Glædelig Jul (Merry Christmas)

I hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas/Yule/whatever you celebrate! I plan on returning Monday with some new recipes, so I'll see y'all then!

I'm over at Agape Love

Hey y'all (yeah, that was mighty Texan of me), I've been over at Agape Love. 

Maria was kind enough to interview me for her series of 'blog-erviews'. She's interviewed many talented ladies. I hope you will stop by and say hi to Maria and check out all the interviews.

Taking some time

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I am taking some time off. I've been sick since Wednesday with 'the crud' which has kicked my butt the week before Christmas. So, I will be taking a little break for at least a few days, and maybe even a week or so. I will definitely be here to wish you all a 'Glædelig jul og godt nytår' (Merry Christmas & Happy New Year).

Oatmeal Cookies - With or Without Raisins

The other night I had a craving for something sweet. I sent Hans off to the store to find the lowest calorie sweet cookie or cake-like dessert, with chocolate that he could find. He returned with some cookies made of whole wheat and oat flour, that weren't bad, but I wasn't too thrilled with the amount of fat and sugar in them. So, the next afternoon I set out to make something healthier.

While these cookies have just 8 calories less than the ones my husband brought home, they are far healthier and more filling.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies


400 grams (3 med-large) bananas - less if you want a cookie that is less sweet and more dry. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the cookies will be.
170 grams (2 cups) oats - I did not use the quick cooking oats, but I assume they would work.
55 grams (about 1/4 cup) margarine, melted - This could probably be decreased to 1/8 cup. Remember, if using butter, it weighs more than margarine.
60 milliliters (1/4 cup) skim milk
100 grams (1/2 cup) raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 177C/350F. 


Peel and mash bananas in a bowl with a fork. 
Add all other ingredients and mix well. 
Drop about 1 tablespoon per cookie onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes. 
Let cool and serve.

The cookies do not spread, so you can put them fairly close together. They are very soft, moist, and chewy. They're not super sweet, so if you're used to a sweet cookie then you may want to add a sweetener of your choice. They remind me of eating a bowl of Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal. I hope will you enjoy them as much as I did!

Nutritional Value (per cookie - recipe makes about 16 cookies)

92.89 Calories

1.99 grams of fat

0.4 grams of sat fat

1.83 grams of protein

16.8 grams of carbohydrates

6.74 grams of sugar

1.9 grams of fiber

Cookies w/o raisins

72.27 calories

1.99 grams of fat

0.4 grams of sat. fat

1.64 grams of protein

12.04 grams of carbs

3.05 grams of sugar

1.7 grams of fiber

Chicken and Mushroom Soup with Baby Spinach

During the cold winter months, I usually crave soups and chili. The other night was not exception. My husband was sick with 'the crud', and just wanted tea and soup. After making my homemade bouillon, making soup from scratch is not only easier, but much healthier, too.

I took 3 large (600 grams) thawed chicken breasts (boneless and skinless) and put them in a pot along with about 2-3 tablespoons of the bouillon. 

*(I later divided the chicken in half, so for calorie purposes, this soup used 300 grams of chicken.)

I filled the pot with water and boiled the chicken for about 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken was cooking I thinly sliced 2 medium carrots (235 grams).

I tossed those into the pot with the chicken and thinly sliced 200 grams of mushrooms.

I removed and shredded the chicken.

Then returned the chicken to the pot, and added the mushrooms.

Let simmer for about 20 more minutes, adding more water/bouillon as needed. After it had simmered, I added 100 grams of raw, baby spinach to the pot and let them hang out for only a few minutes.

After a few minutes, it was ready to serve. 

This soup went amazingly well with Grandma's Cornbread.

Nutritional Value (for the entire pot of soup):

412 Calories

6.34 grams of Fat

0.44 grams of Saturated Fat

64.38 grams of Protein

30.16 grams of Carbohydrates

0 grams of Sugar

9.95 grams of Fiber

The bouillon was not figured into this recipe, since it contains only vegetables and sea salt and uses a small amount. I do suggest, adding the calories of canned stock or store-bought bouillon into this recipe, as they will have much higher calories and fat.

