Delicious Pudding Trifle

If you've read my "About Me" page you will know that I am an Independent Pampered Chef Consultant. If you haven't, now you know. 

Being a PC consultant, I make lots of food... I practice recipes to demonstrate at parties and I film videos of me cooking for online parties. 

I recently filmed a video making Pampered Chef's Cookies & Cream Pudding Triffle and decided I had to share it with the world! 

This recipe is not of my own invention. 

What you'll need:

4 bananas, peeled

1 lb of fresh strawberries, with the stems removed

1/2 lemon

1 pkg mini oreos (I used regular sized & double stuffed)

1 box (4.2 oz) cookies 'n creme or instant vanilla pudding & pie filling

1/2 cup water

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 pkg (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1/4 cup chocolate flavored syrup

Optional:

Whipped cream, maraschino cherries, dry roasted peanuts, additional chocolate syrup

First you want to start off with slicing the strawberries and bananas. Pampered Chef has this awesome product called the Quick Slice which makes this step 10x easier! After you do this, place the fruits in separate bowls.

Next, juice the lemon and toss 1 tbsp of the juice with the banana slices to prevent browning. You can use Pampered Chef's nifty Citrus Press to juice the lemon which makes it easier and much less messy than squeezing it with your bare hands. And I used their Measuring Spoon Set to measure out 1 tbsp of juice. 

Then you want to finely process 10 (five if you're using regular sized like I did) of the cookies. The Manual Food Processor, which is one of my very favorite's works perfect for this. 

Next, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the pudding mix, water, and sweetened condensed milk. And fold in the whipped topping and chopped cookies. 

Now to assemble! Spoon half of the pudding mixture into the Trifle Bowl, top it with half each of the cookies, bananas and strawberries. Then repeat the layers.

Just before serving, drizzle with chocolate and any other topping you picked!

You can find this recipe and so many delicious other's in their 2016 Fall/Winter Season's Best Cookbook (for only $2.00!) 

I hope you guys try this because I can't express how delicious this sweet treat is and creates such a large serving that everyone can have some! I'm going to go eat some more of my own... :)

Love Always,

Mari

We Should Talk About It...

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For anyone who doesn't know-i.e. anyone who hasn't read any of my other blog posts-I suffer from anxiety.
It's not uncommon to come across a person who is affected by anxiety now a days, and with this it is becoming more common to talk about it; I like this. 

Anxiety-like any other kind of mental illness-is a real thing and just like all other illnesses, I believe it is important to talk about mental disorders as much as we can. By openly talking about them, we are bringing awareness to these problems and helping people understand them better.

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I used to completely avoid talking about my anxiety what-so-ever because I was so incredibly scared that people would think that I was making it up or that they would tell me that its all in my head (which I still get a lot of).
But that's the thing with anxiety; it is all in my head and I know it! That's part of the reason it's so hard to deal with, because while I'm having an anxiety attack, I know that it's in my head and there is no reason to be anxious but my mind won't stop running.

It usually goes something like this:

1.) Something triggers my anxiety. (It can literally be almost anything.)

2.) I try my hardest to ignore the unsettling feeling growing inside my stomach, and that I'm having trouble breathing.

3.) Then my mind fixates on these, and I realize what is happening; therefore, in an attempt not to let myself panic, I begin to panic about the fact that I am starting to panic. (Silly, I know.)

4.) Then-most times than not-these feelings begin to take over and I have some kind of anxiety or panic attack. All the while I am trying my hardest to calm down, knowing I am in no sort of danger in any way.

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Anxiety is frustrating and vicious. I am well aware that my loved ones get tired of helping me through it sometimes, and I don't blame them. I get tired of it as well. It frustrates me more than it possibly could any of them, so I understand.

But something that you need to understand if you are a loved one of someone who suffers from anxiety; they need you. We need you. We need the support of the people we love. 

Mind you, everyone is different. Mental illnesses, including anxiety, effect everyone differently.

 Some people wear it so well, that you can't see it. You have to look beyond the surface and watch for the smallest signs. 

Others don't hide it at all; they let it consume them and you can spot it a mile away. 

Some people like to be left alone, and given space when this happens. 

Others need to be held, to feel safe and immensely loved.

 And some are right in the middle; they need your attention, to know that you care and are ready to do whatever they need, but require breathing room. 

Everyone is different.

I'm not saying I'm any kind of expert on anxiety in any way. I'm just taking this opportunity to tell anyone who's willing to listen [well, read] what I have learned in my years of dealing with my own anxiety. 

And I have learned that the only way to really be able to recognize when your loved one is having some kind of attack and how to respond to it in a way that helps them, is to ask. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it will make things so much easier for the both of you.You will know how to help them and they will get the help they need.

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Moral of the story is, learning about mental illnesses especially when you or someone you love are affected by them, is incredibly beneficial to everyone in the mix. 

I have learned an abundance of new things about my anxiety since I started reading more about it. Living with it, and around it, is much easier when you are educated.

I hope this helped you understand a little more about anxiety.
And if not, I hope you had a nice read!

Love Always,
Mari!

Should I Post It?

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I have spent lots of time, over the last two and a half years, stressing over what I am going to write on this blog. This blog, that I have had since 2014 and still don't completely 'understand'.

I feel as though I am still 'getting to know' my own blog. 

By this I mean, that even though I know that I want the general theme of this [center for my only public-and not anonymous-writing] to be lifestyle, I'm not exactly sure how I want to achieve that. This causes me to remain in a constant battle of "should I post's". Never knowing if what I think of writing about, is anything worth writing. 

And all of this has seemed to do nothing but add more stress to my anxious life, and I have decided that I am done allowing it to eat at my mind; as it does nearly constantly.

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So, with this decision comes my new strategy; just do it. No more endlessly searching through lists of blog-post ideas. And dreaming of beautiful pictures that I just can't seem to take with my mediocre camera.
Instead I will do things more productive that help me ahead of time. Like keeping a journal to jot down writing ideas when they come to me, and using stock photos when I can't seem to get the perfect picture I had envisioned.

I guess we will see how all of this works in due time. But I'm hoping that I can get into the habit of sticking around on here, I presume it will help my positivity. I always get a good, productive feeling when I write for my blog, I need more of that.

Love Always,
Mari