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Pumpkin Scones with Vanilla Glaze

Damn you Starbucks. Making people all pumpkin crazy. It's gotten so bad that almost everything in starting Labor Day weekend will start transforming into pumpkin. Again, not all of us have Starbucks budgets, but you do have to admit their stuff is pretty good. This is a great recipe fresh out of the oven, or one to bring to work if you can't eat all of it at once. I recommend bringing it to work as well. After a day or two, the quality one this one heads downhill fast. It doesn't have the normal fat content that most scones do, so as long as its warm, you really won't notice the difference. After 48 hours it will give you the confession of staleness. Be a Betty and please share with your coworkers, friends or whoever is around. They'll thank you for being a friend.

Betty Twist: Spices that can also work are: allspice, ginger, mace, and for the icing: white chocolate.

Serve as soon as possible, but will get stale after about 2 days. Enjoy! Want to see more recipes that I've made from Skinnytaste? Click here: On "The Skinnytaste Cookbook" or buy Skinnytaste on Amazon.com

PB and J Overnight Oats (not in a jar)

Breakfast. The time when I have no time to think about much, especially without coffee in my system. While packing lunches for the next day, this is quick to put together in order to have something yummy the next morning that does not come out of a box from the freezer. Although this Betty will not condone that behavior. Totally acceptable from time to time.

Betty Twist: Most fruit like bananas or fresh strawberries would make a welcome addition to this recipe. Also vanilla, cinnamon or a pie spice would also jazz it up as well. With any spice add a little at time and keep tasting until you find your happy level.

Please see more under the On "The Skinnytaste Cookbook" section. Really like what you see in the section? Purchase the book on Amazon.com

Bangin' Good Shrimp and Great Recipe too

There are times I don't enjoy cooking. Sometimes it's really nice to just be taken out somewhere. I had a recipe similar to this at my local Japanese restaurant, instead of Thai Sweet Chili, the used an orange liquor.

I, like the author of Skinnytaste, have never had Bone Fish Grill's Bang Bang shrimp. From what it sounds like its super high calories, fried, mayonnaise and from what people say it's outstanding. So I gave this recipe a whirl. It goes great with both salad or rice.

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Heavenly Banana-Nut Oat Muffins Recipe

If you've ever been lazy, perhaps you've walked into Costco or some other wholesaler and bought a package of muffins, only to examine them and realize there are enough calories in one muffin to last an entire day. Skinnytaste to the rescue with this quick easy recipe. They are fantastic the first couple days. They freeze well if you are not going to get to them right away. With the milk content, I'd recommend leaving them no more than a couple days.

Why there is no picture in the Skinnytaste book on this one I'm not sure, it's a delicious muffin. Half way through making this I knew this was a winner. I grew up in the time of eating raw batter and not fearing it. This recipe makes 12 muffins. When you pour the batter into the muffin tins you'll pretty much be at the top. They don't rise as much as regular muffins as they don't contain much flour. Makes 12 regular sized muffins or 6 jumbo muffins (you'll end up eating 2 anyways).

Betty Twists:

The following spices go compliment the flavors in the above recipe. Use one or use a combination. Start small and adjust as necessary. I've done ¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon or Cardamom, or Penzey's Pie spice. You can add more, but cannot take out once you put in too much:

Allspice*, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ground Cloves*, Powdered Ginger*, Nutmeg*, Orange Peel, Penzey's Pie Spice
*go really easy with these. They can overpower a recipe very quickly.

Like the recipes you see here? Be don't forget to support the authors who make recipes like this possible. Think about ordering Skinnytaste from your local bookseller or through Amazon

Want to see what else I've made from Skinnytaste? Click here for the full list: "The Skinnytaste Cookbook"

The Skinnytaste Cookbook Review

Some of my cookbooks are ones that will be cherished and unopened on a coffee table in the house. Others look like the have waged kitchen warfare. In addition to the iconic Betty Crocker books that line my bookshelf, this is one book that deserves to also be a "Betty." A funny story about this one:

One Christmas, I asked my then boyfriend for a series of cookbooks as a gift suggestion. One of which included Gina Homolka's The Skinnytaste Cookbook. Upon opening the gift it was difficult for my then boyfriend (now husband) to not see the joy in my face. With a big "Thank you" he promptly replied, "I'm glad your happy, just don't make me any of that crap."

Challenge accepted.

One would need to be stealth in making recipes from this particular book. For so many of us diet food is synonymous with words like: tasteless, boring, ick, yuck, gross, and waste of good food. Being that New Year's and the resolution making were right around the corner a great amount of stealth would need to pass in order to him to both forget giving the gift and being open minded enough to eat said food.

That being said, it's become my most referenced books that I own. I even managed to get my husband to knowingly eat the recipes. I guess that means he gets to eat his word. There are very few misses in the entire book. She keeps the ingredient list simple, so many readers are not turned off by long lists.

There here are some of the recipes, some modifications and comments of the recipes contained in the book with modified directions and observations on making the recipes. Most importantly each recipe is photographed and not styled (Think McDonald's Big Mac. Have you seen the photos? Have you seen the slop they actually throw in a box? It never looks like the pictures.)

Here is the alphabetized list and the links to the recipes I've made so far. Within each post is a little bit of a "Betty Twist." Things that can be added to make it more interesting. Try it the original way and then feel free to get creative.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely! Please visit Skinnytaste available on Amazon to purchase the book if you like what you see here. Still not convinced to purchase this book? Then please visit Skinnytaste to see more recipes and ideas.