death by brownie

It was late Sunday afternoon and I was craving chocolate. Chocolate with chocolate chips covered in chocolate chocolateiness . I get this way once a month- but I rarely act on it. But this time, I had to. My life depended on it. The easiest and fastest way to get this intense chocolate fix is to make brownies. Growing up, my mom often made brownies after sunday dinner.

It made me nostalgic and homesick so I called my mom to tell her that I made brownies. And that I made shepherd's pie. Cause she would make that for sunday dinner too. I miss sunday dinners with my family.

I posted the above photo on Instagram and Facebook, and I got a number of you asking for the recipe. 

I'll post it, but I have to warn you- it's so easy you're gonna think my baking skills are a hoax.

The best brownies ever:

(For a 9x13 pan)

2 bags Ghirardelli brand brownie mix, you know the huge box that they sell at Costco? Yeah, that one.

Follow the directions on the box, except DOUBLE the eggs. These make extremely gooey brownies that refuse to come out of the pan. So if you want them to cut nicely and come out of the pan, crack another egg in there. If you like them gooey, fine, but be warned- you'll end up eating them out of the pan.

Bake as directed. Cool totally and completely before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pkg cream cheese, at room temp
6 TB butter, at room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
1 TB vanilla
1 1/2 TB heavy whip

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add vanilla. Beat in heavy whip, then whip on high for 3 minutes.

Spread on brownies, lick the beaters and bowl clean. Set the frosted brownies in the fridge while you make the chocolate frosting.


Chocolate frosting:

1 stick butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 TB vanilla

Stir the cocoa into the melted butter. Alternately add the powdered sugar and the milk, starting with the sugar and ending with the milk. Add the vanilla. Whip on high until fluffy. Spread on top of the cream cheese frosted brownies. They end up kinda swirly, but I like it that way.

Cut them as big or as little as you want. Eat right away. Store in the fridge.

Let's say your husband hates chocolate, so making a 9x13 pan of them would be wasteful, but you need to have these brownies right away. Half this recipe and bake it in an 8x8 pan.

Your welcome.

roast beef & mashed potatoes

My mom always made roast beef in the crockpot, usually for sunday dinner and always with mashed potatoes. It was and still is one of my favorite things to eat!

When cooking in the crockpot, I like to get more than one dinner out of it. So when I make roast beef- I make a lot of roast beef. I usually get 3 dinners out of it- roast beef, beef stroganoff, and roast beef sandwiches.

I like to get a huge roast from Costco. One that looks like it will fill the entire pot.

Ingredients:

Roast:

1 huge roast

1 packet of Schylling roast beef or beef stew seasoning (red packaging)

2 cups warm water

Potatoes:

5 large russet potatoes

1 stick of butter

1 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp pepper

A splash of heavy whipping cream (about an ounce)

You need to cook beef asap after you buy it. So most of the time I end up putting it in the freezer until I'm ready for it. But just know, that it will take 2-3 days to defrost in the fridge. So planning is your friend. I also like to do the first step the night before.

1. Grab the pot part of your crockpot and set the cooking part aside. Pull your roast out of the fridge. Carefully unwrap it, in the sink so you don't get gross juices all over the place. Place the roast in the pot. Grab a glass 2 cup measuring cup and fill it with warm water. Whisk in the seasoning packet with a fork. Pour it over the roast. Wrap the pot with plastic wrap, put the lid on, and stick it in the fridge.

2.  In the morning, pull the pot out of the fridge, place it in the cooker, take off the plastic wrap, set it on low and your done. In 8 hours you will have delicious roast beef.

3. About 30 minutes before the roast will be finished, start on the potatoes. Peel and rinse them off. Grab your cutting board, a medium pot, and a large knife. Start by cutting the potatoes in half. Then cut them into thirds. Then chop them into cubes. I like mine about 1/2 inch big- they will cook faster. Place potatoes in the pot as you chop them.

4. Cover with water, but don't fill the pot. Put 1/4 tsp of the salt in with the potatoes. Bring to a boil on high heat. Turn it down to medium and cook for about 20-25 minutes. Test doneness by getting a big chunk out and piercing it with a fork. If it splits easily, they are done.

5. Drain potatoes in a colander. Place the butter in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Pour potatoes on top. Add the remaining 3/4 tsp salt, pepper, and cream. Using a standmixer is easier, but you can use a handmixer as well. Start out on low until the chunks begin to break up. If you go faster, they will flip out of the bowl and most likely hit you in the face. Trust me. When the get small enough you can turn it up. If you like lumpy potatoes, do medium. For fluffy ones, turn it up to 11.

6. Dinner's ready!

7. Using 2 forks, grab chunks of roast beef out of the crockpot. You can use the juice as gravy if you want. Add a dollop or 3 of mashed potatoes and you're all set!

When your done pigging out, and the roast has cooled off, cover the pot with plastic wrap, put the lid on and put it back in the fridge.

Why not portion it out now, you say? Well, I'll tell you why not.

