Coffee Jell-O

This is another recipe that I found in the most recent issue of Taste of Home. We had company over for supper last weekend - company who LOOOOOOVES coffee, so I decided that the time was right to test out this recipe. It went over well - everyone said it truly tastes like coffee, BUT (there's always a "but" isn't there?), it's too "weird". They said that coffee in "jiggly" form just isn't quite right somehow - SO, whilest it was a good attempt, I probably won't be making this dish again. But if you can get over the "weird" texture of this, then I'd say it's a keeper!

Ingredients

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/4 c. cold water

1 1/2 c. brewed coffee

1/4 c. sugar

Whipped Cream

Directions

In a saucepan, sprinkle packet of gelatin in 1/4 cup of water, let stand for one minute. Stir in brewed coffee and sugar. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Pour into serving dish of choice. Cover and refrigerate until set. Garnish with Cool Whip before serving.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Happy Valentines Day! Here is a perfect dessert to make for your loved ones tonight! I made it for family over the weekend and it was  HUGE hit - so delicious! But, really, who can turn down chocolately goodness like this? This would also make a great potluck pleaser as long as you have someplace cool to store it up until serving time! I made an Eclair Torte about this time last year, which was a little labor intensive, but TOTALLY worth it! This cake is not quite so much work, and still TOTALLY worth it! :) I found this recipe over at Cookie Madness - but made a few changes of my own to it :)

Ingredients

1 (3.4 oz) box of Instant Vanilla Pudding

2 c. Milk

1 (8 oz) tub Cool Whip

1/2 a box Graham Crackers or however many you need to make 4 layers

1 c. Chocolate Frosting

Directions

Beat together pudding mix and milk for about 2 minutes until pudding starts to thicken. Fold in the tub of whipped topping.

Break the graham crackers into squares and lay them across the bottom of an 8 inch baking dish. You’ll need to break some of them to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread the pudding mix across the graham crackers. Layer on more graham crackers and more pudding mix twice so that you have a total of 3 layers of graham crackers and three layers of pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

Soften the frosting and pour over the top. Chill for at least four hours (preferably longer) or until ready to eat.

For more great recipes, be sure to ceck out Mouthwatering Monday!

Sugar Cookie Bars

It's that time of year again! It seems around every holiday, everyone goes sugar cookie crazy and makes dozens upon dozens of cut out cookies, shaped appropriately for the holiday, and then frosts them in bright colors appropriate to the season. Don't get me wrong, I love baking and decorating sugar cookies right along with the next person, but I just don't like the mess of cleanup that comes with it. Plus I have a short attention span, so after about two cookies, I'm done. So going through all the baking prep for cookie decorating is kind of a waste for me, and we don't typically have decorated sugar cookies for holiday's unless someone else makes them for us.

I've finally found a way that we can enjoy the frosting coated sugar cookie without all of the effort. The Sugar Cookie Bar. This is a very dense bar that is basically sugar cookie dough pressed into a pan, baked, cooled and frosted. I was pretty excited to find this recipe over at Real Mom Kitchen because I just knew that this way we wouldn't be shunned from the sugar-cookie-at-holiday-time club. We could still enjoy our sugar cookies (well. you know.) like the rest of society. Even though we should have learned by now that you're supposed to break the mold and not be like everyone else.  

Eh. I guess we are anyways. Not many people get excited over decorating their sugar cookie BARS each holiday. I sense a new holiday tradition coming on...

Ingredients...

...1 c. butter

...1 c. sugar

...2 eggs

...1 tsp. vanilla

...2 1/2 c. flour

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1/4 tsp. baking soda

 

Directions...

 

Place butter in a medium sized bowl. Place in microwave for 1 minute, to melt slightly. Add sugar and wisk together until creamed. Add eggs in one at a time, wisking between each to completely combine. Lastly, wisk in vanilla, set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until everything is well incorporated. Lightly press dough into a well greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Thin Mint Cupcakes

I'm typically not a huge mint fan, but when it comes to Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies I just can't get enough! I ordered two boxes this year, and then instantly regretted it. Two boxes of Thin Mints sitting in my cupboard? Do you know how hard it is to resist eating them ALL myself?!?!? 

Must.

Show.

Restraint.

