Too Many Sweets

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3 Sweet Ways to Eat Less Sugar

By RealAge

Any idea how much sugar you eat in the course of a day? The amount might startle you -- even if you don't have a soda habit or a sweet tooth, per se.

Most people take in about 430 calories of added sugar every day. That's a lot of waist-widening, nutrition-void sweetness! Here are three ways to add sweet without dipping into the sugar bowl.

3 Ways to Sweeten Stealthily
In their book, The Good Housekeeping Complete Household Handbook , the domestic experts at Good Housekeeping offer these three ideas for taking in the reins on your sugar intake:

1. In your coffee pot: Brew your morning coffee with a cinnamon stick or vanilla bean and ditch the flavored creamers. Just 1 tablespoon of flavored creamer can add 6 grams of sugar.

2. On your breakfast: Maple syrup adds about 50 calories and 12 grams of sugar per tablespoon. For a little sweet, add fresh fruit or pure fruit purees to pancakes and waffles. Or even oatmeal.

3. In cookie recipes: You can generally get away with cutting the sugar by up to a third in recipes for cookies, cakes, or other baked goods. Try experimenting with a little less of the sweet stuff on your next batch of macaroons.

The Unsweet Truth
Extra calories in sugar often turn into extra pounds, but that's not the worst of it. Studies suggest high sugar consumption could also increase the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer -- particularly pancreatic cancer.

Hamburger Helper

Hamburger Helper
Source: TURNAROUNDSUE

Ingredients
1 lb Lean Ground Beef 90% Lean
2 c Noodles Egg No Yolk,Uncooked
Salt And Pepper,To Taste
1 t Chili Powder
2 c Water
8 oz Tomato Sauce

Instructions
Brown meat and drain. Add salt and pepper, chili powder, tomato
sauce and water. Add uncooked noodles and cover, stirring occasionally.
Cook for about 20 minutes. Serve with cornbread. Very easy.

6 Servings: Per Serving: 216 Cal (33% from Fat, 36% from Protein, 31% from Carb); 8
g Tot Fat; 2 g Fiber

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Brownies

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Brownies
Source: Cooking Light, JUNE 2000

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pan).

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, chocolate chips, soda, and salt in a bowl.

Combine sugars and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir until well-blended. Add flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Spread batter in bottom of prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 brownie)

CALORIES 125 FAT 4.2g FIBER 0.5g

Easy Lemon Bars

Easy Lemon Bars
Source: NurseCindy

Ingredients
1 box angel food cake mix
1 jar lemon curd, jar, heat 45 seconds
1/8 cup water

Instructions
Mix together and spread in a 13x9 greased pan bake at 325 for 25 mins. When cool sprinkle with powdered sugar.

She also gave the hint of heating up the lemon curd for 45seconds and adding 1/8 cup of water when mixing. That really was helpful as the lemon curd is really thick.

Servings: 16; 5 pointsplus+, 3 points

For Recipe Review, click here.

Berry Cobbler

Berry Cobbler
Source, SRKAUTZ

Ingredients
Two 12-oz bags frozen mixed berries
1 box white cake mix (no pudding)
1 can of diet 7-up or sierra mist (clear soda)

Instructions
Place frozen fruit in a 9x13 baking dish. Add dry cake mix over the top. Pour soda slowly over cake mix. DO NOT stir the cake mix and the pop - this will give you a 'crust'. If you stir the two, you will hsve a cake like topping.

Bake 350 for 45-50 min.

You may be able to use frozen peaches instead of mixed berries.

Serves 16; 4 PointsPlus+

For Recipe Review, click here.

Goodbye Hungry

Today it was announced the official change, Hungry is out and Jennifer Hudson is in. I enjoyed those commericials with little hungry trying to tempt you to eat the foods you should not. At least now we have someone who has been through the program herself and can relate to others on a more personal level.

I will miss Hungry, but I am so excited for Jennifer to take his place! To watch it yourself just click here.

Cheese Fondue with Apples

Cheese Fondue with Apples
Source: Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2002

Kirsch, a type of cherry brandy, traditionally finishes cheese fondues, but you can substitue white wine.

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Emmenthaler or Swiss cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 garlic clove, halved
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
3 Pink Lady apples, each cored and cut into 9 wedges

Instructions
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cheese, and nutmeg, tossing well.

Rub cut sides of garlic on inside of a medium, heavy saucepan. Add broth and wine to pan; bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Add one-third cheese mixture to pan, stirring with a whisk until combined. Repeat procedure with remaining cheese mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 5 minutes or until smooth, stirring frequently.

Remove cheese mixture from heat; stir in kirsch. Pour mixture into a fondue pot. Keep warm over low flame. Serve with apple wedges.

Yield: 9 servings (serving size: 3 apple wedges and about 2 tablespoons fondue)

CALORIES 84
FAT 3g
FIBER 1.3g