By putting it back in the fridge, all the fat will solidify at the top, making it very easy for you to get what you really want- the rest of the roast beef. Just scoop the fat off and throw it away. Take out the rest of the roast- I like to put gloves on to do this, place it on your cutting board and portion it out. I like to have 1 1/2-2 cups of beef per recipe (for 2 people).

Just put each portion into ziplock bags, roll them up to get most of the air out, and freeze. Let them thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before using them. They should last a month in the freezer this way. At this point the leftover juice has thickened, and you can use it as gravy. I like to freeze 1/4 cup increments to add flavor to soups and such.

Or you could be OCD like me and get a Foodsaver, and vacuum pack them before freezing. Then they will last a few months. If you do use a vacuum sealing technique, here's a very helpful tip: put the meat into the bags, fold over the excess bag and freeze them before sealing them. Then they retain all of their juiciness and keep the vacuum from sucking it out and giving you a bad seal.

And for the leftover potatoes? I like to save them for making twice baked potatoes, which I usually freeze and then serve with steak or pork tenderloin. But you can do whatever you want. Sometimes we love them so much we eat them all for dinner. Pigs we are!

chicken for everything

Here's the first recipe post! Enjoy! 

(My recipe posts won't have photos. I know! I'm sorry. But I cook at night. And we have those lame energy efficient light bulbs, that make everything look terrible. So use your imagination!) 

I'm grossed out by raw meat. But who isn't? I use vinyl gloves when handling it, I put it in the sink so the gooey gross juice won't get on my counters.

I used to cook chicken breasts for dinner- and I carved the hell out of them, searching for veins and fat and pretty much anything that looked gross- I'd chop it off. And then be left with almost nothing. Then, since I was so grossed out by what I cut off, I would only eat half of it.

Ridiculous. Right?

Then I'd just unconsciously start cooking vegetarian, since I used to be a veggie and that is how I learned to cook for myself, so it's second nature for me. And then a month would go by and Danny would say "Um, sweetheart? Could we please have some meat for dinner?" And I'd be all "What are you talking about I made, um, last week, wait, oh dear. Sorry. And yes."

So I started cooking not only chicken, but all meat in huge batches, shredding it, then freezing it. It cuts prep time down, and I actually eat what I cook, with minimal waste. (I'll elaborate on that part later.) Plus I have no excuse not to add meat to what I'm making. It's already cooked! The gross part is done!

I get that package of chicken breasts from Costco in the refrigerated section that has 6 packets with 2 breasts per pack. Usually $18-20.

I dump the gross juice out, then plop them into my crockpot. I like to vary my seasoning options, but currently I'm loving a recipe that I found here.

I like to do this the night before, so I pour on the seasonings, cover it with plastic wrap, and stick it in the fridge.

I cook it on low in the crockpot for 8 hours. Then I let the pot cool down, put the plastic back on and stick it back in the fridge.

I discovered this wonderful way out of pure laziness. It makes juicy chicken thats so easy to shred. One late night I decided just to stick the pot full of cooked chicken in the fridge and deal with it later. 2 days later, (like I said, I'm lazy)- I snapped my gloves on and pulled a breast out to shred, and it just fell apart in my hands. And it was so juicy!

I used to shred it while it was hot, burning my fingers and using forks and whatever still looking for the veins. And then you have to pull them out... gag! But once they are cooled- they will just fall apart with your fingers. It's SO easy it's crazy. And its easy to find the gross disgusting veins, without carving the crap out of it and grossing yourself out. Easy. I love easy.

I shred the chicken into a huge bowl, then portion it into 2 cup portions and into Foodsaver bags. Then I freeze them, then vacuum seal them, and put them back in the freezer. I'll take one out the night  before I use it, and let it defrost in the fridge. It makes a TON. Like 2 whole months worth for us. It's awesome!

I use it for everything- tacos, soups, enchiladas, pasta, burritos. You could even use it for chicken salad. But cold chicken makes me want to die, so I don't do that.

I do have to note that my husband misses the meals I used to make using whole chicken breasts. I have some great recipes for breading and coating and whathaveyou, I just can't bring myself to cooking them again. But he is getting fed delicious food regardless, so he's just fine.

 (P.S. get a decent crockpot. I got a cheapo one on sale at Target once, and it quit in the middle of making roast one day, so Danny and I got food poisoning. Good thing we had two bathrooms at the time. Ewwwww.)

recipes from the bakery

Remember how I used to post recipes on my recipe blog? Yeah, well. It's kinda hard to keep up on 3 blogs. So I've decided to get rid of the recipe blog, and make it a feature on this blog. It'll have it's own page, so recipes will be easy to find. 

My motivation for this change is my sister, Maloree. A few months ago her and her boyfriend Corey moved out on their own, and she has been begging me for recipes to make for dinner ever since! 

So I may be a little bit long-winded in the wording of said recipes- because she's just starting out so I'm gonna spell it all out for her. And there might be a bit of Maloree humor in there too- so if you don't get it, I'm sorry. It's a sister thing.

As soon as I pull off all the recipes from that blog, I'll be taking it down. So if you have any links, you'll have to change them so they will continue to work. I'll let you guys know in advance though, okay?