End of week Review- wk #2 (4/23/11)

I was so excited to try these recipes this week. Some I was so pleased with and others.... well, let's just say I've found some combinations that just didn't work for me. Of course Jeff says he loves anything I make, but I think he's just being nice!

Buttermilk Biscuit Waffles- The first thing you think when you hear waffles is sweet, but these were the most savory, hearty waffles I've ever tried... so far (I'm trying a new one this next week!)!!
So here's the run down!! I "made" my own buttermilk by covering the bottom of the measuring cup with lemon juice then filling with 2% milk (to cut down on the fat), and letting it sit a few minutes before adding to the mixture. I need to do a better job of tabulating the calories and carbs, but I thought about making my own waffle mix from scratch using wheat flour but ran out of time. The Turkey sausage (Jimmy Dean) was yummy and I found a chicken sausage (al fresco) I think I'd like to try next time too. The only time I felt it might fall apart was when I added all the milk to the gravy at once instead of in stages, so it took longer to thicken up! The waffles reminded me of potato cakes my mom makes.... just minus the potatoes!

Lazy Bolognese-Style Lasagna: It reminded me of beef strogonoff (not sure if that's spelled right), don't get me wrong, it had great flavor, I think I'd just rather have more tomato!! it's not the best looking dish but smells great and as with the waffles is easy and quick to prepare!! Here again you can use lean turkey, skim milk, low sodium stock and wheat noodles to reduce the fat and calories.

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza: Yeah... this was awesome! But my weight suffered the next day, you can do wheat flour but it's still going to stick to you like glue!! But OH so yummiliscious!! I did green peppers and low fat sausage, made my own sauce and mozz cheese!

Spicy Honey-Glazed Chicken Breast: Yeah, I'm not a fan, it was not spicy! The chicken needed to be marinated in something, the pineapple was yummy on it's own but contrasted way to much with the chicken. This one is going in the trash!! There I got the first "dud" out of the way!! Everything can't be amazing right??

Auntie Ann's Pretzels: Jeff's response after the first taste "Auntie Ann ain't got nothing on you!!" I have to agree!! What an easy yummy snack!! I used wheat flour, but don't really know how to get away from the brown sugar. I had a blast twisting the prezels and can see me making the cinnamon sugar ones for my Cubbie class's snack!! I made 9 pretzels and had 1 1/2 batches (didn't want to use 1/2 pack of yeast).

Cookies 'N Cream Pudding: This was very simple and easy to do. I think I spent a total of 5 minutes making it! Kids love it! I used sugar free pudding and sugar free cool whip so the only sugary thing in it was the oreos. The only draw back is that it doesn't make that much, and I think I'll only use 3-4 oreos next time instead of 7!!

So there they are. Hit me with your suggestions and comments!! I'm all ears!!