In all honesty though, I'm very proud of myself. In the first week of having these two boxes of cookies in my posession only 1 sleeve of cookies disappeared. With the exception of the 1/2 3/4 sleeve that I used in this recipe. So I guess that means that almost a whole box disappeared in the first week. But only half of that box was because I ate them. How's that for restraint!

I found the concept for these cupcakes over at Real Mom Kitchen (she just has the best recipe ideas, doesn't she?!?) and decided to run with it. You have two options here, you can either use a box cake mix (which I did. mostly because I have 20 some boxes of cake mix in my stockpile, so why not, right?)  or you can make your own homemade cupcakes. I am also going to mention that this frosting recipe didn't work out for me. I wish better luck to you. I was hoping for a fluffy frosting that I could pipe onto these cupcakes. I somehow managed to create frosting water, despite that I followed the recipe exact. It actually tasted fab and I totally fell in love with the way it drizzled down the sides so for this time, I was 110% content with what should have been considered a flop. Someday I'll figure out how to make amazing frosting...

Someday.

Ingredients...

Cupcakes...

...1 boxed cake mix
...1/2 sleeve of Thin Mint cookies (I used 3/4 sleeve)

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Crush cookies and stir into batter. Bake according to package directions.

Frosting...

...2 c. powdered sugar

...3 oz. cream cheese, softened

...1/2 c. butter, softened

...1/4 c. milk

...1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter on low speed until well mixed and there are no lumps. Slowly add powdered sugar and continue beating on low, switching to medium speed. Add in milk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add food coloring until desired shade of green is reached.

Blonde Brownies

This is the recipe that made my decision final to stop substituting applesauce for butter. I realize it saves fat and all, but I never realized what an effect it had on some recipes (like this one). The applesauce flavor really stood out in this recipe, so do yourself a favor and just use butter. Forget trying to save calories. Your tastebuds will thank me. Your hips may not, but they say that thing called exercise is actually good for us anyways ;)

I love blonde brownies. Especially ones with some sort of chocolate or white chocoalte chip in them (which this recipe is unfortunately lacking). I had never even heard of a blonde brownie before I was in junior high/high school, and the first time that I had one I was in awe with the "white brownie". Not only because it wasn't, well, brown, but because it was so good!!

Sadly, this is only the second blonde brownie recipe that I have ever tried to make myself. The first was one that included chocoalte chips and it was absolutely divine. This one is just your run of the mill blonde brownie with nothing exciting added in. It was submitted to our local hometown church cookbook by an old family friend, and just goes to prove that sometimes those little ol' church ladies just have no imagination ;) So if you would like this a little less on the bland side and a little more on the, um, how do I say this, CHOCOLATE!! side, then by all means add away! Add chocolate chips, nuts, coconut...whatever you think would be a tasty little addition to this brownie. Even a frosting on top! Be daring...but I expect to see you at the gym bright and early tomorrow morning!

Ingredients...

...3/4 butter
...3 c. brown sugar
...1 1/2 tsp. salt
...3 tsp. baking powder
...2 1/4 c. flour
...1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions....

Mix together butter and eggs. Beat in sugars and then blend in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add in vanilla. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Eclair Torte

Let's talk delicious for a moment. I don't mean just run of the mill "oh those cookies were delicious" delicious...I mean roll your eyes to the back of your head with each bite delicious. If you haven't decided what kind of sweet to make for your sweet on Valentines day, this MUST be the recipe that you choose. It's just too good to pass up! Plus, you'll get mega brownie points for having made this from scratch as well!

I usually shy away from desserts like this, that have a "complex" sounding name. I get worried that since the name sounds like it would be a complicated recipe, then it just must be. That is soooo not the case here. Not only was this recipe mouthwatering, can't get enough...no I seriously just CAN'T GET ENOUGH good...it was really easy. Which could be both a good and bad thing. Good, because then you can make something elegant and delicious whenever the occaison calls. Bad, for the very same reason (but with the whole calorie factor thrown in there!)

I found this recipe over at Real Mom Kitchen. She has an obsession with eclairs, and I even debated going for the real thing...but decided maybe I'd go the way of ease this time around and save all the piping and TIME for another day by making the torte version. I promise, you will not be disappointed. I've never had a real eclair before, but if they are anything like this Eclair Torte, then I can promise you that they will be the number one new favorite on my list (although perhaps coiming in second to this recipe...)!

Ingredients...

