Choco Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

1 cup skim milk
1 medium banana
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
6 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Start slow to break up the ice cubes then work up to liquefy.

1 serving
319 calories
Fat: 9.1g
Sat. Fat: 1.5g
Sodium: 20.3mg
Carbs: 46.6g
Fiber: 8.1g
Sugars: 27.4
Protein: 15.4g

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread

This shmear is oh-so-good and will keep in your fridge for about 2 weeks in an airtight container.  We like to have brunch, and this is a great EASY addition. Regular cream cheese is boring.  Spice it up!

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, beat softened cream cheese, sugar, and syrup til creamy.

2. Add pumpkin, spices and vanilla and beat til smooth.

3. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

4. Enjoy on your favorite bagel!

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Brownies

I just love the magazine "Cooking Light." A few years ago my mother-in-law brought me a few issues and I have been hooked ever since. Here's a classic.







"Ooey-Gooey" Peanut Butter Brownies

3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk, divided
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake mix
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine 1/4 cup condensed milk, butter, and next 3 ingredients (batter will be very stiff). Coat bottom of a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Press two-thirds of batter into prepared pan using floured hands; pat evenly (layer will be thin).

3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl; stir in chips. Spread marshmallow mixture evenly over brownie layer. Carefully drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Yield 2 dozen.

According to Cooking Light this has 176 cal., 5 g fat, .8 g fiber, about 4 WW points each. Sounds too good to be true but they have not lied to me before!

MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I saw this on Bucky's BBQ and Bread website. He got it from JustBaking.net. I liked the tweaks Bucky's made and added a few changes to make it mine.

The recipe is below. Using a tablespoon to drop them will result in cookies that are about 3" across. Using a 1/4 cup scoop (like the other sites say) results 5 1/2" cookies!

YUM!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted YES, MELT THE BUTTER - it's part of the secret
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tablespoon almond extract
  
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (or dark - I think the milk ones are too sweet for this recipe.)
  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Line air bake* cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda and set aside.

Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk, almond extract and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chunks, then drop dough 1 tablespoon at a time on a cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes (more like 10-12 minutes if you don't use and air bake cookie sheet!).

Leave them on the cookie sheet to cool a bit when removed from the oven -this is important… they fall apart if you move them too quickly. Once they cool a few minutes, remove the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

* I use the air bake cookie sheets because they keep your cookies from burning if you leave them in longer. I have a tendency to multi-task and sometimes hear the oven making it's "I have been beeping for more than a minute" sound while in another room. I have dashed into the kitchen to dark brown bottomed cookies too many times. So now I use the air bake and they ROCK! If you over bake, your cookies are just crunchy, not ruined.

Oreogasims (aka Oreo Truffles)

Oreogasims
(Oreo Truffles)

1 bag double stuff oreos

1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened to room temp.

1 large bag dark chocolate chips

1 tablespoon Crisco

OR

1 lb. dipping or enrobing chocolate (no crisco needed)

Crush the oreos and combine with the cream cheese in a food processor or blender

Scoop out tablespoon sized dollops and place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.

Freeze for 20 minutes

While the insides are freezing, melt the chips on the stove on LOW. Once mostly melted, stir in the crisco.

Once totally melted TAKE THE PAN OFF THE HEAT and only put it back on when the chocolate starts to set up. If you leave the pan on the heat too long your chocolate will burn and it will be ruined.

Use a fork or spoon to dip the frozen centers into the chocolate and put back on the cookie sheet.

 

Freeze 1 hour.

Take out of freezer 10 minutes before you are ready to eat them.

MMMMMMMM

100 calories per truffle (yikes!)

Make 42 truffles

*You can also skip the chocolate coating and roll the truffles in crushed almonds or mini chocolate chips or sprinkles...

Midnight cake

I was bored this afternoon so I looked through Matt's Cake Doctor book and found a recipe for Midnight cake. It was easy and came out great.
1 box Dunkin Hines butter fudge cake (because I had one in the pantry)
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
2 tblsp. Vanilla
Mix well and pour into your oiled and floured pan (your choice of style)
I went with the 9 x 13 sheet pan

375 for about 35 minutes

I made butter cream frosting.

Yum!

My Wii age is 27 today. That's right. It reminded me that I am still obese but that my flexibility and balance and improving rapidly. I have all the yoga but 3 open and today I got the Free Step aerobics game. Its cool because the wiimote makes noise so you can watch regular tv for 10 while you walk to the beat. It got my heart rate up and I could feel it in my hips from taking the step up onto the fit board. I also got the lotus balance game which I mastered on the first try. You have to sit still for 90 seconds. Ha ha no problem for a couch potato like me! I also lost a tiny bit of weight. I would probably lose more if I didn't make cakes!!

Oh I think I got the bridal hair thing sorted. We are going to look so cool!

The dog just plopped down on my foot so it must be time to end.

*Angi WB*
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Pumpkin cake

Made this today. Yum.

I read about it somewhere on the Net but didn't bookmark the site so I had to wing it.
I used a yellow cake mix, one can of pumpkin and two tablespoons of smart balance. The glaze is sugar and butter. I baked at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I used a silicone bundt pan.

We got the wii fit on black Friday. We opened it last night (don't tell McKenzie!) and tried it out. Well I am hooked already. We did 30 minutes each last night and I have already logged 102 minutes today. My wii age started 41. In one day it went to 35. Yay! Matt and I played this morning before he went to work. Matt likes the games, I like the yoga. I suck at the balance poses but did great on warrior and sun salutation. We set weight loss goals so I will let you know.

We decorated the tree yesterday. McKenzie did most of the work. It looks great! I have more to do to get the house ready. Lights outside and garlands up. Ahhhh Christmas.

*Angi WB*
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