Recipe Request

All I ever eat are "Lean Cuisine" meals (mostly because I'm too lazy to cook

CatNipped...

Whoa! I didn't know that - yes, I do eat enough of the stuff to make a

Monique Y. Mudama...

Someone also told me that calorie labels are typically within 20% ...
so realistically there's probably 20% more than whatever is listed. I
don't recall the explanation, though, and I'm currently kind of
lightheaded from the day-before-the-test regime, so I don't feel like
looking it up ..

difference!!

low-calorie, low-fat meals that taste good), and there is one, "Chicken

Monique Y. Mudama...

I had barley honey once. Really yummy and rich.

Fettuccini With Caramelized Apples" that I buy almost exclusive for the
Caramelized Apples. I'd love to be able to make those myself, but wouldn't
be able to eat something high in sugar (and all the recipes I've seen for it
are almost all sugar). I'm sure Lean Cuisine manages to do it without a lot
of sugar or it wouldn't be as low in calories as it is.

Monique Y. Mudama...

Lori, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Sugar is pretty low in
calories.

Does anyone out there have a good recipe for Caramelized Apples that doesn't
call for lots of sugar (or that can have a sugar substitute instead)?

Pat...

Try substituting barley malt syrup (tastes like brown sugar but isn't nearly
as concentrated, sugar-wise) for the brown sugar.

A small amount of salt and lemon juice helps bring out the natural sweetness
of apples. I haven't tried this Lean C. meal, but I assume you won't be
using whole apples and baking will be involved, so apply the lemon/salt
mixture to the chopped apples first, then add the barley malt syrup, prior
to baking.

Jo Firey...

CatNipped...

Yep, exactly - I have ADHD. I learned, when my two ADHD children were very
young, how to control it with diet alone.

I'd guess there is enough sugar in a lot of apples to caramelize just by
baking. A lot of times I'll peel and slice apples like I was going to bake
a pie and just put them in a baking dish with a bit of apple pie seasoning,
a tiny bit of salt and some sprinkled on Splenda if the apples are tart. I
use the brown sugar splenda for this if I have it around. Then I bake them
kind of slow (maybe 325) and stir once in a while to keep the top moist and
keep an eye on them cause I really don't know how long they take to get

Chakolate...

Yeah, I was going to say to start with stewed apples, and go from there
with the sweetener of choice. The apples themselves have quite a bit of
sugar, and I *think* they will caramelize, but I give no guarantees.

done.

Randy...

Try baking the slices with a little sugar free pancake syrup.

or

Use Da Vinci Sugar Free Caramel Syrup.
Torani also makes a sugar-free Caramel syrup.

CatNipped...

Jo Firey...

CatNipped...

Wow! First of all, I didn't know they made brown sugar Splenda!! Second, I

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

Yes, I have some, too. But it tastes horrible, IMO. Really, really
bad. I have yet to try it in baking - the weird chemical taste might
not be quite so obvious there.

Monique Y. Mudama...

Given that 'Nipped likes the regular Splenda, that probably won't
bother here for the brown sugar version, right?

didn't think about baking the apples - all the recipes I had said to
caramelize the sugar in a saucepan then add the apples. I will definitely
try this, it sounds like it would work better than the recipes I found,
thanks!!

Karen AKA Kajikit...

The way I made fried apples was to peel and slice the apples and put
them in a frying pan with some lemon juice and a very little water.
When they were starting to soften up I added a couple of teaspoons of
brown sugar and half a cup of raisins. Continue frying until the
apples are soft and browned and all the liquid is gone. Yum!

Now that sounds good!

Thanks! I've never heard of those - I'll have to try them.