Scotcharoos

Let me start by apologizing for my lack of skills in the photo department....For some reason I am still convinced that my little point and shoot Sony CyberShot can work miracles with pictures...it can't.  I am going to start using Greg's camera, the much more professional one that he bought before we had 2 kids, a minivan and a mortgage.....

On to the recipe...Scotcharoos....

The best way to describe these is that they are almost like a peanut butter Rice Krispy Treat with chocolate on top.  Sound yummy??  Read on!!!

The Recipe:

1 cup Karo syrup (corn syrup...I use light)

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies (or the Stater Bros. generic alternative!!)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

The Directions:

- In a large pot combine the Karo syrup (corn syrup) and the sugar on low-medium heat.  Mix until combined (about 4-5 minutes depending on the pot and stove)...turn the heat down if if looks like the mixture is starting to boil and stick to the bottom of your pot.

- Once combined (will be a marble-y clearish white looking syrup) remove from heat (or turn down to SUPER LOW) and put in the peanut butter.  Mix that up until it is all combined and smooth.

- Turn off the stove and remove the pan from the heat.  Now, add the Rice Krispies....stir up, down and all around until every little Krispy looks coated.

- Once all is coated, put into a 9 x 13 dish and pat it down (not tight, just so there aren't huge gaps).

- Set that aside and melt the chips...I do it in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup, first for 1 minute at 70% - 80% power, then stir, then another 45 seconds to a minute at the same power level and stir.  If that is not enough you can put it back in for 30 second intervals at the lower power.  Just do lots of stirring to help the chips melt and remember, chocolate chips will burn, easily.   Once melted, spread over the top of the pan.

- Resist the temptation to cut a piece right away....let them cool completely (I put them in the fridge for an hour or so to cool).  If you cut the, too soon, not only will they be hot, but they will fall apart, and fall on the kitchen floor....and you will be left with the guilt of wasting a precious resource!

So, to recap - heat and mix Karo syrup and sugar, when combined add peanut butter.  When that's mixed, turn off stove and add Krispies.  Put in 9 x 13, melt chips and spread them on top.  Let it cool....or else!!

Now enjoy!! These are delicious!!

OVERALL TASTE:  5

EASE OF PREPARATION:  5

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Does it look YUMMY???

It was good...it was YUMMY warm with some butter...mmm....

Anywho, I made this Chocolate Zucchini Bread a few weeks ago and bragged about it on Facebook while promising to post the recipe at the time...it is now probably 3 weeks later and all I can say is that I am sorry, and I will be legally changing my middle name to "The Procrastinator."

Here is the recipe...

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

3 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups shredded peeled zucchini

Directions:

- In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil and eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended.  Stir in zucchini.  Transfer to two 8-inch x 4-inch loaf pans coated with cooking spray.

- Bake at 350 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted hear the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.  Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each)

**A few notes...I halved this recipe and made only one loaf because I didn't want to waste too many resources if it flopped...which it didn't...but so you know, you can easily half this recipe for only one loaf (use 2 eggs) and just watch the time in the oven since it will be shorter.

**Also, I used a microplane zester to "shred" the zucchini because honestly I was worried I would have to chew the zucchini in the bread if I used my shredder.  It worked great!! I doubt the results would be as bad as I had imagined with a regular shredder, but just FYI - the finer shreds worked just fine (just make sure to drain the juice before you dump the finely grated pieces in if you go that route).

So, there it is - Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

I am going to start rating my recipes on a scale from 1 - 5 in two categories....Overall taste (this is in general - I will try to be unbiased and not let any personal preferences influence this) and ease of preparation...

OVERALL TASTE:  3 (with some butter a 3.75)

EASE OF PREPARATION:  4

My Favorite Mini...

MINI CUPCAKES

A while back I mentioned to Greg that I wanted to get a mini-cupcake pan - and being the amazing husband he is, he found some holiday to buy it for me.  I have looked at that thing for a while, waiting to use it....

Until yesterday.

I was going to make cupcakes, then a cake, then I decided on a mixture of both.  I made one 8-inch round cake and 1-1/2 pans of mini cupcakes.

I officially LOVE the mini cupcake and will be making them again soon.  I love that you could decorate them in tons of different colors and designs.  No matter what, they look so cute!!!

(And they were SUPER fast to decorate!!!)

So, enjoy these pictures of my own personal mini-cupcake army....

I don't think I'll post pics of the little cake I made, Karyl helped me decorate it (I could only use one of my decorating tips and the reddish-pink color - so it isn't terribly exciting) and she wanted flowers and dots all over it.  It's hard to make something look semi-professional when you have a 3-1/2 year old constantly saying "no mommy, not there.....THERE!"

At least the cupcakes are cute.  Oh, and they do taste just as yummy as they look.  I don't skimp on frosting, even for the little guys.  I used my homemade buttercream frosting and it is YUMMY!!

Homemade Pizza and Peanut Butter Cookies

HOMEMADE PIZZA

I want to start this post with something new I tried the other night....Homemade pizza.

