Happy Valentine's Day! + Whole Wheat Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have yet another snow day today so I'm working at home with my tiny Valentine. Like I mentioned last week, I'm so not one to complain about the weather...but even I'm starting to get a little frustrated. Here's to a long weekend ahead and starting fresh next week!

Meanwhile, my little champ of an eater has suddenly become quite picky in her eating choices. Not to mention that once I think I've found something she likes, she almost immediately decides that she hates it. Is this just how toddlers keep Mom on the edge of her sanity her toes? If so, well played, Penelope...well played.

I've been experimenting a lot lately with different foods, and trying to keep everything on the healthy side of the spectrum for the whole family. I decided to try some pumpkin applesauce muffins to not only use up some things I had on hand, but to have a go-to, guilt-free treat readily available.

Oh and I used my super duper adorable silicon heart-shaped muffin liners. I love these for their cuteness as well as functionality...no muffin tin required. I simply lined them up on a baking sheet and it worked like a charm. They also go right in the dishwasher once you've gobbled up its contents.

I didn't take the time to do pretty photographs of these muffins. They were easy to mix by hand, had virtually no clean up and so I just wanted to leave it at that. Instead, I went with rustic iPhone pics. I used this recipe with some tweaks (like completely eliminated the oil and lowering the sugar). Penelope seemed to like them...for now!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

*Adapted from allrecipes.com

2 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2/3 C brown sugar, packed

3/4 C applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 C pumpkin puree

1/3 C buttermilk (I made my own by mixing 1/3 C milk + 1 tsp white vinegar)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/3 C raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prep your muffin tin.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, buttermilk and eggs. 

Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined.

Fold in the raisins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe yields about 13 nice size muffins (I guess I slightly underfilled the cups so I ended up with 13, instead of 12!) and I calculated about 3 WW Points+ per muffin. Not too shabby!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Triple Chocolate Banana Milkshakes

Ok you guys...last night I finished the second Delirium book...Pandemonium! I know we have a date to discuss Delirium (the first book) on April 3 (I hope some of you are reading this so we can have a little discussion!). So here's the problem with flying through this awesome series...the third book - Requiem - doesn't come out until 2013! Ahhh! I'm so bummed because it ended on such a cliff hanger. I hate that! Of course, I didn't realize this until I was already partially through the second book. Oh well...still worth reading, even if the wait is a long one!

Oh and remember, if you are on Goodreads, we can be friends!

 

So last night I had a hankering for something sweet after dinner. I'm trying to be better about eating healthfully and so dessert options are often limited. Mostly, I stick to sugar-free, fat-free pudding, but let's face it...it gets old after a while!

Last night I had an idea for a milkshake. I had just frozen a !@#$load of bananas a few nights ago and always keep a handy supply of instant pudding in the cupboard. By using frozen bananas instead of ice cream and some prepared chocolate fudge pudding, I achieved a delicious, creamy, chocolately milkshake that was entirely guilt-free! Only 3 Pts+ per serving.

Seriously.

I'm mildly obsessed. Even Shaun, Mr. No-Sweets, drank his entire shake.

Triple Chocolate Banana Milkshakes
Serves 2; 3 Pts+ per serving
1 1/4 C fat free milk (or milk of your choice)
1 1/2 frozen bananas
1/2 C sugar-free, fat-free chocolate fudge pudding, prepared
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp lite or sugar-free chocolate syrup
1/4 C fat-free Cool Whip

Place milk, bananas, pudding, cocoa and vanilla extract in a large glass measuring cup or in a blender. Blend (in blender or in measuring glass with an immersion blender) until smooth and creamy. Line two glasses with a bit of chocolate syrup and distribute milkshakes in said glasses. Top with a Tablespoon or two of Cool Whip and drizzle with a little more chocolate syrup.

Enjoy immediately.

I think half the fun of this shake is the presentation. Just a little extra work like lining the glass with chocolate syrup and using a whimsical, soda shop paper straw for devouring make this a super special treat that I can't wait to make again and again.

