Tempt My Tummy ~ Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes and Taco Lasagne

Another fun baking week here and I have one more healthy version (yes it's even a desert) and a super yummy main dish that was a hit with the boys. Both were very easy and we don't have much left over (that is also because I sent it over to the neighbors house, I so don't need any temptations). So Enjoy and yes a shameless plug for you to enter the book giveaway that this desert is in. Click here :) Cook Yourself Thin Faster Cookbook Giveaway

And if you new here then you'll be thinking why did she start with desert, because I'm crazy and love my treats. Rick always says we should open a restaurant that you have to eat desert first since you never seem to have room for it! So I'm starting the new trend ... DESERT FIRST :).

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

In small bowl combined until well combined

½ c unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ c all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¹/₈ tsp salt

In Large bowl whisk together, then add the cocoa powder mix

½ c granulated sugar

3 tbs vegetable oil

1 Large egg white

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Once these two are combined add in

2 tbs chocolate chips

Bake for 20 minutes, cool completely

For Topping Beat Together, when ready to serve top each cupcake with:

½ c whipped low-fat cream cheese

1 tbs confectioners' sugar

350° Line 12 cups of mini muffin tin with paper liners (I only had regular size, so I doubled the recipe and made 12 ... yup makes perfect sense).

ohhh laalaa topping!

Taco Lasagna (As Cole said momma you made Garfield's Favorite)

2 c lasagna noodles, uncooked
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
2 3/4 c. taco sauce
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. chili powder
2 c. chopped lettuce
1 c. chopped tomato
3 c. (12 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese

Cook lasagna according to package directions for 10 minutes; drain. Separate lasagna and lay flat on wax paper or aluminum foil to keep pieces from sticking together as they cool.

Brown beef, onion and green pepper in 10 inch non-stick skillet; drain off excess fat. Stir in taco sauce, water, salt, pepper, basil and chili powder; simmer 5 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup meat sauce on bottom of 13x9x2 inch baking pan; arrange 3 pieces of lasagna lengthwise over meat sauce. Pour 1 cup sauce over noodles; sprinkle 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup tomato and 1 cup cheese in layers over sauce. Repeat layer of lasagna, 1 cup meat sauce, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup tomato, 1 cup cheese.

Bake 350 for 20 minutes.

ALEXIS NOTE: I switched ground beef with lean turkey and no one noticed :)

Enjoy, I would love to hear if you try any of these or any variation always looking for new things to bring to the fam!

I'm also linking up to Think Thank Momma's Cupcake Share a Spoon.

MSM ~ Cook Yourself Thin Faster Main Dishes

Hold on I have a bunch of recipes I made last week from the Cook Yourself Thin Faster cookbook. I was totally healthy meal lady last week and because I love you I'm going to share! Looking for some dinner ideas that wont take to long but also will be within your diet limits.

Also make sure to enter to win a copy, I have 4 copies that I will giveaway. Come on you know you want a free book how hard is it to comment? LOL :) Click here now (I know I'm sassy like that today) Cook Yourself Thin Faster Cookbook Giveaway (CLOSED)

MAIN DISHES:

Pork with Apples

1 ½ lbs pork chops trimmed off the bone

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Season the pork with salt & pepper

Cooking Spray (pref Olive Oil)

Cook pork and remove from pan

Saute the shallot and apple add cider until boil, add heavy cream and stir. Return pork toss with sauce and serve immediately.

1 Shallot, peeled and finely chopped

1 apple peeled, cored and cut into eigths

¾ c apple cider

2 tbs heavy cream

Better-for-you Meat Sauce with Pasta

1 tbs olive oil

½ lbs lean ground beef

Cook up beef then season with salt & pepper

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp Pepper

Lower heat add in onion, garlic, carrots and eggplant season with herbs

½ yellow onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes

¼ tsp dried Thyme

¼ tsp dried Oregano

Pinch of Cayenne

Stir in sauce and sugar

4 c Tomato Sauce

Pinch of Sugar

Add meat (drain fat) simmer

½ lb whole wheat penne or spaghetti, cooked

Alexis Note: I couldn't find a good eggplant so I replaced the beef with 1 lb ground turkey

