What? No Sausage!

This weekend was a busy one.

But its amazing how much exercise I was able to squeeze in since making it a priority. That, and now that some people actually read this thing I can't imagine having to tell you all about spending the whole day on the couch with a bowl of chips. So...no chips. No couch. (so far)

I'm quite enjoying this little challenge. I'm finding some awesome recipes to make my measly 1500 calories a day taste good and, frankly, yesterday was the only day I even came close to exceeding that limit. My favorite cookbook right now is So Easy by Ellie Krieger. I've found some real winners in there. Plus I like that it lists all the calorie and nutrient counts for the recipes which makes it easy for logging into the food diary.

As much fun as I am having with all this, I can't say my son is enjoying it quite as much. Now, both my kids are pretty healthy eaters and are not averse to trying new foods. I credit that to all the traveling. They always have to try local foods when we visit new places and that little rule has served me well in raising non-picky eaters. However, it does backfire every once in awhile when cooking for them 'cause they can be little food snobs at times. Not to mention they are not cheap dates. Those enlightened little palates of theirs require a wee bit more to satiate than chicken strips! But, for the most part, they have been troupers in the low fat meal-testing that has gone on in our kitchen.

However, this weekend when I asked my son what he wanted for breakfast he looks up at me with these sad eyes, already knowing my response and says, "eggs benedict.....and biscuits & gravy." The boy was truly pathetic. Now normally I would succumb to the power of the puppy dog eyes, but I think we've already established that the cholesterol count in eggs bennie is just more than my little ticker can take right now. And it is my favorite breakfast ever. And if I gave the boy his breakfast wish there is no way I could resist temptation. It turns out that the power of the eggs bennie is, indeed, stronger than the puppy dog eyes. He knew it wasn't gonna happen, but wanted to make his wishes known.

Duly noted, Buddy. We're gonna have to move on.

Then he asked, "Don't you have some sausage to just make me some gravy?"

Ummm....no.

Then I thought about it......my freezer void of sasuage?....its just not right. I live in Wisconsin. We are the bratwurst capitol of the world. And I want a brat. Maybe a brat covered in sausage gravy! Oh yea....that's the ticket. I look out at my Weber grill all lonely and covered in snow on the deck. It was then that I was thankful that this Lent thing wasn't happenning over the summer.

After realizing my longing for a brat was probably similar to my son's longing for a hearty breakfast that didn't involve egg whites, I offered up a peace offering of pancakes. He was happy with that. And I was happy because pancakes are not a big temptation for me. Both the kids were estatic at the thought those glorious piles of carbs all covered in melted butter and whip cream. To up the sweet factor they requested butterscotch chips inside and I obliged.

Standing over my griddle I was inspired to make pancakes in the shape of Mickey's head like I used to do when they were little. I thought they were gonna tell me I was just a big dork, but their little eyes popped right out of their heads when they saw them. Just like when they were five. I'm so glad that their food snobbery has not sawyed their affection for Mickey-shaped foods.

I'm happy to report that I did not partake in the pancake deliciousness. I went with the egg white/veggie scramble and felt darn good about it.

I am also doing my best to wear out Max - but I've got a way to go there. That dog's got some energy!