srsssteve

I use the MyFitnessPal app and MyFitnessPal.com➚ website to track caloric intake, weight, and exercise. On the website they have nice tool, a web page, where you can enter a recipe or the link (URL) to a recipe and it will figure out the calories and all sorts of other dietary information for that recipe. You do have to check its work – correct (edit) the ingredients and quantities, but once you have done that it is easy to add one serving to your diary. I was told to lower my cholesterol intake by my doctors and this tool really helped.

This is a recipe for buttermilk waffles made three ways; I think they all come out excellent. I lowered the cholesterol in the variations by using egg substitute and then by replacing half the butter with extra virgin olive oil. The nutritional information from the MyFitnessPal recipe calculator is shown below. They all have about the same calories for one waffle, around 370, but the cholesterol milligrams (mg) are 114, 41, and 25. I have read that normally you should have no more than 300 mg per day – 200 mg per day if you have an elevated cholesterol level. The main culprit that has high cholesterol content is egg yolk. Egg substitutes easily get rid of the yolk and are still good for scrambling or using in recipes. The Brummel & Brown➚ spread (tastes like real butter!) is also an excellent substitute for butter (which is somewhat high in cholesterol.) It’s great for buttering waffles, toast, bagels, rolls, etc. I would not recommend cooking or baking with it.– Steve

Buttermilk Waffles

Yield: 5 seven-inch-round Belgian waffles

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar, granulated
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt

Melt butter and mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl:

• 2 cups buttermilk (2%)
• 5 tbsp. melted butter, unsalted –OR– 2½ tbsp. extra virgin olive oil and 2½ tbsp. butter
• 2 large (50 g each), eggs –OR– ½ cup egg substitute, e.g. Egg Beaters or Eggstirs (Publix)
• 1 teas. vanilla extract

Mix wet ingredients into dry until fairly well blended, a few small lumps are okay – do not over mix.

Let stand 5 minutes. Heat waffle iron to medium-high. Do not spray the iron unless directed to by the manufacturer. Mine (pictured above) has a ceramic-teflon coating that does better without the spray.

Pour about 1½ ladles of the mixture into the iron, spread around a little, optionally top with chopped pecans. Close lid, press down a little and cook until steaming stops, about 4 to 5 minutes. Cook another minute for a browner, crispier waffle.

This is the nutritional info generated by MyFitnessPal.com➚ from plain waffles (no nuts, no spread) made three ways: 1) original recipe, all butter & real eggs; 2) egg substitute and all butter; 3) egg substitute and ½ butter and ½ olive oil.