Sea Salt Caramel Hot Chocolate Microwave Brownie

"I'm having a bad, bad day!  It's about time that I get my way!  Steam rolling where ever I see, Huh!  Despicable Me!"  That song (from the movie Despicable Me) popped in my head as I was getting prepared to write this particular post.  Today just seemed to be an insanely ridiculous day for me.  We started a Unit Study on Germany this week.  Under normal circumstances, I think it would have been a good thing.  However, why did I chose to do this new experience during a very busy week?  I don't know, maybe I'm insane.  Maybe I just didn't think it through, what this week already held, but wanted to do the study, because I had been preparing for it, had books from the library and just wanted to get started.  Start it we did, on Tuesday. 

Let me explain.  This week is sandwiched by 2 birthdays in our family.  That makes it busy already.  Plus, my oldest child was diagnosed with Ehler's Danlos Syndrome last summer - which will be a post all its own soon - which led to her need for reconstructive knee surgery in February and physical therapy 3 times a week for about 12 weeks following.  Which means I am currently taking her to PT 3 times a week right now.  That makes it a little bit busier.  Plus, I went to a bridal shower this past Sunday, that please understand, I really, really, really wanted to go to and did and am glad that I did.  And, tomorrow night the kids and I are going to do our very best to make it to the showing of Much Ado About Nothing, that our friend is in.  Tonight is clogging practice for all but the baby and since my son made it through the tryouts for the big dance they will be performing at Garden State Stomp, he has practice a little bit longer tonight. Then, I decided that I wanted to make 1 gallon of yogurt this week instead of half a gallon, which means that this morning I was informed we were on our very last gallon of milk.  And I needed printer ink for today's school needs and a standard sized stapler, because my mini stapler wasn't big enough for one of the things we made as part of the unit study.  That just set the morning off on the wrong foot for me.  I am in the process of getting us back into a daily schedule and boy am I glad about that!

So anyway, have you ever noticed that when one person is experiencing stress or frustration, it doesn't take long for those around them to be affected by it too?  Yes, that means that this morning ended up being a bit frustrating for half of us. Fast forward to this afternoon, after we had made it through the bare minimum that I wanted us to accomplish today, we are having some sanity time.  Oldest is upstairs reading.  All but the baby has had an opportunity to burn some energy with the Wii Fit and Just Dance 3.  Me?  I needed to resort to some chocolate.  But, the peanut butter cups just weren't cutting it and I didn't want to eat the whole bag.  That wouldn't be good, would it?  I sat down and took a look at Pinterest and struck gold!  Peanut butter and chocolate are tops on my list, but they can't beat ooey gooey chocolate warmth, unless they are part of that ooey gooey chocolate warmth. 

I found this recipe and remembered that I had bought some Sea Salt Caramel hot chocolate at Target recently.  Salted caramel is right up there with peanut butter for me these days.  Off to "work" I went making my brownie. 

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons Sea Salt Caramel Hot Chocolate mix
4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons canola oil or melted butter
3 Tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Handful of chocolate chips

Directions

Using a fork, mix the chocolate mix and flour in a mug or small bowl.  Stir in the oil, water and vanilla until all of the ingredients are wet.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Microwave on high for 60 seconds.  The center should be molten.  If the center is not cooked enough, continue to microwave for 10 more seconds at a time, not going beyond 30 seconds extra.  Cool for a few minutes.

Inspired by Hot Chocolate Microwave Brownie by alli N' sons.

It was a little piece of heaven and worked wonders for me!  I'm in a much better mood.  Isn't it amazing how chocolate can do that?


Now, I totally intend on finishing the unit study, as well as doing more of the studies in this geography series.  The kids have been learning a lot and we've enjoyed most of what we've done so far.  I just need to ease up on myself and realize that we may not be able to complete it in a week, until my daughter has completely healed and recooperated from her surgery.  We may need to break it up a bit.  We will be doing the study on United Kingdom soon as well as the companion study for 2012 Summer Olympics.

Go ahead and make yourself one of these tonight.  You know you want to!

