My name is Tracy and I have a sweet tooth. Always have. Probably always will. There’s nothing inherently wrong with those
of us who need a little something sweet everyday. (In fact, I like to think it makes us extra sweet people. Yeah, I know. Whatever, right?) But too much sugar
is definitely not a good thing. So how do you satisfy the sweet tooth without sabotaging the diet?
Tanya Friesen of Ette Nutrition, a website that promotes healthy family living, says it can be done.
The trick isn’t to avoid your favorite sugar-filled snacks altogether, but rather enjoy a lower calorie treat, yet similar
alternative.
This Strawberry Banana Sorbet is a great way to tame that sweet tooth while gaining vital
nutrients. Most importantly, you won’t feel like you’re depriving yourself of your favorite treats,
which can help you stick with your weight loss journey for the long run.
Strawberry Banana Sorbet
Ingredients
¾ cup Sobe Lifewater Strawberry Dragonfruit Flavor
1 (14 oz.) package Dole Ready-Cut Fruit Strawberries & Bananas (for best results allow to thaw for 15 minutes)
4 Pure Stevia packets
Directions:
1 Place all ingredients into a Vitamix container or use a blender. Secure lid.
2 Select Low speed. Turn machine on and then switch to High speed. Use a tamper to press the
ingredients into the blades.
3 Mix for 30 to 60 seconds. Stop machine. Do not over mix or melting will occur. Divide recipe evenly
into 4 serving dishes and serve immediately .
Nutritional Information: Serving Size: ¼ of recipe, Serving Per Recipe 4, Total Fat 0g, Total Carbohydrates
18g, Protein 1g
I have to admit I haven’t always been on board when someone suggests I substitute a favorite ingredient for something more healthful. Don’t get me wrong sometimes it’s a giant hit (non-fat Greek yogurt can be a nice substitute for sour cream or mayonnaise), but other times it falls far short (I have a hard time using applesauce instead of butter or sugar when I bake.) But in the case of today’s recipe, I’m happy to say this healthful substitution is a home run.
It’s called Cauliflower Crust Pizza and it’s from my friend Tanya Friesen, the owner of Ette Lifestyle, a business which helps families lead healthier lives.
It sounds a little odd, but using cauliflower in your pizza crust is a great idea and it saves on calories and carbohydrates while increasing your fiber intake.
BBQ Chicken Cauliflower Pizza
CRUST:
1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1/4 cup Mozzarella 2% Shredded Cheese (or try another kind!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
TOPPINGS:
¼ cup Kraft Honey Barbecue Sauce
¼ cup Onion
4 oz. Deli-fresh Grilled Chicken Breast, diced (or use fresh)
1/2 cup 2% Mexican Style Shredded Cheese
Directions:
1. Rice cauliflower into small crumbles. You can use the food processor if you’d like, but you
just want crumbles, not puree. You’ll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles
(which is about half a large head of cauliflower). Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl
and microwave for 8 minutes.
2. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan
with nonstick spray or place a piece of parchment paper on pan. In a medium bowl, mix the
cauliflower crumbles with the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the “crust” into a 9 to 12-inch
round on the prepared pan. Bake cauliflower crust for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the
crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.
3. Prepare the pizza: Spread the BBQ sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border
around the edge. Sprinkle chicken, onion and cheese on top. Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes,
or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into 4 slices and serve
immediately.
Nutritional Information: Serving Size ¼ of pizza, Serving Per Recipe: 4, Total Fat 6g, Total Carbohydrates
14g, Protein 16g.
Find this recipe and many more at facebook.com/ettelifestyle or learn more about losing weight without
losing the lifestyle by visiting www.ettelifestyle.com. Tanya will also be starting a new blog on Areavoices in the coming weeks.
Is there anything good about this winter not wanting to end? An outdoor Easter egg hunt next week doesn’t look like a good idea, it’s hard to imagine we’ll be playing any rounds of golf anytime soon, and lazy days at the lake seem as far away as ever. Now that I’ve depressed all of us, let’s try and look on the bright side. There are no mosquitoes and there’s still time to enjoy warm, gooey comfort desserts that seem tastiest on blustery days.
Hannah Johnson is the host of Concordia College’s Cooking show and also a reporter at KVRR-TV. We wanted to get her off campus to share some of her favorite recipes.This one just happens to be one of those sweet concoctions that seem best suited for cold days. Johnson says her grandmother makes these Peanut Butter Oat Bars. She says she and her family enjoy them every year and they’re really easy to make. If we must endure winter in March at least we can make it a little sweeter.
Peanut Butter Oat Bars:
2/3 cup butter melted
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla
4 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
Topping:
1 cup milk chocolate chips (Hannah prefers milk chocolate. Tracy votes semi-sweet).
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla: gradually add the oatmeal. Press into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake 400 degrees for 12 – 14 min or until edges are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, for topping, melt chips and peanut butter in micro or saucepan. Stir until blended. Spread over warm bars. Cool completely; refrigerate for 2-3 hours before cutting.
