What I am Giving up for Lent this Year...

(Hint:  Not a thing...)

Two years ago, I wrote this post about Lent.  It was 2013, and it had been my second year giving up Facebook for Lent (and also the second year I attempted to breathe life into this blog).  So, after three years of suspending my social media addiction, this year,  I decided not to.

It's not because I can't and not even that I don't want to; I just needed something different.  To be perfectly honest, I even temporarily forgot that today was Ash Wednesday until a kid at school asked me when Easter was.  That's when I realized that I had no clue what I planned to give up.  As stated in my original post on the topic, I do not feel it is a necessity to give anything up for Lent; it is just something I try to do for my spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being:  proof that I can make positive changes in my life... even if only for forty days or so... it's a start.

So, I thought about all the things I could or should give up, and I kept talking myself out of every suggestion.  I have been so frustrated lately about things that are beyond my control that I am in no shape whatsoever to be giving up the usual Lenten go-to sacrifices of sweets, ice cream, wine, or other edible/drinkable coping mechanisms.  So, those were NOT viable options.

Source:  Found on buzzfeed.com via Kate on Pinterest

And, I'm just not feeling the whole Facebook thing.  I'm not really on it as much as I used to be anyway, and when I am, it's usually on my phone while I'm a passenger in a car, or while I'm cooking, cleaning, paying bills, multi-tasking, waiting for the microwave, trying to fall asleep, or something like that.  I never just sit down and do nothing but stare at Facebook for hours on end anymore (parenthood, a job, and life in general will do that to a person). So, since I was at a total loss as to what to sacrifice anyway, I decided that, instead of giving something up for Lent, why not add stuff!  For the next forty days, my goal will be to add pieces to the puzzle of my life that have been missing.  So, it's kind of like a Lenten sacrifice... in reverse.

Source:  Uploaded by user via Kate on Pinterest

So, basically, for Lent this year, I am giving up... nothing.  At least, not in the traditional sense.  However, by doing more of the things I should be doing and/or want to be doing, I will be giving up more of the things that do not matter, yet seem to bog me down on a daily basis, by default.  That is the plan anyway...  One thing in particular I'm hoping to have less and less time for:  people who do not add anything positive to my life.

Source:  Found on youtube.com via Kate on Pinterest

One of the things I hope to add to my life is... MORE WRITING!  I briefly thought about making a grand proposal of 40 days of blog posting (HA!) during the Lenten season, but decided that I was only kidding myself.  A good friend told me that my "blog cries itself to sleep every night" because of my lack of regular posts.  I joked that I didn't think anybody actually read it or cared, but I'd be willing to bet that he will be reading this (if he hasn't already).  It feels good to have one loyal blog reader haha.  Just kidding... I know there are more of you out there... right?  RIGHT?!

So, anyway, I WILL write (or read) something every day, but it might not always be in the form of a post.  However, I will slowly get better at this blogging thing... I must...

It is pretty sad, I must say, that I started this blog three years ago, and this is only my ninth post #bloggershame.

So, this Lent, rather than thinking about giving up on things (I do that enough already),

Source:  Found on someecards.com via Kate on Pinterest

I want to focus on adding things that enrich my life... and naturally, those other things will fall away and take care of themselves.  One can hope...

The Beginnings of "What I..." Wednesdays

For my blog, I wanted to come up with some themes for certain days of the week.  Sometimes it's hard coming up with random things to talk about, so having a theme will give me somewhere to begin (and also keep me more accountable for posting).  Accountability is huge because, since my blog is in its beginning stages, it's all too tempting to say, "Eh, I don't have time tonight."  But, one of the reasons I began a blog was to prove to myself that I really do have time to "do it all"... or, at least, do more than I have been.  My biggest sin of the deadly seven is definitely sloth, and I want that to change!

Source:  http://www.funny-joke-pictures.com/2013/07/funny-lazy-people-fact-quote-picture.html

I've already dabbled in a "Music Mondays" theme, which I plan to continue, but, for my newest idea, I kind of stole a concept from my blogging bestie Kristin.  She does a themed post called "What I Wear."  Since I am ABUNDANTLY CERTAIN that NO ONE in the history of EVER wants fashion advice from me, I decided that, for me, following that theme would be counter-productive for both me and my readers.  Perhaps, in the future, if I can begin dressing well enough that my sisters stop threatening to nominate me for What Not to Wear, then, maybe, just maybe, I will consider it.  Until then, I think I can produce far more interesting posts with a theme I am calling "What I..." Wednesdays.  I am calling it "What I..." Wednesdays because depending on the week or what mood I'm in or just what's on my mind, I might blog about "What I Watch," "What I Ate/Cooked/Baked," "What I Think," "What I Did," etc.  This keeps my theme flexible enough to allow creativity, yet firm enough to give me direction.

