Im on a cake roll..... this time I'm much less crabby.

Something Savory?

Crab Cakes (Makes 2 small or 1 large cake)

Calories: 135 Carbohydrates: 10.5g

Protein: 18.3g Fat: 1.5g

2oz Snow Crab
1Tbsp Fat Free Mayo

2 Shakes Lemon Juice

2 Shakes Tabasco

2 Shakes White Pepper

3 Shakes Johnny's Seasoning Salt

1/4 Tsp. Worcestershire

1/8 Ground Toasted Brown Mustard Seed

1 Tbsp Egg Beaters

I slice Sara Lee Whole Wheat 45 Cal Bread

10g Red Pepper

5g Jalapeno

First I took the mustard seed and toasted it in a pan. I use very low heat and in the pan I plan on using later i just roll the seeds around until they kind of pop a little and then I ground them up to add to the mix later. I also took one frozen slice of the Sara Lee bread and put it in the toaster oven to make bread crumbs out of it. (This was kind of last minute so i was thinking on the fly.) I used the "warm" setting for 20 mins and let the bread get really dry and hard. After flipping once I chopped it up in the food processor and left it to the side.

Add everything to a smaller mixing bowl except the bread crumbs. I waited until everything was fully incorporated before I started thickening it up. I found that it was a little wetter than I had planned, but once I started adding the bread crumbs it seemed to work out OK. I managed to add almost all of the crumbs. I kept some on the side to coat the outside. The right consistency seemed like the cakes kind of flop around in the bowl while mixing. I think it might have been better to use a 1/2 a slice more of bread to make the mix more dry. I pan fried them with Pam on medium low heat covered so that the egg cooked all the way and flipped when it had browned. I had to flip it in the pan rather then with a spatula because I was afraid it would break in the turning but I think adding more crumbs would have solved that problem. It was pretty easy!

Why crab cakes? I kind of got tricked into making these. Derrick had leftovers of crab from the other night (when we were celebrating having a night off together) and he thought that it would be a good idea to try and make crab cakes…. Why not right? And of course, I wanted to be able to participate in the action too, so I gave it a go. I actually liked them more then I thought I would. The only thing is that they were a little sweet. This probably being from the fat-free mayo I used, or to the fact that we were using snow crab. Either way I liked them and I ate all of mine that I made! I think personally if I were to make them again I would use dungeness crab and maybe sub the mayo out for fat free yogurt, it strangely enough has less tang than the mayo and has about the same fat and calorie content. Mind you they are a little spicy so add or take out the Tabasco and jalapenos as you like it.

Hopefully someone likes these and enjoys the change of pace from sweet to savory indulgences.

Pancakes Revised!

Finn was taking a nap so I took an opportunity to try these again...

Pumpkin Pancakes

61 Calories a cake

(pro: 4.2, carb: 10.2, fat: .5)

4 cakes with 5 grams slivered almonds and 1/4 cup sugar free syrup:

Calories: 294.1 Carbohydrates: 50

Protein: 18.1 Fat: 4.7 total

100g oatmeal

120g buckwheat flour

1 tsp stevia in the raw baking

1 scoop cake batter

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup organic pumpkin puree

4 tbsp Egg Beaters

3 Tbsp TJ pear sauce

3/4 Cup Greek Yogurt mixed with H20 In place of milk equating 2 cups.

Oh wow these were so much better and softer than the first ones!

I used half buckwheat flour and half oatmeal by suggestion and just used the food processor to make the oatmeal like a flour. I added to the flour/oat mix the stevia, cake batter protein, baking powder and cinnamon. In another bowl I did the puree, eggs, pear sauce and greek yogurt "milk." I mixed the two in the larger bowl and started cooking them on medium low. I think the temperature could be lower so that they can cook longer and not burn. I found that right off the bat they seemed like they were undercooked but after keeping them in the toaster oven on warm while i made the rest i had no problem. This made about 20 pancakes using a 1/4 cup to pour them.