When you’re talking about St. Patrick’s Day cuisine most likely the staples come to mind: corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and of course green beer. But how often do you hear about dessert? We know the Irish are a fun-loving people so why wouldn’t they enjoy something sweet after dinner? One of my favorite Irish people certainly does. Kathleen Boyle Wrigley is North Dakota’s 2nd lady (husband Drew Wrigley is the lieutenant governor). She says growing up in Philadelphia, St. Patrick’s Day was always a big deal for her very Irish family and Irish Potato Candies were a must for dessert.
This recipe doesn’t actually use any potatoes. The sweet candied balls rolled in cinnamon simply look like potatoes. Consider it a sweet nod to Irish culinary culture. For your St. Patrick’s Day party plate them surrounding a loaf of Irish soda bread or serve them along with a glass of Bailey’s Irish Crème. I think they’re also good served with graham crackers or vanilla wafers. They’re super easy to make, so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the party – green beer and all!
Irish Potato Candies
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter, softened
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 -5 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1-2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth. Mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.
You know you’ve thought it. You see a recipe on Pinterest and you think, “Well that’s great! But I could never make that!” Well, that’s what Areavoices blogger Shannon Olson once thought. An untrained baker, she’s become a local expert on fun creative, cake decorating and she says it’s easier than you might think. Take for example fondant. The smooth, beautiful frosting looks difficult to master and you’d think you had to spend a lot of money to get the look. But Olson shows us how to make your own fondant. In this case, she’s using it to make a cake that looks like a box of popcorn.
Fondant Covered “Popcorn” Cake
1 prepared cake, cooled and sliced in half. (Shannon used a pan that was 8 X 9.5 X 3 Pyrex 2.75 liter glass pan.)
caramel popcorn
Fondant ingredients:
16 ounces mini marshmallows
2-5 Tablespoons water
2 pounds powdered sugar
Crisco (white not butter flavored)
Icing ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
4 c powdered sugar (adjust to consistency needed)
1/4 c milk
2 tsp vanilla
To make the fondant place place marshmallows and 2 Tbs. water in a microwavable bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and stir. Continue heating 15 to 20 sec, stirring in between, adding additional water if needed until smooth and completely melted.
Stir in 3/4 bag of powdered sugar.
Grease counter top or board with Crisco, pour out fondant.
Grease hands and begin kneading, working in more sugar if needed. Fondant should end up being smooth, not dry and not sticky. If it gets too dry add a very small amount of water.
Take about ¼ of it and mix in red food coloring.
Store red and white fondant in plastic wrap. Set aside.
Icing ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
4 c powdered sugar (adjust to consistency needed)
1/4 c milk
2 tsp vanilla
Cream butter, add 4 c powdered sugar, milk and extract. Add remaining sugar until smooth spreadable consistency.
When cake is completely cooled, cut it to the desired size for your popcorn box. Spread the icing on the cake. Don’t worry about whether crumbs mix in with the frosting. This layer of frosting is simply the glue that will hold the fondant in place. Appearance doesn’t matter. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Take fondant out of plastic wrap. Cover countertop or workspace with powdered sugar and begin to roll out the fondant to the size needed to cover your cake. Roll out red fondant as well and make the red stripes for the popcorn box. Carefully place white fondant over the top of the cake with an opening at the top. Place red stripes on top of the white fondant. Place caramel corn at the opening of the cake. Refrigerate until it’s served.
For more ideas on cake decorating or vintage decorating check out Shannon Olson’s blog at http://vintagenorthdakotakitchen.areavoices.com
I remember, years ago, when I worked in television news a handful of reporters, photographers and producers were sitting around eating burgers for lunch. I noticed every single one of us had picked the tomatoes and onions off of our sandwiches. They just laid there on the wrappers discarded like the garbage we thought they were.
All of us – tomato and onion haters. At the time I figured it was some sort of weird personality flaw. Maybe those of us with the skills to be journalists conversely lacked the tastebuds to enjoy tomatoes and onions.
But I now realize were weren’t alone. Tomatoes and onions are among the most disliked foods in America. Tomato haters even have their own webpage: Anti-Tomato.com (“We hate tomatoes. And we want to eradicate the seed from the earth”) and their own Facebook page, Anti-Tomato Squad (“dedicated to the warriors who hate tomatoes”).
But I believe I might have changed my tune back in the 1990′s when my sister, Cheryl Lausch, found a recipe in Gourmet magazine that meant all bets were off. It used the hated tomato and onion and made them absolutely delightfully delicious. They became part of a buttery, cheesy, rich tart that melted in my mouth. It’s worth a try. It might be time to make up with the tomato and onion. Watch us make it in this week’s “The Great Indoors with Tracy Briggs” on shesaystv.areavoices.com.