Southwest Hamburgers

I went to the fridge yesterday to see what I had available for dinner.  I had some ground beef that needed to be used soon and avocados that were ripe and needed to be used.   I also had tomatoes that needed to be used and some red onion.  I had a container of bread crumbs nearing expiration.  I had half a bunch of cilantro and bacon leftover from the 3/4 lb that I used to wrap the chicken legs.  The makings for Southwest Hamburgers! I made the guacamole recipe I had found on Pinterest, putting the 3 avocado pits back in to prevent oxidization, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap pressed to touching the surface and put it in the fridge.  When it came time to make dinner, here's what I did.

Southwest Hamburgers

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1-2 Tablespoons of yellow mustard
2 - 4 Tablespoons of ketchup
Approx. 3/4 cups of breadcrumbs (I had Italian flavored and it was just fine)
Approx. 1/4 lb bacon
Guacamole
Sour cream
Extra ketchup and mustard for topping, if desired

Directions

Mix beef, eggs, yellow mustard, ketchup, and breadcrumbs gently, until well mixed without over mixing.  Shape into patties and make an indentation in the center.  Place in hot oiled or buttered pan and fry for approximately 8 minutes on each side.  While burgers are cooking, fry bacon in another pan.  Serve on your favorite buns and top with guacamole, sour cream, bacon and ketchup or mustard, if desired.

I threw some sweet potatoes fries in the oven while all this was cooking.

My 12-year-old son got a look at this as I was taking the picture and exclaimed, "oh my gosh!  That looks awesome!"  And then he proceeded to make one just like this for himself.  As he ate it he was gushing over it and he is already asking for it to be part of his birthday meal choices!  He said, "move over jambalaya!  Meet Mom's hamburgers!"  Funny boy!

A Very Non-Traditional Easter for Us

I mentioned in my previous post that we have been fighting a nasty cold virus around here.  It was bad enough to keep the whole family home from church on Easter Sunday.  That was a first.  I've stayed home with a sick child once or twice before on Easter Sunday, but this was the first time the whole family was home.  We did not want to share this virus with our church family.  So instead of going to church we did some Easter activities at home. 

First of all, the kids and I watched The Animated Passion of the Christ on Good Friday.  Then Saturday night, Steve and I watched the original Passion of the Christ with our oldest.  Then Sunday morning we watched The Animated Passion of the Christ again as a family.

We also dyed some eggs.  I have a confession to make.  In 16 years of parenting, I can't remember ever dyeing eggs.  Ever.  Seriously.  I really don't know why.  I was inspired by Pinterest.  I had seen ideas for spider web eggs, kool-eggs and dyed deviled eggs.  And so, I present to you...kool-marbled deviled eggs.


First of all, I boiled the eggs in 2 pots.  Why 2 pots?  Well, I had some eggs that were old enough to boil and peel without much trouble, and I had newer eggs.  I boiled them separately with 2 different methods.  I wasn't sure how the newer eggs were going to turn out because I've had difficulty with new eggs before.  But, I had read about another method, so I gave it a try.  The older eggs I brought to a boil, covered, removed from the heat and let set for 10 min.  The newer eggs I added 1 tsp of salt to the water, brought to a boil, covered, removed from the heat and let set for 15 minutes.  Both methods worked!  Now I can boil new eggs and know they will peel just fine! 


Here are the packages of Kool-Aid I was able to find at my regular stores, mixed with 2/3 cup of water in each cup.  Not a lot of color options outside of the range of pinks and reds.  Vinegar is not needed because of the citric acid in Kool-Aid. 

It's a little hard to see here, but the eggs are gently cracked to allow some of the coloring to seep through.

The colors are pretty, even though we don't have any blues or greens.

This picture is larger to show the pretty designs on the shells.  The shells need to dry.

They peeled well and I love the marbling effect!

If you've never made deviled eggs before, it is rather simple.  I don't use measurements but go by feel and taste.  I'll try to give a general guide though.  Cut the eggs in half and put the yolks in a medium sized bowl.  Crumble the yolks with a fork.  Add approximately 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1 - 2 Tablespoons of mustard, a dash of salt and a dash of sugar to the yolks and blend well.  It should be a little pasty at this point.  Next, add a splash of either vinegar (white or apple cider - both work) or pickle juice (if you happen to have it on hand) to make a creamier texture.  Taste and make sure you like the seasoning.  Adjust if necessary.  Depending on how many eggs you've used, you may need more or less of the mayonnaise and mustard.

