Strawberry Cloud (vegetarian) - p234

Review: Pretty good strawberry shake. It tasted like a fluffy strawberry shake. Light but flavorful. And easy to whip together. I guess I was jealous after making a couple of drinks for my husband to enjoy, I wanted to make one I could enjoy too and it was yummy! Even slurped the bottom of the cup!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Krispymallow Treat (vegetarian) - p219

Review: Strange little treat. It's like a rice krispie treat but not nearly as dense or as high in calories. I was supposed to cut this into 25 servings but all I could manage was 15. It's growing on me though. The flavor isn't bad and the recipe wasn't too hard. Kind of makes me want to make rice krispie treats though.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Wicked Good White Russian (vegetarian) - p251

Review: I took one sip of this and could not physically swallow it because the coffee flavor was too strong. My husband agrees. I'm not sure where the volume comes from because it's just as big as the iced coffee but doesn't seem to have as much liquid. His opinion was that if I had just added a shot of vodka to the Cafe Freeze, this would have been amazing. He ended up adding some more soymilk and some splenda.

Score: 2/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Vannillalicious Cafe Freeze (vegetarian) - p232

Review: So, I don't do coffee but this wasn't too coffee-y. I couldn't have had the whole thing but 1 sip wasn't revolting either. My husband absolutely loved this and gave it a 5/5. It has a bunch of ingredients but it's not too difficult to make it. It does have one specialty ingredient - torani's sugarfree syrup. After I purchased a case of the stuff to make the variety of HG recipes, I was surprised to find it in the Brier Creek super Walmart by the coffee stuff. I think they had almost every flavor except vanilla (necessary for this recipe).

Another interesting tidbit - Bean Trader's in Chapel Hill/Durham have Torani's SF available for mixing. Get a skim milk steamer with SF vanilla for a low point treat!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Pumpkin Crunchers (vegetarian) - p269

Review: This recipe originally called for full-sized muffin cups but I opted for mini-muffins and I think they are still too big. They're frozen so they're too cold to bite into and they're too big to melt comfortably in your mouth. I think they would have been awesome without the fiber one "crunch." As I said, they're too cold to chew so I just let them melt and then I'm stuck with soggy fiber one in the mouth to chew and swallow.

Score: 2/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes (vegetarian) - p212

Review: YUM. We almost ate all of these in one sitting. My husband thought they needed to cook longer but I think I cooked them to the right consistency according to the recipe. So, they're a little soft. The caramel drizzle didn't work out for me at all. And I'm said that I had to buy a whole package of caramels to melt 3 little cubes. But these are SUPER amazing. So long as you can find pumpkin.

There's a shortage of Libby's pure pumpkin. I had been looking everywhere I went and I just happened in a grocery store in a bad part of town and saw pumpkin and snatched up 3 cans. So, if you need pumpkin for any holiday recipes, grab a can if you see them!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble (vegetarian) - p224

Review: This recipe certainly didn't hold together like it said it would. And I kind of burnt the topping but it was still pretty good. I was a little hesitant because it called for rum extract but it wasn't too strong. I only had frozen strawberries so it might have been better with fresh.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Lord of the Onion Rings (vegetarian) - p104

Review: I mostly just taste fiber one. Unfortunately, they cooled faster than I thought they would so they weren't as good as if they were piping hot. My husband didn't think they were bad so maybe I've just had a lot of fiber one lately and I'm sensitive to the taste. I had an easier time battering these up than anything else I've made with fiber one. Might be a good/easy starter fiber one recipe.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Big Bopper Burger Stopper (vegetarian) - p106

Review: Good burger. Boca instead of beef but everything else is pretty much the same. I'd make it again. I like to opt for Boca when I'm short on time but I prefer beef so I can't say I'm wild about this burger. I don't normally splurge for all the toppings when I'm short on time so I'd say this is better than when I usually have Boca burgers.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/26/09

Hot Diggity Chili Dog - p111

Review: I don't think I'm a fan of vegetarian chili served this way. It was great on a taco salad, but not so much on a hotdog. And I'm not sure that swapping a slice of bread for a hotdog bun is worth the hassle of always having to hold the hotdog together. If I was out of buns, I would do it but I don't think I would chose to do it just because it's lower in WW points.

