DD birthday is coming up. She is a dietician. I’ve been researching “healthy” birthday cakes. I think that is an oxymoron.
Howto Make it Health- ier
My DH family always got to choose a flavor of pie for their birthday. As long as it was Lemon Meringue which happened to be the cook’s, favorite. DH hates Lemon Meringue
When kids were little I went all out. I was making birthday cakes for them starting in the nursery with stacked, decorated donuts and mini boxes of raisins wrapped in gift wrap with bows for favors.
I made “pizza” for in school birthday celebrations. Sugar cookie dough crust, red colored icing for tomato sauce and cut up fruit leather for toppings. I put the “pizzas” in boxes that I begged from Domino’s Pizza. The day care teachers were fooled and wanted to know which Domino’s would deliver birthday pizzas.
One year I had a “Kidnap” breakfast for DD birthday. The cake was a potted plant it was actually a “dirt cake” with gummy worms and parsley as the plant
I’ve made countless decorated chocolate cookie birthday “cakes”. I made individual gingerbread houses at Christams. and had cookie decorating parties
And too many carb-coma inducing, over frosted, heavy on the sugary decoration cakes and cookies
Sadly the kids grew out of the birthday party-cake part of their lives. I had to scrounge to find an outlet for my desires. I made Mom a cat litter cake that she loves to take to events at her retirement village. For Halloween I made a black spider cake that oozed green “blood” when cut. The closest I’ve come so far to a healthy cake is a watermelon almond tart that I made for Sis’s birthday.
Looks can be deceiving
All that I grew out of was my clothes.
Since I had the gastric bypass surgery I don’t eat much cake. Half of a cupcake, maybe a whole cupcake if I had all my protein and still have room is enough for me now. At the last wedding I went to I bypassed the cake as not interesting enough to warrant a bite.
DD is now in a cupcake phase and I sampled some of her efforts if they were significantly novel. Plain chocolate or vanilla doesn’t move me.
I’ve realized though that it isn’t the product that was so compelling but the process. Even with the surgery I can still indulge my creative cooking side. I just need many people to share the results with.
Healthy or Hi-calorie
Pie or Cake?
I think I’ll split the difference and make this:
Cherry Pie Birthday Cake Design
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Serves 12
Ingredients:
1 cake baked in a (9-inch) deep dish pie plate
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
Yellow food coloring
½ tsp cocoa powder
2 cans (21 oz each) cherry pie filling, drained
What you'll need:
2 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
Frosting the cake:
Tint the vanilla frosting with a few drops of yellow food coloring and the cocoa powder to make a pie-crust beige. Divide the frosting between the 2 resealable plastic bags.
To complete the decoration:
Spoon the drained cherry pie filling on top of the cake, leaving a 1-inch rim of cake.
Snip a ½ inch corner from the bags with the beige frosting. Pipe 5 parallel rows of frosting over the pie filling about 1 ½ inches apart.
Pipe 5 more lines of frosting on the diagonal to make the lattice crust.
Pipe a decorative edge around outside edge of cake to make the outer crust of pie.
Cherry Pie Cake
Maybe I’ll use the new low sugar cake mixes.
Pillsbury
Tell me about your favorite birthday cakes.
Take my survey are you a cake or pie person?
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Yesterday after DH got home we marked out the area that we want to put the landscape bed and where we would like the plants to go. We’re going to put in a small Sago Palm, trailing Lantana, Stella D'Oro Lilies, Rosemary and Turk's Cap.
Our next door neighbor came by and said she had had success with all those plants in her back yard, they only died because she didn't give them enough water. She must have really neglected them cause all of them are drought resistant.
I found a device that you hook up to a hose that sprays things that are detected (deer) with a burst of water. I bought shoes instead so next month when the plants are in. I'll maybe get the device and see if it works.
For now I have a recipe for a repellent that I am going to mix up and use. I’ll let you know how it works
http://www.ehow.com/how_155976_make-deer-repellant.html?sms_ss=blogger
Our next door neighbor came by and said she had had success with all those plants in her back yard, they only died because she didn't give them enough water. She must have really neglected them cause all of them are drought resistant.
I found a device that you hook up to a hose that sprays things that are detected (deer) with a burst of water. I bought shoes instead so next month when the plants are in. I'll maybe get the device and see if it works.
For now I have a recipe for a repellent that I am going to mix up and use. I’ll let you know how it works
http://www.ehow.com/how_155976_make-deer-repellant.html?sms_ss=blogger
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Exercise and the Unmotivated, Unwilling and Unfit
from Friday, April 30, 2010
My MS complicates my life. I had to retire from teaching; a job I loved. I had to quit driving; resulting in feelings of isolation. And just about the time I had the time and energy to concentrate on my kids- they grew up and didn’t need or want “Mommy’s” help. I became confined to a wheelchair.
Part of deciding that now was MY time was the surgery and increasing my mobility that meant exercise. I try to fit exercise into my life in ways that I can handle it. Sometimes just getting showered and dressed is the only exercise I can handle.
I know I must exercise. I can quote all that stuff how exercise will improve your mental outlook, help you lose and maintain your weight, improve cardiac health, is good for the environment and is right with God.
But I don’t wanna do it!
