January 2011

Uh Oh.

The snow is coming. I have an entire pan of gooey butter cake sitting in my kitchen. [Let's be honest here. We all know I've eaten half the pan already.] I’m all out of greens. [Secretly this thrills me, since I don't have any to eat.] I foresee a lot of this being done. [And not nearly enough of this.] And surely way too much of this. [In fact, I think I'll get started on this a little early. Like... right now.] What would be your perfect snowed-in day?

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Apple Peanut Butter Snack Bars.

If there is any snack that has been a staple throughout my funny little life, it has surely been apples and peanut butter. Best snack ever. When I was younger, my mom used to slice apples and sprinkle them with cinnamon. They would be served with a glob of peanut butter and I just thought that was the best thing since sliced bread. Well, almost. I probably threw a tantrum because I wanted a Happy Meal instead. But the good news is that the apples and peanut butter stayed with me. The Happy Meals didn’t. Thank goodness. Because that wouldn’t leave much room for cake, bacon and chocolate. These bars also come with a makeshift applesauce. You can try subbing regular applesauce, but I was fresh out. So I simply heated some apples with cinnamon until they were soft, then smashed them into itty bitty pieces. It was fun. I like mashing things. And I ate multiple spoonfuls. Fun and delicious. I glued everything together with melty peanut butter and a little touch of honey. Sort of like the 5 Ingredient Granola Bars, but not really. These babies can stand on their own. I pressed the mixture in to a [...]

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Gooey Butter Cake.

If you have never tasted gooey butter cake, well friends… I’m sorry to say that you haven’t lived. Pop on over to The Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen to see my post on Gooey Butter Cake and instantly gain 10 pounds. It’s worth it. I promise.

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Creamy Chicken and Brie Soup

I’ve been in the midst of a torrid love affair this winter. And if you haven’t noticed, the subject of my devotion begins with “s” and ends with “oup.” [Look at that big hunk of burning love up there.] Truth be told, I’ve fallen deeply in love with creating soup recipes. Dare I say I’ve been enjoying making soup more than cookies? It’s sort of true. But we all know I’m dramatic. And I change my mind more often than my socks. Really. If you’ve been reading closely, you couldn’t miss it. Chicken Chickpea Soup and Easy One Pot Tortilla Soup made it on the list for the top viewed dinner recipes of 2010, and they are now two of my favorite recipes – I’ve already made both of them three times. That says a lot for someone who hates to make the same recipe twice. And this soup isn’t far behind. It should go without saying that I love brie. We have enough cheese in our fridge to feed a small country, which may be a sin… but surely a delicious one. And it has been well over a year since I made a creamy, cheesy soup. In my [...]

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My Perfect Smoothie Ingredients.

This morning our driveway was a solid sheet of ice. See? But instead of lacing up my skates, I thought it was the perfect morning for a smoothie. Or not. I had one anyway. So I thought I’d share my favorite ingredients with you! First up… frozen bananas. They absolutely MUST be frozen. They give smoothies a creamy, ice-cream like consistency. At the beginning of every week, I freeze a bunch of bananas. I slice them before freezing. They are easier to whip up that way. Milk. Oh yes… milk. Trust me, back in my heyday I used water for shakes. I don’t know what a heyday is and if I’ve even had one, but I’ll tell you one thing: water mixed with protein powder? That is not a way to live. At least not for me. Give me the goods! My three favorite milks are cow’s skim, unsweetened vanilla almond, or vanilla coconut. I only love the last two because of the vanilla flavor. And speaking of vanilla… Extracts make smoothies taste so delicious. It doesn’t have to be vanilla. But use one! Creamy yogurt. I love yogurt. I’ve been eating greek yogurt for years, with Fage still coming [...]

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Chocolate Chip Cake Bars with Salted Chocolate Glaze.

If you’ve been hanging ’round these parts for a while, you know there are an abundance of the following items in our house: chicken, steak, chocolate, bacon, rice, chicken and more chicken. And chocolate chip cookies. If Mr. How Sweet could eat one food for the rest of his life, it would probably be steak. But if he was granted a second choice, he would wash that steak down with chocolate chip cookies. And if he was really lucky, he’d stand over the sink shoveling said cookies in his mouth and drinking Diet Coke. But there are only so many cookies a girl can eat. And trust me, I can eat a lot of cookies. So I decided to shake things up a bit… but take it slowly. After all, I didn’t need any tantrums. How about presenting Mr. How Sweet with a cake that tasted like a chocolate chip cookie? With a bit of a salty glaze. Because if there is anything I love more than chocolate and peanut butter, it’s chocolate and sea salt. Which probably explains why I chased a Snickers bar with three Pringles in my younger years. Courtesy of Mother Lovett’s snack cupboard of course. [...]

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Mr. How Sweet Goes To The Store… Again?!

I’ll just never learn. This time, he came back with over 12 bags of brown rice. Quite a change from his last two trips. But that’s all he came back with.

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White Bean Breakfast Hash.

I have so much to tell you about this breakfast that I don’t even know where to start. How about not calling it breakfast? Because I ate it for lunch. And I also think it makes an appropriate dinner. While perusing the menu at Square Cafe this past weekend, I was incredibly drawn to the white bean hash. I couldn’t bring myself to order it; the lure of buttery, toasted ciabatta, thick, crispy bacon and melted gruyere pulled me in. So I went with the breakfast sandwich. But the hash continued to haunt me throughout my meal and even the rest of the day. I couldn’t stop talking about it. I had to find some way to combine said menu ingredients and get this in my life as soon as possible. This was my first time using leeks! I was a leek virgin. Now I’m a leek convert. I mean… wouldn’t you be if you had caramelized them in bacon grease? Since I never even laid eyes on the dish, all I had going for me was my superior memory – the memory that gets Mr. How Sweet in trouble approximately six times a month. I remember everything. I knew the [...]

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Sunday Mornings.

Mr. How Sweet bounds up the stairs at 7 am and starts jumping on the bed. He’s been up since 6 am because he’s getting old, and I’ve been up since 6 am because I’m getting old, he’s about as quiet as a bull in a china shop, and he blasts Dolly Parton videos on CMT every Sunday morning. He’s already making pancakes, even though he’s had his first breakfast. But he can’t go another hour without eating. Pancakes are the last thing on my mind since I consumed nearly an entire jar of salted caramel last night before bed. However, after one look I’m sold. I can’t ever turn down a chocolate chip pancake. Somewhere in the hustle and bustle, this has became a tradition. Why can’t someone cook for me everyday?

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Saturday Trader Joe’s Run!

I think I say this every time, but if it was possible for me to live in a store, it would have to be Trader Joe’s. Okay… and Sur La Table. I would have everything I needed! (Except stilettos.) I ended up at Trader Joe’s this morning after a breakfast out. I rarely go out to breakfast, so this was fun! I met up with Caitlin who came back to Pittsburgh to visit from Texas, and Abby. It was almost one year to the day that we met at the same place for the first time. For the first time ever, my Trader Joe’s bag handles ripped. It is always my biggest fear. Luckily they waited to break until I made it inside. Here are some of the goods! Love these sweet potatoes so much. Random produce. Any vegetable whose flavor resembles that of candy is alright by me. An addiction. We’ve been craving these chips since having them a few weeks ago. Necessities. Love these! They remind me of Fruit Roll-Ups, which I used to be obsessed with. They make perfect snacks. Speaking of snacks… Yes. All time favorite hummus in the world. I consider this a small victory, [...]

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