Marshmallow Brownies - Take Two!

I've said it before - I'm a s'mores fanatic. That gooey, chocolaty, marshmallowy goodness gets me every time. When my husband wants to have a bonfire on an 80 degree night? As long as we have marshmallows, I'm there. It's the perfect combination if you ask me. So that's why I've found another Marshmallow Brownie recipe. I can't get enough!

Borrowed and adapted slightly from Eat, Love and Be Happy

Marshmallow Brownies

3/4 cup unsalted butter

9 oz. quality bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Mini chocolate chips 

1 package of large marshmallows

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Prepare a 9x13 pan with tin foil, parchment paper or PAM
• Melt the butter and chocolate on your microwave's defrost setting, stirring every minute until smooth
• Combine the sugar, eggs and vanilla in another bowl
• When butter and chocolate is slightly cooled, stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla
• Stir in the flour and salt
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan
• Cut the marshmallows in half and place on top of the brownie mix
• Bake for 20-30 minutes and sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips on top as soon as they are out of the oven. Then bring them immediately to church or work or daycare so you don't sit and eat them all at once. Or go ahead and eat them all. I won't judge.

Mother's Day

As a kid, we always made our mom a craft or something lovey-dovey and cute. It's the thought, right? And now that I have a kid, I'll be honest and say that I can't wait until he's in school making these cute things. And I'm definitely the type to save each and every little crayoned card in a box until I'm old. And so, inspired by the future Mother's Day crafts in that little box, I've compiled some adorable crafts found on Pinterest (follow me!).


Source: The Crafty Crow

Oh golly, fingerprint clay necklace? How cute!

Source: No Time For Flash Cards 

Neat little vases!

Source: Buzzfeed

Heart Shaped Bird Feeder? Yes, please!



Source: Better Homes & Gardens

Monogram for Mom. I bet kids could

get pretty creative!

Guest post: Remaking Mom's Meatloaf

We have a special guest post today!! My brother (and Hannah's brother-in-law) was lucky enough to snag this amazing girlfriend - MEGAN! We are lucky to have her around, too. She makes delicious and nutritious foods, she's a heckuva sale spotter, plays a mean game of Bananagrams and is all-around fabulous.

When I was younger, my parents often had to work late, so my brother and I would take turns cooking for the family. One thing I memorized at an early age was meatloaf.

A lot of people turn their noses up at the thought of meatloaf. But every person I've met who claims to hate meatloaf changes their mind when they try the recipe I make. Everyone that is, except my boyfriend Jack. I’m not entirely convinced he’s actually tried my recipe, but I will let him claim he doesn't like it anyway
.
Last week, I came up with the brilliant idea of recreating my recipe to Jack’s liking so that I could fulfill my craving for meatloaf. “Recreating for Jack’s liking” really just means making it spicy, so I decided I could convince him to eat meatloaf if I made it spicy and bribed him with his favorite soda (Cherry Bawls).

Below is my mom’s original recipe for meatloaf followed by my new experimental Spicy Meatloaf Recipe. You’ll have to try both to truly understand what you like best!

Mom’s Meatloaf:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the following to a mixing bowl:

1 pound ground beef

1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix

1/2 cup oats

1 egg

4 tbsp of milk

Mix the ingredients together with your hands (or a spoon if touching raw meat grosses you out). You want the mixture to be moist, but not wet. Add more oats or milk to get the required consistency.
Put the mixture into a loaf pan. Top with sliced onions, cracked black pepper, and 1 can of tomato soup mix. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Spicy Meatloaf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the following to a mixing bowl:

1 pound ground beef

1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix (dry mix); ½ onion diced, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp Southwest Seasoning mix (I used the Pampered Chef variety), ½ tsp chili powder, ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp onion powder

1/2 cup oats

1 green pepper diced

1 egg

4 tbsp of milk

Mix the ingredients together with your hands (or a spoon if touching raw meat grosses you out). You want the mixture to be moist, but not wet. Add more oats or milk to get the required consistency.