Try these ones……

My first real flop, Flapjacks.

I don't think that they were as bad as I'm making them sound, but Derrick wouldn't eat them. I think that says a lot! First off I forgot to mix the buckwheat with oatmeal to make them fluffier and less dense. Secondly, there defiantly wasn't enough puking flavor. I would have liked to taste it more no next time I make them I plan on adding more. Lastly I used pear sauce instead of oil because I heard somewhere that apple sauce was a good substitute for oil, and well I had no applesauce so I used pear sauce. Well here it is in case anyone wants to try it or even make it better… Please add your comments and let me know how it goes.

Pumpkin Pancake (Serving: One Cake)

Calories: 78 Carbohydrates: 13.9

Protein: 5.5 Fat: .6

1.5 Scoop Muscle Gauge Cake Batter Protein (Mixed with water in place of Milk to equal 1 3/4 cup)

1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Cup Egg Beaters

2 Cups Buckwheat Flour

2 Tbsp. Trader Joe's Pear Sauce (40g)

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1.25 Tbsp. Cinnamon

6 Packets of Stevia in the Raw

In a medium sized bowl add the flour, Stevia in the Raw, baking powder, cinnamon and salt (The original recipe calls for Pumpkin Pie Spice but I had none so I just used cinnamon. In a second bow add the protein mixed with water with the pumpkin, egg beaters and and pear sauce. Once its fully incorporated add it to the flour mixture. I used a 1/4 measuring cup to pour it onto the pan. I used medium heat and they cooked pretty quickly so be mindful that they don't burn.

If you need help with the calorie conversion if you end up with more or less pancakes the batter had 1092 calories so in the end just divide by however many cakes you get.

Good Luck with these, I hope yours turn out better than mine did.

Source:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Pancakes-3/Detail.aspx

Less padding while still enjoying Bread Pudding.

I was tinkering around on a few websites and ran across some ideas for quite a few lower calorie options for a bunch of things. I found them on prevention.com for lower calorie recipes and I thought I could one up it with the bread pudding. I planned on having David and Davicia over for dinner and I really wanted to be able to enjoy something when they came over. I thought I'd try this one out on them. I also really love Dahlia Bakery's (http://tomdouglas.com/index.php/restaurants/dahlia-bakery) Toasted Pecan Flax Bread and I thought it would be the best thing to try in it. Also, they were super great about giving me all the ingredients so that I could find out the nutritional information.

Bread Pudding (Serving 1/12)

Calories: 130 Carbohydrates: 17.4

Protein: 4.5 Fat: 3.7

12 oz Dahlia Bakery Pecan Flax Bread

(2oz Cal: 166 Carb: 23.4 Pro: 4.9 Fat: 6.4)

1 Apple

1/4 Cup Simply Orange Juice

1 Tbsp. Smart Balance with Flax Oil

1 Tbsp. Buckwheat Flour

1/4 Tsp Allspice

1/2 Cup Egg Beaters

1/2 Cup Deluxe Trim Fat Free Milk

4 Tbsp. Dark Rum

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

The oven should be preheated to 350°F. I used an 8" round cake pan but I think something square may have been a little better for portioning but either way a pre-greased pan is the best solution. I like to use the pam- butter flavored spray. No calories and it works well. Once the pan is greased you chop up the bread and the apple and mix them in the pan together.

Next, you're supposed to make a roux for the bread pudding. It didn't really do what its supposed to. But, either way, I used the smart balance margarine and the buckwheat flour to make the recipe was trying to get me to do was make a roux. It didn't brown because of the dairy free "margarine." The idea is that you melt down the Smart Balance in a sauce pan on medium and stir in the flour. Add the milk and stir constantly for 5 mins. Its supposed to thicken, but it didn't with me. In a small bowl combine the orange juice, egg, sugar, rum and all spice. (The original recipe called for egg and egg whites so I just added all egg whites. Also it called for something called a "three-fruit speed," well I had no idea what that was so I added extra rum.) Add that to the milk mixture in the saucepan and stir until its well blended. Once its finished pour the milk mixture over the bread and apples.

