So-Good Chocolate Chip Softies

Why am I always posting sweet stuff? Oh well. This recipe is from HG's 200 Under 200 cookbook. I made these yummy chocolate chip cookies tonight. I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, which made these totally awesome! I also had to use raspberry acai applesauce since I was out of plain, but it didn't change the flavor at all. These are so good, I wish the recipe made more than 8. I'm going to have to try and double the recipe one day.

Creamy Hot Apple B-Fast with Brown Sugar Crunch

Another HG recipe from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. It was freezing when I woke up this morning, so I decided to make something nice and hot for breakfast.

Nice and hot apple crunch. Yum! I did make a few changes to recipe based on what I have in the house right now. I didn't have any vanilla pudding mix, so I subbed in some more corn starch and used milk instead of water. Also, I couldn't find the brown sugar nature valley bars, so I used the oat and honey ones.

This is seriously the best recipe for breakfast in the fall. Hot, gooey, apples and cinnamon...*sigh*...good stuff. And, with the changes made to the recipe, about 231 calories for the huge bowl :)

Sugar Donut Muffins, Part II

Okay, remember yesterday, how I said if I tried making the Sugar Donut Muffins again, I would use cider? Well, I tried it out this afternoon and Oh.My.God. These things are amazing.

They look delicious, right? I made a few more changes to the recipe I posted yesterday.

• Substituted sweet apple cider for the milk and melted butter


• Halved the amount of sugar used for the topping


• Added about a teaspoon of cinnamon into the sugar

Al these changes made it so that each mini muffin is...*drum roll*...29 calories!!!!!!!! Whoo!!!! These taste exactly like the donuts at the orchard, except no frying or pounds of butter :D . Knowing my dad, these will definitely be gone by tomorrow.

Sugar Donut Muffins

I'm finding it harder and harder to make Hungry Girl recipes because some of the ingredients are so hard to find. Because of this, the focus of this blog will no longer be solely HG, but just on healthy alternatives for everyday recipes. Anyhooo, onto the baking. It was rainy and cold here today, so I made these Sugar Donut Muffins to warm the house up. The original recipe is by Anniebakes, but I modified several things to make it low calorie. My modified recipe:

• 3/4 c. Splenda


• 1/4 c. Egg Beaters


• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/4 tsp. salt


• 1/4 c. no sugar added applesauce


• 3/4 c. skim milk


• 1 tsp. vanilla extract


• 2 tbsp. Smart Balance, melted


• 1/2 c. sugar


• cinnamon

I substituted no sugar added applesauce for the oil, egg beaters for the egg, and Splenda for the sugar. I also added a dash of cinnamon of the muffins (after I took the picture). I calculated it out to be around 40 calories per muffin (the recipe made 36 mini muffins).

These are really good. They kindof remind me of the apple cider donuts that the store at the orchard makes. I'm thinking that, next time, I'll substitute cider instead of milk and melted butter.

Jelly-Filled Cupcakes

Last night, Sam and I made the "Jelly-Filled Cupcakes" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. These things are SO.GOOD. The recipe calls for strawberry jelly, but we used sugar-free blackberry jam instead. It goes perfectly with the yellow cake.

Mac and Cheese

This recipe is from the Cook This, Not That cookbook. Its not the healthiest thing ever, but it is a good sub for my grandma's famous (fat-loaded) homemade mac and cheese. I halved the recipe (3 servings instead of 6) since these servings are HUGE! I also did not add the jalepeno and ham, since that just weirds me out. Even thought I didn't get to use the cheese I wanted (it was moldy..boo), but it still came out fantastic.

Polka Dot Brownies

No Hungry Girl recipes today, but I do have a few low cal recipes that I feel like posting. First up, Polka dot Brownies. We made No Pudge, according to the box, but decided it needed something more. Since the batter was too thick to mix in chips, we sprinkled white chocolate chips on top befor we baked them. They looked like polka dots, hence the name. These things are absolutely sinful. No Pudge is amazing by itself, but the white chocolate chips just put it over the top.

