Cranberry Almond Quinoa Bars

We've been trying to incorporate healthier snacks into our regimen over here at the Hoff House, and this one is a winner.  These Cranberry Almond Quinoa are nutrient dense, highly satisfying, and are incredibly easy to make.

the finished product, topped with some peanut butter

I found some recipes similar to this on the internet, but some of them were really confusing and/or poorly written (not specifying if the amount of quinoa needed was dry or cooked, for example).  So, I decided to do one of my classic recipe re-boots and come up with something great.

For these bars you will need:

• 1 C. uncooked quinoa
• 4 eggs (or the equivalent of egg substitute)
• 1/3 C. of some kind of milk.  I used Vanilla soy milk, but I think almond milk would be good too, it might enhance the almond taste
• 1/3 C. honey
• 1 tsp (or thereabouts) Vanilla extract
• 1 Tlbsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 C.  almonds (you can use any kind of nut or opt for no nuts)
• 1/2 C.  dried fruit.  I used cranberries, but you could use raisins, apricots, apples, anything you'd like.

You'll also need parchment paper.  This silicone infused paper provides great non-stick protection you can put right in the oven.

Step One:

•  Preheat the oven to 375.
• Lightly grease an 8x8 pan, then line it with parchment paper.  

I used olive oil spray to grease my pan.

As for the parchment paper, you can simply make a sling by cutting the paper to 8 inches wide, making the length long enough to hang over the sides, but I opted for complete coverage.  cut a square at least 12x12" and then cut into the corners by a couple inches.  

 Now place the parchment into the greased pan, with the cut corners in the.... um, corners of course.  The sections you cut should overlap, giving you complete parchment coverage.  You might have to cut a little deeper to get everything settled correctly.  It won't be pretty, but it doesn't need to be.  It just has to keep your bars from sticking to the pan.

Step Two - 

• Cook your 1 cup of quinoa according to the package directions, and let it cool completely.

Step Three - 

• Beat the 4 eggs in a large bowl
• Add in the milk, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and honey
• Mix thoroughly

there are cinnamon clumps here, but they were eventually beaten into submission

 Step Four - 

• Add in your fruit and nuts.  I love the combo of almonds and cranberries.  Next time I think I'll do apples, and maybe banana chips. 

 Step Five - 

• Stir in the cooled quinoa 
• Pour the mixture into your prepared pan

 Step Six - 

• Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.  The honey will make the finished product look NOT done in the middle.  Check the edges, they should be dry and pulling away from the parchment a bit.  If you touch the middle it should be damp, but no quinoa should come off on your finger. 

the middle still looks wet, but it's done.

 Step Seven - the beauty of the parchment

• using the edges of the parchment, lift the (soon to be) bars from the pan and place on a cooling rack as soon as possible.  
• Pull the edges down to help the cooling process

De-panning would be difficult without the parchment paper

• When cool - cut into bars.  You can make them whatever size you'd like.

By themselves, these are a chewy, slightly crunchy very satisfying and filling snack or light breakfast.  To pump them up a bit, smear some nut butter (I had peanut) on top.  I also heated mine up a bit to slightly melt the pb.  Delicious!

I ate one of the bars for breakfast, and was full (and full of energy) until lunch. 

Notes on nutrition: 

For the health benefits of the honey and cranberries you can check out my earlier blog post here.

Quinoa - 2013 has become known as the Year of Quinoa (see the link below), but it is actually an ancient food.  The Inca of South America have been enjoying quinoa for centuries.  Inca warriors ate quinoa to help maintain strength and stamina.  Usually classified a grain, it's actually a seed, and is related to swiss chard.  Quinoa was recently declared a kosher food, and can be eaten during the Jewish high holidays.  Quinoa contains 9 amino acids, and has a similar protein content to cow's milk.  It is full of riboflavin, which can help prevent migraines.  Quinoa is, of course, gluten free, and has been shown to be well tolerated by those suffering with IBS. It is high in fiber, iron, and magnesium.  You can learn a lot more about quinoa at this site.

Almonds - There's something about almonds that make them the ultimate pick-me-up.  Countless times I've been struggling to stay awake during a lecture or at work, and a handful of almonds saved the day.  They are Justin's new favorite snack, and he often snacks on a few on his commute home to stay awake and alert on the horrible 91 fwy.  Almonds help lower bad cholesterol, and are high in fiber.  They are full of B vitamins, which help in cell function.  Almonds are an excellent source of manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium, and are full of vitamin E. Here is a site full of information on almonds.

