Sparkling Apple Brie Bites

I'm surfing along on the internet one day and I find this glorious recipe (see picture) for Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites. It utilizes fresh cranberries. Well I had just seen a bag of those in the store a couple of weeks back and was wondering what I could use it for, tada!

So I go to my neighborhood super market and look for a bag of cranberries. Turns out they are only around for a limited season. *sighs* So now what do I do with the rest of the ingredients that I bought? Try something new of course!

Now this is certainly either an appetizer or desert, definitely not something you want to make a meal out of, for the fact that it's got a lot of sugar and a lot of cheese. But in small quantities it's enough to help alleviate that sugar craving when you are trying to not eat so much of that powdery white substance.


And now, without further ado, my recipe for Sparkling Apple Brie Bites.

Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites 

printer friendly recipe

makes about 16 

Sugared Apples

2 cups fresh diced apples (I used honeycrisp, but red delicious and pink lady would work great as well)

1 cup good maple syrup (roughly one cup, see below)

1 cup granulated sugar (roughly one cup, see below)

After washing and dicing your apples place in a bowl. 

Heat enough syrup to coat the apples in a small sauce pan just until warm. 

Pour over apples when syrup is warm. 

Cool, cover, and let soak in the refrigerator overnight (I cheated, I did not let my apples soak over night). 

Place sugar in a large bowl or baking dish (I did not use so much sugar, rather I put my apples on a baking sheet and sprinkled sugar over them).

Add apples roll around until lightly coated in sugar. 

Place on a baking sheet until dry, about 1 hour (I totally ignored this step and slapped those wet, sugar-coated apples onto my brie and crackers). 

16 crackers

8 oz Brie cheese

cranberry (or apple) chutney or cranberry (or apple) relish (I didn't use this ingredient this time)

fresh mint for garnish (I didn't use this ingredient this time either)

Assemble crackers with one slice of brie, a light layer of cranberry (or apple) chutney, and 4 or 5 sugared apple cubes. 

Garnish with fresh mint sprigs. 

Day 6 Total: 2427 Calories

Oh man. That total is disheartening. I went from too little to too much. But, my blood pressure went down from 140/100 to 127/72. Most everything was healthy today except the soda (which I shouldn't have had because today is not Saturday) and the coffee (which I also shouldn't have had because today is not Sunday).

Breakfast:

12 oz 2% Milk
1 cup Coffee
4 packets Sugar
4 tbsp Half & Half

Again I should have had something more for breakfast.

331 Calories

Lunch:

2 slices Sourdough Bread
1/4 cup Spinach
1 tsp Red Onion
1 tsp Black Olives
2 slices Salami
5 slices Pepperoni
4 slices Black Forest Ham
1/4 Avocado
2 slices Provolone Cheese

This all adds together to make a wonderful panini. Instead of eating all of this sandwich, I should have had half and saved the other half for later.

910 Calories.

Afternoon Snack:

1/2 Sara Lee Plain Bagel
3 Tbsp Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2 oz Smoked Salmon

375 Calories

Dinner:

1 Foster Farms Chicken Breast
2 cups Salad
3 tbsp Italian Dressing
2 cups Sprite
1/4 Tsp Orange Blossom Honey
1/6 Banana
1/6 Peach
1/8 Pink Lady Apple
1 Tbsp Vanilla Lowfat Yogurt
1/2 Tsp Golden Raisins
16 oz 2% Milk

I should have halved this too. So marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing overnight. Then grill or broil it. Cut it up and serve it on your salad with a little more dressing to top it.

811 Calories

Water Intake:

1 cup Tap Water

Day 5 Total: 1078 Calories

Wow! Cutting out soda drastically lowered my calorie count. In fact this is much lower than is good for a person. When a person doesn't eat enough food, it teaches their body that times are lean. After this, when a person eats more the body stores it as fat, for when times get lean again. This is why the "I don't eat anything" diets fail. A person will initially get thin, but then when they start eating regular they will actually put on more weight than they lost in the body's efforts to not starve to death. The key here is that I should have had something for breakfast, and maybe a mid-morning snack as well.

Breakfast:
Yes, I was terrible and didn't eat any real food for breakfast. Slap me on the wrist. I wasn't hungry, plus I find that a cup of coffee really does fill me up for a good long time. Also, I had the coffee at a neighbor's place and they make it with Half & Half instead of whole milk so there were a few calories added on there.

1 cup Coffee
3 cubes Sugar
1 tbsp Half & Half
1 Snickers Mini Ice Cream Bar

139 Calories

Lunch:
I ran out of 2% milk and so to prevent my whole milk (which I normally used for coffee) from spoiling I drank a cup.

2 Eggs scrambled
5 Leaves Spinach
3 tbsp Chopped Onion
1 oz Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Whole Milk

For cooking instructions see Day 1 Lunch. Then put the cheese on top of the scrambled eggs. If you make an omelet, put the cheese on top and then fold it over so that the cheese melts inside.

