Basic Sugar Free Cheesecake

I love cheesecake! In fact I love it so much that I chose to bake one for my birthday so I wouldn't be tempted by other foods or desserts. 

A few years ago I started tweaking a sugar free cheesecake recipe and I'm sharing with you my favorite basic version. There are many variations and things you can add to the batter before baking or on top before serving. 

Most cheesecakes have a graham cracker or nut based crust. I forgot to make a crust once and no one noticed that the crust was missing so I started making my cheesecake without crust. 

This is what you'll need.....

24 ounces of low fat cream cheese (three packages)
1 1/3 cups Pourable Splenda (or other sugar substitute that is equal to 1 1/3 cups sugar)
3 eggs
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon juice
16 ounces low fat sour cream

Allow Cream cheese and eggs to reach room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, check the placement of the oven racks. You should have a rack in the middle of the oven, adjust now if necessary. 

 

Start by beating the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Keep the mixer on a low setting throughout the beating and mixing process. Add the sugar substitute a little at a time and continue beating until creamy. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg. When eggs have been mixed into the cream cheese, add vanilla and lemon juice, Add the sour cream last until just blended in.


Pour cream cheese mixture into the spring form pan that is lightly sprayed with nonstick spray. Place on the middle rack of preheated oven for one hour and 15 minutes. If you don't have a spring form pan, no worries. I've baked this in a glass pie dish before and its turned out beautifully. Spring form pans aren't that expensive, I bought a set of 3 for about $10.

 

At this point before baking you could sprinkle on and gently stir in whatever you like such as chocolate chips, low fat brownie batter, broken candy pieces, etc. Typically I leave the batter plain and add fruit but because it was my birthday I add in a few chocolate chips after I took this picture. 

 When time is up, turn off the oven and prop open the oven door... leave in oven for one hour. After one hour, remove from oven. Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake so it doesn’t stick to the edges and cause cracks in the cheesecake as it cools.

 Let cool to room temperature, refrigerate 24 hours before serving.  

 

Note the black spots are the chocolate chips I stirred into the batter before baking.  

I swear I took several shots of a single slice of cheesecake on a plate, however when I went to edit these photos, it was GONE! I'm certain the camera got a sweet tooth and ate it!

So what will a piece of this cheesecake cost you?

Calories: 206

Fat: 6g

Cholesterol: 100mg

Sodium: 200mg

Potassium: 162mg
Carbs: 7.8
Sugars 0.1
Fiber: 0

Protein: 8.8g

Beef Stew

Beef stew says warm comfort on a cold day! This is one of Ken's favorites, perhaps because it reminds him of a traditional English dinner all wrapped up in a bowl.I grew up eating beef stew in the winter. It was always one of my favorites too so I with the cooler evenings of this past week, I went in search of a recipe that combined all of the flavors I remembered as a child. There are so many variations out there of beef stew, I like this one because its slightly spicy.

This recipe is based on a recipe I found by Emeril Lagasse, I've altered his recipe to appeal to my tastes and nutritional needs.I'm linking to his version of the recipe HERE and you can even see this recipe has a rank of EASY so no excuses for the "non cooks" not to try it. Its perfect to make and freeze in individual servings too.

His recipe calls for Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning. I thought the spice combination looked great but a bit too spicy for beef stew. Again, you can read his spice combo HERE, but below is my modified version.

2.5 TBLS Paprika
1.5 TBLS salt (his recipe 2 TBLS)
2 TBLS garlic powder
1 TBL black pepper
1 TBL onion powder
1.5 tsp caynne pepper (his recipe 3 tsp)
1 TBL oregano
1 TBL thyme

Combined thoroughly, makes 2/3 of a cup, you only need ONE TEASPOON for this recipe so you might want to cut this spice mixture in half but its a fabulous flavor combo that you can use on beef, chicken, pork or seafood. I made a full batch and put the extra in a empty spice jar from my spice rack for future use.

Now, on to the beef stew.

Ingredients
non stick cooking spray
24 ounces or a pound and a half of lean beef stew meat cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 TBLS flour
3 cups low sodium beef broth
3 TBLS tomato paste
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
pinch of allspice
1 pound of potato cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup of diced carrots
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas

Cut the beef into 1 inch pieces (TIP, beef is easier to cut if its partially frozen) combine 1 teaspoon of the Emeril's ESSENCE (either my less salty, less spicy version above or his from the website) with 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper, sprinkle over the beef cubes and toss to combine. Divide the beef into three batches.

In a nonstick skillet, spray generously with non stick spray such as PAM and heat to medium high. Add 1/3 of the seasoned beef and sear (lightly brown) for about 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat with other 2/3 of beef, By cooking it in smaller batches, its easier to control the cooking and sear them all evenly. Place seared beef into bottom of a large crock pot.

Next add sliced mushrooms, flour, beef broth, tomato paste, herbs and spices to the beef and stir well. to combine. Cover the slow cooker (crock pot) and set to HIGH and cook for ONE HOUR.

