Well. 2012 was quite a year. It went gallivanting off in all sorts of directions that I had no clue it would when it started out.
There have been crazy things, sad things, and downright awesome things. I lost too many friends that left this earth before they were meant to, and I gained some fantastic new friends at times and in places I least expected. I was trashed by people I considered close friends, and I’ve had volumes of fan mail from strangers all over the world – who ever expects those things to ever happen?
I’ve had interview requests from health writers, and casting calls from TV Producers. Jonathan and I became hot on iTunes, and then we wrote a new book. There have been times that have hurt my heart deeply, and times that have made my heart sing. I unexpectedly fell in love with the Deep South, spinach, The Zac Brown Band, and coconut - while just as unexpectedly falling out of love with Dr. Pepper, digging in the garden, driving in the snow, and cupcakes. That last one still amazes me.
My image was chosen to be the Windows 8 lockscreen (hello?!), and I discovered that the Surface makes creating recipes for you - while cooking in the kitchen – the easiest thing ever. The kitchen was re-modelled, the yard was completely re-landscaped, and I am unbelievably grateful for being able to get those done.
I ate more, I exercised less, my waist got smaller, and my back-fat shrank. My HDL went up, my LDL went down. Everything in my life moved in the right direction, despite a few roadblocks thrown into my path along the way. There were cherished friends at every turn to help me clamber over the hurdles and just keep on going.
I started the year reviewing restaurants, and ended it spending almost every waking moment creating recipes, cooking, photographing, and posting the results for the world to see. Who knew? More to the point, who knew that I would be creating recipes for rice pudding – without rice in – with the glee of a 4-year-old riding their first bike?
I believe in this case it was the freeze-dried raspberries I spied in Trader Joe’s while I was ambling up and down the aisles that got me all gleeful. Those little puffs of raspberry pieces are jam-packed with an explosion of raspberry flavor. Just one little piece is like eating a whole bunch of fresh ones. And I do love raspberries.
I made this as a dessert one day when I fancied the whole rice pudding thing, but wasn’t in the mood for cinnamon. I’ve since eaten it for breakfast and a snack as well. It’s one of the {gazillion} things I just love about this whole *SANE thing – so many of the dishes are multi-purpose. We can eat dessert for breakfast any time we choose and feel good about it. LOVE that!
This is as simple as can be to throw together, although I would advise throwing it carefully as you don’t want cottage cheese mush on your hands. Or in your bowl.
- 1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
- 1 scoop / ⅓ cup strawberry whey powder
- ¼ tsp salt (measure it – you don’t want too much!) SEE NOTE
- 2 tbsp dried blueberries
- ¼ cup freeze-dried raspberries
- xylitol or equivalent sweetener to taste (I used 2 tsp)
- In a bowl, gently stir the cottage cheese, whey powder, and salt together until the whey powder is completely dissolved and mixed through.
- Stir in the blueberries and raspberries.
- Sweeten to taste if required.
*SANE™, inSANE, SANEity – terms used in Jonathan Bailor’s book, The Smarter Science of Slim.
by carrie
Nancy - This is interesting about the pinch of salt. Whey powder definitely has an odd taste that takes some getting used to.
Do you find the various sugar substitutes all have different tastes?
carrie - Hi Nancy – it depends which whey powder you use, but I find the strawberry whey JB and I use has a bitter aftertaste. The salt fixes that. I don’t want to get used to the aftertaste ;-) The sugar substitutes do all have different tastes. The reason I use xylitol (apart from it being natural and having a host of health benefits) is that it tastes the most like regular sugar, as well as looks and performs like regular sugar. I think Stevia / Truvia are nasty tasting and erythritol has an odd taste. No one has ever been able to tell that my recipes do not have regular sugar in them and that’s the result I aim for.
