A foodie I am not.

However, I love to take amazing recipes and give them a healthy shake. Are some of my creations worthy of being in Gourmet Magazine or Cooking Light? Um, heck no. But do they satisfy my cravings for the full calorie versions? Um, HECK YES!

So when I ran across a bag of Stevia Extract In the Raw last week at the grocery store last week I scooped it up and couldn’t wait to hit the Fitness & Spice test kitchen. Lucky for me on the same day Justin’s Nutbutter sent me a generous supply of their products so I grabbed a bowl and came up with…

Muffins Elvis Would Love Without the Fluff

• 1/2 (really ripe) banana
• 1/4 cup Stevia Extract in the Raw
• 1/2 cup nut butter (I used Justin’s Honey Almond Butter)
• 1/8 t baking soda
• Dash of salt

Mash banana until smooth and stir in Stevia. Add the nut butter, baking soda, and salt and stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour into mini muffin tins prepared with non-stick spray or cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe makes about 8-10 mini muffins but I’m sure you can double or triple this recipe with ease. Oh, and if you want to make them raw, just omit the baking soda and the baking of course.

Simple enough, right? Thank you, thank you very much!

Now I really must go grab a muffin and hit the gym…it’s now or never!

This weekend I watched some old movies and did a little baking. I watched There’s Something About Mary for like the 5,000th time. My favorite part is when Ben Stiller’s character, Ted, picks up the hitchhiker…

Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs?

Ted Stroehmann: Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the exercise video.

Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7… Minute… Abs.

Ted Stroehmann: Right. Yes. OK, alright. I see where you’re going.

Hitchhiker: Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see 8-Minute Abs sittin’ there, there’s 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?

Ted Stroehmann: I would go for the 7.

Hitchhiker: Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Minute Abs. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 8-minute folk.

Ted Stroehmann: You guarantee it? That’s — how do you do that?

Hitchhiker: If you’re not happy with the first 7 minutes, we’re gonna send you the extra minute free. You see? That’s it. That’s our motto. That’s where we’re comin’ from. That’s from “A” to “B”.

Ted Stroehmann: That’s right. That’s — that’s good. That’s good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then you’re in trouble, huh?

Hitchhiker: No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody’s comin’ up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won’t even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.

I like the way the hitchhiker thinks. He’s going to take an idea and make it better. That’s kind of my philosophy in the kitchen. I like to take a perfectly good recipe and give it a new spin. For instance, I found this fabulous Mexican Cookie recipe in Cooking Light magazine, I made some simple swaps and transformed them into…

Mexican Protein & Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

5  ounces bittersweet (60 to 70 percent) chocolate

1/2  cup chocolate whey protein powder (I used Protein Freeze)

1/2 cup flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4  teaspoon baking powder

1/4  teaspoon salt

Dash of black pepper

Dash of ground red pepper

1 1/4  cups Splenda for Baking

1/4  cup natural apple sauce

1  large egg (I used 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters)

1  teaspoon vanilla extract