When you have a creamy texture, it is time to fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture.  You can use a spoon or you can use a pastry bag with a tip to make it look fancier.  Or, if you don't like washing out pastry bags and tips, you can fill a Ziploc bag and cut off a corner to fill the whites.  I like to use Ziploc bags, because you can make it ahead of time and assemble at your destination, if you are taking them somewhere, and not get that dried out look on the yolks.  Using a container to hold your bag makes it easier to fill.

Once you have your yolk mixture in the bag, seal it and make sure to eliminate as much air as possible.  At this point you can store the egg white and yolk filling in the fridge until you are ready to travel or serve, but don't snip the corner until you are ready to fill the whites.

When you are ready to fill the whites, snip off a corner and then pipe the yolk filling into the whites.  It was a challenge to pipe and take the picture at the same time.

Just loving that marbled effect!

If desired, sprinkle a little paprika on the yolk filling.

Baby tried her first deviled egg and was intrigued by the texture and taste.

Later on, after some had naps, we made "Empty Tomb Rolls".  The symbolism was a good way to finish the day, especially since we had watched The Passion of the Christ, so everything was fresh in every one's minds.  The 4 middle kids thought it turned out pretty neat.  Here's a close up of one of the rolls fresh from the oven.  See the empty tomb?  They taste really good.  We will definitely make them again.

I hope your Easter was an enjoyable one!

Morel & Leek Cheesy Scramble

I found this cheese on one of my recent grocery trips and thought it sounded good.  On the package it says it melts well in omelette's, quiches and more.  Well, it sounded worth a try to me.  I don't really do omelette's, but more of a scramble.  I haven't looked at the website yet for any of their recipes.  I couldn't decide on whether to grate or just cube the cheese.  Since the package claims that it melts well, I figured I'd cube it and see.

Here's the four eggs scrambled and the chunks of the cheese about to melt.  That pretty bowl above is a special to us, handmade bowl by a potter, that we bought in Gatlinburg, Tennessee several years ago.

The cubes sure did melt. 

The end result.  I thought it tasted pretty good.  However, since it was the beginning of Steve's sinus and cold issues, he couldn't taste it.  So I need to make it again soon.  I won't complain about making it again!  I didn't make it for the kids, because I didn't feel like wasting a "fancy" cheese in scrambled on kids who are iffy at best on mushrooms.  Also in the picture below is Cinnamon Roll Cake - a new favorite around here.

Green Eggs and Ham With a Side of Bacon and Pancakes

I posted a bit ago about eggs & bacon.  Today I'm sharing my inspiration to make green eggs and ham with a side of bacon and pancakes with a Funfetti glaze.  Mmmm.  Don't worry, it's not a very big serving, so it shouldn't be too high in calories.  We can always believe that, can't we?  I do. 

I followed the same process of melting the chocolate and adding green food gel.  I had gone looking for Starburst candy that would be green, but no such luck.  I ended up with Chewy Jolly Rancher candy.

Here I tried to make ham slices with the Chewy Jolly Rancher candy.  I kept 1 slice of bacon to show that these were still eggs.  I'm not crazy about the green color from the Jolly Rancher candy.  It needed something more.

I had Mini Nilla Wafers and I had some Funfetti Cake Batter Dip.  Recipes can be found here and also here.  If you decide to make the dip, it is important to let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.  Believe me, it will affect the taste if you don't. So here's green egg and ham with a side of bacon and pancakes with Funfetti glaze.  I guess 2 green M&M's would have made it eggs.  I may have to try the ham thing again, if I can find a better solution than the Chewy Jolly Ranchers.  Don't let that stop you from trying though.  And if you find a better "ham", let me know!

Baby's 1st Birthday and Her Cake is...Oreo Pudding Poke Cake!

We recently celebrated baby's 1st birthday.  She hasn't really been a fussy eater, so I was challenged in deciding what to make for her meals.  See, we have a tradition around here of the birthday person choosing the meals for their birthday.  So I needed help from the family in deciding what we were going to eat for baby's birthday. 

