Good-Bye Summer. . . Hello Fall

With September in full swing, we can finally enjoy Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the cool and crisp weather as the red, orange, and yellow leaves scatter on the ground. Oh I just love fall! By favorite part of Fall is Apple season. Nothing tastes better than a crispy apply, freshly picked from a tree. I love going up to Oak Glen around this time of the year in So Cal when the weather starts to cool off and sample all the different apples and drink hot apple cider while visiting all the random stores, picking apples, and feeding the animals at the animal park.

Picking apples straight from the tree leads to some great great low calorie, low fat recipes… grocery store apples just can’t compare to the taste of those from the tree. If you are obsessed with apples like me, than you will love this recipe!Picking apples straight from the tree leads to some great great low calorie, low fat recipes… grocery store apples just can’t compare to the taste of those from the tree. If you are obsessed with apples like me, than you will love this recipe!

* * Crustless Apple Pie Recipe * *

Ingredients

6 apples

1/2 cup splenda or 1 tsp Stevia

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbs. lemon juice

1/4 cup splenda or 1/2 tsp Stevia

2 tbs. white flour

1/4 cup wheat flour

3 tbs. butter

Directions:

1. Peel, core and cut up the apples. Mix in with the sugar and spices and lemon juice.

2. Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar, flours, and butter, then sprinkle over top.

3. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes

Serving Size: 9

Less than 150 calories per serving!

Ah… I can smell the aroma of baked apples and cinnamon filtering through my house! Now to wait till this weather cools off so I can go pick me some apples to bake!Ah… I can smell the aroma of baked apples and cinnamon filtering through my house! Now to wait till this weather cools off so I can go pick me some apples to bake!

Question: What’s your favorite Apple brand and what do you like to eat them with?

I love Pink Lady apples. Use to love eating them with Peanut Butter until I became allergic to it

A Success indeed! No more chewy spinach smoothies

… I have successfully made my very first green monster smoothie

Thanks to all you that commented and gave me such wonderful advice on making these smoothies.

I went out that night and bought some fresh spinach!

Top Advice: Fresh Spinach! Me being the cheap person that I am thought I would save money on buying frozen spinach. Well, if you like to chew your smoothies, then go for it. For me, I’m all about the puree!

And really, fresh spinach isn’t expensive, so I pretty much wasted my time on the frozen spinach.

I thought this morning I would attempt the Virgin Green Monster Smoothie Recipe from the Green Monster Movement.

- 1 frozen banana

- 1 cup Almond Milk

- 2 cups spinach

- 6 ice cubes

- A dash of Stevia

The recipe doesn’t call for sweetener, but I have a huge sweet tooth so I added this in at the end.

OMG! This stuff is amazing. Seriously people, if you haven’t tried it, you need to. I promise you that you won’t taste the spinach… unless you are like me in round one and aim for a chewy smoothie with frozen spinach. There are just some things you can’t go cheap on

What are you waiting for… go make one all ready!

Question: What type of Green Monster Smoothie did you make this morning?

In honor of my previous post on smoothies, I thought I would take it upon myself to try the newest craze I’ve been reading about. Green Monsters. These smoothies are made with a key ingredient, kale or spinach.

I know, I know! Gross, right? Well evidently all it is all said and done, you can’t even taste the spinach. You simply combine spinach or kale with your favorite fruits and voila… you have a Green Monster.

Angela over at the Oh She Glows first started this craze. Evidently these smoothies are suppose to give you huge benefits. Increases Energy levels. Decrease consumption of oils and fats in your diet. You start craving more veggies and less sweets… now that is what i need. I have a huge sweet tooth! You can read more about these healthy drinks HERE.

So, I woke up this morning excited to try it out. After my 5 mile run I thought a Green Monster Smoothie would be a perfect way to refuel and start off my day

. . . hmmm

Lets just say, my first attempt this morning didn’t go as planned

I pulled out all my ingredients…

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

2 cups spinach

1 cup Almond Milk

I don’t know what happened with the spinach, but it is way too chunky! Maybe it was due to the fact that I used frozen spinach or the blender was messed up? I don’t know. It just wouldn’t blend and now I sit here chewing on my drink.

