Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Healthy Recipes and Snack ideas!

About 4 years ago, I did weight watchers while on summer break from college. I had a lot of success with it but unfortunately didn't have the time to commit to it once I went back to school.

Here are two recipes I have continued to enjoy.

Diet Soda Cupcakes Recipe

Makes 24 servings

Cake mix combined with diet soda makes yummy cupcakes!

Ingredients

• 12 ounces of any diet soda
• 1 package of cake mix

Directions
Combine cake mix and can of diet soda; cook as per directions on cake box. Makes 24 cupcakes.

For frosting I like to use Coolwhip. You can mix it with cocoa powder and use Splenda to sweeten.

And if you're doing Weight Watchers, if I remember correctly a cupcake is only 1 point.

Orange Crumbed Baked Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup whole wheat crackers, crumbled
• tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, freshly ground
• 12 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine the orange juice, mustard and salt. On a sheet of wax paper combine the cracker crumbs, orange zest, shallot, and pepper. Brush the chicken on both sides with the mustard mixture then dredge in the crumbs, firmly pressing the crumbs to coat both sides. Place the chicken on the baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, turn over and bake until cooked through. 15 to 20 minutes longer.

Enjoy!

Four

Nothing says Fall like pumpkins. Whether you're picking, carving, or baking. They are one of my favorite things and flavors this time of year.

Yesterday was a very domestic day for me. After de-germing my apartment from being sick all weekend I decided to bake pumpkin cupcakes. Umm....YUM!


I topped mine with with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

The recipe is really easy. I used canned pumpkins because as far as I know there are no pumpkin patches in NYC, and I was feeling too lazy to travel to the Farmers Market in Union Square.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350.

Some people say to mix your dry and wet ingredients separate and then mix them together. I didn't do that and they turned out perfect. So you do what ever your hear desires. I will say mix in your pumpkin AFTER everything else is mixed together.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
  

And enjoy.