Grown Up Dessert

COFFEE JELLO

• Dissolve one packet of plain unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold liquid (water or coffee).  Let sit 5 minutes to soften.

• Add 1.5 cups of hot (boiling) coffee. 

• Stir in 1/4 cup sweetener of choice ( I used Splenda...you can use sugar if you wish) and a dash of salt.   Stir until dissolved.

•  Chill until set.

• Serve spooned into coffee cups, top with whipped cream.

A nice addition would be a drizzle of Chocolate Magic Shell for a mocha flavor.  You might add some chocolate syrup too as part of the liquid, reducing the added sweetener to taste.

In the future I'm going to try making this using green tea in place of the coffee.

Sometimes Simple is Best: Simple Pleasures

Fall is returning...not here yet but will be soon.

For a simple sensory pleasure do this:  add whole cloves to your sugar bowl and sugar storage container.

It is a bit disconcerting initially to open it and see dark brown things--think bugs...but oh my after a day or so the clove scent permeates the sugar and each time you lift the lid the sensory delight will waft its way to your nose.  Perfect for The Return.

As well, the clove scent is a foil for ants and other creepy crawlies I've been told.  Who cares if it works or not...the wonderful scent is the real gem.

Another sensory delight for this time of year:  a bar of gold or brown soap in the shower.  My favorite brown soap is Sandalwood, purchased at Whole Foods, their store line.  It's $4 and the most fragrant sandalwood I've found--best price, too.

But for cheaper eye candy the Dial brand gold bar--beautiful color.  Scent wise it's not much, but in my brown bathroom with accents of red and olive green, the gold along with the brown bar screams "fall is coming, fall is coming". 

I love fun and I love cheap thrills.  And eye candy won't make you fat.

Sometimes Simple Is Best: Green Tea

I'm not a fan of plain green tea, and too often I've purchased the flavored ones and found them not to my liking either.

Sitting in my larder was a jar of whole green tea--the kind that looks like broken leaves with a twig thrown in now and then.

I'd read a blog post on how lovely green tea is with yuzu juice added.  The post described it and I plan to get some, next time I visit the big city and hit the Oriental market.

But I did have a fresh lemon.  

Now I've tried lemon flavored green tea bags--yuck.  Maybe it was the brand?

But brewing plain loose leaf green tea, chilling and adding fresh lemon.  Wow..totally does not taste like green tea and is very refreshing.

Here's how to make one quart.

In a small sauce pan add 4 cups of water and 4 teaspoons full leaf green tea.  Bring to a rolling boil.  

Remove from heat and allow to steep until liquid is cool enough to decant into a glass container.  Pour through a strainer as you decant to remove tea leaves.  Chill.

To serve, pour over ice, squeeze in the juice of one large wedge of lemon and sweeten if desired (I do)--don't skimp with the lemon. 

Yum.  Enjoy.

Another Pound Lost and Sometimes Simple is Best: Strawberries

 Another Pound Lost

Weigh in today revealed--ta da--I've lost another pound, totaling 21.  Nine more to go and I'll hit 30 which I think is where I want to stay put.

How will I maintain?  By doing exactly what I have been doing thus far.  I love my new way of eating.  It makes sense and it fits the way I live.  The foods I eat are foods I really love .  And I never go hungry like I did on Weight Watchers.

Key for me is eating small amounts often.  If you've been struggling, try eating smaller amounts every three hours or so.  Instead of eating 3 times a day, eat 6.  I used to think snacking was a bad habit to get into.  But planned snacks designed to meet your nutritional needs as well as the desires of your appetite are beneficial.

Assign a set amount of calories per meal and per snack.  Don't obsess but do try to stay close to that number.  In a day's time a 5% overage won't do much damage...but 10% might.  

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SOMETIMES SIMPLE IS BEST

Having a sweet tooth I need a fix everyday.  When fruit can fill that need, all the better.

This summer strawberries have been abundant, low cost and flavorful.  Still on sale  here, so I bought some, wondering how they'd taste this late in the season.  (They weren't local, from California.)

Wow.  Sliced with a sprinkle of sugar, they were incredible.  But I wanted to add a little something.  No shortcake on hand, no vanilla ice cream either.  Not in the mood for fat free Cool Whip on them--these days I'm eating my CW with coffee powder and Heath mini's added.

Enter the light sour cream.  Oh my goodness!  Wonderful pairing.  I ate a full cup I'm sure of berries with a tablespoon of light sour cream.  I must say, that  tasted better to me than the other options because the good taste of the berries came through.

Give it a try.  A big serving of wonderful fruit and a decadent tasting dessert, all in one.  What's not to like?

Note:  I let my berries sit on the counter about half an hour to take the chill off--I think the flavor is more prominent when they are warmish.  Sort of  like cheese--most cheeses taste better if they are room temp.