Low-Fat Lifestyle

I wouldn’t normally advocate eating cannolis and cupcakes, but it is totally okay when it comes from Carlo’s Bakery. Calories and fat don’t count when it’s made by the Cake Boss! My gallbladder may disagree later, but it was totally worth it. Mirror Awards. The Plaza Hotel. Cake Boss. Can it get better?

There is one type of cake in this world that is naturally fat free: angel food cake. 

Angel food cake is amazing because it’s supposed to be made with egg whites. For dessert on Easter, I found this recipe for Rainbow Angel Food Cake on Tablespoon.com and made it using a Betty Crocker boxed angel food cake mix.

At first, I was a little skeptical about the idea of rainbow angel food cake. I assumed it would turn out muddy-looking and that all the layers of color would mix together in the cake pan. But it actually turned out just fine!  The difference between this recipe and a regular angel food cake recipe was in dividing the batter into separate bowls and adding food coloring.  Then, each color batter was spooned into the cake pan in layers. And, thankfully, the layers didn’t settle into one another. 

The only weird thing about this recipe is that, after you take the cake out of the oven, you have to stand the pan upside down on the neck of a glass bottle for an hour and a half. …Interesting way to make a cake, but it worked!!

And not only did the recipe work, but the cake tasted INCREDIBLE. 

Ok, so every once in a while, there are occasions that, I believe, warrant a little cheating…even if that means waking up the next morning with a gnawing stomach ache and an angry gallbladder. 

Yesterday was one of those days. How often do people get to go to the Waldorf=Astoria in Manhattan? Probably not very often. Which is why, when I do go, I completely indulge in the food. Yesterday, I was there as a New York Women in Communications Foundation scholarship recipient at the organization’s annual Matrix Awards.  

Aside from the amazing people at the event, there was some pretty amazing food. The dessert we had was this decadent chocolate cake with cream cheese layers. The stuff on top? Raspberry, whipped cream and white chocolate. 

I didn’t feel as guilty eating this because the lunch was the Waldorf salad. I went light on the salad dressing and skipped butter on my bread, so I tried to be careful. My gallbladder still acted up this morning, but whatev.  It was totally worth it. 

And just to show the awesomeness of the ceremony, here are a few pictures I snapped:

The incredible John Legend, giving a surprise performance.

Posing with presenter Rosie O’Donnell, who was nice enough to introduce herself to each scholarship winner. I’m also wearing my new favorite dress, which was generously supplied by The Limited. 

The lovely Idina Menzel, of Wicked and Glee, accepting her award. The blonde lady sitting down wearing beige? Arianna Huffington. No biggie.

Needless to say, this was an incredible day, and I’m so thankful to New York Women in Communications for giving me the experience. I definitely savored every minute of it (and every calorie)!

My next baking adventure is going to involve diet soda. Yes, diet soda. Trust me, I’m skeptical.  

The lovely Kayla from Big Apple Appetite suggested I try using soda in my baking instead of the usual eggs and oil that recipes typically call for. My favorite thing to use as a substitute is applesauce. It’s pretty fool-proof and has a 1:1 ratio with oil. 

Image via online-foods.com.

But apparently, diet soda is even easier because it takes the place of the oil and eggs. According to Kayla and this article from eHow.com, all you need is a baking mix and a bottle of diet cola. 

I think I’m going to experiment with diet cherry cola and see what happens!

Image via examiner.com.

A few days ago, I posted about a low-fat DIY dessert.

My baking experiment was to make a homemade low-fat graham cracker crust for my low-fat chocolate cream pie.  I’ve made this cake before with store-bought crusts, but those are a little on the fatty side.

The chocolate cream part is super easy to make. It’s just cooked Jell-o chocolate pudding!

For the crust, I used a recipe from allrecipes.com.

The one problem I found with this recipe was that I needed to double it. Unquestionably, it did not make enough to fill an entire pie plate. When I doubled it, I had the right amount. Also, it says to bake for 5 minutes. I had to bake it for like, 20 minutes. That still isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not what the recipe called for.

Although it tasted incredible, the consistency of the crust wasn’t what I expected it to be. Instead of being crumbly or crunchy, it was a bit mushy. I attribute that to me maybe putting in too much yogurt. But it tasted infinitely better than the store-bought crusts and the fat content was super low, too. Now that I know how to adjust the recipe, I think this is worth a second shot because the taste was just that good. 

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I made a celebratory trip to Coldstone after I found out I was selected as a New York Women in Communications scholarship recipient. 

