Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

I have always been a big fan of Rachael Ray, but her recipes aren't always the most figure flattering ones:)  Lately I've been trying to stray away from pasta and bread to help get rid of these last 10 baby pounds that seemed to just stay put.  The lower carb thing was hard for me in the beginning, but has challenged me to think outside of the box and research new recipes!  My husband and Lilly wanted spaghetti one night so I decided to find a recipe that could meet what they wanted, but could also help me stick to my low carb plan.  These portabella mushroom pizzas are DELICIOUS!!  I made mine exactly as the recipe describes, but put the sausage stuffing on top of spaghetti for Tony and Lilly.  Enjoy!

Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

Photo and Recipe courtesty of Rachael Ray



Ingredients

• 6 large portobello mushroom tops, stems removed and gills scraped
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus 1 tablespoon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound Italian sweet sausage (I used sweet Italian chicken sausage from Sprouts)
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded or torn
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Dress the mushroom caps with liberal drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil the portobello mushrooms 5 minutes on each side until tender.

While caps are broiling heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, add sausage and brown and crumble the meat, then add tomatoes to skillet and cook another few minutes until they burst. Add cream to skillet and reduce 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the sausage from heat and fold in basil. Fill mushroom caps and top with cheese, place under broiler to brown 2 to 3 minutes then quarter caps and serve.

Healthy Banana "Doughnuts"

Lilly asked me the other day if we could pick up a doughnut before school.  I thought this was strange because we very rarely ever go get donuts, and if we do it is a special treat.  She said that all her friends at school get donuts in the morning so I decided to do some research on the internet to find a healthy way to make my own donuts for breakfast.  I found out on another friend's blog that Sur La Table carried donut pans for pretty cheap so Lilly and I headed down to the store to buy our own.  This pan has become my new "go to" item for breakfast treats. I found a great recipe on the internet for banana bread and used it in our new donut pan and violia!  It's now Lilly's favorite breakfast.  With Austin starting to eat table food now I thought this would be a great addition for his palate as well and sure enough it was, along with all the other babies in his class:)

Healthy Banana "Doughnuts"

Recipe courtesy of babble.com



2 cups (300g) whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal (optional)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3 large, very ripe bananas
1/2 cup (220g) organic sugar (it has an earthier flavor, but regular is fine)
1/3 cup (60g) no sugar added applesauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 110g) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees, Celsius). Spray a non stick muffin pan, or donut pan,  with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mash bananas until almost smooth, but still chunky. Stir in sugar, butter, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla.

3. Carefully fold flour mixture into banana mixture. Stir until just incorporated. Batter should be lumpy, with no dry spots.

4. Fill each muffin or doughnut tin 2/3 full. Place on a large cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees, until a toothpick, inserted in the center muffins, comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Healthy Marbeled Banana Bread

Recipe from Cooking Light

Now, to continue with my Fall theme and my eating right theme I found this recipe from the Cooking Light website.  Now, I'm a HUGE fan of banana bread and usually make my Grandma's recipe, but wanted to see how this healthy version would taste to sort of "lighten" things up this week. We are going to eat a piece of this for dessert tonight after our Minestrone Soup.  I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
• Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
• Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cooking Light
SEPTEMBER 2003