Sweet Substitute

Since my father-in-law was in the hospital and had so many surgery complications, I have been thinking more and more about being healthy. My husband and I have tried to live a healthy life but sometimes life seems to get in the way. Since I'm in charge of cooking dinner, for the most part, I've been making healthier choices and watching portions/measurements more. That one little thing has seemed to make me a bit more conscious of the things I eat throughout the day.

The hardest part is that we both have a sweet tooth. So, for today's baked good, I was inspired by a cookbook from Diabetic Living. My father-in-law happens to be diabetic and I wanted to create a baked good that we could all have. The good thing about these brownies is that no one would ever know how low in fat and calories they are!

Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Brownies
from diabeticlivingonline.com
Oven 350

Nonstick cooking spray

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar or sugar substitute blend

1/3 cup cold water

3/4 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed, or 3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

 

Line a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil up over the edges of the pan. Lightly coat foil with nonstick spray. Set aside.                  

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat; remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and the water. Whisk in egg, oil, and vanilla until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder until combined. (Batter will be thin at this point.)






Place peanut butter in a small bowl; gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the batter until smooth. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup flour and the cocoa powder. Stir into the plain batter; stir in chocolate pieces. Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan.

Drop peanut butter batter in small mounds over chocolate batter in pan.







Using a thin metal spatula, swirl batters together. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes* or until top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 20 bars. (151 calories per bar, 8 grams of fat per bar*)

* If using sugar substitute: decrease baking time to 15-18 minutes, 140 calories per bar, 2 grams of fat per bar.

Codes

I recently taught a class about Universal Product Codes (UPCs), also known as bar codes. The class learned about what the numbers of the bar code stand for and how to find out if a number was wrong. We even started talking about our own UPCs....our Social Security numbers, and what those numbers mean. The QR code (those squares that appear on everything now) were also a topic of conversation. I had learned about most of the codes in my Number Theory classes but I didn't know that the UPC was invented by IBM....or how they convinced supermarkets to use the bar code we use today.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Blondies
adapted from littlebitsof.com

Oven 350

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

 

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Melt butter in the microwave and stir into a large bowl with brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla to the sugar mixture.









Once mixed well, stir in half of the flour mixture at a time. Fold chocolate chips into batter.












Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

















Let cool on rack before cutting.

Honeybun

My husband's grandmother passed away this week. It wasn't unexpected, but it's never easy. We are comforted that she is no longer in pain and is finally with her husband. I have many fond memories of my husband's grandparents (taking them shopping at Walmart, painting their living room, hearing the story of how they met when he ruined her new white shoes) and I will never forget the way his grandmother called everyone "honeybun." When my husband would talk to his friends about his grandmother and they would ask, "Which one?" He'd always respond, "Honeybun." Everyone knew her as this feisty (and sometimes nagging, "Ivan...") woman who knew what she wanted. She will be missed by all.

In honor of Honeybun......

Honeybun Cake
from eatcakefordinner.com

Oven 325

1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and oil until well blended; set aside. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Spread half of the cake mixture into a 9 x13 cake pan. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar mix, covering the entire cake.








Spread the rest of the cake batter over and top with the remaining brown sugar mix. Use a knife and swirl the batter. Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.










Make the glaze: combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth and pour over the hot cake (right when it comes out of the oven).

What does 30 taste like?

My husband turned 30 on Saturday. His day started with a scavenger hunt during which he called his friend Nick in Korea, was surprised by his Godmother Michele, had breakfast at one of his favorite restaurants, participated in a beer tasting at a local brewery, and tried the new Oreo coffee at Dunkin Donuts.













All of this was an elaborate way to get him out of the house, it worked but I was thinking about all the adventures he was taking and wishing I could have been there to see him get each new clue and surprise.









While he was gone I set up our sun porch with everything for a beer tasting (and root beer tasting).











I asked each guest/couple to bring a chilled 6-pack of a unique/favorite beer. I had beer bottle openers with 30 on them and a full snack table.
















We ended up with about 30 different varieties of beer and 5 of root beer.












