Chocolate Mouse

I made this low-sugar low-calorie dessert for my kids and my older one saw the recipe on the counter. "Yum," he said. "Chocolate mouse sounds great Mom!" Thus the mousse became a mouse....

Chocolate Mouse

• 1 package (2.1 ounces) Instant Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Jell-O® Chocolate Pudding mix
• 2 cups low-fat milk (or use skim milk)
• 2 cups Light Cool Whip® (or use Fat-Free Cool Whip®)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
1. Beat pudding mix into 2 cups cold milk in a bowl, using wire whisk or electric mixer, for about 2 minutes.
2. Fold in the Cool Whip® and vanilla extract. Stir until well blended.
3. Pour into individual serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap, and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Top with anything you want -- more Cool Whip, chocolate, toasted almonds, cherry, raspberries, etc.

Lunchbox Specials

School has only been in session a couple of weeks but already it feels like I have no good ideas for kids' lunches. Thankfully, I've got a few new tricks up my sleeves that have opened a few new (and easy!) avenues...

Better Than Mayo
A simple substitute for mayonnaise can give your sandwich a whole new flavor. A few to try are:

• Salad dressing, like poppyseed or ranch
• Honey mustard
• Cream cheese, especially the flavored ones
• Sandwich spread sold premixed in the jar

Chippers & Dippers
Rather than regular chips, send different crunchy snacks along with a little something to dip 'em in!

• Pretzels & mustard or honey mustard.
• Breadsticks & pb
• Veggies & ranch (try sugar snap peas or baby corn -- kids love 'em!)

Got any ideas? Leave me a comment!

Easy Peas-y Fettucine

So, this is a real recipe, in a real recipe book, that my mom used to make us all the time. (Although she shudders at the very mention of it now. Not sure why, it's like comfort food to me!) There aren't real measurements -- I mean, there are in the recipe, but you need to make it to your own tastes.

Easy Peas-y Fettucine

1 package fettucine noodles
Frozen green peas (I like petite peas)
Sour cream
Parmesan cheese (I use Kraft)

Boil the noodles in salted water. Add the peas for the last few minutes. (Sometimes I just drain the hot noodles over the frozen peas in the colander -- keeps them brighter.) Drain it all. Stir in a few good scoops of sour cream -- make it as creamy as you want. Add lots of parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste.

My kids eat this like there is no tomorrow! And I remember enjoying it the same way!!

Orange Julius-ish

I grew up on Orange Julius and Hotdogs from the mall, way back in the 70's before food courts. The mall had an Orange Julius stand that was a circle and you could order on most any side. I remember having a great view of the hot dog rollers. :)

Now I live in a very rural area and, while I still love Orange Julius, I can't drive 1.5 hours just to get one. (Well, I could, I just don't have time!) Here is my recipe that is very, very close to tasting like the original -- and sugar free to boot!!

Orange Julius-ish

8 ounces orange juice (fresh or from concentrate)
About 10 ice cubes (more or less, up to you)
1/2 ounce Torani Vanilla Syrup (Sugar free has zero calories!)
1/4 tsp sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix (Yes, the dry powder)

Whizz it all up in a blender. Add more ice for thicker, less for thinner. Easy to double the recipe.

Yummy!!!

Notes:
If you don't have vanilla syrup, just mix up a batch of simple syrup and use that. I haven't tried corn syrup but I suppose it might be an option. Even sugar couldn't be bad.

Yes, I Cook!

I love to cook!

I just don't do it as much as I'd like! LOL

With growing kids, I find myself constantly pulling food out of the frig or whipping something up. My current goal is to get the kids (and us!) eating healthier and eating less prepared food, while still enjoying classic family favorites.

I'm blessed with children who are easy to cook for -- they eat most everything! But still enjoy mac & cheese like kids are supposed to.

Enjoy my favorites, and please, post a link to favorites of your own!