Semi-Homemade Swedish Rye Bread

I picked up a package of the swedish rye bread mix at IKEA. Wholegrain rye bread is one of my favorite breads, and here was a chance to make it at home. It's simple, just add warm water, shake vigorously, let rise and bake for 60 min. Instead of one big loaf, I made 3 small ones, which make perfect little slices. The taste is wonderful!



The rye bread mix can also be purchased online at Marina market (similar price to IKEA).

Moroccan Wholewheat Pasta with Fire-roasted Tomatoes

I felt like Moroccan flavors tonight, but the chicken was frozen and I was too hungry to thaw it. So, here is a wonderfully tasty vegetarian version.

1/4 TB olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, grated
1/8 cp white wine like chardonnay or pinot grigio
4 dried apricots, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, small dice
1 cp chopped fire-roasted tomatoes
1 TB roasted red pepper spread (I used a roasted red pepper and eggplant spread from Trader Joes, but other avjars also work -- it adds great flavor and sweetness)
5 kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 ts chicken bouillon concentrate
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 cp chicken broth (I used sodium-reduced, fatfree swanson)
1 fresh bay leaf
1/2 ts splenda brown sugar
1 oz wholewheat spaghetti


Sautee onion and garlic in the olive oil in a medium sized skillet. Sautee until garlic is fragrant and onions are slightly browned. Add pepper, sautee for 2 more mins. Add white wine, bay leaf, apricots, and spices. Stir, then break up the spaghetti and add to the sauce. Sautee at low heat until spaghetti are soft and liquid is reduced.

Very flavorful, light and tasty!

This is a bit light on protein for dinner. You can add some cubed tofu to stay vegetarian, or add it as a side to a protein like grilled chicken.

Pumpkin Pie

It's dark and rainy outside, time for pumpkin pie.....

I wanted a pie with a crust, so I tried the crust that I use for cheese cake. I think a graham crust might also work well for the pumpkin pie purists, and there are cute little single serving pie crusts at Walmart that can just be filled with the filling.

Crust layer:
1/4 cup Krusteaz pancake mix
1/4 cp butter milk
1 Tbsp egg beaters
¼ ts vanilla
¼ ts baking soda

Pumpkin filling:
2/3 cup solid packed pumpkin
2 TB evaporated skim milk
2 TB eggbeaters
1 1/2 TB brown splenda
1/4 ts cinnamon extract (liquid!)
1/4 ts vanilla extract
1/8 ts ground ginger
1/8 ts pumpkin pie spice
1 TB Krusteaz mix

Heat oven to 400F degrees. Lightly grease or spray single-serve spring form.

Make the crust batter and the filling in separate bowls. Mix batter ingredients, and fill batter in a small, sprayed spring form, and bake at 400F for 5 min.

For the pumpkin filling, mix (potentially in food processor) pumpkin and other ingredients until it is a really smooth, creamy texture. Fill on top of pre-baked cake layer. Bake for another 20 at 400F, and another 25 min at 350F. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

(240 kcal)

Butternut Squash Soup

1/2 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 large carrot, peeled, and cubed
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cps of low-sodium chicken (or vegetable) stock
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 ts orange peel (dried)
1 ts curry powder
1/2 ts olive oil

Sautee onion in olive oil. Add butternut squash, carrot, and chicken stock. Bring to boil, and then simmer at very low for 20 min or until tender. Take off stove, and blend the soup in either a blender (caution! Place towel on top and leave knob out) or mush up otherwise. Add salt, pepper, orange peel and curry powder. Stir, and serve with sour cream or a ts of goat cheese. Enjoy!

Makes 2 portions a 140 kcal; one is 1 lunch entree.

Beet Apple Cider

2 beet root, raw, peeled and sliced into thick slices
5 tart apples

Add all ingredients to a juicer, juice, and filter out foam from apples. Makes 2 large glasses. Drink immediately, or chill and serve over the next few days.

Fresh Fettucini with Lemon Zest, Basil, and Feta

3 oz fresh fettucini
zest of 1/3 lemon
1.5 TB crumbled ff feta
10 small basil leaves, torn
1 ts fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 ts olive oil
1 ts pine nuts
salt, pepper

Cook (fresh) pasta for 2-3 min in hot salted water (dry pasta cook according to instructions). Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set pine nuts aside. Drain pasta, and reserve some of the starchy pasta water in the pot. Add the olive oil, the lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper and toss. Add feta cheese, parmesan cheese, basil leaves and toss again. Serve with toasted pine nuts on top!

Peach Tart

1 fresh peach (sliced)
1.5 Tbsp Heart Smart Bisquick
1.5 Tbsp any whey
1 Tbsp Splenda brown sugar
1 Tbsp FF milk
¼ Tbsp Parkay spreadable butter
1/4 cp egg beaters

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tart form. Place peach slices in a star pattern in tart pan. Stir together Bisquick, any whey, and Splenda brown sugar. Add milk, butter spread, and egg beaters to dry mix and beat until smooth. Pour over peach. Bake 20 min in preheated toaster oven, or until golden and ”set".

182 kcal

Cherry Danish with Vanilla Pudding

I tried something new for a cream cheese danish. I used a little container of the Jell-o sf/ff vanilla pudding instead of cream cheese, and sugar-free cherry pie filling. It's quick to make and it tastes great!

1/3 cp dry pancake mix (preserve 1 TB mix)
1 Tbsp Splenda
1/2 TB Any whey (1/2 protein)
1/3 cp soy slender vanilla
1/4 ts baking powder

1/2 cp sf fat-free vanilla pudding Jello cup
1 Tbs. egg substitute
1/2 TB any whey
2 TB sugar-free cherry pie filling


Mix pancake mix with 1/3 cup soy slender. Add 1 TB splenda, 1/4 ts baking powder, and 1/2 TB any whey. Spray a small baking dish with butter spray. Pour or mixture into baking dish.

