Reese's Cake

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and HAD to try it because it pretty much looks AMAZING and guess what!??! IT WAS AMAZING!!

Haha seriously though it was sooo good, and definitely not as difficult as I thought it might be… I did use a box cake as my base for the cake so that helped!

Reese's Cake

1 Chocolate Cake mix

1 Instant Chocolate Pudding mix

4 Eggs

1 ¼ C. Water

½ C. Crisco or vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Grease and flour two 9x2” round cake pans (you can also line the pans with a circle of parchment paper to keep it from sticking). Divide batter evenly into the 2 pans. Bake for 26-30 minutes or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans. Place pans on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, run a knife along the edges and remove cakes from pans. Cool to room temperature.

Peanut Butter Frosting/Filling

1 C. Powdered Sugar

1 C. Creamy Peanut butter

5 TBS butter at room temperature

¼ tsp salt

1/3 C. Heavy Cream

*You will also need a 12oz bag of mini Reese’s cups

Mix the Powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium/low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you mix. Add the cream and beat on high until the mixture is light and smooth.

Chop the Reese’s Cups in half, I used about 12 for the bottom, 9 for the top then chopped 12 or so for the filling and topping.

Place one of the cake layers on the dish it will be served on OR you can get a circle cardboard wrapped in tin foil and frost it on that so you can move it easier later. Spread the Peanut Butter frosting on the top of the cake layer and sprinkle with chopped Reese’s Cups. Place the second cake layer on top of the first and frost the top and outside of the cake with the remaining peanut butter frosting. Decorate with the halved and chopped Reese’s cups.

Quinoa Pilaf

This is a healthier substitute for rice (it's not actually a grain) that is actually pretty good!! The texture is a little different than rice but not too bad!

I got this recipe from here.

Quinoa Pilaf

1 TBS olive oil

1/4 tsp onion powder (or 1/4 onion chopped... if you like that sort of thing!)

1 Cup quinoa

2 Cups water

2 tsp chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

In a 10 inch skillet with a lit, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion powder and quinoa. Saute until the quinoa starts to brown (and if you are using an onion until it turns clear).

Add the water and chicken bouillon (or you could use 2 C. chicken broth) and parsley flakes and bring to a slight boil. Cover and reduce heat. Cook for 12 minutes, covered, until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff it with a fork, recover and allow it to steam for another 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if needed, and serve.

Granola Bars

I got this recipe from here

Granola Bars - Chocolate Chip

2 cups plain granola

4 TBS butter

1/2 C. Brown sugar

1/4 C. Honey

1 C. Rice Krispies

1 TBS Ground Flax Seed

1/2 C. Mini Chocolate Chips

Apple Berry

All ingredients listed above except for the chocolate chips

1/3 C. Craisins

3 TBS Dried apple Pieces

Mix the granola, rice krispies, and flax seed in a large bowl. Set aside.

Mix the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add to the dry ingredients and add in your fruit or chocolate chips and mix until it is evenly coated. Press into a parchment lined baking sheet and let it chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Lift parchment paper out of pan, set on the counter and I used our plastic pizza cutter to shape the bars. I had issues with my chocolate chips melting and getting all over my hands as I pressed it, so maybe just let it cool a little before adding the chocolate chips ?? I'll try it next time and see how it goes. I keep mine in the freezer and eat them hard (frozen) or you can let them thaw and they are chewy! So easy and delicious!

Homemade Granola

I made this to make granola bars (recipe will be coming soon!) and it was actually really good just eating it plain! And the best part is how simple it is to make!

I used this recipe and changed it up a little.

Granola

4 C. Rolled Oats

2oz bag Sliced Almonds (Abt. 2/3 Cup), crushed

2 TBS Flour

2 TBS Ground flax seed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C. Brown sugar

2 TBS water

1/4 C. Vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

Crush the almonds so they are in small pieces. In a large bowl mix the rolled oats, almonds, flour, flax seed, and salt. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and water until the sugar is somewhat dissolved. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla. Pour the sugar mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until it is well incorporated. Spread on a 9x13 cookie sheet (you can line with parchment paper for easy cleanup) and bake for 25 minutes at 300 degrees, take out and stir. If you would like to add dehydrated fruit then add it now. Then bake for an additional 12 minutes. Let it cool. It will store for about 10 days. Or you could store it in the fridge or freezer and it will last 2+ weeks.

Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie

Ok so we are TRYING to eat healthier... this has never been one of my strong points! So I was trying to figure out how to get more fruits and veggies in our day and I came across green smoothies. I thought it could be the solution (I love smoothies!), but I was VERY suspicious of the claims that you couldn't even taste the greens.

Well I went for it and it was delicious! I noticed the smell was a little different (might have been in my head :P) but it tasted just like a strawberry banana smoothie. My daughter drank it all up and cried for more! :)

I'm no expert but here is what I did, It made enough for about 2 big smoothies

Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie

1 1/2 - 2 C. Spinach

1 Banana

1 C. frozen Strawberries

1 C. lemonade (or juice of a lemon and water)

1 TBS Ground flax seed

1 tsp. Honey or Agave Nector

2 oz g3 (you can find that here on my website, it is a juice with lots of benefits)

1/2 C. Ice

Put the lemonade (or water) in the blender with the spinach and blend until smooth. Add the banana, strawberries, and g3, blend until strawberries are broken up (my blender had a little bit of a hard time but i just turned it off then back on a few times) Add the flax seed, honey and ice and blend until it is the consistency you want. Drink it all up and feel healthy! :)