Two Ingredient Brownie Muffins

Yummy.....

I have to give credit where credit is due.

This is not my recipe... well, it is now because

I've adopted it into my personal recipe file... but I

got it from another blog. One of my favorite blogs as I
have so many favorties.
.

You can find the recipe and the blog here.
I'm sure you will fall in love with this blog too.

Here is a picture of  my muffins just minutes out of the oven!

click on picture for closer view

They are so good.

Enjoy!

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

Happy Valentine's Day

~ Happy Valentine's Day to you!

~ Since my husband is going to be out of town tonight,

we decided to celebrate our Valentine's Day ALL weekend. 

~ We went to dinner and a movie on Saturday evening and I made him a special dinner on Sunday.... along with heart shaped brownies for dessert.

~ I followed a recipe I blogged about in a previous post. 
You can find the recipe here.

We loved the brownies made from scratch. 

I have a BRAND new recipe to add to my own personal collection.

~ However, in the future, I do not think I will use my heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the heart shaped brownies.  With the recipe I used, I was only able to get 4 heart shaped brownies as the recipe called for using an 8 x 8 baking dish. 
Look at the leftovers after using the heart shaped cookie cutter,
I added them in the picture below.

Here is the picture that accompanied the recipe,
looks close doesn't it?



~ Anyway, the scraps are just as good and we ate them too.

~ Next time, I will just cut the brownies into squares and not use the cookie cutter.  Although my husband thought they were fun. 

~ We exchanged our Valentine's gifts.
He loved his book and camo shorts. 
Plus, I made him some special "coupons" to use
but they are very personal and I cannot share what they were.  (blushing)
I think he liked those the most.  :o)

~ My gift is for Valentine's Day and my birthday which is next Monday.

~ I will take a picture of my gift and post in on my birthday. 

~ I absolutely love, love, love my gift. 

~ Oh... by the way, I had a heart shaped brownie for breakfast today along with an awesome cup of coffee, what a great way to start off a Monday!

~ I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day ~


~ Thanks for stopping by ~
♥
~ Lisa ~

Thinking of a Valentine's Day Gift or Two....

~ I've been thinking of a gift or two to give my husband for Valentine's Day. 

♥

~ He works so hard. He isn't the kind of man who just goes out and

purchases items because he wants them. 

♥
~ He is very frugal.  I love this about him because I too, am the same way.

♥

~ He keeps talking about a couple things that he would like to have. 

I listen when my man speaks... because it isn't to

often that he mentions things he would like to have.

♥

~ One of the things he keeps mentioning is a book written by
Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones.  He loves the Rolling Stones.

♥

~ So, it is on my list to pick up today.

~ I came up with the idea of putting some notes inside of the book,
so that as he reads through it, he will find them and think of ME!

♥

~ I found these little notes online ( click here ) that you can print and cut up. 
I am going to cut them up and place them throughout the book.

♥

~ Another item he keeps mentioning.... is camouflaged shorts. 
YES, you heard me, CAMO SHORTS.  Men and their camo.

♥

~ I've ordered them from Cabela's. 
He received his 3 inch thick Spring Edition catalog the other day.
(I am not exaggerating, the book is LARGE and it's hard covered)

♥

~ I've watched as he sits in the evenings and drools over this catalog.
Kind of how I used to do with the J.C. Penney catalog that they
NO LONGER PRINT
boo hoo...

♥

~ HOWEVER, as I was placing the order, I was told they are on backorder so on Valentine's Day....He'll get this same picture in his card until they send the shorts in the mail.  It's okay, it's a little too cold to wear them now anyway!

~ I think that about does it for his Valentine's Day gifts.

♥

~ Oh, and I did see these brownies from another blog,
I am going to make them for him.

 click HERE for the easy recipe.


~ I think my husband will enjoy his Valentine's Day this year, don't you?

♥

~ Are you going to do something special for your Valentine?

XOXOXOXO

~ Thanks for stopping by ~
♥
~ Lisa ~

Salsa - Semi Homemade Recipe

~ The weather outside is.... h o r r i b l e... icy and cold!!!!  

~ What do I want to do when the weather is horrible? 

Cook, bake or both and EAT!

~ We can't go outside in this now can we?

Click on any picture for a closer view

View outside my kitchen window

Looking North... I think I'll stay INSIDE a while longer!

Looking out my front store to the South....icy and cold and desolate.

I love how the Sun glistens on the icy chips that have fallen from the tree limbs. 

I can't wait to be on the riding mower mowing this lawn once again!

~ So.... instead of going outside and going anywhere yesterday,

  I decided to try a new recipe.

I had made a trip to the grocery a few days before I heard of the

coming ice storm and had my ingredients on hand. 

~ I had previously found a recipe for salsa and wanted to try it. 

The only thing I might add next time is some fresh cilantro, other than that,

my husband and I really LOVED it and it might just be our new salsa recipe.

~ Buying salsa at the grocery can be quite expensive. 

Especially, how much we like to eat.

My husband and I do NOT like a really hot salsa either. 

We like our salsa mild.  Now, I can make it just the way we like it.

Look how yummy it looks here, freshly blended and ready to eat!

I store it in a glass bowl covered tightly until we are ready to enjoy

Here is the recipe:

 One 14oz can of stewed "Mexican style" tomatoes

 One 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chile's

(I selected mild but you want a spicier flavor so you could get medium)

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  *Next time, I am adding some fresh cilantro

Place all of these ingredients into your blender and give it a few spins. 

