Here’s a real holiday treat – share your healthy holiday recipes with other Ignite users and you could win one of two $250 gift cards.

Introducing the Ignite Healthy Holiday Recipe Contest.

Here’s how it works:

§         Submit a Healthier Holiday Recipe for either a Side Dish or a Dessert

You can enter one of the two categories: Side Dishes or Desserts. Respond to this thread with your original, healthy recipe no later than 11:59 PM on Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

Your recipe needs to include:

­        A list of ingredients (including amounts)

­        Preparation instructions

­        The number of servings

­        (If you have it, you can include the nutritional information.)

§         We’ll Pick the Winners

A registered dietician will review the recipes and pick three semi-finalists in each of the two categories. The recipes will be judged on nutritional value and originality.

We’ll announce the six semi-finalists on Ignite on Monday, December 17. Then, a panel of judges from Ignite, including a health expert, will prepare the semi-finalist recipes and judge them on taste, originality and nutritional value.

On Wednesday, December 19, we’ll award one Grand Prize for each category. Each Grand Prize winner will receive a $250 gift card to the grocery store of their choice – a great way to stock up for healthy holiday food!

Official Contest Rules are enclosed.

My Recipe:

Tangy Cranberry Coleslaw

Dressing:

       ¼ cup granulated sugar

       ½ teaspoon dry mustard

       ½ teaspoon celery seed

       Pinch of salt

       1/3 cup vegetable oil

       ¼ cup lime juice

       3 table spoons honey

Salad:
1 bag (16 oz) coleslaw mixture
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped green onions

How to mix:
For dressing:  Combine sugar, dry mustard, celery seed and salt in a small mixing bowl and mix well. Whisk in vegetable oil, lime juice and honey until well blended and sugar is dissolved.

Salad:

Put ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour dressing over coleslaw mixture; mix until well combined.

Chill down in refrigerate before serving.

Makes ~8 servings.

My computer receipt program calculates the following nutrition:

Calories: 152
Fat: 9g
Carbohydrate: 18g
Cholesterol: 0
Sodium: 52mg
Fiber: 2g

Apple Happiness -- dessert

6 medium Gala or Pink Lady apples with skin cut chunky: 1 cup calcium enriched orange juice; 1 1/2 cups of dry oatmeal (not instant): 1/4 cup chopped dried prunes: 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Optional: 1 heaping tablespoon of light vanilla ice cream and 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier for each serving

Directions:place cut apples into medium baking dish: pour orange juice over apples: mix dry ingredients and sprinkle evenly over top of apples: put in preheated oven at 325 for 30 minutes.  Remove and dish into individual bowls - spoon ice cream and Grand Marnier on top. - serve immediatly

Makes 6 to 8 serving.

                              Black Bean Salsa

3 cans black beans, drained and slightly rinsed

1 can corn mexican, drained

2 cans Rotel

2 tomatoes or 1 lrg tomato, chopped

3 green onions chopped

_____________to taste items_________________________

~ 2 - 3 teaspoons Garlic -- either powder or garlic salt (I used powder)

~ 1 teaspoon chili powder

half one lime and squeeze both halves (I roll it before I cut)

dash of salt

dash of pepper

5 drops Tabasco sauce

2 tablespoons Cilantro, chopped

Throw it all together in a bowl, stir, chill and serve.  Better the next day!  Anything below the ”to taste items” line you can modify to your taste.  If I have small kids coming then I don't make it so spicy.  I love this recipe because it is so flexible.  I have cooked it with rice and added cheese or even used it in burrito's.  It's a great side dish with chicken, but I love it cold as a healthy dip with some tortilla chips.

Makes 9 cups (roughly 18 1/2 cup servings)

I used DietPower to get the Nutrients (thanks kronos):

Calories          96

Fat                 1.9g

Cholesterol          0mg

Carbohydrate   18.7g

Dietary Fiber      3.8g

Protein              5.7g 

Healthy CaKe (No butter, only vegetable oil)

Ingredients:

6 TSP cake flour, 3 Tablespoon Corn Starch, 1/2 cup sugar, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoonsp Ram,  2/3 teaspoon baking powder.
1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup juice or milk.

Mix cake flour, sugar, salt & baking powder together. 

Separate egg yolk and egg white.  Put 1/3 cup oil and 1/3 cup milk in the flour mix.  Beat the egg yolk with the flour mix.

In a dry and clean bowl, beat the egg white with a pinch cream of tartar. Beat the egg white until a fork can stand inside the egg white. Pour 1/3 flour & yolk mix into the egg white, and fold it gently. add the rest of the flour & yolk mix into the egg whites and keep folding gently.

 Put in preheated oven (325F), bake 30-40 minutes

Apple Strawberry and Kiwi Salsa

3 Apples (Gala, Macintosh or Courtland)

2 Kiwi

9 Strawberries

Wheat thins

Cut apples, kiwi and strawberries into fourths.  You can leave the skin on the apples, it's your choice.  Place in Tupperware Quick Chef processor or any food processor. Mix until very fine. Scoop out, serve in bowl with wheat thins.   6 servings.

My kids ask me to make this healthy addicting recipe all the time!

 Dessert Category:

Berry Healthy Holiday Trifle

Get your fiber and antioxidants without sacrificing your sweet tooth!

