Better than _ _ _ Trifle

Look what I just found!  I was just looking through all the posts I have started but haven't finished and I came upon this that I wrote last Summer after baseball season ended. 

July 2012:

Matt and I are trying to ramp up our exercise routine.  After a Summer of baseball tournaments, beach trips, late nights, sleeping in, it's time to get back in shape.  While I lose the craving for sweets when I ramp up my exercise, Matt's sweet tooth grows.  I thought it would be nice to surprise him and the boys with one of their favorite desserts- Better than _ _ _ Trifle.  Now, I call it "The Heath Bar Brownie Dessert" when I'm talking to my kids.   

It was brought to me originally as part of a Just Had a Baby meal.  I couldn't get enough of this stuff.  I would wake up in the middle of the night to nurse my newborn and would sneak into the kitchen to scoop myself a bowlful.  It made those middle of the night feedings tolerable - plus, I was nursing, so I figured that the calories zeroed themselves out. 

Many of you have probably made this or some version like it, but here is mine. 

Here are the players:

Bake a box of brownies according to the directions on the box.  Let them cool and then crumble them onto the bottom of whatever dish in which you plan to serve it.  Top the crumbled brownie with chopped up Heath Bar. 

Here I am unwrapping each little miniature heath bar and chopping.  This is a fun thing to let your kids do and a great way to let them practice chopping with a knife. 

Make a box of instant chocolate pudding according to the directions on the box. Spread that on top of the heath bar and then add more chopped up Heath Bar.

Top the whole thing with Cool Whip and then... you guessed it!... Top with more Heath Bar (and I used some extra brownie that I had). 

Whala!  You have yourself a heavenly dish that lives up to its name!  Enjoy!

Heath Bar Brownie Trifle

1 box of brownies
1 6-serving instant chocolate pudding box (made according to directions)
1 bag miniature Heath Bar
1 container Cool Whip

Bake your favorite box of brownies according to directions on the box.  Let them cool and then crumble and lay in the bottom of a big dish (or you can divide into smaller dishes to give out as little gifts). 

Make a box of 6 serving chocolate pudding according to the directions on the box. 

Unwrap and chop the heath bars into little pieces.

Time to layer away!  On top of the brownie, spread the chocolate pudding and on top of that, sprinkle a hefty portion of heath bar pieces.  On top of that, spread some Cool Whip.  Then sprinkle with the remaining heath bar pieces.  This is SO simple but the combination of flavors is to die for.  Perfect for a new neighbor, a new mom, your kids... enjoy!

Friday Favorites 6/7/2013

I love sharing my favorite things. 

For years I have been hearing about a product called Iron Out.  A lot of my baseball mom friends use this on their kids' baseball pants to get the red dirt out. 

I don't know what took me so long, but this stuff is amazing.  So amazing, in fact, that I would probably feel okay about going door to door to sell this stuff.  It's like magic!  All these years, I have accepted the red stains and lived with them.  Well, no more, folks!

I pour a half a cup of the powder into a big Home Depot bucket and fill it with about a gallon of hot water.  I put dirty pants like this in:

Before I started using Iron Out, I would spray pants like this with Shout and wash them, and they always came out of the wash still red and stained. 

I let them soak for about 10 minutes - sometimes longer.  I rinse them well with water and then spray the grass stains with a product called AWESOME (Dollar Store!!) and let them sit a few more minutes.  When finished, they look like this:

Can you believe it?  It's magic!  Now, I must warn you that it produces some fumes.  In fact, I have inhaled so much of this stuff (while adding the hot water to the powder) that I've convinced myself I may have some abnormal cells growing in my lungs.  In all seriousness, do consider wearing a painter's mask or something of the like, when doing this.

On to my next favorite THING - and I love it!  First of all, let me just say that I LOVE the Container Store.  I feel like an organized woman just because I shop there from time to time (when the reality is that I'm really not).  I went in a few weeks ago to pick up a magnetic strip to hang all of Brooke's artwork, and I came across this sticky note weekly calendar.  Check it out:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/calendarsNotebooksPlanners?productId=10032527

It's the most wonderful little $9.99 purchase I have ever made.  I write all that we have coming up each week - so this Summer so far, it's full of baseball practices and games, doctor's appointments, reminders, etc.  I peel it off, place it at eye level on the wall beside my fridge and the kids can reference it whenever they want.  I LOVE this product!  I think it comes with 50 weeks, so you're set for almost a year!

And to wrap up this week's Friday Favorites, let's talk about eggplant.

