Sunday, December 28, 2008
Bad Wife. Good Pudding.
I accidentally poisoned the husband. oops. Bad Wife.
Artificial sweeteners are a big migraine trigger - and I unwittingly made a delicious dessert that contained a sugar-free (and therefore, artificial sweetener-filled) ingredient. It triggered one of the "worst migraines of the year." Needless to say, I felt about as guilty as possible when I realized my error. He, of course, continues to playfully (but yet somewhat seriously) hold the incident over my head.
For anyone who wants to replicate this delicious dessert, here's the recipe. Of course, you should alter the ingredients if you are making it for anyone who is allergic to (or has any sort of aversion to) peanuts, chocolate, cool whip, lactose, artificial sweeteners, or sweet deliciousness.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cups
recipe courtesy of Shirlye Price - whom I do not know.
2 cups and 2 tbsp of cold skim milk (divided)
2 tbsp of reduced-fat peanut butter
1 cup of reduced fat cool whip or other whipped topping (divided)
1 package of sugar free (oops) chocolate instant pudding
Mix 2 tbsp of milk and peanut butter until smooth (a fork helps).
Fold in 3/4 cup of cool whip and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat pudding mix and cold milk (per directions on the pudding box) and set aside to set.
Spoon half of the pudding into six parfait glasses or bowls; top with peanut butter mixture, and then the other half of the pudding. Garnish with remaining cool whip.
According to the recipe - one serving has 102 calories and 3 g. of fat. Bonus.
Artificial sweeteners are a big migraine trigger - and I unwittingly made a delicious dessert that contained a sugar-free (and therefore, artificial sweetener-filled) ingredient. It triggered one of the "worst migraines of the year." Needless to say, I felt about as guilty as possible when I realized my error. He, of course, continues to playfully (but yet somewhat seriously) hold the incident over my head.
For anyone who wants to replicate this delicious dessert, here's the recipe. Of course, you should alter the ingredients if you are making it for anyone who is allergic to (or has any sort of aversion to) peanuts, chocolate, cool whip, lactose, artificial sweeteners, or sweet deliciousness.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cups
recipe courtesy of Shirlye Price - whom I do not know.
2 cups and 2 tbsp of cold skim milk (divided)
2 tbsp of reduced-fat peanut butter
1 cup of reduced fat cool whip or other whipped topping (divided)
1 package of sugar free (oops) chocolate instant pudding
Mix 2 tbsp of milk and peanut butter until smooth (a fork helps).
Fold in 3/4 cup of cool whip and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat pudding mix and cold milk (per directions on the pudding box) and set aside to set.
Spoon half of the pudding into six parfait glasses or bowls; top with peanut butter mixture, and then the other half of the pudding. Garnish with remaining cool whip.
According to the recipe - one serving has 102 calories and 3 g. of fat. Bonus.
Friday, December 26, 2008
What Might Have Been
Back when we first found out that we matched in Greenville, we considered buying the house next door to this one: http://www.wyff4.com/news/18325158/detail.html?rss=gs&psp=news
Here's the summary:
"There are 160,000 lights on Tommy Sosebee's house. He said it all began with a little boy's imagination. . . Sosebee said it takes them about five hours to decorate one tree in his yard.
He said there are about 70 Santa Clauses and other decorations on his lawn for the community to enjoy. "It's absolutely insane," a resident said. Sosebee said last year's power bill was $1,800 in December. However, he said it's worth every penny because it's his chance to be a kid again. There's no admission, and they offer free hot cocoa and popcorn."
Naturally, our real estate agent failed to mention this tidbit of newsworthy information when we looked at the house. So on the downside, we would have lived next door to a freaking tourist attraction and had enough light shining through our windows that spacecraft could make a safe landing throughout the month of December
On the upside - free popcorn.
Here's the summary:
"There are 160,000 lights on Tommy Sosebee's house. He said it all began with a little boy's imagination. . . Sosebee said it takes them about five hours to decorate one tree in his yard.
He said there are about 70 Santa Clauses and other decorations on his lawn for the community to enjoy. "It's absolutely insane," a resident said. Sosebee said last year's power bill was $1,800 in December. However, he said it's worth every penny because it's his chance to be a kid again. There's no admission, and they offer free hot cocoa and popcorn."
Naturally, our real estate agent failed to mention this tidbit of newsworthy information when we looked at the house. So on the downside, we would have lived next door to a freaking tourist attraction and had enough light shining through our windows that spacecraft could make a safe landing throughout the month of December
On the upside - free popcorn.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Redemption
Although my spirit had been somewhat squashed by the minor medical incident of last night - I did, in fact, return to the kitchen tonight. I made what appears to be a fantastic rib eye steak (seared and then roasted), honey-glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, and a chocolate peanut-butter cup pudding for dessert. Right now they are all sitting on my kitchen counter. The steak, the carrots, the potatoes, the pudding, and I are all waiting for Husband to get home.
Multiple drunks and morons caused multiple car accidents and multiple traumas today - so husband got stuck in the trauma bay for several extra hours tonight. So is the life of the resident's wife. I'll let you know how everything tastes tomorrow.
