July 21: National Junk Food Day

I'm not really the healthiest eater.

I mean, I eat a spinach fruit smoothie for breakfast each morning. And I have been eating a lot of spinach salads lately.

But then twice, in the last week, I've been guilty of eating a donut IN THE PARKING LOT of the athletic club. I don't even like drive down the street and then stuff that deliciousness in my mouth. I try to be sneaky. I make sure my car is parked in the opposite direction of the club. I wouldn't want someone to see me. But still...

I'm also addicted to coffee. Not just like regular black coffee. But like coffee that is loaded up with sugar.

I love chocolate.

And ice cream.

And fudge. And of course donuts!

Pretty much any dessert.

So in honor of today, I'm posting some pictures of my favorite junk food.

Enjoy!

Mud pie from Red Robins!

Caramel corn!

Pigs in a blanket!

Ice cream with sprinkles!

Chocolate zucchini bread!

Rice krispie treats!

Pie!!!

June 7: National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

It's starting to feel like Summer in this small town. Today was around 90 degrees outside. HOT.

What better day to celebrate National Chocolate Ice Cream Day?

I even had Summery sprinkles to add on top. (OK, they might actually be Easter sprinkles I got on sale after Easter, but let's keep this a secret.)

And no, I did not have two chocolate ice creams. One is my mom's.

The perfect way to end a long and hot day.

And the best part?

There's more left for tomorrow.

May 12: National Limerick Day

I hate poetry.

I hate writing poetry.

It never makes any sense to me.

So a limerick has some complicated rules.

It has five lines. And is normally funny.

Lines 1, 2 and 5 have seven to ten syllables and rhyme.
Line 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and rhyme.

Because that's easy to remember.

So here are limericks I made up.

Food: By Janelle

Donuts, brownies, cookies and cake
In the oven, bake, bake, bake
Delicious to taste
Adds weight to your waist
Eat too much, you may sink in the lake


Turtles: By Janelle

Swimming in the ocean, green and blue
Majestic, they don't belong in stew
Wondrous, gentle and free
They don't live to ski
Turtles aren't cows, they don't say "MOOO"

Have a limerick of your own? Let me know, leave a comment!

April 13: National Peach Cobbler Day

Peach Cobbler! MHHHMMM smells good to me!

Jazzy J's Super Easy Peach Cobbler Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk (or almond milk)
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 cups peaches
- 1/2 cup butter
- cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on top
- optional: vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Directions:
1. Mix the milk, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.
2. Put the butter in the bottom of a 13" by 9" pan. Put the pan in the oven while it is heating to 375 degrees until the butter has melted and covered the bottom of the pan.
3. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter. DO NOT STIR.
4. Add the peaches on top. I drained out about 75% of the peach juice because I didn't want my cobbler to be mushy. DO NOT STIR.
5. Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon and sugar on top.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes.
7. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired!

See? This recipe was super easy and it was really good. I imagine it would be even better if you added some blueberries in it.

It should be noted that I didn't quite have enough peaches. I only had about 2 cups because someone (Mom!) decided to eat some ahead of time. I put in the recipe 3 cups because I believe 3 cups would have been peach perfect!

Still...topped with a little bit of vanilla ice cream, this cobbler was a hit. I'll be making it again soon!

April 3: National Chocolate Mousse Day

Christopher Henry was very excited to celebrate this day!

Until he realized, it wasn't about a moose eating chocolate. Poor guy. He was disappointed. I let him eat some anyways.

Christopher Henry argued that today should be about celebrating him, because he is a chocolate colored moose. Ohhhhh Christopher Henry...



JazzyJ's Light and Fluffy Chocolate Mousse Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 8 ounces heaving whipping cream
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Any toppings you might want (shaved chocolate, crushed Oreos, whipped cream...)

Melting the chocolate.

