Feeding the Addiction

Like many good things, I first discovered this from Hungry Girl. When I saw that I could order this "ice cream" treat from Amazon and have it delivered, still frozen, to my doorstep, I had to try it. The first time I ordered, I got the combo pack of chocolate and chocolate peanut butter. Yes, it was $50 for a 6 pack, but I had to give it a try. A serving is only 32 calories for ice cream! It arrived two days later (gotta love that Amazon Prime membership) in a styrofoam box with lots of dry ice. Each pint was still frozen solid.

It was love at first pint! The problem was that because each serving is only 32 calories, the whole pint is only 128 and there is something so satisfying about being able to eat a whole pint of dessert. Plus, that pint contains almost 20 grams of whey protein! It is the perfect treat each night after a long day and a hard workout. It rewards me while not sabotaging all of my healthy habits - a huge serving of sweet, cold, creamy, high protein, low calorie deliciousness. It wasn't long before I had to order every week because I was having one pint a night.

This has gone on for a few months. And it probably would have continued had we not made a recent purchase. Now I need to trim the fat, or in this case, the fat free. I told DrRuckus that I would stop ordering it and consuming a 6 pack a week. But what was I going to do? I really am addicted. So, I asked my favorite grocery store to carry it. Less than 4 days later, they have it in stock! They have lots of flavors, and it costs A LOT less than buying it from Amazon. I am going to try to keep it to under 4 pints per week, but at least I don't have to give it up completely. And now, you who live near me can all try it for a lot less than ordering it from Amazon. And if you don't live near me, check their website because they are starting to carry it in more and more places. You will love it. But don't say I didn't warn you!

Can't believe I succombed!

At first I thought that they were Fugly. Then, they grew on me, but I thought that they were "over". And then I moved to Texas and thought that they were unnecessary (and "over"). And then we had a cold snap down here in tropical Houston.

Really, with all of the yoga and pilates I have been doing as well as the fact that all of my gym workouts are in my five fingers, well, I just didn't have the right foot attire to wear to and from the gym and studio. And it has been cold! (Plus, I am trying to be good and go barefoot or be as close to it as possible so as not to overly strain my hamstring.)

Okay, I love them. I don't want to take them off. I just realized why they are not "over" yet. People just don't want to give them up. I get it. Finally.

Where I've Been (or "What I did Over Christmas Vacation")

The answer to is a long winded one, but one of my New Year's Resolutions is to make this blog more succinct and more pertinent to what is really important to me. It has lately become all about baking, and it is even beginning to bore me.

I actually haven't been anywhere physically but have been all over the place mentally. Though we travel more than any other young family that I know, we do not travel over Christmas week because DrRuckus always tries to be the good Jewish doctor and let everyone else get some time off to be with their families. Great for them, just sucks for us. I am always miserable during Christmas week because everyone is busy with their families and my husband is busy working and I feel housebound and lonely, like the only Jew in Texas. This year was worse than ever because we were all sick at various times, and were even more confined to the house. To exacerbate the torture, I was nursing a hamstring injury and so was not able to get the release and endorphin rush that I am so addicted to. I don't really know what we did except count the hours until Daddy got home, but we made it, one hour at a time!

On the positive side, we caught up on some of our recorded TV shows, watched and returned some of our Netflix movies and I read some great books. One of these, "A Homemade Life" by superstar food blogger, Molly Wizenberg of Orangette fame was really well written and contains some fantastic recipes (yes, I tried a bunch of them and just took some of her bread out of the oven). If you want to read a baking blog, go to her site because she is the real deal. And if you live in, or travel to Seattle, go to her new restaurant and report back to me!

One of the other books, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, has truly inspired me and helped me ring in 2010 with a whole new brighter outlook. I have been meaning to do a post about all of the books I have read on my Kindle and hopefully will get to that soon. But this one just came at the right time and is making my life so much better!

This book is part adventure story, part anthropology lesson, part history text, part manual and ALL inspiration! McDougall discusses an epic ultramarathon in the savage Copper Canyon in Mexico with the hidden tribe of Tarahumara Indians. He teaches us why we as an animal have evolved to run long distances and makes doing so seem like it can be pure joy. As someone who has slogged through countless long runs, the idea of doing so with much less work and much more joy is very appealing.

