Butternut Squash Fries

This is a Hungry Girl recipe. I saw it on her TV show. I was skeptical, but I have some squash so I decided to try it! I keep trying to eat squash since it's good for you but I don't particularly care for it. I definitely like it this way!!! It takes a little time, but it's super easy to make!

Ingredients:
Butternut Squash
Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F.
Halve, seed, and peel the squash. Cut into french fry shapes, using a crinkle cutter if you have one!
Place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway. (If you have a baking stone, you probably don't have to turn them!)

Notes:
Hungry Girl calls 5 oz (weigh it before cooking) a serving. This is a decent serving size, but I am sure you could eat more. :)  I'll put the nutritional info for 5 oz though. When I told Dave what I was making and asked if he wanted some, he said that he would try it, sounding wary. So I fully expected to make both servings that I made. I gave him one to try and he said it was "different". So I asked if I could eat his serving, and to my shock and awe (okay, it really wasn't shocking) he said no! Dave ate his with balsamic vinegar (yum!) and I ate mine with ketchup (yum!). I will DEFINITELY be making this again. (SOON!) Oh, for 2 servings (10 oz), I used about 1/2-2/3 of HALF of the squash. Of course it will depend on the size of your squash, but there you go.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 56
Fat: 0g
Carbs: 14.5g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 1g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 3

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

This is a Hungry Girl recipe and can be found here.

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)
15 oz. canned pumpkin

Directions:
Stir ingredients together until well-blended. Spoon into greased or lined muffin cups. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 182
Fat: 4.5g
Saturated: 1.5g
Carbs: 33.5g
Fiber: 3.5g
Protein: 2.5g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Veggie Pizza

A twist on the classic! I took this to New Year's Eve at my aunt's house. I cooked the crust, mixed the cream cheese "sauce", and chopped the veggies ahead of time. I assembled it just a little bit before serving so that the crust wouldn't get soggy. I don't know exactly how much of each veggie I used (I know it was 2 c total), and I can't remember how many pieces I cut it into, but this should be pretty close. :) And I have no picture... sorry... it got eaten up!

Ingredients:
1 package Pillsbury seamless crescent rolls
8 oz tofutti better than cream cheese
1 tsp dill weed
2 c assorted chopped vegetables
---broccoli
---cauliflower
---black olives
---zucchini
---carrots
---artichoke hearts
---green pepper

Directions:
Bake dough according to package directions. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Soften cream cheese in the microwave. Mix in dill weed using a food processor.
Spread cream cheese over the cooled crust. Layer veggies on top.
Refrigerate before serving.
Makes 20 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 75
Fat: 5g
Saturated: 1.5g
Carbs: 6g
Fiber: 0.5g
Protein: 1.5g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
My mom and sister also loved it!

Potato Skins

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
1 tsp butter (I used  Bestlife Buttery Spread)
cheddar cheese (20g of cheddar style Teese for mine/shredded cheddar for Dave's)
1/2 c broccoli, finely chopped

Directions:
Bake potatoes in the microwave, and then allow them to cool enough to handle.
Preheat oven to 425F. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the insides.
Melt butter in microwave and brush over the insides of the potatoes. Fill the potatoes with cheese and broccoli.
Bake for 15 minutes. Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional Information*:
Calories: 237
Fat: 5.5g
Saturated: 2g
Carbs: 42g
Fiber: 5.5g
Protein: 5g

*For one whole potato (including scooped out part) using teese (cheese slightly more)

Baked Zucchini Fries

Last month we had a rewards assembly at school and as part of it each kid got a Kid Approved: Healthy Snacks cookbook from PE-Nut (part of the Michigan Nutrition Network). Anyway, I got a cookbook too and that's where this recipe came from.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1-1/2 T italian bread crumbs
1-1/2 T balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475F.
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour vinegar into a small bowl and breadcrumbs onto a small dish. Dip the zucchini strips first into the vinegar, and then coat with breadcrumbs before placing them on the baking sheet.
Bake 5 minutes, turn strips over, and bake until crumbs are lightly browned, about 5 more minutes.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 34
Fat: 0.5g
Carbs: 7g
Fiber: 1.5g
Protein: 1.5g

Roasted Garlic Guacamole

Ingredients:
1 avocado (~100g)
2 cloves of garlic
1T chopped fresh cilantro
a squeeze of fresh lime juice

Directions:
Place unpeeled garlic in a small dry skillet over medium heat; cook, turning occasionally, until soft and blackened in spots, 10 to 15 min. Cool, then slip off the skins; finely chop.
Scoop avocado flesh into a bowl. Add the garlic, cilantro and lime juice to taste, and mash everything together with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 44.3
Fat: 3.9g
Saturated: 0.5g
Poly: 0.5g
Mono: 2.5g
Carbs: 2.8g
Fiber: 1.7g
Sugar: 0.1g
Protein: 0.6g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4

Chewy Raspberry Almond Bars

I got this recipe from my cousin. They were actually supposed to be Chewy CHERRY Almond Bars, but I got raspberry preserves instead.

Ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
2 c packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
2 c all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
2 c regular rolled oats
1/2 c sliced almonds
1-12 oz jar (1 c) cherry preserves (My jar was 11 oz, raspberry preserves)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13x9x2" baking pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Grease foil; set pan aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour, the oats, and almonds.
Remove 1/2 cup of the dough and set aside. Press the reamining dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Spread with preserves. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over preserves layer.
Bake in the preheated oven  about 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using the edges of the foil, life the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into bars.
Makes 36 bars. (I only cut mine into 20, but they are pretty big. 30 would have been better.)
To store: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container (mine are in 2 layers separated by wax paper); cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days of freeze for up to 1 month.

Nutritional Information: (20 bars first, then 30, b/c next time I make them I'm going to cut them into 30.)

Calories: 290, 193
Fat: 10.9g, 7.3g
Saturated Fat: 5.8g, 3.9g
Carbs: 54.5g, 36.4g
Protein: 3.4g, 2.2g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Baked Kale Chips

I've seen this recipe online several places. Here is a nice website with pictures. Just scale the recipe to however much kale you have.

Ingredients:
6 oz kale
1 T EVOO
salt to taste

Directions:
Wash and dry kale. Tear into pieces and toss with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Lay the pieces out in a single layer on a baking sheet. (I line mine with foil.) Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp.

Nutritional Information: (per ounce)
Calories: 28
Fat: 2.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.3g
Carbs: 1.5g
Protein: 0.5g

Ratings:
Kristen: 3.5
Dave: 3.5

Blueberry Muffins

This is from my Betty Crocker cookbook. They are topped with streusel. I've made them that way before and they're really good!! I decided to make them without this time, but I'll give you the recipe with the streusel included. (Calorie information from Betty Crocker.)

Ingredients:
Streusel Topping, if desired
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c fresh, canned (drained) or frozen blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 T firm butter or stick margarine

Directions:
Heat oven to 400F. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.
Make Streusel Topping: Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until crumbly. Set aside.
Beat milk, oil and eggs in large bowl with fork or wire whisk. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle each with about 1 T topping.
Bake 20-25 min or until golden brown. If baked in greased pan, let stand about 5 min in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 170
Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Carbs: 27g
Protein: 3g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4