happy 4th of july - wave your flag cheesecake!

happy 4th of july. i majored in early american history in college, so this time of year gives me warm fuzzies. hope it does you, too!

worst. picture. ever. i know.

celebrate with this delicious and festive dessert... and you're much better off eating this than lots of other things you could be eating this weekend!

and yes, i realize this is the worse. picture. ever. ever. ever. yikes. in my defense i was participating in the annual traditions of sit in the sun for 3 hours and watch the parade and then spend the rest of the day in and out of the water. lovely. the cheesecake looks delicious, though, right?

wave your flag cheesecake
modified from kraftrecipes.com

4 cups fresh strawberries, divided

1-1/2 cups boiling water

2 packages (3 oz. each) strawberry flavor jello

ice cubes

1 cup cold water

1 boxed yellow cake mix, baked according to directions accept use applesauce for oil and sliced into strips

1-1/3 cups blueberries (or blackberries), divided

2 packages 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 tub (8 oz.) fat free cool whip (or the store brand!)

slice 1 cup strawberries; halve remaining strawberries. set aside. add boiling water to gelatin mixes in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. add ice to cold water to measure 2 cups. add to gelatin; stir until ice is completely melted. refrigerate 5 min. or until slightly thickened.

meanwhile, line bottom of 13x9-inch dish with cake. add sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries to thickened gelatin; stir gently. spoon over cake. refrigerate 4 hours or until gelatin is firm.

beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with whisk until well blended. stir in cool whip; spread over gelatin. arrange strawberry halves on cream cheese mixture to resemble stripes of flag. add remaining blueberries for stars.

enjoy!

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by the way, i've been brunette for 3 1/2 years now, but as of next week, the blonde is back in town. i'll post pictures.

banana snack cake

this banana snack cake was just like banana bread, but you didn't have to wait an hour for it to cook! no white flour and it was completely delicious. both times i've made it it failed to last 24 hours. try it for yourself!

banana snack cake
modified from recipe at zimbio.com (here)

1 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour (toss some oats in your blender!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoonbaking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup mashed, ripened banana (i use 4 smallish bananas)
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk (original recipe called for 1/2 cup sour cream - this would be great too!)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips


preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray a 9x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

in a large bowl mix together sugar, eggs, and applesauce. add bananas, soy milk (or sour cream) and vanilla. beat again until smooth.

add the dry ingredients slowly. the batter will be thick. fold in chips.

pour batter into pan and bake for 25 to 28 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

cool completely on a wire rack. cut into 16 pieces.


and coming friday - a new skinny bovine feature! five ingredient fridays. at the request of my friend katja i will post a recipe every friday with five ingredients or less! thanks for the great suggestion, katja!

orange juice cake

this is a fool-proof recipe. there is nothing you can do to mess it up if you follow the directions. it's springy, would look lovely on your easter table and is always a crowd pleaser. and it's super simple - which makes it even better! enjoy!

orange juice cake
from: my mother-in-law

1 yellow cake mix
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
1 tablespoons flour
1 cup orange juice
4 eggs
nuts, finely chopped (optional)

pour a few chopped nuts on the bottom of a well-greased bunt pan. (i used mini bunts this time, see pic, but i wouldn't suggest it. it wasn't as good!) mix all ingredients and pour into bunt pan. bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

glaze (reduced fat version)

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup orange juice

combine in saucepan, boil 2-3 minutes. pour over hot cake while still in pan (i like to save a little bit to drizzle over the top after i turn it out). turn cake out after 15 minutes.

*glaze (regular version)

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 c orange juice

same directions as above.

*just for reference, 1 stick of butter adds 92 calories and 810 grams of fat to your cake. yikes. the entire cake has less than a 1/4 of that much fat without it.

easter dessert: no guilt carrot cake bars with cream cheese unfrosting

the babies and i have the plague over here, so i'm thinking lots of sitting around and eating sweets for easter weekend. you with me? we aren't buying any easter candy, so we'll have to get our fix through desserts.

long, long ago i wrote a post about making healthy desserts. here's a repost along with the most delicious, totally guilt-free dessert to go with it. it makes a huge 10x15 jelly roll pan, so it goes a long way. it will be sure to feed, and please, all of the mouths at your easter feast! (find original post here)

i'll post another fun, springy easter dessert tomorrow! if you want to make it, prepare ahead and make sure you have a yellow cake mix, a small box of instant vanilla pudding, eggs and orange juice. mmm....

making "healthy" desserts

i realize "healthy dessert" is an oxy moron, but there are some things you can do to make your desserts lots healthier than they start out. here are a few quick tricks, some of which i've discussed before and some of which may be new!

• make friends with your dessert. this may seem like a strange part of this list, but one of the best ways to make dessert healthier is to eat less of it! duh! get your fix in and then give lots away to your friends and neighbors. they'll appreciate it and you'll be glad you didn't get sick on your cookie dough. (i did this last week, so i would know. it was soooo yummy though... i just needed to make the cookies and get them out the door faster.)
• never use oil. if a recipe calls for oil, use applesauce or yogurt instead. 1:1 ratio works great.
• avoid recipes with lots of butter. you may often be able to find a recipe that is similar that uses oil instead of butter and then you can substitute it.
• sneak in some non-white flour. it drives my husband crazy when he knows i do this, but if he doesn't know, he often loves is and then i tell him what i did! ha! i like to use part wheat or part oat flour (put some oats in your blender for this!). i made this apple cake from elise's simplyrecipes.com a few weeks back with part wheat flour and it was fabulous!
• add wheat germ or flax seed in place of some of the flour. these are extra, super healthy for you and a little bit goes a long way. i wouldn't substitute more than 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour for these.
• cut back the sugar. this doesn't always work, but some recipes call for way too much sugar and it tastes better with less. just taste your batter to make sure you didn't take too much out. honey is expensive, but you can also use some honey instead of sugar - it's better for you!
• use fat free ingredients, even if you're usually opposed. baking is a great time to use fat free cream cheese, sour cream, milk, etc. because however much you think they taste different, it's hard to taste the difference when they're baked into things.
• make recipes that include a fruit or veggie. i love apple cake, carrot cake and zucchini bread. mmmm....

