Carrot Cake

Here's a lower cal carrot cake recipe that a friend made. It was delicious. It has 290 calories/serving compared to regular carrot cake that can have nearly 600 cals. So it's a better option and tasty! Even Ryan liked it (I told him it didn't really have carrots in it...)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil (can substitute applesauce too)
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple with juice
1/2 cup cholesterol free egg product
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins

Frosting:
4 oz light cream cheese, softened
2 T butter or marg, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients. Beat well. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in carrots & raisins. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min until top springs back when touched in center. Mix frosting and spread over cooled cake.

Spinach Lasagna

I tried this recipe with my family today and they loved it!

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I didn't use fresh)
1/4 cup grated Parmeasan cheese (again, not fresh)
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups marinara-style pasta sauce (I just used Hunt's spaghetti sauce)
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cans spinach, well drained (I used a 10 oz box of frozen spinach)
1/2 tps black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Baking time: 1 hr. 15 min.

Combine 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, chopped parsley and pepper. Set aside.

In a 9x13 in baking sidh, pour 3/4 cup marinara sauce. Place 3 uncooked lasagne noodles on the sauce, covering with another 1/2 cups of the sauce.

Layer with half of the spinach, then a layer spreading half of the cheese mixture over the spinach. Repeat layers of noodles, sauce, spinach and cheese, finishing with 3 more lasagne noodles. Cover with remaining sauce.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Uncover and top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese during last 15 minutes of baking.

Chicken Fajitas

Marinade chicken for 2+hours in:
2 T oil
3 T lemon juice
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp each cumin, garlic powder, onion powder
dash hot sauce
salt & pepper (go easy on the salt!)

Cook chicken on grill or stovetop. Serve with grilled peppers and onions. To make it even healthier, skip the tortilla.

Vegetarian Chili

from Karen

4 med zucchini, chopped
2 med onions, chopped
1 gr pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced

Saute in 1/4 cup olive oil until tender.
Add:
2 28oz cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 T chili powder
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes.