Almond Joy Brownies

Okay, so you could call these "Mounds Brownies" since I didn't actually add almonds, but that doesn't evoke the same vision of heavenly sweetness that an almond JOY candy bar does. Feel free to add chopped almonds to the brownies or sliced almonds on top of the coconut or even sprinkled on top of the frosting. And yes, these are as amazing as they look! So please, do NOT attempt to make these if you will be alone with them in your house for very long. Share with your friends and loved ones!

Mom's Brownies (Richard's mom)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7x11 or 9x9 inch pan. Combine butter and sugar, then beat in eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir in flour and cocoa just until well blended. Fold in nuts. Turn in prepared pan and bake for 25-29 minutes.

Coconut Filling
5 cups shredded, sweetened coconut
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Combine and spread over cooled brownies.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-4 Tablespoons milk

Beat butter and cocoa. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat well, adding milk 1 Tbsp at a time until smooth and spreadable.

Chunky Monkey Pancakes or Waffles with Peanut Butter Syrup

 These are SO good. And so easy. You must try them. The Chunky Monkey pancake recipe is from ourbestbites.com. But for a quicker breakfast, I just made waffles using multigrain pancake mix, sliced bananas on top, and poured the peanut butter syrup on top. The kids go crazy over this!

Chunky Monkey Pancakes
{Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup}
Adapted from Our Best Bites
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C buttermilk *
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg *
2 small or medium ripe bananas
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips (or reg. chips roughly chopped) tossed with 2 tsp flour
Cooking Spray
1 C  100% real maple syrup
1/2 C peanut butter
*As a substitute for buttermilk, place 1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice or vinegar in a 1 1/2 C measuring cup and then fill the remainder with milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.
*As a substitute for an egg, place 1 Tbsp chia seeds or ground flax seeds in a small measuring cup. Fill to 1/4 cup with water. The water will gel and become a binder like an egg!

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until moistened and combined. Place bananas in a bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Fold into batter. Add the chocolate chips that have been tossed with flour and stir.

For syrup, heat peanut butter in a small saucepan until warm. Add maple syrup and gently whisk to combine. Heat until hot and then set aside.

Make the pancakes as you normally would, pour syrup on top!

Sesame Noodles with Peanut Sauce

I am so in love with these noodles. If you like Thai peanut sauce or Satay, you will love these!

Sesame Noodles with Peanut Sauce

from melskitchencafe.com

*Serves 4-6

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter (I used creamy natural peanut butter: ingredients--dry roasted peanuts, salt. So good.)

2 medium cloves garlic , minced (about 2 teaspoons)

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

5 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

Hot water

1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and shredded

12 ounces dry whole wheat spaghetti noodles

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

4 scallions (green onions), sliced thin on diagonal

1 medium carrot, grated

Toast sesame seeds in medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, a few minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon sesame seeds in small bowl. In blender or food processor, puree remaining 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. With machine running, add hot water 1 tablespoon (for a total of about 5 tablespoons, give or take) at time until sauce has consistency of heavy cream, slightly thickened but pourable. Set blender jar or work bowl aside.

Bring 6 quarts water to boil in stockpot over high heat. Add noodles and boil until tender, about 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain, then toss noodles with sesame oil until evenly coated. Add shredded chicken, scallions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine. Divide among individual bowls, sprinkle each bowl with portion of reserved toasted sesame seeds, and serve immediately.

Cabbage and Sausage Soup

So I had some cabbage to use up and found this recipe online. Tons of veggies, so I had little faith that my girls would eat it. They love sausage though, so I called it sausage stew and they loved it! Both of them ate the entire bowl for dinner and again for lunch 2 days later. Awesome! I do love a good bowl of soup/stew on a winter day. I used Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage instead of the links and Better than Bouillon paste (from costco) instead of the cubes.

Cabbage and Smoked Sausage Soup

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Servings: 8

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced

4 cups chicken broth

1 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1 (15 ounce) can red beans, with liquid

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 teaspoons (or 2 cubes) beef bouillon

1/2 teaspoon crushed dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

Cook the onion, garlic, and sausage in a skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. Transfer to a crock pot. Pour in broth. Mix in cabbage, carrots, celery, rice, beans, tomato sauce, and crushed tomatoes. Add remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. (Until vegetables are tender and rice is cooked.)

Maple Teriyaki Glaze

I can't believe that it's been months since I posted! I have so many things that I wanted to post here, but never got around to it. Not today! This dinner from last night has to be shared! I made Maple Glazed Salmon and it was so yummy! You can definitely use this sauce on chicken, shrimp, tofu, beef or pork too, so the possibilities are endless! Feel free to double the recipe.


1/2 cup apple juice
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Add all ingredients to a small skillet and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce. Spoon over grilled salmon or the meat of your choice. Done!

*If you want a thicker sauce, you could add a teaspoon of cornstarch mixed in a little juice at this point and boil until thickened.

*You can use this as a marinade for your meat, and then boil it down while your meat is cooking.