No Sugar Added Apple Crisp

So yesterday I was writing about cravings.  I had been thinking about apple crisp for a couple of weeks.  I really wanted some warm crisp topped with ice cream.   But alas, this is pretty high calorie stuff.  

I decided to experiment with a no sugar added apple crisp.  We had most of the things we needed already.  I have been eating the weight control oatmeal for breakfast.  We had apples already so we started it up.

I pulled out the apple corer/slicer from my Pampered Chef days. I sold the products just long enough to earn the gadgets.  That is how much I love gadgets.

I did forget how it worked, so there was a little more peel in the first apple than I intended.  This resulted in one of John and I's kitchen tiffs.  I kept turning, he wanted me to stop.  We worked it out.

The second apple went better.  I used one Red Delicious and one Granny Smith.   I liked mixing it up a bit.

We sprinkled it with about a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg and two teaspoons of Splenda. 

I had this idea before we started.  I know myself and wondered how I would control myself with a batch of apple crisp.  So we put them in single serve ramekins!  We intended to make two but ended up with enough for four.  John added a little extra cinnamon at this point.

 

 

Then we sprinkled each with the oatmeal. 

 

 

 

 

Then we melted a couple tablespoons of butter. 

 

 

We drizzled this over the oats.  Next time we will probably toss the oats with the butter to crisp it up.  At this point, John and I talked about how to cook them.  John thought we should cover them, I didn't think so.  So we decided to test it out. 

We covered two and left two uncovered.

We also picked up some frozen Greek yogurt.  Well I got Greek, John got just regular frozen yogurt.  They were right next to each other.   We saw on Dr. Oz that it is way lower in calories than regular ice cream.  

After about twenty minutes we pulled the foil off of John's crisps and put them back in for a few more minute.  Then we pulled them out and let them cool for ten excruciating minutes.

We added a scoop of frozen yogurt and dug in.  They were awesome.   It was exactly what I'd been craving.  I can imagine them for a dinner party dessert.  I could have them all ready to go and just throw them in the oven during dinner. 

Delicious. 

Editor's note:  With the frozen yogurt, this dessert is only 185 calories.  That is awesome!

French Fries

I know what you are thinking.   Jo, I thought this blog was about eating right.  You are making french fries?  Are you crazy?

That is beside the point. 

Part of our new lifestyle is the "Most of the time" part of the blog.   I know myself well enough that if I try to ignore a craving it will take over my life.   For Oscar night I wanted chicken wings and fries.  It just sounded right.  Salty, crispy goodness.

In the old days we would buy a big old bag of the frozen fries and eat a whole batch of them all deep fried.  We have changed that up a little bit.  First of all, we use fresh potatoes.

One potato per person.  Since John and I, plus our son were all having fries, that was three potatoes.  This is easily a third of the amount of fries we'd have eaten in the past.

John peels them up real nice.

This is our nifty little fry cutter.  Makes life easier.  I must admit I love a good kitchen gadget.  If it is "As Seen On TV" it is even better!

John secures the peeled potato onto the blades.  DO NOT DO THIS WITH YOUR FINGERS!  IT IS SHARP!  (I won't tell how I know this.)

Top on and press down.

This is a good workout.  Or would be if you were doing more than three potatoes.

Perfect french fries!

Then you need to let them soak in water for at least thirty minutes.  You can't really over soak them.  This gets some of the starch out of them and makes them crispier.

We deep fried ours.  We did five blazing chicken wings and a potato's worth of fries each. 

We did this again about a week later with sweet potatoes and really liked them with some Cajun seasoning on them.  They weren't as crispy as the regular fries.  We will keep working on that.  Craving quenched.