2 Slices of Wedding Cake

A little confession- I had two slices of wedding cake! No regrets, it was the best I've had (minus my own of course- Spice Cake), this was a rich moist Amaretto White Cake with Butter Cream Icing!! Are you hungry yet?? And if that wasn't enough here are a few other confessions of my week in Dallas: La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup and Caesar Salad, Blackened Catfish from Razzoo's Cajun Cafe, Enchiladas from Blue Mesa, delicious sub sandwiches from New York Subs with the Olivers, and Greek Salad and German Chocolates from a cute little European cafe called Neuhaus Cafe . All were excellent choices if you're ever in the Dallas area. Neuhaus Cafe was especially fun- my friend Halie took me there and we sat for a few hours at chatted over key lime pie, and chocolates. We even had the pleasure of meeting the owner- a foodie from South Africa (shout out to the Seevinck's- Halen you would have loved this place!!) They also served chocolate liquor drinks, but seeing as we were there around noon we decided to skip on those. I'm sure I'll be back in Dallas at some point to enjoy a few things we missed out on.

So, after enjoying lots of great food in Dallas last week, this week I've been trying to cut back a little. I especially enjoyed an HungryGirl email I received earlier this week that included tips on lighter substitutions for cakes and other delicious foods. Here is what "HungryGirl" had to say:

Swapping out fattening ingredients for ones that are low in fat and calories is pretty much my life, and it's easy once you get the hang of it. Let's start with oil. You can easily just use applesauce in place of oil in cake or muffin recipes. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, use 1 cup of applesauce instead. It's an exact exchange. Easy. Next up -- egg whites for whole eggs. Use two egg whites for every egg a recipe calls for. And if you buy liquid egg whites or Egg Beaters, use 1/4 cup for every egg called for. As for pumpkin, what we usually do here at the HG HQ is mix a 15-oz. can of pure pumpkin with a box of cake mix, and then bake it in a muffin p an at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. We don't add anything else at all to the batter. No water, no eggs -- nothing. The result is a bunch of brownie-like treats. But when it comes to those other low-fat swaps, don't alter the cooking times and temperatures -- and be careful not to overcook whatever you're making, 'cuz low-fat recipes tend to dry out when they're cooked too long. BTW, if you want to figure out the nutritionals for baked goods made with these items, just start with the total stats for the cake mix only. Then add the stats for whatever you're using (applesauce, egg whites, etc.). Divide by the number of servings, and there you have it!