**HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY**

Who doesn't love sweets for Valentines?

I made Oreo Truffles this year.

They are similar to cake balls, but I like them better

They aren't so overly sweet.

And they are easy to make.

Combine one package of crushed Oreo cookies with one room temperature package of cream cheese.

Allow to sit for a few hours in the fridge--this softens the cookie crumbs and firms the mixture up for easy shaping.

Shape into balls.  

Dip into melted chocolate chips, placing them on waxed paper after dipping.

You can add some coconut oil (the kind that is solid at room temp) or some shortening to the chips if they are too thick for easy dipping.

When the chocolate hardens you can drizzle with some red melts to decorate--Wilton makes these.  You could use some red and pink sprinkles--but add the sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.

These are intensely chocolately and very rich.

If you love chocolate and you love truffles you'll likely love these.

Magic Cookie Cool Whip Dessert

Just when I thought there were no more options I surprise myself.

Marble Slab Creamery has their mix-ins, Kath of  "Kath Eats Real Food" has her oatmeal  mix-ins and I have my Cool Whip mix-ins.

If you like the taste of Magic Cookie Bars you'll probably like this.

Into 56 grams of fat free Cool Whip (that's a fourth of the tub) add:

• a pinch of coconut (about a tablespoon)
• a few broken walnuts
• a few mini chocolate chips or grated chocolate
• one whole graham cracker broken into pieces--not crumbs but smallish pieces

Fold this together.  It makes one serving.

The fat from the nuts and coconut are good fats.

The calorie count will depend on how much you add but the CW is 90 calories, a tablespoon of coconut is 35, a half tablespoon of mini chips is 35, the graham cracker is 65 and an eighth ounce of walnuts is 25.

To make a few walnuts 'feel' like more, don't fold them in, sprinkle them on top and leave the pieces large.  A little will go a long way.

This dessert may cost you 250 calories, but it beats having a whole pan of Magic Cookie Bars in the house.

The portion is generous so it doesn't feel like calorie pinching--which is the parallel of penny pinching.  As we must budget our money, so must we budget our calories. 

Enjoy.

Next post it's back to the classic TV videos.  There's something about nostalgia that puts me in a holiday mood, and after all, Thanksgiving is next Thursday.

Do you know where your turkey is?

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.

Chocolate Cobbler

Edit: ignore the negative reviews on this first recipe (found at the link)....I've made it many times and it turns out perfect...it is a cobbler...it is supposed to be runny--the runny part is the chocolate fudge sauce...this is similar to a fruit cobbler, but chocolate...thinner and runnier when hot, thicker and saucier when cold. The recipe is not off. I reduce the sugar--which I note at the end-- because I don't like things too sweet. I've made it exactly as written and it is a good recipe.

 Image from Southern Plate

Want a quick pantry dessert perfect for a fall day?  Simple and old timey Chocolate Cobbler fills the bill.  My favorite recipe can be found here: Chocolate Cobbler  .

For a second similar recipe that includes images with step by step directions go to Southern Plate Chocolate Cobbler .  Be warned though--reading the food essay and seeing the images is going to cause you to want to make one asap.

And if you don't want to be bothered making it yourself, or don't want a whole pan full in the house, head over to Cracker Barrel.  It is usually on their menu this time of year.

Enjoy.

Note:  I make the first recipe and in the cake part I reduce the sugar from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup.  

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.

My Newest Obsession

I may be in my second childhood here.  But I've 'discovered' paper beads.

Rubber stamping on beautiful paper is something I've been doing for a couple of years.  Trying to develop my craft I read a lot of internet sites that show paper crafts and when I came across a tutorial for making paper beads I had to try it.

And my paper of choice?  A McDonald's paper 'to go' sack.  Yep.

It had many colors on it--pinks/reds, blue, yellow, white...some polka dots, the text....all of that shows up in the beads.  And I was able to get enough beads out of my sack to make a bracelet.

At first making the beads--cutting the paper, rolling them, top coating them-- seemed a tad tedious....but somewhere along the way I developed a rhythm in the process and it became very soothing.  Time passes quickly and I don't want to stop making beads.  They look so pretty all piled up once rolled.

I have no idea how to make jewelry so my beads are strung onto elastic jewelry cord--no clasp necessary.  And it's easy to make any size needed.  Child size, adult size..whatever.

