Post #146: Back To Reality

Today was my first breakfast in my own house in 11 days. I am still wistful as I write this knowing that my awesome vacataion is slipping back into the mental archives.

This morning when I woke up, I did not have the Red Rock mountains of Sedona waiting to greet me or the combination mixture of dessert-forest air. Their was no excitement of upcoming outings or stepping out on the patio to take in a gorgeous view while sipping my coffee. No, my coffee percolated in a clean white-washed kitchen just waiting for me to wake up and begin the house work and errand running. Let the games begin! Yay.

I am sure to slip vacation moments into my future blogs. Since the baby, vacations are very few and far between, so this one is bound to linger for a while.

As some of you know, I was lucky enough to celebrate my wedding anniversary while on vacay. The unlucky factors to this are: 1) We are both watching our calories 2) The kids were present.

But never fear, my super awesome skills kicked in once again. On the anniversary menu was very lean pork tenderloin, piping hot pasta, with freshly grated Parmesan, and green beans. While this sounds good on its own, it was not the main attraction. That would be the dessert, as it should be.

I drew on my MIL's Weight Watcher's advice of baking a low calorie cake using cake mix and diet soda.  Any boxed cake mix and a can of any flavor diet soda. My hubby and I agreed on what else, Devil's Food cake.  I used Coke Zero.  Mix the two together. Then, bake according to cake directions.

While the cake was cooling, I whipped 2 cups of fat free Hunt's chocolate pudding with one cup of fat free whipped topping (enough for 6 slices of cake). I then cut one slice of cake and crumbled it. Set it aside. I plated the other slices.  I dumped 1/4 cup of the pudding topping on the cake slices. Then, I sprinkled a heaping tablespoon of cake on the pudding. 

Voila!

From 2ndanniversarycake

This picture was taken using an i-Phone while outside in the dark on the patio.  The cake was still warm, gooey, and decadent. No one would ever have suspected it was a reduced fat and calories cake.

The caloric and fat breakdown:

Nutritional Info (cake with whipped topping)

• Servings Per Recipe: 24
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 95.0

• Total Fat: 2.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 145.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 18.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
• Protein: 1.0 g 

With the pudding added to the topping, add 60 calories per serving. 

Not bad for the sweet tooth and for the dieter, excuse me, lifestyle changer.

Another win to this was the cake was only 99 cents. The pudding cups together were 46 cents. The whipped topping was 79 cents.

The kids' company also turned out to be very nice. It was a great anniversary. We will always remember it.

Next up: TWD Banana Bundt Cake with Lemon Icing.