Spring-tastic cupcakes

With Easter just around the corner, Justin and I headed over to our friends' place to color Easter eggs with their girls.  I decided some cupcakes were a necessity for this evening, and set out to make some, with the appropriate accoutrements, of course.  Here is the result...

And here's how you can make some for your Springtime or Easter celebrations...

Step One: make some cupcakes.  I admit, I used a box cake mix.  And I'm ok with that.  If you feel inspired to make cupcakes from scratch, you are my hero.

Did you know Duncan Hines started out as a restaurant critic?

Step Two: Make some frosting.  While you can get a decent cake or cupcake from a box, The same can not be said for frosting.  And frosting is a snap to make, you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already.  I found this recipe in my recipe box on an index card.  I'm assuming it came from my grandma... it's a pretty standard mix.

**Remember, that this frosting is made with butter and cream cheese, which are dairy.  Whatever you frost with this creation will need to be refrigerated.  Not only will the frosting melt if it gets too warm, but the cream cheese will spoil, and nobody wants to eat that.  

You will need:

• 1 lb (that's two of the 8 oz. blocks) of cream cheese.  It needs to be room temp, so set it out on the counter for a while
• 1 cup (or 2 sticks) of butter.  Also room temp.  I usually use unsalted butter for baking, but all I had was the salted kind, and it came out great, so... use whatever you have.
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. (or thereabouts) of vanilla (or whatever flavor you choose) extract.  Vanilla is pretty standard for cream cheese frosting, but you can use any flavor you'd like.  When I made cookies last week I used lemon extract in the icing and it was delicious. You could also use peppermint, and when combined with the chocolate cupcakes it would be chocolate mint.  yum.
• food coloring - I always use gel colors when color food, they are much more concentrated than liquid food coloring.  This means you don't have to use as much, and they won't water down your mixes.  This is the exact green I used for my grass.

image borrowed from Wilton.com

If you're lucky enough to have a stand mixer, making the frosting is a piece of (cup)cake.  I, unfortunately only have a hand mixer.  It's still pretty simple, but not fun for my carpel tunnel ridden hands.  Here's how the frosting comes together:

• Cream the cream cheese and the butter together until you have a smooth, homogenous mix.  
• Add in the vanilla, and mix until combined.
• Add in the powdered sugar.  Make sure you start the mixer off on its lowest speed so that you don't have a powdered sugar EXPLOSION all over your kitchen.  No one wants that. 
• Be patient, it takes a few minutes to incorporate all the powdered sugar, but it will all come together into a creamy bowl full of delicious-ness.  Give it a taste, if you want to add a little more extract, now is the time
• add a few drops of the gel coloring, start off with just a LITTLE BIT.  You can always add more, but you can't take away. When you're using green there's a fine line between spring time grass and Nickelodeon slime.  The former is great for these cupcakes, the latter is useful only for 10 year old boy birthday cakes.  Green can quickly make food unappetizing.

Here's my frosting in the bowl:

Step Three - Loading up the frosting. Let me just say that I don't like pastry bags.  Maybe it's my small, child-sized hands, maybe it's the weird cone shape... I don't know.  But whenever I've tried to use them, I made a huge mess with the frosting always spewing up the top of the bag.  So, I use zip top bags.  Mine are from Target.  Snip a small piece off of one of the bottom corners and attach your piping tip like normal.  I used the small star tip.  Load up a reasonable amount of frosting into the bag and seal the top up MOST of the way.  Smoosh the frosting down to the tip and you're ready to go.

Try to get as much air out of the top of the bag before you start

Step Four - the piping.  I started at the outside of the cupcake and spiraled my way into the center.  I wasn't really worried about covering every inch of cake, because I just figured it would look like dirt.

Step Five - the finishing touch.  I have a weakness for Cadbury mini eggs.  Not the big ones with the fake egg yolk inside, those are a bit too sugary sweet for me.  I'm talking about these:

mmm the creamy crunchy delicious-ness

There's just something about that creamy chocolate and the crunchy candy coating.  They are my favorite Easter candy.  I thought the little pastel colored eggs would look cute on top, and I was right!

I loaded the cupcakes into my cupcake holder and we were off ...