Why did I try homemade pizza?? Because I wanted to break out this baby and try it for the first time...

For those of you not familiar with kitchen wizardry, that is a breadmaker.  We got it for our wedding, but we never had enough room to store it remotely near a kitchen, let alone use it, before we bought this house.  So, I finally decided to break it out and try making pizza crust dough - and it worked beautifully!!

It looked great - the taste wasn't quite as impressive though, but I figure at least the machine works, and now I can start looking for a good pizza crust recipe!! 

So....if you have a wonderful pizza crust recipe, please share!!! We love pizza here and I am on the hunt for a good one!!

SHORTBREAD PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I decided to make some cookies this afternoon, and of all the recipes I have waiting to be tried, this seemed like an easy one for a Wednesday afternoon.

Just like the Brown Sugar Crumble Banana Muffins, I owe a huge thanks to "Get Off Your Butt and BAKE" for posting this delicious recipe.  The link is below...

Shortbread Peanut Butter Cookies

I made the dough and rolled it into balls....then rolled those balls in sugar...

Then I flattened them with a fork (not quite as thin as the original recipe, it was hard with all the chocolate chips in there...next time, I will use less chocolate chips) - and then they were sent to the pathetic appliance in my kitchen they called an oven when we bought the place (long story - let's just say that I learned not all ovens are a standard size...and didn't realize it until we had moved in and I tried to bake a sheet cake...)

And this is the yumminess that came out!!! 

My daughter keeps asking me every 10 minutes or so if she can have another one - I'd say they were a hit around here!!!

So we now have a cooling rack full of yummy cookies and I need to go figure out what's for dinner....Mac and Cheese anyone???

Lesson Learned....

I've been exercising fairly regularly at the house, and at least stopped the weight gain for the past few months - but I've realized that if I want to really lose some weight and be in shape I need to step it up a little.  Let's face it, I want to be around for a very long time - I'm not finished "multiplying and replenishing the earth" and I certainly want to be around long enough to see my children, and hopefully their children do the exact same thing...and I can't do either of those things easily if I don't stay in shape!!

This week I have made a commitment to go for a walk everyday with the kids in the Jogger, and so far I've done great!! Almost 2 miles Monday and today (yesterday was our day off!).  Now, this might sound easy, but keep in mind that the Jogger alone weighs at least 20 pounds - then add about 35 pounds of Karyl and about 30 pounds of Freddie - and you get around 85 pounds to push while walking.  We don't exactly live on flat land...there are hills here...lots of them....

In my younger days I would have complained, and maybe even not bothered walking....but in my old age I have come to appreciate these obstacles for what they truly are - built in cardio boosts!!! Sometimes it helps to look at things like the glass really is half full.  I actually like the variety in terrain, and Karyl loves to get out and walk with me at times, usually on hills, which takes 35 pounds out of the stroller (it's not cheating if she asks to get out on her own!!)

So...you're probably asking "where is the 'lesson learned' in all this babble..."

Get ready...

Here it is....

I have learned that there truly is a difference between running/walking/cross training shoes.  I always thought it was just a gimmick to charge more for "specialty" shoes - but then I read an article about shoes and what the specific ones are for and it finally explained why certain parts of my legs always hurt when I get done walking.  I have been wearing "running" shoes when I exercise and I have cross-training/walking shoes for everyday wear.  I wore my regular shoes today, and it was AMAZING what a difference it made!!

Apparently running shoes are designed for maximum comfort on the front of your feet, because, DUH, when you run, you tend to use the front of your feet....whereas when you walk, you lead from the heel.  So, walking shoes are a little harder in the back to help with the heel leading, whereas running shoes are softer in the back....

I will never wear my "running" shoes for walking again!!!

I am going to make some cookies now...slightly counterproductive?? Absolutely....totally worth it??? Yes!!

I am making some Shortbread Peanut Butter Cookies from my new favorite blog...I will post pics and the link later on tonight!!!

Brown Sugar Crumble Banana Muffins

These are BY FAR the best Banana Muffin I have ever had!! And with the brown sugar crumble topping, they are irresistable....

BEFORE THE OVEN

AFTER THE OVEN

They were super yummy warm out of the oven, but they were also surprisingly delicious the next day when they were just room temperature. Between you and me, I REALLY wanted to heat one up this morning and put some butter on it but I resisted - when you see the recipe you'll understand why, they already have enough butter in them as it is!!

The link to the recipe is below....Please give these a try and let me know what you think!!

Thank you to the "Get off your butt and BAKE" website - this is another winner!!

Brown Sugar Crumble Banana Muffins

I'm BA-ACK!!!

I know, it's been a while....like 2 months....

And for all 3 of you who actually look at this blog I sincerely apologize!! Things have been a little crazy around our house and I was seriously lacking in the blogging department. I was sick and then things just crazy around the house with kids and work and life in general.

