Goin' to the Country, Gonna Eat A Lot of Peaches

I could wax poetic all day about my love affair with peaches. But I'll try to contain myself. The love I have for peaches is short lived though because while there is nothing better than a fresh, ripe, juicy peach; there is also nothing worse than a hard, bland, grocery store winter peach. YUCK!
Luckily for me, we are right smack dab in the middle of peach season and I am filling my days with ways to consume them. Out of hand is an oldie but a goodie, but I think we can improve upon the concept.
How about peach salsa? Dice up a few ripe peaches, about a 1/4 cup of red onion, 1/2 a red bell pepper, and a little cilantro all tossed together with a teaspoon each of honey and red wine vinegar. Trust me, it's delicious! Try it over salmon or pork chops.
Toss a few slices of peaches in with your fresh green salad the same way you would mandarin oranges. Garnish with almonds and a raspberry vinaigrette. Makes a great side dish or you could add some left-over grilled chicken or fish and you've got a meal for those nights when it's too hot to cook.
And if all of that hasn't gotten you sick of peaches yet, you could try my all time favorite summer dessert. I feel like I could not over state this enough. Words alone are not strong enough for how I feel about this dessert. Not even mentioning the laziness factor alone, this is quite simply one of the tastiest things you will ever put in your mouth. Cobbler Shmobbler.
I'm talking about grilled peaches. Ahhhh. Just the sound of it is sexy, isn't it? Cut your peaches in half, and remove the pit. Brush LIGHTLY with oil, or better yet use no stick cooking spray. Place, flesh side down, on a super hot grill or grill pan for about a minute. Remove to plate. Drizzle with honey and top with one scoop of double churned vanilla bean ice cream or low-fat frozen yogurt. Add a sprig of mint if you're feeling fancy. Now I ask you, what other dessert could be so tasty and come in at less than 250 calories. Plus all the vitamins and fiber in the peach. BooYah!
So there you go. Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free. OK, so maybe they're not free, but they are certainly a lot cheaper when they're in season.

Maybe Baby???

No, don't pass out. I said that I was not having any more children and I meant it. The two I have, the wonderful little weirdos, are quite enough - thank you very much. No, I was actually thinking of starting my own from-home business. BabyCakes Custom Cupcakes. Whadaya think?
Yes, I know cupcakes are not by any stretch of the imagination diet food. But I'm not on a diet, anyways. And as far as I'm concerned a cupcake free existance is not a life I'm willing to contemplate. Woman cannot live by lettuce alone! Believe me, I've tried.
Now, hear me out. I want to use all natural and organic ingredients and show that while cupcakes may never be called health food, they don't have to be toxic either. No one should feel guilty about eating a sweet every now and then. After all, kids aren't going to quite having birthday parties, graduations,and school parties. And unfortunately well-meaning friends of brides and new moms are not going to stop throwing showers. I do hate a shower, but that's another story. Suffice it to say that I am all for celebrating milestones, but I will buy you a much nicer gift if I don't have to guess the new babies name and drink flat punch from a paper cup. Just sayin'
So my new business would consist of custom cupcake orders. People could pick them up at my house, meet me in town, or I would even be willing to deliver them to local schools and/or businesses. I don't like to brag, but I can make a cupcake taste or look like just about anything.  I can make the cutest baby shower cupcakes that look like a big nursery full of sleeping babies - ironic, I know. I have versions for every major holiday. And if you have a favorite flavor, I can do that too. A particular favorite is mint julep. Another is root beer float. Just think of the possibilities.
And as for killing my weight loss goals. I don't think so. I'm one of those people that can't look at something the same way after I've worked with it. I once worked at Fazolli's Italian Restaraunt. Yum!, right. Well, it was my job to make the breadsticks. Their famous garlic butter breadsticks. I don't think I have to tell you that it didn't take me very long to become heartily sick of breadsticks. I still can't eat them.
That's not to say that I'm likely to forever swear off cupcakes. It's just that if I am going to spend all day making 3 dozen basketball cupcakes for a local team, I'm not going to be likely to nosh on them.
I'm still not sure. But after much consideration, I think I'm gonna go for it. It has very little investment, virtually no overhead, and it's something that I'm not only good at, but that I actually enjoy.
I'll offer more info as it comes. For now keep your eyes peeled for BabyCakes!

Sweets For Your Sweet (or yourself. it's nobody's damn business anyway!)

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I know I should hate this the most Hallmark-yest of all Hallmark holidays, but, damn it, I just can't help myself. I love the little folded Valentine's cards that my kids place in their classmate's little decorated shoe boxes. And I love that my husband will give me a card and some small trinket and not expect anything in return (although I always cook him his favorite meal) because he says it's a "girly holiday". But most of all, I love those little candy hearts with the messages on them. You know - "be mine", "luv u", and even a few modern ones like, "email me". I love it.
So in the spirit of the little cupid, I thought I would share a recipe for a Valentine's Day dessert that will not leave you feeling like you swilled a whole box of Godivas.
This recipe works with any flavor cake mix or diet pop. Just don't use the kind with the pudding in the mix. You can also make this in a sheet pan, but what's the fun in that?

For Goodness Cakes

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 egg whites
1 can diet cherry Dr. Pepper
Sugar Free Cool Whip
Maraschino cherries, stems on

Pre-heat oven to 350. Prepare muffin tins with cupcake papers for 24 cupcakes.
Mix together first 3 ingredients. Spoon evenly into muffin cups. About 2/3 full.
Bake until toothpick test comes out clear. Usually about 17-20 minutes.
Let cool. Remove from tins to tray.
"Frost" each one with Cool Whip and place one cherry on top of each.
Cover any uneaten cakes and put on top rack of refrigerator.

I'm not sure of the nutritional info on these because of differences in cake mix brands, but I do know that each cupcake is generally considered to be 3 Weight Watchers point.