Mix pudding with 1 TB pancake mix, 1 TB egg substitute and 1/2 TS any whey in a small bowl
until really smooth. Distribute pudding mixture onto top of pancake mixture in the middle
of the bowl. Add cherries op top. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until pancake mixture is set.

Blueberry German Cheese Cake

This is a cheese cake based on typical German cheese cakes, which are made with Quark (instead of ricotta or cream cheese). So, the cheese cake has a 'fluffier' texture than American cheese cakes and is lighter, both in taste and calories.

Quark is a soft cheese, with a texture of sour cream or Greek yoghurt, a very mild taste and very low calories and high in protein. It gives this recipe a distinct taste. I make my own quark from buttermilk and organic milk, but it is also available in stores like Whole Foods Market.

Cake base layer:
1/4 cup Krusteaz pancake mix
1/4 cp ff milk
1 Tbsp egg beaters
¼ ts vanilla
¼ ts baking powder

Cheese filling:
4 TB lf quark (I make my own, but you can get some at Whole Foods Market)
1/2 ts vanilla
1 TB eggbeaters
1 TB splenda
1/2 TB Krusteaz pancake mix
zest of 1/2 lemon (microplaned)

Blueberry filling:
1/2 cp fresh wild blueberries
2 TB white rum (Bacardi)
1 ts sugar

Make the batter and the fillings in 3 separate bowls.

For base cake batter, just mix all the ingredients. Fill batter in a small, sprayed springform pan, and bake at 400F for 5 min.

For the cheese filling layer, mix quark and other ingredients until it is a really smooth, creamy texture.

For the blueberries, heat the rum and sugar in a small stainless steel pot on the stove, and mix until sugar is dissolved (1-2 min). Heat slowly (careful so that the rum does not ignite! Of course, if you want to burn off the alcohol, you can flambee the blueberries.). Add the blueberries, and heat mixture on medium-high for 1-2 min, turn off heat (if electric), and let simmer on still hot plate.

Now, spoon blueberry mix over the solid surface of the cake base, still in the springform pan. Carefully spoon cheese filling on top of blueberries. Bake for another 20-25 min at 400F. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

(250kcal)

Blueberry Cake with Maple Syrup

1/2 cp wild fresh blueberries
1 NS maple brown sugar oatmeal
1 TB egg beaters
1/2 ts baking powder
1 ts brown splenda
4 TB sugar free applesauce
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix all ingredients, pour into a butter-PAM sprayed springform pan, and bake at 425 degrees for 20 min. Let cool, and serve with fresh blueberries.

Walnut Kalamata Foccaccia

2 TB whole-grain Instabake mix
1 TB wheat bran (made from Fiber one wheat bran)
1/4 ts baking powder
1 TB chopped, toasted walnuts
4-5 kalamata olives, sliced
2 TB ff milk

Mix all ingredients, and pour into a spray small metal baking pan, and bake at 400F for 20min.

Taste test: Yummy!!! --- Pict with goat cheese from the farmer's market.

Mini Foccaccia

2 TB whole-grain Instabake mix
1 TB wheat bran (made from Fiber one wheat bran)
1/4 ts baking powder
1 ts herbs de provence
1/2 ts garlic power (not garlic salt!)
2 TB ff buttermilk

Mix all ingredients, and pour into a spray small metal baking pan. Spray top with olive oil spray, and add a dash more herbs de provence. Bake at 400F for 20-25min.


Multiseed Bun



This is a different version of the mini foccaccia. This one used the Trader Joe's whole-grain baking and pancake mix. It is a bit higher in fat content, so I use less of the baking mix and add any whey. It came out really crunchy and a bit sweet.

1.5 TB Trader Joe's whole grain baking mix
1 TB wheat bran (made from ground Fiber One bran cereal)
1/2 TB any whey
1/4 ts baking powder
1.5 TB ff milk
1/4 ts of white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and cumin seeds.


Mix all ingredients beside seeds in a small bowl. PAM-spray a small metal baking pan, fill with dough, and sprinkle with the seeds. Bake at 400F for 20 min.

Maine Blueberries

Instead of new recipes, an impression of a blueberry field in Maine...

Garden Fresh Salad with Vinaigrette

This is the tastiest, non-bottle, no-fat vinaigrette ever! It bursts with flavors!

Vinaigrette:
1 TB dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
1 garlic clove, microplaned
1 TB red wine vinegar (cabernet vinegar)
salt, pepper
a few splashes of liquid sweetener

Salad:
salad, fresh from the garden or farmers market

Whisk up all vinaigrette ingredients on the bottom of the salad bowl. Then, mix in the salad, and toss with vinaigrette.

Korean Spicy Miso Tofu Soup

3 cups of water
1 ts ground seafood soup mix*
1 TB of Korean miso (jung)
2 scallions, chopped
2 ts red pepper flakes or red pepper paste
2 oz firm tofu

add (optionally):
1 TB edamame
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup string beans

Boil water with dried mix. After boiling, add vegetables and simmer until tender. Take 1/4 cup of broth and mix with the miso, until miso is dissolved. Add miso broth back to soup, and mix. Add diced tofu. Serve.

Makes 2-3 cups of soup.

* Dried seafood soup mix:
1/3 cup dried anchovies,
1/3 cup dried mushroom
1/4 cup dried seaweed
1/8 cup dried shrimp

all mixed and ground into pulverized form.