OOEY GOOEY FUDGEY LOVEY HOMEMADE BROWNIES

I think my favorite thing about having Adam as my hubs, is the fact that I can make anything and he will eat it - ALL OF IT.  So, on the bright side, in my fitness journey, I won't feel as bad, because Adam eats most of it, before I get a chance to.  This is not a healthy post, guys.  I repeat -

THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY POST - BUT IT IS OH SO GOOD, IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

I was inspired by today's blog post, because Adam is sick...sad face, I know.  But, when he is feeling really sick, I know that what makes him happy - my baking.  So, in honor of my Granny, I tried to remember her brownie recipe that she had in her cookbook, oh so long ago, when I would spend my summers at my grandparents house in Maine, with my foot stool, on my tip-toes, hovered over her mixing bowl, so intrigued by the magic she was concocting.

Grab your apron, slap a little flour on your ass or have your lover do it for you (wink wink), and lets get down to baking.

OOEY GOOEY FUDGEY LOVEY HOMEMADE BROWNIES

Ingredients:

           

            Brownies –

-       2 sticks unsalted butter

-       8 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate (2 boxes Bakers Chocolate) – chop it up

-       1 ¼ cup all purpose flour – sifted

-       2 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder – sifted

-       1 tsp salt

-       2 cups sugar, divided

-       2 Tbls brown sugar

-       1 tsp vanilla

-       4 large eggs – room temperature

-       Chocolate chips - optional

            Chocolate Frosting –

-       3 cups powdered sugar

-       ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

-       ¼ cup unsalted butter – room temperature

-       ¼ cup milk – room temperature

-       ½ tsp vanilla

Directions:

1)   Melt the butter and chocolate together in your double boiler, medium heat. (Or a pot with water in it with a stove proof bowl on top) Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom.  I did one stick of butter with one box of chocolate. Set aside for about 10 minutes.

2)   Line your pan (I used a 9x9) with aluminum foil – covering all sides.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

3)   In a medium bowl, add the sifted flour, cocoa powder, and salt.  This makes for a fluffier batter.

4)   Whisk 1 cup of the sugar, and vanilla into the chocolate/butter mixture until the sugar is dissolved. (About 30-45 seconds)

5)   In another bowl, add your remaining sugar, and the 4 room temperature eggs, use an electric mixer to blend together. 

6)   Pour half of the egg mixture into the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk constantly.  When whisking constantly – this prevents the eggs from setting because of the heat. (Basically, this means it turning into scrambled eggs)

7)   Back to your bowl of the other half of the egg mixture – whip on high for about 3 minutes, until it is thick, doubled in volume and pale. (See in photos)

8)   Pour chocolate mixture into the whipped eggs and fold together. When the eggs are almost in completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients (I added it in thirds)

9)   Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.  Stick a toothpick in there and when it comes out with a few crumbs, you are good to go.  If you need to – wiggle the toothpick around in order to see inside to make sure it didn’t look like soup.

10) When done – cool on rack.  After cool, frost with frosting (optional)

For the Frosting:

1.     Sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder (if you don’t have a sifter – you can add it to the bowl and use a whisk – it works the same)

2.     In a separate bowl beat your butter until creamy (about 2 min).

3.     Alternately add your milk/vanilla* and the dry ingredients.   Once incorporated, beat on high for 2 minutes.

* Pre-mix your milk and vanilla

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!? GO MAKE 'EM!

But, first - if you love these, try some of these out:

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramallows

Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Old Bay Shrimp Tacos

Simply Shrimpy - quick, simple, easy & cheap.

Imma be honest, guys.  I did NOT want to cook dinner last night.  So what did I do?  Exactly what anyone else in this generation would do, I went to Instagram in order to figure out what I wanted to do.  I follow a couple fitness accounts, and foodie accounts, and I cam upon Shrimp Tacos by @great_healthy_recipes.  Since I didn't have half of those ingredients, I took it upon myself to wing it...hence, my Maryland self, the Old Bay had to come out and play.

First, Mr. and Mrs. Frugal McDoogal here, bought the cheapest uncooked, peeled, defined shrimp we could find, some pre-cut cabbage (it was a buck), and some yellow pepper - it was the cheapest compared to the red and orange.

The yummy shredded cabbage above, and the sweet, crisp yellow pepper to the left (and avocado in the back) is what I used in my tacos.  Adam added the minty sour cream.  Switch it up guys, add your own flare and let me know in the comments below what you do!

Bring a little Maryland into your home,

Easy Peasy Caprese Salad

Sunday Funday in the Herre house today, y'all!

As Adam and I relax after a fun filled week with my fam, soccer games, volleyball practice, job interviews and just normal chaos in your life, we sat down and watched one of our favorite Sunday shows - The Kitchen!

