The dark secret of sucralose

I may want to loose a few pounds, but I think real sugars, like cane sugar, maple syrup and honey are the 'good in moderation sweeteners' we should be using.  I take real junk food over fake health food anyday now.

I have been worrying more and more about the effects of 'fake foods' on my health, and have already been avoiding aspartame like the devil, then I came across this very thorough and thoughtful article that told me more than I needed to know about an increasing in popularity and use artificial sweetener we all know by the brand name of Splenda. 

Now I will be keeping an eye out for sucralose on the labels too, I mean, even if you don't take the time to read that article, you need to remember that Splenda was discovered by a person trying to create a new pesticide. 

It may look like sugar and taste like sugar as they claim, but if it's a chlorocarbon (comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms to be technical) it might have just left the food categorie.

Here is the article I found, but you could also just look up splenda on the internet. 

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx



*picture, and more info on the dangers of aspartame found at this site:

http://www.aspartame.co.za/

Coffee Love: Starbucks white chocolate mocha

I have an addiction.  Okay, so I might have more than one, like chocolate and cheesecake.. I could go on, but one of my top addictions is coffee.  Fancy coffee, regular joe, lattes, mochas, pretty much the whole coffee food group (don't you wish it was a food group?)  I love it all.  I occasionally like to pay tribute to my favorites though, and today is one of those days.  I guess it is because I am almost at my swagbucks total to get my 3rd free starbucks card to feed my addiction.  Free coffee is always the best coffee ;)

Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha.  My absolute favorite above favorite drinks.  When I was young and visiting Toronto, I happened into a coffee place where my friend and I ordered white hot chocolate, a novel idea at the time to me.  I loved that way back then.  Later on in life I ended up in a Starbucks, and was trying to remember what I ordered that was so great as a child, at one of these 'fru-fru hippie' coffee places.  It wasn't normal for me to be near a place like that.  Not at that time. 

I ended up ordering a white chocolate mocha, which fueled an addiction to last the ages, being the best thing I had ever had.  It is even responsible for me drinking regular coffee again, and trying different coffees and places, because before that fateful moment I had not really liked coffee, I was only a tea drinker.  (I drink both now.)

I am only have the coffee budget to go their every once and a while, but I think it is worth a try if you ever end up in a 'fru-fru hippie' place like Starbucks.  You might just like it.  It may just change your life.


Also, if you are interested in getting free starbucks cards (or other free stuff for you non-coffee people) just for internet searching like you normally would, feel free to click my referral link and check out Swagbucks.

Amazing buttercream frosting

My first attempt ever at making buttercream frosting.  For many years I had avoided making icing, as it always ended up being that weird sloppy thin stuff made of pretty much just icing sugar and milk.  I had recently had a cupcake from my beloved Starbucks with buttercream frosting on it, and decided that would be worth a try myself.  Warily I attempted this recipe, but one taste told me this may be one of the best things I have ever made, and I make a mean cheesecake, so that is saying a lot. 

I don't have a piping set yet, so I just used a freezer bag with a hole cut in the corner to pipe the icing thickly onto some cupcakes... I would recomend doubling the recipe though, for a generous and sensual cupcake.  I sacrificed a two or three cupcakes for the sake of this, which is okay, because although my husband loved the cupcakes too (and perhaps a little bit sneaked into my infants mouth as well...)  he enjoyed having a few that were not as super-sweet to snack on. 

I topped each cupcake with yellow white chocolate swirls I made by placing out parchment paper on the table, melting some yellow bakers chip-thingys in a bowl and scooping the contents into a sandwich bag.  I cut a tiny hole in the corner (no piping set yet as I said) and created rough swirls, kind of like how a child draws the sun.  I made many because they don't all turn out beautiful from a hot-to-hold plastic bag, but when cooled they are nice decorations to top your cupcakes. 

Here is the recipe for those who are curious:

Ingredients


1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used organic, because I had it on hand for the baby)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract  (real if you can)
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
food coloring as needed (optional)

Directions:

Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.

Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.
 
 
I got the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quick-and-Almost-Professional-Buttercream-Icing/Detail.aspx

Tip of the moment

Let us always remember, cooking is an art and baking is a science.  Sure, I prefer baking to cooking personally, but when playing with recipes it is always good to keep in mind that if you are cooking, as long as you have a basic idea of how tastes go together and what you like, you can substitute and change pretty much everything.  When it comes to baking, however, changing a recipe takes knowledge of what the substitutions will do to your recipe.  Baking is all about chemical reactions with things like baking soda ... okay I may have watched too much Magic school bus and Bill Nye the science guy as a child... but it is true.  Let me just say that cooking is a free-for-all and when it comes to baking you really do need to measure those ingredients.  I still remember my first muffins I baked, with the lumps of baking soda dryly exploding in my mouth every so often... I was pretty young then... but lesson learned I suppose

Crock pot chicken stew

Creamy and random, it worked out well.  Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

2 cans mushroom soup
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mixture of parsley, garlic powder and some red pepper spice I had in the cupboard
2 cups chopped celery
1-2 cups chopped carrots (I used what was left in the carrot bag, no measuring to be sure)
1 cup pearl onions (so my husband could pick them out easily later, you can just chop one med. onion)
1 can of mushrooms or about 10 fresh white mushrooms cut in half
1 sweet potato or 2 med regular potatoes (I made the recipe twice, using each in different batches, next time I plan to use both kinds together)
2-3 skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks (or with my knives, more like hacked and pulled into chunks)

Put soup and spice into a bowl and mix.  Spray your crock pot with a bit of cooking spray, any kind, but I used olive oil cooking spray by Pam.  Chop and place veggies into the crock pot.  Chop the chicken and place into the soup mix.  Mix well, let sit for a bit while you clean up half-heartedly, then add mixture to crock pot and mix with vegetables.  Set for 7-8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high, or adjust based on how your crock pot works best.  If using a smaller crock pot you should adjust your ingredients so that it only goes about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way filling the unit, for best cooking.  Now you can goof off for that time, come back and have dinner ready to go.  Easy is always my kind of meal.