He also posits that the reason why there are so many injuries from running is that our modern, high tech shoes are forcing our feet and legs to move in a way that is unnatural to them and not allowing our bodies to do the work for which they were designed. The trend towards barefoot or minimal running is taking off and there is a great deal of evidence as to why this is ultimately better for us and will keep us running injury free. Since I was nursing an injury at the time that I read it, I was willing to jump on board. I cannot fathom going all the way to barefoot because I like having pretty feet way too much. However, I did buy a pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes and have been learning how to run in them with a natural, short, easy stride. Crazy thing is, all of my leg pain is gone and my legs feel better each day that I walk around barefoot and workout in these. They look like gorilla feet, but they are fantastic!

One of the other secrets to the Tarahumara runners that McDougall discusses in his book is Chia. This ancient grain, consumed by the Tarahumara and other natives of the Southwest including the Aztecs, has incredible properties for overall health as well as for endurance. It contains tons of antioxidants, fiber, Omega-3 and Omega-6, Iron, Calcium, Magnesium AND is a complete protein. As if all of that is not enough, eating it also slows the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar, prolonging their fueling effects. It also has hydrophilic properties that help the body to retain moisture and thus prevent dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

I've been eating it for a few days now and the difference is incredible! Besides going from injury to recovery, which can be attributed to many factors, the biggest difference that I have found is in my energy level. I mix the chia with my oatmeal in the morning and have plenty of energy to get my kids going, get to the gym, do an intense workout, do something afterwards and not eat until about 1 p.m. I usually need some type of snack in the morning and then have to feed myself before I feed my kids in order to bite their heads off! Over the past few days, we have had some late dinners and I have not had the need to have a pre dinner snack (which I would normally have to do because I am used to eating dinner at toddler time) because I had a chia drink in the afternoon. Amazing stuff!

So much for succinct!

Happy Birthday, Little Ladybug

My blue eyed little girl turned one year old last week and we were determined to celebrate this milestone in style! Though she is utterly adorable, charming, funny, delightful, adventurous, bright and sweet, she was not, and still is not, always this way. Unlike my placid, easily pacified little boy, LL knows what she wants and will scream until she gets it. It took us a few colicky months to really get in sync with her and to this day, if we are not on her wavelength, she lets us know, loudly. I love her with a consuming passion, but getting through this first year with her, on top of parenting a toddler, has been the biggest challenge of my life thus far. So, we wanted to throw a party to celebrate her first birthday, but really, we wanted a party because we haven't thrown her or ourselves out of the window this year! We wanted everyone to see our little birthday girl and then send her off to dreamland while the grown ups could get down to the celebration. No kids were invited and even Z-Man was sent down the street for the night to play with neighbors.

The theme was "Cocktails and Cupcakes" because those are two of the most festive things I could think of. We decided to have the party catered because we didn't want to spend the few days before, the first few days in a row that DrRuckus had off at home all summer, in constant party preparation. Also, since this was to be a grown up party, we wanted to be able to relax and imbibe rather than fuss with entertaining. Because I love them, I decided to have Hubbell and Hudson do the catering. Their catering manager was delightful to work with and put together a fun menu of tasty nibbles and platters to please everyone. However, I could not entrust the cupcake aspect of the party to anyone but myself. I love baking too much, and really think that my cakes and cupcakes are way better than any you could buy anywhere else. Besides, it was way too much fun to plan which cupcakes I was going to make.

I have never been a fan of Martha Stewart, but I saw her cupcake book at Williams Sonoma a few weeks back and it really caught my eye because I opened it to the page on Ladybug cupcakes! Of course, I ordered it right up from Amazon and had it two days later. I got that book and poured over it like it was my Organic Chemistry textbook back in college. It was post-ited, highlighted, annotated and broken in within two days. I wanted to make everything in there, but finally narrowed it down to four cupcakes.

I also learned something very important: Martha Stewart is a huge pain in the rear! Her recipes are way more complicated and require way more steps than I am used to, and I bake a lot! Secondly, her recipes make really odd numbers of cupcakes. Not 24 regular size ones, but 32. Not 48 minis, but 56. Why? She obviously has a huge staff, so why can't they tweak the recipes so that the whole batter can fill regular muffin tins without having to start but not fill a third tin. Why?

Usually, I am a last minute lady, but I wanted to be relaxed for the party, and I was damn excited about my cupcakes, so I started baking early in the week and got some cakes in the freezer so that I could do a bit every night instead of being crazed the day before. My mom was there for most of the week and we had fun each night perfecting the "cuppersons". This method worked well for me, and I will have to remember in the future that, with a little planning, things are much more fun and less stressful!