So, for this week, I decided to go with "What I Baked."

Two years ago, for my husband's birthday, I made him a cake.  It was a simple, store-bought, mix-from-a-box, icing-from-a-can cake.  He thought it was the greatest thing in the world.  If that was amazing to him, I knew I could totally make his mind explode the following year by making him a bona-fide, from scratch cake.  When I told him my plan, he went on a grand search of the interwebs to find the cake of his dreams, and find it he did.  He found several websites with recipes for a chocolate cake involving Guinness in the batter and Baileys in the frosting.  After looking back and forth between several different versions of the recipe, we finally settled on one we thought was a nice middle-of-the-road version:  not too much butter, not too little butter, not a whole bag of powdered sugar, but not a pittance of powdered sugar... that kind of deal.  And this is the recipe, I used:  Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Buttercream.

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

This year, when my husband requested cake for his birthday, I asked him if he'd like this one again, and he answered with a resounding yes.  However, as delicious as this cake is, it is ridiculously rich and ridiculously fattening (considering that, with the two of us, we'd have to eat the whole thing in a matter of days before it went bad), and my husband and I are trying hard to watch what we eat (we have both lost weight since having our son, and we would like to keep doing so, so we can enjoy a long, happy life with him).  So, I got the genius idea of trying to make this cake in cupcake form.  I feel like, with cupcakes being packaged in a smaller serving by nature, they allow for more portion control.

While this original recipe makes a 12-slice cake, the cupcake version I made, makes 24 cupcakes, which essentially cuts the fat and calorie content per serving in half (if you can stop at just one cupcake).  Also, cupcakes are easier to share and give away.  In fact, out of the 24 cupcakes I baked, we have already given away 13 of them, so with that, we will be consuming half as many calories and half as much fat as we would have, had we made, hoarded, and inhaled the entire cake ourselves like we did last year.  Cupcakes = Portion-Controlled Cake = Happy Chubby People Who Can Have the Best of Both Worlds.

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

Clearly I am a bit behind on getting my husband his birthday cupcakes (his birthday is in May), but better late than never I say.  So, here it is, the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Buttercream recipe you've all been waiting for... only in cupcake form! :)  Check out the original here if you'd like a double-layer cake, or follow the modified recipe below if you'd like 24 cupcakes, but either way, follow one of them if you'd like absolute cake bliss to happen in your mouth.  ENJOY!  :)

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream

(Inspired by and Adapted from Prevention RD)

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cake:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter


3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa


1 cup Guinness Extra Stout


1 Tbsp vanilla extract


1 1/2 cups sugar


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

Buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp Bailey’s

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat and whisk in Guinness, vanilla extract, and cocoa. Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking soda). Pour the Guinness mixture onto the dry ingredients, then whisk in the 2 eggs. Pour evenly into cupcake liners.*

Bake for about 19 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, whip together the softened butter and sugar using a mixer for the buttercream, adding in just enough Bailey’s to get it loose and fluffy. Whip for 5-10 minutes, or until fluffy and light.

Once the cakes are done baking, cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.**

If you want the cupcakes to look extra cute for a special occasion, add some edible embellishments.  I found some semi-sweet chocolate chips in my pantry, so I decided to decorate a few of the cupcakes for some added pizzazz. 

Nutrition Information

(per cupcake)*** 

240.5 calories; 13.65 g. fat; 20 mg. cholesterol; 57 mg. sodium; 28.85 g. carbohydrate; 1 g. fiber; 1.45 g. protein

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*I only have a 12-cupcake baking pan, so I had to do this in two separate batches; having two pans and being able to do this in one fell swoop would have ensured that the cupcake batter was more evenly distributed, and, therefore, would lead to more consistent cupcake size, shape, etc.

**Again, prepping all 24 cupcakes at once would have provided a significant advantage.  Because I ran short on icing when I made this in cake form originally, I skimped on the icing for the first 12 cupcakes due to a fear of running out.  I ended up having leftover icing at the end because I skimped a bit too much; however, because I had added semi-sweet chocolate chips to the tops of some of the cupcakes, I could not go back and re-distribute the leftover icing, so I was left with about an extra 1/2 cup of frosting that is now sitting in my fridge.

***I calculated these nutrition statistics using figures posted on the original post.  Since the original recipe yielded 12 slices of cake, and this recipe yielded 24 cupcakes, I split all of the figures in half.  The writer of the original post states on her blog that she is a registered dietician, so I assume she is an expert on such things; however, I am not, so please do not take my re-calculations as gospel (after all, I am an English teacher by day, so Math is not my first language).  Keep in mind that, if you add sprinkles, chocolate chips, or other toppings, these facts will vary.