This would be a great craft for kids.  To my surprise there are adults who have made a business out of making and selling paper beads.  I guess there are other people out there who love them as much as I do.

This new hobby is a better pastime than being consumed by food and eating.  And it makes me wish I'd been exposed to arts and crafts growing up.  At best I can remember coloring some mimeographed picture with some crayons and cutting with rounded scissors and pasting--and eating the paste, which tasted like wintergreen.  But that was the extent of art for me.  Sadly the kids today are missing out as well.

Perhaps if we'd fill ourselves with arts and crafts and hobbies that empty place we try to fill with food wouldn't exist. Reading is good and watching television can be relaxing, but they are passive activities. We need to be doing--we need to be living..not reading about  or watching others' lives, but living our own life.

The take away here for all the dieters out  there is this:  if you hate exercise, get busy with a hobby that does appeal to you.  You may not be burning many calories but you will be filling your time with activities that don't involve food and eating.

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.

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.

Healthier Big Cookie

I have a sweet tooth. While I try to satisfy it with fruit, there are times when you just want chocolate. And while eating chocolate has some benefits, it’s not very filling and can be quite addictive. Try this instead and save the real chocolate, the good stuff, for special days.

In a deep cereal bowl with a fairly wide bottom measure 20 grams--which is a half serving-- of quick oats. Next add an egg white, and beat it into the oats. Then add a splash of milk. I don’t measure so I can’t be specific--it was probably two tablespoons--think loose brownie batter. Follow with some cocoa powder--about 2 heaping teaspoons, a dash of salt, a splash of vanilla, a packet of Splenda/ 2 teaspoons sugar/equivalent in your preferred sweetener and a big pinch of coconut. Stir well to combine.

Nuke this for one minute at 100% power and check it. If it still has a large wet area on top, put it back in for one minute at 50% power. Let stand to finish cooking. Eat. Enjoy.

The desired result is a dry--but not dried up/tough/leathery-- edible cookie that you can pick up out of the bowl and eat out of hand.

View from the side--it's pretty thick.

From a distance.

I found this to be very tasty, lots of chew factor and filling. It satisfied my chocolate craving but didn’t keep it going. Being a blend of whole grain, protein and the small amount of fat in the milk and coconut, it is a better choice than most processed foods. It is quick and inexpensive as well. And it requires no special foods--no protein powder or specialty ingredients. You probably have all you need to make this in your larder.

And f you don’t like coconut, replace it with a few nuts or some raisins. The coconut adds a lot of chew and also contains coconut oil which supposedly helps with weight loss.

The fat in coconut is a medium chain fatty acid with a profile similar to the fat in olive oil. It is oft maligned because of its saturated fat content, but I don't think the concern is warranted.

Mocha Punch

Before you know it Valentine's day will be upon us-- a great excuse to eat chocolate!

In a previous post I shared a recipe for Mistletoe Punch which was a big hit at my house. Here's my take on it for Valentines.

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Mocha Punch

Scoop into a bowl 8 cups of chocolate ice cream. Allow to soften somewhat and stir in 16 ounces of Cool Whip.

Now, add 8 cups of double strength cafe latte (how to make this to follow).

You can put this into a punch bowl or a nice pitcher. Optional: sprinkle with cocoa powder. You could also float some dollops of Cool Whip or whipped cream on the top.

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Here's the easy woman's version of double strength cafe latte.

For each cup of coffee add 2 teaspoons of instant coffee to enough boiling water to dissolve the coffee powder. Now add cold water to make a half cup, followed by a half cup of cold milk.

If you don't like coffee, omit it and replace with milk.

If you're not a chocolate lover, strawberry would be nice for Valentines--I'd suggest using strawberry ice cream, the pink kind, and milk, possibly add some strawberry Nestle's Quick.

The variations are endless...I'm thinking chocolate mint would be yummy too..the green mint ice cream should give you a nice creamy pastel green color.

Note: I use the light Cool Whip with great results. Also, in this version it's important to incorporate the whipped topping before you add the liquid..otherwise you'll end up with tiny white clumps in your chocolate punch.

Granted this isn't 'health food...but it is fun. A punch sized portion of this won't ruin your food plan. Fun foods are, well fun, and I for one, am all for having a fun filled 2010.