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RECIPES/ Sweets

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes-Easy!

My step-mom was having a birthday and I wanted to bring her a birthday dessert. Something that looked special and was full of chocolate. We share our love for chocolate! I was still in zombie-land due to a medication I was taking, so I knew I had to figure out something simple.

Trader Joes to the rescue! I picked up a box of their chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting mix, and a bottle of their amazing caramel sauce. I stopped at the craft store to find paper cups that were cute- a special touch. I grabbed 2 Skor candy bars, and got a bit excited as I envisioned myself taking a hammer to them. 🙂 I also grabbed a squeeze bottle that I found it in the cake decorating aisle, it was only a buck. Lastly, I found some candles that sparkle and trick the birthday girl by re-lighting themselves over and over. Hee. Hee.

Of course, any box cake mix, frosting mix and caramel can be used for this, but I am a HUGE Trader Joes fan. Why?

All Products In The Trader Joe’s Label Promise:
NO artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
NO genetically modified ingredients
NO MSG
NO added Trans Fats

Let’s take the cake mix. When I read the ingredients, they were the ingredients you would read on a recipe card. All pronounceable. This is true, REAL convenience food. Taking ingredients I would use to make it from scratch, and putting them together for me.

Trader Joes Cake Mix Ingredients:

White Flour

Wheat Flour

Cocoa

Corn Starch

Baking Soda

Soybean Oil

Salt

Buttermilk

Natural Vanilla Flavor

Pillsbury Cake Mix Ingredients:

Ingredients:

ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), MALTODEXTRIN, SUGAR, MALTITOL, WHEAT STARCH, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, BAKING POWDER (BAKING

SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE) CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOESTERS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, CELLULOSE, CORN STARCH, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, XANTHAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 60, SUCRALOSE (NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER), COLORED WITH RED 40, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS), SOY LECITHIN.

The Pillsbury cake mix has sugar, plus artificial sweetener. Does that make ANY sense to you? Me either. It also adds artificial red food coloring. Many, many food allergies in children are caused by artificial colors. I am not saying these cupcakes are healthy by any means, but I enjoy knowing that they are not full of man- made ingredients, some of which are chemicals. So…on to the good stuff!!

How I made Gooey, Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes:

~Made Chocolate Cupcakes according to the directions on the box of Trader Joes Chocolate Cake Mix

~Made Chocolate Frosting according to the directions on the box of Trader Joes Chocolate Frosting Mix

~Used a hammer to crush 2 Skor candy bars (while still in the wrapper)

~Warmed Caramel sauce and put into a squeeze bottle.

~Squeeze some caramel into the center of each cupcake. This makes them super moist and gooey!

I gotta stop here and take some time to rave about this particular caramel sauce. IT IS SO GOOD. I think it should be called “Salted Caramel Sauce” because there is just enough salty to the sweet to make your mouth water. It is divine.

~Frost cupcake

~Drizzle with more caramel

~Sprinkle with crushed Skor bar

~Enjoy!

Meals/ RECIPES

My Mom’s Taco Salad No Recipe-Recipe

My mom made the best Taco Salad when I was growing up. I loved it!

She used:

~Doritos Nacho Chips

~Seasoned Taco Meat

~Iceberg Lettuce

~Cheese

~Tomatoes

~ Catalina dressing or Western Dressing.

I added a few ingredients to make it a bit more filling and healthy.

I used:

~Baby Lettuce Greens along with the Iceberg Lettuce (for antioxidants)

~Black Beans (for more fiber & protein)

~Organic Tomatoes

~Organic Corn (for an added texture)

~Organic Cheese

~A brand of Nacho Chips that had no hydrogenated oils or preservatives in them

~A Taco Seasoning Mix that had no msg or fillers in it.

~Organic, Grass Fed Beef

~Catalina Dressing (I chose this brand because it had no high fructose corn syrup in it)

This is a no recipe- recipe. You just brown a pound of beef, drain, then season it with taco seasoning. Prepare all other ingredients–tear iceberg lettuce, grate cheese, dice tomatoes, drain & rinse beans, slightly crush the chips. Throw all ingredients into a large bowl. I just eye ball it, adding a little of this and a little of that!

Pour desired amount of dressing on top

Toss, serve and enjoy!!

Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sides

My Favorite Healthy Snack

My favorite healthy snack lately? An Apple and Justin’s Maple Almond Butter!

MMMMM!

I have found myself on the go a lot recently, so lately I have been throwing an apple and a packet of Justin’s Maple Almond Butter in my bag, just in case I get the munchies.