Oven-Fried Chicken with Cinnamon Spice

1 c Whole Wheat or Plain Dried bread crumbs

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tbs canola oil

Combine above ingredients in a dish (dish #1)

½ c all-purposed flour

Flour in it's own dish (dish #2)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Egg in it's own dish (dish #3)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Coat in flour, then dip in egg and dredge in the crumb mixture

450º Bake for about 15 minutes (I found I had to bake for about 20-25)

This is now my FAVORITE chicken dish I'll make this from now on it's delish!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast

salt and pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary (2tsp if fresh)

Pound chicken thin and season with salt pepper and rosemary

4 thin slices provolone cheese, quartered

Stack cheese quarter it, put one quarter on each chicken, then fold chicken in half

kitchen twine

Tie with twine (I didn't have any so used bamboo sticks)

4 thin rectangular slices boiled ham

wrap the ham around the chicken (tie with the twine)

1 tsp unsalted butter

1 tsp olive oil

Put in pan butter and oil brown on each side for 3 to 4 minutes. add water turn heat to simmer, cover and cook until chicken is cooked no longer pink. Cut off twine.

½ c water

(CLOSED) TMTT ~ Cook Yourself Thin Faster Recipes

Monday I brought you some yummy recipes to from my new cookbook Cook Yourself Thin Faster that were totally healthy and I loved! Well Rick not so much I've been told the cranberry turkey meatloaf can never be made again (I'll just wait until he leaves town). He asked my why he must suffer while I diet, he kills me! It's funny if you wouldn't tell them what they are eating just make them eat it they would love it! But you say what's in it and their inner picky child makes them not like veggies!

Tell them to get over it and they'll love it if they try it! Today I'm going to show you 4 more recipes that I just LOVED and guess what yup I told you if you came back you would get a chance to win the book! 4 lucky readers will win this cookbook for their very own! Enjoy over 75 yummy recipes that will help you loose weight fast! So here it goes breakfast, dinner, side and of course desert!

Remember to check out yesterdays post for other yummy recipes: MSM ~ Cook Yourself Thin Faster Cookbook Recipes.

BREAKFAST

French Toast Bread Pudding

Cooking Spray

4 c (about 8 slices) whole wheat bread

Cut into 1 inch cubes (put in your baking dish and set aside)

In bowl mix:

4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

Mix Well then add:

2 Large eggs (one at a time)

2 egg whites (one at a time)

¾ c lowfat milk

3 tbs pure maple syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 orange

(Mix well and pour over bread, refrigerate overnight)

1 tbs confectioners' sugar, for garnish

375º let sit for 15 minutes after taking out of refrigerator, bake for 30-40 minutes.

Update! I posted it fresh out of the oven. It's freaking amazing, you would never guess it's low fat. Caden ate the whole bowl and ask for more! ENJOY I know I will!

DINNER

Coconut Chicken and Tropical Salsa

1 large egg (whisk in deep dish #1)

Mix together 2 c conflakes and ½ c shredded unsweetened coconut (in deep dish #2)

1 lb chicken tenders put ¼ salt and ¼ pepper (put 1st in egg then cornflake mixture)

Mix in dish #3

1 c fresh pineapple, 1 c corn, 1 red bell pepper (diced), 1 scallion (diced), 2 tsp lime juice, 1 tsp canola oil, ¼ salt and ¼ pepper

Bake 425º for 10 to 12 (I used chicken breast so longer so no pink)

Serve with Salsa on top!

SIDE DISH:

Cheese "Fries"

1 Large butternut squash, peeled and seeded (cut up into fry size pieces)

Toss with:

1 tb olive oil (yes I bought some)

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Serve with:

¼ c grated Parmesan cheese

Bake 450º for 30 minutes! I loved this, Rick not so much but again veggie!

