Friday, February 4, 2011

Diet Soda Muffins - 5 Points, A Challenge, Pink Saturday

What a terrible lot of titles I have tonight. To start, I have had a lovely week with my parents and grandmother visiting. I was so sad to say goodbye to them this morning, as I always hope that they will decide to move in with me. But they promised to come back soon. I have a lot of blogs to catch up on now that they have returned to their home far away.

I mentioned that I wanted to try a cake using orange soda, since I apparently have an obsession with using fizzy drinks in my cooking (Diet Cola Brownies, Lemon Pecan Butter Cake). Last night I looked through the kitchen to see what breakfast food I could bake. I sponsor a health and fitness club at school, and we were having a meeting this morning to discuss how to deal with stress during the cold months. That sounded, to me, like a discussion that would require chocolate.

Here is the recipe:

Diet Soda Muffins
1 box double chocolate muffin mix
1 can diet orange soda

1. In a medium bowl, stir muffin mix and diet orange soda until blended.
2. Pour batter into muffin stone or greased muffin cups.
3. Bake according to package directions.
4. Yields 12, 5 point servings

They were very good and had a hint of  orange that really complimented the chocolate. The kids ate them all up!


Now for the challenge bit. I have noticed a lot of great challenges out there in the blogosphere. Here is my intention with this challenge - to offer an opportunity for those who love to cook to share their skills with others.

I pointed out that my posts for Cream Cheese Corn  and Turkey Stuffing Casserole were a little high in points and presented in aluminium pans. Here was the rest of that meal:


Obviously this, along with a double batch of corn and four times the recipe for stuffing casserole,  is meant to feed a large crowd.  Many homeless shelters serve large groups of people and have their own kitchens, staffed by volunteers. There are, however, some smaller shelters that depend on individuals and religious groups to provide food for their lodgers. We have a small shelter like that in town. After being inspired by a fabulous book, I called and offered to bring a meal.

It was so much fun cooking large amounts of food - I almost never get to do that - and providing a meal for people who were truly thankful. So, my challenge to you is to share your cooking skills with someone in need. It may be a shelter, a sick friend who could use a nice pot of soup, your neighbor who enjoys baked goods, or a co-worker who has had a hard time lately. Whomever you chose, I would love to hear your story!

Finally, it is, of course, almost time to wish you a Happy Pink Saturday I thought that I would share one of my favorite pink items with you.  This is a shirt bearing the initials of my alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University. Stone bought it for me a year ago. He bought me a large...a junior's size large! It was SO tight. I could only wear it in the privacy of my own home, and I felt like I was stuffed in a sausage casing. Fifty pounds later, it is too big. I have to wear another shirt under it to keep from being indecent. I love this shirt!

Last Friday I left you with the song that was playing on my Creative Zen. Here is this Friday's musical contribution - what the Zen ""DJ" has me listening to at the moment. "See The Sun Again", by Dido.


14 comments:

  1. I read through your other posts (while drooling over the photos) and waited until the revealing of the pans mystery was solved to comment - what a wonderful thing to do. I love having challenges like that and am so inspired by this.
    And I love the cola cakes, too. They are the best! Have you tried brownie mix with black beans or prune puree yet? Sounds awful but tastes fantastic!

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  2. Cola cake is new recipe to me. Looks delicious.

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  3. baking with soda used to be very popular in the seventies, and eighties. I used to bake a 7-up cake, but don't have the recipe any mor.
    Your muffin looks so light, rich, and delcious!

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  4. Those diet soda muffins rise wonderfully and they look gorgeous!

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  5. How interesting, I've never heard of soda muffins before. What a cool idea. They look lovely.

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  6. Goodbyes are so hard. Glad you had a good time with you mom and grandma.

    I don't think I've ever had a soda muffin!

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  7. LOVE your challenge and your pink picture. Glad you had a good time with your mom and grandma, and I agree, goodbyes are tough. Have a great weekend, thanks for sharing the soda muffin recipe.

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  8. You sure have a lot of delicious looking food pictured on your blog. You had me at the first muffin. Thanks for visiting my blog and for the nice comment.
    Charlotte

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  9. Thanks for coming by Angela. Your muffins look wonderful. Happy Pink Saturday!! ♥

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  10. The food looks great and something new is always good, no matter how you make it as long as it tastes good:-)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

    Happy Pink Saturday
    Warm Regards, CindyLew

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  11. I just made cola cake the other day. So your muffins intrigue me. I wonder how diet cherry cola would taste. Love the challenge and your pink shirt. Happy pink Saturday!!

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  12. Wow...I call that a chocolate fizzy fix! No wonder the kids loved them. Thanks for visiting CITexas Gal...Happy Pink Saturday!

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  13. Lovely muffins! I bet they are delicious.

    Happy Pink Saturday!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  14. Thank you everyone! Ellen, I would love to try black bean or prune brownies. Both sound very interesting. Elizabeth, I have a recipe for Sprite cake that my mom used to make. Same thing probably? I had a blast looking at the pink Saturday blogs!

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Thanks for your comments!