Grown Up Dessert

COFFEE JELLO

• Dissolve one packet of plain unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold liquid (water or coffee).  Let sit 5 minutes to soften.

• Add 1.5 cups of hot (boiling) coffee. 

• Stir in 1/4 cup sweetener of choice ( I used Splenda...you can use sugar if you wish) and a dash of salt.   Stir until dissolved.

•  Chill until set.

• Serve spooned into coffee cups, top with whipped cream.

A nice addition would be a drizzle of Chocolate Magic Shell for a mocha flavor.  You might add some chocolate syrup too as part of the liquid, reducing the added sweetener to taste.

In the future I'm going to try making this using green tea in place of the coffee.

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

Chocolate covered ones that is.

I had my share of chocolate covered cherries over the holidays.

Now it's time to get back to healthy eating and reaching my second weight loss goal.

But--I need not give up the flavor combination.

I've found a low calorie low carb substitute that tastes surprisingly like:   *chocolate covered cherries *  :-)

One bowl

One single serve of sugar free CHERRY gelatin

4 tablespoons of fat free Cool Whip

Unsweetened cocoa powder

One spoon

Into the bowl goes the gelatin; break it up with the spoon.  Cover with a layer of FF CW.  Sprinkle with the cocoa powder.  Eat with your spoon.  Yum Yum.

Enjoy.

Edit:  Skip the cocoa powder and drizzle with chocolate Magic Shell ice cream topping.  Top with 3 maraschino cherries.  Stick in the freezer a minute or two to harden the shell.  Wow.  Good.  But more calories...and fat.   

Cool Whip Number 12

Just when I thought I was out of fat free Cool Whip options I discover a couple more.

Today's one serving treat is 'Whipped Coconut Pie' and as usual  no real recipe.

Just toss together one quarter tub (56 grams) of fat free CW with one whole broken graham cracker and a tablespoon of grated coconut.

Heavenly and 190 calories. The coconut adds 2 grams of fat.

Tomorrow Cool Whip 13.

And after that it's back to the nostalgia.  

Chocolate Mess

I'm still holding at 24 pounds lost.  These last 2 pounds are going to leave slowly I imagine.  That's fine with me.

Now for the chocolate mess.  Same old fat free Cool Whip--54 grams or 1/4 of a tub thawed. Add one broken graham cracker; mix together.  Barely stir in 1 rounded tablespoon dark chocolate cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon regular cocoa powder.  Leave it messy with heavy spots of chocolate.  Yum.

Eat this instead of the chocolate cobbler from the previous post--save the cobbler for company-- when you can share the calories.

Another Reason to Love Greek Yogurt

Reason number one is that it tastes great--even the fat free is awesome.

Reason number two?  One single serve cup has 18 grams of protein.  For 100 calories..and no fat.  (Brand is Chobani.)

I've been eating fewer fat free Cool Whip desserts this week in an effort to swap out some carb calories for protein calories.

I'm adding sweetener to a single serve cup of yogurt, spreading it in a shallow dish, topping it with a layer of fat free Cool Whip (27 grams) and one broken graham cracker.

I'm calling it Graham Cracker Pie.

Simple but delicious.  And only 210 calories.

Brownie Nut Mousse

More Cool Whip mousse.  This time it's 1/4 tub, plus 100 calories of brownie crumbled into it, and 3 walnut halves broken into pieces.  Stir.  enjoy.

Chocolate Walnut Mousse

Here she goes again.  More fat free Cool Whip.

How about 1/4 tub of the stuff--56 grams.  Stir in unsweetened cocoa powder-- a heaping teaspoon.  And 10 grams--about 4 halves--of broken walnuts.  

All I can say is yum.  Anything with nuts, I'm scarfing down.

Walnuts are good fat.  Better for you than Heath Minis.

But who's complaining? 

I have another Cool Whip idea in the offing.

After I get the stuff to try it, will share.

Note:  I like a little coffee in my chocolate so I add about half a teaspoon of instant coffee powder too.

Graham Cracker Marshmallow Fluff

Nothing genius here.  Can't even call it a recipe.  But it does taste good.

Combine one sheet of graham cracker broken into bite size pieces, 10-15 mini marshmallows, and 1/4 tub (56 grams) fat free Cool Whip.

