"Healthy" Stuffing - From Naturally Thin

"Out of this World" Stuffing

This is from Bethenny Frankles's NYT Best seller: Naturally Thin.  The book is great and you can buy it on Amazon.  I got it very reasonably.

She intros this recipe by saying this stuffing has the same yummy flavor of traditional bread stuffing with a fraction of the calories and fat.  It has many ingredients but the process itself is easy.

OK, Ingredients...

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 0.5 tsp salt, add more as needed
• 0.5 tsp pepper, add more as needed
• 1-2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 4 sprigs sage, finely chopped
• Leaves from 6-8 springs of thyme, finely chopped
• 0.5 pound of turkey sausage
• Splash of dry white wine
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms --- This is where I changed this to chopped granny smith apples
• 0.5 cup dried morels, chopped and soaked in water until soft
• 0.5 loaf of multi-grain bread, toasted and chopped
• 0.5 - 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Saute the onion and celery in the oil in a nonstick pan.  Add in salt, pepper, sage, and thyme.
3. Break up sausage and add to the pan, saute until brown.  Add in wine and butter.
4. Stir in apples, morels and the water from soaking the morels.
5. In a large bowl put the breadcrumbs adn pour the sausage mixture overtop and toss to coat.  Add chicken stock to add moisture as needed.
6. Add salt and pepper to tast, as desired.
7. Stir in the beaten egg and stir all together.
8. Ok, here is where I totally change up the recipe and use the ol' Monts family muffin pan stuffing trick:
1. Form the stuffing mixture into balls and add into lightly greased muffin cups.
2. Bake under a watchful eye (30 minutes?) and remove once tops are lightly darkened.

Enjoy!!

Caramelized Onion Dip- Low Fat!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
2 tbsps low-fat sour cream
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsps sliced parsley
3 c sweet onions, finely sliced
1 oz low-fat cream cheese
2 tsps vegetable oil
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
Step #1 In a large nonstick skillet sprayed with vegetable spray, heat the oil & add the onion. Step #2 Sauté for 5 mins, stirring frequently.
Step #3 Simmer on low heat for another 10 mins or until the onion is soft & browned, stirring every once in awhile.
Step #4 Add the sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise, salt & pepper & mix until well mixed & the cheese is melted.
Step #5 Garnish with parsley & serve this with whole wheat crackers, baked tortilla chips or pita wedges.