Skinny Taco Dip and not-so skinny Laura Bars (late Foodie Friday!)

Since I completely neglected to post a recipe last Friday, I'm sharing two today to make up for it.

I'll start off with the healthier option first.  Our company, as I posted previously, is on a "Get Healthy" month.  One of the activities we orchestrated was a healthy dish recipe share contest.  The event went well and all of the food was delicious (I'll have to share more of it after I get the recipes and make items at home).

I brought in Skinny Taco Dip.  I found the original recipe on Skinny Taste, but adapted it to my own liking. 

Skinny Taco Dip

Ingredients:

• 8 oz light cream cheese (I used generic Jewel brand)
• Qty 2: 7oz plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 2%)
• 16oz jar of salsa (I used mild)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 can of black beans **
• 2 cups iceberg lettuce (I used a lettuce head and chopped)
• 2 large tomatoes (I show 3 in my pictures, but I ended up only using 2)
• 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (whoops and I forgot to include this in my pic)

**The black beans are optional (I added them for a bit of protein), you could also add in black olives, etc.


Directions:  

• Combine cream cheese, yogurt, salsa and seasoning in a large bowl.  Mix with electric mixer.  Spread into 9"x13" pan.

 

• Drain black beans and spread on top of mixture in pan

• Chop lettuce and tomatoes

• Spread lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on top

Note to self: if you want it to look as nice as above, do not take on the train!  It turned into a jumbled mess on my ride into work.  Luckily, it still taste good! We're still awaiting the results of the recipe contest; but I have a hunch/hope that the dip was in at least the top 3.

Following Skinny Taste's recipe, the nutritional info is:
Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1/24th of dip • Old Points: 1.5 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 59.2 • Fat: 3.6 g • Protein: 2.2 g • Carb: 4.7 g • Fiber: 0.6 g 

With my variations (Greek yogurt and black beans):  comparing the 2% Greek yogurt I used to a low-fat sour cream:

	Fage Total 2% (8oz)	Light Daisy Sour cream (8oz)
Calories	150	320
Fat	4.5	20
Sugar	8	16
Protein	23	16

Even though I added the black beans, the overall calories  of the recipie are lower, plus less fat and sugar with more protein.   Of course it's hard to constrain yourself to just one serving :O)

Laura Bars
This recipe was shared with me from a friend.  It's similar to Scotcharoos, if you're familiar, except that there's no butterscotch.  I actually would have preferred to make Scotcharoos, but we didn't have butterscotch chips. And yes, this are pretty much the opposite of a healthy snack.

Ingrediants:

• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of corn syrup (I used lite)
• 18 oz creamy peanut butter
• 8 cups Rice Crispie cereal
• 8 oz butter (I use unsalted)
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Combine sugar and corn syrup in small pot over medium heat until sugar is dissolved



• Put cereal in medium bowl.  With wet hands, mix peanut butter into cereal.





• Pour sugar mixture over cereal/pb mixture and mix
• Combine and pour into pre-greased 9"x13" pan. Press mixture down into pan and let sit.



• Combine and melt butter and chocolate chips over medium heat.








• Pour ganache over pan and spread around. Refrigerate.  Serve once chocolate has hardened.