After an hour of cooking add the potatoes and carrots and continue to cook on high for seven hours. Mix these into the liquid and try to push everything down gently so that the liquid covers it. I have to warn you that its going to look like you don't have enough liquid. Trust me, its going to turn out just fine. You can stir it occasionally but I'm assured that even if you don't, it will turn out fine.

After 7 additional hours of cooking on high. Turn to warm until you are ready to serve. Just before serving, stir in the peas. If you add them too soon, they will be mushy, over cooked and fall apart. (Yuck! I don't like mushy peas)

This makes SIX generous servings. Warm comfort, perfect for a cold day!



Nutritional Info:
Calories: 367
Fat: 9.7g
Cholesterol 100mg
Sodium: 450mg
Potassium 1260mg
Carbs 28g
Fiber 4.5g
Sugars 4g
Protein 40g

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 This is the 98 calorie cookie. Pretty amazing isn't it? Even more amazing that there is no flour in this cookie and its lower in sugar than your typical cookie. Because they are made with oats they are very filling and would make a great breakfast cookie too. There are so many ways to mix up this recipe. You could use raisins in place of or in addition to the chocolate chips and increase the amount of cinnamon, add nutmeg, ginger and cloves for a oatmeal type cookie, add in craisins and white chocolate in place of or in addition to the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Just remember to adjust your calories for what you add.   Ready to get started?

Preheat your oven to 350 and lightly spray a few baking trays or line them with parchment paper. 

Place 1 2/3 cup of oats (not quick oats) in a food processor or grinder and process to the consistency of flour, yes it will be a bit more grainy than flour but thats fine. Next stir in 2/3's additional cups of oats, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking power, pinch of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon.  It should look something like the above photo once you've completed this step.

Next add the eggs to a large mixing bowl and slice in the banana in thin slices so its easy to mix, add the sugar in here too.

It should look like the above photo, no visible lumps of banana. 

Next add the peanut butter and vanilla and beat until smooth

Gradually add the oat mixture and mix until thoroughly incorporated, then stir the chocolate chips in by hand, don't use the mixer or you'll end up with tiny fragments of chocolate instead of chocolate chips. 

Next place the cookies by rounded tablespoons full on to prepared baking trays, you should end up with 24 cookies. Be sure to adjust your calories if you end up with more or less.  As you can see this batter is quite thick, these cookies don't spread out much when they bake so you don't have to worry about putting them too close together.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until they appear dry in center, do not overbake.

And of course the finished product in its 98 calories of glory!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ cup  smooth natural peanut butter

1 banana ripe

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cup of oats ground into oat flour

2/3 cup of oats

¼ cup milk

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup (you can use up to 1/2 a cup but adjust your calories)

2 tsp vanilla

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/8 t cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment

In food processor grind 1 2/3 cup of oats into an oat flour, mix in 2/3 cup of oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.  

With a hand mixer, beat eggs, sugar, milk  and banana until smooth, add in peanut butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Gradually add oat mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking tray. Bake for 8 minutes or until center appears dry. Do not over bake. Yields 24

Nutritional Info:
Calories 98
Fat 5.4g
Cholesterol 17.8mg
Sodium 26.4mg
Carbs 9.7g
Fiber 1.3g
Protein 3g

Enjoy!

Protein Pudding

This pudding is super thick, rich and delicious! It's great to eat on its own or it would make a fabulous pie filling.

2 cups of low fat cottage cheese
1 cup of low fat milk
1 box of sugar free, fat free pudding mix, any flavor

Serves 4

Just three simple ingredients, 1 cup of low fat milk, 2 cups of low fat cottage cheese and a small box of sugar free fat free pudding mix, your choice of flavor.

Put 2 cups of low fat cottage cheese and 1 cup of low fat milk in the food process and blend for one minute. If you use a hand mixer, make sure you blend it until its thick and creamy, no lumps.

I know you might be thinking eeewwwww, yuck, cottage cheese but trust me, you'll never know its cottage cheese once its blended.

Add in the pudding mix and blend until throughly blended. Divide into four equal portions. I put it in ramekins but you can use the mixture to layer with fruit for a parfait. I have tried this with cheesecake flavored pudding and topped with fresh strawberries. I've also used banana creme flavore and sliced in bananas...Ken's favorite!

Here is the finished product. SERVES 4

Great reasons to add more protein to your diet...protein keeps you full longer. One dish of this keeps me going for hours, the same amount of pudding would leave me looking for another portion or three.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 162
Fat: 2.8g
Cholesterol: 12mg
Carbs: 15g
Fiber 1g
Protein: 18.6g


Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage

This is a blast from my childhood. My Mom would make this once in a while and it was something the whole family enjoyed. I haven't made it in years. I had a "lazy" version that I'd make that always turned out really good but Ken doesn't like cabbage so I thought this would be perfect, he could just discard the cabbage and eat the meat. He was nervous going in, I scooped out two and put them on his plate. He went back for a third AND he ate the cabbage. He said "this tastes NOTHING like I imagined it would, its really good" Coming from a cabbage hater, I took that as an accomplishment. Yes there are a few steps to this process but its worth it!

