Mostly Guilt-Free Goodies

I feel like this blog is becoming just about food, but hopefully that can all change once I get off my butt and get back in the gym TOMORROW. But for now, let’s talk more food, shall we? 🙂

I know I wrote about this last week, but Sundays are big food days for me. They always have been. Sundays at my parents house consists of church, pancakes, football, then something deliciously comforting for dinner. A big hit in our family is always tacos, especially when they’re being served in those amazing fried taco bowls–full of fat and calories and carbs and yuck.  I mean, yum (!) but also, yuck, right? So when making tacos this weekend, I finally tried out the “recipe” that’s I’ve been seeing a lot lately where you take a normal soft-shell tortilla and bake it until it is crispy and bowl-like. Turns out, it’s super easy and super yummy. Just like the real thing!

I used a burrito-sized low-carb whole wheat tortilla, which I microwaved for about 30 seconds (so it’s pliable) and then sprayed quickly with some non-stick cooking spray. Then I gently molded it onto a small canning jar (any oven-proof glass will work) and baked it at 400° until golden brown. The only thing I would change for next time is to maybe lower the oven temp a bit, as my shell edges were browned before the middle/bottom of the shell had a chance to crisp up. Here are the finished results (P.S. please forgive my lousy phone camera!):

Baked, crispy, delicious

Chock full o' goodies

Oh, and this morning, I made caramelized banana pancakes. Yep. I’ve never tried making them before, but it was so easy and actually pretty guilt-free, considering. I used a pancake box mix for the base (just add water), measured out enough for 6-8 pancakes, and then caramelized a sliced banana in 3 tbsp. of light brown sugar and 1/2 tbsp. melted butter. Dropped the bananas into the mix, poured ’em onto the griddle, then topped them with the remaining caramel sauce and a little fat-free Cool Whip.  Words can’t describe the melt-in-your-mouth goodness that occurred. Again, super simple and a nice little Sunday treat (with leftovers!). Just like my dad makes 🙂