Now, 1/3 of you might be thinking "but this blog was established to prove that there was in fact 'Life After Diapers'..." and you are right, but that is exactly why I've been slightly lacking lately. My family is my first priority, over work, over my personal life - they come first. For these past 2 months my family just took more of my time than it usually would, and that was mostly due to my lack of energy for the 5 weeks I was sick with a sore throat and other nastiness.

So, here I am, back and with an even greater resolve to bring you more recipes and ideas to help you out!! I have had lots of time to think and one of the things I have been doing is making goals for myself, as a mom, a wife and just a woman in general. I have decided to incorporate a new, SMALL goal every week or two to try and contribute to the general awesomeness I strive to embody - so here are a few of the goals I set over the past 2 months, and how I implemented them...

#1 - The first goal I set was a small one, and it was to keep the dining room table clear - this is an Achilles heel for me because the dining room table is SOOOO convenient for dropping stuff when you just don't have time to put it anywhere else. Our dining room table is also my sewing table, craft table for the kids and I, and just generally a wonderfully flat raised surface used for a multitude of things. So, one weekend my husband went through and "power cleaned" the table and kitchen (he was fed up with the clutter, and I don't blame him one bit!!) - once the table was empty and I had overcome my embarassment with letting it get that bad I decided that it was time to start over new....from that day forward nothing was to go on that table unless it was for a specific project I was doing at the time AND it could be cleaned up quickly and had a place to go when it was dinner time.

That was 2 months ago, and to this date I have kept that kitchen table free of useless clutter!!!

#2 - DISHES!!! I use capital letters because I used to think that dishes was a foul word, one that should be spelled with asterisks and other symbols depicting it's naughtiness (D&%*@#)!! I had a horrible habit of just letting the dishes pile up in the sink with the intention of washing the plastic and other non-dishwasher safe items...and also letting the clean dishes just sit in the dishwasher because, well, I hated emptying it. So, just let your imagination run and this could be a real problem.

Now before you start thinking "eww...isn't that a sanitation problem??" the answer is no...I am VERY picky about rinsing and wiping things off before leaving them in the sink, so the stuff in the sink didn't have day old food clinging to it, it just needed to be "washed" with soap.

So....about 2 weeks later I made the goal that with a few exceptions, I was going to make sure that sink was empty every night. So, I started doing dishes "by hand" every night....and after a few nights of grumbling through it I remembered I had an iPod that had barely been used, and a growing library of songs from a new TV show I was dying to listen to (thank you Glee!!). So, I clipped on the iPod, stuck an earphone in my right ear (for some reason I hear better out of my left ear....so I want to leave that one open to hear children) and started washing dishes....and singing along...

After one night of this I realized a few things - one, dishes aren't that bad, in fact, I wash almost everything by hand now unless there are a lot of dishes or I'm in a hurry, then I put the dishwasher safe stuff like plates and cups and silverware in the dishwasher. Two - I forgot how much I LOVED singing. My whole life throughout school was music, especially Choir in high school. Before I had little ears in the car you would find me driving with the music up so loud the license plate frame was shaking and I would be singing along just as obnoxiously loud; singing and listening to music really allows me a release for stress, and amazingly enough makes me feel better about the world.

#3 - my last goal 2 weeks ago - to try and fold the laundry the same day I took it out of the dryer. I tend to leave 2-3 hampers of clothes sitting and waiting to be folded because I just had a hard time making time to sit and fold it all and put it away. So far I'm definitely doing better than I was a month ago. In fact, right now there are 2 hampers sitting in our room from Sunday, but this is the first time in a while that has happened. It's a work in progress, but I figure any improvement is better than no improvement =)

And my goal starting today....

I have been MUCH better about making "home-made" meals more often and choosing meals based on the sales....and an unofficial goal I made was to try and made at LEAST 2 homemade meals every week.

To go along with that, I am making a goal to try at least one dessert recipe every week (to last through the week hopefully) since the homemade desserts are better for us than the store bought ones, and much cheaper!! AND I will post the dessert and recipe weekly for you to see!! So, below are the dessert recipes I tried this week...

Chocolate Picnic Cake

This recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine and I decided to give it a try on Friday since it was simple and I had all the ingredients...

This cake is described as being very versatile because it has no frosting, so is perfect for lunchboxes, and they saw it freezes well...and I think it would!! I actually added chocolate chips to the cake mix, but I don't think I would do it again, there were enough on the top!

Chocolate Picnic Cake Recipe from Taste of Home

Strawberry Cream Pie

This was the second recipe I decided to make on Sunday because I had a lot of fresh strawberries on hand and some extra heavy whipping cream hanging around....

Strawberry Cream Pie from Taste of Home

We have yet to try this pie...it is in the fridge awaiting its fate after dinner tonight....but just from tasting the pre-fridge "batter" things looked promising!!

So, those are my desserts for this week. The chocolate cake is OK, I could see where it would be perfect for a kid's lunch, but I wouldn't make it as a dessert for company - it just doesn't have enough chocolate taste that us women expect from a dark dessert!! I will let you know soon what we thought of the Strawberry Pie.