My sister wanted to "help" so its her hands you see in the photos.

The Ingredients:

Stuffed Cabbage    

1 yellow onion
3T  Smart Balance  

1 large green cabbage

Meat Mixture 

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 pound ground turkey sausage
½  cup raw white long grain rice or barley
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic
1/2 t paprika
(plus onions and Smart Balance once they're sauteed)

Sauce Mixture 

8 ounces tomato sauce
1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic
1/2 t onion powder
2 teaspoons sugar

You'll need a dutch oven, oven proof pan with tight fitting lid or a large crock pot. Ready to get started? If you're using the oven, preheat it to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine your tomatoes and tomato sauce and spices, set aside


Next we're going to prep the meat.

3 Tablespoons Smart Balance (heart smart buttery spread) and onions in to sautee until they just start to soften. I realized after that I should have chopped them a bit smaller but, it all worked out in the end. They are going into the meat mixture so you want to start them first so they have a chance to cool.

You can use any combination of meat you like. I used part turkey sausage, plain ground turkey or ground beef would be fine to use too. If I used plain ground turkey, I would chop up a few slices of turkey bacon and throw them in with the onions to sautee. It will add a smokey flavor.  Here the meat, barley (not quick cook barley) egg, spices and Worcestershire sauce are all ready to be combined. Go ahead and gently mix this up. You don't want to over work the meat.

Once the onions cool, add them, along with the melted smart balance to the meat mixture, keep in mind we're making 10 stuffed cabbage so go ahead and score the meat into a pie with 10 pieces to be a guide line. Put the meat mixture in the fridge to stay chilled while we prep the cabbage.

Put a large deep pot of water on and bring up to a simmer (almost ready to boil but not quite boiling) Using a small paring knife, carefully cut around the core to remove, once you've removed it, cut out any excess core that remains. You want the leaves to stay intact so don't cut too deep.

Drop the whole head of cabbage into the water and watch. About every 45 seconds, a leaf or two will start to separate from the head. Using tongs, carefully and gently remove the leaf and place it in a colander to cool. This is an important process because it makes the leaves soft enough to roll. You need 10 good leaves so once you have 12, you can turn the water off and remove the remainder of the head and set aside to cool. Its good to have a few spare leaves just in case you rip one. Don't worry, its all going to be used.

Next you want to turn the leaf as pictured and use your knife to remove some of the hard rib ridge. Don't cut through to the other side, just cut it off and set it aside.

Once you've prepped all of your leaves, you're ready to roll. Place the leaf on your work surface, add 1/10 of the meat mixture and form into a little log as shown above.

Next roll it up partially

Fold in the sides. 

IMPORTANT: Don't roll them too tightly, the barley or rice will expand as you cook and if you roll them too tightly, they will burst the cabbage.

And finish the roll. Repeat this process until you have all 10 rolls ready. Just put them seam side down so they don't unroll. 

Next chop up any remaining leaves and the rest of the head of cabbage. Layer 1/3 to 1/2 of it in the bottom of your dutch oven, oven proof pan or crock pot. Carefully pour about 1/2 cup of sauce over top of the leaves. 

Next start adding your cabbage rolls. You'll probably make two layers.

Once you have the first layer down, go ahead and use some of the extra cabbbage to fill in the holes, the idea is to keep the rolls secure as they cook and keep them away from directly touching the edges so they don't burn. Spoon more sauce over this layer and add your second layer of rolls and extra cabbage leaves.

Top with the remainder of the sauce. Now you'll add water, 1 cup at a time until the rolls are almost completely covered. This is why its important that you use a pot that is neither too big or too small, you don't want the rolls floating around. You want to braise them in the liquid. If cooking in the oven, check after 1 hour and add more water if necessary.

I cooked mine in a crock pot. 4 hours on high, 2 hours on low. You could cook them for 8 to 10 hours on low if desired. Half way through you want to check the sauce level and see if it needs more water. Don't worry about watering down the sauce, the extra water will evaporate and the sauce will slightly thicken.

Here are two on the plate ready for a side of steamed zucchini or whatever veggies you like. When I was growing up, my Mom always served these with a side of mashed potatoes. That was quite tasty too so if you can fit it in your dietary budget, go for it.

And here is what it looks like once you cut it open.




Now for the nutritional breakdown...

Per roll, based on using barley.

Calories: 139
Fat 3.4g
Cholesterol 22mg
Sodium: 146 mg
Potassium: 283mg
Total Carbs: 13g
Fiber 3.3g
Protein: 15g


Enjoy!


NOTE: Save any leftover sauce and cabbage and put it in the freezer, we're using it in next week's soup!