At about 1pm yesterday I decided that I wanted, no needed, apple pie for dessert after dinner.  Of course, my new health kick doesn’t exactly call for a pie to the face nightly, so I knew I was going to have to compromise. Enter my genius roommate.  This past weekend she went to Trader Joe’s and picked up some apple sauce.  Now, this apple sauce is not your average apple mush.  This stuff is heaven. It is chunky with large slices of real apples in it, just like pie filling.

Mix a little bit of this:

Photo source

with a little bit of this:

Photo source

and just a smidgy of this:

Photo source

and you have the most amazing apple pie tasting indulgent dessert ever, with a healthy kick!

Now if only I hadn’t followed up that delicisouness with one of these babies… but oh well- sometimes ya just gotta dominate “pie” and a cookie in one night!

What is your favorite “healthified” version of a decadent dessert?

Long time no talk! I know- I have been the absolute worst- you have full right to be upset with me.  BUT, hopefully this complete update will get me off your bad side and you will love me again! Ms Amy has been begging me to start blogging again for months now, so I decided to be a good friend and make her happy (as if she doesn’t already know what is going on in my life with the constant daily gchatting we do!).

Alright, updates here I come.

I am running a 10 Mile race on Sunday with two of my lovely gal friends, Sarah and Maddie.  Who would have thought when I started the Couch to 5K program that I would be here! I am scared as heck and about 2 minutes away from bailing on it, so I am deciding to write it here to hold myself accountable.  Please note, this Sunday 5/6, I will be running the Philly Broadstreet Run.  Hold me to it- ask me how it went Monday Morning, if I am alive.

Last weekend, I had an amazing and exciting vacation in San Fran with these lovely ladies.  Mads and I got to San Fran on Wednesday night to visit Antha and it was amazing.

We went and saw seals!

and went to the water:

Went and did a little wine tasting

And we got to enjoy a Giants Game!

Gorgeous stadium:

Amazing vacation- with amazing company.  Now I am back to the real world, loving life and taking names.

Now that I have filled you in on my happenings- whats going on with you guys?!

Not only is it the easiest and most delicious recipe in the world, it’s a great go to grab and go snack to throw in your bad for those days that you may be feeling just a smidge on the hungry side.

Ingredients:

1 bag Jolly Pop 94% Fat Free Kettle Corn (5 cups)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1) Pop Kettle Corn and place in a large bowl.

2) In a frying pan, combine sugar and honey and bring to a boil.

3) Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.

4)Pour peanut butter mixture over popcorn and stir to coat.

5) Spread coated Kettle Corn out on a cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes.

** Make sure you store somewhere airtight so that Kettle Corn does not go stale

Star Fabulous Rating: 10/10

Phenomenal Snack- to die for.

My Gal Lane was coming over for din and a veg night on Friday so we decided to make pizza and while at the g-store, I realized I had everything I needed for the recipe, except for the apples.  3 apples and a full salty stomach of pizza later, this bomb Apple Crisp Light was made, courtsey of Tina’s recipe.

I made a couple slight changes to Tina’s recipe, just because I wanted to work with mostly what I had, and I am more of an apple CRISP girl.. than and APPLE crisp girl, so I wanted to tone down the appleness a smidge.

A couple of slight changes and this is what I made

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 medium gala apples (gala are my jam!)

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp light butter, softened (such as smart balance light)

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2) Cut apple as if you were making apples slices to eat with peanut butter

3) Combine all the ingredients in the “filling” section above in a large bowl; making sure that the apples are covered in cinnamon and sugar

4) Transfer this mixture to a baking dish

5) Combine all of the “topping” ingredients and mix well

6) Pour the “topping” ingredients on top of the cinnamon sugar apples and mix up so that the apples are covered in “topping”.

7) Bake for 40 minutes until apples are soft and topping looks a little crunchy

Enjoy!

