Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

Yesterday I wanted homemade chocolate chip cookies sooooo bad! So I decided I was going to make them today. Got into my container of baking 'stuff' and didn't have enough chocolate chips.....but I had those peppermint ones. WOW!!! These are awesome!!! Not only do they taste good, but they make the house smell good. And you know how you get that little 'gust' of hot air when you open the oven door? With these you get a minty gust of air that is amazing! These are so much better than regular ol' chocolate chip cookies!!!

CHOCOLATE MINT CHIP COOKIES

Makes @50 Cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup instant oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) light butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup Splenda granulated
½ cup fat-free egg substitute
2 tsp vanilla
1 (10 ounces) Andes® Peppermint Crunch baking chips
1/3 of a 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and Splenda on medium until creamy. Gradually add the egg substitute and the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.

Love this 'chute' attachment!!



Using a spoon or fork, mix in the peppermint and chocolate.

Place about an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes. Remove from oven.....remove from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.

MY SPIN: This is a recipe I've been using for almost 15 years but changed it up to use the peppermint instead of chocolate chunks. You can also add a cup of chopped nuts if you want to. I didn't figure up the P+ on this recipe because you might make your cookies bigger or smaller and it would also depend upon how many pieces of chocolate or peppermint in each cookie......too many variables. 

Later!

Loving Life!
Jan

Cranberry Cheesecake

Sometimes.......you just have to forget about the P+ value of something because you NEED to have this! Even though I used lighter ingredients, I just didn't want to know! Make this.....taste this.....and you'll understand why!

CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE

Makes 16 Pieces

CRUST:

2 cups reduced fat graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup light butter, melted

TOPPING:

1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries
2/3 cup Splenda granulated
1/3 cup water

FILLING:

4 packages (8 ounces) Neufchatel cream cheese
1 cup Splenda granulated
½ tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cup fat-free egg substitute

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray a 9” springform pan and place on a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Wrap foil around the pan. Place on a baking sheet; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and butter and then press in the bottom of the pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

While the crust is cooking, place the topping ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook uncovered over medium heat until the berries start popping, @15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the filling, put all the ingredients EXCEPT the egg substitute in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually add the egg substitute until just blended.

 

Pour the filling into the pan. Take @1/4 cup of the topping and swirl it into/onto the filling using a knife.

Place the pan into a large baking dish; add 1” of water (to keep the cake from cracking). Bake @75 minutes or until the center is set and jiggles slightly. Remove pan from water and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake using a knife and remove the foil. Cool 1 hour more. Pour remaining topping over the cheesecake and spread.

Put the cake in the refrigerator and when completely cooled, cover.

MY SPIN: I didn't even want to think about the P+ value of this, considering it has 4 packages of cream cheese!

Later!

Loving Life!

Jan

Crock Pot Cube Steak & Gravy

This is a recipe that has been going around Facebook for a while.  The original recipe.....the 'chef' said it wasn't very pretty.....but I'd have to disagree. This is super easy to make and delicious!

CROCK POT CUBE STEAK & GRAVY

Makes @4 Servings

 

 

Cube steak (2 – 3 pounds)
2 cans (10.75 ounce size) cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
3/4 cup water

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low @5 hours.

MY SPIN: I got this recipe from thepost-itplace.com and the directions said to cook on low all day. I cooked it for @7 hours and thought that was way too long. This can be served over/with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. I did NOT figure up the P+ value for this because there are too many 'variables' (what kind of soup you use.....what you serve it over/with.....and how much you'd put on your plate.

Later!
Loving Life!
Jan

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

I've done a Pumpkin Pie Pudding before, but it was done in a crockpot.  This one is easy....just a lot of 'stirring constantly'.

PUMPKIN PIE PUDDING

Makes 4 Servings

1 Serving = 2 PointsPlus®

6 TBSP Splenda granulated
2 TBSP cornstarch
1 ¾ cups fat-free milk
¼ cup fat-free egg substitute
1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Combine the Splenda and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

In a small bowl, combine the milk and egg substitute. Gradually add this to the Splenda mixture, stirring constantly, bringing to a boil. Cook for 1 minute after it boils, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

In another small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add this to the milk mixture in the pan, whisking constantly. Place pan over low heat and cook for 3 minutes until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL!!!

Divide pudding evenly into 4 dessert dishes and cover surface with plastic wrap. Chill.

MY SPIN: I chilled for a couple of hours and it was good. BUT.....it was better the next day. This can be served 'as is' or with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping.

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court!!   *** The PointsPlus® value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark. ***

Later!

Loving life!
Jan

Walnut Pumpkin Pie Cake

I wasn't really going to bake anything today....was going to have a nice, easy Thanksgiving with just about everything pre-made and all I'd have to do is warm it up. Well, 'life' got in the way and I really needed some Kitchen Therapy! Dug through some recipes waiting in a folder and came up with this. I guess I will be glad I needed some KT because this is really delicious! I wish I had made this earlier and shared so YOU could have made it for your Thanksgiving!

WALNUT PUMPKIN PIE CAKE

Makes 16 Servings at 7 PointsPlus® a Piece

OR

Makes 20 Servings at 5 PointsPlus® a Piece

1 can (15.5 oz) pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)

1 can (12 oz.) fat-free evaporated milk
¾ cup fat-free egg substitute
1 ½ cups Splenda granulated
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp salt
1 box (16 oz.) Pillsbury Moist Supreme Sugar Free Classic Yellow Cake Mix
1 cup (2 sticks) light butter, melted
1 cup chopped walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg substitute, pumpkin pie spice and salt until well blended.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pan. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin and drizzle with the melted butter.

 

 

 

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts. Tightly cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 25 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack complete.

MY SPIN: This originally called for pecans, but I didn't have any and like walnuts better anyway! This can be served 'as is' or with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping.

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court!!   *** The PointsPlus® value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark. ***

 

Later!

Loving life!

Jan

Pumpkin Raisin Bread

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and I thought this would be a nice little bread to make to go along with your Thanksgiving breakfast.....if you're eating breakfast. Or it could be all you have for breakfast if you're "saving" your appetite for the feast!  For the folks (whom I miss dearly) that used to come to my WW meetings....remember.....it's a HoliDAY.....not a HoliWEEKEND!!!!  And remember to stuff the turkey, not yourself!  :-)

PUMPKIN RAISIN BREAD

Makes 2 Loaves = 20 Slices

1 Slice = 3 PointsPlus®

3 cups Splenda granulated
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup fat-free egg substitute
16 ounces (1 15-oz can + 2 TBSP) pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup water
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 2 9x5 loaf pans; set side.

Don't forget to spray your pans on the door of your dishwasher to save cleaning up the overspray.

In a large mixing bowl, stir or mix together the Splenda and applesauce. Mix in the egg substitute and pumpkin.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Alternately add the dry ingredients and water to the applesauce/egg substitute mixture until well combined.

Using a spatula, fold in the raisins.

Divide the batter between the 2 loaf pans. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes in the pans and then on a wire rack to cool completely.

MY SPIN: I love cinnamon......I used a heaping tsp of cinnamon.

Yum!!!

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court!!   *** The PointsPlus® value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark. ***

Later!

Loving life!
Jan