I MADE A GREAT LOW CALORIE BIRTHDAY CAKE

OH YEAH!!! I almost forgot.
All low fat - taste great recipes are
so very welcome here - PLEASE !!!

You can make deviled eggs with non-fat yogurt too!

What does WW say about vegetable oils? How about tofu? (soy does have quite a bit of fat for a bean). You can make "cream" pies by blending silken tofu with bananas, chocolate, pumpkin, etc. You'd have to find an alternative crust though......

Pumpkin Tofu Pies (2 pies)

Ingredients:

1 29oz canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 16oz silken tofu (firm)
2 unbaked 9 inch pie shells
Directions:
Mix together the pumpkin, salt, sugar, and pie spice.

Blend or food process the tofu until smooth. Stir into the pumpkin mixture, and pour into the pie shells.

Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 375 and continue to bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

My family trick-or-treaters gobbled up 2 pies in nothing flat, and they are not vegetarian.

Makes: 2 pies

Also, there's a health-food brand of non-fat brownie mixes called No Pudge. All you do is add a little non-fat yogurt, mix and bake. It's a little too sweet, maybe, but very good!

No Pudge

Hi babs!

I hope you don't mind, I had this made into a "Featured Topic", cause I think there is a lot of great info that'll turn up here!

Hi little_k- Love deviled eggs, and the pumpkin pie sounds yumm!

babsatamelia - So sorry to here about your health problems, but so glad you are taking an active role in making them better!

Diet plays such an important role, if not THE most important role, in our physical and mental health.

The weight-watchers point plan is a solid, easy to follow program. It offers you great variety, as well as giving YOU the control over what you decide to take in. I'm all for it!
Here's a link to their site, you have to join (and pay) to use the member features (journal, point calculator and such), but the recipe files are free to all!

Weight Watchers

Adapting recipes, as you did with the cake, is a good way to reduce fat.
Applesauce (unsweetened) is also a good replacement in situations like that.
I try to stay away from nonfat products, especially the dairy products.
They tend to have increased sugar, or ingredients that easily turn to sugar as you process them. I find that the low-fat items tend to be a healthier option. And they taste better

I am in the middle of a weight loss program myself.
Five years ago, I was told that I had a thyroid imbalance that affected my whole body. In the space of a year, I went from 160lbs to 250lbs . The balance was corrected, but the weight gain had done enough psychological damage. Depressed and huge, I then fell and nearly ruined one of my knees. I went into a kind of helpless mode, and stayed there for a long while.
I recently had my knee repaired, and am finally able to exercise without screaming. (One of the kickers was that I had been an aerobics instructor for years, and after the "gain", the thought of feeling myself "jiggle" really depressed me! ).
So, I have improved my diet and started exercising. I'm down 30lbs, and have a way to go, but I can really feel the difference. It's beginning to show, and that's giving me even more motivation to keep going.

I wish you success with your program!
I'm right there with you!

Here's another link, it's the Cooking Light website.
Lots of good recipes and advice!


Cooking Light

Hey Jerry - I didn't know that story - good for you! Keep it up!

I'd have to check, but I think the healthy variety of non-fat yogurt stays pretty low in sugar.

Low in sucrose, but high in lactose.

Sounds like a GREAT pumpkin pie LittleK.
Olive oil and Safflower oil seem to have
the same number of calories. As for tofu
Lowfat tofu 3oz = 1 point
Firm, regular tofu 3oz = 2 points - 3 oz = 1/5 of a block
Soft, regular tofu 3 oz = 1 point

Hi, for any Albertans out there, my uncle established the first Weight Watchers franchise out there many many years ago when nobody cared about losing weight....it's a really good system, and balanced in its approach.

Some other alternatives in terms of desserts are those using Stevia, www.stevia.com, as a sugar substitute. Stevia is also appropriate for diabetics, some of whom are in my family, and have found it a Godsend. Also, honey is always better than refined sugars in desserts as well, just use half the amount that is called for in sugar.

To those of you who cannot give up the wonderful taste of butter:

Mix 1/2 softened butter and 1/2 canola or safflower oil and blend it with a whisk and mix until smooth. Pour the mixture into a plastic container and cover it with a tight fitting lid and keep refrigerated.
You don't have to take it out ahead of time because it is always spreadable.

This cuts the saturated fat in half. You will be surprised that it tastes decent and it won't be as salty as regular salted butter (if you use salted butter). It's better than eating all those butter substitutes that are loaded with chemicals.

I ALWAYS use unsweetened applesauce instead of oil when baking. The flavor remains delish and you easily rid the cake of 1,000 calories. Do the math! xxoo