Blue Monday

Our nest got a little emptier when one of the children moved out (4 down, one to go!) so now we have an extra bedroom that we are converting to an office/den. So we were looking at chairs and here are some blue ones we saw at Target. We did not chose these and are still looking at chairs, couches and futons.

Silent Sunday

 

Toffee Rice Krispie Treats

This is a twist on the beloved Rice Krispie Treats. This variation uses Heath Bits'O Brickle Toffee Bits.

Melt the bag of toffee bits with 1/4 cup butter and 3 T milk over low to medium heat. There will be bits of almond in with the melted toffee.

Add 1 cup of marshmallows to the melted toffee, once the marshmallows are melted, add 6 cups of Rice Krispies.

Spoon into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. and press firmly into pan. Let cool and cut into squares.

Silent Sunday

Banana Nutella Ice Cream

1 frozen banana + 1 T Nutella +a little bit of milk = a yummy ice cream that is made in the food processor!

I added a little bit of milk to get the process going and to keep it from sticking to the sides. This is really smooth and creamy. I was in heaven. This is also a good recipe for vegans (just leave out the milk) and if you really want to get back to simple basic ingredients.

Since I am counting calories, it is about the same as a bowl of ice cream. But next time I could just have the frozen banana, once ingredient.

I was inspired to make this from a blog post that have one ingredient ice cream 5 ways,

Nutella Candy Rolls

After making the Pea-Nutty Candy Rolls I wanted to try the recipe using Nutella instead of peanut butter and leaving out the peanuts.

I did find that next time I want to grind the powdered milk through the food processor or blender, as the little white specs in the candy is the powdered milk. 

So here is the recipe for the Nutella Candy Rolls:

1/2 cup Nutella

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup powdered milk (run through food processor or blender to make it a finer powder)

Mix all ingredients well and chill. 
Divide into 24 individual pieces and wrap each one in plastic wrap or wax paper. 
Store in refrigerator.

Silent Sunday

Classic Waffles

Almost every Saturday I make waffles and bacon ( gotta have the bacon or else no waffles!). I have several waffle recipes on this blog, but not the basic recipe. So here is the basic recipe:

1 3/4 cup flour

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

Combine the dry ingredients, combine the milk, oil, and egg yolks and add to dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites until stiff peak form. Gently fold into waffle batter. Pour about 1 cup into lightly greased waffle maker, following manufacturers directions.

I have a Belgium waffle maker and this recipe make 14 waffles.

If you wish, you don't need to separate the eggs and add them whole with the milk and the oil, but beating the egg whites will make a lighter waffle.

Half Shell Stuffed Peppers

This is a different take on stuffed peppers. This doesn't have rice in it, so if you are looking for a lower carb version, this could be for you. This is almost like a Sloppy Joe in a pepper.

Half shell stuffed peppers

By David Huston

2 Green peppers

2 red peppers

1 white onion (diced)

4 oz. chopped mushrooms
1 tomato diced

1 lb. ground beef

8 oz. shredded Italian cheese

1 small can Tomato soup

3 Tablespoons Season salt

2 Tablespoons garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet saute onions, mushrooms, tomato, and brown ground beef in the same pan at the same time. When beef is browned, drain extra grease, add tomato soup and spices, simmer 10 minutes. remove from heat and add half of cheese. While the beef is browning preheat oven to 350 degrees, cut peppers in half lengthwise and clean out seeds, place on baking sheet and cook 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stuff with hamburger filling, top with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted and golden brown (10 - 15 minutes)

Silent Sunday

Parmesan Broiled Tilapia

 I found this tilapia recipe on Pinterest,  This recipe can be found at Spend With Pennies.
I had to cook for me tonight so I cut down the recipe for just me. I have  to say that this recipe was delicious. It was light and flaky, the Parmesan, lemon, and dill flavors worked really well together. I can see why this is the recipe is the most pinned. I am going to pin it for future reference.

Pea-nutty Candy Rolls

I found a peanut raisin log recipe in a vintage cook book. I did a slight change to the recipe by by removing the raisins and adding chopping peanuts instead. It tastes almost like a Pay Day bar.

I also did some calculations on the calorie count, since I am in the process of losing weight and started to count my calories. If you ate the entire recipe it is 1,900 calories, dividing it into 24 pieces is 80 calories.


So here is the recipe:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup powdered milk (run through food processor or blender to make a finer powder)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Mix all ingredients well and chill. Divide into 24 individual pieces and wrap each one in plastic wrap or wax paper. Store in refrigerator.

Colie's Kitchen: Low Calorie Peanut Butter Cup Shake!

I started to seriously watching my calorie intake and this looks like a good recipe to try.

photo is from Colie's Kitchen.

Colie's Kitchen: Low Calorie Peanut Butter Cup Shake!: This recipe is ridiculously delicious! How is it possible to have something so good with so few calories or Weight Watchers Points? Th...

Silent Sunday