It is so convenient, I just take a bite of my apple, then squeeze the almond butter right on. It tastes like dessert to me, and reminds me of a caramel apple, just not so sticky and sweet.

I love this on Pink Lady apples, and I also love it on green Granny Smith apples.

The sweet almond butter goes perfectly with the tart apple.

Delish!

Drinks/ Frugal/ HOME/ RECIPES

Perfect Iced Coffee

Now that the weather is warming up, I have been splurging and buying iced coffee from my local coffee shop. This last time I went, I paid attention to how they made it, and as I watched him removed a bottle of cold coffee concentrate from the refrigerator and add some milk and ice to it, I was reminded of a post I had read at Small Notebook on making iced coffee the cold brewed way. I paid almost $4.00 for my iced coffee, and walked out of there determined to figure out how to make some at home.

The Cold Brew Method

The cold brew method is so easy, and you end up with a delicious drink that is less acidic, which is much more gentle on the stomach and goes down very smooth. No bitterness, which means less sweetener is needed.

You won’t believe how easy this is to make, and it is so much cheaper that buying a cup at the coffee shop! The recipe below costs 50 cents per cup, and that is using good, organic coffee!

How To Make Iced Coffee Using The Cold Brew Method:

The cold brew method is simply soaking 1/4 cup of coffee grounds overnight in 1 cup of cold water. Let sit out on the counter overnight. The next morning, add another cup of cold water. Then strain the grounds and pour over ice. This makes 2 cups of coffee. I add a generous splash of vanilla almond milk and some sugar or stevia to taste.
If you like more milk, add less water.

I use a french press, but you could also just use a mason jar and a sieve or strain through a coffee filter twice. The french press makes for a simple, easy process. I love it!

Tips:
~You can keep any leftovers in the refrigerator for several days.
~I have read that adding sweetened condensed milk makes for a very special, rich and creamy dessert coffee.
~Freeze any leftovers in ice cube trays to use in your next iced coffee or to throw in the blender for a blended treat.
~Pour into Popsicle molds for a frosty treat on a hot day.
~Make your own flavored simple syrups, using these recipes.

RECIPES/ Sides

Applesauce Bread

What I love about this recipe, is that it uses ingredients that I usually have on hand. It is also healthy and filling. It got 2 thumbs up from my kids and their neighbor friends, which is always a plus!!

It is a very simple recipe. You just butter the pan..

Then mix the dry ingredients together–

Make a well and add the applesauce, egg and melted butter.

Then stir well–I love that this can all be done by hand–so easy!

Pour into a buttered pan or baking stone–

Enjoy warm with a pat of butter.

{CLICK ON PHOTO TO PIN}

recipe via Heavenly Homemakers

————————–

Applesauce Bread

11/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of sugar or 1/2 cup of honey

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. sea salt

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

——-

3/4 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter; melted

———————-

Mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add applesauce, eggs and butter. Stir well. Pour into a buttered bread pan or stone. Bake for 45-55 minutes (for a full size loaf) at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

HOME/ How-Tos/ RECIPES/ Simplifying

My Favorite Way To Cut An Orange

My kids think I am the only one on the planet that can cut an orange “properly.” I love that they think that. Their friends also tell me they love how I cut oranges. Then adults started telling me the same thing, which is when I started to believe there was something special about how I do it.

Hmmm…who woulda thunk it?

In this post I’ll show you my favorite way to cut an orange so you can see just how simple it is to get those picture perfect slices.

RECIPES/ Sweets

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

I was at home with my oldest girl, and I heard her in the kitchen. It sounded like she was doing the dishes, and found myself getting a bit excited about the idea of her doing a chore without me asking her to.

I decided to go in and see what was going on. As I walked into the kitchen, my nose got a whiff of chocolate. I saw something that got me even more excited than my dishes getting done. Here is what I saw:

I also saw my daughter standing there licking chocolate off a spoon and looking quite pleased with herself. This is the same daughter who does not like to cook, so I was surprised and quite pleased!

I was especially pleased with her cleverness. I wondered how she made the yummy chocolate drizzle and she said,

“I melted my chocolate Easter bunny!”

So clever. I praised her efforts and told her I wanted to feature them on the blog. She smiled and said, “Yeah, I was thinking about that..:)”

The size of these little sweet treats are perfect for popping in your mouth when a treat is needed. If you want to make your own, gather the leftover chocolate Easter bunnies in your home, melt in the microwave, then dip and drizzle over miniature marshmallows. Let sit until chocolate is hardened.

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