Wal-Mart Bakery-style whipped frosting

So, I have to admit that I *really* like Wal-Mart's whipped frosting that they put on their cakes. It's much lighter than their buttercream and it's easy to use while decorating. I found this recipe online for a knock-off of this whipped frosting. There are actually several recipes that I'm going to post, but the first one is the one I'm talking about specifically. I haven't made it (YET!) but I plan to do so with the next cake or cupcakes I make. Unless I make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes cuz those have a very specific frosting. LOL I digress. At any rate, here's the recipe. If any of y'all try it, let me know what you think! Originally posted at http://www.recipelink.com/msgbrd/board_14/tklcc.html (a message board) by Betsy:

Mock Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. milk
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 6 tbsp. butter
• 6 tbsp. shortening
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. Cook milk and flour until thick.
2. Cool.
3. Beat butter, shortening, and sugar for 4 minutes in a bowl.
4. Add flour and milk mixture.
5. Beat 4 minutes.
6. Add vanilla and salt.

 

Chocolate Mock Whipped Cream Frosting

Instructions:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 env. (1 oz) semi-sweet chocolate or 4 tbsp. cocoa
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 tbsp. flour

Instructions:

1. In bowl mix butter, sugar, vanilla, and chocolate or cocoa.
2. In pan, mix milk and flour mixture and cook on low until thick.
3. Cool in refrigerator.
4. When flour mixture is cool, mix with chocolate mixture and beat until smooth.

 

Orange Mock Whipped Cream Frosting

Instructions:

• 3 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Grated rind of 1/2 orange
• 2 1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c. fresh orange juice
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 c. whipping cream

Instructions:

1. Cook together all but butter and cream.
2. Cook over hot water.
3. Stir frequently.
4. When thick, add butter.
5. Cool.
6. Whip cream until stiff.
7. Fold cooled orange filling into cream.
8. Spread on carrot cake.
9. Better if made day before.
10. Must be refrigerated. Can be frozen.

 

Lemon Mock Whipped Cream Frosting

Instructions:

• 1 c. milk
• 5 tbsp. flour
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. shortening
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

1. Shake in shaker milk and flour until smooth.
2. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy.
3. Let cool.
4. Beat sugar, shortening and extracts until creamy.
5. Add to cooled mixture.
6. Beat on high until sugar has dissolved and mixture is smooth and creamy.

 

Mock Whipped Cream Frosting with Variations

Instructions:

• 5 tbsp. flour
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. Crisco shortening
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

1. Put flour and milk in a blender until completely mixed or mix with a whisk, but it must be completely blended.
2. Put into a small pot and cook over low heat until the consistency of pudding.
3. COVER AND COOL COMPLETELY.
4. Set aside.
5. Cream together shortening and butter until light and fluffy.
6. To that add sugar a little at a time and beat until the sugar is dissolved. THIS MAY TAKE AS LONG AS TEN MINUTES - BE PATIENT.
7. When dissolved or near to being dissolved, add the cooled flour mixture and beat until fluffy
8. Add vanilla.

NOTE: Other flavors may be substituted for the vanilla. Also, liquid chocolate or cocoa may be added. If you like color it takes food coloring beautifully.  

Mock Whipped Cream Frosting with Pudding Mix

Instructions:

• 4 tbsp. flour
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. instant pudding mix (any flavor desired)
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts

Instructions:

1. Combine flour and milk in saucepan and cook over LOW HEAT until thick, stirring constantly.
2. Cream the butter, shortening and sugar together for 4 minutes.
3. Add cooled flour mixture and vanilla; beat an additional 4 minutes.
4. Fold in instant pudding mix and nuts.
5. Spread on cooled cake.

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

I love feeling vindicated

So, last night girlchild came home and was nearly in tears as she told me that she had to eat her snack (sugar snap peas, celery, and homemade hummus) out in the hall. I had some great conversations going on Facebook about this (I'll probably add the conversations here, as well, so others can read), but the common theme was that everyone else thought it was horrible that she was not allowed to eat her hummus at her desk with the rest of the kids. I did email the teacher about this, and I did try to give her the benefit of the doubt - I even mentioned that it could just be 9 year old exaggeration, but that I wanted to verify what had happened. The teacher emailed me back and confirmed all of girlchild's story - which made me livid. What teacher in their right mind would allow caramel dip for fruits and ranch dressing for vegetables but not allow hummus - ALL NATURAL HUMMUS, AT THAT - as a dip?! I'm completely flabbergasted by the whole thing. Her teacher even asked me not to send the hummus again and mentioned that the smell of the hummus was distracting the other kids from their school work. Really? The smell of garlic is distracting? *SMH* This is the most stupid argument I could think of to have with a school teacher. It's not like I'm wanting to send her to school with a Twinkie or a bag of Cheetos or something, you know? I'm sending her in with something she LOVES, is extremely healthy, and - hey! - is made from fruits and vegetables! The teacher tried to claim allergy issues - she mentioned that there were kids with nut allergies (peanut), egg allergies, and milk allergies. I'm very aware of what allergies are in the classroom and I'm extremely aware of making sure not to send girlchild in with ANY thing that might have peanuts - and that's how I've been since she started school. I, myself, have life-threatening allergies. The egg and dairy allergies in the classroom are only for those kids that ingest. Even the one child in her class that has a nut allergy isn't an airborn allergy (at this time). In fact, I've known the girl with the egg allergy for 3 years and I know her family, as well. When she comes to girlchild's birthday parties, I always make some eggless treats for her so she doesn't have to feel left out when the other kids are eating cake (her parents usually send her with a candy bar or something so she'll get a treat, but it's not the same, you know?). Anyway, I say all of this to make it clear that I know all about allergy issues. But I have to say, what totally rubbed me the wrong way was the fact that this teacher tried to use allergies as her excuse to not allow hummus, yet she allows other kids to have ranch dressing with their vegetables. Ummm... last I checked, most store-bought ranch dressings are made with eggs and dairy (usually a mayonnaise base and dehydrated dairy products), not to mention are full of sodium, preservatives, etc. So, yeah, the allergy thing doesn't fly with me. Not to mention, in my original email to the teacher, I specifically laid out all of the ingredients that I used in my hummus which were:

• chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• fresh garlic
• fresh lemon juice
• tahini (sesame seed butter, essentially)
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

I've decided, at this point, not to push the issue. I have, however, asked girlchild to keep an eye out and let me know if other kids are still allowed their "dips" for their fruit and veggies. If they are, then I will believe my child is being singled out and I will escalate the issue to the principal. It's bad enough that kids have made fun of her for liking healthy foods (one of her favorite snacks is raw spinach - she just likes to munch on it) and I will not have adults who should know better doing the same.

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

New Buttercream Recipe

So, I love a good buttercream. Unfortunately, good buttercreams generally don't like me as they call for shortening and all of the shortenings I've been able to find have soy... and with my lovely soy intolerance... yeah, y'all can put 2 and 2 together. So, I found this recipe online awhile back but never tried it out. I tried it tonight and I have to say, I'm *loving* the flavor. The consistency isn't bad, either, though it isn't fantastic for actual decorating. But, the key is the flavor, right? So, anyway, here's the recipe:

Go Broncos!

The Broncos play the Patriots tomorrow and, of course, I'm rooting for the Broncos. GO BRONCOS! In fact, say hello to my little friend: My own, personal, desktop Tebow*. [caption id="attachment_819" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Desktop Tebow with Helmet On"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_820" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Desktop Tebow with Helmet Off"][/caption] *Disclaimer: I am NOT on the Tebow train. I am NOT a Tebow fanatic. I am NOT like John Parr who chose to redo his song St. Elmo's Fire with the lyrics "Tim Tebow's Fire." I AM, however, a die-hard Broncos fan and am ready to watch them kick some Brady butt!

