Campfire Cookies

I made these a few weeks back and they were delicious!

I found them on pinterest and I am so glad I gave them a try. 

the link to the original recipe and an awesome blog  with way to many great treats is here: fahrenheit350.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

 1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips, or one giant Hershey's bar, chopped
1 cup mini marshmallows

1 box gram crackers

 Bake Time:

11 minutes on 350 degrees

Yields:

4 dozen

They have one of my favorite things in them Marshmallows!

I am a huge marshmallow fan, I know its because my grandma has a marshmallow drawer (yes I said drawer) at her house where we could grab a handful or just a few every time we stopped by. 

History of the Marshmallow drawer:

Before I get to this recipe I feel as though it would be appropriate to explain the Marshmallow drawer. :) 

My Grandma has a drawer at her home that is designated for marshmallows!

It had Big ones, little ones, holiday ones... and stale ones (which are my favorite) 

She started this when she went camping with my Uncle Butch and some of his friends. Of course, as soon as the marshmallows came out for roasting the kids went crazy like wolves for them because they were not your normal treat! My grandma thought that was absurd to act that starved for marshmallows, a treat that is so cheap she decided that she would always have a bag at home for a snack. 

This was the end of 'crazy wolf' reactions from the kids because they were not as rare a snack. 

It is actually the first thing most of us gravitate towards after our hugs and kisses at the door we make it to the marshmallow drawer!

So needless to say, these were a Hit at my house, and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. 

Campfire Cookies: 

 I found this recipe at: fahrenheit350.blogspot.com

photo from: http://fahrenheit350.blogspot.com/2009/08/rain-or-shine.html

 Recipe:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Cream together butter and sugar until incorporated

Add:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Beat thoroughly

Add:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips, or one giant Hershey's bar, chopped
1 cup mini marshmallows
*be careful when you stir in the marshmallows because they get gooey and will break into little pieces if stirred roughly, add them last and fold them into the dough carefully for best results. (i made the mistake of stirring it too much) Stir till incorporated.

Baking them:

The fun part about these cookies is that you actually bake the cookie on top of a whole graham cracker.

Place your gram crackers on a cookie sheet and then place a dollop of the cookie dough on top!

bake at 350 for 11 minutes. 

*any longer and the gram cracker will burn! take these off the cookie sheet immediately and place onto a wire rack to cool.

Photo from: http://fahrenheit350.blogspot.com/2009/08/rain-or-shine.html

unfortunately I did not have gram-crackers

so I made them without that bottom cookie and it was just as good!

Mine turned out like this:

These were really good... gooey, and savory! 

I hope you enjoy these! 

This is a fun summer snack at a barbecue!

 Enjoy!

blessings,

Janelle

Best Brownies Ever

These were amazing!
my cousin Melissa gave me this recipe and I am sooo glad she shared this with me! It has changed my brownie preference forever! 

I thought that the boxed brownies were the best! but these were so easy and I made them from my household baking supplies (no special trips and no added ingredients that you cannot pronounce!) 

Here is what you Need:

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter

2 cup Sugar

4 Eggs

1/2 cup Water or Coffee

1 tsp Vanilla

1 cup Flour

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Backing Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Walnuts (optional) 

4 oz. Chocolate Chips (the more the better)

Bake Time:

25 minutes @ 350 Fahrenheit  

Start with your butter and sugar in your mixing bowl and cream them together:

Make sure your butter is softened I like to chop mine into cubes then soften them in the microwave before mixing

once they are creamed together it will look like this:

Now break down the butter and sugar off the sides to add the eggs one at a time:

Turn your blender on low and ad your eggs one at a time

then add your vanilla

it should look like this!

Now in a separate bowl mix in your dry ingredients:

makes sure to blend them nicely before adding to the eggs:

Next we take our blended dry ingredients and our coffee (or water) and add them to the eggs butter and sugar alternating back and forth to get a even mixture. 

(make sure your coffee is not blazing hot! cool it down first.

I really liked the coffee in the brownie. I had a very mild brew and it made it richer and really tasty!

after it is all evenly blended add in chocolate chips and chopped walnuts if desired. (I did not have any so I didn't put them in) once finished mixing put it into a 9x12 pan that is lightly greased. 