Multiple drunks and morons caused multiple car accidents and multiple traumas today - so husband got stuck in the trauma bay for several extra hours tonight. So is the life of the resident's wife. I'll let you know how everything tastes tomorrow.
Butternut Burn
I'm trying to be domestic during my days off this holiday. I've been trying out new recipes. Last night I attempted to make butternut squash soup. I had already spent a significant amount of time baking the squash, sweating the onions, and simmering the broth. The final step called for blending the squash and broth in the blender. That's when things went horribly wrong.
I don't pretend to know what happened. Maybe the lid wasn't on tight enough. Maybe the heat from the soup was too much for the blender, maybe the "low" setting was too high . . . whatever the case, one push of the blender button and I ended up with about a quart of scalding soup all over my arms, shirt, floor, wall, toaster, and cooktop. Really the arms were the biggest problem. They were bright red and throbbing. I ran cold water over them, replaced my soup-covered shirt and began an alternating routine of cleaning up the mess and holding my poor forearms under cool running water. I was not a happy camper.
Now I have a half gallon of soup that I want nothing to do with, red-blotching arms, and a kitchen that will probably forever smell faintly of squash puree.
Tonight we're having take-out.
I don't pretend to know what happened. Maybe the lid wasn't on tight enough. Maybe the heat from the soup was too much for the blender, maybe the "low" setting was too high . . . whatever the case, one push of the blender button and I ended up with about a quart of scalding soup all over my arms, shirt, floor, wall, toaster, and cooktop. Really the arms were the biggest problem. They were bright red and throbbing. I ran cold water over them, replaced my soup-covered shirt and began an alternating routine of cleaning up the mess and holding my poor forearms under cool running water. I was not a happy camper.
Now I have a half gallon of soup that I want nothing to do with, red-blotching arms, and a kitchen that will probably forever smell faintly of squash puree.
Tonight we're having take-out.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Weekend Update
Puppy-sitting is tough business! The past few day were a bit crazy. Here's the catch-up.
Puppy: The puppy was adorable and made us want one of our own. All he wanted to do was give love - which we were happy to receive. He went to the vet on Friday and had a little puppy-cold. Friday night was a tough one, he cried for several hours (not a sweet puppy cry, more like a banshee) and I ended up sleeping on the couch so that he wouldn't have to go in the crate. I spoke with puppy's mom on Saturday morning and she said that in light of the puppy-cold, it was best if Christmas came early for her son this year and they picked up puppy Saturday afternoon. It was sad to say goodbye (even after a few days) and Husband has been moping around the house every since. The good news is that my co-workers son was THRILLED to meet puppy (which he named "Ziggy") - so all's well.
Mom: My wonderful mom came to visit this weekend and it was so great to see her. She came up on Saturday morning and we spend the day just hanging out. Today she helped me unpack some of the kitchen appliances that we got for our wedding that I have yet to use. We laughed a lot and had a wonderful time. It was sad to see her go - but nice to know she's only 2 hours away.
Knitting: It's back. (Much to Husband's dismay). I ordered a beautiful yarn by Hand Maiden called "Rumple" and am working on a shawl. It's slow going . . . but I'll have some time to work on it this week, because I'm on . . . .
Vacation: The perk of working at a school is that I get the winter holidays off. Vacation started on Friday afternoon and I don't have to go back to work until January 5. Fantastic! I see many Law & Order marathons in my future.
A Special Thank You: To Aunt Valerie and the whole Wasser family for allowing us usage of the "Golden Dragon" (their mini-van) while we shopped for a car. We are eternally grateful.
Puppy: The puppy was adorable and made us want one of our own. All he wanted to do was give love - which we were happy to receive. He went to the vet on Friday and had a little puppy-cold. Friday night was a tough one, he cried for several hours (not a sweet puppy cry, more like a banshee) and I ended up sleeping on the couch so that he wouldn't have to go in the crate. I spoke with puppy's mom on Saturday morning and she said that in light of the puppy-cold, it was best if Christmas came early for her son this year and they picked up puppy Saturday afternoon. It was sad to say goodbye (even after a few days) and Husband has been moping around the house every since. The good news is that my co-workers son was THRILLED to meet puppy (which he named "Ziggy") - so all's well.
Mom: My wonderful mom came to visit this weekend and it was so great to see her. She came up on Saturday morning and we spend the day just hanging out. Today she helped me unpack some of the kitchen appliances that we got for our wedding that I have yet to use. We laughed a lot and had a wonderful time. It was sad to see her go - but nice to know she's only 2 hours away.
Knitting: It's back. (Much to Husband's dismay). I ordered a beautiful yarn by Hand Maiden called "Rumple" and am working on a shawl. It's slow going . . . but I'll have some time to work on it this week, because I'm on . . . .
Vacation: The perk of working at a school is that I get the winter holidays off. Vacation started on Friday afternoon and I don't have to go back to work until January 5. Fantastic! I see many Law & Order marathons in my future.
A Special Thank You: To Aunt Valerie and the whole Wasser family for allowing us usage of the "Golden Dragon" (their mini-van) while we shopped for a car. We are eternally grateful.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Christmas Puppy!
[Note to Brother-In-Law and Father-In-Law: Do those socks in the foreground look familiar? I think one of you left them here over Thanksgiving weekend. I apologize, but you will not be geting them back.]
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