...1 c. water
...1/2 c. butter
...1/4 tsp. salt
...1 c. flour
...4 eggs
...1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
...2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix (not pictured)
...3 c. cold milk
...1 carton (8 or 12 oz.) whipped topping
...Chocolate Syrup

Directions...

Bring the water, salt and butter to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once brought to a boil, add the flour all at once and stir until a soft ball forms. Once the ball forms, remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Then, add in the eggs, one at a time, beating the dough with each egg addition with a spoon. Beat until smooth, and then spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely (I let it cool overnight before moving on).

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese. Add in one cup of milk at a time, beating in between each addition to ensure no lumps. After all 3 cups of milk and the block of cream cheese are beaten until smooth, add both packages of pudding mix, and beat once more until smooth. Spread over the pastry puff. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before topping the pudding mixture with the carton of cream cheese. Garnish with chocolate as desired right before serving.

Louise's Bars are Better Bars

Seriously. That's the name of these bars. Another hometown cookbook recipe find. Growing up, my mom made a bar that was pretty much these exact same ingredients...but not this exact same bar. I was a little disappointed when it came out not the bar I was thinking of. But none the less, this was a really good bar!

Plus, it's really fun to tell the people the bar's name...and then watch them stop mid bite as if digesting the information they've just been presented with.

Ingredients...

...1 c. flour
...1 c. oatmeal
...3/4 c. brown sugar
...1 stick butter
...1 can sweetened condensed milk
...1 pkg. chocolate chips

Combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and buter until well mixed. Reserve 1 cup and spread remaining mixture on bottom of 9x13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Pour can of sweetened condensed milk over the baked mixture, and then top with chocolate chips and remaining oatmeal mixture. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

Layered Chocolate Pie Dessert

If you are plum fresh out of ideas for something to take to a soon coming Christmas gathering, then I urge you to take this. This, Heaven in a Pan, AKA Layered Chocolate Pie Dessert. AKA Robert Redford Dessert. AKA DELICIOUS NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT!! It's creamy, it's rich (but not too rich!) and it's a refreshing change from pies and cookies (not that I'm complaining about pies and cookies!). I doubt you'll have leftovers when you do make this for your family gathering, and if...IF you have leftovers, it's a perfectly acceptable next day breakfast.

At least that's what I told myself...

Because over the holidays calories don't count :)

And because I'm 5 months pregnant, so that kind of thing is acceptable ;)

Ingredients...

Crust:
...2 c. flour
...1 1/2 sticks butter
...1/2 c. nuts (I used chopped pecans, and they're not pictured)

Mix all three ingredients together and lightly press into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
...8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
...1 c. powdered sugar
...1/2 tub Cool Whip

Mix these three ingredients together and spread over top of the cooled crust.

Pudding:
...2 (3 oz) boxes of chocolate pudding mix
...3 c. milk

Mix pudding and milk together according to package directions. Spread over the cream cheese layer.

Topping:
...1 tub Cool Whip
...Crushed Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (or nuts, shaved chocolate...anything goes really)

Spread Cool Whip over pudding layer and then sprinkle crushed (insert what you're using here) over the Cool Whip. Refrigerate until serving time.

Pecan Tassies

This is yet another of my childhood favorites when it comes to Christmas candy! We used to make these every year growing up, but then in my teen years we stopped for some reason. And then I kind of forgot that they even existed until I stumbled upon a recipe a few months ago. I instantly bookmarked it, knowing that I was planning to recreate several of my grandma's candies this year. These little tassies are like a bite size pecan pie. So sweet and so yummy!

Ingredients...

...6 oz. cream cheese
...2 c. flour
...1 c. butter
...1 egg
...3/4 c. packed brown sugar
...1 T. butter, softened
...1 tsp. vanilla
...1/4 tsp. salt

...3/4 c. chopped pecans

Directions...