TOMATO ONION TART
2 large onions (about 1 1/2 pounds), sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
Butter pastry dough for a single-crust 12-inch tart (see recipe below. You can also use a store bought pie shell)
1/2 pound Jack or Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/2 pound plum tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/2 pound medium yellow tomatoes (about 2) or 1/2 pound plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/4 cup Niçoise olives, pitted
In a large heavy skillet cook onions with salt to taste in oil, covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 20 minutes. Remove lid and cook onions, stirring occasionally, until golden and any liquid evaporates. Remove skillet from heat to cool onions slightly.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll dough into a 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Fold round in half and transfer to a 12-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim or a 12-inch quiche dish. Unfold dough, easing to fit, and trim overhang to 3/4 inch. Fold overhang toward center and press against side of pan or dish. Spread onion mixture over dough and top with cheese. Arrange tomato wedges and olives in concentric circles over cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Bake tart in middle of oven 1 hour, or until pastry is golden, and cool on a rack. Remove rim of pan if necessary.
Serve tart warm or at room temperature.
Butter Pastry Dough
(Makes enough dough for a single-crust 12-inch tart)
May be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
6 to 7 tablespoons ice water
In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt and with a pastry blender or fingertips blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough. On a work surface smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions with heel of hand to slightly develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour. Pastry dough may be made 1 week ahead and chilled.
My mom was a great cook. Our Christmas dinners were a delicious array of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and my dad’s favorite: peas with those little pearl onions. But I was never a big fan of one dish on our holiday table: jellied cranberry sauce.
I can still hear that “Bah-lub” sound as the jellied mass plopped out of the can onto the plate; the ridges of the can imprinted on the sides.
My sister, Cheryl Lausch, loved that cranberry sauce. That’s why it’s a little ironic that she is the creator of a cranberry sauce that ended up giving the jarred sauce it’s walking papers.
Several years ago, at a holiday dinner Cheryl unveiled her Cranberry Orange Relish. For those of us who weren’t fans of the jellied sauce, this was a sweet and tarty dream come true.
It fresh, crunchy, and refreshing. It’s super easy to make. And best of all, there are no ridges on the sides.Watch us make it in this weeks “The Great Indoors with Tracy Briggs” on shesaystv.areavoices.com.
CHERYL’S CRANBERRY ORANGE RELISH
1 Bag of Fresh Cranberries
1 Orange – peeled and sectioned (as much white coating taken off as possible)
1 Green Apple – cut in sections, (peeling is optional)
1 large can of pineapple chunks
1 cup of sugar
Put cranberries, orange sections, apple sections and pineapple chunks into food processor. Chop until it reaches the consistency of relish. (But if you like it chunkier, don’t mix as long.)
One of my favorite parts about working in radio a few years back was meeting some great people. One of the greatest of the greats is Paul Bougie.
Many of you know “Bouge.” He’s quite the man about town. In fact, just about anytime the two of us would go out for a remote broadcast or even just to lunch, someone would know Bouge.
One of Bouge’s favorite things to do, besides driving his Harley and singing with The Front Fenders is Bison Tailgating. Bouge and a group of good friends have been tailgating together for years. They’re part of a breed of tailgaters who kick it up a notch with mobile homes, heaters and cushy places to sit. But most of all these tailgating titans have created a new standard in tailgate food. Gone are the hot dogs and hamburgers replaced by gourmet fare that rivals the best restaurants in town.
So when Bouge invited me out to join the party how could I say “no?” Actually, as a UND grad and a lover of the warmth of my own home on a chilly morning I thought about it, but then my stomach started growling when he talked about his recipe for Scotch Eggs. So I had to dig up an old Bison sweatshirt and find Bouge. I’m glad I did.
A dozen eggs
One package Canadian bacon or Ham
One package bacon – uncooked
1-2 packages of ground sausage – any flavor
Oatmeal
Serves 12
Hard boil a dozen egg, cool and peel. Wrap each egg in Canadian bacon or ham – enough to cover the egg. Cook bacon slightly. Just until it’s partially cooked. Do not drain it. Wrap bacon around Canadian bacon wrapped egg. Mold ground sausage around the egg. Roll egg in oatmeal. Oatmeal should stick because of the bacon fat. Wrap each egg in foil and place on the grill or in the oven for 15-20 minutes, just enough to thoroughly cook the bacon and warm the entire egg. You can also deep fat fry the eggs.
*****After initially posting the above recipe, some avid tailgaters wanted MORE detail. So I got back to Bouge he made it even more clear. So here it is: Scotch Eggs in greater detail from: http://www.johnnyroadtrip.com/tailgating/recipes/scotcheggs.htm
Like Superbowl Sunday is to the football fan, Chocolate Fantasy is to the chocoholic. This is the 29th time the YWCA of Cass/Clay is hosting it’s Chocolate Fantasy fundraiser (a few years ago, they added chili to the event.)
Tracy Briggs has a look at the hottest and yummiest chocolate delicacies this time around.