I would definitely give this a star fabulous rating of 8/10.  It is delicious and definitely hits the spot but it is no Gramma’s Apple Crisp and definitely tastes on the lighter side (as the name suggests!)  Thanks for sharing Tina!

Star Fabulous Rating: 8/10

A wonderful Xmas Eve with this crew:

Xmas Day with this Fabulous Gal:

And then a lovely Vaca with this crew..

Filled with Pizza Making:

Fantastic Dinners:

Bundling Up and Staying Warm:

And Occasionally fighting each other for awesome hats:

Finding Fabulous Quotes:

And… of course.. jumping off of things!

This time last year I was introduced to what can only be described as the most addictive food in the planet. My old colleague brougth some of this into the office for the Holiday Bake Off and it was to die for. If there was any nutritional value to this creation, I would throw all other food groups out the window and live off of this. However, **sigh** there is about as much nutrients in this treat as there is in my childhood Easy Bake Oven Plastic Cupcake.  Nonetheless, nutrition did not stop me from making those cupcakes and it sure did not stop me from making this recipe this weekend… twice.

You see, the first time I made it on Friday night (yes, I am that cool, judge me for baking on a Friday night, I don’t care, I was sick), I was sure that it would be plenty for myself, BF, Roommate and Roomates BF for the whole weekend and that I would also have enough to bring to the office on Monday.  I texted my colleague a picture of it after it was made on Friday night and got this response…

” Yummy! Please bring some in Monday or I am coming to your apt to get some!”

As much as I love company, I knew that bringing some to the office was essential.  So, imagine my surprise Sunday afterno0n when I open the tin and there are only 2 pieces left (and yes, most of it was consumed by me). O well, NBD… I just whipped up another batch of this 4 ingredient, easy-as-can-be recipe and was good to go!

Okay, okay, I will stop teasing you and finally let you in on the secret of what this recipe is (but be warned, once you start eating this, there is no turning back)- Chocolate Holiday Bark 

Ingredients:

35 Saltines

1 Cup Unsalted Butter

1 Cup Light Brown Sugar

1 Bag Semi-Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Steps:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F

2) Line a baking sheet with un-pam-ed tin foil and then spread about 35 Saltines over the tinfoil (make sure a little bit of the tinfoil hangs over the edge in order to allow step #9 to be a smidge easier)

3) In a sauce pan melt butter and brown sugar, stiring constantly until completely melted

4) Evenly spread over the Saltines on the baking sheet

5) Put in the oven for 3-5 mins (until brown sugar mixture begins to bubble)

6) Remove from oven and dump the entire bag of chocolate chips evenly over the hot Saltine brown sugar creation.

7) With a spatula, spread the chocolate out evenly

8) Put entire baking sheet into the refridgerator to cool for at least 2 hours (the longer the better- overnight is perfect)

9) Once cool, break into small pieces and enjoy!

Star Fabulous Rating: a solid and DANGEROUS 10/10- for sure!

I did a lot of research and finally stumbled upon a recipe that looked easy enough, didn’t seem to take a bajillion hours and had great reviews (SCORE!). I adapted this recipe and it turned out so well!

Ingredients:

Cake:

Cooking spray

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup light packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

2 cups finely shredded carrot (I bought pre-shredded)

Frosting:

1/2 cup (4 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 and 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350°.

2) Pam a 13 x 9-inch baking pan

3) Place 9 tablespoons butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until well blended.

4) Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until pale and fluffy. Beat in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

5) Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to sugar mixture

6) Add in half of buttermilk, mix completely, add remaining buttermilk

7) Mix in carrot with electric mixer (allows them to be chopped up a little more

8) Spoon batter into prepared pan.

9) Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

10) Let cool completely before frosting.

11) To prepare frosting, place the cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well combined.

12) Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until smooth (do not overbeat).

13) Spread frosting over top of cake.

14) ENJOY!

Mego enjoyed it, and Dana… and Lane.. and Me!

Great Birthday Celebration all around- Happy Birthday Megan!