PS - If you guys were keeping up with Food Network Star, we voted for LENNY!! And we were so happy that he won!  We cannot wait for his show to come out guys, you will be getting A LOT of his food on this blog! :)

So, as I was saying we were watching The Kitchen, and the most darling, Geoffrey Zakarian had a recipe that I just wanted to make right then and there, so I did. You should just get up right now and go make it, too!

Cooking teaches love and patience.  So, get your mozzarella, because cheese is happiness, and lets get our cutting boards out y'all for this yummy "Easy Peasy Caprese Salad!"

Yields one serving.

Lipsticks and Squats,

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Yes, y'all!  You read that right! 

MEATLOAF. CUPCAKES.

As I was getting my ingredients ready for my meatloaf, I realized I didn't have some ingredients, so I went on google just to look for substitutes, and then bam, I saw a "fun fact" saying, to cook your meatloaf in a cupcake pan to help it cook faster.  Then...it hit me, I always serve my meatloaf with mashed potatoes, why not just combine it? and make it into what I make best? A CUPCAKE!

Come on in guys, lets get started on this awesome and fun dinner.  

I don't have kids, but I have two little sisters and I know this is something they would love helping with, and enjoy eating.  For those of you with kids, little siblings, or husbands/wives/partners that are kids at heart, THIS RECIPE IS FOR YOU! 

All you do, is take your favorite meatloaf recipes, bake it for the time/temp below.  Make your favorite mashed potatoes, and follow the steps below! 

For the Meatloaf cakes ::

• 1pound ground beef
• 1/3 C. red onion, chopped
• 1/4 green pepper, chopped
• 1 C bread crumbs (I used italian seasoned bread crumbs)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C ketchup
• a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 2-3 shakes of cayanne pepper
• 1 1/2 Tbls. brown sugar
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease your cupcake pan.
2. Mix all of your meatloaf ingredients together, and make sure that it is mixed together evenly.
3. Take your mixture and put into cupcake tin about 2/3 full.
4. Drizzle as much ketchup as you want on top of each, then bake for 45 minutes.

For the potatoes ::

• 4-5 Potatoes
• 1/3 C whole milk
• 1/4 C sour cream
• 1/4 C cream cheese
• 1/3 C butter (I used I can't believe its not butter)
• Salt and Pepper

1. Wash and peal all of your potatoes, roughly dice them and boil them, until soft (10-12 minutes).
2. Drain potatoes, and then put back into bowl.
3. Throw in all the other mashed potato ingredients, with your masher/blender.
4. Put it into a icing bag, or ziplock (and cut a small tip out).

Once your meatloaf cupcakes are done, pop them out, top with your mashed potato icing, and serve!

Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adam and I, like many others, are Walking Dead fans.  This past weekend was Dead, White and Blue Weekend, on AMC, and we have been watching it, in between still moving stuff, and weekend errands.

With our favorite show on, and our cupcake phase of moving into our new home, I thought it was time for my baker to come out and celebrate.  So I found this recipe for Brown Butter, Fleur de Sel Chocolate chip cookies, over at Picky Palate, and knew that we had to try it, y'all. I changed a few things to fit what I had in the cupboard.  

So, without further ado, Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Brown butter just makes your cookies heavenly, it make the outside crunchy and the inside gooey.

How to Brown Butter ::

Place your butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Swirl around in order to help butter melt.  Watch butter closely, it will start to boil and brown, and little brown bits will be at the bottom of the pan.

When the butter has turned a golden brown, and has a nutty smell, immediately take it off the stove, and pour into a bowl, so it will stop cooking.  Let it cool for a minimum of 5 minutes.

The bottom right hand corner, of the above picture is what the golden brown, nutty smellinI would prepare this butter before you start with the other ingredients, so that you have it cooling while you get everything else ready.  MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU POUR IN THE BUTTER INTO YOUR OTHER INGREDIENTS YOU POUR IN THE BROWN BITS TOO.

Now, y'all, go and make these, you'll thank me later!

Other Recipes you might enjoy...

Skinny Bitch : Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Angry Orchard Cider Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramallows

Throw it in the Crock Pot :: Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

Sunday's in the Herre Home is day of relaxation, for it is said that it is the day of rest.

As Adam and I came back from church, he says to me that he just wants to have a chill Sunday, and since we just bought a pork loin roast, he wanted us to just throw that in the slow cooker and snuggle today.

Relaxing and kicking back, I wanted to do something different with my pork roast.  Normally, the brown sugar, honey, and garlic recipe from my Momma is what I use, but I decide to google different recipes.  I came across Leigh Anne's recipe at Your Homebased Mom, for her Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Roast.  As y'all know, I like to take recipes and put my own little twist on it, so that is exactly what I did!  It looked delish and I knew that we had to try, and share with you!

