Diet Dessert Recipe

I found this recipe in a fantastic cookbook (the name of which will remain anonymous so that I don't catch the attention of their lawyers).  It was too good not to share:


Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
 

Here's the easy-peasy recipe:
For cupcakes:
2 Cups Moist-Style Lemon Cake Mix (half of an 18.25-ounce box)
1 Cup Diet Lemon-Lime Soda (we didn't have Diet Sprite, so we used Fresca and it was just fine)
3/4 Cup Fresh Blueberries (divided)
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Baking Powder

For Frosting (and it was amazingly light and yummy!)
1 Cup Cool Whip Free - thawed
1/2 Cup Skim Milk
2 Tablespoons Lemon Sugar Free/Fat Free Dry Pudding Mix

Optional
12 additional blueberries for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the frosting first:  combine pudding mix and skim milk in a medium mixing bowl.  Using an electric mixer set to medium speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Mix in the Cool Whip and refrigerate until the cupcakes are ready to be frosted.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, soda, egg, and baking powder.  Stir until blended and lump-free.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.  Evenly distribute cake mixture among the 12 sections.

Place half of the blueberries on top of the cake mixture in the cups (about 3 to 4 berries each).  Bake in the oven for 8 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven and evenly distribute remaining blueberries among cups, pressing down slightly to keep the berries from rolling.  Return pan to the oven and bake for an additional 7 minutes, or until cupcake edges are slightly browned. 

Let cupcakes cool completely, then evenly distribute frosting among the tops.  Add a blueberry to the top of each cupcake, if you like.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 12 servings, each are 3 PointsPlus for Weight Watchers new program.

New Year, Old Resolutions

It seems like every year, January rolls around and I say "this is the year!"  My resolutions always involve my weight.  

Sure enough, I started Weight Watchers again (though I'm too cheap to pay for the meetings).  At first, I was just going to list everything I eat on my phone just so I could be cognizant of my intake.  But, there are just so many wickedly cool Android apps for counting Weight Watcher points that I decided to go whole hog (so to speak).

Speaking of hog...when you weigh as much as I do, it's almost a daunting task to actually consume 31 freakin' points in a day.  Yeah, 31.  And that doesn't count any "weekly flex points" or "activity bonus points."   Here it is, 10 p.m. and I'm munching on Ritz crackers just to try to hit my point level, and I still have 10 points left to blow.  

I also decided that I could only use my excuse of "too much work to do" for so long before I had to accept that I deserve a little bit of fun time.  So, I laced up my sneakers and did 30 minutes of Wii Fit.  It's a lot of fun, but I seriously doubt that it has much benefit in exercise.  It takes almost an hour just to get in the 30 minutes of countable exercise, but it's fun, so I'm gonna do it.  Pictures will NOT be forthcoming as seeing me swinging my hips to imaginary hula hoops is not a pleasant sight.  

I did have a pleasant surprise, though.  I looked back to see what my weight was on January 1, 2010.  On that date, I was 233.5 pounds.  A month ago, I was down to 218.  Woo hoo!  Admittedly, the Christmas snacking hit me hard and I'm up another 5 pounds again at 223.5.  But just realizing that I lost 15 pounds this year without trying at all (I certainly never had the time to exercise and I didn't diet at all) was amazing.  The only change I made was that six months ago I bought those Skechers Shape-Ups shoes.  I didn't think they'd help me lose weight, I bought them because they are comfortable.  But I'm convinced that those missing 15 pounds are from the shoes.  Now...I just need to stay away from the damn Christmas cookies so I can continue the downward slope.