Put the mixture into a loaf pan. Top with sliced onions, cracked black pepper, and ¼ cup of ketchup and 2 tsp tabasco 1 can of tomato soup mix. Sprinkle about 1tbsp brown sugar on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

My Verdict

I enjoyed the new recipe, but still like the old one better. I thought the new one had a good amount of spice without being too spicy. I even got an “it’s actually not that bad” comment from Jack, which is pretty good as far as I’m concerned.His only complaint was that it wasn’t spicy enough. Maybe next time I will have to make two meatloafs.

Vegetarian "Meat"loaf

This "meat"loaf may be vegetarian, but it delivers when you are craving serious comfort food. It’s good out of the pan and makes great leftovers as well. This concoction may sound a little strange but somehow comes out of the oven looking and tasting like (or even better than. I've been told) meatloaf.  Trust me, you won't be disappointed. 


Ingredients:

• 4 eggs beaten
• onion soup mix (I used about a ⅓ of a packet)
• 1 ½ to 2 c Special K
• 1 cup finely diced walnuts
• ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
• ¼ c canola oil (I have used olive oil as well)
• 16 oz cottage cheese
• A well greased/ oiled/ whatever 9x5 loaf pan

The order in which you  mix the ingredients doesn't matter,  just make sure it's mixed well. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.

We enjoy the "meat"loaf on buns as a sandwich. This pairs well with some roasted red potatoes, mac n’ cheese or baked beans.

Recipe courtesy of my co worker, Tricia.

Chewiest Granola Bars

After finding this recipe on Pinterest (follow me!), I will never buy the bars in the store again. These were far too easy to make, and taste better and fresher than anything in the store. Plus, I know what's in these, and it's not glycerin, artificial flavors and preservatives. It's all stuff I happily store in my pantry. Hubby, kiddo and I all love them! I'll be making these weekly.

Chewiest Granola Bars

1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mini chocolate chips

Melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium heat until it boiling. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir.

While melting, stir oats and rice cereal together in a large bowl.

Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well to moisten.

Pour into small non-stick jelly roll pan (about 12x8x1) and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. If you don't have a small enough pan, mold the mixture to one side, pressing at all angles to ensure compaction.

Press in mini chocolate chips.

Cool on a countertop at room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars.

Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Adapted from this recipe.

Pizza Crust

Good pizza crust takes time, but it's worth it. My favorite recipe comes from Deborah Madison's, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Homemade pizza crust might sound intimidating, but it's actually quite simple.

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 1/2 c warm water
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt **
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 3 c all purpose white flour
• 1/4 c (or so) of cornmeal to dust your pan (can also use flour)

**If I add salt it's only a pinch -- otherwise, I completely omit salt or add other seasonings like rosemary and garlic powder or some Mrs. Dash table seasoning.

First things first, prime your yeast. In a large bowl, combine a 1/2 c warm water with the yeast. Let sit until frothy (about 10 minutes).

Add the remaining water, oil and salt/seasoning. Incorporate the wheat flour followed by enough white flour to form a shaggy dough.  Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and begin kneading until smooth, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. If you want a crisper crust, allow the dough to stay a little tacky.

Oil a clean bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn once to coat. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside until the dough has doubled in size (40-60 minutes). When the dough has risen, you can divide it into two pieces for two 12 inch pizzas or four pieces for 10 inch pizzas. After you've divided the dough, shape each piece into a ball and allow to rest for an additional 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

When the dough is ready, you can either shape it with your hands or a rolling pin. I'm not very sufficient with my hands so I use a rolling pin. I cook my pizza on a round metal pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray then dusted with cornmeal. Transfer the rolled out dough to your pan and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Add desired toppings. Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust looks lightly browned.

Enjoy!

 

Ooey, Gooey, Rich Marshmallow Brownies

Story is, hubby never asks for sweets. He doesn't..."like"...sweets. What is that? So tonight, when he asked for brownies, and I didn't have a mix on hand, I had to find a recipe fast. This rare occasion that he wants a sweet (and thereby, I get a sweet, guilt-free, instead of eating a scoop of ice cream alone in a corner like I'm on some sugar binge), well, it couldn't go unfulfilled.

I found this recipe on my Pinterest for Marshmallow Brownies (source). It's a quick and easy recipe that turned out ooey, gooey, super rich. Delicious. And hubby? He had two. 

