Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Syrup

These two recipes are surprisingly easy and dangerously delicious. This is "The Preferred Breakfast" at our house, earning rave reviews and sloppy kisses from the troops. We first had them over the summer when my friend Missy made them for us. I squeezed her for the recipe.

The pancakes are light, fluffy, cheap, and easy--like a few girls I knew in high school. They have a hint of pumpkin flavor, but they do not scream "pumpkin alert!" Sometimes I eat these alongside scrambled eggs and salsa.I amazed myself with the apple syrup. It. was. excellent.
Pumpkin Pancakes
Beat 2 eggs, then add:
3/4 cup Pumpkin
2 Tbs Sugar
1/2 tsp each: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda , salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup applesauce (I like cinnamon applesauce)

Mix until smooth using a hand-mixer with beaters.

Now add:

1 1/2 cups Flour (I used all-purpose; Missy uses whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups of skim milk

Mix until smooth. Batter is loose.
Cook on the griddle, using 1/3 cup scoop to measure, and serve! Makes about 15 pancakes, 98 calories each*.

Syrup:
Mix in a saucepan:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs Corn Starch
Add:
2 cups Apple cider or juice
2 Tbs Lemon Juice

Whisk

Bring to boil; Boil two minutes, letting it get wild and frothy, whisking several times while it is boiling; serve over pancakes

I (very) often make a double batch of pancakes and store them in the fridge, serving them all week. They reheat just fine!

Total Calories:
Pancakes: 75 calories each (I know. Crazy, huh?)
Syrup: approximately 25 calories per Tbs (Aunt Jemima original is 52 cals per Tbs!)

Spinach Pasta Salad

I originally got this yummy recipe from my sister, Heather. I love it and make it all the time. I have been working on it for a few years, tweaking to maximize taste and texture while minimizing caloric content. I'm there!*

Salad:
1/2 lb. rotini pasta, cooked al dente, drain, rinse in cold water
1.5 C cooked chopped chicken
4 cups fresh spinach, shredded/torn
1/2 C black olives, chopped in 1/4’s
2 oz. Feta cheese, crumbled
1.5 cups diced tomtatoes (grape tomatoes, YUM!)
1/2 C monterrey jack cheese, shredded

Dressing:
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
4 Tbs olive oil**
5 Tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs honey
1 clove garlic, minced

Blend dressing ingredients. Pour over mixed salad. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes before serving. Salt to taste at table.

*This makes 12 delicious 1-cup servings, 178 calories each. Not bad for all that pasta and cheese! If you are not serving it to a crowd, keep the dressing separate until you are ready for each serving. The salad does not preserve well overnight when it is all mixed together.

**If the dressing is too tart, add another Tbs of olive oil; just know that it adds calories!

Total Calories: 178 calories for each 1-cup serving

Lemon Pepper Salmon

I love this salmon recipe. Our whole family eats it happily, which is sayin' something.

The quote from hubby: "Are you sure this is healthy? This tastes way too good to be healthy."

Ingredients:
One large salmon filet (Costco's are delicious)
"I can't believe it's not butter" spray
Lemon pepper

Directions:
Cover a cookie sheet (or something similar to it) in tin foil, spray with cooking spray. Lay salmon flat on top. Spray with "I can't believe it's not butter" all over the top, season liberally with the lemon pepper. Broil uncovered on low for 25-35 minutes in the oven until delightfully crispy on top, but flaky, moist, and tender inside.

Total Calories: 120 calories for 3 ounces of salmon

No Cream Creamy Potato Soup

I make this super-delicious soup all winter long. I have tweaked this and tweaked this to (what I consider) perfection. It's very flavorful. NO butter and NO cream!! (And no "floury" taste!) This recipe makes 9 generous 2-cup servings, only 242 calories each! 242 calories for 2 cups of creamy soup?? Can't beat that! Don't let the nutrition fool you: it's powerfully delicious and gets gushing reviews whenever I serve it.
INGREDIENTS
6 cups peeled and cubed potatoes*
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced carrots
5 tsp chicken bouillon
4 cups water
1 tbs dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt**
2 pinch ground black pepper
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups chopped/diced ham (or hamburger) -- One 9 oz package of deli lunchmeat ham works well

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, chicken bouillon, water, parsley flakes, salt, and pepper and simmer covered until vegetables become tender (approx 45-60 minutes. Carrots take the longest.) Stir occasionally.

When veggies are tender, in a separate bowl (or food processor) mix flour and milk. Once it is well blended, add to soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick (approx 5-7 minutes).
Take a potato masher and gently smash around the pot, just enough to squash some of the potato chunks, but not all. It makes the soup creamier!
Stir in cheese, cooked ham or hamburger and simmer until cheese is melted (approx 1-3 minutes). Serve! Yummy!

*Try not to make any changes until you have tried it this way first! Adding more potatoes, water, or milk totally changes the end result. When you are boiling the veggies, it may look like there is not enough water. Trust in the process!!

**Add more salt if needed, but remember that with leftovers, the salt will have had a chance to leak out of the ham, so be careful you don't overdo it!

Total Calories: 242 calories for each 2-cup serving