Nancy - Ah, this explains why the almond cookies I made on my SANE cooking rampage taste off. I used Truvia because that was all they had at the regular grocery store. Might have to bite the bullet and order a 55lb bag of the xylitol. Sure wish the sugar substitutes weren’t so expensive.
carrie - Nancy – it will save you in the long run if you have a place to keep it. I just won’t eat food that tastes nasty, so the cost is worth it to me. I don’t want to feel like I have to eat inferior tasting food because I want to be slim and healthy! The cost will start to come down as more and more people start buying things like xylitol.
Cowgirl Rae - One thing I learned about xylitol…. isn’t there always a twist to learn?
Traditional xylitol is made from birch trees…. lo and behold food techs have started making xylitol from corn cobs.
reputable sellers will disclose the source of the xylitol if you ask.
I saw this on the website of the xylosweet I purchased. http://www.xlear.com/xylosweet-faq.aspx
Yes the birch version is significantly more expensive.
http://store.xylitolusa.com/xylitol-sweetener/
Sigh….
carrie - I use Xyla because it is made from birch bark…however…xylitol made from corn does not use any of the corn grain, is gluten-free and is still a momnumentally massive (yes, THAT huge) of an improvement over regular sugar in terms of its effect on our bodies. Don’t fret! Use this up, then buy Xyla :-) http://www.naturalsweetenerstore.com/5lb-xylitol-bag-pure-north-american-birch/ 5lb Xyla is cheaper than Xylo-Sweet from looking at the website you sent me.
Cowgirl Rae - Thanks I’ll check it out!
Sometimes I simply get exhausted researching every possible tangent for every product!
Don’t get me started on getting duped by the stevia company…..BAH!
carrie - Oooh, Rae – tell me about the Stevia thing….email me?
Julie - Love this post! :)
carrie - Thanks, Julie!
Diane - I just made this. I did not add any sweetener and I used frozen fruit as I did not have any dried fruits. I made it for tomorrow’s breakfast but it might not make it that long. I did have to taste it for quality control purposes.
carrie - Ha, ha, Diane! I have that same problem! Good news is…because it’s SANE it’s OK to eat a lot ;-) Enjoy!!
Daniel Martins - Hey there Carrie, I`m so happy to hear about all you accomplishments this year! I myself have only ” met” Jonathan and you back on November, and even though it`s such a short time you`ve became my companions on Sao Paulo`s (Brazil) crazy traffic. I`ve listened to all the podcasts after reading the book, and I`m a SANEr, happier person. Thank you both for making our lives better. Jonathan laid the ground summing up the science, you laid the red carpet with your extremely talented recipes to make the path merrier and easier :)
Thank you both for all the hard work and enjoyable time on the car :)
Best regards from the Brazilian fun,
Dani
carrie - THANK YOU, Dani for your kind words and support all the way from sunny Sao Paulo!!! Congrats on your SANEr, happier you :-)
kerrie - Hi Carrie, I am a a beginner here from Australia. Have bought the Smarter Science of Slim and printing some of your recipes. Have bought a huge jar of Stevia but I don’t think I want to try it now. Just went to the website for Xyla and they won’t ship to Australia :-( is there anything else that is similar I can try? BTW your recipes look so yummy!
carrie - Kerrie – try here: For Xylitol, there’s Naturally Sweet brand. You can find out where it’s sold near you here: http://www.naturallysweet.com.au For other strange ingredients, check out this post: http://www.marmaladeandmileposts.com/archives/23109
kerrie - Thank you Carrie. I will check it out… :-)
8 Tricks That Make Being SANE At Home Easy » Carrie Brown | Marmalade and Mileposts - [...] Very Berry Rice Pudding [...]
Matilda - I was super excited to make this recipe, cause it sounds yummy as. So I made it this morning, and I got sad :( cause I did not like it. I’m not too sure what it is that I don’t like, texture maybe?
So it’s in the fridge. Might make it up into pancakes for the kids. Or maybe it will get better. But I hate wasting food, and I was so disappointed it didn’t turn out like I hoped :(