Oat-rageous Chocolate Chip Pancake Minis

This morning, for breakfast, I made the "Oat-rageous Chocolate Chip Pancake Minis" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. Chocolate chip pancakes are my favorite breakfast ever, so it's nice to have a low cal option . I did double the chocolate chips (1 tbsp, instead of 1/2) since I was craving chocolate this morning, but that still keeps it under 200 cals for 5 mini pancakes. So good!

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Muffins

Last night, my friend and I made some "Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Muffins" from the original Hungry Girl cookbook. We did add some chocolate chips and a cherry (from the leftover pie filling) on top to give it a little something extra. Usually we make these with Reduced Fat Brownie mix, but Christmas Tree Shop was having a sale on No Pudge, so we used that. They are amazing with the No Pudge, much richer than the RF brownies. We've been making these for a while, and they are probably my favorite HG recipe.

Chocolate Marshmallow Madness Cupcakes

The recipe is from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. Yummy, yummy chocolate cupcakes with fluff glaze and mini marshmallows and morsels. I've made these a bunch of times, and they are AMAZING!!! I doubled the recipe for the glaze since it really isn't enough for 12 cupcakes, but that seemed a bit much for these. I'll probably 1.5 the recipe next time to see if that works. If you ever make these for a party or get together, make them right before, not the night before. Overnight, the glaze melts down into the cupcake so they don't look as pretty.

Top Banana Bread

Today, mom and I made some "Top Banana Bread" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. (I also made another batch of the Tutti Fruitti Biscuits...yum!) I'm so glad HG made this recipe. Banana bread is one of my favorite things ever, but it can be soooo fattening. This is a great sub. The slices are huge, and are each under 150 calories. Even my dad loves this bread, and its hard to get him to eat anything low fat/cal. We did add one more banana to the recipe since we had 4 that were about to go, and you can't go wrong with more banana. The loaf will probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon.

Egg Mug Lorraine

For breakfast this morning, I made the "Egg Mug Lorraine" from the Hungry Girl 1-2-3 cookbook. Another really unphotogenic one, sorry! I've made this before, and it has to be my favorite breakfast ever. The only problem I have with it, is that its kinda bland, and needs salt added.

Apple Fritters

Next up, "Apple Fritters" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook.

These are SO GOOD!! I thought that they would be small (since they're only about 95 calories a piece), so I was only going to make 6, instead of 12. Well, I was wrong. I ended up making 10 really good sized fritters. Next time, I'll just make the 12. These really remind me of apple turnovers, which is my weakness, so now I have a super low-cal substitute! I'll definitely make these again.

Hungry Girlfredo

Two recipes down today! First up, Hungry Girl's "Hungry Girlfredo" from the first Hungry Girl cookbook.

I'm sorry for the craptastic picture, this wasn't the most photogenic thing ever. I've made this recipe before, but didn't like it. Since then, I've been using regular pasta to make it, but I thought I would give the Tofu Shirataki noodles one more chance.

Some changes I made were that I used the angelhair version of the noodles (I thought that would cut down on the chewiness that turned me off), and I added a little over a tablespoon of bacon bits (homemade carbonara!!). I have to say that I am still not a fan of the noodles, there's something about them that just makes me want to gag. I thought I could get over anything, if its only 20 calories, but I just can't. I'll make it again with regular wheat pasta, but no more tofu.

Tutti Fruitti Biscuits

Apparently I've watched Julie & Julia one too many times. That, combined with my wanting to lose weight, I've decided to do kindof the same thing. I'm going to (attempt) to cook my way through the Hungry Girl cookbooks. I probably won't do every recipe since I'm very picky with what I eat, but I'll probably make most. I will also try to take pictures of everything and post them on here. So without further ado, the first recipe I made were the "Tutti Fruitti Biscuits" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. I'm kindof crazy in love with these things. They are HUGE, and only 119 calories per biscuit. They're really filling, and help to satisfy the sweet tooth I sometimes have in the morning. I did make one change to the recipe; I was out of strawberry preserves, so I used sugar-free blackberry jam instead. I love my blackberry jam, and it was perfect in these, it really gave it a great flavor. Definitely a recipe that I will make again. Well, there you go! 1 down, a zillion to go!