*HEALTHY* Chocolate Truffles

NOTE, FIRST OFF, I ADDED A WAY TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG. ———->

If you click on the link “Subscribe in a Reader,” it will let you put your email address in, and then you should get an email anytime anything new is posted!

 I know, IS there such a thing, right?

But the ingredients here sure look healthy enough, and it really is only 80 calories per truffle! They’d work pretty well for you low-carb folks, too, and the original recipe I found called them, “Best Keto Chocolate Truffles’!

So, here we go with them, and we’ll see, right?

Dark chocolate chips - I used Ghirardelli, because if I’m making truffles, only the best, right? - measure out a cup of them and melt in the microwave. I started with a minute, stirred, and went from there until they were smooth. It might depend on your microwave, how many minutes!

Cut your avocado in half and pop out the pit. Some cooking folks say to do this by stabbing the pit with a sharp paring knife and pulling it out. I tried that once. It’s a really good way to stab yourself in the palm of the hand, I discovered. Ouch! Pop the pit out with your fingers, is my recommendation!!

Scoop the avocado into the melted chocolate with a spoon. Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract and a small sprinkling of salt. I just twisted my salt-grinder over the bowl a couple times.

Now, somehow, you’ve got to mash the avocado into the chocolate chips until it gets smooth. I used my actual potato-masher there in the background of the picture. (If you don’t have one of those, I really do recommend getting one! No, I don’t usually use it to mash potatoes, but it comes in super-handy!)

It didn’t wind up the same ‘creamy-smooth’ that melted chocolate by itself does. It looks more like ‘grainy’ chocolate, if that makes any sense at all? I can’t get a real good picture of it to show you. In any case, it’s going in the fridge to chill a bit now!

*Returning quite a while later*

The recipe said to chill in the fridge 15-20 minutes, but my evening wasn’t working out like that. Mine actually chilled in the fridge ten minutes, and then sat on the counter for - maybe half an hour now? Whatever works. You’re trying to let them firm up enough to roll them into balls. 

Roll them into truffle-sized balls (about an inch, I’d say), and then roll them in cocoa powder.

THESE THINGS ARE AMAZING!! Seriously, you’ve got to try them. I’ve never tried truffle recipes before, because they’re always so complicated - this is by far the easiest one I’ve ever seen, and the healthiest. 

You see mine in a tupperware, here, because I was making them for vacation next week. 

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Ingredients:

1 medium avocado

1C dark chocolate chips (I splurged and used Ghirardelli’s)

1 tsp vanilla extract

A bit of sea salt

Unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling (I used maybe a quarter cup)

Place your chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and melt them in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Add avocado, vanilla, and salt. Mix until combined well. (Should I say mash until combined well? Whatever!) Chill in the fridge 15-20 minutes, or until it is set enough to roll into balls.

Using a spoon or a small ice cream scoop, roll into one inch balls with your hands. Roll in cocoa powder to coat. 

Store in refrigerator.

Servings: 16 truffles

Calories per truffle: 80

Fettuccine and Spinach with Sun-Dried Cream Sauce

 EDITED 8/27/22: And here we come, folks, to perhaps one of the real reasons I never make the same recipe twice? I don’t do a real good job reading recipes. 1/2C sour cream it says; very well, 1/2C sour cream I bought. —but I have a whole pound of spaghetti cooked— So! Some improvisation is in order.

!/2C sour cream and 1/2C fat free half and half is working very well.

I also added some jumbo shrimp while I was at it. 😊

All right, back to the ORIGINAL BLOG POST you go:

Not only do I cook ahead for the week on Saturdays to save time on busy evenings after work (yes, this makes enough for leftovers!), I also cooked my fettuccine ahead on Friday, this time. 

That usually works just fine. I cooked my Tinkyada fettuccine ahead, let it drain, then put it in a Tupperware. Before using it, I’m just going to put it in a colander and run hot water over it - if you agitate the pasta while you’re doing this, it usually loosens it up just fine!

I am using a LOT of fresh spinach here. I like spinach, and it cuts the calories of the pasta and the cream nicely! I’m going to call for 10oz in the recipe below - the recipe I’m basing this sauce on called for 5oz - and I’m using 20oz, so? Adjust spinach for taste, I guess, LoL.

Remember, though, how much fresh spinach cooks down! This was 20oz above, here, and after four minutes loosely covered in the microwave, it had cooked down to this below.

Now, since my pasta’s already done, I’m starting the sauce. The original recipe called for onion, so if you like onion go ahead and dice it up now. I’m cutting up my sun dried tomatoes with a very sharp chef’s knife. I didn’t realize I’d bought sun dried tomato halves instead of slivers! But sun dried tomatoes are - well - dried fruit, and just as tough to cut as anything else that’s dried!

Attack your knife with a sharpening steel (whetstone) before you try anything like this! And I found that I needed to keep it handy - these little dried tomatoes dulled the knife edge quick. I used the sharpening steel probably three or four times while I cut these up.

I did the sauce backwards, because that's what my original recipe said. I edited it, in the instructions below. From now on, I'm going to start the garlic first, in a skillet coated with olive oil pan spray. (Cast iron is almost always my preference for skillets!)  Once the garlic is fragrant, add your onion if you're using it and saute until softened. If you're like me and skipping the onion, go ahead and add your sun dried tomatoes and broth. Cook at a simmer until the broth is reduced slightly - which basically means let it simmer some of itself away! Turn the heat to low - as low as it will go - and let your skillet cool off until there are only small bubbles. Then add your sour cream, Parmesan, and butter.