Score: 2/5
Prepared: 9/23/09

Sliced 'n Diced Fajita Steak Salad - p36

Review: This salad was pretty freaking good. Not sure it needed all the work it required, but it was still good. I was expecting more of a fajita flavor but the cooking method just made it come out more like pepper steak and peppers. I like the combination of flavors - I just think I would throw the meat on the grill or broil it next time. Or even cook it without a marinade. I did like not having to add dressing - that's always exciting. Between the marinade, the sour cream and the salsa, no dressing was necessary. Yum!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/23/09

Ice Creamless Banana Split (vegetarian) - p205

Review: This recipe was definitely one-of-a-kind. I wouldn't have thought to put it together but it was something different. I think it called for a little too much strawberry and I could've gone for some more "ice cream" but it was a fun, easy little treat.

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/22/09

Phenomenal Philly Cheesesteak - p136

Review: This sandwich was amazing. It didn't call for onions and mushrooms but it didn't seem right to have a philly cheesesteak without them! Even without it, this sandwich was bursting at the seams. I even learned I could fit a hotdog bun in my toaster. It was so good, I think I'm going to have it again this week!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/22/09

Ginormous Cereal Bowl-anza (vegetarian) - p25

Review: Wow, I was super-surprised by this bowl of cereal. I was expecting it to be big (hence the name) but I never thought it would taste good. I totally grew up with sugar-laden cereals and so sweetener is kind of high on my cereal priority list. I guess the vanilla soymilk helped bring everything together and then I couldn't even taste the soymilk. Definitely a winner but kind of annoying in it's bazillion ingredients. I'm good with a bowl of Special K cinnamon flavor.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/21/09

Retro-rific Chopped Chef Salad -p33

Review: This salad was definitely my style. Not far from what I make on a normal occasion. I prefer to use 2% shredded cheese but I could use some American singles in a pinch. I topped it with some lowfat honey mustard and I was in business. I should totally make this again soon. Not too many veggies to go crazy chopping up. Perfect.

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/20/09

Apple Pie Pockets (vegetarian) - p195

Review: I've mentioned before how much I like the apple cinnamon filling and this time was no different. The filling was GREAT. The only problem was some pita-pocket user error. I can never get those darn things to work right. So I ended up with a dysfunctional pocket. I just shoved in my mouth as-is and it was a little messy. It was missing the crispy part of McDonald's apple pies. Not sure how to make it just right - maybe a tortilla or an eggroll wrapper?

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Fruity Super-slaw (vegetarian) - p192

Review: I really liked the fruity slaw! It wasn't the easiest recipe to make but it wasn't bad. I was able to buy some pre-cut veggies to help out and then it was just a matter of throwing everything together. I was surprised by how much it tasted like regular slaw to me and not so fruity. And the recipe makes a huge portion so be sure to share with friends!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Super-skinny Skins (vegetarian) - p102

Review: So, yum, potato skins. Eww on the imitation bacon bits. These skins could've been totally amazing. I threw some fat free sour cream on them and it didn't even taste fat free. I forgot the scallions but I'm not sure those could have helped the imitation bacon bit aftertaste. I even hesitated in the grocery store when I went to buy these because I knew it would be icky. My suggestion would be to go with turkey bacon or low fat bacon or SKIP the bacon altogether before putting bacon bits on again.

Score: 3/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Jalapeno Swappers (vegetarian) - p146

Review: These Poppers were pretty freaking good. I had my doubts after the last time I tried to faux-fry but this worked out. The jalapeno filling was really yummy. I thought the jalapenos themselves were a little hard but overall very good! My husband was not a fan of the breading but he kept on eating them until they got too hot for him. I opted for the longer cooking time to try to bake out some of the heat and I didn't think they were too hot. My fingers are still burning from the prep juice though.

They didn't take very long to prepare but they took up some counter space to get the faux-fry assembly line working.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

No-nonsense Nog (vegetarian) - p156

Review: Drinks are hard to take pictures of - so no photo for this one. I'm not into eggnog but my husband and I agreed on this one. It really just tasted like soy milk with a thicker consistency. Since I already don't like soymilk, I didn't like it at all. And it makes a huge portion - almost an entire container of soymilk. Easy to make though.

