Tuesday Treats: Chocolate Pretzels

Because I was doing this all weekend...

Painting two bathrooms with the help of my mom!

I did not get to bake!  But I thought I would share something I made a while back with you. 

My cousin got married in October (told you it was a while back!) and we had a bridal shower for her and I was in charge of the favors.  To me, the best favors are edible ones.  I decided to make these for the shower...

Easy peasy!  Just wrapped two pretzel rods up in a cellophane bag, tied a ribbon around then and Viola! Her colors were "wine" and green, so I tried my best to get a wine color.  

YUM…who doesn't love chocolate covered pretzels?!

My ABC's

I wish I could remember who did this post recently, but I decided, like her, that I have many new followers and thought it would be fun for you all to learn a little bit about this blogger.  

So here you go, my ABC's….

Age: 29…the big 3-0 is approaching a little too quickly!

Bed size: Queen, with lots of pillows, down comforter, down blanket (yes, I'm always cold) and featherbed…it's like heaven!

Chore you hate: Washing floors/baseboards

Dogs: My little Baxter!  I LOVE him and just can't get enough of him!

Essential start to your day: COFFEE…and fruit.  I cannot skip breakfast…EVER.  I wake up starving.

Favorite color: I tend to gravitate towards blue, at least when decorating

Gold or silver: Hmmm…I think I would have to say I'm 50-50 there.  Depends what I'm wearing, or what room I'm decorating.

Height:  5' 2" AND A HALF.

Instruments that you can play: Zip, Zilch, Nada

Job title: Adult Nurse Practitioner

Kids: Unfortunately, none.  But this time, I'll be sure to find a guy who wants kids as much as I do!  

Live: Baltimore, Maryland, home of steamed crabs…Mmmm!

Mom’s name: Kam (her nickname, as it was her maiden name initials)

Nicknames: oh gosh, too many to list! 

Overnight hospital stays: Thankfully, none.  Unless you count staying over to work because of snow storms :(

Pet peeve: People smoking at the park where people are trying to run/exercise and now have to hold their breath or breathe in smoke when running by.  Or overweight people who talk about their weight nonstop and try every diet known to man, except of course, good old fashioned diet and exercise.  

Quote from a movie: "No Fronk, tell Honk, I want the chipper chicken!"  (Father of the Bride) 

Righty or lefty: Righty.

Sibling: One younger sister who is getting MARRIED in just FOUR months! So, then I'll technically have a Brother (in-law, that is)

Time you wake up:  7 or 8:00, depending on how long Baxter will cuddle.

Underwear: I'm not sure what this is asking exactly….but depends what I'm wearing as to what I pick.

Vegetables you dislike: Avocados, Eggplant, Olives, Artichokes, Beets. Otherwise, I love pretty much every other veggie there is! 

What makes you run late: oh boy…pretty much anything.  I'm always late.  I dont mean to be, I just get caught up doing…anything!  But usually I'm saying this, "I have nothing to wear."  It seems if I have something picked out, I'm never too late.

I think if I had this I might be on time :)

X-rays: Besides dental, I think the only xrays I've had were on my ankle/foot when they diagnosed me with a stress fracture on my foot, put me in a boot, gave me crutches and a note to be exempt from work for 10 days (this is when I was floor nursing and it was the time between Christmas and New Years…so I got off all the holidays!  It was nice, I have to say!)

Yummy food you make: I'd have to say, look at my Tuesday posts each week.  I can bake, but I'm not the worlds best cook by any means!

Zoo favorite animal: Brown bears and all the sea life

There you go!  Just a little bit of me.  Hope you had fun reading!

Happy (almost) Friday!

