Assorted Fruit Sorbets

Well, as most of my friends and family know I have started to eat a lot more healthy while striving to lose weight in the process. And as summer kicks in in Texas, we usually stock our freezer filled with different types of ice creams. I got to checking the labels and realized that one serving of some of our favorite flavors was like eating a WHOLE meal for me. I need something with more nutrition and less sugar and calories for us to snack on.

With that I started check out homemade ice cream and sorbet recipes... almost every single one of them had 3 egg yolks, whole milk and at least a half a cup of sugar in them.

There had to be a healthier solution!

So, I got in my kitchen and started playing around and I came up with these egg free, sugar free, low calorie and very healthy solutions that are not only great tasting but super easy to make as I always keep my food processor on the counter anyway!

We've made peach and mixed berry so far. Right now I have blackberries that were on sale this week for 77 cents a pint flash freezing for us to make tonight. And with the summer fruit sales and this recipe, we could have sorbet every night for dessert without any guilt what so ever!

Blackberry Sorbet
*1 fluid ounce Lemon Juice (Squeeze of Half a Lemon)
*12 ounce Blackberries, Frozen
*16 ounce Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 4 - 3/4 cups servings.

Calories 58, Total Fat 1.9 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 91 mg, Total Carbohydrate 10 g, Dietary Fiber 5 g, Sugars 4 g, Protein 2 g, Vitamin A 84 µg (12%), Vitamin C 21 mg , (28%), Calcium 125 mg (13%),
Iron 1 mg (4%)


Peach Sorbet
*1 fluid ounce Lemon Juice
*16 ounce Peaches, Frozen
*16 ounce Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 5 servings, each a little more then 1/2 a cup.

Calories 53, Total Fat 1.2 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 72 mg, Total Carbohydrate 10 g, Dietary Fiber 2 g, Sugars 6 g, Protein 1 g, Vitamin A 144 g (21%), Vitamin C 83 mg (111%), Calcium 80 mg (8%)

Mixed Berry Sherbet

*1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, vanilla
*1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
*1.5 cup Almond Beverage, Organic - Low Fat Original Almond Milk
*12 ounce Mixed Berry, Frozen Grade A Fancy (Sprouts)

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes 4 servings.

Calories 69, Total Fat 1.2 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 53 mg, Total Carbohydrate 14 g, Dietary Fiber 4 g, Sugars 9 g, Protein 0 g, Vitamin A 56 µg (8%), Vitamin C 11 mg (14%)


Bing Cherry Sorbet
*12 oz Bing Cherries
*16 oz Almond Breeze Non-Dairy Beverage, Unsweetened
* 1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Put all items in the food processor, process til smooth and enjoy right away or freeze for later. Makes five 1/2 cup servings.

Calories 61, Total Fat 1.2 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 72 mg, Total Carbohydrate 12 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Sugars 8 g, Protein 5 g, Vitamin A 75 µg (11%), Vitamin C 4 mg (6%), Calcium 90 mg, (9%), Iron 0 mg

Hazelnut Macaroons

A Diabetic's Orgasmic Treat. I love Hazelnuts... And this recipe was one of the main sweets that helped me get through the worst of my nutrition changes without going insane. This recipe I adapted from 1,001 Delicious Recipes for People With Diabetes' by Eugene, Spitler and Yoakam. I the first thing I did was drop the coconut out of the recipe entirely. Then I used equal halves of Splenda and sugar and added a serving of Sugar Free Hazelnut Syrup. It didn't quite taste right. So, I did 1/4 of Splenda to the sugar and still with the syrup for an added Hazelnut jolt and it came out perfect!

4 Egg Whites
1/8 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1/4 cup Splenda Sugar Subsitute
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
1/2 teaspoon sugar free Vanilla
1 teaspoon Sugar Free hazelnut flavoring

1. Beat egg whites, cream of tarter and salt to soft peaks in a medium bowl. Beat in sugar, gradually, beating to stiff, shinny peaks. Pour vanilla and flavoring over hazelnuts, mix to cover. Then fold the nuts into egg white mixture.

2. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 300 degees until cookies begin to brown and feel crisp to touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack.

