Dessert is Served!

I wasn't sure what to write about today. Not much happened other than going to Mayo Clinic for Paul's blood transfusions and oh yeah, I may have sorta committed to learning how to ride a Harley. Mostly because people laughed when Paul told them I was going to. Now, I think I shall learn.

Anyway, not what this post is about.

 It's about Dessert!!!

(As suggested by my friend, Julie, on Facebook.)

 Being diabetic, I relish desserts. I savor them. I eat desert way more often than I should. But I appreciate them.

To start out, I'm going to tell you about a good, lowfat choice that's easy!

Weight Watchers Fruit Dip

Low fat Cool Whip

Strawberry Yogurt

That's it. Buy them both, mix them together. We don't dip fruit in it around here. We eat it with a spoon. Bam! dessert. You can add miniature marshmallows if you want to be a fancy pants and your kids haven't left the bag of Jet Puffs open making them crusty and unusable. (I may have some experience with this.)

Okay, on to the good stuff. Along with not caring so much about sugar, fat doesn't matter that much either. And this is where I'm going to start munching on baby carrots in effort to not make the box of brownie mix in the cupboard. Speaking of....

BROWNIES!!!!!

Not just brownies, Extreme Brownies!

Here's a brief history on brownies: I have no idea. Here's my brief history with brownies. My best friend in high school, Marianne, and I were at her (my?) house and had yet to go to bed so we went to the kitchen and made brownies. At two a.m. Actually, we laughed and talked and ate most of the batter then made brownies, but it became both a sleepover tradition and an inside joke between us. I still eat too much of the batter prior to pouring it in the pan. I now compensate by making two boxes or use a smaller pan, as well as think about Marianne.

When I Googled Most Pinned Desserts, the brownies pictured above came up as well as the website they came from called Buns In My Oven & Not the Baby Kind. She admits she prefers box mix brownies. I have to admit I prefer them as well. The kind that comes in the red box. Betty Crocker, I'm pretty sure. Pillsbury is in a blue box and I tend to stay far, far away from anything that says Duncan Hines, so yes, I prefer Betty Crocker brownie mix. (I am still munching on carrots, btw)

When I'm in town tomorrow, I'm gonna get the ingredients to make these bad boys. I'll have to research where to get the espresso powder, probably HyVee since they like to carry more specialized products, and I DEFINITELY want a bit of a coffee flavor to them.

Good Ol' Homemade Brownies

Ingredients:                                                          

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish.
In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well combined.
Spread into prepared pan (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 30 minutes, until a tester comes out mostly clean. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Cool on a wire rack.

recipe from King Arthur Flour

NOW, this little missy genious cooking buns girl amps these up a bit and  AHHH (Imagine light shining from Heaven and soprano angels singing) We get these:

Brookies, Buckeye Brownies and Cookie Dough Brownies

Click here  for her instructions and recipes!

(Carrot sticks, Sarah, carrot sticks)

One desert that isn't for me? Ice Cream. I don't like ice cream.

Cookies!!!!

I'm not going to give you any cookie recipes, I'm going to tell you about my friend, Mary, and her cookies. They're delicious. They're Beautiful!!!!!

Not only are they delicious and beautifaul, all proceeds go to a good cause. Check out Mary's Cookiepalooza Facebook Page.

(If you don't understand how imbedded links work, click Facebook Page to get to Mary)

Well, my brownies are done. I mean, my carrots are gone, so I'll catch you all tomorrow for another Duck Dynasty Robertson Family Reveals!

(No carrots were harmed nor eaten during the making of this blog)

Things I'm Obsessed with Right Now

Things I'm obsessed with right now.....

Coffee.
I've been a fiend for years. It is the second thing I do in the morning-make my coffee. (Nature calls first, in case you weren't wondering.)  I love the smell of the grounds (part of my routine is a big good morning sniff of the package) and I anxiously wait for it to brew. Which isn't nearly fast enough... I should clean my maker, but I swear, it takes a really long time for the coffee to get that full coffee flavor after scrub-a-dub-dubbing it. I really should get a Keurig so I can brew a cup while waiting for the whole pot to brew.... That wouldn't be obsessive, would it? A Pre-coffee maker to have while waiting for the full coffee pot to brew? My favorite brand of grounds is Dunkin' Dounuts brand, btw. And I use cream. Well, Coffeemate. I've been on a long and wide search for Fat Free Original Coffemate, but it seems not to be a popular "flavor" in my neck of the woods. Grocery stores must have an unspoken full fat creamer or real cream only rule in the land of dairy.
Special K Pastry Crips.
These buggers are yummy. Wait, scratch the fact I said yummy. I hate that word. (Based on how many pictures of other people's food I've been subjected to on Facebook with the caption of "yummy", the word now evokes nausea.) Crap, off subject there. Anyway, Pastry  Crisps are delish for these reasons One- It's 100 calories a pack. Two- they taste like the corners of pop tarts(which is my favorite part of pop tarts) with just enough filling to give these things flavor without being too sickly sweet as I find Pop Tarts to get. Three- In case you need further recommendation, I like the chocolate ones best, then the cinnamon, then the strawberry. They come in other flavors, too. I tried the Berry Streusel today. Not a fan.
Shannon Stacey.
I am so glad the powers of Amazon recommendations led me to this author! The first book I read of hers,  "Exclusively Yours" had me laughing my butt off. I'm so in love with the characters, the setting, the whole shebang. It pains me to admit this, but I'm a sucker for contemporary romances. That include naughty parts. This one is like none other I've read. The characters have sharp mouths and aren't afraid to give one another shit when shit is due. (As the semi-certified "Swears like a Sailor at Port" individual that I am, I embrace the character's language.) In the book, there is a big family with a hoard of comical kids and there's camping and swimming and four wheeling and annual volleyball games of Doom!  (Most of the family's activities and competitions have the appendage of 'of  Doom!') It's just all so completely endearing and relatable with the family dynamics, personal struggles that come with living life and maintaining lasting relationships and just being able to laugh about where life sticks you sometimes. Read this book!
Click here for information on getting your own copy.
I've also become a fan of this author's blog. She's my new literary hero :)
Copious amounts of ranch dressing on pizza-
I am not a fan of pizza. Don't scoff, I'd just rather have something, almost anything else over pizza. Until one night last week when I played the lazy card and made frozen Tombstones in the pizza maker and my little mini-me sang the praises of ranch dressing on pizza. So why not?  I tried it. And now I want to have frozen pizza with gobs of ranch all the time. And Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. Nothing rounds out a good meal of fat on fat like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.

Scarves-
My neck feels naked without the warmth of a decorative scarf. I really hate the fact that the world will soon thaw and I'll have to accessorize with *ack* necklaces once more.... Until then, I embrace my colorful bands of fabric that I love so much.

I hope this has been informative, slightly entertaining or just a nice way to waste some time for y'all. 'Til tomorrow!