Score: 1/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Chocolate-coated Mousse-cream Cones (vegetarian) - p172

Review: I really liked the mousse-cream part of this recipe but the chocolate-coated cone tasted bitter to me. And making this recipe was no easy task. There were a lot of steps and a lot of down-time between steps. I think I'll just have the mousse-cream next time, thanks!

Score: 3/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Guilt-free dirt & worms Surprise (vegetarian) - p157

Review: My initial impression of this was really good. I used to love gummy bears on my chocolate icecream and this seemed right up my alley. My husband felt that even though the gummies were on top that they made everything taste gummy. I really liked it though. But after about 36 hours or so, the gummies seemed to start to degrade and that was kind of gross. The flavor was the same but the texture was different. Anyway, I think it's great to start but if you're eating it by yourself, it will be hard to eat it all before it starts to break down.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Pizzalicious Chop Chop - p44

Review: This salad was really good. The combination of black olives and pepperoni really did make it taste like pizza! I didn't splurge for the suggested dressing of broth and pizza sauce but only because I was lazy. I would definitely make this pizza, er, I mean salad, again. Plus, you know how much I like ready-to-go ingredients. We have a winner!

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Ginormous Creamy Frozen Caramel Crunchcake (vegetarian) - p227

Review: Dang this is a good combination of flavors. Now, mine weren't ginormous because I already had mini caramel cakes on-hand. While I was making this bad boys though, it was like one for Beth, one for the freezer. I think I actually preferred the recipe at room temperature but I never would have paired the two together. My husband tried them frozen when I prepared them and then the next night, he was dipping the caramel quakes in the cool whip. I think I may go get some right now...

Score: 4.99/5 (I don't have the patience for these to freeze!)
Prepared: 9/17/09

Creamy Orange Dreamfloat (vegetarian) - p238

Review: This float was ok, I guess I just had a craving for it and thought it would be amazing. The cool whip never mixed with the soda so it just sit on top. Only at the very end could I really taste the two together. I'd rather just eat the cool whip straight and have an orange soda to drink.

Score: 3/5
Prepared: 9/19/09

Loaded 'n Oated Veggie Pizza (vegetarian) - p92

Review: This little pizza was pretty good. Full of pizza flavor. The crust is a little different. It has a lot of good flavor but it's a little soggy. Tell you the truth, I had to make the crust twice because I forgot an ingredient the first time. Ended up with a Fiber One omelet. Little strange but edible. I don't think I could have put my pizza straight on the oven rack but maybe that's why mine is a little soggy. I've seen too many good pizzas lost that way and I had already lost a pizza crust this night. Oh yeah, and I was not annoyed about crushing Fiber One for this recipe because I already had some on hand!

Score: 4.5/5
Prepared: 9/17/09

Fettuccine Hungry girlfredo (vegetarian) - p257

Review: I'm not a huge fan of tofu shirataki (see previous post). That being said, I've had this recipe 3 times now. It's super duper low in points. Today my noodles got cold quickly and it was really hard to eat them. Plus I was still hungry afterwards. This combined with the Yum Yum Eggplant Goo was NOT a filling lunch. My mistake.

Score: 2/5
Prepared: 9/17/09

Hot Chick BBQ Chop - p40

Review: This recipe was one of those with a lot of little things. 2 tablespoons of this, 1/4 cup of that, another 2 tablespoons of this. Plus a homemade BBQ sauce. It definitely took me a while to chop everything up and that's not including the lettuce, tomato or onion. LOL. I met my husband at Whole Foods and told him I brought a salad for dinner but I needed some lettuce. I hit up the salad bar and the onion and tomato were right there so I just slapped them on too instead of chopping them up. I liked the BBQ sauce and I used it like a dressing which I thought was fun and different.

