Light Cream Cheese Frosting

I came up with this recipe when trying to find a healthy but good tasting frosting recipe for my daughter’s first birthday cake- this one is tasty but not too sweet She sure liked it!

Ingredients:

One eight ounce tub light cream cheese
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions:

Put both ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well by hand or with an electric mixer. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Makes 12 servings

Serving Size: 1/12 of recipe, little over 1 tablespoon Calories 45 Protein 1 g Carb 2 g Fiber 0 g Sugars 2 g Fat 3 g saturated fat 2 g Sodium 81 mg

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Yogurt Parfait Shots

Easy to make and a fun (and healthy) little dessert to serve your kids or guests.

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
4 teaspoons honey or 4 tablespoon light maple syrup
4 teaspoons chopped nuts
handful of berries (about 12 small raspberries, 8 black berries or 2-3 cut up strawberries, or mix n’ match)

Directions:

In a small bowl combine the yogurt and honey or maple syrup. Spoon the sweetened yogurt into four shot glasses, until each is half full, this will be about 2 tablespoons for each. Add 1 teaspoon of chopped nuts the center of each glass. Then fill the glasses with the rest of the yogurt (again about 2 tablespoons per glass) and top each with a few berries.

Makes 4 servings

Serving size: 1 shot Calories 70 Protein 5 g Carb 9 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 8 g Fat 1.5 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 20 mg

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The BAD/BETTER/BEST of Foods Challenge Post # 8

CREAM CHEESE



BAD – regular cream cheese

Spread a standard serving of 2 tablespoons regular cream cheese on your bagel or toast and you’ll add 100 calories and 9-10 grams of fat, 70 percent of which is saturated fat - the “bad: kind that is linked to heart disease.

BETTER- Neufchatel cheese or whipped cream cheese

Try Neufchatel cheese or whipped cream cheese instead and 2 tablespoons will be 70-80 calories, 6-7 grams fat (1/3 less than regular cream cheese).

BEST- light cream cheese

2 tablespoons will only cost you 60 calories and 3-5 grams of fat (50 percent less than regular). Aside from on bagels and bread, try it in my Strawberry Cream Cheese and Spinach Artichoke Dip recipes.

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

A lower calorie version of a popular appetizer, great served warm or cold!

one 14_oz can artichokes, chopped (1.5 cups)
one 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out (1 cup)
½ cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup light mayo (*use a gluten-free brand such as Best foods if you are on a gluten-free diet)
¼ cup light cream cheese (*use a gluten-free brand such as Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)
¼ cup parmesan cheese (*use a gluten-free brand such as Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)
¼ tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup mozzarella cheese (*use a gluten-free brand such as Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything except the mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl. Spoon into a small baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes covered with foil. Uncover, sprinkle mozzarella cheese and bake for another 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Makes 8 servings:

Serving size: 1/8th of recipe Calories 100 Protein 6 g Carb 6 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 1 g Fat 6 g saturated fat 2.5 g Sodium 290 mg

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