Battle Belly Fat: Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies, Chocolate French Toast

*** Eat your favorite comfort foods and still battle the belly fat. Recipes the whole family will enjoy they won't even know they are eating healthy!



Brownies photo by FotoosVanRobin @ flickr


From Denny: This cookbook and recipes are geared to family healthy eating without sacrificing great taste and favorite foods. While she does limit each meal to about 400 calories the real success is combining a MUFA with each meal.

What's a MUFA? Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid. They are found in olive oil, olives, nuts and seeds, peanut butter or other nut butters and the biggest favorite: dark chocolate.

Liz tested these family recipes on her five year old girls and they were a big hit.

Here are the three basic rules from Liz Vaccariello, Editor in chief of Prevention Magazine, to help lose that belly fat:

1. Eat a MUFA with every meal

2. Stick to 400 calories per meal

3. Never go more than 4 hours without eating



Recipes Featured:

Fudgy Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
Chocolate Stuffed French Toast
Peanut Butter Strawberry Wrap




Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook by Liz Vaccariello

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Fudgy Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

From: "Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook"

Makes: 8 servings (2 brownies each)

347 calories

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 5 tablespoons trans fat free margarine
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar (optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Press a sheet of aluminum foil into the bottom of a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan, making sure there is enough foil to overhang two opposite edges. Coat generously with cooking spray and dust lightly with flour.

Combine the chocolate and margarine in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool 2 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, egg white, sugar and extract in a bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Whisk the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Gently fold in the raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 48-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan 10 minutes. Carefully lift sling from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired, before serving.







Chocolate Stuffed French Toast

From: "Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook"

Makes: 4 servings

416 calories

INGREDIENTS

• 4-ounce semi-sweet chocolate bar, finely chopped
• 3 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest
• 6 ounces Italian bread, cut on an angle into 8 (1/2-inch thick) slices
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon trans-free margarine

DIRECTIONS

Combine the chocolate and cheese in a small bowl; mix well. Combine the strawberries, sugar and orange zest in a separate bowl.

Spread 1/4 of the chocolate mixture on 4 slices of bread. Top each with remaining bread and press lightly to form a sandwich.

Combine the eggs, egg whites and vanilla in a medium bowl. Working one a time, dip both sides of each sandwich in the egg mixture and set on a plate.

Melt the margarine in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the foam subsides add the sandwiches and cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Divide among 4 plates and top each with some of the strawberries. Serve immediately.






Peanut Butter Strawberry Wrap

From: "Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook"

Makes: 1 serving

332 calories

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (8-inch diameter) whole wheat tortilla
• 2 tablespoons natural crunchy unsalted peanut butter
• 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced

DIRECTIONS

Lay the tortilla on a work surface. Spread on the peanut butter. Cover with the strawberries. Roll into a tube. Cut on an angle into desired number of pieces.



*** See Also: Battle Belly Fat: Pan-Seared Shrimp Tacos, Crunchy Crust "Mac n Cheese,” Oven Fries




Flat Belly Diet Family Cookbook by Liz Vaccariello


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Recipe: Sour Cream Chocolate Spice Cake With Penuche Fudge Frosting

From Denny: Featured recently in our local newspaper, this retro recipe was a big hit. I'd include the link to the newspaper except that it's useless as a link since they started archiving their recipes after a week and then force you to pay for them. For years the recipes were easily available and always free - long before this economic downturn.

This is a cake that would taste better the second day so the cinnamon and chocolate flavors could mellow out some. The flavor notes are brassier the first day, calming down to perfection by the second day. Try making the cake layers first and frosting on the second day (takes up less room in the fridge).

I've always had a soft spot for a chocolate cake made with sour cream as they play well together. Give this version a try! The brown sugar in the icing is a divine pairing with the chocolate cake portion. Maybe it's the molasses spun back into the processed white sugar to make the dark brown version. A small amount of molasses does not over power but rather adds a note of depth to food. (I even use dark brown sugar in my spaghetti and marinara sauces! Oops! The Secret is out...)

Enjoy this yummy cake. If you are a huge frosting fan you might want to double up on the batch for this cake as the news folks complained the frosting recipe was a bit skimpy. I'm not a fan of frosting unless it's a ganache so this recipe of a thin amount of frosting is fine with me. You decide what you like, enjoy!


Sour Cream Chocolate Spice Cake With Penuche Fudge Frosting

From: “The Country Fair Cookbook” by Alison Boteler

Makes: one (8-inch) 2-layer cake

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa

1-1/2 tsps. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsps. cinnamon

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sour cream

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Penuche Fudge Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two (8-inch) round pans with baking parchment.

