Sunday Blatherings & Weekend Cooking

What is it about a four-day week being, at times, longer than a normal week?  That's a little bit of how I felt this past week.  Work is work though, right?  I vowed to myself this year that I would try to "let things go" in terms of holding onto stress.  I've only been partially successful at that, as I still tend to let things stay with me after I've left work.  I have, needless to say, let a lot of things go that were especially toxic.  I love that as I've matured, I feel less and less of a desire to please people and more of a desire to just do my job and then let it go.  That doesn't mean I'm okay with the "amount" I have to do, just that I let the nonsense go.  You know?

Do you know what else I've only been partially successful at?  Exercise.  Talk about impossible.  There is this hideous fatigue and let down that hits once I leave work, and the endurance I thought I was building this summer with my 3 mile a day walks--well, it went out the window.  When I do manage to hop on the treadmill, my feet are still so achy from work that I manage to get about 20 minutes in before I'm calling it quits.  I suppose I'll just have to keep at it, because otherwise it's all just a big vicious circle.  Here's to trying and never giving up!

Reading has been especially satisfying lately.  At school we've challenged our students to a 40 Book Challenge, to read 40 books by the end of the school year.  I'll have to share the categories/genres we are challenging them to read, but it's a fun and exciting time to talk about what we're reading.  Some of the kids are doing a great job and TRYING, which is exactly what I wanted them to do.   As for me, I've been reading some great stuff lately.  One in particular has really stayed with me--The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans.  I can't say much without spoiling the plot, but there is some real emotional turmoil in this novel.  It feels very real and close to my heart.  I know it sounds a bit "chick-lit" like, and I love that stuff so I'm not knocking it, but have to say that this one has hit some pretty emotionally charged situations.  I can hardly put the book down, except when sleep comes a callin' or I have work to do.  My hope is that I can knock out some more pages later tonight. 

All right, to end my post today, I wanted to share a little cooking experiment I tried out.  One of my new favorite shows on TV is The Chew.  I love their banter and the fun things they cook.  Daphne Oz is on the show and recently made her own easy version of a fudgesicle, minus the chemicals, additives, and excess calories.  (Click link for "Daphne Oz's Fudgesicle".)

The recipe is pretty straight forward, which I whipped up in my little smoothie machine.  I then poured it into my cute sailboat popsicle molds and there you go--homemade fudgesicles. 

After letting them set up last night, I finally tried one today.  They are pretty good.  I wouldn't say that mine were especially creamy, and I'm thankful that I cut back on the amount of cocoa that she called for.  You'll notice that I used coconut milk (not the canned stuff), which I think led to them being less creamy--also fewer calories overall.  I also used agave instead of honey, but only because that's all I had in the house. 

My final verdict?  Yes, I'd make them again.  They were easy, fast, and satisfying.  Mine were probably less than the 50 or so calories that she mentioned in the show, so I'm happy with them and think I'll definitely make these again.  Besides, the cost per fudgesicle is a real steal! 

Adjustments in the recipe for next time:  I'll keep the cut back on the cocoa to 2 1/2 TBSP, add a bit more agave, and try adding a TBSP of peanut butter maybe?  I think it would really add great flavor to them.  Overall though, they're still pretty fantastic.

Weekend Cooking is a great, weekly post run by Beth Fish Reads.  There are some really great food-related posts there.  Stop by to check out other great posts from this weekend.