Guest Post – Juliet!

Hello! First of all, thanks to the fabulous Maggie for letting me do a guest blog this week while she is cruising around having fun far away from computers and the Internet!

A little about me to start —  My name is Juliet and I’m a product manager in the bay area by day, and a food blogger by night (my blog is called Yummy Diet Food). I have a passion for finding and writing about low calorie foods that don’t contain unhealthy ingredients (like hydrogenated oils or artificial sweeteners which can be found in many foods targeted to people trying to lose weight).

I thought I’d take this opportunity to share two recipes that Maggie told me she enjoys. The first one is for an Orange Julius-like smoothie (it is totally delicious!) and the second one is for a low calorie Bananas Foster-like dessert (if you like caramel, you will LOVE this recipe!).

Here is the recipe for my low calorie “Orange Julius” Smoothie—

Ingredients (serves two):

• Two cuties oranges
• One cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• One medium frozen banana (see my post on frozen bananas for instructions on how to freeze them)
• One teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions:

• Peel the oranges, split into a few pieces, and place in your blender
• Pour a cup of almond breeze into the blender
• Place both halves of the frozen banana into blender
• Add teaspoon of vanilla
• Blend on high, and then split into 2 servings

And, here is a delicious recipe for a low calorie “Bananas Foster”  Dessert —

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 medium size bananas
• 1 teaspoon of promise light buttery spread
• 1 teaspoon of canola oil
• 1 teaspoon of honey (or maple syrup or agave syrup)
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of almond milk (or lowfat milk)
• 2 tablespoons low calorie whipped topping (to taste)

Instructions

• Combine buttery spread, canola oil, honey and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat
• Stir over medium heat until sauce thickens (approximately 3 minutes)
• Add almond milk and stir until sauce is smooth
• Put saucepan aside, but keep warm
• Cut each banana into halves, and then into quarters lengthwise
• Coat the banana slices with cooking spray
• Place bananas in a pan and cook on medium heat until they are browned evenly
• Remove bananas from pan and separate bananas into two portions
• Pour caramel sauce evenly over each portion
• (Optional) Add whipped topping

Lastly, in case you aren’t in a fruity mood — here are a few other things I’ve posted about that Maggie (who we miss!) thought you might be interested in:

Broccoli in Spicy Orange Sauce (very low calorie — makes a great meal or side dish)

Unique and Healthy Superfruits

Foods That Keep Your Hair Healthy

I hope you enjoy the recipes!

~Juliet