And the best part of all? It's 100% guilt-free! Get out your party hats!

Questions of the Day:

Do you have any guilt-free desserts?

Are any of you reading Delirium for our mini-book club discussion next week?!

psst..in case you missed The Peach & The Pit this week, here's what's been going down...

I found some Spring things to seriously obsess over

Christine decided on some new hair color(s)

Kimberly had a fabulous weekend in the Hamptons...

Butternut Squash Macaroni + Cheese

A few months ago, my good friend Kristen helped me put together a recipe binder of all my magazine-tear outs. She's so creative and organized like that and now I'm organized too :) While we went through my pages of Food Network Mag and Real Simple recipes, she proclaimed her love for Cooking Light.

Since she was so over the moon about it, I decided that I too had to get on the bandwagon. Luckily, that cute husband of mine gave me a subscription for my birthday. He’s a keeper.

 

The second issue I received featured a macaroni & cheese that is lightened up by using butternut squash instead of flour for making a thickening agent (a roux). It's so genius because a) it works, b) it's a sneaky way to add some veggies, and c) the results are healthy and delicious.

I love this dish because it’s simple, comforting and relatively guilt-free. I’m not going to lie to you and say it’s as good as a full fat macaroni and cheese (for that, check out my gruyere mac & cheese and my asiago fig mac & cheese). It’s just not. But this recipe is perfect for a lightened up weeknight dinner and makes a large tray to boot. It’s a great way to enjoy a classic without breaking the caloric bank! I made a few changes from the original recipe to suit our needs and what we had on hand, but the result was still fantastico. So thanks to Kristen for giving me magazine envy.

Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese
*Adapted from Cooking Light
1 lb. elbow pasta (I used Barilla Plus), cooked according to package directions, boiled 1 less minute
1 medium butternut squash, diced
1 ½ C fat free milk
1 ¼ C low sodium chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp fat free Greek yogurt (I used Fage 0%)
1 ¼ C extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ C + 1 tbsp parmigiano reggiano, grated, divided
½ C panko bread crumbs (I used the seasoned kind)
kosher salt
black pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth, milk, butternut squash and garlic to a light boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes until the squash is fork tender and your kitchen smells like a bit of braised heaven :) I should note that I took this time to make the pasta and grate my cheese. Please note that I boiled the pasta to al dente because it is still going to cook in the oven - I didn’t want to overcook it!

Once soft, blend the squash mixture and the Greek yogurt together. You can use a blender, but I used my handy immersion blender (carefully) in the saucepan. Seriously, if you don’t have one...get one! It’s one of the best tools I’ve ever purchased and use it all the time. I think mine was $25 at Bed Bath & Beyond with a coupon. It’s perfect for all smoothies, soups and rogue uses like this.

Once completely blended, whisk in the cheddar and ½ C parmigiano reggiano until melted. In a large bowl, mix together the elbows and the cheese mixture. Pour into a large casserole dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Smooth the top and sprinkle the panko and remaining parmigiano reggiano over the top. Spritz lightly with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately. We also found that it reheated fabulously in the microwave (so as not to dry it out in the oven on day 2+).

So there you go. My new favorite recipe that will now be added to the permanent collection! I bet this would be great with lots of different cheeses too! In fact, the original recipe calls for gruyere, but I chose to stick with cheddar since I didn't want to buy a $9 block of cheese unless it was being eaten au naturale.

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever lightened up your favorite comfort food dish? I love doing this! In general, I try to sub less butter, ground turkey and add veggies wherever I can!

What are your plan for this weekend? Shaun and I are heading down to Delaware - let's hope the weather stays nice! Then it's football Sunday! Stay tuned for Game Day Eats ideas next week!

psst...we're rounding up our highs (peaches) and lows (pits) of the week over on The Peach & The Pit...what's your best and worst of the week?