Peace, Love & Heavenly Flavors

 

This weekend has brought some good times, that's for sure. Terry and I did nothing out of the ordinary outside of the home. The rainy season has officially begun in Oregon, so here we go. Since Terry was "declawed" last week, we have to be a little aware of his toes as we go through a rainy spell too. They are all bandaged right now and bandaged toes that get wet can create a mess of sorts, not to mention I don't want them infected.

Our weekend at home was pretty awesome though. We always find something to get into and to laugh about. Terry worked on his reading prowess, and I spent some time online, watching TV, and creating a big mess in the kitchen. Why? Because I can. I am quite efficient at making a mess in the kitchen when I cook or bake. I make the mess, then clean it up later. 

This weekend, I chose to work with desserts. I'm growing tired of the same pudding choices every single night. I figured why not play around in the kitchen and make something fun. First thing I did, I grabbed a box of pudding. Old habits never die, as they say. 

I created a couple of tubs of a chocolate heaven, with an 8-ounce container of Cool Whip (zero sugar), and added a small box of chocolate pudding, one cup of milk instead of two as the directions call for. Yes, I know. It all sounds like a fancified pudding or mousse. I threw it into the freezer and froze it for about four hours. 

I made some zuppa Toscana soup for dinner, to which my husband gave me the thumbs up and a big, "Thank you." As we watched our new show, Saving Hope, we macked a bowl or two of the soup. But then comes that annoying sweet tooth, although this time I was prepared. 

Bringing out the dessert brought a smile to Terry's face. He thought it looked very good, and most of all, it's what a diabetic wants to hear in being sugar free. We watched the show, and devoured our desserts. Wow, was it good! A frozen treat that is not quite ice cream, but is close. The dessert was like a frozen mousse. Rich chocolate flavor, but cold like ice cream would be. 

And, pay close attention to the line, "Not a low calorie food" on the label. That's always nice to see. Well, then. There goes the ass. The zero sugar label seems nice too, but there are alcohol sugars in this whipped goodness. Alcohol sugars are as bad as carbs are when it comes to any type of weight loss or keeping blood glucose levels at normal levels. 

Zero sugar Jell-O pudding is awesome. It does not have the intestinal destressing alcohol sugars, and the company had the decency to keep the calories on the lighter side. The flavor here is banana cream, as you can see, but I made chocolate tonight. 

After blending the lovely mixture of whipped cream and pudding, the appearance made my heart sing and mouth water. I could hardly keep my patience at a stand still while waiting for this deliciousness to freeze into the dessert I was hoping for. Four hours in a freezer. Four? Longest four hours of my life. 

Light, fluffy, chocolatey, lovely. 

To freeze the mixture, I poured the Cool Whip and pudding combination into the Cool Whip container, put the lid on it, and threw it into the freezer. Oh, yeah. A little slice of heaven here on earth. 

***

Last night's dessert was an amazingly good option. Tonight, we have Mallory coming over to eat a barbecued meal with us. I wanted her to try this dessert after dinner. But Terry and I had discussed how wonderful last night's chocolate goodness was, but how much better it would be if we turned it into an even better rocky road ice cream. So tonight, it's on. It's going down. 

After the Cool Whip and pudding blended together, I added Bake Believe chocolate chips. Bake Believe chips are low in carbs, sweetened with stevia, and have no sugar alcohols. Beautiful creation by the makers of these little pearls. 

Now comes the difficult part of making a sugar free rocky road creation. I looked around and voila! Guess what I found?

Yes, they are sugar free, or so to speak. No carbs, which makes it a bonus in my life. But, there are alcohol sugars in the product, making it something you want to eat a little of and then stop. Alcohol sugars can wreak havoc on the intestinal tract of the consumer, and you can spend the night in the bathroom calling out for God if you're not careful. Stock up on toilet paper. That's all I can say. I added one or two marshmallows in each of our containers. After cutting them into small pieces, it was a perfect amount. 

I added the walnuts to finish off the project. Pieces of walnuts highlight the chocolate chips, and top off the original rocky road flavor. Delightful concoction, and ready to go into the freezer. 

After all was said and done, all three of us were so full we couldn't eat any more. Mallory left some dessert behind, as did I. Terry was able to finish his container full of the rocky road dream, but was very full as he hugged his daughter goodbye for the evening, then went out to smoke. 

Simple, sugar free; or as close as we can get as diabetics who still want to experience the sweetness of a great chocolate dessert. I will definitely make a lot of this in the future. Next time, I'm making the banana cream flavor and will make some butterscotch flavor for Terry, just for shits & giggles. Why not?

***

So, desserts done. What do two old people do all weekend? We laugh, watch our show in the evenings, and choose what we want for dinner. Every single night. Man, does that get old. The same discussion night after night on what it is I'm making for dinner. 

The zuppa Toscana soup was an amazing choice on Sunday. Monday was the barbecued burgers and steak fries. We spend more time deciding what to have every night than we do making the choice and eating it. 

Driving out of the alleyway, I saw this beautiful rainbow. This. This is what old people love to do. We love to snap photos of everything. Terry and I have so many photos that we love and would like to hang around the house, but we have a very large family and their photos come first. I'm not even finished with framing and hanging all of those pics.

I truly believe our little Esme is broken. 

Last night, I caught her staring at the wall. Before that, she had laid on my lap and stared into my eyes. Very odd cat. Love her dearly, but odd. 

And, speaking of odd, I was shopping the other night and ran across these horrible, nasty, terrifying tidbits of what I guess is supposed to be snacks? I wouldn't touch them, but once I posed them on Facebook, I had a few comments of people saying they would try them or that their grandchildren loves them. Hmm. So, I'm the first to admit, I could be very wrong about them but just do not have the urge to put one of those nasty things in my mouth. 

Nope. I just cannot do it. Why not just eat a pickle? What sicko thought of this? Why would you do that to a corn ball? Why would you do that to a pickle?

***

Well, our Indigenous Peoples Day has come and gone again. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend like we did. We are all blessed, we just need to live in the present and know what those blessings are. Can you see? Walk? Breathe? Have a family? All of these are wonderful blessings. 

With much love and many hugs,

Until our next post,

Take care. 

Vicki & Terry Macrae

Partners in the kitchen