Egg Nog Cake!

I got this recipe from a Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine... and I have to say I'm not a drinker of Egg Nog - it kinda' grosses me out to think of 'drinking' eggs... but this recipe sounded good and my Mother-in-law saw it too and said I should make it & bring it to our Christmas Eve dinner... So I did and here is the recipe - it was AWESOME! It was very moist and reminded me of a breakfast coffee cake.. the only way I changed the recipe was that I used pumpkin pie spice (like usual) in place of nutmeg and I omitted the golden raisins. Oh, and I don't own a 9 inch round baking pan (only 8 inch) so I used an 8 x 8 square pan and it worked just fine... Hope you enjoy!!!

Eggnog Cake

¾ cup reduced-fat eggnog
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 egg

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp chopped pecans

Topping:
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp cold butter
2 Tbsp chopped pecans


1. In a large bowl, beat the eggnog, sugar, oil, applesauce & egg until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; gradually beat into eggnog mixture until blended. Stir in raisins and pecans. Pour into a 9 inch round baking pan coated with cooking spray.

2. For topping, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans; sprinkle over batter.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Banana Bread - updated!

Wow! It's been a while since I shared a recipe, and trust me, I've been baking and making things alot and taking pictures, too... but just haven't had the time to post them!

So I got a little loaf of bread from a neighbor yesterday and I thought it smelled like banana bread, but when I cut it, I found it to be orange-y in color, and when I ate it, I thought it tasted like a mix of pumpkin & banana (which was awesome!) so then I was inspired to find a recipe for such a kind of bread & I just found the one below and it sounds quite good (and healthy!) So I thought I'd share it with you before I even try it... And later on I'll let you know how it turns out and how I manage to adapt the recipe to my own liking! :)

Pumpkin Banana Bread

• 2 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup Splenda or granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Grease a large loaf pan (approx. 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and vanilla until combined well.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, erythritol (or sugar), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt.
5. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in large bowl and stir until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until top is deeply browned and springs back when touched gently, about 70 to 85 minutes.

UPDATE: I've made the bread and I highly recommend this recipe! The only thing I changed is that I used all-purpose flour instead of wheat flour and pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, ginger and allspice. It turned out delicious! I really wish I would have had 4 mini loaf pans though, since the amount of batter left after filling the 2 mini pans was not enough to make a decent size loaf in the large pan, but that was okay since we ate the 'large' loaf ourselves anyway :)

Super Simple Chili

Welcome to Winter! Where I live, Winter is definitely upon us... temperatures are freezing and it's bitterly cold outside! So I'd say this is the perfect time to make something warm for dinner... like chili!


...And you know it's the time of year to make chili when you can go to the grocery store and they have a whole little display featuring ALL the ingredients you need for making a pot!


I have never made chili myself, so I bought the McCormick chili seasoning packet and then turned it over to find a recipe - which I then bought all the ingredients for. Then I got home and found a chili recipe my Mom gave me... which was quite different... so I came up with my own recipe, and I'm sharing it below! And I was excited that it turned out very yummy - though my husband said it needed more hamburger and less beans. (He hates beans.) I thought it was just right, though... and even my 4 year old liked it. :) Oh, and my husband grew up eating chili this way... throw a few dollops of sour cream on top and also cover it in shredded cheese. I thought that was weird... until I tried it for myself and now I love eating chili this way! :) Hope you enjoy! Oh, and this recipe makes about 4-5 servings... depending on how much you eat in one sitting :)

Super Simple Chili

1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
1 package mild chili seasoning
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. each -- pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder
1/2 tsp. minced onion

I brown the hamburger in a skillet after sprinkling all the 1/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp seasonings on top.

In a small pot, mix the kidney beans (do not drain), diced tomatoes (do not drain) and tomato sauce and chili seasoning. Add browned hamburger. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Creamy Fruit Dip!

Creamy Fruit Dip

1 package (8 oz) fat free cream cheese
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup (8 oz) reduced fat sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup cold milk
1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese & brown sugar until smooth.
Beat in sour cream, extracts and cinnamon until smooth.
Add milk, mix well.
Add pudding mix, beat on low speed for 2 mins.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Serve with fruit.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1/4 cup) equals 118 calories, 2 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 8 mg cholesterol, 211 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch.


This dip is SOO delicious... I am not a person who sits around and snacks on fresh fruit but give me a bowl of this dip to dunk some fruit in, and I will eat TONS of fruit! :) You will surely like it...

(This recipe is taken from Taste of Home magazine.)