I'm a huge fan of Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies as you can see in this post I wrote back in 2013!
Have you tried them?
Are you familiar with the story of Tate's founder, Kathleen King?
I first learned of Kathleen and her chocolate chip cookies in the early 1990s and began baking from her first cookbook making delicious treats including chewy chocolate chip cookies and chocolate pound cake.
Hers is the kind of follow your passion and work hard rags to riches story I admire...
Oh, and she's a fellow Weight Watchers Success Story who uses her slow cooker to help her stay slim too, which I learned while reading this Wall Street Journal article.
Talk about challenging, can you imagine trying to lose weight while running a bake shop?
Kathleen King - Tate's Bake Shop Founder and Weight Watchers Success Story
According to the article, when she started the bake shop in her early 20s she steadily gained weight from the stress of working 18 hours a day and being surrounded by baked goods.
In the early 1990s, Kathleen's mom, who had struggled with weight issues, convinced her daughter to attend Weight Watchers. Ms. King says Weight Watchers taught her portion control and how to track calories.
The thought of needing to lose 50 pounds was overwhelming, so she broke it down into 5 pound increments. With that slow and steady step by step approach, she eventually reached her goal of 120 pounds in 1998.
To maintain her weight, she found ways to turn exercise into play, with activities like swimming, biking and kayaking. She also started doing yoga combining classes at a studio with DVDs she can do at home.
What Does Kathleen Eat to Keep the Weight Off?
For breakfast Ms. King makes a green juice from kale, spinach, cucumber, ginger and lime. A few hours later, she has a hard-boiled egg, avocado and occasionally a rice cake. Before a long bike ride, she might have an egg with steamed spinach and brown rice cereal.
Most days Ms. King packs a salad such as poached chicken dressed with olive oil and smoked sea salt. "If I don't bring my lunch to work there's a good chance I'll have a bad diet day," she says.
She stashes things like almond butter, rice cakes, canned tuna and olive oil in her office. And carries healthy snacks such as nuts or chickpeas to avoid snacking on sweets.
Dinner is usually is something simple - chicken or fish with vegetables and sometimes a sweet potato - eaten at home with her husband. I bet she would love this simple sheet pan shrimp & broccoli recipe.
When it's time to indulge, favorites include ice cream which she keeps in the basement freezer so she has to go down and then up three flights of stairs for it, and chocolate chip cookies and apricot-ginger scones from the bakeshop.
RECIPES
Ginger Zinger Yogurt Tart
"This wonderful treat is perfect for dessert," says Ms. King. "It's made with drained yogurt and fresh fruit so it is lower in sugar and lower in fat than a traditional cream pie."
Ingredients
- 2 cups Tate's Bake Shop ginger zinger cookies approximately 1½ packages
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups whole milk yogurt, drained overnight
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1½ pints raspberries
Directions
1. Fold cheesecloth so it is about 1½ feet long. Line a colander with the cloth and add yogurt. You can use a coffee filter too, just cover the yogurt with plastic wrap. Grab corners of cheesecloth and pull together tightly, tie bundle with string or elastic band so yogurt is bound and compressed. Set colander (affiliate link) into bowl with enough room underneath for the yogurt to continue draining. Put in fridge and let liquid drain out overnight.
2. While the yogurt is draining, make cookie crumb tart shell. Turn cookies into crumbs using a food processor (affiliate link) or high-powered blender (affiliate link), such as a Vitamix. Using a food processor (affiliate link) will leave the crystallized ginger (affiliate link) in separate pieces from the crumb while using a blender (affiliate link) will combine the ginger evenly into the crumbs.
3. Measure 2 cups of ginger cookie crumbs into a small bowl (affiliate link). Add melted butter and mix until evenly coated. Press crumbs into a 9-inch tart pan. Set aside in the refrigerator.
4. Open cheesecloth and scrape yogurt out into bowl with a spoon or spatula. Stir in honey and mix until combined. Spread yogurt mixture evenly into prepared tart shell. Evenly place, side by side with no spaces, fresh raspberries.
5. Let the tart chill for a couple of hours before serving. Cut into slices and drizzle with honey if desired.
Chickpea Snacks
In the morning, place dried chickpeas in a large bowl of water to soak. In the evening put them in a crockpot of salted water along with a bay leaf and an onion chopped in half. Cover and cook on low heat overnight. When they are tender, pack them in individual plastic baggies and freeze them for the week. "Each morning I grab a baggie for an easy and delicious snack that is high in fiber and protein," she says.
Rena's Sports Bars
From her book, Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook
A nice alternative to commercial protein bars, once baked you you can freeze them in individual bars and grab one in the morning for a nutritious healthy snack anytime.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup apple butter
- ⅔ cup natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- ¼ cup flax meal
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
1. In a large bowl, combine the apple butter and peanut butter. Add the sesame seeds and flax meal. Mix them until they are combined. Add the oatmeal and cranberries. The mixture will be very stiff.
2. Place the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch square pan. Wet your hands and pat evenly into the pan.
3. Bake it for 40 minutes or until it is golden brown and firm. Cut into bars while it is still warm.
Yield: 12 bars.
Here's a video of Kathleen making a lighter healthier chocolate cream pie:
Source: Wall Street Journal
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Barbara Fortier
I just went through the slow-cooker recipes and found about ten that I am going to try. Some of the others were too high in sodium and I try to stick to those recipes that contain around 500 or less. I was disappointed that the written recipe for your heart healthy chocolate cream pie wasn't included, only a video.
I look forward to receiving more delicious recipes in the future.
P.S. I just recently discovered Tate's cookies....LOVE the chocolate chip ones!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Barbara, Happy to meet a fellow Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookie lover!! I hope you enjoy the slow cooker recipes 🙂