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

blog test 2

blog test test test

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

Had my MRI today

So, I do still need to write my blog post about the IEP meeting (it went REALLY well) and I promise I will, either tonight or tomorrow, but for now I'm going to post about my morning. Last night, as I usually do, I checked the weather and saw that it was supposed to snow - supposed to start around 4am. I figured I'd go ahead and get up a bit early and leave a bit early, as well, to make it over to the MRI place. It's a good thing I did, too, because the roads were HORRENDOUS!! Saw a head-on collision caused by someone spinning 180 and getting hit. What a disaster! Got to the MRI place at *exactly* my appointment time, but the tech wasn't in yet (she showed up about 10 minutes later) but it was no biggie since I had some paperwork to fill out anyway. We started the MRI and got the first part done (about 45 minutes or so) and then I was informed that the second part (with IV contrast) would have to wait as the radiologist hadn't made it in yet. They let me out of the machine and I sat in the inner waiting area and read my nook for awhile and then the radiologist finally got there (about another 45 minutes later). Turns out he lives in Golden and the roads/highways were horrible, stacked up with accidents and such. Wheeeee! At any rate, we got me settled back in the machine and did the second part of the MRI (about 30 minutes) and then I was on my way. Just the short drive from the MRI place to my work was bad. I skidded once and had slow starts every time after I'd come to a stop. And there were people out there driving like mad people. I swear, people drive more carefully in rain around here than they do in snow. It makes no sense! A lot of people with SUVs and trucks think they're safe because they have four-wheel drive. Um, yeah, that might help with deep snow but does *NOTHING* for ice. Sorry buddy. When you drive crazy like that you put everyone else around you in danger. Grrrr! Anyway, I made it to work, late of course. I needed a quick break from coding already (lol - I've only been here about an hour and a half, but I'm so tired my eyes are swimming with code!) so I figured I'd look at my MRI images and write this blog post. Fun, fun times! So, here are two of the images. The first one is just a humorous one that I'm putting up here as proof that I do, in fact, have a brain. LOL! The second one shows the aneurysm. (You can click on the images to enlarge them.) It does look to be a bit larger and is definitely more defined (I was able to find it MUCH more easily this time). I'll know for sure next week at my neuro appointment. In the meantime, I just go about doing things as I have been. Wheeeeee! In the meantime, if you're in snowy parts of the world right now, drive safely. If you're having 70 degree weather right now, abnormally or not, I kinda hate you. LOL. I'll post later about the IEP meeting, for sure. [caption id="attachment_802" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I really do have a brain; see?!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_803" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Here's the little sucker!"][/caption]

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

What a Weekend

Okay, let's start with the obvious... THE BRONCOS WON THEIR PLAYOFF GAME TONIGHT! WOOOHOOOOO!!! Yes, I'm incredibly shocked. I really didn't expect them to win against Ben and the Steelers, but hey, they've got luck on their side, so it seems. No, I am NOT aboard the "Tebow Train" and I won't be until he has a few more years under his belt. Sorry... he isn't the messiah, he isn't the end-all-be-all of football, and I don't care what anybody says. Did he play well today? Yeah, he did, but he isn't the one that won the game for us - it was a team effort and a LOT of credit has to go to the Broncos defense - 5 sacks on Big Ben? Yeah... definitely some defensive credit, tyvm! So, I told the kids if the Broncos won that I would make some homemade chocolate fudge. Guess what I just made? Yup, you got it! My Microwave Fudge was made, although I had no cashews and no dried cherries (which is how I prefer to make it). It's "setting" in the fridge at the moment. Hopefully it will still taste pretty good just as plain ol' chocolate fudge. Okay, enough football talk. Let's talk health. I feel like I'm allllll over the place right now. I've been kinda sick (cold/flu kinda stuff - runny nose, cough, the yucks) but I've been feeling better today, thankfully. On top of that, though, I've got some weird things going on thanks to these med switches. The neuro agreed that I needed to get off the Cymbalta with all of the nasty side effects I was dealing with (passing out, seizures, etc) but it's a drug that, if you've been on for awhile (over a year in my case), you have to wean off slowly. Unfortunately, even the weaning process alone can cause the passing out and seizures, as I found out the hard way a few weeks ago. So, neuro consulted other doctors and found that the best course of action for getting off of Cymbalta is to decrease the dose in half and add Prozac because it has a longer half-life than Cymbalta and won't cause a seratonin crash (which is what causes the passing out/seizures - wheeeee!). So, I've been on the Prozac and I reeeeeeally don't like it. It seriously has started to make me incredibly manic. I now believe I know what it's like to be manic depressive... this is freaking nuts!!! Well, thankfully, I'll only be on the Prozac for another couple of weeks, but hopefully the next med (most likely trazodone) won't have other weird side effects to deal with. I'm so bloody sick of all the side effects from the meds... it makes me want to just stop the meds altogether and just see how I get on... it's what I did over 10 years ago and, at the time, it was the absolute best thing I could have done for myself. I can't help but wonder if I shouldn't do it again. *sigh* It's such a hard decision now, though, because if I screw up now, I've got a hell of a lot more to lose... I've got a job and a family to think about now. Back then I was already on disability and my husband and I had issues we were trying to work through. Blah. Anyway, so tomorrow I have boychild's IEP meeting and I'm slightly worried about it. I've already read through the draft of the findings document so I know what to expect, but at the same time, I'm worried about my reaction, especially given this manic state I seem to be in. I know that some of their findings are bunk - at least on the whole - and I need to find a way to explain to them that he isn't stupid or necessarily lazy, he just doesn't see the "WIIFM" - the What's In It For Me. When it comes to doing schoolwork, if he doesn't see what reward, so to speak, he gets out of it, he doesn't care. If we "bribe" him (if you do this now, you can get/do such-and-such afterward), he'll usually stay focused and do what he's been asked with minimal intervention - because he sees what he can get out of it. But at 6 (nearly 7) years old, he doesn't see what scholastics will do for him. It's so frustrating!!! I also have my MRI to check on the progress of my brain aneurysm on Wednesday. It's kind of scary, to be honest, because I've been having worse headaches right in that region and I'm really afraid the thing has grown. I had a dream the other night that what they thought was an aneurysm on the MRA turned out to actually be a small tumor that had grown in size by 600% during the time between the two MRIs. Yeah, it was just a dream, but it kinda terrified me, you know? They're doing the MRI now to see what it shows and, if indicated, will send me back for another, further, MRA. *sigh* There've also been some other issues within the household that aren't necessarily mine to discuss but they worry me and I do worry that I'm not doing what I should in that case. My lovely friend Michelle said something to me last night that really hit home and it's stuck with me ever since. Michelle - if you're reading this, I *will* find a meeting that I can attend. It may not be this week with my hectic schedule, but it will happen within the next 10 days. I guarantee. Thank you for being so awesome and for being there for me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Well, I'm supposed to be watching a movie with the hubby. I should log off and do that. I also haven't taken a pic today for my proj365 and, quite honestly, I don't care and don't plan to take one tonight. I'm exhausted, my body feels... weird... kinda just off... and I just kinda wanna veg... even though I feel manic and want to be doing something. What a weird combination. Oy, I can't wait to get off these meds! Thanks for reading - catch y'all later... annnnnnd....... GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