 Miss Sonora gave them a rating of delicious!

delicious super healthy oatmeal muffin-ish snacks

As you can see, I had a difficult time coming up with a name for these nutrient packed snacks.

Justin and I are attempting to buy less and less pre-packaged foods, and make more stuff at home.  Not only does it save us money, but we know exactly what is on our food, and it reduces the carbon footprint created by manufacturing.

We found we were buying a lot of granola bars for us to take to work and school.  I always have snacks in my purse, you know, in case of snack emergency.  We were buying Kashi granola bars, which are delicious and costly, at about $5 for a box of 6.  We switched to the Fresh & Easy brand, which are a bargin for $1.99 for a box of 6.  They're good, not Kashi good, but two buck chuck good, but not nearly as packed with nutritious goodness.  We decided to try to make our own.

I researched (read: went on Pinterest) and combined a whole bunch of different recipes to come up with a base, and Justin chose what mix-ins to put into our first batch.


 Here's the finished product...

oaty, nutty, fruity, chewy delicious-ness

 And here's how to make it...

As always, begin by gathering your materials... 

apparently, this could also be used as a Fresh & Easy ad

 You will need:
muffin pans and cupcake liners.  You'll see later that I used more of the pack I bought for the peanut butter cups.  They were about 75 cents on clearance, and they're still serving me well.  This recipe made exactly 18 muffin cup sized snacks.

• 5 cups of Rolled Oats (not quick cooking or the instant kind in the package, old fashioned rolled oats - more on oats later)
• 1 ripe, mashable, banana
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of real vanilla, not imitation or "vanilla flavoring"
• 2 cups of applesauce (I used unsweetened, because apples are already sweet)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons (or there about) grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 and the add-ins... use 1/4 cup each of whatever you'd like.  You can use dried fruit, nuts, baking chips of various flavors, seeds, anything small, really.  We choose:

• sunflower seeds
• pepitas (dried and hulled pumpkin seeds)
• dried and sweetened cranberries (basically the F&E version of Crasiens)
• a "medley" of raisins
• dark chocolate chips

After the directions I'll explain the health benefits of all of these ingredients, just so you know why we chose them.  Well, besides the fact that they're delicious.

* Sidebar - my camera chose the day I made these to decide to break.  It's circa 2004, and we've been through a lot together.   I'm hoping it can be fixed, but, I had to take the pics for this with my phone, and they're ok, but not great.

Be sure to use a LARGE bowl for this... remember, you're going to add a full 5 cups of oats at the end.  I used a fairly giant pyrex bowl

Preheat your oven to 350.  

Step One - chopping and grinding...
You may be able to skip all or part of this step.  I didn't have flax seed meal, but I did have a bag of flax seeds that I use for smoothies.  I also have an extra coffee grinder that I use for spices and what not (but NOT for coffee, it has it's own grinder). 

Add caption

 Apparently I opened the flax seeds upside down at some point.  But you can see they're from the wonderful Bob's Red Mill.  Just pour some seeds into the grinder and... grind.  Voila, you have flax seed meal!

Measure out your 1/4 cup and store the rest.  I put my extra in a smaller bad inside the bag that holds my whole seeds (in their upside down opened bag) It's actually much easier for your body to utilize the benefits of flax seed when it's pre-ground.  Our bodies have a hard time breaking through the whole seed - learn more about flax below.

Chop up your add ins - the chocolate chips I got were giant, way too big to fit properly into the cupcake liners.  Also, the raisins in the medley were ginormous.  I know it's not a great picture, but if you look at that huge green grape raisin I pulled aside you'll see it's huge, like the size of an un-dried grape.  It even still had a little bit of a stem on it.  I really appreciate how it's recognizable as a grape, but it's too big for my muffin liners.  So, they all got chopped up into a small-ish dice.

Step Two - mix together your wet ingredients...

• mash up the banana and add
• milk
• applesauce
• eggs
• vanilla (which I never really measure, I just guess and pour from the bottle)
• salt, cinnamon and nutmeg (which I grate fresh from the nut, which makes it difficult to measure exactly)
• honey... if something calls for a tablespoon or so of honey I don't bother measuring it, because it's a hassle.  However, this is baking, so measurements matter.  I employed one of my favorite kitchen tools, the plunger measuring cup.  It's so easy to measure, and you can scrape any leftover ingredients into the bowl.  Here it is full of a 1/2 cup of honey.

