Sugar Shock

I am on a diet. The first phase of this diet eliminates sugar, caffeine, and meat aka the loves of my life...besides the Mister. While I'm not hungry (it's all you can eat fruits and veggies), I may snap. My office is full of sugary goodness, and I kid you not, I could smell doughnuts from 50 yards away. I'm talking football field distance. To make matters worse, I'm attempting to make a birthday cake for my best friend. I have to wash my beaters every time I pull them out of the batter so I won't lick them. Forget water boarding, this is torture.

Anyway, This isn't my first cake rodeo. I'm no baker, but I enjoy decorating. Here's my first attempt at using fondant for my 25th birthday:








Not bad, but why would I possibly work with something I know and try to perfect it? Because I'm stupid. This time, I going buttercream. Shortening, powered sugar, and more powdered sugar. I may snort my countertop. Wish me luck!


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Menu Plan Monday

I'll admit it. Mr. DIO was out of town, which means I've been eating whatever I want. I haven't menu planned. I've just followed my whims. This has ranged from mussels and french fries to a Jello Snack Pack. And after Sunday's Super Bowl feast, expect to see a whole lotta lettuce in next week's plan. Don't judge.

Monday: Moules et Frites

Adapted this Smitten Kitchen recipe for the mussels and bought frozen crinkle cut fries for the frites. Completely indulgent and fanciful. I thoroughly enjoyed this with a glass of sauvignon blanc and a Pretty Little Liars DVR marathon.

Images found here and here.

 Tuesday: The Aforementioned Jello Snack Pack

Wednesday: Dinner out with friends

Thursday: Popcorn
In fairness, I was putting together a popcorn bar for my boss' baby shower and felt experimentation would lead to a successful buffet. I was right. 

Friday: Braised Beef Bones & Egg Noodles
The boy came back, so I figured I may as well give him a home cooked meal. This one is my mother's recipe, so there's no measurements a.k.a a sure fire way for me to screw up, but he loved it regardless (and had the decency not to tell me he prefers my mom's). 

1 pack of short ribs
horseradish
sour cream
beef broth
chopped onion
salt 
pepper
egg noodles


Pour enough beef broth into a Crockpot to cover your ribs.Thicken with sour cream and horseradish (I'm not a big fan of the stuff, so I try to use sparingly. If you're like me a little cornstarch goes a long way). Throw in the onion. Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper, braise on all sides. Throw them in the Crockpot too. Cook on low for 9 hours. You could probably add in the noodles as well but I wasn't home and was too chicken to try, so I par boiled them first and mixed in for the last 30 minutes. Served with a salad.

Saturday: Wings & Beer at Buffalo Wing Factory
It was a friend's birthday. Although, as made apparent by previous menu posts, sometimes you just have to. 

Sunday: Go Green Bay Glutton-fest
I'm trying to make myself feel better with a theme. It was the Super Bowl. There were friends. We had everything from pepperoni pizza, french fries, steaks, buffalo wings, shrimp cocktail, chips, dip, beer...and i had all of it. I know, I know. 


Diet starts...tomorrow.