With the time change and Spring right around the corner, I can't help but dream of the fresh fruits that come with the warm weather. Since there is still some time before most fruits will reach their peak, I chose to use one that is available year round. I wanted to make a light dessert and decided that lemon bars would be the perfect selection. The crust is made from a mixture of whole wheat flour and oats. At first, I thought the addition of oats was a bit odd but they are actually what made crust so delicious. The filling had the perfect citrus flavor from using a combination of the lemon juice and zest. It used a combination of eggs and egg whites to make a light, fluffy texture. Just because this is a lighter version treat, does not mean that they are healthy or that anybody should devour the whole pan. On my blog, I like to refer to foods like this as a "seldom splurge". Overall, I thought this was a great dessert to kick off the season and everybody seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did. The boyfriend said they reminded him of a Krispy Kreme lemon filled donut. Not exactly what I was going for, but I'll take it.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, and oats. Using a pastry blender, add butter until mixture is crumbly. Press in bottom of baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together egg and egg white. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon. Whisk until smooth.
4. Pour lemon mixture over pre-baked crust and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until center is set.

Today I bring you another "seldom splurge" recipe; and these blueberry muffins are well worth the splurge.  As much as I love to get rid of unhealthy ingredients in recipes, some definitely belong in baked goods. In my opinion these muffins have everything that is necessary in a good pastry. The texture is soft and moist. The flavor is sweet, but not too sweet. The streusel topping is crumbly with a hint of cinnamon. And each bite includes a delicious blueberry burst. These are seriously one of my favorite breakfast indulgences. While I would consider them a "splurge" because they do contain over 200 calories per muffin, they are still quite healthy in relation to restaurant and bakery muffins. At Starbucks a blueberry muffin racks up 360 calories. A similar treat at Dunkin Donuts contains a whopping 480 calories and Panera Bread's blueberry muffin will cost you 390 calories. To keep my muffin recipe from having as many calories as my dinner, I did make a few substitutions. I traded whole wheat pastry flour for white flour and used fat free milk and light butter. If you are stuck in the house due to ice like we are here in Alabama, whip up a batch of these blueberry streusel muffins and inhale the sweet aroma as they bake.

Oh, and a big thanks to my cousin Lindsey for the super cute Cynthia Rowley plate in my pictures. The other plates that she gave me for Christmas will be making an appearance very soon. Not only does she give the best gifts ever, she also has an amazing blog. Lindsey is so creative and her blog details projects and diy crafts that she has documented as she has began her journey as a newly-wed. Check out it out Novemberly Ever After.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a small bow combine oil, egg, and milk. Stir until egg is beaten.
4. Add oil mixture to flour mixture and combine just until moist.
5. Toss blueberries in a sprinkle of flour (This keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin) and then stir into batter.
6. Evenly distribute batter among muffin cups. 
7. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix in butter with a fork to create a crumb texture.
8. Spoon streusel mixture evenly over each muffin cup.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.

While Thanksgiving is usually a day of ignoring calories and satiety cues, there are still plenty of ways to lighten up traditional holiday dishes. This year I prepared a hash brown casserole and carrot cake cupcakes. Typical hash brown casserole is much like other Thanksgiving sides, loaded with fat and drowned in butter. By using reduced-fat soup, light sour cream, and 2% cheese I was able to drastically decrease the calories. The recipe for my has brown casserole will be coming soon, but today's post is actually about my dessert dish. Carrot cake seems to be such a deceiving food, as its name implies that it is healthy since it includes a vegetable. Carrots make up a very small amount of the cake and do not make up for the sugar and fat content. While my recipe most definitely falls under the "seldom splurge" category of my blog, I made substitutions to avoid a diet-disaster. Since I was transporting the dessert, I decided to make cupcakes instead of a layered-cake. The batter is prepared with whole-wheat pastry flour, which is a great substitution for all-purpose. It also contains shredded carrots (well duh, it IS carrot cake), applesauce, raisins, crushed pineapple, and chopped pecans. I prepared the cream cheese icing using reduced-fat cream cheese and light butter. These cupcakes are not overly sweet and the flavors are brought to life with a taste of the smooth, creamy icing. The end product is an individual-sized cake, perfectly moist and full of fall spice.

I realize that I started a section of my blog called "seldom splurges" and so far there is only one "splurge". Adding to the collection, I will share with you my most requested recipe- sausage stars. Finger foods are always good for football games and parties, and these miniature appetizers are no exception. I think of sausage stars as a modern approach to typical party snacks such as chips, dips, and cookies. While they look intricate and time-consuming, expect quite the opposite. The preparation is surprisingly quick and simple, but you do need a mini-muffin pan. In my opinion, everyone needs one of these anyways because what is cuter than a little baby muffin? This recipe was given to my mom by one of her closest friends and has proven, over and over again, to be a keeper. I have lightened the recipe a bit by using low-fat cheese and light ranch dressing but as I explained about all of my "seldom splurge" recipes, sausage stars should be an occasional treat. (The boyfriend believes they would suffice for every meal. Oh, where would he be without my nutrition guidance?) I encourage you to give these dainty h'ordeuvres a try the next time that you want your dish to be in the spotlight of the party. Stars always shine- sausage stars that is.

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Cook sausage until done, as directed on package. Rinse and Drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the won-ton wrappers.
4. Place a won-ton wrapper in each cup of 2 ungreased mini-muffin pans (24 cups in each). Using your thumb, gently press the wrapper into the middle of the cup to mold its shape.
5. Bake won-ton wrappers for 5 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and evenly fill each wrapper with a spoonful of sausage mix.
7. Bake for another 5-7 minutes.

Originally when I created this blog, I pledged to only add healthy recipes in order to promote a healthy lifestyle. Since then I have had many requests for the appearance of some of my more indulgent dishes. Of course I want to please my readers, so I have decided to add some of these recipes as well. Since all foods are fine in moderation, just be sure to treat these as occasional treats, and not everyday eats. From this point on, such recipes will be referred to as my "Seldom Splurge" files. Although these foods will not necessarily be low-calorie, I still tend to lighten them a bit from their original content.

A lot of my "seldom splurges" are are also my go-to ideas for parties and tailgating. These red velvet cake cookies are no exception. They are the perfect replacement for cake or cupcakes at parties because there is no cutting or messy icing to deal with; but still the fluffy cake texture and sugary flavor. I have made these for multiple Alabama football games, considering the perfect crimson color and white powder sugar coating (also perfect for Christmas and Valentine's Day). You can make these with any flavor of cake mix that you desire. If your team color does not happen to be red, try white cake mix with added food color (or you could just become a Crimson Tide fan). I have previously made these cookies with lemon, strawberry, chocolate, and confetti cake mix. As far as the promised diet tweak, I used light cool whip in place of regular and they turned out great. Each cookie clocks in at around 70 calories so while the stats are not the best, the cookies have only one gram of fat each. Also, these are so easy to make and you only need four ingredients.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Combine first three ingredients, stirring well (dough will be sticky).
3. Pour sugar on a plate and dust hands in sugar.
4. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough into sugar, roll to coat, and place on baking sheet two inches apart. (12 cookies should fit on regular size baking sheet)
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.