Blessings Darlings!
We've been out of eating chocolate for a couple of weeks now. It didn't bother me much, since I can be happy making a cup of hot cocoa; or mix cocoa powder, vanilla, and some sugar into yogurt; or make chocolate pudding.
The Chubby Hubby, OTOH, wants some chocolate on hand that he can just unwrap and put in his mouth. The problem with Ready To Eat Chocolate is ... I eat it. Shamelessly. Which is one of the reasons we were out of eating chocolate to begin with. Sure, I had bought that chocolate after Easter when it was half price and I didn't get THAT much of it, but long story short - it's gone and I ate more of it than the CH did.
Well, today I had to go into the Big City to hit the bank for business, and hit Costco on the way home. After all, I needed gas for the car anyway, right? And wouldn't you know it, whether it's because Halloween is coming or school has started, they had the big bags of 150 pieces of good-enough chocolate (Kit-Kats, Reese's, Almond Joys, bags of M&M's, etc) for under $15.
We now have 148 pieces of chocolate in the house, and the CH has stored the bag of the survivors on a High Shelf.
But I know where the step-stool is.
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Chocolate
Blessings, Darlings!
I've been on a chocolate binge lately. Chocolate frosted yellow cupcakes, hot cocoa, chocolate pudding, moon pies, candy bars, sleazy Hershey's Kisses (TM), you name it - if it has any chocolate in it I've been eating it.
This has happened to innumerable people before, and will continue to happen in the future. No news there.
The only thing new was that I made chocolate pudding from scratch. This was ENTIRELY the fault of @jmfield on Twitter, who tweeted "Cheffirmation: I am never more than 15 minutes away from homemade chocolate pudding. :)". Well! I took that as a challenge.
In fact, it took me 18 minutes - mostly because my husband or son had put my whisk away in .... well .... a place I would NEVER had put it, and it took me FOREVER to find it.
One of the many joys of chocolate pudding is that the ingredients are mostly pantry-stable. I could have used powdered milk instead of fresh (and, while looking at recipes, I saw that the 'instant chocolate pudding' recipe by America's Test Kitchen uses powdered milk), I suppose I could have used baking chocolate instead of cocoa powder and butter (yes, the cocoa powder is shelf-stable, but the butter isn't), the flour and cornstarch and salt and vanilla the recipe called for last forever.
It was fast to make. It was easy. It tasted WONDERFUL.
Everyone to the kitchen, grab that 2 to 3 quart saucepan, set your timer (so you can see how fast this really is), and GO!
I've been on a chocolate binge lately. Chocolate frosted yellow cupcakes, hot cocoa, chocolate pudding, moon pies, candy bars, sleazy Hershey's Kisses (TM), you name it - if it has any chocolate in it I've been eating it.
This has happened to innumerable people before, and will continue to happen in the future. No news there.
The only thing new was that I made chocolate pudding from scratch. This was ENTIRELY the fault of @jmfield on Twitter, who tweeted "Cheffirmation: I am never more than 15 minutes away from homemade chocolate pudding. :)". Well! I took that as a challenge.
In fact, it took me 18 minutes - mostly because my husband or son had put my whisk away in .... well .... a place I would NEVER had put it, and it took me FOREVER to find it.
One of the many joys of chocolate pudding is that the ingredients are mostly pantry-stable. I could have used powdered milk instead of fresh (and, while looking at recipes, I saw that the 'instant chocolate pudding' recipe by America's Test Kitchen uses powdered milk), I suppose I could have used baking chocolate instead of cocoa powder and butter (yes, the cocoa powder is shelf-stable, but the butter isn't), the flour and cornstarch and salt and vanilla the recipe called for last forever.
It was fast to make. It was easy. It tasted WONDERFUL.
Everyone to the kitchen, grab that 2 to 3 quart saucepan, set your timer (so you can see how fast this really is), and GO!