I am having a love affair with this cute purple vegetable.  I eat it 5 times a week.  I can't get enough!  I wash it, slice it and sprinkle it with salt.

Then I cover it with a paper towel to soak up all the moisture that the salt brings out.  I let it sit anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours.

Can you see how wet the paper towel is?  The next step is that I squeeze each piece in a paper towel to remove just a bit more of the moisture - then I toss the slices with some olive oil - that's it - no need to add salt because you have already done that.  Lay them out in a single layer.

Then roast them in a 420 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.  I like mine pretty well cooked.

They are good hot or cold - but the best temperature is room temperature.  Mmm mmm - so delicious!  Eggplant is a good source of Vitamin K, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of dietary Fiber.  Sounds good to me! 

Have a super weekend!

Peanut Butter Balls - the Healthy Kind!

Written on Monday morning:

Typically Monday mornings have that "back to the grind" feel to them.  You wake up and go to work and look forward to Friday... For me, on this Monday morning, I am feeling like my battery is being recharged.  These baseball tournament weekends with two playing in two different far away places is SO FUN but utterly exhausting!  I have to say that I am impressed by myself and all of the other moms who do this weekend after weekend.   

We go go go from sun up to sun down.  Each day feels like a LONG sprint - or a very fast marathon - invigorating, exciting, fun, and tiring all at the same time.

Deep breath.

Then the same thing begins the next day.... though yesterday we were blessed with not having to be anywhere until 11:45.  Both boys spent the night out Saturday night and Brooke went over to a neighbor's house so Matt cut the grass while I cleaned the house - then off to the game we went.  Champ's team went on to win the wooden bat tournament!  So exciting! 

So, you can understand why on Monday morning I am feeling relaxed - almost like I'm thawing out - mentally and physically.  All three of my chickens are sleeping - birds are chirping - my coffee is hot and delicious.  Life is good.

So..I thought that I had blogged about my peanut butter balls recipe but I searched my own blog (yes, is it sad and pathetic that I can't even remember what I've blogged about and what I haven't?  If you happen to come across some brain cells lying around, they're probably mine as I seemed to have lost some over the years...)  I couldn't find the recipe, so here it goes!

Several years ago, I came across this recipe in a family/parenting magazine.  My kids - my nieces and nephews - friends - everyone LOVED them and they go crazy for them every time I make them.  They are healthy little sweet treats full of protein - and I've discovered this year that they're the perfect snack for in between baseball games - to re-energize the players with a punch of protein and sweetness.  They're a great snack to keep in the fridge because you can grab one (or two or three) and keep moving. 

They are so easy and fun for little helpers to make if you have any in your house. 

Five ingredients:  Natural peanut butter (I like natural Jiff which I know has a little added sugar - but I like the creaminess and flavor of it.  You can use ultra natural peanut butter (where the only ingredient is peanuts) if you wish), Rice Krispies, wheat germ, honey and graham cracker crumbs.

Typically I throw the first four ingredients into a bowl and mix and taste, mix and taste and mix and taste until they taste right and then I roll them up into little balls.  I had so many moms at the baseball field ask me to post this recipe, so the other night, I got my pen and paper out and took notes on the proportions.  I felt like a scientist!

Here you go:

Ingredients:

Four cups of peanut butter - this is almost an entire jar of the large jar of peanut butter
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
12 ounces honey
2 cups Rice Krispies
Graham Crackers

Mix the above together (this gets pretty hard to mix once all the ingredients are incorporated). 

In a food processor, take one pack of graham crackers (when you buy a box, it comes with three wrapped sections - use one) and process it into fine crumbs.  Pour crumbs onto a plate or into a bowl.  You will use this to coat the peanut butter balls. 

Roll a little bit (about 1 1/2 TBS) of the peanut butter mixture into a ball.  If you feel like it's too sticky, add more wheat germ and/or Rice Krispies.  Conversely, if you feel like it's too dry, just add more honey and peanut butter.  That said, the proportions I am giving worked well for me.  Roll each ball in the graham cracker mixture and place on a cookie sheet.  Do this until you have used up all of your peanut butter mixture. 

This should yield about 80 peanut butter balls.  Trust me, you will want all 80 of them.  I let them sit on the cookie sheet in the fridge (covered with foil or saran wrap) for an hour or so and then put them in a Tupperware container and store them in the fridge (I put a little sheet of wax paper in between the layers).  You can give these to your friends (especially if they kids!) and they will go crazy!  I haven't figured up the nutritional breakdown yet, but they are healthy, delicious and a great pop of protein for our growing kids and ourselves!