In a medium bowl, soften 1 c. butter and cream cheese. Stir in flour and mix with fork until ingredients are well combined (dough will be crumbly). Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight. Make balls from dough and flatten in the palm of your hands. Press into mini muffin tins. In a seperate medium bowl, cream together egg, 1 T. butter and brown sugar. Stir in vanilla, salt and pecans. Spoon mixture into crust in muffin tins, to about 3/4 full (to prevent bubbling over). Bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Let cool in tins before removing.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Balls

Every Christmas, my grandma would spend WEEKS in the kitchen preparing for all of her children and grandchildren to come spend Christmas day eating, rejoicing and visiting in her home. Several days worth of her preperations would be candy making. My favorite candy every year would be this peanut butter ball recipe. I just couldn't get enough of these tasty little confections! Once Grandma passed, we never got any homemade candy at Christmas anymore. I finally decided that it's time for someone to carry on the tradition, and I am taking that upon myself. I couldn't stop sneaking taste tests of these amazing peanut butter delights while I was making them, they just brought back so many memories of Christmas' from my childhood!

Ingredients...

...2 cups creamy peanut butter
...3/4 cup butter
...3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
...3 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
...1 pound chocolate (I used Hershey's Kisses because it's what I had on hand. Chocolate chips, baking squares, etc. will also work!)
...2 T. shortening

Directions...

In a large mixing bowl combine peanut butter and melted butter until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and Rice Krispies until a dough is formed. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour to chill. Once dough is chilled, form dough into small balls and freeze for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, melt chocolate and then stir in shortening until smooth. Dip frozen peanut butter balls into chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden.

Pumpkin Pie

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I hope that this post finds you all giving thanks and counting your blessings for all the great things in your lives! (and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!) If you are looking for a last minute recipe to take to your gathering today, or just to make to munch on while you relax at home, then here is my all time favorite Thanksgiving food...The Pumpkin Pie. It just isn't Thanksgiving to me until I've had one piece covered in whipped cream! I've never actually made the pumpkin pie myself, I always left that up to my grandma growing up. After she passed, other family members would rotate bringing it each year, and it was most always a store boughten pie at that. Don't get me wrong, Sara Lee and Mrs. Smith can make one mean pie...but it's just not homemade, ya know? No prepackaged food is ever as good as homemade. So a few years ago, I took it upon myself to learn how to make my favorite Thanksgiving food (ever.) myself. I tried a new recipe this year, and I'm super happy with how it turned out! So the homemade pumpkin pie tradition will carry on!!

Ingredients...

...unbaked pie crust (9")
...3/4 cup white sugar
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. ground cloves
...1/4 tsp. ground ginger
...2 eggs
...1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling. That's what we're homemaking here. Just plain old pumpkin.)
...1 can evaporated milk

Directions...

In a small bowl stir together salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sugar. In a large bowl, beat togehter eggs and then stir in pumpkin. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until well combined. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk and stir until smooth. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 and continue baking pie for an additional 40-50 minutes. To test for done-ness, insert a knife into the center of the pie. If it comes out clean, the pie is done. The filling will be ever so slightly jiggly yet, but will stiffen as it sits. Serve with whipped topping!

To see more last minute Thanksgiving recipes, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom!

S'mores Brownies

How about a fun recipe for today? If you are a true summer person who loves camping, and of course the S'mores and roasted marshmallows that comes with, then you will love this recipe! This is also a super easy recipe to make! I decided seeing that I have been getting gobs of super cheap marshmallows at Target lately, and have gobs of Halloween candy leftover from a CVS deal, that this would be an appropriate recipe to try right now!

Ingredients...

...graham crackers
...marshmallows (about a half bag of mini marshmallows)
...chocolate (you can use chips, chocolate bars, whatever you have on hand. I used about 4 fun sized Hershey's Bars with Almonds)
...Brownie Mix (I used a box because I wanted to get it used up, you can use homemade or whatever you please!)

Directions...

Grease a 9x13 pan and line the bottom with graham crackers. You will have to do some cracker breaking and cutting to get it all to fit well. Prepare brownies according to box/recipe instructions. Spread brownie batter over graham crackers (this proves to be a trick as the crackers move around quite a bit. Don't say I didn't warn you!). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and layer marshmallows on top of brownies, and then sprinkle with crushed chocolate bars or chocolate chips. Place back in oven for an additional 3-5 minutes. Let cool before cutting/serving.

To see more great recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Caramel Corn

Mmmm! Caramel corn! I've never homemade it before, but I ate it homemade as a kid and loved it! So when I stumbled upon a recipe this week I knew I just had to try it in celebration of Halloween week! It just seems to be a fall food to me for some reason! So, if you think that your kids aren't going to get enough candy and sugar tomorrow night, you should whip up a warm batch of this for them to munch on before they go out trick or treating!