2. Combine flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in large mixing bowl.

3. Add butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla and beat at low speed of electric mixer for 30 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula and beat at high speed 2 minutes. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and beat 1 minute longer.

4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

5. Cool layers completely. Remove from pans and peel off baking parchment. Fill and frost sides and top with frosting.

Testing note: Cake is moister and mellower tasting the second day. It does not need to be stored in the refrigerator, but it does need to be covered with a cake dome or plastic wrap. I found that 35 minutes was an adequate baking time.

Penuche Fudge Frosting

From: “The Country Fair Cookbook” by Alison Boteler

Makes: enough for one (8-inch layer cake)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large saucepan. Blend in brown sugar and bring to boil, stirring constantly.

2. Simmer over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring.

3. Stir in milk and return to boil. Remove from heat and cool until mixture is lukewarm to touch.

4. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar. Place pan in bowl of ice water and beat until frosting is of spreading consistency.

5. If frosting becomes too stiff to spread, beat in a few drops of milk.

Video: FancyFrench Toast

From Denny: Who does like French Toast? At our house we like it with lots of cinnamon, some cloves and vanilla extract in the batter. We use French bread cut thick here in Louisiana, sometimes other artisan breads.

This lady uses a shot of whiskey in her batter in place of the vanilla extract. She also suggest many different kinds of toppings like candied apples or rhubarb. She uses challah bread instead of traditional French bread. Take a look!

For the recipes on their site, go here.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Simple Easy Ways to Update Loved Recipes to Healthy

Simple Easy Ways to Update Loved Recipes to Healthy: "Bon Appetit!
There are small tweaks you can do to update and still retain the pleasure of eating well! 4 videos."

Have you learned how to make ghee or clarified butter yet? It's easy AND healthier! The taste is awesome too.

In this article I took an already tasty Swiss Green Bean Casserole and tweaked it to a healthier and still tasty version. Try it yourself on your old but well-loved recipes!

By Denny Lyon
Photo by iLoveButter @ flickr

Recipe: Ubiquitous Aubergine (Egglplant)

Ubiquitous Aubergine - "Aubergine, eggplant, call it what you may, it’s a strange fruit. By itself, it’s nothing – bland – tasteless - so why would anyone choose to use it. The answer is simple, tart it up with a few other ingredients and wow - it magically changes. It takes on a charisma all of it’s own."

From my friend Anthony in Spain, read about what other cooks worldwide do with this lovely versatile vegetable!

By ajbarnett
Photo by woodleywonderworks @ flickr

Recipe: How To Make Chocolate Apples

How To Make Chocolate Apples - Now here's something we all should have thought of and didn't: Chocolate covered apples for Halloween or any time! So glad I ran across this wonderful recipe on HubPages.

Will set about converting the English measures to American. For those of you who already know how, enjoy this simple piece of chocolate heaven!

Update: here are the conversions

150 grams of dark chocolate = 5 1/4 oz. (oh, heck! just use 6 scant ounces!)

100 grams milk chocolate = 3 1/2 oz. (4 oz. sounds good to me!)

20 grams butter = 1 1/4 Tablespoons

Now that wasn't so bad now was it? To our British friends, thanks!

Recipes: Hot Drinks in Cold Winter

Even in Louisiana come January the temperature drops down cold enough to drink hot, spiked cider or mulled wine. December 11th, in 2008, just 3 weeks ago it actually SNOWED in south Louisiana! AND the snow stayed on the ground for two days before it all melted off. Pretty amazing as we made snowmen on our front lawns just like I did as a kid when our family lived in Maine for a few years. Will wonders never cease?

However, what was joyful for us silly Southerners was not a lot of fun for our Northern and Western and even Midwest cousins in the country. Even now so early in the New Year the majority of the country has been experiencing record snowfall and cold. This is when those hot winter drinks come in handy to warm our insides.

Hot, Spiked Apple Cider

Per serving: Take a cup of cider or apple juice and heat it in the microwave. Now drop a shot of rum into it. You could also add other variations: orange juice, cranberry juice, cinnamon, cloves and orange slices. Just make sure you add the liquor AFTER heating the juice.

Wassail

This is really popular all over America in cold weather: Wassail. Often it's used to toast good things to others like wishing them good health. You get to look like the great guy giving good cheer to others while sipping a yummy drink. Now aren't you clever?!

Bring a pint of water to a boil on the stove. Add a cup of your favorite honey, 5 whole cloves and 3 sticks of cinnamon. Heat for 5 minutes. Add a sliced lemon and now an entire bottle of good red wine. Heat to a simmer and serve with a lemon slice.

