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• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 12 tbl low fat cooking margarine
• 1 1/2 cup splenda
• 10 tbl egg substitute (like egg beaters)
• 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened original
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbl orange zest, grated fine
• Juice of 1 orange (usually about 2 ounces)
• 2 1/2 cup icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a bowl cream together the margarine, egg, almond extract and splenda.
3. In another bowl combine the baking powder and flour. (yes, sometimes I’m lazy and skip this step too…it’s o.k.)
4. Slowly alternate between adding the flour and the almond milk while beating the creamed mixture on low. Continue until all combined.
5. Spoon batter into cup pan and bake for 20 minutes. You can tell they are done when they spring back when you touch them and are golden.
6. While the cupcakes bake, combine the zest and icing sugar in a bowl.
7. Slowly add the orange juice to the sugar mixture while beating on low. Once it is all combined at the desired consistency (you do not have to use all of the juice) beat for 2 minutes on high. Chill the glaze for 1 hour.
8. Glaze the cupcakes when they have cooled.

Makes 16 cupcakes, each cupcake with glaze contains approximately 176 calories, 2.4 grams fat, 39 grams carbs, .9 gram fiber, and 2.2 grams protein.

To make this vegan friendly I used powdered egg substitute ( a local brand from the health store), vegan butter (earth balance buttery spread), and brown sugar instead of splenda. The nutritional info for this version is much higher of course. To make the cupcakes you just add the extra step before you cream of adding the required amount of water to the powdered egg substitute and stir. Other than that it is straight forward and the baking time is the same.

• 1 roast of choice, frozen
• 2 tbl cornstarch
• 2 pouches beef low salt oxo
• 1 tsp herbs de provence
• 4 tbl white wine
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tsp dry mustard powder
• pinch salt and pepper
• 2 cup cauliflower
• 2 tbl margarine
• 1 tsp steak spice
• green onion, sliced

1. Place the roast in a crockpot, top and surrounding with the next nine ingredients on the list.
2. Cover and cook for 6 hours on high or 10 hours on low.
3. Before serving, boil a pot of water. Add the cauliflower and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes or less. Drain. Add the margarine and steak spice. Mash. Season to taste.
4. Serve and top with gravy from the crockpot and green onions.

There are so many variables in this recipe, cut of meat, size of cut, etc. So sadly I cannot give nutritional values for this one. The picture above is from my husband’s plate, it is a surly dwarf portion for sure. A hobbit trying to watch their figure should probably aim for a portion that looks more like this:and go easy on the gravy…I know…it’s hard. So nummy!

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Thanks in advance for those who take the time to fill out the form. You guys rock! If I place again this year maybe we can celebrate with a special recipe? Hmmmm….something tasty and super geeky would definitely be in order.

• 5 cups Hardcore Hobbit Leek Stock
• 4-5 cups various mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake, portobello, and crimini)
• 2 tbl soy sauce
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 fl. ounce dry sherry

1. Combine the ingredients in a crockpot. Do not worry if the mushrooms seem to over power the amount of stock, they will cook down and provide their own liquid.
2. Cook for 8 hours on low (or stovetop simmer 30- 60 minutes)
3. Using a handblender or blending in batches process the soup until it is blended. I went with a texture that was blended but not smooth. I liked the variations in colour and texture. That is personal taste, go with what you like! Season with extra salt or pepper as needed. Serve.
4. Want a tasty variation? My husband topped his soup with fat free sour cream. He even made a ghost on top to celebrate the season. Isn’t it cute? I tasted his variation and it is indeed nummy!!

Makes 5 generous and filling servings. Each serving contains 205 calories, 5 grams fat, 35 grams carbs, 4.7 grams fibre, and 5.9 grams protein. A great fall day treat. Using local mushrooms makes the flavour of those mushrooms sing! When selecting your variety of mushrooms you might want to check out what is local to your particular shire and in season. Every hobbit deserves the best mushrooms they can find.

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 tbl butter
• 3 medium leeks, thinly sliced, white/light coloured parts only
• 4 small potatoes, cubed
• 5 cups water
• salt and pepper

1. Heat a pan to medium high. Add the butter, swirling it around to coat the pan.
2. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onions begin to caramelize.
3. Add the leeks, cook for about 1 or two minutes. Stirring constantly.
4. Pour into a crockpot.
5. Add the potatoes and water. Heat the crockpot for 8 hours on low. You can do this faster by just adding the ingredients to a stock pot and heating over the stove for 30-45 minutes on medium high. Make sure the potatoes are tender before serving.