 Step Three - adding the dry ingredients
 You can mix these in a separate bowl if you'd like, but I just dumped them on top of the wet stuff.  Stir in your

• oats
• baking powder
• flax meal

Step Four - dump in the add-ins, and stir.  The mixture will look weird, because the oats won't really soak up the liquid until everything is hot and bubbly in the oven.  It's ok.  Here's what mine looked like.

 It seems all separate, but it will all come together.  I used that 1/4 cup measuring cup to dispense the mixture into the liners, and it came out pretty evenly.

I forgot to take pictures of the baking process, but it's pretty straightforward. 

bake for 35 minutes.  Make sure they cool completely before you store them.  I put half of ours in the freezer, and put the rest in a gallon bag in the fridge.

These oaty muffins are really moist because of the applesauce and banana, and the lack of flour.  But they are delicious, dense, and satisfying.

Now a note about nutrition.

Oats - I'll have to repost by really old blog about oatmeal at some point, but just know that the more processed your oats are, the less they help your body.  Oatmeal has been shown to help reduce the "bad" cholesterol level in your body and it's an excellent source of fiber.

Honey - Honey is the only food that never spoils or rots.  Even if it crystallizes, you can heat it up a bit and it will re-liquid-ize (clearly that's not a real word).  Honey has antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties, and can even be put on wounds and cuts to help in healing, and helps build immunity.  If you have seasonal allergies, eating honey made from local bees (who use local plants and flowers) can help reduce your allergy suffering.  According to this website, honey is even anti-carcinogenic.  Honey can help heal a sore throat, and is even thought to help cure hangovers after the occasional over-indulgence.  Here's a link to some more of the benefits of the wonder-food that is honey.

Flax - Full of Omega 3 fatty acids, flax can help reduce bad cholesterol levels.  Like soy, it is a complete protein, containing key amino acids that our bodies can't produce on their own.  It is high in fiber, and has anti-carcinogen properties to help prevent cancer.  Flax is sensitive to heat and light, so it's best kept in the fridge or freezer.  Once ground it loses its mojo quickly, so it's best to grind your own just before use.  Here's some additional information about how great flax is for you. 

Pepitas - these hulled and roasted pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite nut/seed type snacks.  When I was a kid (ok, I still do it) we would always roast the seeds from our jack-o-lanterns, not knowing how healthy they were.  Pepitas are high in protein and "good" fats.  They also contain calcium, potassium, niacin, phosphorous, zinc, B vitamins, beta carotene, lutein (which helps keep the eyes healthy), and vitamins C, D and E.  They have high levels of Omega 3's, have anti-inflammatory properties, and have even been shown to help repair liver damage.  Learn more about pepitas here.  

Sunflower seeds - there is a lot of energy and nutrition packed into these tiny seeds.  Sunflower seeds are a great source of folic acid, key for any woman even thinking about getting pregnant.  They are great for bone and skin health, and are full of B vitamins.  Sunflower seeds are high in vitamin E, and another key source of cancer-fighting, cholesterol lowering Omega 3's.  They are full of anti-oxidants and can help stabilize blood sugar levels.  They're also high in selenium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc.  This site has more of the benefits of sunflower seeds. 

Cranberries - These tart berries are great for keeping the urinary tract healthy, and can help prevent cavities.  They are anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial.  They are high in vitamin C, and can help stabilize blood sugar.  Cranberries are another source for keeping cholesterol levels healthy.  Learn more about the amazing cranberry here. 

Raisins - for those among us who don't drink wine, it's good to know that eating raisins (and their un-dried counterparts) provide the same health benefits as drinking red wine.  Raisins can even help prevent strokes!  They are high in calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc.  Raisins are a good source of the B vitamins and are a super source of fiber.  They can also ease constipation.  Check here for more info on the benefits of raisins.

Dark Chocolate - everyone's favorite health food! While it's not an excuse to eat a whole bag of Hershey's Special Dark bars, eating small amounts of dark chocolate a few times a week has been shown to help prevent blood clots and arteriosclerosis.  It can help lower blood pressure, and can help keep blood sugar levels in check and help prevent type 2 diabetes.  Dark chocolate can help prevent stroke, and has even been shown to increase cognitive function.  The high anti-oxidant levels in dark chocolate are what first made it popular as "healthy" chocolate.  Dark chocolate contains Theobromine, which can help harden tooth enamel.  It contains high levels of iron, potassium, magnesium and copper.  Recent studies have even shown that dark chocolate can help combat the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, and can help ease depression.  Here is some additional information about the benefits of dark chocolate.  

