Number Forty-Three

Mike turned 43 yesterday.  We celebrated his birthday today, because he had such a busy day planned at work on his actual birthday.  He was able to take the day off today and sleep in a little.   We made his favorite supper, Poppyseed Chicken and Green Beans, and dessert for his birthday tonight.

Speaking of dessert...

I have to be a little creative with Mike's birthday dessert, because he is a diabetic.  I can't just bake or order a cake, so I took an idea from his mother who cooks for Mike's dad who is also diabetic.  Now every year on his birthday, Mike gets "Mike's Trifle" instead of a birthday cake.  I try to change it up a little each year, but this is what I did this year:

I baked an Angel Food cake and let it cool.  I then took a large glass bowl and began layering the trifle.  The first layer is pulled apart Angel Food cake, followed by a layer of frozen berries.  This year I used a berry medley from Wal-Mart that included strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  What makes this dessert so good it to layer the trifle while the berries are still frozen, so as the berries thaw, the juice just kind of soaks into the cake!  The layer of berries is followed by a layer of sugar-free, fat-free Vanilla pudding.  Next, layer is sugar-free cool whip.  Keep layering until you reach the top of the bowl, ending with cool whip and the remaining berries.  

I covered the dessert and put it in the frig until we were ready to eat it.  Somebody had to test the vanilla pudding that was left over.

After supper, the kids presented Mike with his homemade birthday card.

We all wrote a special note on each page.  I gave Mike the book, "Mike and Mike's Rules for Sports and Life" and the kids gave him some "noise reduction" ear phones!

Blessings to you from the wife of the "Darn Awesome Dude",