Diet Coke Brownies

I was wandering around Pinterest one day and found a recipes for a Pumpkin cake. The recipe called for one box of cake mix and one can of pumpkin puree. That's it.

Mix it all together, pour it in the pan, bake it all up. Viola! Yummy pumpkin cake!

Being a lover of cake and pumpkin I couldn't resist!

Do Not Bake This Cake. Ewww.

Super thick and super cake batter flavor. Not good.

After this experience you'll understand how I had some reservations when I found a recipe for brownies that called for one box of brownie mix and one can of Diet Coke.

But, I'm a fan of brownies and a fan of Diet Coke . . . (This looks familiar already) . . So, I thought, why not give it a try.

I acquired one box of Low Fat Brownie mix and 12 oz. of Diet Coke. I poured them in the bowl, mixed them up, poured them in the greased pan and popped them in the oven.

They took longer than normal to cook enough to pass the "toothpick test."

When they were cooled (enough) I sliced them up and tasted.

Good brownies!

I was so suprised!

I mean, of course, they're not as excellent as regular brownies. I did buy the Low Fat kind. But, they were good.

I definitely plan to make them again!

Yummy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

A few weeks ago The Save At Home Mom posted a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge and I HAD to try it!

 Our Walmart didn't have Coconut Oil so I put it off. Well, recently I was shopping and there it was! Just sitting on the shelf! Waiting for me to buy it! Coconut Oil!

I grabbed it and made it a point to try this fudge. Want to know how I made it? I'll tell ya!

You will need:

1/2 Cup of Coconut oil
1/2 Cup of Cocoa powder
1/2 Cup Natural Peanut butter
1/4 Cup Raw Honey (To be honest, I used regular natural honey. We don't eat honey around here and the raw stuff was a large jar and expensive.)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 a cup of Coconut Oil

1/2 a cup of Cocoa powder

1/2 a cup of Organic Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup of Honey

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla

 

(I know it says "Mexican Blend" but it still vanilla.)

Pour all the ingredients in a bowl.

Looks, uh, yum?

Blend them all together.

Get cute little cupcake papers and put them in your cupcake tray.

Pour some fudgey batter into each one. (Mine made 15)

Now put them in the fridge for about 40 min to an hour or in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

When you get them out they're nice and solid and cute.

And . . .

They taste SO GOOD!

give them a try!

They're tasty, easy to make, minimal clean-up AND I can't find any reason to tell the Kid "No" when he asks for some fudge!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday! (on Monday!) I

As I was wandering around the internet last week I came upon this blog: Ramblings and Photos by Ashley Sisk.

On this blog I discovered Scavenger Hunt Sunday, a photo scavenger hunt. I thought this might be something fun to do so I'm linking up!

Disclaimer: I am in No Way a photographer. No way. At All. I have a little Kodak 12 mega pixel digital camera with which to work. So, The following are my responses to this weeks Scavenger Hunt prompts. If you want to check out other peoples interpretations than you can grab this link here check them out.

1. Decay (Old/Abandoned)

Definitely old. Definitely abandoned. Definitely decaying. I was having issues with this prompt because I couldn't think of what to photograph. I decided to take a drive around town and I stumbled upon this. I had totally forgotten it was there and I pass it All the time! I actually managed to find something else also but between the two this was more fun.

2. Groups of Three

Immediately upon reading this prompt this photo popped into my head. I had to honor that, right? Also, a photo of M&M's in groups of three requires you purchase a bag of M&M's. And you know, after you buy a bag of M&M's and open it to photograph the contents then you Have to do Something with the leftovers! Yum!

3. Kitchen 

This is yummy sauce for yummy non-lasagna Lasagna that I made the other day. No great big lasagna noodles to mess with, just use mini pasta shells. The recipe is here: Cheesy Shell Lasagna. I should say the BASE recipe is there. I NEVER follow a recipe exactly (unless I'm baking) I just sort of use it as a guidline and then create my own masterpiece (messterpiece?) around it.

4. Things that make you go hmmmm . . .  

Nothing makes me go "hmmmm" like God's Word. There are so many wonderful nuggets in there and so many other things that make me think. I love it! 

5. "ME" Time

Total "ME" time right there! I know, I know, it's not the best thing for you but I find extremely hard to get Any kind of tan unless I use this. I basically sign up for one month a year and I'm set for the Summer. Twenty minutes all to myself. No one asking for a drink or a snack, no phone calls, no knocks at the door, noses to wipe or hands to wash. Nothing. Total "ME" time!

Well, that concludes my first entry into Scavenger Hunt Sunday. It was so much fun to do this! Thank you, Ashley, for thinking this up! I can't wait to get to work on next weeks prompts!

Random Tuesday Thoughts!

Welcome to another editon of Random Tuesday Thoughts. Here you will find a collection of thoughts that probably wouldn't work so well as their own post. (Although, I have been known to expand on a Random Tuesday Thought in another post.) If you want to join in and post some of your own Randomness you can click this cool little box and join the fun at Keely's place:

1. You know what we (the Kiddo and I) really like? Magic Washcloths. Those dollar washcloths that are all squished into a little square or an egg and expand when you put them in water. They're so fun, we just love them! They have all kind of fun character pictures.

