No-Fuss Chocolate Dream Bars

You know when you want to make a tasty dessert, but don't want to make a fussy fancy dessert that you have to dirty up ten icing bags and a hundred dishes? This is where you want to look.

Ingredients:
Base
-1 box chocolate cake mix (devil's food)
-1 egg
-1 stick melted butter

Mix up all of these ingredients and press into a greased 9x13 inch pan, as you can tell we discovered that a round pan works too.  Use what you have on hand. 

Topping ingredients:
-1 lb powdered sugar
-2 eggs
-1 package cream cheese
-1 TB cocoa powder

Whip the eggs and cream cheese together until well incorporated, and then add the sugar.  Mix on low speed until incorporated, and then whip on high speed for 2-3 minutes.  Pour in on top of the base.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. 

Let it cool before you cut it, the center needs a little time to firm up. 

You can add more chocolate if you want into the topping, it had a very light flavor but is very rich and delicious. 

Happy crafting!



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Italian Dip

Ingredients:
-1 Tomato, diced
-1 pack feta, crumbled
-olive oil
-1/2 C finely shredded spinach
-1 TB basil (ish)
-2 tsp at least of italian seasoning
-pinch of garlic
-pepper and salt to taste
-toasted bread pieces

I completely give the credit of this to my sister, especially for having super delicious ingredients on hand! Put enough oil in the bottom of a plate to cover it (maybe a 1/2C to a cup?) and then add the remaining ingredients over it.  Season it to taste. 

We served this on pieces of toasted bagel thins as that was MUCH simpler than going out and getting a baguette.  You can use fancy bread if you plan ahead :).

This was a much faster side to our tortellini than our other ideas.  You could add other things in if you wanted, maybe some olives or similar.  It was super delicious!  Keep your seasoning handy though, it takes a lot of some things to get it right where you want it. 

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Strawberry Oat Cake Bars

Ingredients:
-16 oz strawberries (ish, mine was just a little shy of a full container) chopped
-1 C oats
-1/2 stick butter
-1/2 C Sugar
-Pinch of baking soda
-1/2 C AP Flour
-1 egg
-hint of cinnamon and ginger

Mix all of the ingredients well until it is a yummy pink looking batter.  I baked mine at 350 for about 22 minutes in a 9x13 pan.  I would suggest baking either in a smaller pan where it touches the edges or doubling the batter and doing it in the 9x13, because the edges won't get really thin and chewy that way and they will be more consistent bars.  Grease whatever you are going to bake them on.

When they are done (firm, starting to brown on the edges, etc.) cut them into squares and top with a dusting of powdered sugar.  Or make some yummy cream cheese drizzle.

I would also highly suggest putting just a dash of lemon juice or zest in these as well. I really like strawberry flavors when they have a little lemon zest thrown in.

You may need to bake these a little longer if they are thicker with a different pan or double batch, so keep that in mind.

Feel free to also include slivered almonds, chocolate chips, or whatever else you want to throw in.  I really believe that with a little tweaking, this would make a really tasty oatmeal cake!  I will have to keep that in mind.

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Knitted Hat

 You need two rolls of yarn and a hat loom/kit.  I used my friend's loom, and haven't taken a picture of it, so I found this right nice picture here on my phone just for you.  :)

Practically the same thing. 

I am super glad my friend taught me how to do this, and I cannot wait to get a loom and make more!

Get the yarn started off both of the rolls and tie them to the peg sticking out of the side of the loom.  Starting at the peg slightly to the right of the side peg, start taking the yarn around the back of the peg and loop it around, doing so around the loom. 

For the first time, you will want to go around twice, afterwards you will only add a row one at a time.  Starting at that same peg where you began going around, take the bottom loop up and over the top loop and off the peg.  do this all the way around, add another row when you are done, and repeat. 

Once you get a couple of inches (or desired length) you can pull the bottom back up to the pegs and put it through one layer of loops (the very bottom) and then take the bottom row up and over the brim loops.  Then go back to doing the rows and loops as you were.

When you get the length you want on the hat, you need to thread a piece of yarn through the final row of loops and pull them off the pegs.  Tie the ends to pull the top of the hat together.

Alright alright, I know that this would have been better if I had taken pictures the entire time, my bad on that.  But this is pretty simple and a great way to make a fun hat in any color you want!

I am completely buying a loom soon, so stay tuned for more fun-ities!

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Biscuits and Bacon Gravy

 Biscuits:
-2 C AP Flour
-1 TB baking powder
-1 C milk
-Salt
-6 TB butter OR Crisco (I used crisco, keep in mind that the pack says to add more liquid if you are using it instead of butter, so adjust milk as needed)

Gravy:
-At least 3 strips of bacon
-2 TB flour to start
-2 C milk to start
-salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the biscuit ingredients and drop blobs on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 for 18 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a skillet until it is starting to get crispy.  Pull the bacon out and sit it on a paper towel to get some of the excess grease off.

Now, as it turns out gravy is not an exact science for me, though I will tell you exactly how I got to where I did.  I consider it a venture of luck.  My skillet was a little on the large side for a small amount of bacon (I used my largest skillet with the taller sides) so really think about that in advance.  I had it on medium heat.

So I pulled the bacon out and tossed in the flour and began whisking away.  I personally think my I probably could have used another TB of grease in there and should have considered adding in oil but it all worked so I don't mind a bit.  I gave it a minute or so, whisking around, and then put in the milk and began whisking again after putting in some salt and pepper.  I ended up adding another TB of flour and just a tiny bit more milk and then stirred as it started to pull together.  Once it was the texture I liked, I used my kitchen scissors to cut the bacon into small pieces.

