Archives for March 2013

Peeps Brownies

March 8, 2013 by kim 3 Comments

Have you ever wondered what happens when you bake marshmallows for a long period of time? Well, they disappear. They melt into little extra pockets of sugar and do absolutely nothing for the dessert. Total bummer because these Peeps would have been beautiful to cut into!

I loooveeee Peeps. Marshmallows covered in sanding sugar? What’s not to like? I’m partial to the bunny ones over the chicks because of the marshmallow to sugar ratio. The more sugar the better! You can even pick which colors you like better to match, well… your mood? I did Laker colors for their recent win against the Hornets. Talk about a comeback.

Peeps should probably be saved for topping brownies at the end. You could even throw them on for the last couple of minutes of baking and let them melt a little bit. That way, they don’t disappear into the batter and you’ll get to keep those beautiful colors on your brownies.

Call me lazy, but I used a boxed mix for this. I can’t help my love for boxed brownies! Minimal work with maximum results.

The tops of the marshmallows kind of stayed. Sort of. You can see the color peeping (like my pun, there?) through.

Oh, how I could go for a bite right about now. Just look at that crackly top and fudgy center!

This view above has got to be one of my favorite things in life. Leftover brownie batter and getting to lick the wooden spoon? Pure happiness, I tell ya.

Peeps Brownies

Ingredients

1 box of brownies plus ingredients needed to make the brownies on the back of the box
6 bunny peeps, cut in half

Directions

Prepare you brownie batter as directed on the back of the box.
Pour half of the batter into your desired pan. Layer the peeps on top. Add on the remaining half of the batter on top of the peeps.
Bake as directed.

https://lovintheoven.com/peeps-brownies/

Giant (or not so giant) M&M Cookies

March 6, 2013 by kim 3 Comments

Can we take a moment and discuss how it is that grown adults act like six year olds, sometimes?

At work the other day, I was doing drink service and came across a row of two men sleeping and one lady awake by the window. I asked her what she wanted to drink and reached over the two sleeping men to hand her the beverage. I moved on to the next row. When it was time to move the drink cart and I was already three rows past the sleeping row, I noticed the man in the middle throwing a fit.

I kid you not, he threw his hands up in the hair, slammed his tray table up, and then starting shoving things into the back pocket of the chair in front of him. He kept muttering, “I can’t believe this!” and sighing heavily. What in the world was going on? Can you guess it?

This man was throwing a fit for not getting a drink. Seriously. He was pissed off because I didn’t wake him up to ask him what his beverage of choice was. I never have and never intend to wake up a sleeping person to ask them what they want to drink. My coworker asked me what was going on, and I just told her to ask him what he wanted to drink since I already passed him and he was sleeping when I did.

It’s not the end of the world when you don’t get a drink during a flight, ya know. You can get one at anytime (besides take off, landing, and taxiing, obviously). All you have to do is ask (nicely, helps!).

What I don’t understand is how a mid fifty year old man can throw a fit like a six year old for something so little. There are bigger problems in life than missing a coca cola because you were catching up on your beauty sleep.

//end rant.

Festive M&M’s get me every single time. How can you resist red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s, red, white, and blue for the 4th of July, and vibrant pastel colors for Easter? Beats me. I get them every month. This recipe from How Sweet Eats makes a wonderfully chewy cookie. It’s a great base for mix ins, especially for all those holiday M&M’s.

They’re called giant cookies because you can scoop them out as 1/4 cup portions and bake them into large cookies, but I chose to make them normal sized cookies. Your choice.

Giant (or not so giant) M&M Cookies

Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) of salted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup m&m’s (or something else that you love)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugars. Stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Gradually add flour and baking soda until dough comes together. Fold in the m&m’s.
Roll into 2 tablespoon sized balls and place on baking sheet.
Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.

https://lovintheoven.com/giant-or-not-so-giant-mm-cookies/

Crockpot Orange Chicken

March 5, 2013 by kim 12 Comments

I had a reader comment the other day about how disappointed they were on my posts for sharing recipes that I didn’t love. Perhaps they didn’t read the comment above theirs, saying “I made these before and I thought they were great!”

I post recipes on my blog regardless of if they’re bad, okay, good, or spectacular. Why? Well, I initially started this blog to keep track of the recipes I loved and disliked. I test out a lot of recipes and it’s easy to forget if I’ve made a particular one before. If I post about it, I can recall my thoughts and process of making the dish.

I still have my blog for the same reason. I like to know what I’ve made and which recipes are worth repeating.

Not only that, but everyone has their own standards and palette in the kitchen. Some people may love a dish that others hate. For example, I can care less about the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, but others live for it. To me, every recipe with peanut butter and chocolate will always rate just a tad lower than ones with cinnamon sugar. Does that make any sense?

Sometimes, readers can tweak a recipe posted to make it just how they like. The recipe posted is merely a guideline for the readers’ creativity in the kitchen.

So, forgive me if you think that all the recipes posted should be nothing short of fantastic. You should probably look away now since this post will really ruffle your feathers. It’s another one that I didn’t care much for. The “orange” taste was a little off and the cooking time was too long.

That’s not saying the recipe is a complete dud. With an adjustment of cooking time for my large crockpot and finding a different substitute for the orange concentrate, there is potential.

Recipe from The Pursuit of Happiness.

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 T salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 T ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
4 T brown sugar

Directions

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Set aside.
Pour the flour in a small bowl. Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess. Over medium heat, warm up the olive oil in a skillet. Brown the flour covered chicken.
Place the chicken into the crockpot and pour sauce mixture on top. Stir to coat evenly.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

https://lovintheoven.com/crockpot-orange-chicken/

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