Mulled Wine

Now here's a cold weather drink that's as old as the hills! It's been around for at least 500 years since the Middle Ages. There is no hard and true recipe just the basic ingredients you can experiment with at will to your personal taste.

The basic recipe starts with a bottle of inexpensive hearty red wine. Add a couple of cinnamon sticks, some cloves and 1 cup of sugar. Add the mixture to a saucepan and warm it until the sugar dissolves - without boiling - and then serve it in a cup with either a cinnamon stick as a garnish or for Christmas try a peppermint candy cane.

Alhambra

This one is often served to revive folks at ski resorts.

To your cup of hot cocoa just add to spike it: a shot of rum, brandy OR peppermint schnapps. Garnish with an orange peel or even marshmallows.

The variations used are: peppercorns, bay leaves, cardamom, nutmeg, brown sugar, anise, rosemary, brandy, herbal tea, citrus slices as garnish too.

Hot Buttered Rum

Into your mug place 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon butter and 4 whole cloves. Now add a shot of rum. Stir well and fill with boiling hot water.

Variation: Some people replace the butter with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Add brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg.

Hot Toddy

Lots of variations on this theme with hot tea.

Fill a mug 3/4 full with hot black tea like Luzianne (not a bitter tea like other national brands. These guys specialize in taking the bitterness out of black tea and now have moved on to developing their own coffee line!).

Add a shot of scotch, 1 Tablespoon of honey and a slice of lemon.

Variations: Can use rum, brandy or bourbon.
Add cloves, a cinnamon stick or a grind of nutmeg - even a dash of Angostura bitters (which has an orange flavor).

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Recipe: Country Captain - chicken

This dish has remained popular in Louisiana since the 1940's when then President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced it was his most favorite dish after having tasted it while traveling in the South, notably Columbus, Georgia. It was developed by the cook, Arie Mullins, for the physician who hosted the President.

FDR often went to The Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia for treatments for his polio and as a general retreat. When we lived in Georgia my husband and I visited this Warm Springs site; the small scale of the place as well as the humble cabins is quite surprising considering the dignataries who joined him.

For those who don't know this dish is basically a very glorified chicken stew with curry seasoning. “Country-captain” is an expression in Bengal, the name of a particular dry kind of curry, often served as a breakfast dish. We might imagine it was a favorite dish at the table of the skippers of ‘country ships,’ and they in turn were called ‘country captains.’ Legend has it that the dish was brought to Georgia by a British sea captain who had once served in the Bengal area of India.

Country Captain

Serves 8 - 10

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons, salt, divided

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 (3-1/2 lbs.) chickens, cut into serving pieces

3 Tablespoons oil (I prefer canola oil)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

2 cups chopped red Bermuda or Vidalia sweet onions

2 cups chopped green/red/yellow bell pepper (all are good!)

1 cup chopped celery

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon curry powder (I like Sharwood's brand, the mild curry version)

1/2 teaspoon ground dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes/cayenne pepper powder (we like the cayenne pepper)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic (I usually triple the garlic amount)

6 cups canned, whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed with their juice
(Plunge into a huge bowl of these tomatoes and squeeze and crush with your hands. Keep your hands under the juice level and it won't squirt all over you! Definitely a messy process!)

1 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 cup dried currants

Steamed brown or white rice for serving (we like brown rice)

6 ounces toasted slivered almonds for garnish


Combine the flour, paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper in large, shallow dish and stir to blend. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, coating evenly. Shake off any excess. Set aside.

Heat the oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in batches until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain. Set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon butter to the saucepan and add the onions, bell peppers, celery, bay leaf, curry powder, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes, chickenn stock, brown sugar and the remaining teaspoon salt. Stir to blend, then reduce heat to medium. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, but not falling off the bones, about 50 minutes. Add the currants and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve over steamed rice. Garnish with toasted almonds. Yum!

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Photo by Bill Feig

Recipe: Cajun Spice Mix

Cajun Spice Mix

Sometimes you run out of your favorite store blend. Why not try your hand at making your own blend? Start with this basic one and start creating from there!


*** Takes about 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup chili powder (here's where you can get inventive)

1/4 cup Hungarian paprika

1 Tablespoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper (could choose other varieties like green peppercorns)

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Preparation:

Combine salt, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, black pepper, basil, oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper, thyme, cumin and white pepper until well mixed.

Place the spice mix in a glass jar and seal tightly. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months.

This can be used for blackened fish, chicken, soups, sauces, ribs, blackened steaks, blackened chicken, even blackened pastas! Wow!

Yield: about 1 1/4 cups

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate