Baked Fudge

If you follow my personal blog then you know that I made it a goal in January to make a decent batch of brownies this year.  This recipe actually wasn't part of that quest, but these turned out somewhere between brownies and fudge so I guess they could be considered a candidate.

They taste more like brownies but have the consistency of fudge.  They are...oddly delicious.  But they are also chocolate and that's all that matters.  Recipe follows.

Baked Fudge

Makes 30 square
Made in 40 minutes

Melt 1/2 c butter and 3 oz. chopped unsweetened chocolate together; gradually beat in 2 c sugar.

Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.  Add 1 t vanilla extract.

Sift 1 1/2 c flour with 1/8 t salt; add to chocolate mixture along with 1 c chopped walnuts.  Stir well.

Grease a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan; spread batter evenly in pan.  (I think in hindsight I would try to bake them in a foil lined pan.  I've found it is so much easier to remove bar desserts this way.)

Bake at 350 for 30 min or until done.  Cool and cut into about 30 squares.  Can be frozen.


The consensus was that they were really tasty.  But I just don't think they meet my standards of the ideal brownie (i.e., the ones my mom made while I was growing up) so I will continue baking brownies.

Turkey Breakfast Tacos

Two back stories:

(1) I LOVE breakfast for dinner; especially on Sundays.  My mom made many homemade biscuits, sausage and eggs for dinner after church growing up through when my husband I and lived with them for a year.

(2)  Awhile ago my husband suggested we cut back on the amount of red meat that we eat.  I have to admit, most of my best recipes call for ground beef so I thought this would be near impossible.  It has been a fun challenge to substitute different things for beef.  Turkey is an obvious choice and it is so easy to find now.  Our favorite local store has even begun stocking their own turkey which is a moneysaver over national brands.  I could not tell a difference in this recipe between the turkey sausage and regular sausage.  Delicious all around!  (As far as cutting back on red meat: I don't know how much of a difference it's made health-wise, but I don't miss it at all.  In fact eating red meat now tastes a little strange!)

Ingredients:

Turkey Breakfast Sausage

12 large eggs

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

6 large tortillas

In a large non-stick pan, crumble and cook turkey until no longer pink.  Remove from pan.  Wipe pan clean and reserve for cooking eggs.  Break eggs into a large bowl and whisk until yolks and whites are well blended.  Season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs into reserved pan and scramble until desired doneness.  In order, top each tortiall with turkey, cheese, eggs and salsa. Fold and serve.

"BLT" Salad

This recipe is fantastic!  Even my husband (who, shall I say, is less enthused about salads than I am) thought it was delicious.

Serves 4

Made in 10 minutes

10 slices turkey bacon

1/4 c each buttermilk ranch salad dressing and plain greek yogurt

2 T water

5 oz bag salad mix (I used the Spring Mix)

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 c thinly sliced red onion

4 slices whole-grain bread, toasted, cut into bite-sized pieces

1.  Cut bacon into small pieces.  Cook in a large skillet as package directs.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk dressing, yogurt and water until smooth.  Add salad mix, tomatoes, onion and half of the bacon; toss to mix and coat.

3.  Transfer to salad plates; top with remaining bacon and croutons.

Camping with my Sweetheart

Just as I used to be a little OCD with my cardmaking, I was naturally the same with my scrapbooking.  EVERYTHING had to be done in chronological order.  This made it pretty difficult to get past, well, junior high school.

The best thing I could have done with my time was to just scrapbook as I could and do the pages in no particular order.  I do still have all of my pictures boxed up according to year, but I randomly pick one box to work on (2002) and I just finished the whole thing!

I didn't chronologically scrapbook the year, either.  I just randomly picked pictures and would finish those and move on to some new ones.

This layout, titled Camping with my Sweetheart,  is about our camping trip we took with my family just before we got married.

It's fun (and wierd) to see a younger version of ourselves.  It's also interesting that, 10 years later, we still go to this exact same spot to camp each year.  The fishing is just as good now as it was back then.

I don't normally scrapbook on really busy patterned paper, such as I used on the right.  But in this case, I think the continuity of pictures on the bottom, along with the solid background on the left helped make it less distracting. 

It's also fun to use newer products on older pictures.  I remember going to the scrapbook store with my friends and everything was so limited (and generic.)  Things have definately changed!

Also, I should specify that I am done scrapbooking 2002 except for our wedding.  That is going to be a project all on its own!

Have you tried...

I love making cards (in case you can't tell) but there is no way that I can come up with thousands (okay-- dozens) of new ideas on my own so I've made a folder with hundreds (okay--that is not an exaggeration) of card recipes. 

At first when I started cardmaking several years ago, I would find a design that I really liked I would try to find the same materials used so I could replicate it exactly.  This often left me frustrated.  Then I realized that it probably wasn't what the designer had in mind in the first place.  Like, "Oh maybe this is just to inspire me to do my own!"  Sometimes I admit I'm not very bright.

Anyway, now I will pull a pattern that I like, such as this one:


                          

I'll look at the supplies they used (i.e., 2 kinds of cardstock, 3 patterned papers, 2 accents, etc.) and just rummage through my stuff until I find something I like.  In this example my card isn't identical, but it is fairly similar.  Sometimes there is no resemblance whatsoever.  I guess it just depends on my mood and what I have on hand.

                        

This has honestly cut the time it takes for me to make a card in half.  If you are a cardmaker, try a recipe every now and then!  My favorite sources are Cardmaker and Paper Crafts Magazines, as well as scrapbook page designs.  I've heard some people even use advertisements or catalogs, but I've tried niether. 

Tip of the Week

I have a fantastic shortcut when it comes to shredding chicken.  Here's a secret--it involves this:

(I have another secret--I don't really peruse Pinterest.  I have friends that do that.  Then they pass on awesome tips like this to me and I get credit when I blog about it.)

All you do is take a cooked chicken breast (I boiled mine.  When cooked this wayI think they stay juicier and shred easier.) attach the paddle attachment and hit go.

Seriously.  Within a minute two cooked chicken breasts looked like this. 

Painless and easy to clean up.  Try it!

Birth Announcement for a Sweet Little Girl

First of all, I find it sort of ironic that my last post was about my 30th birthday and today is, in fact, my half-birthday.

If you read my personal blog then you know I'm expecting our second little kiddo (a boy!) in just a few weeks now.  If you remember my pregnancy with my first then you know that I developed an aversion to crafting.  This time around I wouldn't necessarily say that I developed an aversion to crafting, but I certainly didn't have any extra energy to spare in those first few months!  So that along with a general lack of motivation and...well, happy half-birthday to me!

I thought I would start off by showing a little cross-stitch project for my great-niece (Yes, I'm a great-aunt and a Great Aunt!)  I have loved making these for my nieces and nephews through the years and now I get to start on the great-variety as well.  The kit is from Bucilla and I think it is absolutely adorable. 

(By the way, if you are an avid cross-sticher like I am, then check out 1-2-3 Stitch.  This is a web-based company but is local to where I live.  They offer locals the ability to just go pick up there orders from the outlet so you don't have to pay shipping and handling.  I opted to do this for another project I ordered, but when I found that my time was more valuable than cost, I sent them an email asking if they could just change my order to a delivery and charge me shipping/handling.  They not only changed my order per my request but said, "Don't worry about paying extra, will just send it at no cost."  Awesome!)

Here is my version of the project.  Out of respect to the mommy I am blurring out Baby M's name:

I love all of the little details!

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.  I am currently working on one for my oldest daughter.  I have another one for my great-nephew born in December.  And of course there is my second little kiddo.  That gives me 8 weeks to get them all done.