1. Ladybug Cupcakes


I used Martha's recipe for chocolate chip cupcakes and wanted to make a caramel buttercream because I was still dreaming of the best cake I ever had, the Z-Man's third birthday cake which was made by a baker who has subsequently moved to Singapore. First, I tried to use the recipe for Magnolia Bakery's chocolate frosting, substituting caramel for chocolate, but this came out sickeningly sweet. I could not eat it and had to dump the whole thing (much to the chagrin of my sweet toothed sweetie). Then, I decided to try Martha's caramel swiss meringue buttercream. Boy, this one was a pain! Making a fresh batch of caramel, cooking, whipping and cooling egg whites, beating with two different mixers. But, it would have been all good if it was delicious. However, it was not to my liking at all. Where my improvised caramel icing was sickeningly sweet, this one was not sweet enough and just tasted like sweet butter. I still have it in the fridge, but I couldn't use it. I wanted to make the most delicious buttercream. So, I went to Old Faithful, the Magnolia Bakery buttercream, though I always triple the vanilla:

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

(Makes enough for a 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

15 minutes 15 mins prep

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On
medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each
addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all
of the sugar).
If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Use and store the icing at
room temperature because icing will set if chilled. The icing can be stored in an airtight con-
tainer for up to 3 days.
**If making a 3-layer cake, use the following proportions: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 8-10
cups confectioner's sugar, 3/4 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

I then added some green gel paste and placed two marzipan ladybugs. My good friend, L, stayed until the wee hours of the morning making these, dying our hands black and red and cursing Martha the whole time. They came out so adorable and the completed cupcakes looked fantastic on a cupcake stand, but, even better, I thought that they were the most delicious of all that I had made.


2. Sel Your Soul cupcakes - These were directly from the Miss Martha's book. They were mini rich chocolate cupcakes, from which my mom cut a tiny cone out of the top of each, into which I poured Fleur de Sel Caramel. Then, they were topped with the richest, creamiest, most chocolatey frosting I have ever had. Martha, you more than made up for that yucky Swiss Meringue crap! BTW, I am a great baker, but not a very good decorator, and piping this slick, rich icing was quite the challenge for me, but I sprinkled each of these puppies with a little fleur de sel and they were out of this world. The definition of "To Die For".



3. Pucker Up Cupcakes - These were also from Miss Martha, though I made a combination of regular and mini sized ones. The cakes were delicious, lemony and crumbly. However, her curd did not set up right. I used her recipe exactly (8 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs, yikes!) but it did not set up. This kept me up at night and so I did some searching around and saw that there was not even close to enough butter in that recipe for it to work. I ended up adding another stick and a half of butter to Martha's recipe before my curd set up, but when it did . . . heaven! Who knew that lemon curd is one of the worst for you foods that there is? But, yum!


4. Raspberry Dream cupcakes - For my last and final cupcake, I wanted to do something in a cupcake paper that was not exactly a cupcake, so I made Martha's raspberry swirl cheesecake cupcakes. However, I had a clever twist. Later in the book, there are Oreo cheesecake cupcakes, and I used the crust from these: one whole Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake paper. Brilliant! I also substituted marscapone for half of the cream cheese. These ended up being the easiest of all, and were truly delicious.


I ended up with hundreds of cupcakes, so from Amazon (of course) I ordered a bunch of cupcake boxes so that people could bring cupcakes home to share with their kids. This was a stroke of genius on my part, as the kids got a little goody and all of the beautiful and delicious cupcakes went to good homes. In fact, we only ended up with a few the next day, definitely a very good thing after much indulgence!

And the party! Simply marvelous, darling! LL looked adorable in her French frock and managed to stay awake until about half of the guests arrived. We had friends from all different aspects of our life and it was wonderful to have them all here, mixing, at our house. We love our friends and don't get to socialize with them all that often, so it was great fun for us to have them together, meeting one another and enjoying a fun night out. Our neighbors even got a little nutty and played quarters in the entry way, always a sign of a good party.