2. I'm trying to figure out the best way to let my TKD instructor know that on St. Patrick's Day I will be skipping class to stay home and watch TV. Josh Gates and the Destination Truth team will be conducting thier first ever live investigation and they're doing it in Ireland!! I would have stayed home for live DT anyway but in IRELAND!? I'm So There!

3. I heard someone talking the other day about being backstage at a concert. The headliner wasWill Smith and another female pop star. According to this person talking people were directed Not To Look At this female pop star per her own request. Really? No, really? What, is she some sort of goddess or something?

4. When we go to Pennsylvania in April I'm going to have to create a budget JUST for coffee! They have Dunkin' Donuts AND Starbucks!!

4. You know what's awesome? AllRecipes.com's Menu Planner! It's only available to supporting members but it's way worth it. Especially if you plan your meals! Everytime you put a recipe in your menu Allrecipes adds the ingredients to a shopping list! Perfect!

5. I watch too much TV. Seriously, Toby TiVo is going to rebel one of these days. I watch too much TV and then I hear that awesome people are going to have new shows soon! No! I can't! I don't have time! (Ashley Judd, Kiefer Sutherland, Don Johnson, Michael Rosenbaum? Stop!)

6. WHY do couples share Facebook accounts? Are they afraid there aren't enough to go around? I have more than one Facebook friend who's name look like "JoeSally Smith" or "EvanandLiz Jones" Seriously?

7. Then there are the Facebook accounts that say "Shawna Macintyre" but Shawna's husband posts ALL the time saying "This is Chris, I just wanted to comment on this . . ." Get your own account, Chris!!!


Alright, I think that may be enough random for today. Have a great day all you wonderful, Random people!

Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

When I was younger my Aunt used to make some amazing little cinnamon rolls. They were so yummy. It had been a long time since I had them so one day I went on an internet search and found the recipe. I've made them ever since. SO GOOD!

They are Mini Caramel Cinnamon Rolls. They're really easy to make and the taste is amazing.

Recipe:
1/4 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Margarine
2 Tablespoons Light Corn syrup
1 8 oz. Can of Crescent Dinner Rolls
2 Tablespoons of Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

Heat your oven to 375.

In s small bowl mix the brown sugar, margarine and corn syrup. Spread in the bottom of a round cake pan. (I actually just mix it all up in the cake pan.)

Pop open the crescent rolls and unroll them. Separate them into four rectangles and pinch together the perforations.

In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar. (I Never measure out my cinnamon and sugar because I like a bit more and definitely more cinnamon.)

Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the four rectangle. (You can add some pecans to this too if you want. I never do.)

Start at the short side and roll up the dough. Pinch the edges to seal them. Cut each roll into four pieces and place them in the cake pan.

Bake 20 to 27 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for a minute or two and invert them onto a platter.

Enjoy! They're good warm or cold!

Cookies!

Alright! Cookies! (Not random at all . . . )

I want to bake Christmas cookies. The only problems are A. If I bake them now I'll eat them all. B. I could freeze them but I'm afraid they won't freeze well and then turn out icky. (Has anyone ever frozen cookies?)

I have a few recipes I'd like to try. But, I need to be in the mood to bake cookies. They take a lot of time (I only have two cookies sheets) and space. Dedication is required to put in a few hours of cookie baking.

Any suggestions on good cookie recipes that freeze well? I need them to freeze for about a month (if I made them today).

I saw this website today. I might give some of those a try. I also spend a lot of time on the All Recipes site (If you've never been there you should absolutely check it out). I've found a few cookie recipes there that look like fun.

Now my problem is deciding which ones I actually want to make. I can't do them all.

Random Tuesday Thoughts!

Random! Random! Random Tuesday! Yay! I love Tuesdays!

Click the Random box above and head over to Keely's blog to play along!

1. I saw two deer the other night in the middle of town. They were running from one little patch of trees on one side of the road to another little patch of trees on the other side. I have no idea where they came from or where they were going because we really don't have "woods" around here at all. Just little patches of trees here and there.

2. There's this movie that I've been waiting and waiting for. It's called Ca$h and it's been in production in some form or another for years. I'm talking something like three years. I think it was supposed to come out in '07. Well, that never happened but it's FINALLY getting there. I am so excited. I sure hope it's worth all this anticipation. Sean Bean is in it so even if it turns out it's not that spectacular, at least it won't be a total waste.

3. Making Caramel French Toast for breakfast today. I'll let you know how it turns out. The picture makes my mouth water and I want a glass of milk just looking at it.

4. If you didn't see my blog yesterday you should really check it out. Brighten a Soldiers day! (Especially around this time of year.)

5. All the hype about New Moon has me almost wanting to read the Twilight Series again. Maybe just the good parts? (That would be anything with Edward and nothing with Jake. Sorry, Jake.)

6. Nice and cool here yesterday (and hopefully today too). We even had the heat on. Although to be honest I probably wouldn't have turned the heat on except that J really wanted it. He seems to get cold a lot faster than I do.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks, rather short, edition of Random Tuesday Thoughts! Have a great day!