Make sure to preheat your oven to 350 degrees & bake for 25 minutes

Once they are done, test with toothpick in center for easy check and take out and let cool uncovered for 30 minutes or so. 

the texture for these are airy and fluffy and soo gooey! 

once cooled you can frost or garnish with powdered sugar and berries. I would say this would go well with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a cup of coffee! 

Try them and you will think twice before buying the boxed kind! This was really good!

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Janelle

Papa RZ's Late Night Potato Skins

Warning: 

If you do not want to know just how bad these are for you... go NO FURTHER!

These are very tasty and super easy, 

and they are guaranteed to make your mouth water!

Ingredients:

3 Potatoes (russet or yellow) 

1/2 cup cheese

sprinkle of bacon bits

scallions 

sour cream, or ranch for dipping

Cook time:

oven baked: 35 minutes

Fried then broiled:  additional 25 minutes

(recipe originally calls for fryer) BUT I do not suggest owning those, they can be dangerous! 

next thing you know you will be frying anything and everything because frying makes almost ANYTHING taste SOOO Good!

The way that my dad made these sinful little potato skins is with a fryer (which is true to the Cask-n-Cleaver recipe) but I will modify the recipe for either type of preparation.

Step 1:

Oven Roasting:

cut in half and bake your potatoes for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Step 2:

once they are tender and done, 

make sure to scoop out the middles (not too much, the more meat the better flavor)

leaving a bowl like shape to your Potato for all the fix-in's!

Step 3:

Fryer:

if you have a fryer take your cooled and pre-baked potato skin scooped and fry it till its nice and crispy on edges like a french fry (don't over fry) put in fryer for 4 minutes at most!

  

Step 4:

sprinkle cheese then bacon, then little more cheese then scallops

and Broil for 2 minutes rotating the pan if necessary to avoid burning.

Step 5:

drop pan to bottom of oven and adjust temp to 450 

and bake 2 more minutes to get a gooey inside and out!

Step 6:

Take out of oven, plate and garnish with some sour cream or ranch and Enjoy!

The end result is a delicious appetizer, or late night snack that will make you pleased!

Thank you Dad for the recipe!

Mushroom Rice Soup!

I found this on a great blog that has Tons of recipes for the plant based whole grain diet.
This is one that sounded amazing! I hope to give it a try soon!
Happy Eating and have a blessed weekend!

I got this recipe from http://veganomics-101.blogspot.com/2011/03/mushroom-and-rice-stew.html

Mushroom And Rice Stew

I think I could have this for dinner every day.  It's hearty and hits the spot!

Ingredients:

1 Tbl Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Celery stalks, diced
8 oz package Mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
Fresh herbs, chopped finely (I used Sage)
4 Tbl Whole Wheat Flour
5 cups Vegetable Broth
1 Tbl Lite Soy Sauce
3 cups Brown Rice
opt: Tofu strips, cooked and cut into cubes
(pan-fried or baked previously)  *Or Chicken!
green onion, optional

Heat oil in deep sided skillet or large saucepan.  Saute onion, celery, mushrooms, and herbs till softened, stir in flour and cook just a little bit till browned a little, and then add vegetable broth and soy sauce.  Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until rice is cooked.  Try not to open lid often while cooking.  Optional : Add already cooked tofu at the end and serve when all is warm. 

Garnish this dish with chopped green onion and enjoy.

**Recipe Form Veganomics-101 

Check out her site for lots of great healthy eats!

Green Smoothie Boost!

I don't know if your like me, but around noon, I am already tired some days and could easily take a nap!

My day doesn't allow that so I am going to Boost my energy!

There are so many health benefits to juicing as well. 

Some of which are: 

Increased energy, healthy liver,boosts immune system, increased cardiovascular system and heart health, it alkalized your system, helps improve your skin, hair and nail health... and so much more!

If I haven't convinced you look at the facts here.

Chad and I have juiced for about a year and I usually eat my breakfast in a liquid state!

This is my favorite juicing recipe because i love carrots, and cucumber is my favorite veggie to juice!

Some of my favorite scents are also cucumber and it tastes as fresh and tropical as it smells!

This is a simple way to quickly re-energize and also a way to fight that afternoon snack time with a healthy alternative (this is sure to fill you up)!

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber

4 carrots

1 Fuji Apple

2/3 Cup Citrus juice (I used Guava)

1 Cup (Packed) Spinach

Appliances to use:

Juicer 

and food processor or Blender, 

No fear, if your don't have a Juicer,  just do it all in the blender!

This is what I started with:

Remember to wash your veggies even if they are organic

 

I use both a food processor (for the spinach) and my juicer for the rest!

 

 Put the spinach into the food processor or blender and lets chop it up as fine as possible

 Once its nice and chunky and it is getting stuck on the sides, go ahead and add your guava juice to blend it to a finer state.

 this is the finished blend (it will not be chunky to eat/drink) but it will not be smooth like juice either.

Don't be intimidated by the color it will taste great!

 Next remove all of the spinach and guava mixture to a larger 2 cup measuring glass 

and go to the juicer and juice the rest of it. 

If you are using a blender add ingredients in this order so that the natural juices will be used to help lubricate your blender:spinach juice,  cucumber, apple, carrot

Give it a good stir and drink up! 

This green smoothie is sweet, tangy and refreshing...

Give it a try and you the energy boost you'll get will have you hooked!

Enjoy,

Janelle

5 Minute Breakfast Sandwich

Prep time:

2min

Cook time:

3 minute

Ingredients: (per serving)

1 English muffin

1egg

1 Tsp butter or coconut oil

Cheese slice (your preferred variety)

1 halve avocado diced and spooned out of skin

Step 1.

Prep your avocado, 

get out your slice of cheese, 

toast your English muffin in the toaster, 

and turn on the frying pan with your non stick agent butter or coconut oil to med-high heat.

Step 2.

Once oil and pan are warm cook your egg to your liking and place cheese over top of egg while still in pan and cover for 30 sec.

This makes the cheese gooey and melted!

Step 3.

Put your avocado on one half of the muffin,

then top with egg and cheese then place the other half of muffin on top and poof your five minute breakfast sandwich is complete!

These are easy to make a few at a time with a large skillet and a multi-slot toaster.

This is a quick and easy meal with really minimal cleanup. I like to make this on mornings I have to get up and go, but want something fast besides the typical cereal or bagel and cream cheese. This only takes a few minutes and is easily wrapped in foil and sent out the door on your fast paced mornings for the kids!

enjoy! 

Blessings,

Janelle

Begin Your Days with Praise

There is just something about the morning that my body just does not like. I have the hardest time waking up!

I always said, "anyone else can get the worm this the morning, I'll sleep this one through"

I want to stay in the comfort of my warm blankets, and be lazy all day. I wish that was a way to glorify God, but really its a waste of my time. Yet, I still fight every morning to be happy to be up. (mind you this wares off after about an hour) But this morning I was convicted of this and realized that what I was doing was really affecting my whole morning by waking up without a thankful heart.

I had lost the wonder of God's power and love. 

There is that "Camp High" that you get sometimes and it just seems to last and last. This morning mine wore off.

That's not how I wanna live, from emotional experience to emotional experience... Knowing God is not about how I feel it's about fulfilling His will for my life, loving Him and serving him with all I have got, and knowing Him more because he is God! 

Sometimes I just get so stuck in routine and selfishness that I don't even think to thank God for my day until its over with. I want to thank him for the first breath of each morning, for the little things and the BIG things. The fact that he wakes me to another day, gives me a new morning, another chance to share the gospel, all those things and more should wake me up with JOY! 

When I found this verse it inspired and challenged me to wake up with joy and to seek his plan for my every footstep. 

listening to where He will show me to go. 

There is something beautiful about the fact that we have an unfailing morning. God is faithful and shows that in the fact that he sets and rises the sun the same each and every day. 

From now on I am going to "Let the morning bring me word of God's unfailing Love"

Have you been dragging your feet, or everything but joyful in the mornings like I have been? 

It's time to make a change! Make it with me!

Lets look at our mornings with inspiration, joy, peace and thankfulness. God is good.

Praying for blessings and Joy in your mornings to come,

Janelle