the applesauce for oil substitution will work in any recipe. try the flour and sugar ones. if it isn't yummy in one recipe try it in another!

*i wanted to use some of the homemade baby food my daughter is no longer eating so i decided to create these carrot cake bars. (have no fear, you can simply steam some carrots and run them through your blender with some water. 4 oz is about 4 ice cube sized blocks). they have no white flour, no oil or butter, lots of carrots and even the un-frosting has no butter and has less than a cup of powdered sugar instead of like 4-5 cups like normal frosting. i brought them to a church thing and people couldn't believe what wasn't in them. you can see how good they were from the picture. :)

no-guilt carrot cake bars with cream cheese un-frosting

makes 1 jelly roll pan-full

3/4 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups applesauce
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oat flour
1 cup wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ (or 1/2 cup more oat/wheat flour if you don't have wheat germ)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 (4 ounce) jar carrot baby food (or homemade baby food, see * note above)
1 cup shredded carrots (or more if you'd like!)
½ cup un sweetened shredded coconut (optional), soaked in water for 20 minutes

1. cream sugar, brown sugar and applesauce. add vanilla and eggs and cream again.

2. add oat flour, wheat flour, wheat germ, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. mix until combined. add carrot baby food and mix again until combined.

3. stir in shredded carrots and coconut.

4. bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes in a jelly roll pan (10x15 cookie sheet). done when toothpick comes out clean.

cream cheese un-frosting

whip 1 block 1/3 less fat cream cheese (softened). then add 4 tablespoons milk and ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and whip until combined. spread over carrot cake bars.

making "healthy" desserts

i realize "healthy dessert" is an oxy moron, but there are some things you can do to make your desserts lots healthier than they start out. here are a few quick tricks, some of which i've discussed before and some of which may be new!

• make friends with your dessert. this may seem like a strange part of this list, but one of the best ways to make dessert healthier is to eat less of it! duh! get your fix in and then give lots away to your friends and neighbors. they'll appreciate it and you'll be glad you didn't get sick on your cookie dough. (i did this last week, so i would know. it was soooo yummy though... i just needed to make the cookies and get them out the door faster.
• never use oil. if a recipe calls for oil, use applesauce or yogurt instead. 1:1 ratio works great.
• avoid recipes with lots of butter. you may often be able to find a recipe that is similar that uses oil instead of butter and then you can substitute it.
• sneak in some non-white flour. it drives my husband crazy when he knows i do this, but if he doesn't know, he often loves is and then i tell him what i did! ha! i like to use part wheat or part oat flour (put some oats in your blender for this!). i made this apple cake from elise's simplyrecipes.com a few weeks back with part wheat flour and it was fabulous!
• add wheat germ or flax seed in place of some of the flour. these are extra, super healthy for you and a little bit goes a long way. i wouldn't substitute more than 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour for these.
• cut back the sugar. this doesn't always work, but some recipes call for way too much sugar and it tastes better with less. just taste your batter to make sure you didn't take too much out. honey is expensive, but you can also use some honey instead of sugar - it's better for you!
• use fat free ingredients, even if you're usually opposed. baking is a great time to use fat free cream cheese, sour cream, milk, etc. because however much you think they taste different, it's hard to taste the difference when they're baked into things.
• make recipes that include a fruit or veggie. i love apple cake, carrot cake and zucchini bread. mmmm....

the applesauce for oil substitution will work in any recipe. try the flour and sugar ones. if it isn't yummy in one recipe try it in another!

i wanted to use some of the homemade baby food my daughter is no longer eating so i decided to create these carrot cake bars. (have no fear, you can simply steam some carrots and run them through your blender with some water. 4 oz is about 4 ice cube sized blocks). they have no white flour, no oil or butter, lots of carrots and even the un-frosting has no butter and has less than a cup of powdered sugar instead of like 4-5 cups like normal frosting. i brought them to a church thing and people couldn't believe what wasn't in them. you can see how good they were from the picture. :)

no-guilt carrot cake bars with cream cheese un-frosting

makes 1 jelly roll pan-full

3/4 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups applesauce
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oat flour
1 cup wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 (4 ounce) jar carrot baby food (or homemade baby food, see note above)
1 cup shredded carrots (or more if you'd like!)
½ cup un sweetened shredded coconut (optional), soaked in water for 20 minutes

1. cream sugar, brown sugar and applesauce. add vanilla and eggs and cream again.

2. add oat flour, wheat flour, wheat germ, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. mix until combined. add carrot baby food and mix again until combined.

3. stir in shredded carrots and coconut.

4. bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes in a jelly roll pan. done when toothpick comes out clean.

cream cheese un-frosting

whip 1 block 1/3 less fat cream cheese (softened). then add 4 tablespoons milk and ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and whip until combined. spread over carrot cake bars.