Best Dessert Ever...

Image courtesy of littlelifeofmine.com

THIS is looking pretty darn tasty right now...
... And it will continue to look tasty up till Halloween.

For those of you who may be scratching you heads, let me put it this way: Nelson Baby #4 is due on October 31st, and we couldn't be happier!!

This pregnancy has been different in several ways:

1. I finally experienced what morning sickness is all about. (Blech!) I'm very thankful that part is over.

2. I have aversions to cakes, brownies, cookies... baked goods in general haven't really appealed to me. (Totally out of character, if you know me even a little.)

3. I've eaten more pork products in the last few months than in the last 5 years combined. To give you an example, I've had 3 hotdogs in the last 2 months. I hadn't had a hotdog for 3 years before that. Also, my grilled cheese sandwiches now include ham, and I've made spaghetti carbonara with bacon JUST for me twice. (Pork and I haven't been very good friends ever since 5th grade and a lesson on tape-worms... sorry TMI.)

4. Even though I'm not putting on much weight yet, my belly is showing much faster compared to my other pregnancies.

5. Approach me with a turkey burger at your own risk. (I wouldn't want to ruin your shoes.)

All in all, I'm doing great, and so is the little "ghost" inside me. It's a little funny that NONE of our children will have been born in the same state:
Natalie was born in Missouri.
Abigail was born in Michigan.
Elizabeth was born in Illinois.
This baby will be a Utah baby.

We've pretty much decided that the key to me getting pregnant is for us to move to a new state. (I've been pregnant during every single move.)

I hope you all enjoy your weekend, and I'll see if I can't get another post put up early next week (I know, I know, "Not, Saturday?!"... I'll try to do two next week. We'll see what happens).

Happy Saturday, all!

Homemade Confectioner's Sugar ($0.24 per cup)

$0.24 per cup          27% savings          save $3.63 yearly

A while back, I was baking a chocolate cake with the sole purpose of trying out a cooked chocolate frosting recipe a friend had given me.

Well.

I don't know WHAT was going on in my head, but I set the baked cake on the counter to cool, and went to the lazy susan to pull out my bag of confectioner's sugar, only to discover that somehow, I was down to like 1/2 cup.

Color me stumped.

I had never not had confectioner's sugar on hand before. I live about 10 minutes from the grocery store, and my little ones were down for naps. I sat there stewing for a minute, then consulted good old
Google. After a little looking, I discovered that I had everything I needed to make my own confectioner's sugar in a pinch.

YES!!! Fist-bump to the sky!

Later that day, my family enjoyed chocolate cake covered in a divine chocolate frosting.

Wanna know how it was done? It was so easy, it makes me laugh.

I used my cheap-o blender.

I used regular white sugar.

I used a little bit of cornstarch.

Blended it all together to create a fine powder and, voila! Perfect confectioner's sugar!

This is not a recipe that's going to save anyone much money. In fact, I still buy it from the store rather than make my own... but if you're in a pinch (like I was) this was a LIFE SAVER! (Because obviously, I would have ceased to exist if I was unable to make that chocolate frosting).

You know what I mean.

There's the sugar and cornstarch, flying around in my little blender. Great work little blender that could.  The article I read mentioned you could also use a coffee grinder or spice grinder if you were worried about etching up a plastic blender. I have neither of those things, and my blender is made of glass.

Homemade Confectioner's Sugar


*Yields approx.  4 1/4 cups

INGREDIENTS
4 cups white sugar
4 Tbsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in a blender. Blend on high till fine and powdery (about 5 minutes). Use or store in airtight container.

~ Savings ~

Cost Breakdown:
25 lb. sugar - $13.98 = 945 T = $0.015/T = $0.96
35 oz. cornstarch - $2.48 = 124 T = $0.020/T = $0.08
Total Recipe Cost: $1.04
Cost Per Cup: $0.24

The Contender:
Domino Pure Cane Confectioner's Sugar (2 lb): $2.49
Cost Per Cup: $0.33

Savings:
27%

"Over a Year" Scenario:
Make Homemade Confectioner's Sugar 10 times = $10.40
Use equivalent Domino Pure Cane Confectioner's Sugar = $14.03

*Money Saved = $3.63