Remembering Times Past

I was looking through old diary entries from when I was married to Brian. It reminded me all over again why I am divorcing him. I read several entries out to John and he was amazed at just how badly I was treated by Brian. He then pulled me into his arms and I once again fell asleep on his chest.

I am going to put a plug out there for Spenda Sugar Blend. It is a blend of 50% sugar and 50% Splenda. You use it like you would regular sugar, only you use 1/2 the amount (if the recepie calls for 1 cup sugar, you use 1/2 cup of the Spenda Sugar Blend).  I have been baking now for three weeks, made cookies, muffins, quick breads, regular bread, and bars--and in no case is there any discernable difference between the Splenda Sugar Blend and regular sugar.

The cool thing is this: you will consume only 1/2 the amount of sugar than you would otherwise do. There is also a Brown Sugar Blend as well that I will give a try.

Now, how about a recepie?

Apple and Cranberry Buckle

Number of servings:  6

INGREDIENTS

Cake Topping 5 ½ tablespoons Unsalted Butter, divided 6 Tablespoons packed Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. 1 ½ cups whole Cranberries 2 teaspoons Cinnamon 1 Golden Delicious Apple, chopped into ½ inch pieces 5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cold and chopped into pieces 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Spenda Sugar Blend, divided 1 pint vanilla Ice Cream (optional) 1 cup Flour 1 teaspoon Baking Powder 1 Large AA Egg, beated 1 teaspoon Vanilla 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk

INSTRUCTIONS

Place rack in oven to the centre position.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Butter a 2 quart baking dish or a 9” square baking pan.

Cake Mix

Melt 1 ½ tablespoons Butter in a heavy skillet on Medium-High heat.

Add Cranberries and stir until they pop open. This should only take 30-60 seconds. Don’t overcook or they will turn into mush.

Remove pan from heat and add Apples and the 2 tablespoons Sugar Blend. Stir until dissolved, then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine Flour, Baking Powder and Salt.  Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream remaining Butter and Sugar Blend until smooth.

Beat in Egg and Vanilla. Mix well.

Add in ½ the Flour mixture and mix well.

Add Milk and remaining Flour Mixture.

Fold Cranberry mixture into the batter.

Spread into the baking dish.

Topping

Put Brown Sugar Blend, Flour, Cinnamon, and Butter into a Food Processor. Pulse until mix is pea sized.

Scatter topping on top of cake and bake 40-45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Remove and cool 10 minutes. Serve with Ice Cream, if desired.

A day in the life

I have a pretty set schedule that I follow to ensure that I get everything done here:

Monday: Laundry, Ironing, Deep clean Bath and Hall, surface clean rest of house.

Tuesday: Blog, Deep clean bedroom and office/guest, surface clean rest of house.

Wednesday: Deep clean Living and Dining rooms, surface clean rest of house.

Thursday: Deep clean Kitchen, Baking Day, surface clean rest of house.

Friday: Weekly shopping, Yardwork, surface clean rest of house.

John and I take the weekends off to do things together. This past weekend was filled with clothes shopping for me, Borders shopping for us, cleaning the roof and cleaning out the gutters from moss and pine needles.

Some days

Got up to make John's lunch today after 3 hours of sleep. We always go to bed at a decent enough hour, but like last night stay up talking until 1 a.m. and the alarm goes off at 530 a.m. every day! I adore the communication, I love the fact I can hear his voice through his chest as I am laying on it, but man, it takes me longer to get going on such shortened sleep!

After doing a house cleaning, I walked to Fred Meyer to get some Comet and some butter. Being new the neighborhood, I got lost on the way turning a 1.4 mile walk into a 3.1 mile one.  Unfortunately, most streets in Vancouver are not through streets, so the grid pattern I was so used to in Portland really can make walking and driving here a headache. So my plans on making cookies were thrown out the window as by the time I got home, I had to start making dinner.  I made Chicken and Wild Rice with corn for dinner-something basic.

We snuggled on the couch last night, my head on his chest, my legs and hips on his lap. I was so content I was nearly asleep listening to him talk and being held so tightly and lovingly.  I really appreciate nights like that and the time we spend just talking.

I am holding my own on the scale at 160 lbs, just five more pounds to lose, and that will come when I start walking again on intentional walks (unlike today), which I can do now that we are settled and moved in.