Finally a Post About Pinterest

I know, I'm joining the mainstream. But I don't really care because Pinterest is so helpful at getting my creative juices going.

Never heard of Pinterest? Shame on you! (Kidding)
Pinterest is a website, sort of like a social networking website where you have friends (called Followers), but it's a website where you have your profile and you can organize different pinboards by whatever topic you want. Then when you're surfing the web and see a page you like, you "pin it" to one of your boards so you can find it later. Think bookmarks in Internet Explorer, but with pictures instead.

So, naturally I have boards on Food - two boards to be exact because let's face the truth, I'm in love with food. And even more in love with PICTURES of food. There's no better way to start salivating like Pavlov's dog than to visit Pinterest and see a smathering of food pictures on the front page...

So one thing I've enjoyed doing is pinning healthy recipes, for both entrees and desserts. We've been trying to eat healthier lately, with a focus on fresh ingredients. Sometimes the recipe is good all on its own, but other times I'll like the idea of a recipe, but I modify it to better meet our diet goals.

For instance, this pin of an Old-Fashioned Fruit Crumble dessert looked very appealing to me. I had been searching for recipes online that were lower-calorie and -fat desserts but that don't taste like cardboard. Well, when I found this fruit crumble recipe, I liked the idea of it, but noticed that it was still a little high in fat and calories, most likely due to the nuts and oil in it (those ingredients are good - much better than processed items, but still higher in fat than I want for my nightly dessert). It was also a little too high in sugar for my taste (1 Tbsp per serving is too much if you ask me).

So as Tony from P90X always says, "Modify, modify, modify if you need to!" Applicable to his ridiculously hard workouts, and cooking - score!

And so I modified the recipe. I'm proud to say that my first try at modifying this recipe turned out delicious and healthier. My biggest food critic is always my dear hubby (who does not need to eat low-calorie or -fat anything, EVER! Grrr!) I felt like Chocolate Covered Katie making my own dessert, but with a little sass thrown in too. I'm Dessert Demanding Christine! I refuse to not have a tasty treat after dinner every night, even though I'm trying to eat a healthier diet.

In case you'd like to make the same dessert, here is what I did:

Old-Fashioned Fruit Crumble
*Modified from the original recipe to make it lower in calories, fat, and sugar. I also doubled the amount of topping, because the topping is really the yummiest part :)

Serves: 2

Ingredients
1 cup fruit of choice (I suggest raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or apples)
1/4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbsp 1% milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In an oven-safe dish, combine fruit and sugar and allow to sit for several minutes. In a separate bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour, milk, and vanilla. Spread topping over fruit and bake for 15 minutes or until fruit is bubbly.

Nutrition Information
232 calories; 2.4 g fat