Fattening Fridays: Today's Secret Ingredient... New Mom Tears

It's Friday, a day with a whole new meaning now that it is a day I spend at home with L. Fridays used to be the day that nothing got done at work after noon, happy hour started around 3 (in the office), and then I'd  meet up with S and some friends after work for drinks and maybe dinner. Maybe we would get home at 10pm, maybe 2:30am. It was Friday... the key word being WAS. Now Friday is the day I change the sheets on the beds, do 3-5 loads of laundry, visit the grocery store for a mini weekend run, and wonder if S will be home from work early. But I still love it. Just not 2:30am love. 

For this edition of Fattening Friday I'm going to share a little secret about something that tastes homemade but comes in a box. Two things actually. I keep one box of something like this in my pantry most of the time because sometimes we get surprised by something and I need to be able to put together a dessert quickly. I first had them at a company crawfish boil when I thought someone spent hours in the kitchen to bring amazing homemade dessert love. I was wrong. You know who spent hours in the kitchen? Betty Crocker. And thank goodness, because she created the Supreme Bars line. The two I recommend for a very fudgey tasting home cooked experience are the Mississippi Mud and the Cookie Brownie. 

Well.... Hello there

For both of these I recommend baking in a small square baking dish. Especially with the cookie brownie because when you drop the cookie dolups onto the brownie bottom, you want it to look good, not like you just dropped cookie plops on top. (remember, you are trying to make people THINK you did this on your own.)

And again, Hello.

Am I telling you this is healthy? No. It's Fattening Friday, get a grip. I am telling you that you are busy and so am I. Don't keep this in your house so that one Friday you can bake a whole pan and eat it alone. That is what half pints of ice cream are for. Keep a box of this for when you need to bring dessert last minute or when you have surprise dinner guests. I made both of them for the nurses at my doctor's office after Landon was born and they were like "how did you find the time to cook all of this." And I wondered if they could taste the salt from my tears when my hormones made me cry about the fear of SIDS for the 40th time, but maybe they added to the flavor. 

Here is what the above should look like upon completion:

Mississippi Mud

Cookie Brownie

 To locate a store near you that carries the brand you can go here. I get mine at the grocery store and I've seen them at Target before. Everyone who works hard to be healthy most of the time deserves an easy dessert treat. If you just can't stand it when you need something sweet, just do what I do. Make a whole pan so you can have one piece and then give it to your neighbors or take it to work. Makes food disappear much faster. Warning, this can sometimes cause neighbors and coworkers to gain weight and curse you. It's a risk you should be willing to take. 

-RT