Wednesday Wellness: Couscous Salad

Ingredients

1 cup cous cous

1 cup water

1 can black beans

1 cup cooked peas

1 bunch green onions

2 Tbsp olive oil

Parsley, to taste
Lemon juice

Directions

1.  Combine cous cous and water in large bowl.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes until "cooked."

2.  Rinse and drain beans, add to cous cous.

3.  Add peas, chopped green onions, olive oil, and parsley to cous cous.  

4.  Mix in juice from one lemon (and next time try lime juice and cilantro instead of parsley!) and chill.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Sweet Lemon Pie

My dad loves lemon pie, and if you read my post yesterday, you know I was ready for lighter desserts with this nice weather.  Yesterday I made this pie for my dad and got to enjoy a nice little jog out on the trail with my mom followed by a nice dinner at their house and my dad got his pie! 

Ingredients

3 egg yolks

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 (8 or 9 inch) graham cracker crumb crust

Whipped topping or whipped cream

Lemon zest (optional)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  

2.  Beat egg yolks in medium bowl with rotary beater.

3.  Gradually beat in condensed milk and lemon juice. 

4.  Pour mixture into pie crust.

5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until set.

6.  Cool for 30 minutes.

7.  Chill for at least 3 hours.

8.  Before serving, spread with whipped topping over pie.

Garnish with lemon zest, if desired. 

ENJOY!!!

We sure did!  (Well, not me, but my family did…I will be trying after Easter!)

Tuesday Treats: Creme de Mint Brownies

(This is a picture from google, I totally forgot to take pictures!)

In honor of the holiday this week, I thought it would be fun to make something green.  My mom always makes these and what a super easy recipe!  I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and mint, and since I gave up all sweet treats for Lent…off to work these babies went! 

Ingredients for Brownies

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 16 ounce can of Hershey's syrup

Directions for Brownies

1.  Mix all ingredients together.  

2.  Spread in 9 X 13 greased pan. 

3.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

4.  Let cool.

Ingredients for Mint Layer

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

2 Tbsp Creme de Mint liquor

Directions for Mint Layer

1.  Beat all ingredients until smooth.

2.  Spread on brownies when cool.

Ingredients for Chocolate Layer

1 cup chocolate chips

6 Tbsp butter

Directions for Chocolate Layer

1.  Melt together over low heat. 

2.  Cool, spread over mint layer.

ENJOY!  

Hope you like these as much as my sister does! 

Bachelor Pad

Did you know Brooks Brothers has a home collection now?!

There are many options of bedding, bath, and home accessories that would be perfect for any home, but especially a bachelor pad spruce up! 

Take a look...

Can't wait to see what else is in store!

Tuesday Treats: Butterscotch Cookies

I really think these should be called Toffee Cookies...

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter, softened

2 Tbsp shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup toffee bits

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

(I completely omitted the pecans and used an entire bag of Health Bar toffee pieces)

Directions

1.  In large bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

2.  Beat in egg and vanilla.

3.  Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.

4.  Gradually add dry mix to creamed mixture.

5.  Stir in toffee bits and pecans.

6.  Shape into a 10-inch roll, wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

(I completely omitted this step and went straight for baking!)

7.  Unwrap dough and cut into 1/2 inch slices.  

(Or in my case, roll into little balls)

8.  Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.

(I just used nonstick sheets and no spray)

9.  Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.

10.  Let cook 2 minutes on cookie sheet.

11.  Remove and allow to completely cool on wire racks.  

(Particularly true if you used as much toffee as I did…super gooey, so they need to harden on the cookie sheet first)

ENJOY!!!  

Tuesday Treats: Clean Eating Parfait

Super Easy, Super Clean

Ingredients

Plain, nonfat greek yogurt

Nonfat Ricotta cheese

Berries of your choice

Directions

1.  Mix together equal parts of yogurt and cheese.  (For my single serving I used 1/4 cup of each)

2.  Layer yogurt/cheese mix alternating with berries.

ENJOY!!!

PS…I think this shows I need to find some new glasses, huh?  Maybe that will encourage drinking something other than wine too.  Hmmm, scratch that….I'll just stick with eating dessert out of wine glasses for now!