The food was delicious, and having servers there made it so much easier for us and for all of the guests. All of the little "hors" from the coconut shrimp to the little prosciutto poblano cupcakes with goat cheese "frosting" were delicious, though I was partial to the tiny martini glasses filled with the vanilla corn chowder and a crab meat "surprise". However, my only regret was setting the bar and bartender up in the kitchen. I know that at parties people always end up in the kitchen, but I invited this to happen by having the bar here. I had set up beautiful cocktail tables with turquoise linens tied with silver sashes that set off my chocolate brown living room walls, and no one ventured into that room. Next time, I will put the bar where I want the people to be.

All in all, it was an awesome party. Happy Birthday, Little Ladybug. Daddy and I love you so much.

I Hate Wal Mart

Here in the bubble that is The Woodlands, we have two Wal Marts. One of which is pretty standard and one of which is actually quite nice, for a Wal Mart. But, I rarely go there. First because I use Amazon Prime for so many of the things and that one might buy at Wal Mart (which is everything) and thus can avoid dragging my children around. But, secondly, because Wal Mart just gives me the creeps. I love Target, but Wal Mart just makes me feel kind of dirty.

However, I had to take the dog to the vet today and the vet's office is right next to Wal Mart. I asked them to keep the dog for 20 minutes while the kids and I ran across the parking lot to get a trunk load of storage bins and hangers for my upcoming and much overdue closet cleanings. These things really would have cost me more on Amazon, so I sucked it up and went to Wally World. I found everything that I was looking for (and a few things I didn't know I was looking for) and $250 later, we were out of there. I felt like I needed a shower. It might have to do with the lighting and the layout of the store that makes one feel like a mouse in maze. It probably has more to do with the idea that "Hey! We have everything, why do you need to go anywhere else?" Well, they do have everything, but much of it is crap. And ugly, And, well, cheap. Which is great for some things, like storage bins, but for other things just seems yucky.

For example, on the way out of there with my storage bins, hangers, dvds, cumin, toddler tighty whities, a hot wheels car, pool noodles, a pair of scissors, sugar free dulce de leche pudding and biter biscuits, I saw Rainier cherries. As you know, I LOVE them, so I was thrilled to see them on sale there. I never made it to Sam's Club the other day and figured that these two are the same company (BTW, though I hate Wal Mart, I adore shopping at Sam's Club), they'd be the same cherries. I was WRONG! These were mealy and gross. Ugh! I hate Wal Mart

I Love Amazon Prime

I shop online all of the time.  It saves me tons of money and, just as importantly, saves me tons of stress.  With a little research, you can find better prices for almost anything online than in stores and there are so many ways to get free shipping.  I will blog all about my favorite sites and strategies some other time.  But, as I am sure that I will be talking about what I bought from amazon on a frequent basis, I might as well post about it here in the beginning.  For many years, I thought of amazon as the place to go to buy books.  They have almost everything in print and they have tons of reviews.  Maybe I bought a movie from them here or there.  They had that nifty and thrifty "super saver" shipping if you bought a couple of books.

Well, man was I missing out.  Amazon has single handedly made my life so much better, so much easier, so much more pleasant and stress free.  Why?  Because of Amazon Prime.  For years they offered me a "trial period" and I declined.  Finally, a few months ago, I decided to try it out and I discovered that it is the BEST thing ever.  Yes, it costs $80/year.  But, it is the best $80 I have ever spent.  If I am deciding on an item, there are tons of reviews to help me make my decision. When I need something specific, all I have to do is go onto amazon and put it in my shopping cart.  I do not use amazon for browsing.  I use it for BUYING.  Then, when I am ready to check out (usually I do this every other day), they ship it to me with FREE two day shipping.  If I want it the next day, it is only $3.99/item.  Not only is shipping free, but the prices are usually the same if not better than you would find at your big box stores (i.e. Sam's Club).  Plus, no tax.

Running low on diapers?  Amazon.  Need my son's organic chocolate milk?  Amazon arranges for shipment every month.  An enormous kids' picnic table for a party this weekend?  $3.99 and the 60 pound box is at my house in less than 24 hours.  Nursing bras, strollers, birthday presents, spices, new Kitchen Aid mixer, vitamins, laundry detergent, water filters.  These are all things I have gotten from amazon in the last month.  I am telling you, you name it, they have it and can get it to you in two days.  No need to go to Sam's Club. No need to go to Walgreen's, no need to go to Babies R Us.  No need for dragging cranky kids all over.  For less money than I would have spent hopping around from store to store, my stuff comes to me.  How can I go wrong?  (There is even an iPhone application so that I can shop on the go.)  

I still buy my books from them.  And I will be doing so even more easily when I get my Kindle.