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 9 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• mini chocolate chips
• mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 9x9 baking pan.
Combine the butter and chocolate and melt them in a bowl in the microwave at 50% power.
Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated.
Stir in the flour and salt until just combined.
Pour batter in the pan and layer marshmallows on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Picture wall: hang it in less than an hour!

I wanted a fun, new arrangement for pictures at the house, and found lots of inspiration on Pinterest (follow me!).I found what would be the perfect arrangement behind the couch, displaying all of the pictures of our family our kid. (Definitely made me realize I need more photos of the husband and myself...)

I set up my arrangement on the floor, took a photo so I would remember the arrangement...then piled all the pictures by the end table for about a month. I just didn't know HOW to do it! And do it right! And make it straight! And not put a dozen extra holes in the wall!

But recently, while the husband was destroying our basement (that's another post altogether), I decided I was going to be handy as well. I laid my pictures out again, and picked up some tools including:

Hammer
Painter's tape
Tape measure
Pencil
Nails
Ruler
Small and large level



And got to work. I marked 60" from the floor, since that's about standard for where you want the center of the picture to hang for eye-level. I held a picture up, centered on the 60" mark, and marked the bottom edge of that frame. That's about where I wanted the bottom line. From there, I ran painter's tape level along that line.

I also measured the length of the entire picture span, including 2" gaps between each picture. I centered that behind the couch, and marked my end points. This is where the line of frames would begin, and end.

Start hanging! I always hated hanging pictures because I always found it so hard to mark the spot where the nail should go, and actually get it right. And if there are TWO hangers?? Come on! But I found this little trick on Pinterest and it changed my world:

I'm sorry I don't have in-action pics, it was just me hanging these!

I placed the frame facedown, held painters tape sticky side out against the back, where the hanger is. I used a nail to poke a hole exactly where the hanger is in the tape.

Carefully holding the tape in place with the frame, I held the frame up, level against the bottom line, and pressed the tape to the wall. It wasn't always pretty, but it did the trick. I nailed through the tape in the place I marked, peeled the tape, and hung my frame. Perfect!

Making progress! 

I marked a 2"gap, did it again, and hung the next one. Took me about an hour start to finish with seven frames. Check it out!

Banana Bread (aka Thank you, Facebook!)

I recently posed a question to my Facebook friends: How the heck do you get banana bread out of the pan without falling apart? I felt like I'd tried everything, but I still lost half of the bread to crumbs. What was I doing wrong?

I got lots of answers, the pan material, pan shape, recipe, lining of the pan or coating, etc. This week, I decided to try them all.

And guess what? It worked. Yes, the angels sang and the heavens shined upon me as this beautiful banana bread loaf slid out of the pan. Glory be.

To recap, I had been using:

•  an old Food Network Magazine recipe
• a glass pan with round corners
• butter
• waiting either really long, or really short to remove from the pan

 When I tried it this time, I used:

• Alton Brown's banana bread recipe (below)
• a metal, non-stick pan with straight sides and crisp corners
• PAM with flour
• wait exactly 10 minutes

It was just amazing, after so many wasted loafs and frustrating baking times, it worked! I'd made a beautiful bread, that didn't sink, that didn't crumble and that tasted fabulous. I was so pleased. I'll be using this recipe from here on out, for sure!

Banana Bread (Alton Brown for Food Network)

1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with PAM and flour.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Washi Tape

First, you might be wondering "what exactly is washi tape?" Washi tape originated in Japan. Washi is actually a type of paper that is made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree. The tape reminds me of a combination of masking and painters tape. It comes in fantastic colors and designs and is easily removable.

Our apartment has some less than attractive features. Today we're highlighting the light switch covers. They're old and ugly. That about sums it up. I'm going to use washi tape to add some pizzazz.

Here is what we are working with:

Use the side of the plate or any markings on the plate to line up your tape.

 When you get to a corner, cut the the corners of the tape with a scissors (above) so it can fold over neatly as shown below:

You'll be taping right over the switch openings. Very carefully, cut an "X" in the opening to create four flaps that you can fold inwards.

Mount your plate and enjoy!

(Of course this pattern has cats on it... did you expect anything different?)