Well, that's a whole lot of information.  Enjoy!

Books that changed my life (the young readers edition)

As a lifelong reader, and someone who worked at Barnes and Noble to help put myself through college, I've had a great number of people ask for my recommendation on books for their kids to read.  Here are a couple-few books that greatly impacted my childhood, and my life ...

 1. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.  This book (well, actually the epilogue) awakened me to the fact that the world of non-fiction (or in the least, historical fiction) existed.  I must have been about 7 or 8 when I first read this (I started reading when I was 2, and read a college freshman level by 4th grade, so it was often the case that I could decode books before I could fully synthesize what I was reading).  Anyhoo - it was in the epilogue that O'Dell explains that the book is based on a real Chumash girl who was rescued and taken to the Santa Barbara Mission.  My little girl world was rocked when I realized books could be written about real people, and thus my love of history was born.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, which won the Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature in 1961, is the story of  Karana, whose family is killed, and who ends up surviving on her own for 8 years on an island off the coast of California.  O'Dell wrote the story based on Karana's own recounting of her life. The story explores not only Karana's loneliness, but also the beauty and simplicity of her solitary life.  It also paints the image of a strong, powerful female protagonist that is often lacking in children's literature.  O'Dell is a master of imagery, and his descriptions of the island Karana inhabits are quite lovely.   Island of the Blue Dolphins is standard reading for all 4th grade California students, who study the state's history during the year.  I don't remember being bothered by it (unlike the gut wrenching heartache I experienced reading Where the Red Fern Grows), but I know of some kids who were troubled by the descriptions of violence that result in Karana's family being killed.  If your little ones are especially sensitive, this would be a good book to read aloud together, which makes things a little less frightening, and allows for all important conversations.






















2. A Wrinkle in Time and A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle.  I don't remember how old I was when I first entered L'Engle's magical worlds of Kairos and Chronos, but I never left them.  I adored all off her books, but especially the two mentioned above.   A Wrinkle in Time, along with the Narnia books mentioned below awakened my life long love for science fiction and fantasy, while A Ring of Endless Light helped me overcome some of my more angsty childhood moods.  It can still bring me comfort when I need it.  I have a beautiful hardcover edition of Ring... that my grandparents bought me when I was young.  I also remember having a (seemingly) huge late fee at the library because I had A Swiftly Tilting Planet out for an extra couple of weeks.  Looking back, it was probably a whopping $1.50, but as a kid paying my own late fee it seemed really steep; Considering I remember it so well after 25+ years

A Wrinkle in Time and the other books of the "Time Quartet" are a great introduction into science fiction, while the books about the Austin family, including A Ring of Endless Light, are more traditional young reader books about the difficulties we all face growing up.  As I read and reread these books throughout the years, my appreciation for L'Engle's abilities to weave characters between these two seemingly separate worlds grew exponentially.  Chronos is our ordinary every day "wristwatch" time, while in the Kairos universe time moves differently, sometimes quicker and sometimes much slower.  There are a number of characters who are able to connect and cross between the universes and appear in both sets of novels.  A Wrinkle in Time won the Newbery in 1962, and A Ring of Endless Light was a Newbery Honor book in 1980.

3. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  Really, the whole Narnia series.  The Magician's Nephew is a close second as to which installment would be my favorite.  I received a box set of these books from my Aunt Gail for Christmas when I was eight or nine.  They have traveled with me, through my dozens of moves ever since then.  The box had to be taped back together a time or two, but the books themselves are still in extraordinary condition, considering how often they've been read. 

I'm fairly certain the description is unnecessary, but the Chronicles of Narnia recount the beginning, middle, and end of another world.  It begins (and ends, actually) with the Pensevie children being magically transported (through the titular wardrobe) into the world of Narnia.  Narnia is full of satyrs, fauns, and talking animals, especially Aslan (the Lion) who rules over the realm. 

C.S. Lewis is a beautiful introduction to the world of fantasy.  I think I spent half my childhood imagining I was either in Narnia or Middle Earth (see below).  I bought the series for Chandler a couple years ago when the Disney movies started coming out, and found that the order of the books had been changed.  While it is true that, chronologically, that The Magicians Nephew comes first, Lewis meant for readers to first encounter Narnia through the wardrobe, and I share that belief.  I altered the numbering on Chandler's set of books, and I suggest you do the same.  The Magicians Newphew should really be book number six.

