Tasty Treats

I hope everyone had a good Independence Day weekend!  We had lots to do and unfortunately on the 4th of July, the weather wasn’t good here.  The wind was ferocious and it rained all afternoon and night.  Not the best weather for fireworks.  We were able to see about 4 different displays across the city – from inside our house!  You aren’t suppose to watch fireworks sitting inside, but being blown away by the wind and getting drenched with pounding rain – not so much fun!

Scout was asleep before it all even started and Bella tried her best to stay awake.  She made it to 9:30 pm.  Hopefully you guys had better weather than we did.

I also want to say “HI” to my new followers!  I’ve gained a few over the past week which is sooo special, since it seemed that my numbers kept dropping.  So welcome my new bloggy friends!

Okay, so don’t hold this against me.  I realize I am a big ‘health nut’ – and I am, but I also enjoy baking.  So, we had some special occasions over the last couple weeks where I was in charge of desserts, so that is just what I did.  Were they healthy? Nope.  But, to make up for it, I made some healthy fruit/yogurt sickles for the kiddos the other day.  That counts for something, right?

 

Father’s Day = Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:

1 regular package of Shortbread Cookies, crushed

1/4 cup real butter, melted

2 medium bananas, halved lengthwise and quartered

1/2 cup peanut butter (or a little more if you like peanut butter)

2 squares Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate (I just used organic chocolate chips and ground them a bit in the coffee grinder)

2 cups whole milk

2 packages (4 serving size each) Vanilla flavored pudding

2 cups thawed Cool Whip whipped topping (I make my own with whipping cream, but Cool Whip tubs are easier)

2 tbsp peanuts, coarsely chopped (I used raw peanuts)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter until well blended.

Press firmly onto the bottom and up the side of a 9” pie plate.

Bake 5-8 minutes until golden brown, then take out and cool completely.

Once cooled, lay the bananas on the crust.

Shave some of the chocolate (with a veggie peeler) to garnish the top of the pie.

Take remaining chocolate, add the peanut butter and microwave on high for 1 minute.

Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is well blended. 

Drizzle this over the bananas and set aside.

Pour milk into large bowl and add the 2 packets of pudding.

Wisk 2 minutes.

Gently stirred in 1 cup of the whipped topping.  Spread over the bananas and peanut butter mixture

Top with the remaining whipped topping.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or over night.  Top with the shaved chocolate and peanuts just before serving.

Barbeque with friends = Brownies and Mint Chocolate Chip/Oreo Cake

 

Ingredients:

28 Oreo cookies, divided

1 container (1 1/2 quart) mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened (I use Bryers which doesn’t have coloring added and is the closest to home made you can get at the store)

1 - 8 oz tub of Cool Whip, thawed (or make your own with Heavy Whipping Cream)

1 square Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate shaved or grated (I use Green & Black’s organic bittersweet chocolate)

Directions:

LINE a 13 x 9-inch pan with foil, with the ends folding over the side to make it easy to pull out.  Crush 20 coolies and put the cookie crumbs onto the bottom of the pan.

SPREAD the ice cream over the cookie crumbs.  Top with the Cool Whip. Add the chocolate garnish.

FREEZE for 3 hours or longer.  Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.  Lift cake from pan using the foil handles; cut into squares.  Take the remaining cookies and place one in each square.

***The recipe for my home made brownies can be found HERE!

Keeping Kids Snacking Healthy = Fresh Fruit & Greek Yogurt Frozen Pops

Ingredients:

Fresh fruit of any kind (I don’t recommend bananas)

Greek yogurt (I use Greek Gods Honey Flavored)

Agave nectar or Raw Honey (optional) 

 

Directions:

Puree fresh fruit in a blender. 

Place an equal amount of Greek Yogurt in a bowl and pour the pureed fruit in the bowl and mix together.

Add 1-2 tbsp of Agave Nectar or Raw Honey to sweeten (optional).

Pour fruit and yogurt into small, plastic cups (and I mean the smallest you can find).

Insert the popsicle sticks into the center.

Put the cups in a muffin tins (to avoid falling over) and freeze for 3 hours or longer before eating.

 

To remove cup, let warm water run over the cup and squeeze the frozen pop out!

I also made my home made Chocolate Yum-Yums!  Yep, I lurve baking!!!

Enjoy!

* * * * * * *

Not only is my little princess turning 5 on Thursday, but she decided to have an girls only party this year.  Our theme: A Day at the Spa!  Yes, we’ll be pampering 6 little girls at my house on Saturday!

 

Fun times are ahead!

 

“The trouble with eating Italian food
is that five or six days later you're hungry again.” 

George Miller