Chocolate Pie

A few weeks ago, my husband’s volunteer fire department held their annual roast beef supper fundraiser.  Hubs asked me to make a few pies.  It was a bit on short notice, so I whipped some chocolate pies up.  They aren’t like a pudding pie, it was more like a brownie/whipped cream deliciousness.  The recipe is gluten-free, so if you have a recipe for gluten-free pie crust, you should try this out!

Step 1: Pre-bake your pie crust.

Step 2: Over a double boiler, melt 1c of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1/2 c of margarine or butter

Step 3: In a separate bowl, beat three eggs, a dash of salt, and 1/2 c of sugar.  When well-beaten, gradually add to the chocolate mixture.

Step 4: With your oven set to 350, bake for 15-20 minutes, until it is firm, and cracks start to appear on top.

Step 5: After it has cooled (the fridge being the best place for it to set), you can make some whipped cream for the top.  I put in about 1/2 c of whipping cream (18% cream) into a cold bowl and starting whipping.  Gradually add a few tablespoons of sugar until you’ve reached the desired consistency.  **Note, add the sugar asap, otherwise you may end up with butter**

Step 6: Top with some shaved chocolate or sprinkles, and enjoy!

This recipe was inspired from this one that I found at Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/Chocolate-Pie/

Work in Progress

I know I haven’t been posting a lot lately.  I’ve been exhausted at nights, and I find myself wanting to be in bed as soon as my toddler goes to bed.  Here’s some of the things that I’ve been up to lately:

I made some more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake pops for a birthday party.

Here’s a set that I’m making for our new addition.  They haven’t been finished yet.  Once they’re done (hopefully… this weekend…) I’ll post the pattern for the hat, as well as the link for where to find the pattern for the booties and the diaper cover.  It’s going to be based on a cartoon character, can you guess who?

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Beachy Hair Spray

We’ve recently been enjoying some lovely weather here in Eastern Canada, with temperatures in the mid-20s.  Not quite warm enough to go for a dip in the water, but there were some days that I was sorely tempted.  Especially because I’m feeling rather large and pregnant.

Anyway, pregnancy is making me exhausted lately, and I haven’t had time to do much with my hair.  I mixed up some hair spray, and thought that you may want to try it.  It will give you hair that looks like you were at the beach.  Here’s what you put into a spray bottle:

• 1 1/2 T of Epsom salt
• 3 squirts of hair gel (use whatever your favourite is)
• 1/2 C of warm water (dissolves the salt)

Shake, and then spray away.  I find it helps to scrunch the hair, as well.

The hair gel is optional, but it keeps the waves in all day.  I used to mix it up with just salt and water, and my hair would flatten out by lunch time.

**Note – I do have naturally wavy hair, but it never stays wavy all day.  This spray helps emphasize my natural waves.

Pumpkin Dog Treats

You may have seen a picture floating around facebook of a dog treat recipe.  A few people on my friends list have shared it.  Last fall, while I was making all of my pumpkin recipes (cheesecakes, muffins, pastas, and a pasta sauce, just to name a few…) I meant to make dog treats, but I didn’t get around to it.  While hubs was gone to a meeting tonight, my son and I made “puppy tookies”, as he called them.

Start off with some canned pumpkin (make sure it’s just pureed pumpkin, not pie filling), or real pumpkin if it’s that time of year:

Add some eggs and stir:

Next, I added some salt and fresh parsley (don’t worry, dried is fine!)

Now it’s time for the dry ingredients, powdered milk and flour.  It will form a stiff dough.  Kind of reminded me of biscotti.  Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!

Once the dough is combined, roll it out to the desired thickness.  We have a big dog, so we rolled it out to about 1/2″, but you can make it thinner if you wish.  Then cut it into shapes.  I found the cookie cutter at the Bulk Barn for 69 cents.

After they are on the cookie sheet, you can pierce holes in them with a fork if you wish.  Go down about halfway.

I baked them at 350 for about 18 minutes, flipped them, and then baked for about another 15.  You may need to adjust cooking times depending on the size of your treats.  After they cooled, someone was waiting patiently for her treat!

Verdict: pretty yummy!

