September 19, 2008

Canned Corn

Yesterday, I saw this commercial on TV and I about DIED. People tend to believe most things they see on the old tube and it scares the patooey out of me that this new ad campaign is telling Big Gulp-guzzling Americans that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is basically the same as sugar and thus is not bad for you. Holy sugar-saturated fruit snacks Batman! Not only is this 30 second monstrosity an example of astonishingly bad acting, but it is also completely WRONG!! HFCS is in no way shape or form the same as sugar. Okay, sorry I guess they do have something in common -- they are both sweet. Thank goodness we have rules against false advertising...

So, I'm not a food scientist, but stay with me here: fructose (the sugar found in HFCS) doesn't stimulate insulin secretion. Insulin is the handy dohicky that helps us digest/absorb sugar. Thus when insulin fails, diabetes ensues. Icky. Still with me? HFCS also causes problems with our liver (where all that fructose gets broken down) leading to elevated triglycerides (the bad cholesterol) which can later lead to obesity and heart disease and death. Double ick.

Now I may be a little more sensitive to this issue than some due to my indoctrination as a small child that anything refined, sweet or basically good tasting is bad for you. But HFCS is like Big Brother -- it's everywhere. In our cereals, juice, candy, crackers, cokes, you name it, it's got HFCS. Why you ask? Because it is cheap (due to corn subsidies) and it has a long shelf life. Chalk up one more point for consumerism and Big Brother.

Now I enjoy a Cherry Coke as much as the next gal, but I imbibe knowing full well that I am not drinking something that is magically doing my body good. I know that this delicious concoction is chock full of chemically engineered sugars that my body will go into overdrive trying to digest. But I try to block that out because I'm trying to make up for all those cokes I didn't get to drink as a kid and by golly it tastes good, right?! Right??

September 11, 2008

I love the 80s

I am a child of the 80s. It's okay, I'll freely admit to wearing a side ponytail AND neon clothes while watching Fraggle Rock.

September 6, 2008

Peanut butter Chocolate Cake


I love to cook. Love, love, love it. However, sometimes I am also quite adventurous (meaning: I don't like to follow a recipe) and thus the final product doesn't always turn out as planned. (Think an entire pot of corn chowder that had to be thrown out because my 'dash' of thyme turned out to be a little much...)
Fortunately for everyone involved, this time I struck gold with the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake. My Father-in-law came to stay with us on Thursday night and with his birthday this weekend, we decided to celebrate. And if you are in our family celebrating means food. So, I decided to make a birthday cake. I tried out a frosting recipe I got from those cheesy Kraft food and family magazines and unlike many of their other recipes, it got rave reviews so I thought I'd share. So here's the recipe for the best peanut butter frosting. Ever.

Peanut butter Frosting (this may ONLY be used on chocolate cake -- I guess you could use another type of cake, but why?!)
Bake a two-layer chocolate cake according to package directions (I used devil's food). Let cool.
Add one cup of cold milk to one package of instant vanilla pudding and mix for 5-6 min. Add 1/2 peanut butter. Mix.
Spread 1 cup of the mixture over one layer of cake and top with other cake layer.
Add 1 cup of cool whip to mixture and frost cake as usual.
Prepare for yummy goodness!!