424 Calories

Afternoon Snack:
I bought some fruit at the store the other day. I didn't want it to go bad, so I hauled out the chopping knife and started cutting. Obviously I didn't just cut 1/8th of an apple and so on. Keep reading after the ingredients list for the recipe =D
1/4 tsp Orange Blossom Honey
1/6 Banana
1/6 Peach
1/8 Pink Lady Apple
1 tbsp Vanilla Lowfat Yogurt
1/2 tsp Golden Raisins
1 tbsp Whole Milk
Dash of Lemon Juice

First, make sure you have room in your fridge for six small bowls/teacups. Then, cut up your apple (I only had 3/4 of an apple which is why the different figure from the peach and banana) and your peach and banana. Split up into six small bowls or teacups. Add yogurt, raisins, honey, and lemon juice (this is to keep the fruit fresh). Stir all together. Save one serving to eat, store the rest in the fridge. When you're ready to eat, if you want to thin out the yogurt a bit, add the milk and stir.

80 Calories

Dinner:

2 cups Spring Mix Salad
3 tbsp Light Raspberry Hazelnut Vinaigrette
1/4 Sara Lee Plain Bagel
1 tbsp Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 oz Smoked Salmon

305 Calories

Before Bed:
I had the suggestion to drink a glass of milk (get in some calcium) to up my daily calorie intake. So I did.

1 cup 2%Milk

130 Calories

Water Intake:

2 cups Tap Water

Day 3 Total: 1490 Calories

These sugar cravings are what's killing my calorie count... and my waistline. Starting Monday, no sweets of any kind (except the one can of cola on Saturdays). I'll beat this sugar addiction, just watch me ;D

Breakfast:
I was not hungry at all this morning when I woke up so I grabbed an apple and half a bagel and ran out of the house to get started on the day's errands.

1/2 Sara Lee Plain Bagel

130 Calories

Morning Snack:

1 Pink Lady Apple

95 Calories

Lunch:
Yep. Here is where the sugar craving hit. I actually ate too much. One bar would have been enough and would have fit in easily with a day's calorie count. But I didn't have my water bottle on me and I wanted something to generate saliva as it was super hot and I was super thirsty.

1/2 tsp Sweet Relish
1/4 can Salmon
1 tsp Best Foods Mayonnaise
2 3 Musketeers Mint Bars

Mix and eat. Just don't mix the candy into the salmon *yuck!*

425 Calories

Afternoon Snack:
This afternoon it was a drink break instead of a snack break. Note to self: have bottled water handy for when the thirst bug hits.

1 can Pepsi Throwback
2 cups Minute Maid Orange Juice

370 Calories

Dinner:

1 Egg scrambled
2 Leaves Spinach
1 tbsp 2% Milk
1 cup Spring Mix Salad
2 tbsp Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

Mix egg, milk, and shredded spinach leaves. Cook on stove. Eat with salad. I recommend Garlic Pepper and Onion Powder for seasoning on the omelet.

180 Calories

Water Intake:

1 cup Tap Water

Day 2 Total: 1796 Calories (Uh-Oh)

Well, I wasn't home today, so I had the disadvantage of eating whatever was available. That can be killer to a calorie count as it certainly was today. Also, I seriously need to cut out the soda. Seriously. Starting Sunday let's see if I can pull off a soda free month (with the exception of one cup/can of soda on Saturdays).

Breakfast:
Well I started off good. I wasn't even hungry this morning, but I did eat breakfast like a good girl. And then the soda bug bit me. Please don't blame me. My car has no air. I wanted something cool to drink

1/4 Sara Lee Plain Bagel

1 tbsp Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 oz Smoked Salmon

2 cups Sprite

Cut your bagel, top with cream cheese, and then top with a slice of Nova Smoked Salmon (a.k.a. Lox).

365 Calories

Lunch:
Lunch wasn't all that bad... until we get to the chocolate malted milk

2 Slices Oroweat Whole Wheat Bread

6 Thin Slices Chicken

2 Thin Slices Turkey

1 Leaf Romaine Lettuce

1 tbsp Best Foods Mayonnaise

1 tsp Mustard

1/8 Gala Apple

1/3 Banana

1/8 Peach

1 cup Fat Free Milk

3 tbsp Carnation Chocolate Malt

Put your meat and mayo and lettuce and mustard in between your two pieces of bread and nom. Cut up the apple, peach, and banana into small chunks and mix together in a bowl. If you must splurge on the malted milk, put less malt in. It's too sweet otherwise.

693 Calories (ouch >-<, my hips are going to feel this one)

Afternoon Splurge:
Yeah, I've been six months without boba. I should've picked a different day (and skipped the soda).

1 Large Green Tea Milk Tea with Boba

318 Calories

Dinner:
Again it's really the soda that kills me here.
 

2 Wheat Thins Hint of Salt

1 Slice Port Wine Cheese Ball

1 tsp Rondele Garlic and Herb Cheese

2 Small Lemon Sandwich Cookies

1/2 Slice Milton Whole Grain Bread

1 Thin Slices Turkey

1 & 1/2 cups Schweppes Ginger Ale

  Put the cheese on the Wheat Thins. Put the turkey in the bread. Eat up.