Ingredients...

...5 quarts popped, plain popcorn (this equals to about 3 bags of microwave or 1/2 cup unpopped kernels)
...1/2 cup butter
...2 cups brown sugar
...1/2 cup corn syrup
...1 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. baking soda
...1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions...

Pop popcorn and place in two 9x13 inch pans. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Once melted, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the mixture starts boiling, let boil for 4 minutes, without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour in a steady, thin stream over the popcorn. Stir to coat popcorn. Place in preheated oven at 250 for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and then break up and store in an airtight container.

Caramel Brownies

Chocolate and Caramel. Together. In a (semi)homebaked dish. It doesn't get much better than that! In my recent attempt to clean out the singles boxes of randomness from my pantry, I discovered I had two boxes of brownie mix. I typically make brownies from scratch, so I don't really know what I was thinking when I bought these. I do remember it involved a sale at Walgreens, but I also remember they weren't free or anything, so I don't know. But at any rate, they're in my pantry now, and since there was only two boxes to use up, they were added to the "must use soon" pile (by the way, by clearing out all the single boxes of randomness from my pantry, I have cleaned out an entire shelf to be devoted to stockpile! yay!). I originally wanted to make S'mores brownies with these...but I didn't have any graham crackers. So those will have to wait until another day. I decided to make up my own recipe with these, since I found a bag of caramels that I bought last weekend when I was cleaning out my freezer.

Ingredients...

...1 package of brownie mix (you can also make your own. I'm just trying to get all the random boxes of convenience food out of my pantry. You also need the ingredients in the recipe (or listed on the box), that is why I have eggs and yogurt (which I used in place of the oil called for) pictured)
...Individually wrapped caramels
...Caramel ice cream topping

Directions...

Mix brownie batter according to package (or recipe) directions. Stir in as many or as few unwrapped caramels as you wish. Pour into a 8x8 baking dish and bake according to directions on package (or in recipe). When the brownies are finished baking, allow to cool and then top with caramel ice cream topping before serving.

Chocolate Cupcakes

It's my most favorite day of the year! It's my birthday! I decided that there was no better way than to celebrate with some homemade chocolate cupcakes! I made these to take to daycare with me yesterday as birthday treats for my two year old kiddos, and most of them only ate the frosting (I guess Betty Crocker stole the show there...) but it was still delicious and they were still super excited to get to eat chocolate cupcakes instead of rice cakes for snack!

Ingredients...

...2 cups sugar
...2 eggs
...3/4 cup butter (or applesauce or yogurt. I just used butter cause it was all I had on hand)
...1/2 cup boiling water
...2 1/2 cups flour
...3/4 cup cocoa
...2 teaspoons baking soda
...Pinch of baking powder
...1 teaspoon of vanilla
...1 cup boiling water

Directions...

Mix sugar, eggs, butter and 1/2 cup boiling water together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into cupcake pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

The Verdict...

I'm not gonna lie. I was worried about this. Usually homemade chocolate cake turns out pretty disasterous for me, but these were absolutely DELISH! (despite that the 2 year olds in my class would only eat the frosting. But I took that with a grain of salt. They're two.) Perfectly moist and chocolatey to boot! I'm definetely making this my new chocolate cake recipe...for cakes and cupcakes alike! YUM!

To see other tasty dishes, check out the Recipe Swap going on over at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Scotcheroos

I have always been a pretty big fan of scotcheroos...they're just so yummy!

Ingredients...

...1 cup white sugar
...1 cup corn syrup
...1 cup peanut butter
...6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
...1 bag chocolate chips

Directions...

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add to Rice Krispies in a large bowl and stirl until cereal is evenly coated. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan. In the microwave, melt chocolate chips until smooth. Spread over cereal mixture. Chill until chocolate is hardened.

My Thoughts...

This is another one of those great summer friendly recipes. No oven required, which means a great treat with minimal heat! Not only that, but these are addicting! Which is tasty for the tongue but really bad for my wasitline...30 Day Shred, here I come!

Rhubarb Crisp

I harvested the rest of the rhubarb from my dad's patch, and decided to freeze most of it for this winter. But I also decided to make up a rhubarb crisp, because it's just oh so yummy!

The Ingredients...