It was my first time trying jicama and I'm not sure I'm sold. I bought the smallest one I could find and I think it's still more than enough to make a party-size serving of another recipe. I don't think I could just eat it plain or dipped. Oh yeah, FYI to everyone, I did NOT know how to peel a jicama. Everything I read said, "peel it and chop it." Great. Easy. So, I break out my carrot peeler and it's soooooo hard to peel because it's round and not soft like a potato. Then a snag a little layer and it comes off all at once. Like a banana. I peeled the rest of it like a banana. How come people can't put this on the internet? Oh yeah. Just did.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/15/09

Chilly Chocolate Cheesecake Nuggets (vegetarian) - p170

Review: I so wanted this recipe to be my Thanksgiving German-Chocolate Pie replacement. Alas, it was not. I licked the spoon before I froze it and thought it wasn't very good. A couple days later, frozen, it was pretty good. you can see the white specs in the photo - those are cream cheese chunks that I didn't mix very well - very much like our German-Chocolate Pie. I might try it out on the family this Thanksgiving afterall.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/14/09

Yummy Yummy Eggplant Goo (vegetarian) - p163

Review: I don't know exactly what I was expecting with this recipe - something more like a dip but I got more of a salsa-consistency. It took about 15 minutes or so to cut up everything which I didn't think was too bad since it makes a LOT. I used minced garlic instead of fresh and I'm usually of the opinion that you can never add too much. I think I added too much. This recipe was still really good but very garlic too. I toasted a pita and cut it into wedges and had some. I thought it was great. Of course one person said it looked like meatloaf and another person said it looked like cat vomit, but still. It wasn't very filling but it's also zero points per serving! I'd try it out at a party I host.

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/14/09

Meat-Lovers' Cheesy Pasta - p134

Review: This dish was pretty good. It was huge since it uses tofu shirataki. I think tofu shirataki tastes great but the process of rinsing, draining and drying it makes me a little sick to my stomach. The smell of it before it is heated is disgusting. But, for 50 calories or so, I'll try it. I was a little worried because I had read that cream-based dishes were easier to stomach shirataki and this one was tomato-based. But it turned out great and I got to eat meat. The husband ate it with me. He thought it tasted good but the noodles were just "weird and chewy."

Score: 3/5
Prepared: 9/14/09

Big Chomp Cheeseburger Chop (vegetarian) -p45

Review: Wow, this salad is surprisingly good. The salad toppings seemed a little strange but I should have realized since the condiments are usually my favorite part of a hamburger! I did substitute spinach instead of romaine but I think ruffage is ruffage and that's what I had. I even opted for the suggested dressing and was pleasantly surprised. This salad is super easy to throw together, too. I don't think this salad can oust my favorite go-to salad but it provides a new alternative when I get bored with the old stuff.

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/14/09

Weeeee...Veggie Wheels! (vegetarian) - p82

Review: This recipe had a great flavor. You don't even realize you are eating fat-free cream cheese. It didn't take very long to make except for the time to allow the cream cheese to soften and re-harden. But the blend of flavor is great. I admit that the wheels would be a nice party option but I think for just one person I'd rather eat it as a burrito next time and not cut it up. This recipe does use a small amount of a bunch of things but I think those things are easily found in your fridge or can be readily implemented for other dishes. My husband even thought it was pretty good (I saw him eyeing my wheels and offered him one). He hesitantly said it was good when asked so I asked what it was missing and his reply: "Meat." Definitely a keeper though.

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/13/09

Mexi-tato (vegetarian) - p86

Review: Easy to put together and a LOT better than the regular twice baked potato. There's a lot going on and if you paired it up with a salad, it would make a good little meal! It was pretty easy to throw everything together. It even uses a decent amount of each ingredient.

Score: 5/5
Prepared: 9/13/09

T-rific Turkey Reuben - p127

Review: I have to say, I am not a fan of reubens. I do not like the turkey reuben from Jason's Deli. I like this turkey reuben though! I can't say I'd have it all the time but it was pretty easy to slap together and the sauerkraut wasn't over powering. And it was warm. That was a nice twist. And I love being able to have rye bread. NO worries about that going bad in my house!

Score: 4/5
Prepared: 9/12/09

Bring on the Breakfast Pizza (vegetarian) - p18

Review: Man, this was the best little combination of flavors - it really did taste like pizza! The only drawback was that it took a long time for my "crust" to set. And after I took the picture, I cut everything into bite-size pieces anyway so why not just scramble it all to begin with? I'd totally eat it again - just prepare it differently. Thanks HG for pulling all these ingredients together!

Score: 3/5
Prepared: 9/12/09