Day 46: Mama Knows Best...Especially in the Kitchen

In high school when I did my first round of Weight Watchers, my whole family, especially my mama, made many sacrifices in the kitchen in order to support me in losing weight. This meant more baked chicken, green beans in excess and whole wheat everything. But as a young woman who developed an avid sweet tooth at a very young age and hasn't been able to get rid of it since, I needed a certain 'sweet' fix from time to time, but in a healthy way. My mama soon discovered several yummy recipes that would allow me to eat healthy and stick to my dietary restrictions, but satisfy my constant sweet tooth cravings. Not to mention, they're also very simple to make (and bake). To this day whenever I visit home sweet home in rural south Georgia, mama opts to cook these one of these three sweet treats instead of a fresh homemade pound cake or pecan pie.

Heavenly Chocolate Angel Bars
Ingredients:

•  1 box of Duncan Hines Angel Food Cake mix
•  1 box of Kraft Jell-O chocolate pudding, fat-free; white chocolate could also be used as well
•  2 cups of milk, fat-free 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until smooth.
3. Spray a 9 X 13-inch pan with Pam. Pour mixture into pan and place on the top rack of the oven.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
5. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve with whip cream and a cherry on top. 

What The Devil Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients:

•  1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
• 1 Pillsbury Devil's Food Cake mix
• 1/4-1/2 cup of water
• Cupcake/muffin wrappers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together with a mixer until smooth.
3. Spray the muffin tin(s) with cooking spray. Line each tin with one cupcake/muffin wrapper per slot. Dip out an even amount of cake mixture for each wrapper. Set tin(s) in the oven on the top rack.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Tootie Frootie Cobbler
Ingredients:

• 1 (9 oz.) box of Jiffy yellow cake mix
• 1 bag of frozen or fresh fruit; strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, etc.
• 1 (12 oz.) can of Diet 7-Up or Sprite

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with Pam.
3. Pour the fruit of your choice in the dish. I prefer blueberries.
4. Sprinkle yellow cake mix over the fruit.
5. Pour the Diet 7-Up or Sprite over the fruit and cake mix mixture.
6. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until done. Serve with low-fat vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

XoXo,

DJH