Any suggestions?

For those of you who have not tried a Green Monster Smoothie, head on over to Angela’s site. She has tons of great recipes to try. Hopefully yours won’t be so chunky like mine

And for the Pro Green Monster Smoothie Makers out there, leave your favorite recipe in the comments section for all of us newbies to try out.

Has anyone tried Fiber One’s four newest additions to the family?

In honor of my previous post on the important of fiber, I am pleased to announce that Fiber One has joined up with Yoplait yogurt to create four great tasting yogurts… and it’s Hungry-girl approved!

Personally I am not a huge fan of Yoplait yogurt, but when I saw that Fiber One came out with these bad boys I thought I might just give them a try. Most Yoplait yogurts are loaded with sugar, but these are only 4g! With a whooping 50 calories, 0g fat, and 5g of fiber you are sure to stay within your calorie range for the day.

Unlike most loaded fiber products, these taste nothing close to cardboard or chalk … really, none of Fiber Ones products that I have tried come even close to those descriptions. I tried their strawberry flavor, which was amazing! They also come in peach, vanilla, and key lime.

Since we are on the topic of my one true love, I though I would share with you one of my favorite yogurt recipe that is extremely simple to make!

Yogurt Pie . . . A sweet, low fat, low calorie dessert that is to die for!

PIE SHELL

Ingredients:

* 2 cups Fiber One Cereal

* 4 tbsp. LAND O LAKES Whipped Light Butter; melted

Directions:

- Begin by preheating oven to 350 degrees.

- In a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One to a breadcrumb-like consistency.

- Combine crumbs with melted butter and stir until well mixed.

- In an oven-safe pie dish sprayed with nonstick spray, evenly distribute Fiber One mixture, using your hands or a flat utensil to press & form the crust. Use your fingers to press it into the edges and up along the sides of the dish.

- Bake pie shell for 10 minutes. Set aside.

PIE FILLING

Ingredients:

* 2 containers (6oz each) Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt

* 1 tub (8oz) Fat-Free Cool Whip

Directions:

- In a large mixing bowl, combine fat-free yogurt and cool whip

- Pour mixture into pie shell and freeze

- Place in refrigerator (uncovered) at least two hours or until set

For this recipe, strawberry yogurt is my favorite but any flavor works.

What flavor would you choose?

Some people think Quaker Rice Cakes taste like cardboard, but I love them! These crunchy cakes range anywhere from 35-60 calories with flavors including plain, chocolate, peanut butter chocolate chip, caramel, cinnamon apple, popcorn and cheddar.

The mini snack cakes have even better flavors ranging from mint chocolate chip, cinnamon streusel, peanut butter, white chocolate drizzle, and sour cream and onion… just to name a few and have only 60 calories for approximately 8 rice cakes. Swoop those sour cream and onion lays for these rice cakes and you save 100’s of calories and fat!

What most people don’t know is that you can do so many different things with Quaker Rice Cakes. You can make anything from mini meals to delicious low calorie desserts. Create some excitement with your Quaker Rice Cakes with these simple, low calories, low fat recipes:

Guiltless Pizza

(80 calories, 2 weight watcher point)

*1 Quaker Salt Free Rice Cake

* Fat Free Pizza Sauce

* Chopped Veggies

* Fat Free Shredded Cheese

BBQ Chicken Salad

(100 calories, 2 weight watcher points)

* 1 Quaker Salt Free Rice Cake

* Cooked Shredded Chicken

* Barbecue Sauce

* Chopped Onions

* Fat Free Sharp Cheddar Cheese

* Chopped Cilantro

Mini Nacho Dippers

(200 calories, 3 weight watcher points)

* 9 Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks, Nacho Cheese

* Old El Paso Fat Free Refried Beans

* Fat Free Sour Cream

* Salsa (Mild, Medium or Hot)

* Optional: slices of jalapenos and/or black olives

Mexican Pizza

(100 calories, 2 weight watcher points)

* 1 Quaker Salt Free Rice Cake

* Fat Free Refried Beans

* Salsa

* Diced Tomatoes

* Chopped Green Chilies, Green Peppers, and Onions

* Chopped green peppers

* Fat Free Shredded Cheese

Tuna Delight

(100 calories, 3 weight watcher points)