Whipped Butternut Squash

I've had a butternut squash sitting sitting around for over a week now, with the intention of making some roasted butternut squash soup (don't worry I'll get there, I promise), but on a whim I thought I'd try whipping it.

So, I cut it in half scooped out the seeds. It then weighed in at 741 grams. Then I placed it face down in a roasting pan, sprayed the outer skin with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and poured about a cup or so of water into the pan.

I popped the pan into a preheated 425F/218C oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until it's tender when poked with a fork.

Remove from the pan, and let cool on a plate, before peeling off the skin. Once the skin is peeled, transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork.

Add 1/2 tablespoon/6.5 grams of butter or margarine (I used the latter), 1 tablespoon/25 grams Greek yogurt, skyr or kvark (I think only Greek yogurt is available in the US, but they're all roughly the same). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. I also added cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cumin.

Whip the squash, butter, yogurt, and spices for around 1-2 minutes and serve.

Nutritional value (per 100 grams):

56 Calories

0.5 grams of Fat

0.07 grams of Saturated Fat

1.46 grams of Protein

13.31 grams of Carbohydrates

2.47 grams of Sugar

2.25 grams of Fiber

For the entire Squash:

369 Calories

3.26 grams of Fat

0.52 grams of Saturated Fat

9.66 grams of Protein

87.89 grams of Carbohydrates

16.3 grams of Sugar

14.82 grams of Fiber

Grandma's Cornbread

The other night, I had about 380 calories leftover that I needed to eat. Since it's proved impossible to find coarse ground corn meal here in Denmark, I took Grandma's advice and omitted the flour. The end result was a beautiful, rich, flavorful cornbread...with almost perfect texture. As an added bonus of not eating all of my calories, I was able to eat one VERY large piece, complete with a generous slathering of margarine.


Grandma's Cornbread


2 cups (266 grams) Yellow Cornmeal, finely ground
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup (300 grams) Buttermilk (I used 1 tablespoon of white vinegar + enough skim milk to equal 1 cup and weighed them together)
1 Egg (55 grams)
1/4 cup (53 grams) Canola Oil


Preheat oven to 425F/218C

Combine cornmeal, baking powder & salt.


Add milk, oil, & egg.


Beat until fairly smooth, about one minute. 


Bake in greased or sprayed 8" square pan


20 to 30 minutes. Grandma usually puts it on the bottom shelf of the oven until it rises up, then moves it to the middle shelf.

Nutritional Value 

(per 100 grams - 1/6 of the entire recipe will be about 104-109 grams)

233.10 Calories

10.51 grams of Fat

0.22 grams of Saturated Fat

5.87 grams of Protein

28.04 grams of Carbohydrates

0 grams of Sugar

0 grams of Fiber

Giveaway Winner

We have a winner!

Comment #200 was:

Congratulations Girl, you won a pair of Orchid Trio earrings from Joanniel Creations!

 I'll be sending you an email!

Thank you all for entering! I can't believe there were 207 comments! Stick around, I'm sure we will have another awesome giveaway soon after the New Year!

Just a reminder...

The giveaway from Joanniel Creations ends in a few hours! If you want to get entered go check it out! I will be announcing the winner tomorrow!

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts don't always make the list of 'Favorite Vegetables' for many people, but this recipe might change your mind. The brussel sprouts come out tender, flavorful, and are an extremely healthy, low calorie side.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts


370 grams Brussel Sprouts, raw and fresh
4.5 grams Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Lemon Juice for drizzling


Preheat oven to 425F/218C.
Trim ends of brussel sprouts and remove all outer leaves that are discolored (most have black spots), then cut a small 'x' in the bottom and place in a bowl or bag.
Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix well, making sure to coat all of the sprouts.
Place in a roasting pan and roast for about 30 minutes, turning once or twice while cooking.
Remove from oven and immediately drizzle with lemon juice.
Serve warm.

