stressed spelled backwards...

DESSERTS!

You know you've heard it at least once, if not many times. You've probably even used it as an excuse to indulge yourself! How many times have you wanted chocolate chip cookies, brownies, ice cream, orange cinnamon rolls (okay maybe that's just me) or just something sweet and yummy when you just had the most stressful day?! For me when I am stressed, sure I too crave that something sweet, but mostly I just want to bake! The methodology and creativity of it is complete stress relief for me. So when I am stressed, I bake! And then bring it to work so I don't eat it all. My co-workers hate when I'm stressed hehe. They say I make them fat. I say... I just bring it, you don't have to eat it. But of course they do! I mean it's yummy! And I feed their stress need of eating sweets and mine for baking them! Sounds win win to me.

Tonight I made strawberry shortcake! Super easy easy! And though I love those little sponge cakes, WAY better. Found the recipe on the Heart Healthy Bisquick! So it's heart healthy too! And did I mention REALLY easy.

Strawberry Shortcake

The recipe makes 4 cakes, but I doubled it to make 8. Figured they'd make yummy breakfast with a little jam.

1 cup Heart Healthy Bisquick
2/3 cup skim milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 pint strawberries
1/4 cup sugar

Slice strawberries, add sugar, stir, refrigerate. Preheat oven to 425. Mix Bisquick, sugar and milk together to form a soft dough. Drop 4 spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Cook for 10/12 minutes or until slightly brown. Let cool, split cake, add strawberries and coolwhip/whipped topping.

Great light and fluffy summer dessert!

And last week I was in a stress baking mood too. I made a homemade yellow cake. I wasn't too crazy about the recipe. I'll try another one sometime. BUT the icing recipe I found... WOW. Best chocolate icing I have ever had. I will NEVER buy store icing again. AND it's easy too! The recipe is from food.com (the old recipezaar.com, my fav recipe website). It's by one of the famous recipe posters there, Kittencal.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
 
1/2 cup butter, soften
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (I didn't sift)
1/2 cup half-and-half cream (I used 1/4 cup skim milk and 1/4 cup cream)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 cup cocoa powder (Depends on the richness you want. I did 1/2 and it was a creamy milk chocolatey frosting)

Cream butter. Mix in other ingredients alternating wet and dry until a desired consistency is reached. Can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Don't be stressed! Turn it around into something constructive. Bake! Eat a little. Then give the rest away!