Weight Watchers Cake

I saw this recipe on youtube and had to try it! You can use any box mix. I used the one that was the cheapest (Pillsbury .94 - bargain!) in devil's food with pudding and Cherry Coke Zero.

Mix together and cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I used a large springform pan. I could easily get more than 12 slices out of this but 1/12 of the cake is 3 points on Weight Watchers.

Later, I realized it's probably not a good idea cooking with aspartame so I think I'd look for some soda that has sucralose in it instead or heck, you could probably use real soda since it's only 2 points for an entire can.

The strawberries are organic to cancel out the effects of the chemicals in the cake. LOL

Topped with fat free Kroger brand cool whip (.79!) It was delicious and incredibly moist. Who knew soda could be used instead of oil, eggs and water?

Homemade Bread

Classic White Bread
Setting - Super Rapid

2 lb loaf

12 oz. warm milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. butter
2 Tblsp. sugar
4 c. bread flour
4 tsp. of breadmaker yeast

Did you know that a five pound bag of flour (which costs around $3 +/-) contains about 20 cups? You can make almost 5 loaves (10 lbs.!) of bread with one bag of flour! Yeast is a little pricey (about $4 or $5) . You can substitute dry milk (2 Tblsp.) and water to equal the milk for further savings!

This bread is good and makes great sandwiches. My daughters both love it and the older one isn't a fan of bread so that says something!

You can also substitute olive oil for butter - I've tried that and it works just fine and honey for the sugar.

Delicious and ready in just over an hour!

If you have a Goodwill near you, I've spotted a lot of breadmakers there recently. You're taking your chances of course on their reliability but for the savings it might be worth a shot!

A loaf of storebought bread here is over $2 now. I can't get over how the grocery prices are skyrocketing! Won't be long before we'll have to grow our own wheat and mill it ourselves. Ha!

Fiber Rich Muffins

I'm doing Weight Watchers now and thought I'd share some of the healthy new recipes I've discovered here along with the point values per serving. My kids eat this, too. :)

Using this:

The number on the box is the points value if you make this as cereal.

The recipe:

1 c. Hodgson Mill Multi Grain Cereal
1 c. Unbleached all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ginger (I added some spices - recipe didn't call for these two)
1/2 t. cinnamon (could have used more I think)
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. shredded carrots (I used one large carrot)
1 c. apple chopped (I used one large Granny Smith apple shredded)
1/2 c. milk (I used 1%)
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites - I used whole eggs)
1/4 c. vegetable oil (I used oil but I wonder if you could use apple sauce instead)
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans (I left these out to reduce fat plus my girls don't like nuts)

Preheat oven to 400. I used a 24 mini muffin and a 6 count regular cupcake pan. Recipe says it makes 12 full size cupcakes. Blend together dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until blended. (I just used a spoon not a mixer.) Batter will be thick. Spoon into muffin pan(s) and bake 20-22 min or until golden brown. (My mini-muffins were done in 10 minutes. The cupcakes took about 15.)

I plan on freezing these so we have something quick to grab on days I don't feel like fixing breakfast.

Weight Watchers Points Value: 4 points for 4 mini muffins or 1 regular muffin

PW Ripoffs

I made her French Breakfast Puffs this morning with some fruit salad on the side. Yum!

The girls loved them but didn't finish a whole one. I think next time I might make them as mini-muffins. I ate one and was FULL. They were very good and my idea of the perfect breakfast.