The Power of the Frown.

I had an epiphany last night while thinking of an old adage that used to rule the world. Do you remember anyone telling you that you should smile because it uses less muscles than frowning? Does a smile really use less muscles? I have high doubts that there is really any truth to it, but as a child it was easily believed and therefor easily spread as the truth. Well, while my brain was busy going a million miles an hour and the rest of me was trying to sleep, I became a genius. Like the majority of women (and men) out there, I am trying to lose weight. I have been going to the gym and have also decided that eating healthier couldn't hurt. Of course I don't want to buy into anymore myths now that I am an adult, so I need to try this eating healthier thing out for myself before I can tell you it actually works. That lead me to a decision of Weight Watchers PointsPlus-ing it for a week. But of course, that just isn't enough. Even when combined with the gym. While my mind was racing and trying to think of another added bonus I could do to push my weight loss over the barrier, I started thinking about the previously mentioned adage. It was used as a threat that you would be wasting energy if you frowned, so why not flip that around? The more you frown, the more muscles you are using. Duh! It was right in front of me all these years and I just never opened my eyes and brain wide enough to see it. It is SO simple! I just need to frown ALL THE TIME! It's not that hard for me since everything and anyone seems to be so disappointing these days. Really it's a wonder I haven't been losing weight for the last several years. I guess I just haven't been trying hard enough; I still let some people make me smile. No more I say! No more to smiling. Yes folks, it's just that easy. But don't take my word for it, try it out for yourself. Go ahead. Frown your little heart out. And people say there are no short cuts to physical fitness. Who are they to mess with the power of the frown!

Don't take my word for it. Just look at our super handsome (and very fit) President! He really is a model of how to do it all! He has mastered the Power of the Frown so wonderfully that he has plenty of allotted 'smile days' on his calendar. 

For those of you who still doubt me and would still like to use my other weight loss devices, here is a link to my new board on Pinterest with healthy recipes and their PointsPlus values: Weight Watchers for a Week. I will be adding even more to it once I find out if it's actually beneficial to my cause. You can also get the point values of stuff you already have in the house with this calculator: PointsPlus Calculator for Food or find out how many PointsPlus you get with this calculator: Daily Target PointsPlus. I also have a board dedicated to quick little exercises and exercise plans that you can do while at home in case a gym membership isn't in your plans: Workin' It

Also, since I have been working on toning more so than actual weight loss, which means that my scale has been letting me down, I got this handy little device to prove I am actually getting smaller:

I do still use my scale, and so does my husband and a few friends, so we found a way to do it all without having to keep track of shit ourselves.

The Aria lets you track up to ten people so you don't have to do it alone. It was definitely worth the money to have an accurate and social scale in my household. 

I made Strawberry Cheesecake Cake... and it sure is tasty. LOLCats included!

Introduction

Let me start by saying that 99% of my creativity comes from other people's creativity. I think that's why sites like Pinterest do so well because we all either need a little push or a giant shove to get our creative juices flowing. While I have used ideas from Pinterest as is, I mostly see something I like and tweak it to fit my needs or just plain be more awesome. Let's be honest, some shit on that website is just hideously ugly or so poorly executed that I can't understand how it's so popular. That being said, I think I should at least give you what you came here for before I start my rant about Pinterest.

A few days before I was throwing a White Elephant Dinner Party I got a wild hair up my ass to make a cake, some cookies and some other random side dish that escapes me right now. I came across a recipe for a pistachio cake that had all the potential in the world the be disgusting and avoided like the plague at the party. To my surprise, it was incredible. Everybody loved it and asked for the recipe. It was super easy to make and might be the moistest cake I've ever had in my life. Here is the recipe: Amazeballs Pistachio Cake

I made mine in two bread/meatloaf pans and cooked them for about 45 minutes instead of the recommended 55 the first time but they took the whole 55 when I made them again a week later. What can I say? My oven is bi-polar. Or it could be the fact that I was trying so hard to make the cake purple that the extra 25 drops of food coloring change the science or some shit like that. Either way, it took longer and I still had a delicious cake. A weird brownish purple cake that looked inedible, but delicious nonetheless.

This is where my words earlier finally come into play: I really like to tweak the things I find on Pinterest to make my own. About half of them are complete failures but this one made the cut. It all started with wanting a purple pistachio cake but the green of the pistachio pudding just would not let that poor purple cake come to fruition. So why not use a different flavor pudding? I am a genius. And not only will I change the flavor of the pudding, but the flavor of the cake, too! Oh this is just so exciting! Here we go:

Recipe you came here for:

Strawberry Cheesecake Cake:

1 box (18.25 oz) of Strawberry flavored cake. I use off brand because it's cheaper and works just as well.
1 box (3.4 oz) of Cheesecake flavored pudding mix.
4 Eggs
1 1/2 c. Water
1/4 c. Vegetable Oil
Whipped Cream Cheese Icing (optional but recommended, can lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on top instead)

1. Preheat oven to 350º F
2. Grease and flour two loaf pans or one 10 inch tube pan
3. Mix cake and Pudding in large bowl and make a well in the center
4. Add water, oil and eggs to well
5. Blend ingredients then beat for two minutes at medium speed
6. Split evenly between two loaf pans or pour into 10 inch tube pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cakes springs back when lightly pressed.
7. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then move to a wire cooling rack until completely cool.
8. Lightly dust with powdered sugar, ice or leave plain.
9. Enjoy!

You may be wondering why I did not do a walk through where I put a picture after every single step. Here's why: I hate that shit! To each his own, but that really annoys the crap out of me. I will give you badly actioned Photoshop pictures that cover up my inability to patently take a picture (if I remember to even take pictures), but please don't expect me to write out the recipe/directions twice because I think it is a waste of time. I would much rather be bitching about idiots on Pinterest. This is what I will do instead:

Continuation of Pinterest bitching from earlier in this post:

I HATE BAD PINNERS! I don't understand what is so hard to understand about pinning on Pinterest. It has to be the simplest concept I have every come across and that is not just because I can strip and rebuild a computer for fun on a random, snowy Saturday. If you don't have time to check the validity of a pin, just 'like' it and go back later. I am SO sick of clicking on pins that either go NOWHERE, have JUST a picture and NO instructions or are spam. I'm looking at you... yes YOU! I'm not trying to give some lesson here... really I'm not... but I just need to say this to someone who understands and if you've ever clicked a pin in your life, then you know what I'm talking about. So just curious... even though you know this, why do you still perpetuate the annoyance?

Moving On...

As I said before, this cake is beyond moist. It is also heavy. It is not a light, fluffy angel food cake type cake. It is an almost wet, heavy, yet still a fluffy-in-a-weird-way kinda of cake. The cream cheese icing is what really makes it taste more like a cheesecake, but for a stronger cheesecake flavor you can try this:

Please feel free to pass this along as you see fit, the recipe or the blog. I am not one to demand I be recognized for an alteration of something someone already made that was this simple. Not that I would turn the love away either, because I would appreciate a few page hits or followers to boost my ego and help me keep up with my rants, recipes and occasional crafting, but I surely won't force it upon you. I will just kill you with guilt kindness and hatred cute kittens until you do it on your own accord.