...5 c. rhubarb, chopped
...1/2 c. water
...1 c. sugar
...3 T. flour
...1/2 c. butter/margarine
...3/4 c. brown sugar
...3/4 c. oatmeal
...3/4 c. flour
...1 t. cinnamon

Directions...
Put water and rhubarb in an 8 inch dish. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and 3 T. of flour and sprinkle over the top of the rhubarb/water mixture. In another bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, oatmeal, remaining flour and cinnamon, mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture and bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes.

My Thoughts...

This was good, but it turned out different than the first time I made it. As you see in this picture, the topping isn't crumbly at all, but the first time I made it, it was. And I didn't do a thing different. Well, at any rate, this was really good, despite how the topping turned out. This is my favorite crisp recipe...just a note that you might want to omit the 1/2 cup of water as rhubarb is really watery to begin with.

O'Henry Bars

You know those recipes that you grew up eating...but once you moved away from home for the first time, moved out on your owned and eventually got married, you kind of forgot about them? Yeah, this is one of those recipes. Both my grandma and my mom used to make these bars all of the time...and after rediscovering the recipe over the weekend in one of my grandma'a cookbooks I decided to make them...

The Ingredients...

...2 c. quick cooking oats
...1/2 c. white corn syrup
...3/4 c. margarine
...1 c. brown sugar
...1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
...3/4 c. peanut butter

Directions...

Mix the first four ingredients and spread into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter, spread over cooled "crust" mixture and cool. Cut into bars and serve!

My Thoughts....

Okay, first off, this isn't my picture. I borrowed it from Three Lab Bakery. But it is my recipe...I just forgot to take a picture of the finished product before they got all gobbled up! This is such a delicious recipe...and childhood memories of eating these at my grandma's house came flooding back with each bite. This is a simple, but delicious bar that you must try. Stat. So get to your kitchen and get mixing!

Popcorn Cake

It's hot here. Really, really hot here. And me being the fr

ugal (crazed?) person that I am...we haven't turned on the air conditioning yet. Yep. We're crazy...

I wanted to make a cake. But that requires turning on the oven...which makes our kitchen feel like a bizzilion and one degrees instead of the normal million degrees :) So I found this recipe, which was really good and required no extra heating of the kitchen...

The Ingredients...

...18 cups popped popcorn
...1 bag marshmallows
...1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
...1/2 bag of chocolate chips

Directions...

Pop popcorn and place in large bowl. Melt butter and marshmallows together and stir into popcorn. Once everything is mixed well, add chocolate chips. Press into greased angel food or bundt cake pan and let cool. Turn onto plate and enjoy!

My Thoughts...

This was a painless, heatless treat...and it was good! It was basically a really giant popcorn ball, but in cake form. I will definetely be making this again...it was delicious!

For more delicious recipes, check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Rhubarb Cake

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I have more rhubarb lying around than I know what to do with! And there's even more at my dad's farm to be picked! And being the frugalista that I am, we all know that I will not be letting all of that deliciousness just go to waste! Instead of making scotcheroos as planned for this week, I decided to use up the bounty that is rhubarb. I made a rhubarb cake...

Ingredients...

...1 1/4 C. white sugar
...1 t. baking soda
...2 C. all purpose flour
...2 eggs
...1 C. sour cream
...3 C. diced rhubarb

Streusel Topping...

...1 C. white sugar
...1/4 C. butter, softened
...1/4 C. all purpose flour
...dusting of ground cinnamon

Directions...

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 9x13 inch pan. In a large bowl, stir together 1 1/4 c. sugar, 2 c. flour and baking soda. Stir in eggs and sour cream until smooth. Fold in rhubarb. Pour into baking pan and spread evenly. In a small bowl, combine sugar and butter until smooth. Add flour until clums form. Spread over cake batter. Dust cinnamon on top of everything. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

My Thoughts...

This was good! I made some mistakes though, so I'm sure yours will come out looking different than my picture does. I accidentally only put in 1 C. sugar to the batter. So I accidentally shorted the batter 1/4 of a cup. I also only cooked mine for the 45 minutes, so that's why its pretty gooey looking. I was going to toss the rest back in to finish cooking, but this is very bread pudding-ish...and it's good! So I'm just going to leave it. Otherwise this is a great way to use up that extra rhubarb, and it's a nice change from the typical pies and crisps. I give this two thumbs up!

For more great recipes, check out the Recipe Swap going on over at Grocery Cart Challenge!