Bake for 40 to 45 mins until brown and enjoy. The best way to get the right calorie count is to divide what you make into 12 pieces.

I forgot about putting a sauce on top of it... So I quickly improvised and added ice cream for the boys and I added a little greek yogurt with a little truvia in it to make it like a whip/creme..... It tasted great with it!

I made a double batch because I was entertaining and splitting it into two pans mistakenly. It should defiantly be in a deeper pan with more liquid. It was way drier then I wanted. I think that maybe I would add more egg beaters or perhaps add some water and protein to it to make it a little thicker and soupier, or to make a better custard. I made this recipe before I started adding protein to things in place of sugar. Perhaps I should try it again and see what happens. Ill re-post new details when I prefect it the next time.

Source:

http://recipes.prevention.com/Recipe/fall-bread-pudding.aspx

I guess it would just be called pain (in french), my attempt at French Toast.

I've actually tried French Toast before this, but I just tried this one and I think its the best.

French Toast Third Try (1 Slice per serving)

Calories: 76.4 Carbohydrates: 7.7

Protein: 9.8 Fat: .5

10 Slices Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat Bread (45 Cal each)

3/4 Cup Egg Beaters

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

2 Scoops Muscle Gauge "Ice Cream Sandwich"

I take the Egg Beaters and use a hand held shake blender and mix in the protein powder. It was much thicker then I planned on because I got a little over excited with adding the protein (but hey I got the protein up pretty high so I think it worked out!). Either way it was so thick that I added enough water to make the liquid equate about 2 cups. Plus, of course, the cinnamon and vanilla. The mix seemed a little thin once I started dipping the slices of bread but all together they turned out really well. I just make sure that all the pieces are pretty soaked and I cook them on medium low heat for a minute or two until they are browned. I flip them and they're done.

I use a sugar-free syrup on my French Toast but I find that I always want just a little more…. So I've been adding a little sugar-free coffee syrup that I get from cash and carry to supplement the syrup. So I add a little English Toffee flavoring and stir it up and pour it on top….. It stretches the syrup a little and adds a nutty element to it with out adding the fat!

I hope someone else can enjoy this as much as I did!

I borrowed ideas from Kristen to get this recipe together.

In the beginning there was chocolate cake...

Chocolate cake or anything else that I wanted. I never realized how much I was consuming and how much I was indulging, in anything let alone sweets. So when I started meeting with my trainer and tracking my calories I soon realized what I had been doing to myself. I stuck to my 1500 calorie day pretty regularly but I really kept feeling like I was restricting myself SO MUCH. All I wanted was to be able to have something NORMAL. Something that anyone else would have. I'm around a lot of people during the day that eat and drink anything else they wanted. I got a little perturbed and annoyed by this. It took a while but I finally voiced my frustrations to Kristen, my trainer, and she made a suggestion to try French Toast. I hadn't even thought to try and have something like that. So much bread, sugar and calories I wouldn't be able to have it, enjoy it AND get to have another meal that day. Kristen made it sound so easy. Use egg whites and a lower calorie bread and it becomes a more evenly balance meal. I felt so enlightened by this idea. I can have something "indulgent" while still being able to follow my newly established eating habits.

I've set out to help spread my "enlightenment". Now I'm trying to make things that are lower in calorie than its counterparts while still having good flavor and trying to keep a good ratio of carbs, protein and fat. My goals are to stay within a 1500 calorie diet and my ratio of 40% Carbohydrates, 40% Protein and 20% Fat. My attempts have really just tried to keep the fat and the calories low. Well see what happens, I don't guarantee all successes and at this point have already had some duds. But I want to share them..... This is my attempt to make some great food while indulging consciously.