Pumpkin Dog Treats

• 1/2 c canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t dried parsley (although, I put a few handfuls of fresh into my food processor and chopped it up… ended up equaling about 1 T)
• 2 T dried milk
• 2 1/2 c flour

1.  Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, salt, and parsley.  Gradually add in the milk and flour, making a stiff dough.

2.  Roll out to desired thickness, and cut cookies.  Put onto cookie sheet (I used parchment paper) and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, flip, and then bake for another 15.

3.  Once cooled, let your doggy enjoy!

**Some notes on the ingredients:

I used brown rice flour.  Some dogs have trouble digesting wheat, like humans.  It’s up to you what you want to use, though!

Pumpkin is great for dogs because it can help with their digestion and regularity.  Some dogs eat pumpkin straight out of the can.

Parsley is for the breath.  I haven’t tested it out to see if it has worked yet, though.  I’ll get back to you.

Finally, I think I found the original source for this recipe.  The shared photo on facebook didn’t have a link to the original site, but this one seems to be pretty close to what was posted.

As for the left over pumpkin, because it was a ginormous can… we’ll probably make another batch of dog treats later this week, but in the meantime, I’m going to see what kind of smoothies I can make with pumpkin puree.  Yum!

Smoothie Freezer Packs

Smoothies are pretty easy to make, right?  But sometimes in the morning I don’t have a ton of time to hull strawberries, chop pineapple, or peel oranges.  I came up with a solution to make my mornings go a little smoother (smoothie/smoother?).  It will take some time (preferably on the weekend, or a weeknight, when you have some to spare), but the effort is definitely well worth the pay-off.

Here is how to make smoothie freezer packs.

First, start with an empty freezer bag (I used the sandwich size):

Add your ingredients (I put in half a banana, about 6 strawberries, and some coconut):

Next, you can add some yogourt if you wish.  This can always be added when you are blending the smoothie.  My preference is for Greek, but you can put in your favourite!

Finally, seal them up and throw them in the freezer.  When you are ready to use, put it in the blender with about a half cup of liquid (more may be necessary), like milk or juice.

Yum yum!  It took me about 15 minutes to make 6 freezer packs.  The next morning, it took me 1 minute to make a smoothie.

Feel free to experiment with other combinations!  What are your favourite combinations for smoothies?

 

Quick Quiche Recipe

We were given some fresh eggs this week, so we ended up with three dozen in the fridge.  If you’ve got a lot of eggs, a quiche can be a way to use some of them.  Here’s the recipe that I made over the weekend, with great results.  Here are the ingredients that you’ll need (but really… you can throw anything into a quiche, and it will taste good):

• Pie crust (frozen is fine!)
• 6 eggs
• cheese (I used a few slices of Havarti)
• 1 red pepper
• 3 slices of prosciutto
• black pepper to taste

I first chopped up the pepper.  I put in on a cookie sheet with the prosciutto and  broiled it until the prosciutto was crispy and the pepper started to caramelize (blacken), which took about 10 minutes.  Make sure to turn after 5.  Put the pepper and the prosciutto on the bottom of your pie crust and add the cheese and pepper.

Then pour your eggs over the top.  Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes, or until the eggs have cooked and the crust is golden.

Yum yum!

**Note… I took these pictures with my new phone.  I think I’ll stick with the camera…

Crockpot Rice Krispie Squares

Spring has arrived!  And it brought a snowstorm with it… and a snow day.  So we’re home in our PJs today.  We made some crockpot rice krispie squares today, and let me tell you, are they ever easy!  You use the recipe on the box, and here’s what you do:

Put your butter in first (I use margarine):

Then you add the marshmallows (the recipe calls for 40, but I put in 50, because I like ‘em gooey):

I added vanilla at this point, and then covered the whole thing with the rice krispies:

Note: this the the 4L insert for my slow cooker.  If you have a smaller slow cooker, you will need to adjust the recipe.  At this point, I turned it on low and let it cook for about 50 minutes.

If it looks like this after stirring, it’s ready!

If the marshmallows haven’t all melted yet, leave it for another 20 minutes or so.

After you get it stirred, press it down into a GREASED 9×13 pan.  I used a piece of parchment paper to keep my fingers from getting sticky.

And then enjoy!  Yum yum!