Birthday Pie....Oh My!

Yesterday was Kaylee's birthday.  My oldest baby is now 11.  It's crazy how the time flies.  This little girl has been with me through so much.  I realized something Saturday though.  Many people get depressed because their kids are growing up, or that they are getting old.  That's not what upsets me.  It upsets me that as each year passes that means that I'm another year closer to her leaving for college.  Another year closer to her leaving me.

And I'm going to stop right there.  I'm starting to tear up just thinking about it and trying to type while crying isn't exactly easy.  But, in this house, we don't do normal birthdays.  When it comes to birthdays we kinda march to a different drum.  My kids know that birthday desserts aren't just limited to cake.  They know that anything that can have a candle stuck on it is acceptable.  For past birthdays I've made ice cream cakes, brownies, watermelon cakes, and trifles.  This year Kaylee decided on a birthday pie.  A chocolate mousse birthday pie to be specific.  I used a fat free cookie crust, did a layer of chocolate ganache on the bottom and filled it with chocolate Dream Whip mousse.

For the cookie crust
2.75 cups flour
.75 cups cocoa powder
1 t baking powder (optional)
.5 cup applesauce
.5 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt
egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs
1 - 1.75 cups sugar
2 t vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Stir to combine.  {You'll know it's well combined when it's all one color}
3. In a separate bowl whisk together applesauce, greek yogurt, egg substitute and vanilla.
4. Pour applesauce mixture into flour mixture.  It should form a doughy ball.
5.  Grease a pie pan or large baking dish
6. Using cocoa powder, "flour" a cutting board and roll out the dough into about a 1/4" thick piece that will cover your pie pan. {If dough is too sticky knead a little more cocoa powder into it before rolling it out}
7. Lay dough in pan and cut to fit.
8. Using a fork prick holes in the pie dough {this is so it doesn't rise as much as it bakes}
9. Bake for 16-20 minutes until done.

Chocolate Ganache Layer

1 cup chocolate chips

.25 cup skim milk

Directions

1. Bring milk to a boil
2. Pour on top of chocolate chips
3. Stir until melted and combined
4. Pour in pie shell and refrigerate until hardened

For the filling

2 envelopes Dream Whip

2 (4 serving) packages of any flavor Jello pudding mix

2.75 cup skim milk
.5 t vanilla

Directions

1. Mix Dream Whip with 1 cup of milk and vanilla in bowl of mixer
2. Beat on high speed for 6 minutes until peaks form
3. Add milk and pudding mix
4. Mix on medium, then beat on high for 2 minutes
5. Fill pie shell

If you leave off the ganache this pie is fat free.  So, are the people in your house traditional birthday cake people or nontraditional birthday dessert people?  What are your favorite birthday desserts?

Happy Birthday!

Today is Mo's 9th birthday!  We are going to the Jacksonville Zoo and I'm making tacos for dinner.  I'll have a full recap for y'all tomorrow.  

To My Loving Husband...

I love you!


My NaBloPoMo prompt for today is:  If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?
Which I find very fitting on my husband's birthday.  I will start with him, I'd give him the money to start his scooter business.  
For me/the family -- A new truck and a house sitting on a big piece of land with some animals

Tomorrow,  I'll share photos from Halloween and Ken's birthday.

My Birthday Recap (with a new recipe)

Yesterday was my birthday.  It was the best birthday I've had in a while.  I went to the gym in the morning, Ken went down the street and picked up my new stove (got a free microwave as an added bonus), we went to see Monsters University (a REALLY cute movie), came home and Ken and Kaylee cooked dinner for me.  Kaylee is using my birthday dinner as her next Kooking with Kaylee.  

I'm always depressed by how my fat free cakes turn out.  But, I decided to try it one last time.  This cake was a home run!  I was so excited.  I got the recipe from The Fat Free Vegan Blog.  Click HERE for the recipe.  I actually didn't change anything except I used regular whole wheat flour, sugar free maple syrup and used cornstarch instead of chia.  I also added a Cool Whip frosting (1 cup milk, 1 box sugar free fat free pudding mix and an 8 oz container Cool Whip Free mixed together) to the top.  {Birthday cake needs frosting in my opinion}

This is a one layer cake and I'm a complete frosting addict.  My trick?  Use a sharp knife and hollow out some cake from the top.  You can fill the hole with frosting and you'll get more.  I crumbled the cake I removed and used it on top for garnish.  