Had I needed it thicker I would have put in more flour or a little corn starch.  Had I wanted it thinner, I would have added more milk or oil.  Really, you just have to be brave and go for it and adjust to your taste. Mine was maybe just a slight bit on the thin side compared to some I have had, but I am perfectly fine with that.

Mine ended up making enough for two helpings, one of which I ate as pictured above and the other I plopped in my freezer so that I will have some handy sometime when I don't want to whip any more up.

The biscuit recipe made 9 large biscuits.

Overall, bacon gravy is really tasty.  I ended up having to salt it later at the table, which is fine, I did not expect to get a texture I liked AND the right salt level on my first crack at gravy.  Baby steps, that is my theory.  I am most glad I did drop biscuits, because if I had to clean flour off my kitchen island one more time I was going to lose it.

Just don't forget to add extra liquid if you are using crisco.

I would have used butter if I had any at room temperature, but I was not about to play the melting game with my bipolar microwave. 

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Carrot Raisin Bites

 Ingredients:
-1 large carrot finely shredded
-1/2 C Flour (mine was 2/3 AP: 1/3 Whole Wheat mix that I had leftover)
-Handful of raisins (mine are golden)
-3 oz greek yogurt (I used the rest of my Chobani banana container, but plain, pineapple, honey, etc would all work too.  I believe in using what you have!)
-1 TB brown sugar
-3 TB honey
-2 tsp cinnamon
-dash of ginger and nutmeg

You can more heavily spice these if you like.  I wanted them to taste more carrot-y than anything.  I got my inspiration from this essentially from Chick Fil A's carrot raisin salad, which I love.  I was going to make up a mock version, but I have been such in the granola type mood that I opted instead to make a bar out of it.  I was also going to a concert last night, and wanted to stock my car with things to munch on the way home to avoid fast food.

Anyway, I shredded my carrot by hand with one of those little shredders that you might use for zesting.  And yes, that takes a good long while.  But it is WORTH it.  A finely shredded carrot is pretty excellent in this kitchen.

Mix all the ingredients up, spice it up as desired.  Spread the batter out on parchment paper on a baking sheet and cook at 350 for about 25-30 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.  Let cool for a few minutes and then cut into squares.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I put a white chocolate drizzle over mine, and I would just like to STRONGLY recommend that you do the same.  Positively delicious.  Not to mention, when a bar is predominantly carrot, I don't mind adding in a guilty pleasure.  I melted 1 rectangular section of Candiquick in a bowl in the microwave and jazzed these puppies right up.

And I would like to happily announce I have used the last of the foil backed parchment paper!  Sadly though, this means I have to spend money and get more.  There's always a kicker in there somewhere.

These taste delicious, which you might think I have to say since it is my blog and my creation, but in all honesty I would admit it if they needed some work.  I really like them cold (they sat in my car while I was at a concert so it acted like being in my fridge).  They have a really light and fresh taste, which I completely adore.  I don't like things that taste like preservatives.

I have really had a goal for quite some time with learning new techniques and recipes.  I have wanted to know what I could make if I just had basics on hand plus a garden, for instance.  There are a lot of times I just don't feel like going to the store, and more than that some things like granola bars can get pretty pricey for small bars or ones that just don't taste as good.

If you pack a ton of flavor into something, you eat less of it because you feel satisfied more.  We mindless eat because there is not enough flavor in some of the food out there to really keep our brains interested, so munching can last that much longer.  I could eat a million chips, and not remember it three hours later.  I ate about 6 of these little bites after the concert and I have thought about eating the rest ever since (haha!). 

SO that is my completely biased plug for making FLAVOR a part of your life.  And make these little bites they are fantastic.

And go see Chris Tomlin on the Burning Lights Tour.  Also COMPLETELY fantastic.

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Apple Straws

Ok fine, call shenanigans if you want to.  I know that I made apple chips once before, and these are pretty much the same because they are straws right?

Wrong.  They are better because they look like french fries, and everyone says you eat with your eyes.  Hence, these look more indulgent than apple chips.  Or at least that is how I am justifying this ;).

Regardless you need to get a mandoline if you don't have one already.  I really don't know how anyone doesn't have one because they are amazing.  I use mine with kevlar gloves and I can willy nilly cut things at ninja speeds without fear of losing a finger.  It's pretty impressive. 

I used the larger of the julienne plates on mine and cut each side of the apple with it until I was close to the core.  Bonus of this method, no need to core or worry about the top and bottom because you don't cut through them anyway.

I arranged my little straws on parchment paper, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar and ginger, baked at 225 for one hour, flipped and continued baking them for another 40 minutes. These seem to be more substantial than the chips turned out.  This is also one of my few recipes that I urge you to not forgo the parchment paper.

I think these would be super cute to serve to kids with a berry "ketchup" in the form of pureed strawberries or something mixed with a little yogurt or applesauce....

Hey wait.  Forget the kids that sounds delicious enough for me...

Anyway, in essence you should also be able to do this with things like sweet potatoes, carrots, and similar and make your own form of veggie straws like I always see people eating. With all the spices available, you could create an endless concoction of flavors.

I like to have crunchy goods.  It isn't that I don't like potato chips, because I certainly do, but I have noticed that I have less patience for things that taste super heavy and like preservatives.  Potato chips to me from a bag, though again delicious in some respects, just don't always taste good enough to counterbalance the ridiculous amounts of fat and grease.  So if I can postpone a random chip craving for that much longer by crunching on apple straws, I will do it.

I blame this on Subway for selling those delicious apple chips. 

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