Livin' Lean Topic Tuesday: My Cakes Got Sauce

Starting around this time of the year, fall, is when I like to do the most baking. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg, pumpkin and apple fill the house and completely put me into a state of bliss. I love it! Yankee candle was totally onto something when they put those same fragrances into a jar. Brilliant!

Back to today's topic...cakes with sauce.

Friday night, my friends Pam, Claire and I had a girl's night in. What did we do? Bake and drink wine, of course! On the menu were Giada's donuts and Paula's Pumpkin Bars (both recipes coming this week). The mission was to take these delicious, yet sinful treats and make them lean. I have great news. We did it!

As I was figuring the nutritional facts for the Pumpkin cake last night, I made a shocking discovery. The amount of vegetable oil in the original recipe was 1,927 calories & 218g of fat!! Now, yes, this is divided up into 24 servings. However, by subbing the exact amount of natural apple sauce (1 cup), we are now looking at 50 calories and 0g of fat...divided by 24. Amazing, right? You can save soooo much and the cake still tastes fantastic! Some would say, "even better"!

The lesson here is that when baking brownies or baking a cake, make sure your cakes got sauce!

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Don't forget to stop by later this week for some healthy donuts with lemon glaze and Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing!! You might decide to have a night in with your friends for a little wine and baking. Cheers to that!

Paula Deen's Lean: Taco Salad

Need a quick dinner for a busy weeknight? Try this one! We love anything tacos, burritos, quesadillas in our house. This is why I had to try Paula Deen's Taco Salad. With a short list of ingredients and directions consisting of only FIVE sentences...I knew it was the perfect dish our crazy schedule. This dish is extremely easy to make lean. Check it out!



TACO SALAD
Serves 8


INGREDIENTS

• 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) 2 % sharp Cheddar, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, washed, drained and shredded
• 1 pound EXTRA lean ground beef (96/4), browned, crumbled and drained
• 1 cup KRAFT Fat Free Catalina salad dressing
• 2 cups Tostitos Baked Tortilla chips, crushed
• 1 cup salsa
• Baked Tortilla chips, to serve

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cheese, onion, lettuce, and extra lean ground beef.

Add Catalina dressing and mix well.

Just before serving, add the Baked Tostito Chips, tossing to combine with other ingredients. Top each serving with spoonful of salsa. 

RESULTS

We all loved this dish because it tasted great! I loved it because it took about 20 minutes to throw together and it was very easy to make lean. The next time I make it, I am going to try mixing iceberg lettuce with some spinach. This will add a little more nutrition in the form of vitamins and fiber. There really isn't much to iceberg lettuce. Throwing in some spinach won't impact the taste, but it will add more of the good stuff our bodies need!


Check out the difference in nutrition facts just by using a fat free dressing, extra lean beef and a little less cheese. I was wowed by the decrease in fat. The carbs went up, but that is because fat free dressings compensate with a little more sugar. In this case, I think it is well worth it!


NUTRITION FACTS (Per Serving):


BEFORE: 521.38 calories/37g fat/  27.56g carbohydrate / 21.97g protein / 3.26g fiber


AFTER: 245.38 calories/ 5.4g fat/  31.12g carbohydrate / 18.32g protein / 3.75g fiber


SAVES: 276 calories and 31.6g fat

Enjoy & have a fabulous weekend!! 

*PRINT~FRIENDLY*

Livin' Lean Topic Tuesday: Eating is a Priority

Of course eating is a priority...at least it should be. Consuming food is one of our basic needs. It keeps us alive. So how come cleaning, running errands, party planning or doing homework seem to take priority over such an important thing? Because they just do. I will be first to admit that I am soooo guilty of getting wrapped up in what I'm doing. Fueling my body just doesn't enter into my mind. That is, until I am blind sided by faint feelings or extreme hunger! I know it shouldn't get to that, but the truth is, it does. Not all the time, but sometimes. It's not intentional. Time just gets away from me...and those times are almost always on a Saturday.

Saturdays are my days to cram as many productive and fun things as I can all in about 16 hours. You would think I'd work in a fun meal somewhere, right? I usually do, but one meal isn't enough. To keep our bodies happy, we should be eating 100-300 calories every 3 hours; making each snack or mini-meal a good balance of fat, protein and carbohydrates. When we go long periods without food, our body thinks we are starving and therefore slows that metabolism down. The next time we do eat, the body tries to hold on more to that energy; afraid it may be a long time before eating again. Basically, the body stores fat and we don't want that. But aside from all this, when we don't eat, we feel sluggish and are unable to think clearly. Just a simple 110 calorie Pria bar is all it takes to turn things around if you find yourself reaching 3-4 hours without food. It sounds so simple, but it takes effort.

It takes some planning. It involves being prepared. I am able to do this during the week, so I really need to focus on doing this over the weekends too. Especially on those days where it is go-go-go, non-stop, running around. There is no excuse for not properly meeting our basic needs. I take time to feed my daughter, so there should be time to feed me too!

We are busy people, but there is always time to eat! Many stores are selling items that make eating-on-the-go easier for health conscious people. Saturday is a good time to take advantage of this. I'm really going to make a conscious effort to work on this. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!!