This got some awesome reviews. The only thing I might change would be the amount of cinnamon, it was a little bit on the strong side- but hey, I am not a strong cinnamon lover.

Star Fabulous Rating: 8/10

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie (courtesy of this lovely lady)

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1/3 cup pureed pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup chocolate chips

1 unbaked pie shell (I used Pillsbury and there is a coupon for it here!)

Steps: (one of the most appealing thing about this pie, it is easy as pie to make it!)

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F

2)Beat eggs until foamy with an electric mixer

3) Beat in flour, sugar and brown sugar (slowly or its going to look like its snowing in your kitchen) until well blended.

4) Add in vanilla extract, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and mix with the electric mixer.

5) Melt butter in the microwave and let cool

6) Blend in melted butter with mixer

7) In a small separate bowl, toss chocolate chips with a sprinkling of flour and then add to the pumpkin batter mixer

8) Pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell.

9) Bake for 65 minutes (until dough is done- Original recipe said 55 but it was a little undercooked for me- just leave it in until the cooked however well you want it however make sure to cook it enough so that the center isnt jiggly anymore)

10) Serve and enjoy!

Star Fabulous Rating: 10/10

Ingredients:

Cookies:

8 oz whipped cream cheese

4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg

1 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)

1/2 cup 1% buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder
Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp skim milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Steps:

Cookies:

1) Preheat oven to 350°.

2) In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer mix cream cheese, butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

3) Add eggs and mix well.

4) Add in pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla.
5) In another bowl combine flour, spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder;

6) Slowly add in pumpkin mixture while stiring with a spoon

7) Mix until completely combined (will look more liquidy than your average cookie dough).

8) Drop spoonfulls onto a tin foil-ed, pamed baking sheet.

9) Bake 12 – 14 minutes or until golden.

10) Remove and let cool

Chocolate Glaze:

1) While the cookies are baking, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl with a fork.

2) Place in a zip lock bag and cut off the corner (small!)

3) Drizzel onto the cookies and…

4) Enjoy!

Makes 50 cookies

These cookies get a Star Fabulous Rating of 10/10 but then again, Gina is a genius so

I expected nothing less

Star Fabulous Rating: 10/10

So sorry I have been so MIA. I have been super busy kicking my own butt in the gym for the big 10K race that I had this weekend. Totally dominated that race. I finished without stopping and in less time than I thought I would! I went at my own pace and it felt amazing. WOOT!

Sunday, while recovering from what I will call “the event that made my legs feel like uncooked spaghetti”, my roommate and I decided to make a Trader Joes list of things we would want to share in order to avoid the inevitable result of over purchasing- throwing away the food you couldnt get to before it went bad.  Welp, our list actaulyl turned into a small jump around party when we deicded to we wanted to make homemade apple sauce… enter the best and easiest applesauce recipe ever.  Now, it is important to note that pre-made apple sauce isn’t really my favorite, its a texture thing, just like oatmeal- ick.  This applesauce however, was amazing.  

The roommate found this awesome recipe, we went to TJs and bought what we needed (which wasn’t very much since the recipe was so easy and awesome!) and then went to town!

Ingredients

4 lbs Macintosh Apples

The peel of One Lemon

4 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons of Ground Cinnamon

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

1 cup of water

Steps:

1) Wash apples and peel them (you can leave a little peel for extra flavor)

2) Cut and core apples and throw into large pot

3) Peel Lemon and throw peels into large pot

4) Add 4 Tablespoons of juice from the lemon

5) Add both sugars, water and cinnamon

6) Bring mixture to a boil on the stove top and then bring down to simmer and cover the pot

7) Let simmer for 30 mins

8) Remove lemon peels and mash apples while still in the pot

9) Enjoy hot or cool (I prefer hot!)

Star Fabulous Rating: 10/10 not exaggerating.. this is the best apple sauce I have ever eaten… no lies. I think the lemons are the secret (not so secret) ingredient!