I've been wondering how it would taste with a little low fat cream cheese and allowed to sit a few hours so the marshmallows and crackers can soften.

Fat free Cool Whip is not by any stretch of the imagination a health food.  But its 90 calories of fat free sweetness helps me avoid more dangerous sweets.

Almost Peach Pie

You will need :

• one juicy delicious peach--or a nectarine, prepped and sliced, then cut into bite size pieces
• one single serve size of fat free Greek yogurt--my fave is Oikos--sweetened to taste (I used Splenda and Sun Crystals)
• 3 servings fat free Cool Whip (28 grams)
• two squares graham cracker (1 full sheet)  broken into bite size pieces

 In a dish place the peach/nectarine, cover with the sweetened yogurt, top with the fat free Cool Whip and sprinkle with the graham cracker bits.

I made this using a nectarine--loved it.  My husband loved it as well and he's a pretty tough critic.  I don't think it would be as good with regular fat free yogurt--so I suggest you spring for the Greek...it's pricey but worth the indulgence for a taste treat (if you haven't tried the full fat Greek yogurt--OMG---it's outstanding, almost too rich).

This felt like summer in a bowl.  Better make this fast because summer is on it's way out, with fall on its heels.

Friendly Foods and A Recipe: Coffee Toffee Crunch Mousse

In the movie "You've Got Mail" Meg Ryan's character loved daisies because they were so friendly.  In my world there exist friendly foods.

With my food revolution and changing my relationship with food I began thinking in terms of 'eat often'  and 'eat once in a while'.  In my world there are no longer any forbidden foods.

As well there are no longer 'good' and 'bad' foods.  There are instead friendly foods.  And while I may not consider a food friendly in the sense of my goal--to lose and maintain that loss--that does not make the food unfriendly.  It might be a wonderful food--but too high calorically to eat often, and therefore reserved for once in awhile.

One of my favorite friendly foods is Fat Free Cool Whip.  It is versatile, fat free and tastes quite good.  One quarter of a tub of FF CW is only 90 calories...ninety fat free calories.  It is one of my favorite friendly foods.

Recently I've been eating what I've named Coffee Toffee Crunch Mousse.  It tastes so good and for only 220 calories can't be beat in my book.

Here's how to make it.

• Into one fourth of a tub of FF CW sprinkle a teaspoon of instant coffee powder.  I rub it between my fingers to make it very fine.  Fold in the coffee powder to mix/combine.  The powder will dissolve in the FF CW.  Now break up 3 Heath Miniatures--I leave them in their wrapper and smash them with my can opener.  Add to the coffee mix and combine.  

That's it.  Eat and enjoy.  You could use just 2 Heath minis and save 43 calories.  It would probably taste just as good.

Other friendly foods I use often:

---sugar free gelatin
---goat cheese
---tea rusks
---fat free cheese singles
---Laughing Cow Light cheese
---fat free cream cheese
---fat free Breakstone Cottage Cheese
---Hostess 100 calorie chocolate cup cake minis
---almond milk or my own fake version
---fat free plain yogurt
---tomato juice
---V8 juice (a great way to get in some veggies and fiber)
---buttery margarine spray (here's a tip to make it seem decadent.  Toast your bread, then add jelly, and over the jelly spray a generous amount of the buttery spray...wow..it looks like it's dripping in butter..tastes good too)
---dill pickles (great on a fat free cheese sandwich)
---Oscar Myer precooked bacon (4 slices are only 70 calories)
---nutritional cheese made into sauce/dressing
---hummus
---salsa
---chickpeas (roasted, as in Honey Curry )
---iced coffee
---brown rice cakes (lots of crunch and chew and very few calories..I like to spread them with a low calorie butter flavored spread, sprinkle with cinnamon and a sugar substitute like Sun Crystals or Splenda, then over-spray with butter flavored spray--it helps the cinnamon stick better...2 cakes with a tablespoon of spread is only 120 calories)

That's all I can think of right now...fresh fruit is always friendly.  And if I could eat popcorn it would be at the top of the list.

Yesterday the Arnolds sandwich thins were on special so I picked up a package...I really like them toasted and for 100 calories and 5 grams of fiber they are a good option too...a friendly option.