My gifts.  Popsicle molds and a misto from Ken, a new watch, the Fitness RX magazine and the necklaces from Kaylee, Mantha gave me the watch and the Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine, and Sunny gave me the ring and keychain.  Everything I wanted.  I was so happy!!

Kaylee Party Recap

Right now it's 5:22 in the morning and I'm hiding in my garage because I have little girls scattered all over my living room.  Seriously, it looks like a crime scene.  There's 2 sprawled out on the floor, one curled up on the loveseat, one on each end of the couch and the last one is asleep SITTING UP on the couch.  I wish I could get a picture for you.  But, I'm enjoying the quiet.  It's been over 12 hours since I've heard any silence in this house so I'm taking the time to start this post.

Anyways, yesterday was Kaylee's birthday.  She had an 11:30 game, her final game of the season.  They won {YEY!} 3-1.  As sad as I was to miss her final game, I stayed at home to work on stuff for the party.  Since Sirr is here for the week he was more than happy to take her and see her play.  Unfortunately during the game one girl dislocated her ankle and another got hurt.  

Kaylee's friends got here around 2:00.  They are some of the most interesting, smartest girls I've met.  I think I've had better conversations with them then I have with many adults I've interacted with recently.  We headed up to the pool and they got to swim for about an hour before we did cake and presents.  I also set out some chips, dip, and watermelon for them to snack on.  Some of the girls had to leave at 5 {I had 2 options for the parents.  If they couldn't sleep over they could come for the party from 2-5} so we headed back to the house.  They ran around like crazy girls until it was time to make pizza.  Then they ran around like crazy AFTER they made pizza.  Actually, I really don't think they stopped running around like crazy...

As party of their goody bags I had them decorate pillowcases.  They had a blast doing it.  

After dinner and pillowcases it was time to do makeup.  Finally at around 10 we had them settle down to watch a movie.   They chose A Wrinkle in Time because they were reading it in school.  Turns out it's a 2 hour movie!  While they were watching the movie I set out popcorn, and pretzels.  The popcorn was plain.  I figured after the chips and dip, candy and cake, they didn't need any more salt and buttery fatness going in their body.  {Kaylee's lucky I love her so much or this would have been a TOTAL health freak party}  We, after being rudely asked  "DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN BUTTER OR SALT??!!??"  I went into a brief lecture on the health risks associated with high sodium diets. I am proud of myself for keeping it short and simple (and appropriate for 10 year olds.)   {During breakfast I was given hell by a certain child because we only had sugar-free syrup, we don't normally use butter, salt, or really eat junk food, and because we don't have ice cream in the house.}

I ended up crashing at around 11:30. According to Ken the girls finally fell asleep at around 2.  They ended up waking up around 7:30.  For breakfast we had Puffins (pancakes made in a muffin tin.  I do this so I don't have to stand over the stove for 2 hours making a million pancakes.) and then we headed to the pool for about an hour.  By 11:30 it was just the family.  

The girls relaxed and watched Hotel Transylvania while I cleaned up a bit.  We went out to Golden Corral for dinner and came home and did cake cookies and presents.  Kaylee and Mantha's stomachs were not too happy from a day full of eating crummy food.  Next party we have is going to be a healthy party.  I will allow a cake but, no cookies, candy, or junk food.  

Kaylee claims she had a wonderful birthday.  I'm so happy that she had fun.  Next time though, Ken and I have decided to keep it small and simple.  Well, maybe not simple but, atleast small.  

All in all it was an excellent day.  I sent the kids to bed early because they were starting to break down on me.  Good nite fat free family!  I promise there won't be as much time between this post and my next one.  Life is calm now.  My break has officially begun (besides stocking up for vacation and working on my AFAA book.)