Instructions:
1. Put a metal mixing bowl in the freezer.
2. Using a double boiler, melt the bittersweet chocolate, stirring often until completely melted. Take off heat and set aside.
3. Get the metal mixing bowl out of the freezer, and beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Using a whisk, blend the chocolate into the egg white mixture.
6. Add the chocolate egg white mixture into the whipped cream and gently stir until well blended.
7. Cover and refrigerate for an hour before adding any toppings and serving.
8. Serve some to Christopher Henry (He made me put that in here!)

Melted chocolate

The cream all whipped up.

Stiff egg whites.

Adding in the chocolate.

The finished chocolate mousse, ready to be refrigerated!

Let me tell you, this was sinful! There were some arguments on this recipe because some people believe mousse should be light and fluffy and others believe it should be creamy and smooth. Just so this doesn't disappoint anyone, this is very light and fluffy. And chocolately. And high in calories. And very very delicious. It's a light dessert that would be a great addition to finish off any heavy meal, because it is just so light and fluffy! Christopher Henry gives it two antlers up!

March 17: National Saint Patricks Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I decided to celebrate by eating green food for dinner. I had a dinner consisting entirely of green beans and broccoli. Okay, I admit, I was exhausted from work and wanted an easy dinner, but hey, it fit today's theme. I hope you all remembered to wear green.

Green items I wore today: green shirt, green earrings, green hair bow, green mascara, green underwear, green eyes (which, coincidentally, I always "wear")

I had on green eye shadow but I looked a little scary so I had to veto that.

I also made a delicious green dessert.

This is green ice cream! I promise! It's just a faint green!

JazzyJ's Green IceCream Delight For Saint Patrick's Day

Ingredients:
- 1 half gallon green ice cream (I used mint cookie ice cream but mint chocolate chip would work as well)
- 1 Oreo cookie crust (you can find these at most grocery stores)
- Oreo cookies (smashed to pieces)
- A variety of green sprinkles

Directions:
1. Let ice cream sit out enough to soften so it is easy to scoop.
2. Scoop ice cream into the  Oreo cookie crust and smooth so it looks nice and even.
3. Smash up about 8 Oreo cookies. I put them in a ziploc bag and gently hit them with the back of an ice cream scoop.
4. Sprinkle the smashed Oreo pieces on top.
5. Decorate with green sprinkles! Remember: You can never have too many sprinkles.
6. Put back in the freezer for a while so it hardens again.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

And here's a close up! See? Lots of sprinkles!

February 6: National Frozen Yogurt/ Lame Duck/ Wear Red Day

The reason I love celebrating each "national something day" is because it has the ability to turn just a regular mundane day into an exciting adventure. As I was planning out this weeks days and their corresponding celebrations, National Frozen Yogurt Day was not listed. It wasn't until a family friend and dedicated blog reader (hello Lynda!), emailed us that I realized today was National Frozen Yogurt Day. I knew we had to celebrate!

I generously offered to pay for my parents to join me in eating frozen yogurt. Mom was ecstatic and I quickly had to remind her not to get an extra large. About a year ago I had gone out to get frozen yogurt with my parents and upon paying, we realized my mom had filled a large cup with frozen yogurt while my dad and I had chosen the small cup to fill. Mom claimed to have only seen one size. It's been an ongoing joke since. Since today is also National Wear Red Day, I told them I would buy them a frozen yogurt if they wore red. I quickly dawned a beautiful watermelon scarf and my mom was already wearing a red fleece. Dad went to change and came out wearing a dark orange shirt. I told him that wouldn't cut it. He claimed not to own anything red. Note: Later he  realized he was wearing  red boxers so everything ended up being okay.

Upon arriving at the local frozen yogurt shop, it was determined that they were also celebrating National Frozen Yogurt Day. Each customer received 6 oz. free! Even better since I was the one paying. Dad joked he was just going to get double as I reminded everyone to aim for 6 oz.

Today is also National Lame Duck Day. While this day normally refers to a politician, I decided to take a more literal approach. This is a picture of Duckie and his broken leg. Notice how Duckie is also sporting a red head band.