Much has been made of these books being written as Christian allegory, and there is certainly an abundance of evidence to back that up.  I began making such connections when I reread the series as an adult, but that's because of my Christian beliefs.  If it's not your thing, you can still completely enjoy the series as simply fantasy novels.

An interesting segue - C.S. Lewis became a Christian based on his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, who was a strong believer in Christ, and who wrote the next book(s) on my list.

4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Of course, the Ring trilogy follows as books I loved (after all, we do have a dog named Frodo), but The Hobbit was the first one I read.  What with the blockbuster films that have come out lately, I probably don't need a long explanation; but this is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who goes on an adventure, finds a magical ring, and defeats a dragon with his mental prowess.

I wanted nothing more as a kid than to visit Hobbiton or Rivendale, and I was in love with Legolas long before he looked like Orlando Bloom.  Hours, days, and months of my childhood were spent reading and rereading Tolkien's books.  They're a bit more difficult of a read, and contain more violence than the other books discussed above, and are probably best for kids who are a bit older or more mature, but The Hobbit is a more simple tale, and is a great intro into the world of Middle Earth.


What books were you most influenced by as a young reader?  I'd love to know, please leave a comment below. 



*all photos were borrowed from my good friends from Barnes & Noble at  bn.com 

Inspiring Bloggers

The internet can be a terrifying and powerful place, I try to keep things positive and peaceful in my little corner of it (it's a VERY small corner).  In fact, my one and only new years resolution was to refrain from participating in arguements and debates with people on facebook and what not.  Granted, most of them were with my brother in law, and we both know that we'll never change each others minds regarding gun control or marriage equality (I'm for both, he's against them), but we're family and we love each other (and never talk politics in person). 

Here at Candice's Curious Compendium, I try to share some of the lovely things I come across in this happy little life of mine.  Good reads, good eats, good music, art, crafts, and the like. 

I was therefore, naturally thrilled when my wonderful friend, Becky Johnson nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

I have the pleasure of knowing Becky IRL, and have been following her blog since I met her through Justin and the great group of friends I gained when we got together.   Becky's blog is full of great book reviews and tales of the adventurous life she and her husband live. 

The Very Inspiring Blogger Awards work as follows:
(there are always rules)
1. Display the award logo
2. Link to the person who nominated you
3. State seven facts about yourself
4. Nominate other bloggers who inspire you

of course, there is no requirement to play along, but why wouldn't you want to share the work of people who inspire you? 

Seven things about me:

1. I am a Capital N Nerd... Science Fiction, Fantasy, Video Games, Trivia, crossword puzzles, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who, Monty Python, Lord of the Rings (which I read as a kid, long before the movies came out), etc. etc. etc.

2. My very first hero was Joan Embry, the ambassador of the San Diego Zoo.  I still greatly admire her, and I still secretly wish I could live at the zoo.  I have always loved animals, and some of my very favorite childhood memories were formed at the SD Zoo with my cousin Kyla, sister Crystal, and my grandparents, who always took us there.

3. I played the clarinet from 3rd grade until high school.  One of the very few regrets I have is that I ever stopped playing.  And yes, I know it's never too late to start again.  It's on my to-do list.

4. I'm related to the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson.  He gets a bad rap for the Indian Removal Act, but it was an action of the times.  He was a fiercely loyal man who never backed down from what he believed in.  He was an instinctual military genius, and was the first real President of the people, who spoke for the common man, and not the elite.

5. I started reading when I was two, and have never stopped.  I am always reading something, usually more than one thing.  And I'll read pretty much anything. 

6. I am not afraid of heights, but I'm terrified of ladders.  I can stand on the edge of a cliff and look down, but can't climb anything higher than the stepladder in my kitchen.  I don't know why, but I really really don't like them.  I've also always been afraid of jumping off of or out of things. 

7. I never ever expected to fall in love, get married, and have the happily ever after I live every day.  I completely expected to become a spinster aunt who lived alone with my dog.  I am so eternally grateful for the blessings that God has given me.  I am married to my very best friend in the world, and am constantly surprised at how joyful my life has become. 

While I certainly enjoy super famous people's blogs, like George Takai and Tim Holz, here are some regular people, like myself, who inspire me, and help to make the internet a more beautiful place.  I hope you check them out.