I put up different pictures of beer slogans and directions for the beer tasting. I also put up a beer tasting vocabulary list. Each guest received a tasting card to fill out with beers to remember or beers to forget. There was a voting bin at the end.














There was plenty of seating out on the porch and in the yard.












We also had the fire pit area for seating. When it got later guests gathered around the fire.












For dinner I had a grilled cheese truck pull into our driveway and serve dinner to guests.












Everyone was surprised and the food was great!













Our dining room table became a dessert table with all of his favorite desserts (chocolate chip cookies, blueberry chocolate chip bars, Oreo cookies, Shock top cake shots, Chocolate cake shots, a trifle made by his sister Samantha, and cupcakes made by my sister Audrey).






One of the desserts on the dessert table:

Blueberry Craisin Chocolate Chip Bars
adapted from poetinthepantry.com

Oven 350
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 all purpose flour
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup blueberry craisins

Spray a 9x9 baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar for about 3 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the vanilla. Once incorporated, add the salt, flour, and oats. Blend until well incorporated, then remove from mixer and stir in the chocolate chips and Craisins. Press into the baking dish , smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake 25-35 minutes (or until golden brown on the top). Cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the pan and cutting into bars.

Old Fashioned

Are you really friends because you are on facebook? When you read mini snippets of some one's life on a daily or weekly basis, does that make you friends? Do you talk to them outside of your "like" click or witty comment on their picture? Have we changed into a society where talking to a person over the phone or face-to-face has become only in extremes?

Old Fashioned Brownies
Oven 350

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixer bowl combine all the ingredients. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1-2 minutes).









By hand, stir in any additional ingredients (chocolate chips, walnuts) that you'd like.

















Spread into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely; cut into bars.















We topped ours with roasted marshmallows (yet another perk of having a fireplace!).

Test no toner

I had a very long day on Saturday. I took the first half of the administrator's test for my 6th year. The first part of the test went smoothly and then came the stressful part. The copies of the test had been copied incorrectly, so the proctors had to start recopying 120 copies on one very slow copier. About an hour and a half later a proctor informed us that the toner was out. A half hour later she finally came back with copies so we could start. It was the most unorganized and unprofessional day. I can't believe I had to pay so much to the state and I had to deal with incorrect copies and lack of toner. Let's just hope my scores are good, I do not want to have to take them again! Six and a half hours was more than enough!

Banana Bread Bars with Browned Butter Frosting
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan.















Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool and frost with Browned Butter Frosting.











Browned Butter Frosting
½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it boiling, and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting.









Using a spatula smooth over the top of the bars immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread.

Continue

This week, everyone at school tried to get back to normal, or at least as close to normal as we could. There's laughter back in the halls and more smiles as students walk into classrooms. It's comforting to see that this one event will not define us, we remember, but we're moving forward. Some students are still not quite at the point of understanding that that is okay. I'm hoping the next week provides more healing time for them. It's hard to explain to them that their friend would not want them to be as sad/depressed as he was. He would want them to continue their high school careers, in the way that he didn't feel he was able to.

Sugar Cookie Bars
adapted from annies-eats.com
Oven 350

For the cookie bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest from 1 lemon
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)



Grease a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking sheet. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.
















Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.











Blend in the vanilla and lemon zest. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir together with a fork to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.














Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer. Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.







To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the milk. Tint as desired with food coloring.














Spread over the  cookie in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

Rumour Has It

Yes, it's true...we do not have our Christmas tree yet! In my defense, we had every intention of getting it yesterday, but we went on a new tire adventure instead. My tire ran over a screw and needed to be replaced. Why not just get a patch? Easy enough, if your tire didn't already have a patch a few inches away! So our goal today is to get our Christmas tree and finally decorate the house. We do have candles in the window so we're not entirely Grinch.

We had my in-laws annual open house this weekend. I brought a variety of baked goods. I had a request to make sure that I put this one on the blog.

Dulce de Leche Bars

from Ladies Home Journal (lhj.com)

Oven 350

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

Pinch salt

10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to extend on two sides.In a mixer bowl, beat together butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in extract, then flour and salt until combined well.