Cold Stone is, unfortunately, one of the fattiest ice cream places around.  However, they have one amazing flavor: Sinless Sans Fat Sweet Cream.

This delicious flavor is fat free and no sugar added because it’s sweetened with Splenda.  It doesn’t even come close to tasting like diet. 

Image via topcultured.com.

I got mine with chocolate shavings and gummy bears mixed in. I just had to have some chocolate and the chocolate shavings save you calories and fat over the chocolate chip or candy bar options. 

Next time, I plan on trying some of their fruit toppings, like pineapple and strawberries, as well as the fat-free toppings like fat-free caramel or butterscotch. 

If it wasn’t so good and I didn’t eat it so fast, I definitely would’ve snapped a picture!

The title basically says it all. 

My friends Kaitlin and Kristen recently gifted me a subscription to Food Network magazine for my 21st birthday. (Such an awesome gift.)  I read my first issue and found this amazing recipe:

How amazing do these look??

I figured out how to create a low-fat version, so I made them for myself and my boyfriend a few days ago. He was definitely a fan.

Instead of regular waffles, use Aunt Jemima Low Fat Waffles:

Image via wordsearchpuzzledreams.com.

Then, add some Breyers fat-free ice cream:

Image via breyers.com.

The result? This:

And this:

I admit, I may have been a bit overeager to eat these and didn’t let the waffles cool enough before scooping on the ice cream. But having it just a little (or a lot…) melty actually made it really good. They might not look as appetizing as the ones in the magazine but, hey, they sure tasted pretty amazing. 

I consider Oreos the pinnacle of chocolate sandwich cookies.  If you read a recipe that calls for “chocolate sandwhich cookies,” you pretty much know the recipe is asking for Oreos but that they just can’t print the brand name.

I thought it would be pretty hard to find a substitute for Oreos because, let’s face it, for all their artificial-ness, they’re good. Really good.

But I’ve found a cookie that tastes just as good - if not better than - Oreos and has WAY less fat.

If you’ve never heard of Kinnitoos cookies, get acquainted:

Image via pickygourmet.net.

Yeah, I know, the name is kinda strange. No clue where it comes from. Not important. The important part is that not only are these cookies gluten-free (bonus!), but they have less calories and way less fat than Oreos.

Let’s compare:

Oreos: 160 calories, 7g of fat in 3 cookies

Kinnitoos: 150 calories, 4.5g of fat in 3 cookies

Image via ehow.co.uk.

There’s definitely a clear winner here. And Kinnitoos cookies are sold in a lot of major grocery chains, so they’re not some obscure brand that you have to go hunting to find.

And if you’re REALLY looking to get crazy with your cookies, make Kinnitoos cookies into mini ice cream sandwiches. Just pull apart and put on a scoop of fat-free ice cream. Fast, easy, and definitely doesn’t taste diet.

Remember those amazing chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches from the Good Humor ice cream truck? (Can you tell I want summer to be here?) They’re SO good. But trust me, your gallbladder will NOT be thanking you later if you eat one.

For as awesome as they are, Good Humor’s website says they have 10 grams of fat.  That’s a lot for such a little sandwich. But having to watch your fat doesn’t mean not eating dessert or condemning yourself to a life of cardboard-tasting foods.

I’ve come up with a really amazing FAT-FREE alternative!

As I’ve mentioned before, Simply Scrumptous has amazing low-fat and fat-free desserts. Their cookies are out of this world, and are the perfect ones to use in making your own fat-free ice cream sandwich.

So, take two of their cookies. (I recommend the Fat Free Double Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies.)

Buy some Breyers Fat Free Smooth & Dreamy ice cream, and sandwich it between the cookies.

I’m a huge ice cream fan and, despite the fact that ice cream is one of THE fattiest foods around, there are ways to make it work. Breyers is one of your best choices. All the flavors are great, but my favorite is the Chocolate Fudge Brownie. If you want an ice cream sandwich that’s pretty close to the original, stick with their Creamy Vanilla.

Put everything together and you have an incredible fat-free ice cream sandwhich! And the best part is that it really doesn’t taste like diet.

There are very few sweets I like that don’t involve chocolate. Twizzlers, however, happy to be one of them. Ever notice on the package how they say they’re a low-fat candy? They’re the only Hershey’s candy I can eat without having to question the fat content. For anyone with gallbladder issues, Twizzlers are hands down the best candy to snag on Halloween. 

Image via www.lollyshopwangi.com.au

I suggest just turning a blind eye to the sugar content. :)