My nominations for the Very Inspiring Blogger Awards are:

Capybara Madness - The capybara is one of my favorite animals.  I ran across this blog while researching the world's largest rodent for a project for school.  This is a pet caypbara's view of the world, Garibaldi the capybara narrates this blog with help from his owner, Melly.  

Inspired Mama  - Amanda is a teacher turned stay-at-home-mom-of-three.  She shares vegan meal plans, knitting ideas, and experiences from her inspired life. 

House of Humble - I was originally enamored with the name of this lifestyle blog.  Blogging couple Katie and Ruben write about cooking, crafting, and their simple, beautiful life together.

The Shiksa in the Kitchen - is a food writer who develops delicious recipes and explores the history of food.  two of my favorite things!

Serving Pink Lemonade - is a playful blog created by sisters living on opposite coasts as a way to keep their families connected.  You'll find simple recipes, fun and easy crafts for the whole family, and cute party ideas. 

Rindy Mae - another great place to find simple and delicious recipes interspersed with heartwarming tales of family.

What blogs to you follow?  mention them in a comment below and spread the word. 

 

Make your own peanut butter cups!

In my mind, peanut butter + chocolate = delicious, always.  I saw this post  from Fifteen Spatulas for homemade peanut butter cups, and decided to tweak (as is my way) and make it my own.

I also thought this recipe would be a good opportunity to talk about using a double boiler.  The recipe from Fifteen Spatulas uses the microwave to melt her chocolate.  I haven't had much success with that method, but if you want to use the micro instead of the stove, you should check her post out.

I was also interested in trying this out because, if it was successful, we could create a peanut free version for my nephew, Chan, who has a peanut allergy.  The options are endless, really.  Sunflower butter is what I'm guessing my sister would choose for Chan, because he has to avoid not only peanuts, but also anything made in a facility that uses peanuts and tree nuts.  But you could use cashew, almond, macadamia, or any other sort of butter. 

However, since this was my first attempt, I used good old goober butter.  I also chose to use dark chocolate chips, because not only are they delicious, I can claim that these treats are more healthy because of the antioxidants found in dark chocolate.

Here's the step by step, a more concise recipe can be found below.

Step One: gather your supplies:
  You'll need:

• muffin tins - you can use mini, regular, or giant... whatever size cups you want to create.  This recipe perfectly filled one 12 and one 6 cup muffin tins
• paper muffin/cupcake liners - you know, to fill in the tins.  I got mine at Michael's for .75 on clearance.  I think it's a pack of 100 or so.
• a double boiler.  I'm pretty sure you can buy an actual fancy device called a double boiler, but like my hero, Alton Brown, I don't believe in uni-taskers.  I don't have room in my tiny kitchen for a bunch of gadgets.  I've always just made my own.  You'll need a pot, and a heat proof bowl (like Pyrex) that fits somewhat inside.  More on this in a bit...
•  measuring cups and spoons, a couple big spoons (probably not metal), a sifter of sorts, and a freezer.  
• Ingredients:
• 1 cup peanut butter (or whatever kind of butter you choose)
• 2 bags (mine were 11.5 oz each) of chocolate chips (mine were dark)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 + 1/8 cup powdered sugar... This 5/8 of a cup, but I don't have a 5/8 cup, nor do I want to measure 1/8 cup 5x, so... however you want to measure this is fine...

somehow, I left a bunch of supplies out of this pic...

Step Two: line the muffin tins with the liners.  Maybe this is self-explanatory, but, someone might not know...

 Step Three: set up your double boiler.
 OK, chocolate can be a crazy thing.  It can't get too hot, you can't let it burn on the bottom of the pan, you can't get water in it.... it's like a really high maintenance friend.  You can melt chocolate in the microwave, like I said above, but in my experience the mess isn't worth it.

If you are really against using a double boiler you can use a trick I saw on Good Eats with my hero, Alton Brown.  Put a heating pad inside a large heat safe bowl, a towel on top of the heating pad, and then put your chocolate in a smaller bowl and set it on top of the towel.  Set it to medium, and then to low once your chocolate is melted.

Here's what I do.... to make a double boiler get a pot and a pyrex bowl that fits about half way inside it.  You do NOT want your bowl to get close to the bottom of the pot.  Put a few inches of water into the pot, and make sure there's at least an inch between the bottom of the bowl and the water.

make sure there's space between the water and the bowl, lest your chocolate burn!

