Update.

Well, I made it through the 40 days. We lost internet connection for a few days around Easter and I never made it back. Sorry. Odd thing - I couldn't satisfy my sweet tooth. Nothing was doing it. I guess I finally just gave up and just went on.
Giving sweets up for 40 days apparently did nothing either. I went right back to eating them all the time.
Today I start trying to lose weight. DH did the hard task of giving up smoking, so now it's my turn. It's mainly going to be exercising with a bit of watching my intake. I'll need to be more committed to my gym ventures though, as I tend to walk a bit on the treadmill & call it a day. I'm going to give that ZunePass a try and load up my iPod.
For Dinner, I'm going to make PW's Springy Shells & add some grilled chicken.
I've also got laundry out my heiny & a cake to make for a client on Thursday.
Busy, busy...I'll have to tear myself away from the computer.

Shrimpy

Today for dinner I made "Shrimpy," a Sam the Cooking Guy recipe.

4 sticks of butter
2 lbs cleaned shrimp
6T pepper
1 t cayenne

Line a 9X13 pan with 2 sticks of the butter, sliced up. Spread over the shrimp. Cover with more butter & season.

Very not impressed. It didn't hold it's temperature well at all. The butter was just overpowering, and I love butter - real, unsalted butter. No flavor whatsoever, other than butter. In the end I threw a portion in a pan with some garlic, lemon, salt & parsley and called it "scampi." It needed some white wine.

And lead me not into temptation...

I do that well enough on my own. I made 2 homemade pies, cheesecake, and it was my friend's birthday with a high-end bakery's cake. I missed it all. Yeay me! There were times I was ready to throw in the towel. My husband is convinced that as long as I don't actually EAT it (i.e. chow down), I can try sample my own creations. I prefer to not even go down the path.
The crust for both pies was from Ina Garten. It was so simple - all the ingredients went in the food processor. A spin later and it gets saran-wrapped and in the fridge. I didn't get around to it for two days, and I thought I'd put too much water, but it was perfect. I do need to blind-bake next time. She also has a more savory crust that is built the same way.
The filling for the apple was Emeril's Big Apple pie, sans nuts. Hee hee. That sounds funny. It got great reviews, but it came out really watery. Again, I probably need to blind bake, as my friend's came out not so watery and she used a frozen crust. It also made a LOT of filling. Scale back, use a really deep pan, or make two pies. DH has yet to try it either pie.
We also made a strawberry rhubarb pie. I plan on buying some more rhubarb while it's in season. I realize now that I followed a different recipe than I originally intended to, Smitten Kitchen's. Everyone liked it though, except Mija. It was also watery, gotta work on that when I can taste it. We used the struesel topping from this recipe on both pies, adding oats to the apple topping.
I forgot momentarily that I couldn't eat sweets. We were waiting for the cake slicing at my friend & her twin's celebration. (Some drama was going on, and a bday girl was lost.) This entire time, I was waiting for cake. It wasn't until everyone was found and in place for slicing and the song was sung that it dawned on me, "I can't eat cake." Darnit. That carrot cake looked so good. . .almost there!

Day 21

How am I doing? Well, this morning I stuck my head in a large zippy bag with the remnants of a Nutella-filled calzone and inhaled deeply. Other than that, great!
I've had little missteps here and there, licking my fingers after serving someone a sweet goodie or popping a chocolate chip in my mouth when they spilled in the cabinet. As I'm savoring the morsel, the thought comes in my head, "I probably shouldn't be doing this."
I had a dream I gave into my temptations with a large chocolate-y nutty something. It reminded me of those Ferrero Rochers, but this was much larger and hollow. I was very disappointed in the dessert and myself. I've resolved to try harder not to nibble.
Mija is Easy-Baking her little heart out at the moment - a scratch chocolate cake. The timer just went off.
I'm planning my first freedom bite as we speak, however.

Day ???

I've done good! Or "well", as my bro would now interject. I did have to cheat once, as I gave blood and they give you sugar to replace the bloodloss. So I shared a little package of peanut butter cookies with Mija. Not those cracker and a thin layer of PB ones, it was the peanut shape ones with the sweet thick layer inside. Other than that, I made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies (adapted from the raisin ones on SmittenKitchen's blog) and didn't have a one. DH ate a lot of them, however.
Girl Scout Cookie time is soon, too! Oh me, oh my! Good thing they taste better frozen.
I've been cooking a lot better foods for the family as well. ("as GOOD," Bro fixes. No, it's not a grammar thing, it's an annoying brother thing.) I've learned to brine chicken breasts & served it with fresh asparagus. Not that it was difficult, but I will always brine my chicken breasts now.
The other night was "Oven Fried Chicken," a delicious Ellie Krieger recipe. The yogurt makes the chicken juicy as it bakes. I served it with a salad and homemade ranch dressing. Yum! I need to figure out how to do links, but the ranch dressing was from Pioneer Woman. (update: figured out the links!)

Day 6

I started my sourdough starter today. I accidently used a metal fork to stir it without thinking so I'll have to keep an eye on it. After I made it I researched some more and apparently there are those "snobs" that dub it "not genuine" if you use yeast. Oh well, too late. Then I left it on the fridge top to start it's magic and thank goodness I put it's container into a larger one! A yeasty pool of goo splooged everywhere.
Doing good on the sweets stuff, still! Still can't wait for a big hot fudge sundae with a chocolate chip cookie the size of my head on the side!

Day 5 (6!)

Monday! At least today counts.
Mush-mixing the amish bread, and have decided to start a sourdough starter as well and make English Muffins.
Breakfast: 2 mini breakfast sandwiches from Burger King
Lunch: Didn't really eat until late...
Dinner: 2 Grilled cheese sandwiches

I became an official member with the San Diego Cake Club today! Got me (another) snazzy new apron!