30 Cookies (1 per serving)

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 31.5	Calories 45.8
Total Fat 0.6	Total Fat 1.4
Sat Fat   0.0 g	Sat Fat   0.7 g
Poly Fat 0.1 g	Poly Fat 0.1 g
Mono Fat 0.4 g	Mono Fat 0.5 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg	Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 26.9 mg	Sodium 33.0 mg
Total Carbs 5.9 g	Total Carbs 8.0 g
Fiber 0.1 g	Fiber 0.2 g
Sugar 5.7 g	Sugars 6.7 g
Protein 0.7 g	Protien 0.8 g

Of course the adaptation doesn't save you a lot in this recipe... However, sometimes, when every calorie counts for a Hazelnut lover, this is a great snack to replace chocolate to escape it all for a few chewy sweet moments.

Blueberry Scones

I started with Cooks Illustrated 'The Best Blueberry Scones' recipe taken from their Number Eighty-Seven issue of July & August 2007 and adapted it to something a little more healthier.

9 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fat free half and half
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

          1. Adjust the oven rack to center position and preheat to 425 degrees. Grate a total of 8 tablespoons of frozen butter. Place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt one 1 tablespoon of remaining ungrated butter and set aside.
          2. Whisk together milk and sour cream in a small bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, sugars, baking power, baking soda, salt and lemon zest together in a larger bowl. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and gently toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.
          3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, folding with spatula until just combined. With spatula, transfer dough to a liberally floured work surface. Dust surface of dough with flour and knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.
          4. Roll dough into approximately 12 inch square. Then fold dough into thirds. Lift the short ends of the dough and fold into thirds again and then place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
          5. Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximately 24 by 12 inch retangle. Sprinkle blueberries over the top of the dough and then press down gently to slightly embed them into the dough. Roll the dough, pressing to form a tight log. Lay seam side down and press into 24 by 4 inch retangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut diagonally along the pressed roll to form 16 triangled scones and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
          6. Brush tops with melted butter lightly. Bake until tops and bottoms are a golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 16 servings. The following Nutritional values are for 1 serving:

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 144.4	Calories 355.2
Total Fat 6.1	Total Fat 19.6
Sat Fat   3.7 g	Sat Fat   12.0 g
Poly Fat 0.3 g	Poly Fat 0.8 g
Mono Fat 1.7 g	Mono Fat 5.6 g
Cholesterol 16.5 mg	Cholesterol 51.5 mg
Sodium 175.8 mg	Sodium 338.6 mg
Total Carbs 20.4 g	Total Carbs 41.3 g
Fiber 3.4 g	Fiber 2.2 g
Sugar 6.1 g	Sugars 12.7 g
Protein 2.3 g	Protien 4.6 g

Southern Pecan Pralines

One of my family's favorites. There is a huge varity of recipes out there for this one. I've rarely messed with the simple Southern version I learned from my Aunt MaryAnn. I was really nervous about trying to adapt this one as well. I hate wasting good pecans! Luckily it turned out as perfect as any of my previous batches.

1 3/4 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar
1 Cup Fat Free Half and Half
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Cups Pecan halves

In at least a 2 quart sauce pan, add the brown sugars and the half and half. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches soft ball stage (238°). Remove from heat; stir in butter and pecans. Beat for 1 minute or until the candy just begins to lose its gloss. Drop by tablesoonfuls onto waxed paper, shaping with the back of a spoon if needed. You need to do this as quickly as possible as the last quarter of the mixture with thicken fast on you. If it gets too thick to shape, you can try adding a 'little' hot water to make the right consistency.


24 Candies (1 per serving)

Adapted	Unadapted
Calories 146.9	Calories 159.1
Total Fat 7.6	Total Fat 9.4
Sat Fat   1.2 g	Sat Fat   2.4 g
Poly Fat 2.0 g	Poly Fat 2.4 g
Mono Fat 4.0 g	Mono Fat 4.5 g
Cholesterol 3.1 mg	Cholesterol 9.2 mg
Sodium 11.3 mg	Sodium 11.3 mg
Total Carbs 20 g	Total Carbs 20 g
Fiber 1 g	Fiber 1 g
Sugar 2.9 g	Sugars 3 g
Protein 1 g	Protien 1 g