We settled on cinnamon sugar blintzes for breakfast, which she hadn't had yet.  We love blintzes!  They are rather simple, but they take time to cook enough for each person.  So it ends up taking me, or the person who jumps in and helps me, usually Steve, about an hour to cook and serve everyone.  For that reason alone, we only do them on occasion.  She seemed to enjoy her blintz.

Then for lunch we treated ourselves to some Papa John's pizza, which the kids tell me is second to my homemade pizza.

For dinner, we had panko breaded tilapia (which sometimes is nice to have on hand from our local warehouse store)and sauteed veggies.  I have sauteed frozen green beans many times and change it up each time.  This time around, I had bought some red peppers that were a manager's sale for $.99/lb.  I also had bought some green squash after lunch on my weekly grocery trip.  So, Steve suggested adding both of them to the green beans this time.  Such a good idea!  No real recipe, just more or less throwing good things together to make them even better.  But, I realize that a recipe format might be easier.  So here it is:

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter
Approx 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 green squash, halved and sliced lengthwise
3 red peppers, sliced lengthwise
1 onion. sliced
2 - 3 generous handfuls of frozen petite green beans (I get these in bulk from our warehouse store)
2 - 3 cloves of garlic chopped (or a couple teaspoons of pre-chopped garlic)
Fresh ground sea salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Here I had sliced lengthwise the green squash, red bell peppers and onion.

Melt the butter and add the extra virgin olive oil.  Saute the onions and garlic for about 2 minutes.  Add the rest of the veggies.

And saute until tender.  Doesn't that look good?  If you like your squash firmer, just add it a little later.

She sure thought her dinner was good!  See that cupcake on her shirt?  Totally unplanned!  Steve dressed her in that outfit in the morning.  Good job, right?

Now, her birthday cake!  I got this inspiration from Pinterest.  The link that had been pinned lead me to Chef-in-training, but she got it from The Country Cook.

Ingredients:

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients needed to make cake (usually eggs, oil and water)

2 (4 oz.)packages of Instant Oreo pudding

4 cups milk (2% or higher)

Crushed Oreo Cookies (optional)

Directions

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9x13 pan (I use the nonstick spray that has flour in it).

Just before cake is done, start making pudding. In a medium bowl, add milk to pudding mixture and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed. Let pudding mixture sit for about 2 minutes. You want it to thicken slightly so it isn't overly runny but not fully thickened into pudding.

Pour pudding mixture over warm cake.

When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or a straw.  (I didn't get any pictures of thus, but Brandie, aka, The Country Cook did)

Spread it out with a spoon and gently push down on the pudding to help get it into the holes.
Allow the cake to cool for several minutes on the counter then put into the fridge to set up. About an hour.

Once it is set, top with crushed Oreo cookies

Cook’s Note: This is great with so many different combinations; yellow or white cake mix with chocolate pudding is a good one. The Oreo pudding combination is our favorite.

Enjoy!

Steve helped make and bake the cake while I was checking out at the grocery store and making my way home with birthday balloons and groceries.  We used a dark chocolate cake mix.  I wanted her first taste of chocolate to be a good one, as well as memorable.  Here's what the cake looked like after poking the holes with the wooden spoon handle and pouring the Oreo pudding over top.

Since it's Oreo's 100th birthday, and I had found these on sale a week or two ago, we used them.  How appropriate!

My 12-year-old son crushed the Oreo's in a Ziploc bag with one of my pans.

My 10-year-old daughter sprinkled the crushed Oreo's over the cake.

My 7-year-old daughter was my helper at the store.  My little dilemma in deciding to make a cake that doesn't leave room for writing on the top was, how to identify that this is a 1st Birthday Cake.  We had decided to get these letter candles that I had seen on a previous grocery trip, and she had suggested that we get the 1 too.  Smart girl!  Warning though, the letter candles are basically a one time use candle set.  The letters end up melting away too quick to use again.  No biggie.

Apparently the B candle looked yummy!

Finger in the cake!

Her first official taste of chocolate!

Oh yea baby!  That was good!

Well, would this make you happy?

She seemed to think it was good enough to lick the plate!

Definitely a happy birthday cake for her!  To be honest, I think a couple of us had a second helping.  Believe me, it will be worth your time to try and make this cake.  Thank you for sharing the recipe Brandie!