CHOCOLATE PUDDING - served the 3 of us because we showed some restraint
1/2 cup white sugar 2 3/4 cups skim milk
3 tablespoons dutched cocoa 2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cornstarch 1 1/2 tablespoons amaretto
Into that saucepan you grabbed, add all the dry ingredients. Whisk them a bit to make them as smooth as possible, it helps reduce lumps later. Add the milk. Heat at medium (medium high on my stove, but your stove will vary!) until boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer, keep stirring. Soon it will be thickened. Take off the burner, add but butter and amaretto (you may prefer the more traditional vanilla). Try to let it cool long enough that you don't burn your tongue. Can be served warm or cold.
We tasted it before the amaretto was added - it was nice, but 'flat'. Amaretto and butter kicked it up wonderfully.
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Family
Blessings, Darlings!
This losing-weight/getting fit program I'm on is a solo program - the rest of the family isn't coming on this roller coaster with me. Which has good and bad points.
Bad, of course, is that they want, and are getting, normal meals. Tonight's dinner was served with puff pastry for them, but brown rice for me. I made the brown rice in bulk a few days ago, so nuking some wasn't a big deal. My son is still bringing home the fried chicken lunches he doesn't eat, as we're having that for dinner once a week. I eat mine minus the skin and breading. And it KILLS me to take the skin and breading off and throw it away!
On the other hand, I'm Druish - Druid of Jewish Origins. So I'm making the most of the Martyr Points I get for letting them not change their eating habits while I change mine. I also get oodles of Self Righteousness Points and Smugness Points. I hug those points to myself as I have fruit for dessert.
Actually, I AM slowing moving their diets in 'my' direction. For example, we had pasta last night. I had whole wheat, they had regular white semolina based. But both TASTED mine, and agreed it was perfectly adequate. Which is an improvement - in the pasta, not their taste buds. Whole wheat pasta used to taste overly sweet and didn't have anywhere NEAR the same mouth-feel as regular pasta, but now the taste and mouth feel is almost the same as the regular. So I will be able to serve them whole wheat pasta now, or at least a mix of the two.
We'll see what other steps I can get them to take with me. Maybe my husband will take walks more often, or walks that are longer than 12 minutes? Yes, I timed his walks! I admit it! Using chutneys to season lean meats is right out as husband HATES that, and he hates sweet salsas, too.
The Chubby Hubby IS helping one aspect of my diet. I bought a bag of tiny square 3 Musketeers, and gave them to him to dole out to me when I ask for them. Only one or two at a time. They have only 25 calories but really nice sweetness and, of course, CHOCOLATE. They make me very happy.
Frondly, Fern
This losing-weight/getting fit program I'm on is a solo program - the rest of the family isn't coming on this roller coaster with me. Which has good and bad points.
Bad, of course, is that they want, and are getting, normal meals. Tonight's dinner was served with puff pastry for them, but brown rice for me. I made the brown rice in bulk a few days ago, so nuking some wasn't a big deal. My son is still bringing home the fried chicken lunches he doesn't eat, as we're having that for dinner once a week. I eat mine minus the skin and breading. And it KILLS me to take the skin and breading off and throw it away!
On the other hand, I'm Druish - Druid of Jewish Origins. So I'm making the most of the Martyr Points I get for letting them not change their eating habits while I change mine. I also get oodles of Self Righteousness Points and Smugness Points. I hug those points to myself as I have fruit for dessert.
Actually, I AM slowing moving their diets in 'my' direction. For example, we had pasta last night. I had whole wheat, they had regular white semolina based. But both TASTED mine, and agreed it was perfectly adequate. Which is an improvement - in the pasta, not their taste buds. Whole wheat pasta used to taste overly sweet and didn't have anywhere NEAR the same mouth-feel as regular pasta, but now the taste and mouth feel is almost the same as the regular. So I will be able to serve them whole wheat pasta now, or at least a mix of the two.
We'll see what other steps I can get them to take with me. Maybe my husband will take walks more often, or walks that are longer than 12 minutes? Yes, I timed his walks! I admit it! Using chutneys to season lean meats is right out as husband HATES that, and he hates sweet salsas, too.
The Chubby Hubby IS helping one aspect of my diet. I bought a bag of tiny square 3 Musketeers, and gave them to him to dole out to me when I ask for them. Only one or two at a time. They have only 25 calories but really nice sweetness and, of course, CHOCOLATE. They make me very happy.
Frondly, Fern
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