Hungry Girl

Joanna recently bought the book Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200 by Lisa Lillien, and yesterday we tried out one of her dessert recipes. We made Cheesecake Brownies, and at only 133 calories a piece, I was skeptical that they'd taste good. I was also wary that the pumpkin puree would make our brownies taste like, well, pumpkin. Everyone pronounced them very tasty, although we decided that if we made them again, we'd probably forgo the cream cheese swirls altogether (Chad confessed that it was a little "slimy" for him). We thought mini chocolate chips mixed into the batter would be yummy instead. At any rate, now you know that you can make simple, "healthy" brownies with only a cake mix and a can of pumpkin! Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients:
One box devil's food cake mix
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
6 ounces fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Splenda, granulated
1 tsp sugar-free vanilla powdered creamer
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix cake mix and pumpkin in large bowl. Batter will be very thick. Spray a 9x13 baking pan and spread batter evenly.
In a medium bowl, mix creamer with 2 Tbsp warm water, and stir until dissolved. Add cream cheese, Splenda, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously until smooth.
Spread creamy mixture over batter in pan, and swirl with a knife.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool.

Makes 16 servings. PER SERVING: 133 cal, 1.75g fat, 29g carbs, 1.5g fiber, 3g protein.

I also thought I'd post a link to the meatballs I made for lunch. I use a package of Jenny-O lean ground turkey instead of beef (it's a little less than 1-1/2 pounds but it works). I vastly prefer the turkey meatballs; they come out so tender. A medium cookie scoop works wonderfully, and be sure to only use 1 tsp of salt! Simmer the meatballs in whatever jar of pasta sauce thrills you (or make your own). Delicious!