Your Personal Guide Through The Life Of Dana

The Great Diet Coke Detox

I’ve been a MASSIVE diet coke drinker for a good long while.  I’m thinking at least 10-12 years.  Today is the day where I attempt to never touch it again. To start, I switched out my diet coke for regular coke.  Now before you jump down my throat about soda in general, just know that the regular coke is only serving as a weaning agent to hopefully get me off of pop entirely.  So this is only temporary, and stops the ‘dietness’ of the diet coke dead in its tracks.

Here’s where the problem lies.  I don’t like drinking water most of the time.  So I have filled my cupboards with light juices for those moments when water won’t cut it.  And of course the regular coke (which I have 12 cans of) for when the caffeine headache kicks in…. and it will.

So wish me luck.  I’ll keep you posted on what happens. Here’s hoping the ingredients in diet coke hasn’t already given me 16 different kinds of cancer, and I can finally get this crap out of my body.

I Made This Pt. 2

It’s a new week and that means I took to the kitchen again to make something.  I’m still in the desert phase, mainly because I’m comfortable there, but I don’t seem to be getting any complaints about constantly having sweets in the house.  This is what I made: S’MORE BROWNIES

This is what it should of looked like:

And this is what I ended up with:

What went right:  Everything. It was really simple to make

What went wrong:  I could of used more marshmallows, but I didn’t need diabetes at the end of eating it, so I just sprinkled.

Feel like trying to make this masterpiece?  Go for it!  Here’s what you’ll need and how to do it!

S’MORE BROWNIES

What you’ll need:

10 HONEY MAID Honey Grahams, broken in half (20 squares), divided 3/4 cup  (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine 4 squares BAKER’S Unsweetened Chocolate 2 cups  sugar 3 eggs 1 tsp.  vanilla 1 cup flour 2-1/2 cups  JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows1 cup BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
ASSEMBLE!!!

HEAT oven to 350°F.

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil; grease foil. Place 15 grahams in pan, with sides overlapping slightly. Break remaining grahams into pieces.

MICROWAVE butter and chocolate squares in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min.; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour. Pour over grahams in pan.

BAKE 30 to 32 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Bake 3 to 5 min. or until marshmallows begin to puff. Press reserved graham pieces gently into marshmallows. Cool. Use foil to remove brownies from pan before cutting to serve.

So there you have it.  Another successful week in the kitchen.  Next up, I might actually attempt a dinner.  Stay tuned!

I Made This Pt. 1

Now that I have a ring on my finger, I decided that the timing is perfect to actually start teaching myself how to cook.  That’s right, besides grilled cheese sandwiches, of Kraft Dinner I’m clueless!  I decided the perfect place to start in the kitchen is with baked goods.  Because let’s face it, even if you mess up a cake or a batch of cookies, they are still pretty good!  Before you go all Top Chef on me, please keep in mind that I DO NOT COOK!  So this is what I made: PEANUT BUTTER CUP PIE.

This is what it SHOULD of looked like:

And this is what I ended up with:

What went right:  99.9% of the recipe turned out right.

What went wrong: As you can see, it’s not exactly pretty.  The peanut butter I put on the top of the pie was still a little too melty, and started to spread after I put it on.  So I lose points for presentation that’s for sure!  Learned something today!

Wanna make it?  Sure ya do.  Here’s the recipe for you to try it out on your own.  No oven?  No problem.  This bad boy is a no-bake pie.  Baby steps for Dana…. baby steps…

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

What you will need:

1-1/4 cups OREO Baking Crumbs 1/4 cup  butter, melted 1 pkg. (250 g) PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened 1/2 cup  plus 1 Tbsp. KRAFT Smooth Peanut Butter, divided 1 cup cold milk 1 pkg.  (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding 2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided 3 squares  BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Time to make!

MIX crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter until well blended. Add milk and dry pudding mix; beat 2 min. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip; spoon into crust. Refrigerate until ready to use.

MEANWHILE, microwave remaining Cool Whip and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after each minute. Cool completely.

SPREAD chocolate mixture over filling in crust. Microwave remaining peanut butter in small microwaveable bowl 30 sec.; stir. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

Ok, so I’m not a domestic goddess JUST yet.  But the special man in my life will be here tonight to try it out.  And who knows?  Maybe despite it’s looks, it tastes really good!

New Year’s Resolution?

I’m pretty sure I say this every year, but this year I indend to post on here more often. So this means more stupid pictures of the dogs, and more of a whole lotta nothing!  So if any of that interests you, welcome to 2010! ;)

Let’s not waste any time!  I bring you:  The Phoenix in a sweater!