Archive for July, 2010

1983                                                          2010

This is a very easy, show stopping dessert that takes no skill at all and even less time.  You can make this dessert a million times with different flavors.

First, make a 9X13 cake, I chose chocolate this time. I baked the cake according to package directions and let cool overnight.  I did line the cake pan with parchment paper since I knew I would be flipping the cake out and cutting it up.

Once the cake has cooled completely, cut it into cubes.

Put cubes back into the cake pan until you’re ready to assemble the trifle.

Make a box of pudding (any flavor) according to the package directions. I used the larger box.  I usually make the cake and pudding at least one day in advance so both are chilled and ready to go.

Next, whip one cup of heaving whipping cream until it’s the consistency you like.  Tip: Keep the beaters and bowl in the freezer overnight. It will make the cream whip easier.

I do not add sugar here because the pudding is sweet enough, but you could add vanilla or other flavorings if you want.

The only technical part of this entire recipe is this step. You have to fold the whipped cream into the pudding to lighten it up.  To do this, just scoop the whipped cream on top of the pudding and slide your spatula down through the middle and up towards the edge of the bowl. Keep turning the bowl so you fold all the cream into the pudding.

You don’t want to just mix it up willynilly because that will deflate the whipped cream.  This will take a few minutes to do properly, but will result in a light, fluffy filling. You should still see streaks of whipped cream and pudding, so it will not be completely incorporated.

You will also need a container of cool whip.  You could make another batch of whipped cream for this layer, but the cool whip is easier and tastes just as good.

Start layering cake into your trifle bowl (Mine was $10 at Target..well worth the investment).  You should be able to get three full layers, but it will be VERY full.  It may not fit in your fridge, so check that out first.  For this one, I just did two cake layers and two of pudding/cool whip and added a small bit of each to the top.

Here’s another version I did last year. This was butterscotch pudding and cake.

Add a small box of butterscotch pudding to the yellow cake mix when you’re making it.  Bake as directed but it may need 5-10 extra minutes.  Continue as planned.

Enjoy!

I know it’s not Thursday and technically not my update day, but guess what!!?!!

Today, July 17, 2010 is the first day I ran all
4 of my 60 second runs the entire way through!

This is big news people, I have been running for almost a month and couldn’t get through 3 of them and today I did all 4!

I feel really, really wiped out, but exhilarated. There almost was a treadmill accident when I closed my eyes for a nanosecond midway during rotation #2 and almost ran into the shelf behind me.  My foot got stuck on some shelves, but I managed to free it without losing my running pace.  Not sure how, I think angels were looking out for me.

I felt so good after the fourth rotation that I almost pushed for a 5th one, but I decided that I should:

A.  check on my foot, which was starting to hurt

B.  not press my luck and just push for 5 rotations on my next run.

End of update! Yay for me!

P.S. my foot is fine, just a little scraped up.

Today I started swimming again.  It was the first time I’ve been in the pool in a year or two and before that it  had been 18 years since I was swimming regularly.  When I think about it, that’s really sad.  I love swimming, being in a pool, the chlorine, the feel of the water on my face.  All things I thought that I couldn’t live without.  Then life happens and sometimes you forget all about the things that you love.

I’m really serious about this triathlon thing, even if it kills me.  I’m sore right now and that’s with taking it slowly!  I’m frustrated because it feels like I’m not making any progress, but I have to keep reminding myself that it’s going to take time. I have a lot of weight to lose and muscle tone to redevelop.  I’m not expecting miracles to happen overnight, but at the same time, it’s hard to watch such slow progress.

Right now, biking has been the easiest for me.  I have a really nice stationary bike at home, right next to the treadmill. It has a lot of program options, but I just set it on random hill settings and either set a time limit, 15 minutes to start or sometimes I set a distance limit.  The bike is pretty easy on my body, my legs feel worked, but aren’t horribly sore.  I’m happy with how that’s going. I do know that I’ll have to step it up soon.  Last year when I was going to the gym regularly, I was biking 30 minutes and up to 12 miles at a time and it was really easy.  I’m thinking about getting a bike to go outside, but the running shoes are the first purchase on the list.

I went to the pool today with the intention of swimming ten laps.  10 laps, not a problem, right?  I am a good swimmer, I used to swim 100 laps a day at practice.  (OK, when I was 16)  I’m not expecting to do 100 laps, just 10.  This morning, I shared the pool with the lap-walkers and another swimmer.  The water was nice, a little too warm for my liking, but that’s ok, at least it wasn’t bathwater warm.  I got my swim cap on, pulled on my goggles and started swimming.  I made it a whole length before I had to stop and catch my breath. (not bad, really).  My lungs felt like they were on fire but it was a good feeling.  I had to stop for a short rest at each end, so there was no fancy flip turning. Those were one of my favorite parts of swimming.  When I learned how to do a backstroke flip turn I was ecstatic.  Was that too geeky?  Probably.  So back to my day of swimming.  I ended up doing five laps.  It took me about 20 minutes with all the resting that I had to do.  Initially, I was disappointed that I couldn’t start with ten, but it’s more than I did yesterday and tomorrow, I’m shooting for 6 laps.   My swimming plan is to get to the pool as much as possible before school starts.  My arms were killing me immediately after my swim and they are still sore, but not unbearable.

Ok running updates.  This one is harder because I have no experience to compare it to.  The running is progressing very slowly. I still can’t make it through all the four minutes of running. I keep trying to push myself, but I can’t get there.  I have to work on getting the right shoes and that may help.  The running portion is at 4.5 mph and it feels too slow for me, but 5.0 is too fast, so I’m adjusting the speed trying to find something that feels right.  I’m a little discouraged that I’ve been running almost every other day for three weeks and I can’t get any farther than when I started.  Baby steps, I keep telling myself.  Baby steps.

Things I could do to improve my workouts.
#1 Track what I’m doing.  I haven’t done that yet.  I don’t know why, really.  Just that I don’t get around to doing it. Thursday will  be my update on the blog day and I’m going to add a Training Log at the top, too.   It won’t help with my day to day workouts, but it will help me stay motivated.

#2 Find healthy snacks! Snacks that won’t undo all the exercising I’m doing.  Right now, after I’m done working out I’m starving.  Especially after swimming.  Swimming makes me as ravenous as a brain hungry zombie. I want to find all the fried food I can and binge.  I’ve been very good about NOT doing that…for one reason.  The scale is NOT MOVING.  If I’m doing all this working out and still not losing weight, there’s no way I am going to start eating crap after a workout.  I am eating mostly healthy food and have cut out almost all processed food and fast food.  The amount of food I am eating is NOT the problem.

#3 Water! I love water so drinking it is not the issue. T he problem is that I don’t remember to drink water when I’m not working out. I even got a nice water bottle for Christmas from my work friend, Kim and I haven’t used it yet.  I need to make that a habit too.

Feel free to cheer me on or make snack suggestions.  I’m ready to take any help and as much as possible to accomplish this goal.  Thanks for all your support!