Indulgence: Apple Strudel Ebelskivers

 We rarely do anything fancy for Valentines Day. I'm more of a show me you love me everyday kinda girl :) Lucky for my husband, it keeps my expectations low for the holiday. The first few years we were married we had a tradition of just making a nice dinner at home. With our Healthy Habits Challenge this month I'm thinking we'll revert back to that. It gives more control over not ordering the fat-filled yummy food at the restaurants. However, you have to have at least one treat for Valentine's day, right? Breakfast is the perfect meal to do so. Plus you have all day to burn it off ;) These are so simple and delicious, yet they look fancy enough to be from a restaurant! Try these for your sweetheart this Valentine's day! He'll love them so much, maybe he'll buy you something fancy as a thank you? Here's to hoping!!

Apple Strudle Ebelskivers

makes 21 ebelskivers 

PREP: 20 minutes           COOK: 10 minutes            READY IN: 30 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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Batter

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk (or substitute with 2 cups milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice added)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 4 tablespoons butter (I never said these were healthy ;)) 
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

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1. Prepare your filling. Peel and core your apples. Finely dice. 
2. In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, salt and apples. Cook on low heat until apples are soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside when done. 
3. While apples are cooking, prepare your batter. 
4. With your separated eggs, beat the yolks with sugar and salt in a large bowl. 
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. 
6. Add dry ingredients to your egg yolk mixture. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk (or substitute mixture) until everything is well incorporated. 
7. Take your egg whites and beat with a hand mixture until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula. 
8. Heat your ebelskiver pan over low to medium heat. 
9. Brush pan with a little melted butter. To each well add 1 tablespoon batter, followed by 1 teaspoon of apple filling in the center with 1 teaspoon batter on top to seal it off. 
10. Let it cook for about 3 minutes. Turn ebelsikver using a wooden chopstick or skewer and cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are browned. 
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until all the batter and filling is used. 
12. Serve warm with syrup, cool whip or apples. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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   1 ebelskiver   122 calories  5.4g fat  15.7g carbs   2.9g protein   5.9g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Great Breakfast Book

Skinny Strawberry Trifle

I'll let you in on a little secret... My husband hates Valentine's Day. He is convinced it was a holiday created by Hallmark. And I've never been one to disagree with him. I think I'd rather have random acts of kindness (or love) shown to one another over a forced holiday that says we have to do something for each other. We are both pretty great at being rebels so when everyone is doing something, we tend to walk away for the sake of creating our own mold. :)

So rather than going out to eat with half the town on February 14, we'd rather snuggle up on the couch together after the kids go to bed and indulge in a yummy dessert. This dessert is perfect just for that, and good news... it's a skinny dessert! Feel free to indulge without the dessert!

Skinny Strawberry Trifle
15 SERVINGS 
PREP: 10 minutes           COOK: 0 minutes            READY IN: 10 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 angel food cake (I used store bought, but you can make your own if you want)
• 1 pint of strawberries, sliced
• 3.3 ounce white chocolate pudding box
• 16 ounce Lite Cool Whip

DIRECTIONS

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1. Slice the angel food cake into 15 even pieces. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the white chocolate pudding mix with the cool whip. (OPTIONAL: you can add a little milk to make the mixture a little more creamy. I opted to go without).
3. In a bowl or cup, tear 1/4 of the angel food slice into one inch pieces, add a dollop of the pudding mixture, then a few strawberries. Repeat until you have multiple layers in the dish. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 serving    179 calories   3.6g fat   31.6g carbs    1.5g protein    9.9g sugar   

Enjoy!