Nutritional Value (entire recipe):

195 Calories

5.11 grams of Fat

0.3 grams of Saturated Fat

12.58 grams of Protein

33 grams of Carbohydrates

8.14 grams of Sugar

14.06 grams of Fiber

Healthy Baked Chicken w/ No Mess To Clean

Chicken is a quick, easy and healthy staple to many diets. You can mix it up with a vast combination of herbs and spices. The possibilities seem to be endless.

But how do you cook it?

Here in Denmark the closest thing to a Crock Pot is an electric rice cooker. Most grills here are hardly worthy of being called a grill...at least compared to the REAL grills back home. So, that leaves me with only 2 options, the oven, or the stove top. While I like pan fried chicken as much as the next person (if not more), I have found baking it in the oven to be the best option, in most cases.

Easy Oven Chicken:


Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (up to 4), thawed
Herbs and Spices of your choice
1 piece of foil, large enough to wrap chicken into a 'packet' with


Preheat oven to 425F/218C.
Season chicken as desired.
Place chicken in center of foil and wrap into a loose package with seams facing up, so that the juices don't leak out.
Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
Remove and let rest in foil for about 5-10 min. before serving.

Nutritional Value (per 100 grams):

90 Calories

1.5 grams of Fat

19 grams of Protein

0.5 grams of Carbohydrates

0 grams of Sugar

0 grams of Fiber

Quick, Easy, and Healthy Breakfast or Lunch

I'm not usually one to eat breakfast. On the rare occasions I feel hungry after drinking my 2 glasses of water in the morning, I will usually grab an apple. A Granny Smith apple to be exact. For someone who bakes as often as I have been, I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, especially in the mornings.

I do however, eat 'brunch' around 10 or 11 every single day. I like to keep it simple most of the time, and here in Denmark Lunch usually consists of Danish Rye Bread (not to be confused with any rye bread found in the US) or various rolls, cheeses, meat toppings, boiled eggs, cut veggies - particularly cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots, jams/jellies/marmalades, and the pickled herring (not something I will ever eat), coffee, teas, milk, juices. While Danes typically eat a well balanced lunch, it's certainly an easy way for the calories to add up fast!

If you're like me (and I'm sure most who are overweight), you like to eat. You typically eat far more than you should because it just tastes so good. I've got a great meal to fill you up without packing on the calories, and it's well balanced.

Mexican Breakfast 'Pizza'

2 medium/large eggs (110-120 grams)

Fried in 1 teaspoon (4.5 grams) olive oil

2 rice cakes (10 grams each)

topped with mozzarella cheese 13% fat (35 grams)

and 2 tablespoons (about 75-80 grams) of salsa (make sure there is no added sugar)

 add some raw baby spinach (40 grams)

Then top it all off with the cooked eggs.

Nutritional value for the entire meal:

381 Calories

20.4 grams of fat

5.95 grams of saturated fat

27.2 grams of protein

22.03 grams of carbohydrates

0.2 grams of sugar

1.96 grams of fiber

If you need help with cooking conversions, I use Convert-me.com. Also, almost all Imperical recipes call for volume measurements, just fill your measuring cup with the amount and weigh it when tracking calories.

If you would like to follow along with me in my journey, I do recommend that you purchase 2 items if you don't already have them. You don't have to go out and buy the most expensive fancy ones you can find. Mine are cheap and have yet to fail me in any way.


The first item, and what should be your lifeline, is a food scale. I use a digital scale because it gives me an exact number, without question. Unlike measuring cups, a scale leaves no room for interpretation as to how much really is 'X' amount. You will need it and use it every single time you want to put something in your mouth!


The second item is an oil spraying bottle. I love mine and know that 6 pumps of air into it and I will get about 1 teaspoon of oil. You can skip this step and weigh your oil before using it. I know canola oil and olive oil both weigh approximately 4.5 grams for 1 teaspoon.

Linking up here:
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