Pineapple treat

This is a fast treat that is ready to eat in minutes, is low Calorie and sodium, fast and easy to make, and is really tasty too.

mg	Calories	qty	unit	ingredient	pct vol
60	240	1/2	tub (8 oz)	whipped topping - fat free	70%
0	140	1/2	can (8 oz)	crushed pineapple - in own juice - drained	30%
Label compare ingredients: whipped topping, crushed pineapple Makes about 4 servings. This recipe makes about 16 oz of treat, that, when broken into four parts, means each 4 oz treat is 95 Calories, 20 mg sodium. Compares to fat free cottage cheese used in place of whipped topping, which is 160 Calories, and 300 mg sodium, according to the store label (cottage cheese is also about 3.5 times more expensive).

When you have 1/2 tub FF whipped topping, or a full one and one empty container, the topping container in this recipe can serve as mixing and storage for the mixture. Drain the can of shredded pineapple of as much as possible, then chill fully drained pineapple before mixing (note: you can use juice as sugar replacement in other recipes).


Options to turn it into "five cup" type salad (which called that because you use one cup of each ingredient to make five cups of treat):
add unsalted chopped nuts
add small marshmallows
add toasted coconut
add drained fruit salad packed in fruit juice

I often prefer the simple two ingredient mixture because it is fast to make, low Calorie and sodium, stores well in a tub that contains the ingredients, and when dishing it out, I do not need to measure, as I just take a quarter of the completed mixture per serving residing in the tub.

Calories go up to much larger numbers if you do use these ingredients to attain a five cup type salad. However, five cup salad it is still low sodium.

Peanut bark

If you have a real desire for chocolate, but the cost, Calories, and sodium are a concern, here is a recipe that will quiet the need for the fix. While it is not really huge in Calorie reduction, it is a huge reduction in sodium, and it will help you enjoy a holiday "fix," while enjoying a really great treat. It costs about 80% less than a similar tasting candy bar as well.

The versions of bark I use comes in a package with 12 blocks with nearly 4 tbsp in each block. Each tbsp is 80 Calories, 4 mg sodium, 24 oz per package. I find them in the baking isles section in the store.

Peanut bark candy bar recipe

mg	Calories	qty	unit	ingredient	pct vol
0	100	2	tbsp	peanuts - unsalted	20%
0	320	1	block	white chocolate bark	40%
0	320	1	block	regular chocolate bark	40%
Label compare ingredients: chocolate, peanuts Makes about 4 servings. This recipe makes about 8 oz of treat, that, when broken into four parts, means each 2 oz treat is 160 Calories, 8 mg sodium. Compares to 1.5 almond chocolate bars of 240 Calories, and 150 mg sodium, according to the store label.

Place a wax paper shield and separation medium on a large plate. Spry lightly with a vegetable spray on center area. Place peanuts in single layer in center. Place 1 block white and 1 block normal on top of the peanuts. Microwave until soft, for 1-2 minutes according to wattage of microwave. Spray back of large metal spoon with vegetable spray. Using back of spoon, press bark mixture into peanuts and using back of spoon mix bark types. Spread evenly to a thickness of about 1 peanut. Chill for 10-20 minutes. Then separate from wax paper and break the treat into serving portions, place into a plastic bag and refrigerate, or serve immediately as desired.


At the price I have been obtaining the bark and peanuts at the store in November 2012, each treat costs about 20 cents as compared to similar candy bar at one dollar. That is an 80% reduction in cost. The difference in chocolate type makes for a more attractive treat, and I think, better taste.

Remember to use unsalted peanuts. You are unlikely to taste the difference and it makes a big effect in the sodium reduction.

Fruit Crisp - no sodium

More recipes for the season. Here is a zero sodium sweet. While the it is a salt removed recipe. Calories are not significantly affected. It beats the store processed in that too as, in addition to being no sodium, it does not have the added fat that many use to stabilize the mixtures.