Kaylee Birthday

Yesterday I had a baby and today she's turning 10.

Where did the time go??

Tomorrow she'll be driving and in a week she'll be graduating college.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLEE!!!

Kaylee age 1-5

Kaylee Ages 6-9

Happy 4th Birthday Sunny Bug!

Sunny, Newborn to Age 3

Happy Birthday Sunny!

4 years ago today my world got turned upside down.  Today was a fun filled family day.  I let Kaylee and Mantha skip school because we were originally going to goto the zoo.  But, it rained half the morning so we went bowling instead.

We bowled 1 game.  It actually took us an hour.  According to SparkPeople.com 1 hour of bowling burned 140 calories.  Not bad for just having fun, right?  Ken beat me, but not by much.  The girls had a blast

I love family fun time.  We on on adventures so seldom.  I'm glad that Sunny is getting older so we can do more.  {But I'm not going to lie, I broke down last nite thinking about the fact that I have no more babies in my house...}

After bowling we went to Ken's work to eat.  The people there love the girls.  I ordered the salmon {like I always do}  this time I ordered the Salmon Florentine.  It's supposed to come with Spinach Artichoke dip on top but I substituted the dip for some steamed spinach.  It was the best salmon I've had.  The GM cooked it for me himself because he wanted to make sure it was right.  {I adore that they care enough to do that for me}  We also ordered the gaucamole so I could try it. It was delicious!

[Tip:  Avacado's are very healthy.  Loaded with fat though.  They are not good if you are dealing with gallbladder issues.  But, if you are just wanting a healthy appetizer then the gaucamole is a great option.  BUT, chips are a diet buster!  Order it with a side of raw zucchini rounds.  They still give you that chippy crunch without the fat and calories]     

The people at Ken's work really did an outstanding job of waiting on us.  It probably helped that I brought them 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes.  They really made Sunny feel special.  Balloons, a gift {I told you, the GM is awesome!} and exceptional service {thanks Kevin!}

We came back to the house, called Gramma and Sirr on Skype and video chatted while we did cake.  I made a watermelon cake since we were having cupcakes at dinner.  This was the simplest cake EVER!  Ken cut 2 rounds of watermelon and I topped it with Cool Whip and skewered fruits.  Sunny loved it.   Kaylee wanted to do something special for Sunny so she was the one that designed the cake "topper" (there was no space on the top so it got put on the side.)  She made it out of homemade modeling chocolate.  {Melt 1 pound of chocolate and stir in 0.25 cup of corn syrup or maple sugar, let it come to room temp and then use it like play-doh}  

The sun and butterfly wings Kaylee made for the cake

Super healthy!

And finally, some pictures from our day...

Bowling fun

Dinner and Cake

What do you do for your kids birthdays?

Recipe Redux

Cupcakes are everywhere these days aren't they?  You can find 40 bajillion flavors. Normal flavors (chocolate, vanilla, and carrot), off-the-wall flavors (beer, apple onion, and corned beef with cabbage), ones for every dietary restriction (vegan, gluten free, and sugar free), and combinations of all of the above. I love cupcakes. They are great pre-portioned desserts (as long as you only eat one.)
Sunny's birthday is tomorrow. She's one lucky duck. She's getting a watermelon cake at home before presents and cupcakes after dinner at Ken's work. Why 2 different desserts? Because we are bringing cupcakes to share with to Ken's coworkers because we like to spoil them and they adore the girls. I made chocolate zucchini cupcakes with a marshmallow creme-cool whip frosting.
I love this recipe. It's sweet but not too sweet.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

Adapted from Happy Herbivore
Calories:  86
Fat:        0.4 grams
Carbs:  19.3 grams
Sugar:   6.9 grams
Protein: 2.1 grams

