Banana Bran Muffins

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ cup sugar

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

¾ cup low-fat or fat-free milk

1 egg, beaten

2 cups bran flake cereal

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and cereal. Let wet ingredients set for 5 minutes, then mix again to mash the cereal. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fill 12 greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

I used half wheat flour, half white. I added a couple chopped strawberries in half of them, and frozen blueberries in the other half. These are SO GOOD! They’re really chewy and sweet without tons of sugar. MFP says they are 82 calories each with 4 grams of sugar and 2 grams of fiber. I would love to have a couple of these for breakfast!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

3/4   cup   all-purpose flour
3/4   cup   whole wheat flour
3   tablespoons   sugar
1 1/2   teaspoons   baking powder
1/2   teaspoon   baking soda
1/2   teaspoon   salt
1 1/2   cups   low-fat buttermilk (I used regular milk)
1   tablespoon   vegetable oil
1   large egg
1   large egg white
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 medium overripe banana, mashed

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and egg white, stirring with a whisk; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Add frozen blueberries and mashed banana.

Heat a nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with syrup and butter.  Makes 12 pancakes, serves 4.


I add the banana for sweetness and to keep the pancakes moist. They are moist and sweet enough that you don't need syrup. Without butted or syrup, 1 serving has 318 calories. They are SO filling. I especially love these, because they freeze really well. I make a double batch and then freeze them all in a big bag with parchment paper between them so they come apart easily. I also have a rubbermaid tub thing where I mix the dry ingredients ahead of time and then use 1 3/4 cup mix plus the wet ingredients. If you decide to make them without the fruit, they are 272 calories.

Cloud Bread

Since starting on the calorie counting wagon in February one of the things that I've been most scared to eat much of is bread (seriously, anxiety accompanies when I think about having a sandwich!). It just has too many calories in it for me to want to waste my time with. Which is sad to me. I've probably had 4 slices of bread in the last month and a half. Maybe.

At only 43 calories each piece for this "cloud bread" how could I not try it?! The thought of having a sandwich was too good to let it pass. 

Cloud Bread
(link to recipe I used - http://www.food.com/recipe/carb-free-cloud-bread-411501)
I really didn't make many changes, but my notes are in red :)

• 3 eggs , separated
• 3 tablespoons whole milk cottage cheese or 3 tablespoons cream cheese (I used cream cheese, can't go wring there)
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (I didn't have any so I looked up substitutes and ended up using 1/2 tsp lemon juice.)
• 1 (1 g) packet artificial sweetener (I used 2 tsp splenda)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Separate the eggs very carefully, there must be no yolk in the white.
3. In one bowl, mix together the egg yolks, the 3 T. of Cottage Cheese OR Cream Cheese and the one packet of Sweetener until smooth. (I softened the cream cheese for about 30 seconds in the microwave)
4. In the other bowl add 1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar to the whites and beat the whites on high speed until they are fluffy and form nice peaks.
   
5. Very carefully fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites until mixed, but try and not break down the fluffiness of the egg whites too much.
   
   
6. Spray two cookie sheets with Pam or other fat-free cooking spray.
   
7. With a large spoon, "scoop" the mixture into 10 even rounds on the sheets (about the size of the top-half of the McDonalds hamburger bun; roughly 3/4 inch thick and 4 to 5 inches across).
8. Bake on the middle rack. Here is when you have to watch them, because the cooking time the same on any two batches. It is somewhere around 1/2 hour, but it could be less or more. (Mine only cooked for 21 minutes)You just need to watch them until them become nice and golden brown (again, the color of a McDonalds bun).
9. Remove from the pans and cool on a rack or cutting board.
10. While warm they are crumbly and similar to cooked meringue - but don't let this fool you! Once completely cool, seal them in a ziplock storage baggie or a tupperware over night. They will totally change their consistency, to something much more like bread - a softer texture that is nice and chewy. If you do not like softer chewy bread, then eat them as they are, nice and crisp
    
     **I let them cool for about 10 minutes and then spread butter on one and ate it with my breakfast. I was actually pleasantly surprised and how good it was. Maybe it's because I haven't eaten bread in a while? I'm interested to see how the texture changes after they've sat for a while longer. They were so easy to make though, I think I'll be making them again.  I'm also already thinking of things to add to them, seasonings, chopped dried fruit, chocolate???, cheese, mmmm.
    I'm seeing how these store in the fridge, left in a ziplock on the counter they're pretty soft and a little sticky to deal with. Or maybe I just need to bake them longer next time.