I have a small collection of cookbooks. Most of them are from WeightWatchers. The recipes from these books usually get a "meh" response from hubby. The food is good enough to eat, but not so great as to warrant being made on a regular basis. The only exceptions seem to be the ethnic foods. THOSE hubby really seems to enjoy, so I enjoy making them.
The one cookbook which consistently gets "yummmmm" reviews is The Joy of Cooking. Almost everything we make out of this book is amazing. I think there may have been one or two recipes that were so-so.
Anyway, as a Stepford Wife it is my job to provide tasty dinners for my husband. Summertime is cooking time in my house. I have the opportunity to shop and spend hours in the kitchen cooking up yummy stuff. This summer, I have tried four new recipes.
1. Pesto Vegetable Lasagne: This really should be called "Pesto Spinach Lasagne" because that's really the only veggie called for in the recipe. I make the pesto from scratch (out of Joy, natch) and use whole wheat lasagne noodles which hold up very nicely after boiling. I've already made this twice, it's that good!
2. Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken: another tasty chicken recipe. We eat a lot of chicken breast in this house, so any new way to make it is appreciated. I liked it, and hubby had seconds, so that's always a good sign.
3. Black Bottom Cupcake: O. M. G. This is just the most awesome cupcake in the world. I wavered, asking myself "to frost, or not to frost" and NO FROSTING is the way to go. They were so rich and moist and gooOOood. My sister, nephew, and neighbor loved them.
4. Applesauce Cake: This was a very nice spice cake. It's more autumnal than summery, but went over well with our neighbors. I used brown sugar as suggested in Joy for a more spicey-cakey flavor. Again, no frosting but a dusting of powdered sugar. It was still a nice cake after sitting in the fridge, covered in cling-film, for 3 days. The rats liked it too, of course.
All these recipes are full-fat. Joy does make some suggestions for decreasing the number of calories in some of her recipes, but nothing tastes as good as the original recipe. That's why I still keep the WeightWatchers books around. I need to eat something low-calorie in order to make up for all that oil and butter! :-)