Am I a bad mother?

Just received in my email the draft of boychild's evaluation section of his IEP Eval (the findings meeting is on Monday).  What is it about seeing it all written out that makes it feel so hard to handle? I mean, none of it's a surprise, really, but at the same time, it's hard to believe that my sweet little boy has so many issues. It's one thing to talk about the big problems, but when everything is all combined - big, little, doesn't matter - it just feels a bit overwhelming. Why do I feel like I'm failing as a mom? I know, deep down, that I'm doing everything I can for him... I'm just so afraid that it's not enough and that I'm failing him. *sigh*

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.

Stuffed Pork Chops

Ok, I'm posting this here because I very nearly lost this recipe and I don't want to risk losing it again! I know I originally got this recipe from a fellow Sybermom, but I honestly can't remember who it was. If it's your recipe, SPEAK UP! I'll give you the credit! (I did make a few tweaks to whomever's recipe this is, but not huge amounts, so whomever it is should still be able to recognize it!)

It was a good day

Well, the vacation is just about over. Boooooo! Back to work tomorrow and no ability to wear jeans every day - just on Friday. Major boooooo! But that's okay. Dan, Matt, and I went to lunch (kids were at the day camp) and we had Pho. Yes, I love me some Pho. What can I say? It's totally nomalicious! After that, we went to see the movie The Darkest Hour (see the trailer at the end of this post). I actually thought it was a pretty good movie, with the exception of the last 20 minutes. It had a great concept, but in my opinion, they screwed up right before the ending with a HUGE GAPING PLOT HOLE! But that could just be me... Anyway, we got a bit of other running around done and then we came home. Nothing too exciting, but still nice for my day off. Tonight I'm making waffles and bacon for dinner (yay for breakfast for dinner!) and we'll all watch some family movie or other. :-) This was an entirely useless and boring post, but hey, I posted, right? Anyway, enjoy the trailer and let me know if you go see the movie!

Originally posted at Falling Into My Own Sarchasm and cross-posted here.