I have to see immediate results I’m all for instant gratification. So in order to exercise I have to make a game out of it. I record every step I take every exercise I try and record all my measurements. I compete against myself. Longer, faster, more inches lost, less pounds weighed
That is why I find Spark so valuable. I can record the results of exercise, my weight and measurements and even read about new exercise ideas or get motivation.
My next reward is to trade our recumbent bike which DH got to save his knees for a folding treadmill. If I could hook it up to run the computer that would be ideal.
My MS complicates my life. I had to retire from teaching; a job I loved. I had to quit driving; resulting in feelings of isolation. And just about the time I had the time and energy to concentrate on my kids- they grew up and didn’t need or want “Mommy’s” help. I became confined to a wheelchair.
Part of deciding that now was MY time was the surgery and increasing my mobility that meant exercise. I try to fit exercise into my life in ways that I can handle it. Sometimes just getting showered and dressed is the only exercise I can handle.
I know I must exercise. I can quote all that stuff how exercise will improve your mental outlook, help you lose and maintain your weight, improve cardiac health, is good for the environment and is right with God.
But I don’t wanna do it!
I have to see immediate results I’m all for instant gratification. So in order to exercise I have to make a game out of it. I record every step I take every exercise I try and record all my measurements. I compete against myself. Longer, faster, more inches lost, less pounds weighed
That is why I find Spark so valuable. I can record the results of exercise, my weight and measurements and even read about new exercise ideas or get motivation.
My next reward is to trade our recumbent bike which DH got to save his knees for a folding treadmill. If I could hook it up to run the computer that would be ideal.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Up-date and Coming Events
from-Monday April 26th, 2010*
My recovery to date at 6 months out has been blessedly uneventful.
I will post updated pictures as soon as I can get my son to take some. And I figure out how to do this.
If anyone has questions about the surgery I’d be happy to answer the best I can. Remember though everyone is different, reacts differently and their doctors have different procedures to follow.
My doctor tells me to eat protein first then non-starchy vegetables and if there is room fruit for dessert. Remembering that the space you have is about the size of your thumb. I’ve found that different proteins fill up my pouch in different ways. I can eat more of beans and peanut butter. Of course, the doctor tells me to lay off eating those and concentrate on more solid and less fatty proteins. He does not allow protein drinks either. He wants you to get your protein from food.
In the old days I was a volume eater and ate lots of rice, bread, and salad to economically increase my meals. I can’t eat those things now. They don’t go down well. Leaving me feeling stuffed without consuming the protein I need.
Eggs would be great. Except that now they make me feel queasy For most people chicken or eggs is the first food they eat. Me? Chicken is too dry and feels like it gets stuck. I have never liked fish unless it is fried which is a big no-no for me because too much carbohydrate or sugar makes me “dump” or go into what is called a carb coma. More details on this if you really want to know but trust me, you don’t
Steak has been good for me as long as I watch the fat content. Think modified Atkin’s .
The good thing is foods that once gave you problems don’t after awhile; the bad thing is foods that you didn’t have problems with before sneak up and surprise attacks you some days.
I have spent much time pouring over recipes and fretting about what I can eat and what I can fix for my family and what I would like to eat but I’m afraid to eat.
I plan to blog more about my diet and recipes as well as MS and the surgery, exercise, bones and clothes. I really do have more going on in my life, but these things are specific for this blog. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I’m pretty open about things-heck you don’t know where in Texas I live!
* I am in the process of tranfering one blog to this one. These are entries from this date although I do know that it is June 16th
My recovery to date at 6 months out has been blessedly uneventful.
I will post updated pictures as soon as I can get my son to take some. And I figure out how to do this.
If anyone has questions about the surgery I’d be happy to answer the best I can. Remember though everyone is different, reacts differently and their doctors have different procedures to follow.
My doctor tells me to eat protein first then non-starchy vegetables and if there is room fruit for dessert. Remembering that the space you have is about the size of your thumb. I’ve found that different proteins fill up my pouch in different ways. I can eat more of beans and peanut butter. Of course, the doctor tells me to lay off eating those and concentrate on more solid and less fatty proteins. He does not allow protein drinks either. He wants you to get your protein from food.
In the old days I was a volume eater and ate lots of rice, bread, and salad to economically increase my meals. I can’t eat those things now. They don’t go down well. Leaving me feeling stuffed without consuming the protein I need.
Eggs would be great. Except that now they make me feel queasy For most people chicken or eggs is the first food they eat. Me? Chicken is too dry and feels like it gets stuck. I have never liked fish unless it is fried which is a big no-no for me because too much carbohydrate or sugar makes me “dump” or go into what is called a carb coma. More details on this if you really want to know but trust me, you don’t
Steak has been good for me as long as I watch the fat content. Think modified Atkin’s .
The good thing is foods that once gave you problems don’t after awhile; the bad thing is foods that you didn’t have problems with before sneak up and surprise attacks you some days.
I have spent much time pouring over recipes and fretting about what I can eat and what I can fix for my family and what I would like to eat but I’m afraid to eat.
I plan to blog more about my diet and recipes as well as MS and the surgery, exercise, bones and clothes. I really do have more going on in my life, but these things are specific for this blog. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I’m pretty open about things-heck you don’t know where in Texas I live!
* I am in the process of tranfering one blog to this one. These are entries from this date although I do know that it is June 16th
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