce salad.

Tostada Pizza (modified)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. cornmeal (white or yellow)
• 1 batch whole wheat biscuit dough (recipe below)
• 1 pound very lean ground beef
• 4 oz.  can Ortega diced green chilies or (diced jalapenos if you want a spicier pizza)
• 1.25 oz.  envelope reduced sodium taco seasoning mix
• 16 ounce can vegetarian-style refried beans
• 1 cup Reduced Fat, shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup (regular) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Garnishes:  salsa, reduced fat sour cream, shredded lettuce

1.  Prepare biscuit dough.

2.  Spray a 14 inch pizza pan with cooking spray (I used olive oil spray, but you can also line the pan with parchment, if you prefer).

3.  Sprinkle cornmeal over the pan.

4. Roll pizza dough into a 14 inch circle, pat into prepared pizza pan.

5.  Mix taco seasoning mix with ground beef; crumble into skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often to crumble meat into small pieces.  Drain any excess fat.

6.   Stir chilies or jalapenos into meat.

7.  Spread meat over the beans, as a second layer.

8.  Bake in 325 oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

9.  In a small bowl stir the 2 cheeses together.

10.  Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle cheeses over the pizza, return to oven for about 5 minutes more (to melt cheese).

11.  Let pizza stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

This is great left-over, btw.

Biscuit Dough

• 1 cup 100% stone ground whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose white flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. shortening
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 3/4 cup skim milk

1.  In a medium mixing bowl stir together flours, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.

2.  Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3.  Make a well in the center, add milk.

4.  Using a fork, stir just till dough clings together.

5.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.   Knead by gently folding and pressing dough for 10 to 12 strokes.  Add a little wheat flour if your dough is sticky.

A sister-in-law of mine gave me the original casserole recipe sometime in the early 80′s.  It’s always been really, really popular.  (If you’d like the original recipe let me know and I’ll email it to you)

Even without an actual nutritional analysis it’s easy to see that the original Sour Cream Chicken Casserole recipe is quite deliciously full of fat.  The Fritos alone have 10 grams per serving (about 28 regular-sized chips), and the recipe called for 3 to 4 cups!  Then there’s the 1 and ½ cups of sour cream, and 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.

Originally the chicken was just pretty much any diced, cooked chicken.  But since Fritos have such a strong, distinctive flavor I decided to boost the flavor of this lower-fat version by boosting the flavor of the chicken.

Please note, I am not using reduced fat cheese or reduced fat sour cream.  My first (failed) attempt featured both and although it was edible, it didn’t taste much like the casserole I was trying to recreate.  So regular cheese and regular sour cream, but in smaller amounts.  This, more than any recipe modified so far, proves that sometimes a few small changes are all you really need to make.

Sadly, Lays hasn’t yet come up with a Baked variety of Fritos.  But they do have Baked Tostitos which work just as well in this recipe.

I’m very happy with the results.  Let me know what you think.

Modified Sour Cream Chicken Casserole

Serves:  4

Pepper Chicken:

•    3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
•    freshly ground pepper
•    1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
•    1 Tbsp. cornmeal
•    sea salt
•    parchment paper
•    covered casserole

1.    Line casserole dish with a sheet of parchment at least twice as big as the actual dish.

2.    Place chicken on parchment, sprinkle coarsely ground pepper, cayenne and a dash or two of sea salt and the cornmeal over the chicken.

3.    Wrap the excess parchment loosely over the chicken, put the lid on the casserole and bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes.

4.    When chicken is ready remove from pan and set aside to cool.  You can literally prepare this chicken the day before, if you’re using it to make Modified Sour Cream Chicken Casserole.  I’ve also used it to make a really yummy chicken salad.

Modified Casserole:

•    2 cups Baked Tostitos Scoops
•    2 to 3 cups diced Pepper Chicken
•    7 oz. can diced green chilies (Orgega)
•    1 medium-large red onion, diced (about 1 and ½ cups)
•    1 tsp. Ground cumin
•    2 tsp. Minced garlic
•    dash of sea salt
•    freshly ground pepper (a couple of twists or large dash)
•    3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
•    3/4 cup sour cream

1.    Spray a 2.5 or 3 quart casserole (preferable one with a lid (here’s the one I used for example), with olive oil spray.

2.    Spread 1 cup of Baked Tostitos to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.

3.    Add chicken as a second layer.

4.    In a separate bowl blend together diced green chilies, diced onion, ground cumin, minced garlic, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Spread over chicken (third layer).

5.    Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly (fourth layer).

6.    Spread the sour cream over the top carefully.  It should look almost like icing covering the entire casserole.

7.    Cover and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

8.    After 30 minutes, uncover and top casserole with the remaining 1 cup of Baked Tostitos.

9.    Bake for 8 to 10 minutes more.

10.    Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Complete the meal with a simple vegetable dish, like Grilled Zucchini.

Grilled Zucchini:

•    small young zucchini, cleaned and cut into either wedges or strips.  (The number of zucchini you use depends on how many servings you want to make.  I use about 1 small zucchini per person)
•    1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil (1 Tbsp. per 2 zucchini)
•    dash of oregano
•    dash of ground cayenne pepper
•    salt
•    coarsely ground pepper

1.    Prepare zucchini.  Mix all spices into olive oil and either toss wedges or brush strips of zucchini with olive oil mixture.
2.    Grill (or broil or cook on a hot, ungreased griddle) until lightly browned and tender.

This low-sugar, lower-fat version of IRENED’s wonderful “Melt In Your Mouth Blueberry Cake,” from Allrecipes.com actually makes a pretty decent breakfast cake, especially if you like the taste of blueberries.

I reduced the sugar from ½ cup to 2 tablespoons, and replaced the egg-white sweetener with Splenda™.  To cut the fat, I replaced the original butter in the recipe with 1/3 cup Land ‘o Lakes Lite Butter (with canola oil) and added ½ cup unsweetened applesauce.  And finally, I used both 100% whole wheat flour and all-purpose white flour.

The result is a somewhat dense, berry-filled cake that is not-too-sweet and perfect for breakfast.
You can eat it anytime, of course.  If you desire just a little more sweetness, top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Land’oLakes Lite Butter (canola blend)
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup 100% whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose white flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup all-natural, unsweetened applesauce
• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp. Splenda Granular
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350○F. (175○ C.)   Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2.    Cream butter-blend with the 2 Tbsp. sugar until fluffy.  Add salt, vanilla and egg yolks; beat until creamy.

3.    Measure flour(s)  into a separate bowl, stir in baking powder.

4.    Add dry ingredient mixture alternately with milk to batter.

5.    Coat blueberries with 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, fold into batter.

6.    In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, adding Splenda to egg whites 1 Tbsp. at a time.

7.    Pour batter into prepared pan.

8.    Bake for 45 – 55 minutes, or until cake tests done.