Healthy choices:meatloaf (and cupcakes!!)

I've really been trying to make healthier choices while cooking these days. Sometimes it's quite easy; substituting part skim cheese and splenda was easy and I've been cooking with ground turkey for several years now so those are no adjustments for me. How do you make those yummy, savory dishes like meatloaf and mashed potatos and still be healthy about it though? Well, here's what I did. I used 93% lean ground beef, believe it or not, it's actually just as healthy as using lean ground turkey, instead of breadcrumbs I used old fashioned oats, and 2 egg whites instead of an egg. I made mashed potatoes using skim milk and margarine. What it equaled was a really good healthier version of meatloaf and for those who follow weight watchers, 8pts for the meatloaf and mashed potatoes :-) Now, how does the picture of the delicious cupcake play in to meatloaf? It doesn't. I was bored this week and we had a box of chocolate cake mix so I decided to make a cake. Because I do follow weight watchers, I was concerned about points. Well, really I was concerned about making it as a whole because I'm a person who has no discipline when it comes to cake. :-) So, I made cupcakes instead. A box of cake mix prepared with applesauce instead of oil will equal about 7-8pts when cut into 12 pieces. Making 24 cupcakes then forces that number much lower! I also made homemade whipped cream icing. Once that was divided up the total points for that lovely chocolate cupcake with lots of whipped cream icing was a whooping 5pts. That's nothing! I was quite excited about that. The icing simply consists of 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 2 tsp vanilla. Simple, delicious and guilt free!

Superbowl goodie!

If you're like me you enjoy eating food that isn't good for you even though you feel guilty about it later. I decided for the Superbowl I wanted potato skins but I really didn't feel like figuring out how to deep fry them. So, here's what I did instead! I added some seasoned salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to about 3tbsp of oil. I scooped out all but about a quarter inch of some already baked potatos (I'll tell you what I did with the potato after this!) and then brushed the seasoned oil all over the potatos. On a greased cookie sheet, I put all the potatos scooped side down in the oven for 7 minutes at 475. After the time was up, I flipped them over and let them cook another 7 minutes. After that it's pretty much whatever you want! We had them with monterrey jack and cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chives (homegrown, thank you very much).

With the leftover potato I added about a tbsp of butter, a handful of chives and a couple pinches of cheddar and monterrey jack cheese. They were great the next day in my lunch!