Wood

Wood is the name we gave a bulgur wheat dish we like. We eat it hot for breakfast and I always make extra so we can have some later. Sometimes cold (and sometimes with a little greek yogurt.) Other times warmed up with a little frozen yogurt, or *gasp*, ice cream on top. I fool myself into thinking it is healthy because I don't have to add any sugar to make it taste good. I suppose that the juice and fruits add plenty of sugars, but it just seems so much healthier.

Wood

2 cups apple juice (I use the nice thick looking natural stuff)
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 crisp apple, (peeled or unpeeled) cored and chopped in chunks
about a .5 - 1 cup of raisins (your call)
.5 cup slivered almonds
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Bring juice, apple, raisins to boiling. Stir in bulgur and cinnamon and bring back to a boil. Stir in almonds, cover, and take off heat. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes. Taste and season with more cinnamon if necessary. (I'm kind of a cinnamon junkie so I always feel I need more.)

If you like you can experiment with adding other spices (nutmeg, ginger, etc) or using other fruit or nuts. The recipe is also easily doubled or more.

Super Easy Lazy Man's Tiramisu

I was having trouble finding an easy recipe for a quick Tiramisu-like (No Bake!!) desert to bring to work, so I cannibalized one recipe and made up the rest based on other recipes I had seen to make this. I used cream cheese instead of the traditional marscapone because I don't have that much experience with marscapone and was worried about it being less thick in texture than cream cheese. You could potentially do your own experimentation and let me know.

Lazy Man's Tiramisu

2 10oz frozen pound cakes, defrosted (I used Sara Lee)
2 8oz blocks of cream cheese, room temperature
.5 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 16oz tub regular Cool Whip, thawed but chilled
4 oz strong coffee or espresso, room temperature
4 oz Kahlua
4 oz bar bittersweet chocolate (I used 60% cacao Ghirardelli bittersweet) chopped finely
1 cup chocolate syrup (or so- not sure as I just squirted from the bottle of Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup)

NOTE: IF you prefer, you can skip the Kahlua and use all espresso, but I think the Kahlua adds a little more sweetness and keeps the coffee section from being too bitter.

Cut off the ends of each loaf and slice the remainder of each pound cake into 9 slices and place them lying down in a 13x9 pan. You may have to cut some pieces to fit around the edges. (I did not need the butt ends of the cake- score for me!) Mix the expresso with the kahlua and brush, drizzle, or pour the mixture over the poundcake. Drizzle about half the chocolate sauce over cake.

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla. When creamy, fold in Cool Whip and crushed/chopped chocolate. Spread over cake. Drizzle with more chocolate syrup. Mmmmmm... chocolate syrup....

Chill overnight and enjoy.