Tomorrow I will officially be 9 weeks pregnant... This means I will be 4 weeks away from being out of the first trimester... Most people say that your morning sickness is supposed to stop around 14 weeks, which means that typically I would have about 5 weeks of morning sickness left and then I should get some relief....
HA!!!
Well, if I were typical, that may be true... But I have never been, and probably never will be, "typical"...
So my hopes aren't high for the end of "morning sickness" (yet another thing that makes me laugh, because morning doesn't have much to do with this sickness... I think this baby has a mind of his/her own...) to come anytime soon. Instead I will continue to bring you recipes that have been friendly to my rather easily up-settable pregnant palette. Try saying that one ten times fast: easily up-settable pregnant palette...
Well anyway, today I attempted an impromptu chocolate pudding. I call it impromptu because I didn't plan it out very well... In fact, I started throwing bits of randomness into it as I went, and don't you know that is usually how I end up with my best products...
Well anyway, this is how I did it (well, sort of... I will clean up the craziness for you and just give you a recipe that makes sense...)
Homemade Chocolate Pudding
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (golden brown is what I used)
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder (this is roughly how much I used... I started with 1/4 cup and the sprinkled in some more for good measure... If you want yours to be more milk chocolatey, then only use 3 Tbs, or 1/4 cup)
2 Tbs cornstarch (I started with 2 Tbs and sprinkled a little more. If you want to use this for a pudding pie, put in 3 to 4 Tbs)
Dash salt
Sift these ingredients together in a sauce pan making sure to remove all lumps. By the time I got done the powder I ended up with resembled the instant stuff you buy in a box.. But of course this will be way better....
Turn the burner on medium heat and add 2 3/4 cup milk. Whisk like crazy (don't get discouraged... at first it will look all lumpy and then all of a sudden you will have a magical moment when it all mixes into a creamy chocolate milk looking consistency.)
I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon into the pot about halfway through, just for a nice touch... Feel free to do it if you want to.
I also noticed halfway through that it was a lot less chocolate looking than I wanted it, so I tossed in a handful of chocolate chips and stirred those like crazy until they melted too. This is also optional.
Continue to let simmer until it starts to thicken. This will also be a magical moment, so watch it closely or it will thicken into a big nasty blob (that almost happened to me, but I caught it in time!) Once it starts to boil, stir it down and remove from heat. It should be thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon (or cling to your whisk), but not as thick as cooled pudding. Remember, it will set up as it cools.
After removing from heat, stir in 2 Tbs margarine and some vanilla. Stir thoroughly, let cool a bit, then pour into serving cups (or tupperware, if you plan on saving it for later like me!).
Enjoy!!!
Memories... Like Mom Made!
Out of dark moments, flowers grow.