Blend to your desired consistency. 

I tasted it right away but have noticed letting it sit overnight that

the flavors blended beautifully and tastes even better.

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~

Baby it's cold outside......

~ The climate here in Indiana has been very challenging lately!

~ Snow is falling and falling and falling. 
Did I say the snow keeps falling?

~ Bitterly cold winds and gloomy gray skies. 

click on any picture for a closer view

Looking south out my front door

Looking northwest out my back door

~ Oh how I long for my Summer evenings on my porch swing with my iced tea.

I cannot wait for these days again ♥

~ So, since I cannot go outside in this frigid weather,
there is only one thing left to do!

Yes, the only thing left to do is to make peanut butter cookies.

Oh... I had to taste one while it was still warm,
fresh out of the oven and Oh, so delicious.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine together -
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

yelp, that's all you need,
makes approximately 16 cookies.
mix all ingredients together,
roll into 1 inch balls,
bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 12 minutes
and enjoy some delicious peanut butter cookies.

So, while the cold, frigid weather lingers,

and we wait for Spring.

~ We will enjoy some cookies and wait on
mother nature to bring back her warm Summer days of beauty.

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~

Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

~ Want to make  your own semi-homemade spaghetti sauce?

~ I have an easy recipe to share with you!

Recipe makes approximately 4 cups of sauce

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small skillet/frying pan
• Chop up 1/4 medium sized onion into small pieces
• Saute onion until it starts to get a tad bit carmel color or brownish (do not burn)
• Add 2 teaspoons of minced garlic (I have a jar I keep on hand in my refrigerator)
• saute for a few moments longer (you will be adding this mixture to another mixture shortly)

In a large saucepan, add the following ingredients:

• 1  14-oz can of tomato sauce
• 2  6-0z cans of tomato paste (I use Italian style)
• 2  tablespoons of dried basil
• fresh ground pepper
• 2  14-oz cans water

Whisk all ingredients above together, after onion/garlic/olive oil mixture are sauteed, pour into saucepan of tomato sauces and bring to a boil and then simmer 20 minutes.

 Makes approximately 4 cups of sauce.

You can add your own special items like chopped green pepper, etc., but I would suggest sauteing them to make them soft.

~ Enjoy ~

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~

White Bean Chicken Chili {Crockpot Recipe}

~ Wow, it's been a while since I've made a post to my blog. 

Shame on me!

~ I love to cook and since the temps are cooler now,

it gets me to thinking about soups and stews.  

~ I love that aroma that you smell as soon as you open your door to come inside

after simmering some soup or a stew all day. 

~ I found a recipe but made changes to it to

incorporate my own flavors,

my husband says I need to make this

again and again, so I guess it's a keeper.

~ I am sharing this recipe so you too, can enjoy it.

click on photo for closer view

White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients

1 pound diced, cooked chicken meat

(I used 4 chicken breasts and cooked them in the crockpot the day before)

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used canaola oil)

1 small onion chopped into small pieces

2 cloves minced garlic

(I have minced garlic in a jar in my refrigerator, the back of the jar gives the instructions for replacing fresh garlic)

1  14 oz can of chicken broth (I used 99% fat free and low sodium)

1  16 oz can diced tomatoes with chiles (this gives the chili a little bang)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 can cream of corn

1 can of corn (drained)

1 can of cream of celery soup

2  15 oz cans of white northern beans (drained and rinsed) (I used Bush's brand)

salt/pepper to taste

In a large pan, heat oil, and cook onion and garlic until soft.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, spices and bring to a boil, then

simmer for 10 minutes.

Add both cans of corn, cream of celery soup and mix and simmer to blend well. 

Place diced chicken in the bottom of the crockpot, toss in drained white beans and mix, pour the mixture you've been simmering over the chicken and beans, mix well and set your crockpot on low and cook all day. 

It's an amazing soup with just a little bit of bang to it!

PS... if you want more of a bang to your white bean chicken chili, you can add chiles to it, this recipe orginally called for one 7 oz can of diced green chiles but for my husband and I, the chiles added from the canned tomatoes were PLENTY hot.

Enjoy ♥

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~

Easy Cake-Mix Cookies

~ Who loves cookies?  Everyone does, even the cookie monster, right? 

~ I have found a new recipe that I absolutely LOVE,

I found it on the Internet and gave it a try.

~ It's a cookie recipe and instead of flour and sugar,

these cookies are made with a cake mix.

~ They are so EASY and delicious!

click on picture for closer view

I used devils food cake-mix and chocolate chips.

 ~ I have provided the recipe below or you can go here.

  

Easy Cake-Mix Cookies.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

•1 - 18.25 ounce box cake mix
•1/2 cup vegetable oil
•2 eggs
•2 cups of * (see below)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet(s). Mix together cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in *.  Make little balls with the dough and put on cookie sheets,  use the bottom of a glass or jar and flatten just a bit. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool on pan for 2 minutes then cool on wire cooling racks.  I store my cookies in a tightly sealed bowl with a slice of bread.  The bread helps the cookies to remain soft.  It will be come stale later on, you can throw it out and feed the birds.

* This can be 2 cups of the following or a combination of a cup of each addition: chocolate chips, coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, raisins, coconut, toasted-coarsely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts), brickle chips, and so on.

 --> I actually have a cookie dough scoop that I used and it made the perfect size cookie.  You have to flatten the dough just a bit, I used the bottom of a glass. 

☺ Enjoy  ☺

*_*

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~