Cooking Baking Eating

I’m on a mission. To create versions of my favorite recipes that have less fat and I can fee less guilty about eating.

My husband turned me on to Artichoke Spinach Dip a few years ago. I had never had it and suddenly I was hooked. I love the warm, cheesy gooeyness eaten with chips or crackers. Who could hate that? Plus the added bonus of having the vegetables in it makes it seem not as bad for you.

There are so many recipes for this dip out there, yet so many of them made me wary. They all contained mayonnaise. For some reason, the thought of cooking mayo just really doesn’t sit well with me. I finally found one that had sour cream instead. I had to do my own modifications to it, such as low/reduced fat items and reducing some of the items as well.

It turned out pretty well and even made it for others and they loved it. I achieved my goal of making it better for you, and not have anyone notice.

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Normally, I’m not that big fan of banana bread. Don’t get me wrong, it’s best when warm, with a little butter and the outside has a little bit of crunch.

The husband loves pretty much anything sweet or covered in chocolate, so in the mode of trying to help our waist lines while still enjoying what we’re eating, I found a great recipe for one of his favorites. Banana bread.

One of the things that really stick out to me in this recipe is that it uses apple sauce to keep it moist and not a whole lot of butter. I changed the recipe around a bit from the original, mainly using half whole wheat flour. One of the reasons this is a great trick is it keeps you fuller for longer. Eat two muffins and you feel full and satisfied for hours.

One of the things to note about this recipe is that it definitely does need to rest before going into the oven. Usually the time it takes for the oven to preheat is enough time for the batter to relax a bit before baking. If it doesn’t rest, then it sometimes can have a rubbery outside to it, and not the soft yet crunchy that we all love. Read more »