* 1 Quaker Salt Free Rice Cake

* Tuna in Brine or Water

* Chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green apples, green chili

* Fat Free Mayo

Banana Nut Caramel Chocolate Crunch

(110 calories, 2 weight watcher points )

* 1 Quaker Caramel Rice Cakes

* Fat Free Chocolate Syrup

* Chopped Peanuts

* Fat Free Caramel Sauce

* Slices of Banana

* Fat Free Whipped Topping

Berries and Granola

(80 calories, 1 point weight watchers)

* 1 Quaker Cinnamon Toast Cakes

* Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt

* Blueberries and Raspberries

*100% Natural Low Fat Granola with Raisins

Key Lime Pie

* 1 Quaker Cinnamon Toast Cakes

* Soft Low Fat Cream Cheese

* Splenda

* Vanilla Extract

* Lemon Juice

Peanut Butter N’ Marshmallow Crunch Cake

(168 calories, 4 weight weight points)

* 1 Quaker Caramel Rice Cakes

* Marshmallow Creme (room temp.)

* Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter (room temp.)

* Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

They also are great crumbled up in yogurt or in ice cream

for a low calorie / low fat version of granola!

So how do you like to eat your rice cakes?

I have to admit… I am a recovering frozen yogurt addict soley on the fact that frozen yogurt is a half hour away. Stating that I have an obsession with frozen yogurt would be a huge understatement. At one point I had it every day. Soon enough I just ended up getting a frozen yogurt machine to save me money.

Frozen yogurt has become the new starbucks craze for many areas. Many people are talking about Golden Spoon, Pinkberry, Yogurtland, Red Mango, and Mojos. Some are served for you, others you serve yourself, and the latest one I found had a coldstone feel where they mixed in your toppings for you. You can get sweet flavors, fruity flavors, or the tart ones.

I love how there are so many options at each place!

With all the talk of frozen yogurt, the best part is that there are so many health benefits to them. Here are some to name a few:

* Aids in digestion

* Boosts immune system

* Has Beneficial Metabolic effects

My dad and I always go to Golden Spoon when I come to visit!

* Lowers cholesterol

* Low in sodium

* Low in calorie

* Overcome lactose intolerance

* High in calcium for strong bones and teeth

* A good source of protein

* Stops acne

* Contains the vitamins B12 and riboflavin.

* Contain live and active bacteria cultures including S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. lactis and L. acidophilus

So, with all these health benefits, is frozen yogurt

any healthier than ice cream?

Frozen yogurt’s nutritional content is different for each place, so be careful. While most are fat-free, there are several out there that are not. Many frozen yogurts are high in sugar as well, so look for those sugar-free signs.

A normal serving of ice cream is anywhere from a half to a cup of ice cream,  but when it comes to frozen yogurt, many people are getting double to triple  the amount, especially with those self-serve places. A large frozen yogurt can  add up to anywhere from 225-325 calories! It might be the fact that frozen  yogurt has been coined “healthy” so people feel that they can eat more.

Personally I think the frozen yogurt industry has taken the word “yogurt”  and stretched it as far as it can to make people think that they are eating  natural yogurt, so people tend to over eat it and consume way too much

… speaking of myself, I can consume 32 oz of Golden Spoon in one sitting!

So, in conclusion, yes frozen yogurt has many health benefits and yes it is much lower in calories and fat in comparison to ice cream. But like everything, it is good in moderation… so swap that large cone for a small.

*

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As some of you have noticed, I have become obsessed with watermelon. Living in the desert where it’s been over 100 degrees day in and day out has made me crave anything and everything that is cool and crispy.

Need a low calorie, non-fat, sugar-free dessert of the 4th of July weekend? Try this recipe!
My grandmother always makes this for me when I come out to visit.

Crystal Light Pie

ENJOY!

60 calorie Sugar-Free Jello Pudding snackpack with Fat Free Cool Whip
. . . and it’s under 100 calories!

Throw it in the freezer for an hour and you have a nice frozen treat!