What are some of your friendly foods--foods that are not a trigger, that you can indulge in daily/often, that you really enjoy eating and are low in calories?

One More Dessert--Easy Breezy Chocolate Mousse

Combine 1/4 tub of Fat Free Cool Whip with 2-3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder.

Tastes like chocolate mousse.  Only 160 calories for the whole thing.

Yum.  Simple as pie.

As an alternative, if you like coffee, omit the chocolate powder and stir in some instant coffee powder.  Sprinkle with a half tablespoon of mini sized semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Calorie count would be 190.

Another Dessert Option

If you have a sweet tooth and are trying to lose or maintain weight loss you can still indulge.  You can eat that banana split.  But not everyday.  And not often.  It should be on your eat once in a while list.

However there are sweets you can eat daily and still make your goal.  Last post had one and here's another.

You'll need:

• 1 Weight Watchers Latte Bar (90 Calories, 1 point)
• 6 tablespoons of fat free Cool Whip (45 calories)
• 2 bite size Heath Bar mini's (86 calories)

Crumble your mini's while they're still in the wrapping.

Place your Cool Whip in a bowl and sprinkle with the Heath crumbs.  Unwrap your frozen treat bar and proceed to dip each bite in the candy bar topping.  It's not only delicious, it is fun to eat.  And tastes decadent, all for a mere 221 calories.

Typically I'm not a fan of fat free products, but there are some tolerable ones out there. For use as a topping--not mixed into a recipe-- I do believe I prefer the taste of the fat free Cool Whip over the reduced and regular fat ones.

And choosing the fat free  Cool Whip allows me to save my fat calories for healthier fat options--like good old peanut butter.

Hmmm...now I'm thinking...I love peanut butter pie.  Wonder what some peanut butter mixed in with some fat free Cool Whip would taste like? Peanut butter mousse?  Think I'll give that a try soon.  And if I sprinkled it with a few graham cracker crumbs it might even pass as peanut butter chiffon pie.  Wait...if I add some fat free cream cheese--and the ideas keep coming.

Being a foodie and dieting can work--we just have to be a bit more creative, but isn't that part of what being a foodie is all about?  Working with food, dreaming about recipes is as important to  a foodie as eating.

We don't have to give up the foods we love and enjoy to lose or maintain losses--we can figure out how to fit them in with a little thought and practice.

Strawberry Chocolate Mess

Big bowl of dessert, low in calories and fat.

Mix together 6 tablespoons fat free Cool Whip and a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder.

In a bowl place:

• one sugar free strawberry jello cup (break it up into pieces)
• diced fresh strawberries--amount should fill empty jello cup
• 15 mini marshmallows
• one Oreo cookie, crumbled
• the chocolate Cool Whip

Now toss the mess together.  Eat.  Enjoy.

Calorie count:  jello 5; SF Cool Whip 50; berries 23; cookie 53; marshmallows 34  Total is 165.

Key Lime Cheesecake Dip

Today I was craving Key Lime Pie.  My quick fix was a Yoplait Light Key Lime Mousse yogurt cup (140 calories).  It did taste good, but it was a little on the sweet side, and the portion is small.  In a pinch it's a good choice.

But I like to experiment.  Here's what I came up with:

• 2 ounces of fat free cream cheese (I used the Walmart store brand.)

• 4 tablespoons of Lite Cool Whip (Don't substitute another brand--my mama told me not to use non-name brands in a recipe--that it is fine as a topping, but in a recipe-- might cause a fail.)

• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice (I didn't have any lime.)

• A bit of the zest of the lemon/lime 

• 1 packet of sweetener ( sweetness of 2 teaspoons sugar--I used Sun Crystals..it's real Stevia in a carrier of sugar, 5 calories per packet, 1 gram of carb, I buy it at Walmart 50 pkt. box for $3 or 100 pkt box for $5

Mix the juice, zest, sweetener and cream cheese together--use a spoon..fat free cream cheese gets runny if it's over beaten.  Fold in the whipped topping.

The whole recipe is 105 calories, 8 grams protein, 2 grams of fat, 5 grams carb.

Use this  dip with fruit--strawberries would be nice (think strawberry lemonade). Or use graham cracker sticks.  Or do what I did--eat it with a spoon.