Makes 5 super generous servings. Each serving contains 180 calories, 4.9 grams fat, 32 grams carbs, 4 grams fibre, and 3.7 grams protein. This is a great soup base! A great departure from the same old veggie soup base that most vegetarians can get stuck with. You can use lighter butter substitutes for this soup but I found that full fat butter really helped those leeks along flavour wise.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup honey or splenda
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
• 1 tbl fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 blackberries, fresh or thawed
• 2 tbl light strawberry cream cheese

1. Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl. Make a well in the centre.
2. In another bowl combine the eggs, water, lemon rind, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix until all one colour. Add the honey or splenda and mix until smooth.
3. Add the liquids to the well in the flour. Add the dry around the sides of the well to the liquids until smooth.
4. Grease a jelly roll pan very well, for extra care line with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth out evenly.
5. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure it is done. Immediately loosen the cake from the pan and upend onto a clean tea towel. Roll the cake gently like a jelly roll using the towel. Allow to cool.
6. Combine the blackberries and cream cheese. I don’t get to worried about a smooth texture. I think its more fun to have little pockets of cream cheese and berry. Unroll the cake. Spread the cream cheese mixture on the cake giving about an inch of space from the edges.
7. Roll the cake back up carefully. Slice into 16 pieces and serve!

Each slice contains (with honey) 91 calories, 1 gram fat, 19.8 gram carbs, .4 gram fibre, and 1.8 grams protein. With splenda each slice contains 43 calories, 1 gram fat, 8 grams carbs, .3 gram fibre, and 1.8 grams protein. Sure you can frost this cake but with the way that cream cheese berry filling is you really don’t need the extra calories and fat to enjoy.

To me it just seems like a logical step. During my weight loss I found that walking, yoga and later pilates really helped me out. I didn’t have to work really hard, especially with my tasty recipes. What I’m hoping to do is then come up with a program to help folks just like me. I have to say the funniest thing about being in these training programs is that even though most of these folks are athletics types, they are so accepting of a little geek like me. They even find it cute when I say stuff like “Aww I can’t come workout with you guys that night, I’m playing with my dungeons and dragons group those nights.” It’s true, us geeky chunky folks had nothing to fear from the right breed of athletic folks. There are always jerks in every group of folks…I’m sure everyone knows a geeky jerk…but we always forget that the majority of folks in every group of people are really nice and accepting. That knowledge would probably have helped me fear gyms and workout studios less, hope it helps some of you other folks too!

So, anyways as a result my posting will be erratic for the next few months. My concentration is going to be on trying to get hardcore hobbit recipes out. If I have time then I will post the other delicious foods I have been working on. To me getting those hardcore hobbit foods out is important so we can get to planning our hobbits feasts for when the movie comes out.

• 4 cups crushed blackberries
• 1 cup unsweetened apple juice (I made my own by juicing a few fuji apples)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp light cooking margarine
• 1 pkg no sugar needed pectin (I call it insurance in case my apple juice doesn’t come through)
• 1 cup sweetener of choice (I used splenda but honey would be divine)
• 4 small canning jars

1. Boil the jars, lids, and seals to sterilize and prep for the jam. Keep them hot until ready for filling.
2. Strain 2 or 3 cups of the berries to remove the seeds. Blend the strained liquid with the remaining crushed berries in a pot.
3. Add the apple juice, margarine, cinnamon, and cloves to the berries.
4. Stir in the pectin until dissolved.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the sweetner of choice.
6. Stir constantly while boiling for 3 minutes then remove from heat.
7. One at a time remove jars from the hot liquid, ladle in the jam, leaving about 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe the rim clean. Top with the sealing disk. Screw down the top. Repeat for the rest of the jars.
8. Return the filled jars to the boiling water, make sure the jars are covered by atleast an inch of water. Boil for 10 minutes or longer if you are at higher altitudes.
9. Remove the jars from the water without tilting them. Allow to sit upright and undisturbed for 24 hours.

Makes 4 250 ml jars. 1 tbl of jam sweetened with splenda is 7 calories, .1 gram fat, .5 gram fibre, 2.1 carb, and .1 gram protein. 1 tbl of jam sweetened with honey is 22 calories, .1 gram fat, .5 gram fibre, 5.7 carbs, and .1 gram protein. Contains all the num needed to last through winter for two hungry hobbits.

• 2 sub buns
• 1 tbl light mayo
• 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, I like my bahn mi to bite back)
• 2 tbl liverwurst
• 2 tbl fish sauce
• 2 tbl soy sauce
• 2 tbl canola oil
• 2 tbl brown sugar, unpacked, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 lb thin flash fry top sirloin steak
• 1 carrot, thinly julienned
• 2 oz daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbl rice wine vinegar

1. Combine the mayo and sriracha, cover and refrigerate.
2. Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, canola oil, 1 tbl sugar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. Add the flank steak. Cover, refrigerate and allow to marinate for atleast 4 hours.
3. Combine the carrot, daikon, remaining sugar, salt, and rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Cover, refrigerate and allow to pickle for 4 hours. Turn once during this process. Drain.
4. Heat a skillet to medium. Sear the steak for 2 minutes on each side. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice across the grain.
5. Cut open the rolls, spread the cut top side with half the spicy mayo mix and the bottom half with 1 tbl of liverwurst.
6. Top with the beef and the pickle mixture. Repeat with the other bun. Serve.

Serves two bon ami. Each serving (without bun) contains 216 calories, 10.8 grams fat, 1.4 grams fibre, 8.7 grams carbs, and 20.3 grams protein. Check out that protein! This is a great post workout treat.