Smores Mini-Cups

These just turned out so cute! I love all things chocolate-graham cracker-marshmallow. The ooey gooey fire-roasted sweetness is certainly the key to my heart. And mini-sized means I can eat more than one! These are great for parties, too, I brought them to work recently.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 package of graham crackers (just one of the "sleeves" in a box)
1/3 cup powdered sugar (optional)
Milk chocolate chips
1 package of mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Crush graham crackers. I either put them in a plastic zipper bag and run a rolling pin over them, or toss them in the magic bullet and let it do its...err...magic. Both work well to get the fine pieces that you need, one just requires more work.
Mix graham crackers with melted butter and powdered sugar. I leave this optional because I keep on scaling back the sugar, but don't really think it's necessary unless you really like the sweet flavor. Try it with your first batch, but know it works well without.
Press into cups of a mini muffin pan. No liners, no grease, just smoosh that in there. Be sure to leave the shape of the cup, this involves a lot of cute little mini muffin cup work.
Bake 4-5 minutes, just long enough to toughen those babies up, they might look like the butter in them is bubbling.
As soon as they are out of the oven, sprinkle your preferred combination of chips and marshmallows into each cup. I like to mix them up, you could layer chips, then marshmallows, then chips. I just like to make sure there's a little marshmallow and a little chip on top.
Put back in the oven on the top rack for another minute or so, just long enough to melt some chocolate and brown the top of the marshmallows.
These are fabulous warm, but good anytime! Enjoy! 

Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

I have long lost the original source for this ah-mazing Cranberry Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip, and there are a bunch of sites that host it or something similar. And it is fabulous. When a friend passed the now-lost link on to me, I was hesitant when I saw the jalepeno. I'm Minnesotan! I don't do spice! But she assured me that when seeded, it's not very spicy at all. And she's right, it's the perfect amount of zip, adding very little heat.

I brought this to a potluck at work and it was an absolute hit! It's very festive around the holidays, especially when the cranberries are fresh, but if you freeze your cranberries, you could bring this year-round. I bet it would be delicious at a summer picnic! Can you tell I'm thinking of warm weather?

1 12-ounce bag cranberries
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch salt
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

Dice cranberries and jalapenos to your preference. I like to run it in a food processor or bullet-type appliance. This gets it really thin and juicy. If you do this, you'll want to strain some of the liquid out right before you spread onto the cream cheese. If you like it a bit thicker, you can do this by hand. 

Add sugar, lime juice, cumin and salt and stir to combine. Cover and let sit either for 4 hours, or overnight. I recommend overnight, it's really lets everything soak up the sugar.

Spread softened cream cheese onto a large platter or dish and spread the cranberry mixture over. 

I served with Wheat Thins, but any yummy party cracker would be great. Shoot, cardboard would be great, this stuff is fab. 

Sweet Potato and Aduki Bean Borritos

These burritos are not only delicious, but they are filling and packed with nutrients. Sweet potatoes are source of potassium, fiber, beta carotene, calcium, protein and vitamin A. The beans are a good source of minerals such as folic acid, magnesium, zinc and iron. Good belly filler, indeed!

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 1 can (15 oz.) aduki beans (I used no salt added variety. You could use black beans instead)
• 2 large (orange fleshed)sweet potatoes, diced in 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth
• 2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 c shredded Monterrey jack cheese, queso fresco or whatever you have in the house (I had sharp cheddar so that is what I used today)

Tortillas (Based on Deborah Madison's recipe)

• 2 c flour (can use white or whole wheat)
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• ¾ milk (water can be used also)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt or other seasoning like garlic powder or cumin or both
• I sometimes through in a tbsp or two of flaxseed meal

To make the tortillas: Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle the oil throughout the dry ingredients and work it into the mixture with a fork or your fingers. Pour in the milk and combined until you have a shaggy dough. Turn this out onto a floured surface and kneed until combined. Be careful not to over-knead.  Place a damp towel over the dough and let rest for 20 minutes. Heat a cast iron pan on th stove on med-high. Cut the dough into eighths. Roll out an eighth onto a floured surface. Place the tortilla in the hot pan. When air pockets start to appear (40 seconds or so), flip your tortilla.

To make the filling: Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot on medium. Add sweet potatoes. Cook for a half hour or until they start to get pretty soft. Add vegetable stock and deglaze. Add the beans and spices. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add lime. Simmer for another couple minutes. Spoon the filling onto a tortilla. Top with cheese and enjoy!