Chocolate Chip Cookies!

No one should be forced to live without enjoying a good chocolate chip cookie every now and then, but the typical chocolate chip cookie recipe makes it hard to do so without also enjoying a good dose of guilt and useless calories along with it. Most recipes contain about a cup of butter (or margarine- eek! trans fats!), loads of refined carbohydrates (white sugar and flour galore) and not much else to speak of, nutritionally. Take your typical back-of-the-bag recipe for example.

With a few minor modifications, chocolate chip cookies can be something much less damaging to the waistline, and can even contribute some fiber and healthy fat. Still not a health food, but nice to know that you can indulge sensibly.

Change the white flour and sugar to white whole wheat flour and evaporated cane juice crystals (standards in my baking world). Cut down on the flour a bit and add some old-fashioned rolled oats. Give it a shot even if you're not an oatmeal cookie person- they aren't the main flavor or texture that comes through at the end. The whole wheat flour and oats give the cookie a big fiber boost.

Cut down on the fat, always. You almost never need as much as the recipe calls for to end up with a good end product. I recommend using a trans-fat free tub margarine rather than butter or stick margarine to minimize trans and saturated fats. Replacing half the fat with canola oil is another good option for healthy unsaturated fat. I do both!

Now I'm a huge chocolate lover, but even I think a whole cup of chocolate chips in a 2-dozen cookie recipe is really kind of overkill. 3/4 cup will do. If you are feeling extra motivated, chopping up some high-quality dark chocolate will give you an extra dose of antioxidants in your cookies. I wasn't feeling so motivated today, so I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead (could be some of those flavonoids left in there, right? maybe?). If you do like nuts in your cookies, go for walnuts. The health benefits are awesome.

Terri's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 c evaporated cane juice crystals
1/4 c canola oil
1/4 c Smart Balance margarine
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c water
2 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Beat sugar, oil and butter with a hand-held mixer until smooth and creamy. Add egg, water and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Combine flour, baking soda and oats in a separate bowl, then stir into wet ingredients until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees until just barely set in the middle (if you like your cookies soft), about 10-12 minutes.

Hide some for yourself before your family devours them all. Lavish in their praise for your amazing baking abilities, and you never even have to tell them you made it more nutritious.

Faux Fried Foods

You do not need me to tell you that fried foods are not a healthful choice, that really is not news. But they sure are tasty, aren't they? Crispy and moist, mmm.... What to do? Use your oven to create oven "fried" goodness, that's what.

For example: America's favorite vegetable, the french fry. I love them, and you probably do too... from fast food to fine dining, they are delicious. To satisfy a french fry craving, try oven fried potato wedges.Take a couple of spuds, wash well and slice into wedges of uniform thickness. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the wedges out in a single layer with a bit of space in between. Roast at 350-375 degrees until golden brown. The trick with these is patience. To get that crispy fry-like exterior you must allow them to roast for quite awhile, but it's so worth it.

In honor of lent, I'm also cooking up some oven-fried fish. Instead of a thick batter that soaks up a ton of oil, these filets are coated in a flour mixture, dipped in egg, then rolled in some whole wheat cracker or bread crumbs and allowed to bake until golden brown. Serve this delicious fish and chips-style meal with spicy no-mayo cole slaw. P.S. this style of oven-frying works for chicken, too.


Oven Fried Fish and Chips:

1 lb fish filets
1 1/2 cups whole wheat cracker and/or bread crumbs
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
1 T water
1 T lemon juice

2-3 large russet potatoes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cooking spray

Combine flour and seasonings. Beat egg with water and lemon juice. Dip fish filets into flour, then egg mixture, then roll in bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spray filets with additional cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Slice potatoes into wedges. Spread evenly on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Spray the tops of potato wedges with additional cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in 350 degree oven until crispy golden brown (about an hour).