Cupcakes!

I don't know about you but sometimes I need a cupcake. Stat! So today I decided to crack open my Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 recipe book. I have the first Hungry Girl book but I am a little leery of all the Splenda and non-fat stuff she uses. And I love Cool Whip as much as the next person but, hello, trans fats. I don't understand why someone is advocating a "healthier" way of eating but advising you to use fake food. But don't get me wrong, I do love myself some Hungry Girl. You have to pick and choose but she has some yummy recipes that are generally low in calories and fat. I perused the cupcake recipes and came across one I had all the ingredients for. Lucky I stocked up on cake mixes when they were on sale for $1! I made these:

Jelly Filled cupcakes (HG 200 under 200)

2 cups moist style yellow cake mix (1/2 of an 18.25 oz box)

1/3 cup no sugar added applesauce

1/4 cup sugar free strawberry preserves

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350

Mix cake mix and baking powder. Add in applesauce and 1 cup water then stir until blended

Spray 12 ct muffin pan and evenly distribute cake mix. Bake for 20-22 min until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meanwhile place preserves in the bottom corner of a large plastic bag. Snip corner when ready to pipe preserves into cupcake.

Remove cupcakes and use a knife to cut a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. Use the baggie to squeeze the preserves evenly into the holes. Allow to cool and enjoy.

And then I proceeded to eat 3. Hey, they are only 2 points (92 calories) each. And now I think I'm in a carb stupor. But a yummy, yummy carb stupor. You should check out Hungry Girl if you do Weight Watchers (she has points for every recipe, which admittedly you could look up with the nutrition info but it saves a step), if you are looking for low cal and low fat alternatives to popular fatty foods or if you just need a little cupcake fix. You can check out her website here.

My So Called Life

I think I've done a post with that title before. I also think I used to like that show. Isn't that the one with Claire Danes? OK, moving on. As you can see, not much has been happening here (on my blog). My life is another matter. I am just swept along on the current of my life. That sentence deserves its own Bob Ross painting:



Before my grandmother passed away she was a huge Bob Ross devotee. Every Christmas we would get a picture she painted. I wish I had saved some of them. I do have the hand painted flyswatter holder. Don't ask, we are Okies after all. But again I digress. My organizing journey has been heinously co opted by LIFE. Exercise and school and children and random excuses. I know I just need to make time for it. Right now I live in a bedroom with one and a half painted walls. I always think, "This summer we will do all the little projects we have and we will be so productive." HAHA. But really, this summer. I am on it. But I can update you on where most of my time goes. I finished my second class for my Master's. Only about 50 million to go. Whoot whoot. I managed to do my at home final in the midst of numerous crying fits and fights over who got to use the computer. That bad boy was 28 pages in length. I know that sounds impressive but it was mostly busy work. I am in Week 4 of the Couch to 5K. Yesterday I jogged 16 minutes total (divided into four 5 and 3 minute sets). Next week is the dum dum dum 20 minute nonstop jog. If I pace myself I know I can do it. Having the Garmin helps immensely because I know if I look down and see 10 minute miles I should slow WAY down. I mean to like 12 and a half minute miles. Which is fine with me. I amended my goal time for the 5K to 38 minutes (from 35) so I would have a little room to breathe, if you will. I also need to consider the altitude but I'm not. And then in a fit of optimism and excitement I signed up for a mini sprint triathlon this October. It's a 150 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and half mile run. I also signed Emma up for the kids event so I don't have to suffer alone. She is not happy. This may be a long summer. In 3 Day news, I recently did another dessert fund raiser and ended up with almost $475. It really pays to have friends with money! So close, yet still $600 away. But that seems so much smaller than $2,000. We start training at the beginning of June so hopefully all the money issues will be squared away. That's my life in two minutes. I am making a promise to myself to update more regularly, even if the focus changes. Maybe I'll get more hits from talking about exercise! And Weight Watchers. And C25K. And triathlons. Any other key words I left out?

Everything Pink

Just so you know where my time is going, I thought I'd show you a couple pictures from our 1st bunco Breast Cancer 3 Day fundraiser. It actually turned out to be a "Left Right Center" party but what can you do. Sara and I provided pink themed desserts and drinks (forgot to take photos of the drinks) for donations. Please disregard the funky stems on these strawberries. I think next time I'll cut the ends off. And I was so bothered by the fact that my pudding was not pink. Sara said it was "salmon" but that just grossed me out more. But I was impressed by my pink ribbon chocolates. I have another dessert event next week but my friend Heather seems intent on making 20 desserts herself so I might not have much work. I did buy the "fancy chocolate" at Williams Sonoma (Guittard) so the white chocolate ribbons would be easier and tastier - fingers crossed. I also needed more chocolate for strawberries and I did not want to spend half an hour stirring melted chocolate in order to temper it. I love to bake and especially love to make desserts so this wasn't a bad way to make $175 for our walk. I'm really hoping to have the whole $2300 soon but if anyone needs pink desserts...