cake balls

For Miss Audrey's 5th birthday I decided to make cake balls. I have never made them before. I think they turned out pretty good (not perfectly ball shaped) and where easier to make than I thought.
Here is the recipe I followed.

Ingredients

* 1 box of cake mix, your preference
* 1 tub of frosting,again, your preference
* 1 pkg. almond bark, chocolate or vanilla


How to make it


Bake the cake according to package instructions. While warm, crumble the cake into a bowl with a hand mixer to a fine texture. Mix in frosting to make a paste, using 3/4 to a full can of frosting, according to taste. Chill the mixture for at least 2 hours.

Using a melon baller or your hands, form the mixture into 1 ½ -inch balls. Place the balls on wax paper; freeze at least 6 hours.

Working in small batches, remove the balls from the freezer and dip the balls into warm, melted Almond Bark Coating or Confectionery Wafer Coating, using toothpicks or forks to manipulate the balls. Remove the balls. Place the balls on wax paper to harden.

Makes about 30 cake balls.

Almond Bark Coating: In a double boiler, melt one (20-ounce) package vanilla- or chocolate-flavored almond bark, stirring constantly. Or, in a tall, narrow container, microwave almond bark for 45 seconds on High (100 percent power). Continue to heat in 15-second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted; be careful not to scorch.
When almond bark is melted, stir in 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. If desired, stir in oil-based coloring drop by drop until you achieve the desired color.

Cake balls all formed and ready to freeze


Chocolate almond bark coating


cake balls freshly dipped


Finished product with pink frosting

What a difference a few pounds make

SO I have lost 26 lbs and I feel like you can see it now, especially in my face.
Here is right before I started weight watchers.



Here is me now 26 lbs lighter.

Whats new

So its been awhile since I blogged. Just kinda got bored with it. So whats nee over the past 6 months.


Kids -


Evan is in 1st grade. He is a cub scout. He is growing like a weed.


Audrey is in preschool. She loves school. She got her ears pierced yesterday for her birthday. She is in gymnastics.



Wyatt - Wyatt had been in physical therapy for week ankles. He got ankle braces a few weeks ago and I have already seen an improvement.


I joined weight watchers about 5 months ago. I am down 26 lbs and feeling good. Still have a long way to go but I am making the right changes. My shoulder is doing much better. I hardly have to go to physical therapy at all. I mainly go to the gym and work my shoulder there.

James went back to school to get his engineering degree. I am so proud of him.

oh the sickness

So poor Wyatt has pink eye and a double ear infection. Now Audrey has pink eye. lus everyone in the house has a nasty cold. I have starting attacking everyone and everything with lysol. Maybe I can put us in a bubble till spring.

Evan lost it

Evan lost his first tooth. It came out while he was eating an apple. He was so excited. The tooth fairy left him 50 cents.

Sketcher Shapeups

I just splurged on a pair. I love the. they are so comfy.They t.ake a little getting used to but totally worth it.

My own personal medical mystery

So all of these things started a few months after having my 2 year old Wyatt. I had spent 5 weeks in the hospital before having a emergency c-section with a partial hysterectomy. I started having trouble going to sleep even when I was exhausted and then when I would sleep I woke a lot and felt tired the entire day. So they put on a sleeping pill. It helps some but the chronic fatigue is still there.
I have a pre-existing shoulder problem. I had surgery in 2003. My job as a waitress was irritating my shoulder so I went to my doctor about that. She sent me to a pain specialist. She also ran blood work and it all came back fine. She also said because of the chronic pain and fatigue that she thinks I have fibromyalgia. She wont officially diagnose or treat me because she said my health insurance would probably drop me. So I leave confused and once again feeling brushed off by a doctor.
I nursed my son and I noticed a lump in my arm pit a week after having my son. It was golf ball sized and hard. The lactation nurse said it was a clogged milk duct. So I dealt with it. Eventually it softened up. I put it to the back of my mind because it was the least of my problems.
I also experienced abdominal bloating and irregularity. They tell me its IBS and they leave it at that.
So 3 months ago I went to my doctor once again because after a year of trying to loose weight I have gained weight. I gained weight on weight watchers even. I just kept gaining and bloating more. So she puts me on phentermine. After 2 months i have gained another 10 lbs. She tells me to take it another month a come in for a weigh in another month.
The doctors blamed all of these thing on my having anxiety. I have had anxiety since my teens. it has been treated and under control. Why 12 years later would it all of a sudden make me have all these problems. They kind of treated me like it was all in my head because I have anxiety and take meds for it. The pain specialist even told me if I cure my anxiety all of these problem would go away.
So here I am alittle over 2 years after the start of it all. I have not figured out what is wrong with me. I know its not in me head. I just don't feel right.....if that makes since, like I know my own body and things are off. I have stopped going to the doctor she just puts me on more pills that don't help.
I know i have alot going on at once. All of this came on in about a 2 week period. Right now they have me on so many different pills and all I want to do is figure out what is going on. I am on phentermine, clonapan, lexapro, tramadol, muscle relaxor, Non steroid anti inflammatory, sleeping pill, vitamin, water pill, melatonin....... I think that's it.

I have an appt with an internal medicine doc today for a 2nd opinion. We will see how that goes.

Oven Fried Chicken

Another recipe I got off of foodnetwork.com. The chicken has so much flavor and is crunchy on the outside and juicy in the middle.

Ingredients
1/2 sleeve (about 20) whole-grain salted crackers, pulsed in a food processor until fine (about 1/2 cup)
2 1/2 cups corn cereal flakes, pulsed in a food processor to fine crumbs (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 egg whites
1 cup lowfat, plain yogurt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive oil cooking spray
4 medium sized skinless chicken breasts and 4 skinless chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry (about 3 1/2 pounds chicken)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil.

Combine the crackers and corn cereal crumbs, sesame seeds, cayenne, and garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Reserve.

In a large bowl, combine egg whites, yogurt, Dijon mustard, and salt. Add the chicken pieces and coat thoroughly with the yogurt mixture.

One at a time, dip the chicken pieces in the cracker mixture, packing crumbs onto chicken. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

I got this recipe off of foodnetwork.com. I made it for the kids. They loved it.


Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

Ingredients

For Jelly Syrup:
1 cup grape jelly
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

For Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 1/2 cups baking mix
2 eggs
Canola cooking spray

Directions

For Syrup:
To make the syrup, heat the grape jelly in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. When the jelly has become liquid, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Simmer until a syrup consistency is reached, about 5 to 10 minutes.

For Pancakes:
In a small saucepan warm the milk over low heat. Whisk in the peanut butter and combine until completely smooth, then remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl add the baking mix. Stir in the eggs and milk mixture and combine until just incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Put a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray it with cooking spray. Put 1/4 cup of pancake batter in the center of the skillet and cook until golden brown. About 1 to 2 minutes per side. When bubbles in the center of the pancake have deflated, flip over and cook the other side. Store on a sheet tray in the preheated oven to keep warm while making the rest of the pancakes.

Transfer the pancakes to a large serving platter and serve with warm grape syrup.

Its been awhile

Since I have updated the blog. I have had alot going on medically and just haven't had to gumption to post. I will try to catch up from the past few month.

October 24, 2009 Audrey turned 4. Here are a few pics from her birthday. We didn't have a party because she really doesn't have friends yet.