160 Calorie Maple Apple Upside Down Cake

This didn't turn out quite as pretty as I wanted it to - but it tasted AMAZING, it is probably one of my favorite recipes so far!

This looks a lot like the new Washington Apple Pound Cake dessert at Starbucks - theirs has 360 calories and looks about the same size - so mine is much healthier! I haven't tried theirs (it has gluten and dairy) but from what it looks like I would imagine it would taste pretty similar

This is only 160 calories - and it is gluten free, dairy free and vegan!

Recipe:

1/4 of a Honeycrisp apple - 25 calories

1/8 cup Sugar Free Syrup - 10 calories

1/8 cup Pumpkin Puree - 10 calories

1/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce - 25 calories

1/4 cup Oat Flour - 90 calories

1 tablespoon Stevia                                           

= 160 calories

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Peel and slice up the apple - grease the baking dish well, line the bottom with apple slices
3. Pour the maple syrup over the apples
4. Mix the apple sauce, stevia, pumpkin, and flour together
5. Pout batter over the apples and smooth out the top
6. Bake for about 30 minutes - let cool then flip out of the pan, or eat it right out of the pan without removing

Sweeten Your Own Cereal - 5 Ways!

Today I went to the grocery store just to get cereal - I keep craving it as a late night snack and I didn't have any in my apartment - the store didn't have Cinnamon Chex, so I took a closer look at the Gluten Free Chex labels and I realized that General Mills has been pulling one over on me....

Plain Rice Chex has 100 calories per 1 cup serving, the sweetened varieties have 120-130 calories - but those are measured in 3/4 cup servings! That means a whole cup of the sweetened Chex has over 160 calories!

So I decided to get the plain old Rice Chex and spice it up/sweeten it myself!

The first variation I tried was a Cinnamon Sugar copycat using Cinnamon and Stevia - these don't add any significant calories so my version is still about 100 calories for 1 cup (that's without milk - 120 cal with half a cup of unsweetened almond milk) - while regular Cinnamon Chex is 160 calories (without the milk!)

I tried four more variations:

Vanilla Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla & 1/4 cup Stevia - 100 cal

Chocolate Chex - 1/2 tablespoon Cocoa & 1/4 cup Stevia - 110 cal

Maple Chex - 1/8 cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup - 110 cal

Peanut Butter Chex - 1 tablespoon PB2 Powder - 122 cal 

You could do this with any cereal you like! 

~ The more you know... ~

33 Calorie Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

Fall always puts me in the mood for all things Pumpkin - whether its candles, decorations, or dessert - or in this case Brownies!

These were really easy to make and I think they look more impressive than my usual loaves because of the distinct colors and layering - and they are only 33 calories each!

These are also Gluten Free and Dairy Free!

Recipe: Makes 15 Brownies

3/4 cup Oat Flour - 270 calories

1 can Pumpkin Puree(1 and 3/4 cups) - 140 calories

1/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce - 25 calories

1 egg white - 17 calories

4 tablespoons cocoa powder - 80 calories

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 cup Stevia                                                               

=501 Calories for whole pan - makes 15 brownies, 33.4 calories each

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix together the flour, pumpkin, apple sauce, egg white, baking powder and stevia

3. Put about about 1/3 of the mixture in a separate bowl

4. Add the cocoa powder to the larger amount of batter (the 2/3 portion)

5. Pour half of the chocolate batter into a greased 9x13 pan

6. Spread the pumpkin batter on top of the chocolate layer

7. Spread the remaining chocolate batter on top

8. Bake for 35-40 minutes

9. Let cool before cutting into 15 pieces, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container

Skinny Pumpkin Butter (165 Calories for a Whole Jar!)

I picked up some Pumpkin Butter from the Apple Holler - it was soooo sweet, and 40 calories per tablespoon. I checked out the ingredients and thought to myself "Hey, I could make this"

My version didn't use any refined sugar - all you need is Stevia, Sugar Free Maple Syrup, Apple Sauce, Pumpkin and Spices!

Pumpkin Butter is great on fruit, toast, bagels, pancakes, oatmeal, or anything else you want to add a Fall twist to!

This Pumpkin Butter is Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan - and it has less than 6 calories per tablespoon!

Recipe: (Makes one large jar, or about 28 tablespoons)

1 can Pumpkin - 120 calories

1/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce - 25 calories

1/4 cup Stevia

1/4 cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup - 20 calories

Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves and Ginger to taste(or Pumpkin Pie Spice)        

= 165 Calories for entire jar - or 5.8 calories per tablespoon

1. Mix together all ingredients, add to saucepan

2. Bring mixture to a boil

3. Reduce heat, allow mixture to simmer for 35-40 minutes, cover with lid ajar, stirring occasionally

4. Remove from heat, secure lid on saucepan and let rest for 5 minutes

5. Pour into jar and allow to cool - Store in refrigerator!