Vanilla Cupcake Puppychow

I am a *huge* sugar addict. Anything sweet, I'm there! When my sugar cravings hit, I usually like to find a way to lighten things up to make it a bit healthier, while satisfying my sweet tooth and keeping it super decadent.

So, recently, I have been on a cupcake kick. I love them, but obviously they are not the healthiest. I thought about how I could lighten them up but without ruining the flavor. I then decided to go more 'out of the box' with thinking. I thought not about lightening up cupcakes, but what I could turn into cupcakes...

I came up with an amazing alternative...

First, we need to grab our ingredients: Rice chex cereal(do not use crispix or any other type of Chex or it will not taste the same or work very well), Heavy Cream, Butter, Butter imitation extract, almond extract, white chocolate almond bark, powdered sugar and sprinkles :)

 

 Pour 4 1/2 Cups of Chex in a bowl, set aside.
Place 10 oz of almond bark in saucepan with heavy whipping cream(no substitutions) and butter. Melt over low heat and make sure to keep stirring or it will get chunky and you will need to start over.

 

 
Once mixture is fully melts, remove from heat and add both the butter extract and almond extract.
Pour mixture over cereal, shake to coat.
I used a plastic Tupperware tub with a lid so it was evenly coated. Allow to cool for just about a minute, then add your sprinkles. Be sure not to add sprinkles too quick or they will melt.
Once cooled a bit, but not fully dry, pour 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar over mixture and shake again to coat.

I'm sorry for the 20 lbs you are about to gain because you will not be able to put this stuff down.
BUT--just to make you feel better, 1 cup of this has over 50% less fat, calories and sugar than a typical small vanilla cupcake. It also has vitamins and minerals from the cereal. So don't feel *SO* bad..:D

RECIPE

4 1/2 cups Rice Chex
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp butter imitation extract
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
10 oz(about 5 squares) of white chocolate almond bark
sprinkles

-Pour cereal in bowl, set aside
- Melt almond bark, butter and heavy cream over low heat, stirring frequently
- Once fully melted, add almond extract and butter extract
- Pour over cereal mixture, shake to coat
- Add sprinkles after letting it cool approx 1 minute
- Add powdered sugar, shake again to coat

Garden Salmon Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Everyone loves this salad! A great amount of protein and iron, a blast of vitamin C and some Calcium too. 

Recipe:

1 thawed Salmon filet
Raw Spinach
2 tablespoons fat-free feta cheese
2 sliced ripe strawberries
A handful of almonds
Mrs Dash original seasoning
Fat Free poppyseed dressing
Cooking

Directions:
Start by seasoning salmon with a Mrs Dash. Place under broiler in oven for approximately 8 minutes skin side down. After 8 minutes, flip so skin side is up. Broil another 3-4 minutes.
While salmon broils, assemble spinach, strawberries and feta cheese on a large plate.
Once salmon is finished, remove from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes. Once cooled, slice up and toss on top of salad, sprinkle with feta cheese, almonds and a drizzle of dressing.
Also try with Mandarin oranges.
I served mine with rice on the side. The salad itself comes in at only 345 calories!