Works with any fruit filling you would like. You can use low fat, low Calorie margarine in place of butter but all of these would add salt to the treat.
Fruit Crisp

mg	Calories	qty	unit	ingredient	pct vol
0	300	1	cup	oatmeal - long cook	12%
0	300	3/4	cup	flour - all purpose	12%
0	0	1	tsp	baking powder	0%
0	600	6	tbsp	butter - unsalted	6%
0	540	3/4	cup	brown sugar	12%
0	360	1/2	cup	white sugar	8%
0	260	4	cup	fruit (apples used)	47%
0	200	1/4	cup	chopped walnuts (alt)	4%
Label compare ingredients: fruit, sugar, oatmeal, flour, butter, walnuts, baking powder Makes about 16 servings 2x2 squares. 2360 Calories w/o walnuts, 0 mg sodium total, thus the per serving is about 150 Calories and 0 mg sodium per square serving. This compares to 200 Calories and over 150 mg sodium for square of store purchased or other similar fruit crisp products.

Mix together oatmeal, flour and brown sugar. Add nuts if desired. Cut butter to small sections. Stir mixture until uniform. 

In another bowl, mix fruit and white sugar together. 

Using vegetable shortening, grease an 8" square pan. Spread 1 tbsp of flour over the grease and move flour around so that thin layer residue remains. This will help in removing the crisp from pan later. Throw any excess flour away or use in other cooking (qty lost is small). Spread half the crumb mixture on bottom. Cover with fruit mixture. Spread remaining crumb mixture over top. Makes 16 2x2 squares = 16 servings. 147 Calories without walnuts, 160 with, and no sodium is involved.

Bake at 350 deg Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

111028- Low sodium oatmeal cookies

Restricted salt heart healthy diet

If you would you like a treat, but want to avoid the salt, here is an oatmeal cookie that is almost identical in taste to the standard recipe. A diabetic version is available within this site. This is a Quaker Oats recipe, but without the salt or salted products they list.

This recipe has the exact same number of calories, has sugar, and animal fat, so it is not acceptable for a diabetic or other restricted diet person. However, it does meet most heart patient requirements. I serve it often and no one seems to notice it is different from the standard recipe online at Quaker(tm) Oats.

Ingredients for the low sodium oatmeal cookie

mg	Calories	qty	unit	ingredient	pct vol
0	1,200	12	tbsp	butter - unsalted - softened	6%
0	1080	3/4	cup	brown sugar, firmly packed	18%
0	720	1/2	cup	sugar - regular white	8%
0	660	3	cup	oatmeal	56%
0	10	1	tsp	vanilla	1%
130	140	2	each	eggs	4%
0	0	1	tbsp	cinnamon - ground	2%
0	0	1	tsp	baking soda	1%
0	0	1	cup	raisins	22%
Label compare ingredients: oatmeal, sugar, raisins, butter, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, baking soda With a serving size of 1 tbsp per cookie, this makes 30-40 servings

Notes about sodium, quantities and types used

The key here is the use of unsalted butter, and not adding the normal tsp of salt in the original recipe.

Mixing the ingredients

In a very large bowl or cooking utensil, place sugar, cinnamon, eggs, vanilla, and soda in bowl. If butter is not soft, place in paper bowl and microwave to soften. Mix generously to generate uniform consistency. It should appear to be very liquid.

Add oatmeal, mix well. Add raisins, mix well to generate uniform consistency.

Use a cooking spray to lightly coat cookie pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. If you overcook, the result will be a very flat cookie. Remove from try while hot. If you fail to do this, it will be very hard to remove from the tray.

Sodium content comparison

This is not a low Calorie cookie. It has the same Calorie and fat content as the standard recipe .

Comparisons and options table
cookie	mg	Calories	mg reduced	Kcal reduced
Standard recipe	73	105	0	0
this recipe	2	105	97%	0%
The bigger the cookie, the more Calories per cookie

You can crumble these and use them as a gran cearal.

Often requested options
Some people cut the amount of raisins to reduce the Calories. The real calories are in the butter. However, use of a butter substitute product will vastly increase the sodium content.

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Sam Martin
Website: http://www.purepotential.com
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