Toss the sauce with the pasta and spinach in a mixing bowl and serve topped with the herbs! 

If you are cooking this ahead, like I am, I will reheat in the microwave with a little bit of fat free half and half stirred in  - that’s the kind of ‘cream’ I keep in the fridge for such things - and a little bit more Parmesan.

Notes on some of the GF ingredients I use:

• Tinkyada is my favorite GF pasta. I’ll use white rice noodles from the Oriental Market for Oriental dishes or stir fries/lo mein, but for Italian-type pastas I like Tinkyada best.
• The chicken broth: You’ve got to be super-careful of broths and bouillons. Most have wheat! I use Orrington  Farms broth base, both the chicken and the beef, because that’s marked GF. Kitchen Basics is a brand of broth sold in the carton that’s usually marked GF, too.
• Sour creams? Watch out for oat gum! I use the Daisy brand, the ‘Light’ one in this recipe, because the ingredients are so simple (cream, milk, vitamin A) and because it’s got a ‘Contains: Milk’ label on it.
• *Just as a random note, watch out for oat gum in yogurt too. 

I am using fresh herbs out of my garden, so I don’t have exact amounts on those! I’m using chives,  because I’m not using onion, and my parsley needed cut back, so I’m using a lot of parsley. Throw in whatever Italian herbs you’ve got!

FETTUCCINE AND SPINACH WITH SUN-DRIED CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients:

7oz Tinkyada fettuccine

10oz fresh spinach

Olive oil pan spray

Garlic to taste (I used several cloves)

2oz sun-dried tomatoes (1/4C if you bought the oil packed ones)

Onion, diced (if you like that sort of thing)

1C chicken broth 

1/2C sour cream

1/4C Parmesan, grated

1T butter

Fresh parsley and chives

Cook pasta according to package directions. (If you're using the Tinkyada fettuccine, I set my timer for eight minutes - which is not package directions, but there you go!)

While pasta is cooking, wilt your spinach. Place spinach in a large microwave-safe bowl and cover loosely; microwave three or four minutes, depending on your microwave. 

If you need to cut your sun dried tomatoes, do that now; dice your onion, too, if using. 

Coat the bottom of a skillet with pan spray. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. If you are using onions, add them now, and saute until softened. Add broth and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook at a simmer until broth is reduced by about half. Turn heat to low, and add sour cream, Parmesan and butter. Whisk while you add the Parmesan! 

Toss spinach, pasta, and sauce together. Top with fresh herbs and a bit more grated Parmesan. 

Servings: 4

Calories per serving: 290

Ham and Asparagus Quiche

 This is a great way to use up leftover Easter ham - which is exactly what I am doing here! The diced up last little bits. We used this for a Mother’s Day lunch, along with Ore-Ida hashbrowns and the Starbucks lemon cake with lemon glaze.

I started out getting things prepped: the ham was already in the freezer diced, I cut up the Swiss cheese real small (use a grater or a food processor if you want), and I rinsed and prepped the asparagus. For asparagus, all you need to do is snap the woody ends down at the bottom off, and then snap the rest into rather small-ish bite-sized pieces. It is going in a quiche, after all!

Preheat your oven to 375 when you start getting things ready for the stove.

I pan-sprayed a cast iron skillet, heated it to medium heat, and tossed the asparagus in. Once you’ve sautéed that a couple minutes (3-4 minutes), add your ham and garlic in. Sauté until the asparagus starts looking shiny green and the garlic is fragrant, another minute or two.

While that is on the stove (keep giving it a stir occasionally), crack your eggs into a bowl and beat them up with a fork. Measure out your milk and half and half, beat that in, and stir in your chives and the Swiss cheese. Add the ground mustard, salt, and pepper.

*Hold up, hold up, I forgot to preheat the oven. I always do that! Going back and editing that in at the appropriate place…

Back to where I was: Fold the asparagus mixture in to your egg mixture. 

You are going to need a deep-dish pie pan for this one. I don’t have one, so I’m using a casserole dish.

Make sure you use a generous amount of pan spray, and pour your quiche ingredients in. LOTS of pan spray - remember you’re not using a crust!

You’re going to want to bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Start setting a timer for 30-35 minutes, and go from there, until the knife comes out clean. 

INGREDIENTS

4oz ham

3/4lb asparagus

6oz Swiss cheese, shredded

1T minced garlic (or to taste)

Pan spray

6 eggs

1/4C milk

1/4C fat free half and half

Fresh chives

1T ground (dried) musard

Sea salt and pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 375. 

Pan spray a skillet, and add the asparagus. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes, until the asparagus loses its ‘dullness’ and starts looking shinier green. Add ham and garlic, and sauté just another minute or two.

Break your eggs into a mixing bowl. Beat them with a fork, then add your milk and half and half. Again, beat with a fork. Add chives and Swiss cheese, and mix well. Add your ground mustard, salt, and pepper.

Fold the asparagus mixture into the eggs. Gently stir. 

Generously coat a deep dish 9” pie pan or casserole dish (since I don’t have a deep dish pie pan!) with pan spray. Add eggs, and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. 

Chipotle’s Guacamole Recipe

 I totally stole this one from a Chipotle tweet I found online, but I want it here where I can find it again!

“Chipotle Guac Recipe, a thread 

“Ingredients:

2 ripe Hass avocados 

2 tsp lime juice 

2 tbsp cilantro (chopped) 

1/4 cup red onion (diced) 

1/2 jalapeño including seeds (diced) 

1/4 tsp kosher salt”

And then, of course, you’d just mash it all up together until it reached guacamole-consistency!