**SPLURGE ALERT**

I literally cringe when I hear models and actresses say, "Ooaahh, I'm uudicted tooo sveetts, eef I eet vun chocolat i eet tventy-vive." ......LIAR. YOU ARE LYING. Can I get an Amen? There is no earthly way that chick is addicted to sweets. H - No.



So here is my disclaimer before I share with you
what might very well ruin your diet plan:
Truth: I do eat a piece of Dove dark chocolate whenever I am having a craving.
Truth: I do splurge once in a while and do not consider the aforementioned chocolate a splurge
Hard Truth: Splurging does NOT equal eating 1/2 of a cake or a "Gotta Have It" from Cold Stone. It means one, very small serving. Come on people. HAVE SOME SELF CONTROL!



*Lemon-Blackberry Cake*
White cake with fresh lemon buttercream icing and blackberry cream filling

In the spirit of making things easy, just go with a box of white cake mix. There is a time and place for made-from-scratch cake, and this just isn't it. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

1 box of your favorite WHITE cake mix, made per the directions on the box into two 9" round cake pans

Icing:
1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. of Crisco or other vegetable shortening
About 1 tsp. of lemon zest
About 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (From an actual lemon. Ain't no fake lemon juice in here.)
4 c. of powdered sugar, sifted
Fresh Blackberries as garnish

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and crisco until it looks light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, continue beating. GRADUALLY add the powdered sugar in about 4 stages, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. If the icing looks like it's cracking or dry, add an additional Tbsp. of lemon juice or milk for a creamier icing.

Filling:
1 c. of heavy whipping cream (not fat-free, not low-fat, HEAVY)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 jar of Smuckers blackberry jam

I use my Kitchenaid Mixer but you can use an electric mixer, it will just take longer! BAHA... suckers. It is best to start with cold equipment, so put the beaters and bowl in the fridge/freezer for about 10 minutes before starting. Pour cold, whipping cream into the bowl of your mixer and set the mixer to 8 (whip). Add 1-2 Tbsp. of sugar, to taste. *Watch very carefully as you do not want to over beat the cream!* Beat until soft peaks stage. (Soft peaks are when the cream just folds over at the top when you lift the beaters out.) Remove the bowl from mixing stand. Next, very gently fold in the jam in several stages until combined.

Assemble the cake to your liking with the filling in the middle and lemon icing on top. Just before serving, line the cake with fresh blackberries. Cake may be refrigerated about 4 days after making, then it will start to dry out.

To avoid any "I don't want to waste it" guilt, I usually give most of my desserts away, keeping a few pieces for me and the hubby :)

Enjoy!

Watch out, Domino's...

If I had it my way, I would eat some form of pizza, be it pizza bread, bread sticks, pepperoni rolls, KrazyBread, pizza goldfish, delivery, frozen, etc., for lunch, afternoon snack and dinner, every single day. (Not breakfast - ew - instead, I would eat 2 brown sugar poptarts and chocolate chip taco pancakes....mmm... if only calories didn't have calories.) We have all seen the "diet" pizzas at the grocery store in the LeanCuisine packages. They're great, except for the fact that they only sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of diet cheese atop already mediocre crust. Thanks, but after "filling up" on the suggested serving size of ONE tiny pizza, which I would cut into 4 bite sized slices to fool myself into thinking I got more, I would feel very cheated and immediately drive myself to the nearest Little Caesars and defeatedly walk out with my $5 hot-and-ready. Also, try suggesting that your boyfriend/husband/fiance/brother/father should try eating a LeanCuisine pizza instead of his beloved Pizza Hut. Yeahright.

Here is an option for healthy pizza that passes the dude test.






Flatbread Pizza:



2 whole grain flatbread wraps, lo-carb

3/4 c. low moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. (more or less to taste) pizza sauce

1 ripe tomato, chopped

2-3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1-2 tsp. dried basil)

1/4 pkg turkey pepperoni (optional)

Sprinkling of Parm


Preheat the oven to 375. This should be pretty self explanatory. Sauce on flatbread. Cheese on sauce. Tomatoes and pepperoni on cheese. Basil and parm sprinkled on top! Into the oven for about 7-9 minutes. YUMM. Makes 2 servings (2 pizzas).


Variations: I am decidedly more adventurous than my sweetdear hubby when it comes to food, but I don't do goat cheese. Mainly because "goat" is in the title, and that, I cannot get over. Plus, it smells like gym feet. (Sorry). My brother and his gf LOVE the goat cheese though and they made their pizzas with an olive oil base (instead of pizza sauce - just brush the crust with about 1-2 tsp. of olive oil), and crumbled bits of goat cheese. Very good - apparently - and also an option! For the "meat lovers" out there, try adding the Boca breakfast turkey sausage! And of course, adding veggies is ALWAYS delish! Some of my pizza favs are banana peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, and eggplant. I would suggest quickly sauteeing them before adding them to the pizza since this pizza only cooks for 7-9 minutes.




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One of my favorite things to do is makeover unhealthy recipes. Send me your favorite foods and I'll make them over into healthified delectables!