 

It warms the whole house.  Once you put this in the crock pot, y'all's house with start filling with wonderful smells.  After about 5 1/2 hours, Adam and I decided to pair our dinner with my Mom's Rosemary Garlic Potatoes, and a side of veggies!  With the remaining liquid, I just put it on top of the roast, and had a little extra on the side for some dipping sauce.

450 degree oven, 10-15 minutes, then flip potatoes for another 10-15 minutes.

Throw this in the crock pot, sit back, relax and watch a movie, while your yummy food is cooking away.  After y'all try it, tell me what you think?  What changes you made, what you paired it with.

Have a blessed Sunday!

Espresso Yourself at Amelie's

This is the beginning to the National Anthem of France.

Being in Charlotte for the past 4 years has given me the ability to find my favorite coffee shops in the Queen City.  And I have to say that one of my favorite places is Amelie's French Bakery of NoDa; this 24/7 bakery is the best thing on the planet, best coffee, best pastries and the BEST macaroons that I have ever eaten.

Y'all need to get your butts down there.  If you're not a coffee person, then there is tea, there is water, there is anything delicious!  And if you don't want a beverage, their selection of deliciousness is out of this world.  From their world famous Salted Caramel Brownies, to their Chocolate Mousse Cup, Macaroons, or Chocolate Croissants...if you can't tell I kinda love chocolate.

In the picture above, I tried their newest Mocha, and it is beyond fabulous, guys!  It is called the Rose Mocha, they put their homemade rose syrup in their yummy mocha and create an explosion of flavor in your mouth!

And I know you're wondering what that chocolaty thing is behind that coffee, and that y'all is the Triple Chocolate Cake.

Amelie's is my little indulgence, and the first place I want to take my friends who visit me in the Queen City.  One of my best friends, Sydnie, came to visit me, so Adam and I took her and her man to our favorite hot spot! 

From left to right :: Joanna, Me and Sydnie

Doesn't this just make your mouth water, y'all?!? Get on over to Amelie's! :)

PS - I had this snicker doodle-chocolate macaroon and it was phenomenal!  It tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch with chocolate...it was heaven!

Guys, life begins with coffee and a tasty croissant.

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramallows!

I know you are already intrigued by the title, believe me, I was too!  While working out, eating healthy, and seeing ALL of those beautiful, yummy sweets recipes, it was difficult to not try one out for y'all!

If you are a caramel lover, or a cow tail lover, then THIS is the recipe for you, and it is delish!

I found this recipe on Pinterest, which lead me to the recipe, here.

Y'all, this recipe gives us a caramel that we can make in 6 MINUTES!!!

YES, you read that correctly SIX MINUTES!

And it doesn't burn, like it would on the stove!

Here we go, guys!

Chocolate Dipped Caramallows

For the Caramel ::

1/4 cut unsalted butter (half a stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

For Everything Else ::

mini marshmallows

10oz. dark chocolate, melted and tempered (I got two bags, just in case - which I needed.)

Sea Salt - not fine, if you can find flaked then that would be great

Step One ::

Before y'all get started, prepare a 9X9 pan by placing parchment paper in it to cover all sides.  From the original recipe, she recommends to put them in both directions, but mine fit perfectly without it being both.  THEN MAKE SURE YOU GREASE THE PARCHMENT PAPER, with nonstick spray or butter. (I used wax paper, and it didn't go so well, so make sure it is good quality)

Step Two ::

Put the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until melted; about 35-40 seconds.

Next, add the sugars, corn syrup, and sweetened conduced milk to the butter and stir until well combined.  

Microwave for 2 minutes.  Take out and stir.

Microwave another 2 minutes. Take out and stir.

Microwave for a third time for 2 minutes. Take out and stir.

Then, pour IMMEDIATELY into the pan.

Tilt pan to make sure it is in corner, and tap the pan firmly on your counter, to make sure it's level.

Set aside for 1 hour.

Lift out the cooled caramel, place on counter and cool for an additional hour.

Step Three ::

Take a sharp, greased knife, and cut the caramel into 1 inch squares.

Step Four ::

Take a cookie sheet, and line it with parchment paper.  

Next, take a caramel square, stick a marshmallow in the middle and pinch all corners together (like a wanton) and then roll into a ball in your palms.

Press gently between your palms, then place on baking sheet.  (you will see the marshmallow fluff back up, it's okay!!)

Step Five ::

Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Step Six ::

Make sure that you melted your chocolate!  Then start taking your caramallows and drop them in the chocolate, one at a time.

Then, using a dipping fork (a plastic fork with the center tines snapped off) remove and gently tap off excess chocolate.  

Transfer onto parchment paper.

Sprinkle with a touch of salt.

Step Seven ::

Refrigerate caramels 15 minutes, until the chocolate has set.  

Store at room temperature.

BAM! There you go!  You just made, homemade Caramallows!  WHOOO! Go you!

A balance diet is chocolate in both hands. <3