WW: Baby it's cold outside!

Strawberry cheese...cake

I like to make dessert about once a week. It gives me the opportunity to let me inner dessert diva come out AND dessert is my favorite meal of the day :) So, I present to you my take on strawberry cheese...cake.

Normally, when I bake it's not really a well thought out and put together plan. I usually decide what to make at the last minute based on whatever craving I have plus some pinspiration. That in turn often leaves me scrambling at the last minute to really pull off something presentable. I'm known for making an cake and not putting any icing on it because I didn't have the energy or ingredients to make the icing. I know, I could always use the store bought icing but call me a icing snob if you will- I don't like store bought icing and never use it.

Source: food2please.com via The Mrs. on Pinterest

This week my main force behind dessert was pinspired. For whatever reason the link from Pinterest was broken and when I googled the source the search results only led back to Pinterest. So I could only go on the notes included with the pin:

                                      "This was on Dr. Oz… very cool! Cake Mix + Fat-Free Greek Yogurt
                                      180 calories per serving – never baking with eggs and oil again!
                                      *Pinners Note: THIS WORKS!! 1c chobani vanilla yogurt + 1 Betty
                                      Crocker cake mix + 1c water"

I wasn't about to go researching to see if it was really on Dr. Oz or not so I just went with it. I figured if it came out bad it would be a lesson learned. Although I have seen a conversion table for Greek yogurt to ingredients that are less healthy. So I figured the cake would minimally bake- how it will taste would be determined.

Source: chobani.com via The Mrs. on Pinterest

So, my trusty helper and I set out on this new baking project. Since there were only 3 ingredients to the cake I didn't even pull out my stand mixer. I love that thing but sometimes I hate cleaning it. I whipped up the batter by hand which I haven't done in years and I used my 'little' cake pans so that I would be sure that it would be gone after a few slices. Popped it in the oven and let it do it's thing. When I took it out it was very light and fluffy and I could tell it was moist! I tried a few crumbs and was quite pleased with the results.

Then came my dreaded icing issue. I have a few go to icing recipes that I like but some of those take some forward thinking like room temperature butter. Well not only was my butter not room temp- it was frozen solid. I keep tons of butter in my freezer so that I know I'll have some on hand for baking. It'd be nice to give myself advanced warning as to when I'll need it so that I can let it thaw ahead of time.


Here momma use this!

I ended up using a cream cheese filling recipe as icing. Hence strawberry cheese...cake. Clever, right? Okay- you can stop laughing. After the cake cooled and it was filled, frosted, and my helper put to bed I tasted it. And... it wasn't too bad! It was in fact very moist but also very dense. I prefer light and fluffy cake but hubby- he loves dense cake so this.....

 ... was a winner. And writing this post has made several things clear to me. I'm not a good dessert planner, I really want to finish the Wilton cake decorating course, and I'm a horrible food photographer.

And my sous chef... he'll get to taste test tomorrow :)

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WW: one year later

Mind Right Monday: January

I haven't done this since the begining of Dec. I think it's fitting to do only once per month, perferably the first Monday.

Goals for this week month:

- Clean the guest bedroom from top to bottom. This is a carry over from last month.

- Walk 2 miles 3 times per week. It's a little cold out and its been snowing like crazy so this may be over ambitious.

-Do a blog post 3 times per week for the remainder of January. *Sigh*

I'm grateful for:

- My husband. He's amazing! I thank God everyday that God chose me to be his helpmate.

- My parents. They're amazing too! I had the best Christmas vacation and I owe some of that to them.

- My phone. I know this is super materialistic but it really does keep me on track with some things. The smart phone in general has been something I've always appreciated. I have apps that remind me to drink water, log my excerising (helps keep me accountable) and read my bible daily. Without it my mind is just a jumbled mess of good intentions.

-The crockpot.'Nuff said.

Accountability:

- Clean the guest bedroom from top to bottom. I never got to do the cleaning that I would have liked to because our move was kind of pieced together. Since this room has the least amount of items in it I think it will be easier to start here. I definitely did not. I didn't realize how much time holiday prep was going to take me, but I have no excuses now.

- Walk 1 mile in 18 minutes or less. My current record is 18 minutes 59 seconds. The longest its ever taken me to walk one mile while pushing a stroller is 31 minutes 17 seconds and that was just last week- I'm on a get fit mission! I did, I did, I did!! In fact this was the first thing I completed. I didn't walk as much as I would have liked over the Christmas break and once we got back there was so much snow on the ground I couldn't push the stroller through it. But it's melting no and I'm getting back out there!


- Read at least 2 pages in my current book. Even if this means I have to hide in the bathroom while my husband and son tough it out. I kid! It's not that bad. But I would rather read blogs or browse pinterest/facebook. I've had this book for a week now and I'm on page 30. Done! Although this was a pretty low blow. I'm going to stop underaiming goals- I mean really. I don't know exactly how much I read, I think a chaptr and a half. I want to be done with this book soon so that I can move on to another.

- Start the post of my son's first birthday recap. I have no idea why in Sam hell it's taking me so long!
Done! And it's coming along nicely :) It's still going to tgake me a while to complete maybe it will be up before he's two.


- Participate in 'Mind Right Mondays' again.
He, he :) Clearly this postis published so there. Dani hasn't posted her own in a while so I don't know if we will be seeing this again.

- Apply for just one job.
Done! and maybe I regret it. I have this amazing story to share plus my reservations with going back to work.



5 out of 6 isn't bad although there was one cheat built in there. NOw, I need to get started on this month's goals!

2012 Year In Review

I initially said I wasn't going to do this, but alas... here it is. My year in review in pictures.  Some of these events made it to the blog, some didn't. I'm hoping to be able to blog more in the future because I will turn my little space here into a book so why leave anything out?

 

Now, I'm glad I did it. It was fun looking back on the year past. And just in case you weren't here before you can check out my 2011 year in review.