om nom nom: scones!

I tried this super easy recipe this morning and was thrilled. By my calculations, each one is about 150 calories if you follow her recipe. I am still searching for a good butter substitute, as her suggestion of Brummel/Brown is not in line with my eating habits (partiallly hydrogenated YUK)...but low sugar is great, and simple recipe that's easy to accomplish is right in line with a busy lifestyle.

Ingredients:
- 2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup dried apple/cranberry (publix has a great organic package of this), or dried berries of your choice...try to go low sugar!
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk*
- 1/4 cup low calorie butter, melted (still seeking a good product, I went with her rec. of Brummel/Brown in the meantime :(

Directions
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Coat a baking sheet with non-fat cooking spray
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar; mix well and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk and melted butter.
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined; fold in dried berries. Don't overstir or you risk a less than optimal texture.
Drop 12 equal two-inch mounds of batter on prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake until tops just start to turn golden, about 15 minutes—oven temps vary.
Entire recipe makes 12 scones.

Skip the butter, and serve these with a tablespoon of low-sugar preserves. Trader Joes has a great cranberry "butter" or there are a number of healthy choices out there. Yummmmm.

* She has a recipe for making your own low-fat or fat-free buttermilk on her site.

bison burgers

Mr.Mister and I are both on a pretty big health kick/fitness challenge lately which has greatly squashed my cupcake indulgences and given me new challenges to make food tasty and interesting without breaking my own (very small) caloric bank. Still, we've both been craving big burgers for a few days now, and I finally had a chance to make bison burgers at home to satisfy the craving without going 1000+ calories each by eating out.

No pictures, because I simply didn't take any before all was inhaled. But here's your own moan-and-groan recipe, pulled from here with some explanations and modifications:

Bison Burgers

• 1 pound freshly ground bison meat
• 1.5 teaspoons "Ted's Special Mixture" (see below)
• 1 tablespoon EarthBalance margarine (1TB = 100 calories)

Use your hands to mix up the bison, seasoning, and margarine so all is nicely blended. Divide into 3, fire up the grill, sqash those balls of meat into flattened burgers so they fill the bun nicely when cooked. Grill and serve up on a 100-calorie deli thin Earth Grains whole wheat bun with lettuce and mustard. If you follow the above and divide evenly into 3, you should be looking at about 300 calories per patty, but read your own labels and do your own math to be sure...

If you're like me and you LOVE ketchup, grab a handful of cherry tomatoes and pop one into your mouth right before you take a bite of burger. Ketchup is crazy high in sugar (or HFCS boooo) so fresh cherry tomatoes hit the lycopene and tomato taste in a much healthier way.

Ted's Mixture

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (see below for scratch on that too)
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 Seasoned Salt (thanks Recipezaar)

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch 

 I ended up making double of each of the above spices and will just keep in jars in the cupboard for the next time I need them. A little seasoned salt was *fantastic* on sliced up, baked sweet potato "fries."

tastes like summer

I threw this together for dinner tonight, and it was so delicious I have to share. Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine in a baking dish
• Small zucchini, sliced
• Small yellow squash, sliced
• One can peeled, diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Stir it around to get everything coated with the oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt, powdered onion, and a little bit of shredded low-fat mozzarella. Bake until everything is tender, about 30-45 minutes.

So good, so good for you.