Ingredients
1.25 cup whole wheat flour
.25 cup unsweetened cocoa  
1.25 tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed
.25 cup sugar  
.5 cup applesauce
.25 cup skim milk (non-dairy milk would work also)
1 t vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Grease your cupcake pan (or use liners)
3. Combine dry ingredients
4. Mix together the banana, applesauce and sugar
5. Stir in the milk, vanilla and zucchini
6. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture
7. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full
8. Bake 18-25 minutes (stick a toothpick in it and if it comes out clean then it's done)

You can substitute the sugar for sugar free syrup.  This drops the calories to 70, carbs to 15.4, sugar is 2.8

I frosted them with a simple Cool Whip Fluff Frosting.  Word to the wise, when you want to do something impressive, stick to what you know.  I decided to try a new fat free frosting.  Cool Whip and marshmallow fluff.  It didn't stiffen up.  So now my cupcake's frosting is all runny.  It tastes good but, instead of the recipe I was planning on posting I'll give you a link to my normal fat free frosting.  Click Here for it.  Just so you know, the normal recipe is great because you can use any flavor of pudding that you'd like.  And if anybody has a good fat free frosting recipe, please PLEASE send it to me!  I'm always searching for a new one.    But it's really pretty though....

get the InLinkz code               

Happy Birthday Dad!

On this day, many moons ago, something happened that would eventually lead to my creation.  My dad was born!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Mantha Birthday Recap

Her favorite gift from Kaylee.  A ToothTune!

Special dessert after dinner.  A Publix mini sampler

The Cake!!

 If I had been a bit more ambitious and had more time I would have made this cake 100% from scratch.  The cake, the ice cream, everything would have been homemade.  This cake COULD have been fat free but, it's Mantha's birthday so I decided to go a little crazy.  The ice cream is Low-Fat Moosetracks Frozen Yogurt from Publix and the frosting is made with fat free cool whip and fat free sugar free pudding and skim milk.  Next time I make this I will do step-by-step photos. 

Ice Cream Cake

1 box cake mix (and all the ingredients to make it)
1/2 gallon container of your favorite ice cream, softened
Frosting of your choice (ideas with recipes follow)
Decorating frosting (optional)

Directions
1)  Bake cake according to box directions (I suggest making it an 8 or 9 inch round) and cool.
2)  Slice one layer in half horizontally
3)  In a springform pan a bit larger than your cake layers, put a thick layer of ice cream (I used 2.5 cups per layer but next time I will use 3 or 3.5 per layer) then top layer of the sliced cake, another layer of ice cream, then the bottom layer of cake (flat side up)
4)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours atleast)
5)  Get your cake out of the pan by turning it upside down (bottom of frozen cake) under a SLOW stream of warm water.
6)  Set the cake on a cake board or plate (I used a larger springform pan bottom) and take the springform pan off. (it will be a bit melty and that's okay)
6)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours)
7)  Mix your frosting while the cake is freezing
8)  Frost the cake
9)  Freeze until hard (2-3 hours)
10)  Decorate
11)  Freeze again

Take it out 15-30 minutes before you plan  to serve it so it thaws a bit or you won't be able to cut it!

Or, if you don't want to make it yourself then send me an email and I'll custom make one for you and ship it.  (I'm totally serious.  Not joking)

Frosting recipes
1)  Fresh sweetened whipped cream
2)  Plain Cool Whip (any type, fat free, light, full fat, sugar free)

3)  Fat free Cool Whip Frosting
Ingredients
     1 container Fat Free Cool Whip
     1 package of Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding (any flavor you'd like)
     1/2 of the milk that's called for on the pudding package

If you use a large (or 2 normal) Cool Whip(s) then use a large package of pudding.  If you use 1 normal size container of Cool Whip then use the small package of pudding

Directions
1-- Mix pudding and mix
2-- Fold in Cool Whip

So, go out and make yourself one!  It's possible to make it fat free.  What's your favorite ice cream cake combination?

Mantha's Birthday

8 years ago I met an amazing little girl.  Her name was Mantha.  My only question is how did she go from this...

  

To this...

But however it happened.  I just wanted to wish her a  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a photo post from her birthday and instructions on how to make an ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom rocks and today is her birthday.  I just wanted to wish her a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!