Dinner is served! YUMMY

DESSERT:

Brown Sugar Kisses

Beat until peaks form:

3 egg whites

Pinch of salt

½ c light brown sugar add and mix a spoon full at time

½ tsp vanilla extract

Bake 225º for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turn off oven and leave in there with door ajar for 1 hour.

Let's just say mine didn't turn out pretty but they tasted good .. LOL

Thank you to Hyperion Books for my amazing new cookbook!

BUY IT: Cook Yourself Thin Faster for $19.99, amazon currently has it for $13.59 or on Kindle for $9.99

WIN IT: 4 Lucky winners will win Cook Yourself Thin Faster.

To Enter let me what you're doing to be healthier or why you need a cookbook to help you eat healthier. SUPER easy.

EXTRA ENTRIES - Do as many as you like just leave a separate comment for EACH:

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Giveaway ends 2/7/10 Only residents of the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Make sure to check out other yummy Tempt Your Tummy recipes by clicking the button below.

MSM ~ Cook Yourself Thin Faster Cookbook Recipes

It's that time of year where we look at out waistlines and think holy crap where did that muffin top come from, then you turn around and see that it has mated and gone to the back too!!! Some of you gals are already rocking it and started a new bloggy weight loss group, I so want to join :). So why not start off with some recipes and a cookbook that will help you get to the skinny jeans or at least jeans that cover the muffin top and sister muffin!

Cook Yourself Thin Faster is the follow up cookbook to Cook Yourself Thin. The wonderful Lifetime Television Staff and Lauren Deen have created this cookbook that is easy to follow and things you have in your house or that you can pick up with out spending a lot of cash. Of course my OCD kicked in and I had to do a few recipes to show off, so I made a day of it from breakfast to dinner with a side and who can forget desert! Just because you're on a diet doesn't mean you have to give up chocolate right? So you know my obsession with Lifetime ... LOL so when I saw they asked me to review it I actually did a happy dance! And when you have a little extra junk in your trunk it just made me laugh at the irony of it! I'm so on the look out to buy the previous book. Heck I made 4 of the 75 just today and guess what I have more to come for tomorrow!

Enjoy and you better check out the post tomorrow not only for more recipes but you may just win a copy for yourself.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast Burrito

4 flour tortillas

Set aside put in oven at 350º to warm right before serving

2 large eggs

6 large whites

1/2 can chopped green chiles

1 scallion, chopped

2 tbs fresh cilantro

Mix all these together

1 tsp unsalted butter

3 oz turkey or chicken sausage

Cook up these two then add the egg mixture

1/2 c shredded low fat "mexican" chesses

Then add cheese when all cooked

2 tbs salsa (for topping)

(sorry it's late when I'm typing this not enough time to write the steps, the picture below shows the step by step)

MAIN DISH

Turkey Meatloaf with Dried Cranberries

1/2 c dried cranberries (1/4 in meatloaf - 1/4 on top)

1 slice of whole wheat bread

1/3 c skim milk

Mix bread crumbs and milk let sit for 1 min

1 lb ground turkey

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 c chopped fresh parsley

1 large egg white

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix these all together

2 tbsp dijon mustard (mix with the 1/4 c ground dried cranberries)

1 lb parsnips, trimmed, peeled, cored (lay around meatloaf)

I was the one that totally dug this, Rick of course threw a fit about cranberries in the meatloaf! I think it rocked!

SIDE DISH

Sweet Potato Gratin

2/3 c low-sodium, reduced-fat chicken stock

1/3 cup heavy cream

Mix those two together for sauce

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs flour (half on one layer and then half on second layer)

2 tbs finely grated Parmesan cheese (finish with this)

I only did two layers with cheese on top. It turned out delish, I could have eaten the whole pan! So making this again!!!

375º for 35 to 40 minutes in 8x8 pan

Dinner is Served!

And check me out it's healthy!!!!

DESSERT

Fudgy Brownies

Cooking Spray

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder (plus extra for the pan)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 c flour

3 tbs vegetable or canola oil

1/2 c light brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

350º for 13 to 15 minutes