Serves approximately 15

Ingredients:

a.) Whole Wheat Pound Cake

2 cups whole wheat flour

½ cup oat bran

½ cup rolled oats

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup honey

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup apple juice

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

b.) Trifle Assembly

1 whole wheat pound cake (see above recipe), cut into cubes

1 (10 ounce) package frozen blueberries

1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries

1 (10 ounce) package frozen blackberries

2 tablespoons praline liqueur (can substitute amaretto or similar)

1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

½ cup 1% milk

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 ounce) container low-fat frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

a.) Whole Wheat Pound Cake

To bake cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch pan with non-stick spray. While the oven is heating, combine all of the dry ingredients (2 cups whole wheat flour, ½ cup oat bran, ½ cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons ground flax seed, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg) in a large bowl. In another smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients together (½ cup honey, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup apple juice, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, and 4 eggs) and stir well. Pour the mixture of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Pour into greased 10-inch pan. Bake 45 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before cutting into 1-2 inch cubes.

b.) Trifle Assembly

Place the cubes of whole wheat pound cake in the bottom of large glass serving bowl. Layer the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries on top of the cake. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of liqueur.

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, condensed milk and 1 cup of whipped topping, stir well. Pour mixture over frozen berries. Top custard with remaining cool whip. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, enough for the berries to thaw before serving.

A healthy solution to buttery, cream-laden whipped potatoes.  This dish is not only better for you, it's extremly easy and everyone loves it - it's much classier than old fashioned mashed potatoes.

 2 lbs red skin potatoes, skin on, cut into chunks

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 medium carrot, peeled & cut into small chunks

1 garlic clove

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup skim milk

additional salt & pepper to taste

Put red skin potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrot, garlic and rosemary in large pot and add water to cover.

Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes and carrot are tender

Drain, remove rosemary sprig, and return to pot

Add olive oil and milk and mash with hand masher until well mixed, but not entirely smooth

Add salt & pepper to taste

Transfer to large serving bowl

Light yet Sweet Fruit Dip

This is a great alternative to those high sugar cream cheese fruit dips you can buy in the grocery store.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8 ounces low fat cream cheese

5 ounces ricotta cheese (low fat if you can find it)

1 T real vanilla

½ cup Splenda sugar substitute

lemon zest to taste

fresh fruit, (such as apples, strawberries, pineapple, and grapes) cut in bite size pieces

Soften cream cheese.  Mix first 5 ingredients together.  Chill at least 1 hour.  Serve with the fruit.  Serves 6.

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Nutrition calculated on Dip only (via Living Cookbook Nutrition Calculator )

Calories 175

  Calories from fat 5.3g

Total Fat 8.5g

  Sat Fat 5.3g

Carbohydrates 16g

  Dietary Fiber .04g

  Sugar .044g

  Net Carbs 16g

Protien 7g

I have found that low fat cheeses taste better than the fat free versions and have submitted the recipe as such, but of course, the fat free versions could also be used, if desired.

Thanks,

Kim Allen

This is a lighter version of traditional Sweet Potato Pie. The pineapple makes it taste great without adding a bunch of fat 

Extra Sweet Potato and Pineapple "Pie" - 12 servings

Ingredients:

3 pounds of sweet potatoes ( about 6-7 medium-large)

1 16 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tsp of Molly McButter (or similar)

1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional, unless you are from the South)

1 3/4 cups mini marshmallows.

Directions:

Cook the sweet potatoes by baking them @ 400 deg for about 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool. Make sure you don't burn yourself when peeling and cutting by not giving them enough time to cool. Peel and cut into small bite sized pieces. Put in large bowl and toss with all the remaining ingredients except the Marshmallows.

Put mixture in a 2-3 quart casserole dish coating with cooking spray and top with the marshmallows. Bake at 350 degress for 35 to 40 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the top is lightly brown. You may have to cover the dish with aluminum foil if it gets brown too quickly.

It really should be served warm. Enjoy!

Holiday Recipe

Healthy Cranberry Sauce

 
1 bag of fresh cranberries

4 Gala Apples

1 cup apple juice

1 Tablespoon honey 

Cut up apples and put in a saucepan. Cover with apple juice and boil til tender. Place cranberries in another saucepan and cover with water. Boil til they "pop". Mash apples with a potato masher. Combine apples, warm cranberries, and honey and stir til mixed. Refrigerate til ready to use. They thicken naturally as they cool. This is a perfect serving of two fruits and is not overly sweet. Enjoy!

Connie Framberger    

Chopped Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts Side Dish

Salad:
6 apples (Granny Smith or Fuji, or both) skin left on, core removed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups baby spinach
1 head of endive, thinly sliced
1 cup toasted coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled  

Dressing
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the salad:
Combine the apples, spinach, endive, walnuts and blue cheese in a large bowl.

For dressing:
Whisk together the pomegranate molasses, vinegar, mustard and honey in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat, season with salt and pepper.

Serving size: 6 

Peppermint Chocolate Mousse
* An excellent source of antioxidants, soy protien and all-around holiday cheer!

Serves at least 8

8 oz candy canes
1 cup dark chocolate chips, I prefer at least 60% dark   
1/2 cup soy milk or almond milk
1 8-12 oz package silken tofu, drained, organic preferred
1/3 cup sweetener such as brown rice sweetener or honey
1/2 tsp peppermint oil

Set aside serving containers.  Festive options include 8 martini or wine glasses, 8 demitasse/ espresso cups, 8 ramekins or 1 low-fat graham cracker or cookie crust.

Place candy canes in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Reserve for garnish.

Combine chocolate and non-dairy milk in a microwave-safe bowl or double boiler and melt, using gentle heat, stirring often.  Remove from heat. 

Add crumbled tofu in a blender or food processor.  Add melted chocolate mixture, sweetener and peppermint oil.  Process until completely smooth and combined, approximately 2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides half-way through blending.

Equally divide mousse mixture in prepared serving containers.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Garnish with crushed candy canes and enjoy.