** Put ONE bag of  chocolate in the bowl, turn on the heat and bring the water to a boil.  The steam created by the boiling water will gently melt the chocolate.  Stir occasionally, it will look ugly for a few minutes, but the chocolate will melt and become shiny and beautiful.  I've never run into any trouble using a double boiler.  Sometimes old school is the best school.

I use wooden spoons because they don't conduct heat and get hot.  Silicone would work too.

That was a long step three...

Step Four:  While your chocolate is melting, you can begin assembling your peanut butter filling.

Make sure you use another heat proof bowl for the filling, as we will use the double boiler for this bowl too.
I'm a fan of these plunger style measuring cups (another thing Alton taught me about) for measuring goopy stuff, like yogurt, mayo, honey, etc.  You can also measure multiple ingredients using displacement.   

The plunger measuring cup is great because once you plunge you can scrap off the goop, you could never get all of the peanut butter out of a regular measuring cup.  Well, I couldn't at least.  Add a 1/4 cup of regular butter to the bowl. and set it aside for a bit.

Also measure out the 1/2 cup and 1/8 cup of powdered/confectioners/icing sugar (whatever you like to call it)

my cute and colorful measuring cups

Step Five: by now you're chocolate is probably melted.  It should look glossy like this:

beautiful melted chocolate

Now you'll start filling your muffin tins.  I used a tablespoon to make sure they were all even.  You could use a disher, or anything really, but by using a tablespoon I (purely through luck) came out pretty much perfectly even with the 18 muffin cups. 

 When they're all filled kind of tap and shake the tins around to smooth out the chocolate and make sure the entire bottom of the cup is covered.

Now put the tins in the freezer.  I had to shuffle stuff around in my very small freezer to make room, and to make sure the tins were even.  Leave them in for at least 15 minutes.

freezer super full of fruit/veg/ice cream/ etc.

Step Six: Set the chocolate bowl aside because we'll be using it again.  BE CAREFUL when you take it off of the pot because STEAM BURNS ARE AWFUL!  Set the bowl with the peanut butter and butter on the double boiler and melt everything down. 

 

Step Seven: Remove the melty peanut buttery goodness from the stove and sift in the powdered sugar.  You don't have to use a sifter, but if you do it will be much easier to mix the sugar in and avoid lumpage.  Lumps are bad.

sifting is good - lumps are bad

 Step Eight: stir the sugar into the peanut butter mixture until it is completely mixed in.  It should be stiff but smooth.

 Step Nine: by now your chocolate should be hardened.  It will look like this:

 Spoon the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate.  I used a tablespoon again, and it came out great.  Be sure to spread the mixture out, since the chocolate is cold it will start to harden the peanut butter right away.

 You'll have to shake and tap the tins a bit more vigorously to get the peanut butter to flatten out.

 Put the tins back in the freezer for another 15 minutes.

Step Ten: While the peanut butter is chilling we will melt the second bag of chocolate.  Put the chocolate bowl back on the double boiler and melt.  When the peanut butter is set spoon the final layer of chocolate on top of the peanut butter.  Chill the tins for a final 15 minutes.  (all this waiting was the most difficult part of the process!)

Once the chocolate is completely set you're done!  Here's one fresh out of the freezer.  You can see the layers of chocolate and peanut butter. 

Unfold the wrapper and enjoy! 

 You can use more or less chocolate and/or peanut butter depending on what you like.  I think mini muffin tins would make cute little cups too.

I put my cups in a gallon zip top bag in the fridge.  You can keep them in the freezer, fridge, or on the counter depending on how hard or soft you want your cup to be. 

 

 Frodo (who is always curious) really wanted to be my assistant and was in the kitchen the whole time I was working on these.  His tail is wagging so fast you can't even see it.  He's a cutie.

As promised, here's a more concise recipe

2 bags chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 + 1/8 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter

• line muffin tin with 18 cupcake liners
• melt 1 bag of chocolate chips in a double boiler
• spoon melted chocolate into bottom of liners and chill 15 minutes in freezer
• melt peanut butter and butter over double boiler
• remove from heat and sift in powdered sugar, mix well
• spoon over chocolate.  Tap and shake tins to even mixture out.  Freeze another 15 minutes
• melt remaining bag of chocolate, spoon over peanut butter mixture, freeze another 15 minutes