Press along bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until just golden brown around edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, milk and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened and a deep caramel color, about 15 minutes. Pour over crust and spread evenly; refrigerate until completely cool, about 1 hour.

Melt semisweet chocolate; let cool slightly. Using a spatula, evenly spread over filling. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Using a knife, score chocolate layer into squares.

New Light

My father came over to do some electrical work (although it seems that an electrician never wants to do that) this week. Our chandelier is up in the dining room and a couple of other things were fixed. My mother and grandmother tagged along to have dinner. I prepared Cornish hens, pasta salad, and grilled zucchini. We even moved the patio table and chairs into the sun porch so we could eat "outside" (the deck was being stained so we couldn't eat there). We're all set up to eat and it starts to downpour.We stayed in the sun porch, but my grandmother came inside to eat at the kitchen island. She was a little to nervous to eat with the thunder and lightening!
Quick update: One more master's class down, one to go. Deck is stained, posts are fixed. Flamingo room is slowly being painted. It's been a busy week. We ventured out today to find some furniture to fill this new house. Unfortunately, we were less than impressed with the selection. We either couldn't find what we wanted or it wasn't available in the color we wanted. Disappointing, but it was a good way to price out furniture.
Our friend Nick, who has been working in Korea for the past two years, convinced me to try a Korean dessert on Friday. It's called Red Bean Ice Cream. It looks like an ice cream Popsicle and has chunks of red beans in it. Texturally, I did not enjoy it. However, I have some issues with things that are creamy (yogurt, pudding, cream filling, and cooked beans). It was sweet in a way, but not like our ice cream here in the US. I only had about four bites, but I tried it. Needless to say, that is not the recipe this week, sorry Nick!


Cookies and Cream Brownies
from bluebonnetsandbrownies.com

Brownie batter (use your favorite recipe or a mix)


20 Cookies and Cream Hershey Kisses
15 Oreos
1/2 stick salted butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1-2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar






Preheat oven according to brownie directions. Spray a 9 x 13 pan (or 8 x 8 if you want them thicker) with nonstick cooking spray. Roughly chop Hershey Kisses and 10 of the Oreos.











Fold into the brownie batter and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until brownies are set and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.











In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on low until just mixed. Add one tablespoon of heavy cream and beat on high for one minute.

Crush remaining 5 Oreos and fold into frosting. If frosting is too thick, add another tablespoon of cream.
Spread frosting on brownies.




 
 
 
 
 
 

S'more Painting

This week has been very busy. We've painted the dining room (Behr: Puddle), hallway and stairwell (Behr: Toasted Cashew), and master bedroom (Behr: Slade Pebble). Our goal is to tackle the master bathroom next. No flower border in there, but there are two layers of pink paint. Unfortunately, my husband goes back to work this week, so no more day help. It was nice that he was able to take the week off, we got a lot done.
Before and After Picture of Painted Dining Room:



Before and After (1 coat of paint) picture of master bedroom:



I also started my second to last class in the Master's Program.It's a July course on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Of the two classes we had this week, it wasn't too bad, at least there's air conditioning. We have to do a big project/presentation at the end of the class. I am going to do it on collaborative teaching and the class I just went for training on. Might as well practice what I'll be teaching in the fall.

These S'more Bars were a big hit at the annual fireworks party. They are a quick and very portable way to have s'mores at a picnic. Of course I can't wait to set up our fire pit at the new house and start roasting marshmallows. However, this was definitely a good substitute. This would be a fun baked good to make with kids, too.

Peanut Butter Crunch S'more Bars
from PureJoyEventsBlog.com

Approximately 7 whole graham crackers
2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2/3 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 13x9x2-inch baking dish with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper (I prefer using parchment paper - it makes removing the bars much easier!). Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in dish, cutting or breaking crackers as needed to fit.













Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over crackers. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until marshmallows are puffy and slightly golden. Cool completely.











In a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl (or in a medium saucepan over medium low heat), combine chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter. Microwave on high about 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring every 30 seconds. If melting in a saucepan, stir constantly until melted, then remove from heat.







Stir in peanut butter, then stir in Rice Krispies until combined. Spread evenly over marshmallows.













Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm. Cut as desired and store in an airtight container.