Things That Go Crunch

Since this journey includes a chance to learn to love low carb food, I really miss things that go crunch and sweets. It is peach season after all and usually we make at least one peach pie to have with ice cream. we have been really good, while we still buy peaches each week at the store, we have not made peach pie this year but that doesn't mean we don't crave at least something that resembles it.

Finding substitutions worth doing more than once is what I am finding to be a challenge so today I set out to replace peach pie in our diet. and this is what I did:

I took 1 peach peeled and pitted and sliced it as thin as I possibly could I sprayed my skillet with cooking spray and sauteed them until they were soft. while they were cooking over a low heat (all that sugar could make them burn so keep a close eye on them) I sprayed a custard cup with non stick cooking spray and lined it with a sheet of phyllo dough, when my peach was heated through and soft, I put it in the cup over the phyllo dough and over that I put 1tsp of raw sugar, place another piece of phyllo dough over the top, folding it to fit, I put 1 tsp Smart Balance Buttery Spread on top of my little pie, made a slit in the top to allow steam to escape and baked it for about 15 minutes at 350. Yummy goodness.

I found another useful website online: www.caloriecount.about.com go the the Foods tab, in the drop down box choose new Recipe. You can enter your recipe on that page and it will calculate the nutritional information and even give you pros and cons for each recipe. So I did that for this "almost peach pie" recipe and this is what I got:78 calories, 2 grams fat, 16 gr carbs 1.5 gr fiber.

Also, since we live in Florida, we have a rainy season, which feels long and boring and usually we indulge with comfort food. We feel stuck in the house all day not much feeling like venturing out into the pouring rain. But again we have done quite well so far this year.

Browsing through a Paula Deen's Best Dishes 2010 issue I found a Chicken Pot Pie Recipe. Now, I realize that Paula and low fat/carb don't exactly go together but this time it does and let me tell you, this is so good and so easy. it offers a creamy goodness and a nice crunch. Daring to "tweek" Paula's perfection, I have done my own version, not much different from hers:

1T olive oil
1/2 Cup each chopped carrots, celery, onion
1/2 Cup white wine
2 10 oz cans reduced fat/sodium cream of chicken soup
1/2 t dried parsley
1/4 t each garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 Cup fat free or light sour cream
8 phylo dough sheets (be sure to keep covered with damp towel, its a hard lesson if you don't)
Non-stick cooking spray(I prefer butter flavor)
Preheat over to 350

Spray four 2 c ramekins with cooking spray
In skillet over med-hi heat saute' carrots, celery and onion until tender
Add wine and cook until it reduces by 1/2 (this does not take long so keep an eye on it)
In a large bowl combine soup, sour cream, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper, stir in veggies and chicken
Spoon into ramekins
Spray a sheet of phyllo dough with cooking spray and place over ramekin spray and place the second sheet cross wise folding each sheet over to fit.
Run a knife through the center of each pot pie to allow steam to escape.
bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes)
Here are the facts according to that handy website:
351 calories, 19 grams fat, 6 grams carbs

Mmmmm...tastes like comfort to me!