Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

 

Strawberries are some of the first fruits of spring in Georgia. I love them and when they are in season, I eat them nearly every day.  One of my favorite breakfasts is strawberries and buttermilk. Yes, I know how country-sounding that is, but if you like yogurt you will like buttermilk! It’s the same flavor profile. Plus, red Chanel lipstick or not, I am really a country girl. I am certain you are going to love my Strawberry Buttermilk Cake. Since it contains buttermilk and pureed strawberries, I was able to eliminate adding butter or oil — and it’s still super tender and moist. And, best of all — I make it in the food processor! (more…)

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Recipe Makeover: Sausage and Peppers

Recipe Makeover: Sausage and Peppers

Recipe Makeover Sausage and Peppers

Sausage and Peppers have long been a regular meal in my supper rotation. The onions and peppers melt together to create a luscious confit bursting with fiery garlic and zesty spice. Add a couple of links of sausage and it’s a super flavorful and very easy casual supper perfect for any day of the week. And, it can be a big huge fat bomb. Often this recipe starts with a few glugs of oil and one link of Italian sausage comes in at 260 calories a pop and a whopping 30% or more of recommended daily allowance of fat. Yikes. Even turkey sausage hits 170 calories per link. Who eats one link of sausage? Ha! Are you ready for the tantalizing aroma of fennel and roasted sweet peppers? You’re going to love my recipe makeover for this modern comfort classic.

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Small Bake Pecan Macaroons

Small Bake Pecan Macaroons

Small Batch Pecan Macaroon

April is Pecan month, believe it or not. I’m not sure who decides what food is celebrated in what month, especially considering the pecan harvest is in the fall. Whatever the month or time of year, pecans have become a regular part of my healthy eating plan. I use them in cereal, salads, as a crunchy topping for fish or chicken, and of course, in desserts including this recipe for a small batch of Small Batch Pecan Macaroons. These cookies are crispy, chewy, and buttery, yet made with only four ingredients. They’re gluten-free and dairy-free if you need it, and so good you won’t care if you don’t. You’ll love the small-batch, small-bake — and the fact they’re completely made in the food processor.

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(Skinny) Chocolate Dipping Sauce

(Skinny) Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Skinny Chocolate Dipping Sauce

This Chocolate Dipping Sauce was a REVELATION. Chocolate isn’t my Achille’s tendon, it’s my whole damn leg – albeit a more defined and muscular one. Chocolate ganache is a mixture of chopped chocolate and heavy cream and makes the most amazing fondue-style dipping sauce for fruit, berries, cake, cookies, marshmallows, and nuts. It would taste good drizzled on dirt. And, it’s a fat bomb right at 100 calories or 5 WW points a tablespoon. Phew. How about a Chocolate Dipping Sauce that is silky, rich, decadent — and only 3 WW points for 8 lucious tablespoons? Read on to learn more! (more…)

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Makeover Recipe: Easy Lemon Squares

Makeover Recipe: Easy Lemon Squares

 

Easy Lemon Squares

Lemon Squares are often made with gobs of butter and sugar and well, that’s one reason why they are so good. But, they are really about the lemon. Lemon is, or should be, the star of the show. I am convinced there are ways to lighten things up and still have great flavor with baked goods, desserts, and sweet things – lemon squares included. My Easy Lemon Squares are not any harder to prepare and do not require any special ingredients. There are no boxes or mixes. It’s one bowl and one pan. Bonus. My tasters had no idea it was a healthier version of a lemon bar – and loved it. Read on to learn more! (more…)

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Loaded Baked Potato with Shiitake Bacon

Loaded Baked Potato with Shiitake Bacon

Loaded Baked Potato with Shiitake Bacon

Shiitake bacon is not bacon, let’s get that straightened out from the top. Shiitake bacon is not pork. It is not meat. It is not fatty, salty, and smoked. (So much for telling the reader what it is, not what it is not.)  It is however crispy, chewy, intensely flavored, and can be smoky-flavored! Making shiitake bacon is truly one of my favorite plant-based culinary techniques. Read on for How to Make Shiitake Bacon — and a darn good Baked Potato. (more…)

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Nothing says “I Love You” Like Chocolate Pudding

Nothing says “I Love You” Like Chocolate Pudding

"I Love You" Chocolate Pudding

What other dessert brings out the kid in us more than chocolate pudding?  Sometimes Mama would make chocolate pudding after school, and my sister and I would watch her measure and prepare the ingredients, combine everything, and then cook until the dark mixture would suddenly thicken. She’d pour the molten chocolate pudding into those glass cups with thick ruffled edges and let us swipe our little fingers against the side of the pan to get every last bit. 

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Zero Point Chicken Chili

Zero Point Chicken Chili

Zero Point Chicken Chili

When considering this recipe all I could think was does the world really need another chili recipe? Once I made it, tasted it, and punched the points into my app I decided the answer is a resounding yes. I actually chatted up the folks at the WW hotline to confirm I had indeed created a Zero Point Chicken Chili. It’s great as a steaming bowl of chili and I also scooped up a spoonful with a slotted spoon to make a tasty burrito. Perhaps one of my favorite ways of serving it is Chicken Chili Nachos. Read on to learn the secret to Zero Point Chicken Chili.

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Vegetarian Parmesan Broth Collard Greens

Vegetarian Parmesan Broth Collard Greens

 

chiffonade of collard greens on www.virginiawillis.com

Collard greens are as much a cornerstone of Southern cooking as biscuits and gravy. And, the use of the ingredient has evolved like the cuisine. Collard green kimchi, collard green chiffonade, wood-fired dehydrated collard greens, and collard green patra are now part of the Southern culinary lexicon alongside pot likker and sidemeat. However, in much of the country, collards are thought to be prepared one way: drowning in pork fat and cooked beyond recognition into a form of Army green pabulum. Read on to learn how to prepare an umami-packed, point friendly vegetarian collard green recipe perfect for these cold winter days.

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Lemon-Chia Seed Yogurt Cake

Lemon-Chia Seed Yogurt Cake

 

Lemon-Chia Seed Cake

Lemon Cakes come in all shapes and sizes, all manners of baking. There are lemon-scented tender yellow cakes topped with rich lemon buttercream, dense lemon loaf cakes with their signature golden crown, sturdy lemon genoise bathed in lemon syrup, and light and ethereal lemon chiffon cakes. Lemon Poppyseed cakes are a classic version of lemon cake, as well.  Many recipes for lemon poppy seed cake contain two sticks of butter and two cups of sugar! Yikes. It’s not overly rich, yet and packed with tart lemon flavor. Read on for how to make it. 

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