Brownie taste test! And the guilt that follows...

So I am a TERRIBLE runner.  I am about to turn 38 and all of my childhood bumps and bruised have turned into knees that don't allow me to jump up and down for long and joints with arthritic type pains.  LAME!!  I am trying to "train" for a 5 K run in February.  This training consists of running until my left knee throbs and then walking until it stops and then starting all over again.  NOT cool.  But I am trying so Woo HOO!!  Anyways, I went about 2 and 3/4 miles (not too bad) and then did a Tracy Anderson mat workout.  MY LEGS ARE DEAD.  To celebrate the fact that I exercised, I thought it would be a good idea to make me some brownies. ????  Before my mind could catch up with my actions, I had made a yummy pan of dark chocolaty goodness.  As they were baking, guilt crept into my mind and told me to make some "healthy" brownies.  So....

Voila!!

Garbonzo bean (aka chick pea) brownies.  Hmmm.  The got 4 1/2 stars on allrecipes...how bad can they be?  I made them and decided to have a family taste test!  

Matt didn't see me make them, so he just chowed both the "good"ones and the chick pea ones.  He favored the good ones.

Alex, on the other hand, knew I had something up my sleeve.  She took a tiny nibble of the suspicious looking dessert and gobbled up what she knew to be familiar.  

Sophie saw me make the brownies, and surprisingly tried both with no hesitation!  She still picked the yummy ones.

Steve came home from work and dove into the brownies.  Again, the non-chick pea brownie was the winner.  

Finally it was my turn to try them both.  What was I thinking?  The chick pea skins were all throughout the brownies.  I was chewing on lumps and the flavor was just so so.  I agree with the fam.  Lesson learned.  DESSERT IS DESSERT WHEN MADE FOR ENJOYMENT NOT HEALTH BENEFITS.  So I ate too many "good" brownies and now I have to deal with the guilt.  Oh well!

results of the poptart taste test!

The results of the "Fall Favorite Poptart Flavor" are in! Some friends stopped by just in time to participate, and here is what we did.
First, we chopped up a BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON poptart.
Everyone tried a sample. We followed with S'MORES flavor, CHOCO-LANTERN, and finally...
PUMPKIN PIE. Brown sugar won with 6 votes, Choco-lantern came in second with 3 votes. S'more got 1 vote and Pumpkin Pie got nothing but a few "Yuck"s.
So there you go. Not my favorite family taste test, but I just felt like I owed it to the Poptart people who came up with Pumpkin Pie flavored poptarts.

How to get your kid to eat spinach...have them drink it!

This is a miracle you are witnessing.  I have the pickiest eaters around.  I have done everything to make veggies cute, pretty, plain, disguised...you name it!  My kids don't eat them.
That is until.....
I found the Green Monster Smoothie recipe that has saved me!!!  
Yes, it looks disgusting!  I didn't even try to hide the color like I have been all week.  I just said drink your salad or eat it on the plate.  Well, the smoothie tastes great!  No spinach flavor whatsoever.  They actually drank them.  Even Steve.  
Then Sophie said she'd like the spinach on the plate!!!  What???
I didn't give her a plate, but I did let her take a handful out of the bag to munch away!


I had to capture the moment.  Here is the recipe:  fill your blender with spinach and add some skim milk or almond milk.  Whir it up to make a gross looking green milk.  Add 1 frozen banana and a bunch of frozen berries.  Then it will turn kind of brown (eewww) but once it turned kind of purple.  Anyways, you can stop here or add a scoop of protein powder if you want and whir it up again!  So delish!!  I have also omitted the berries and added a scoop of almond butter or peanut butter.  Add cocoa powder to hide the green.  Seriously - so good!

The verdict

The results from the last post are in! I guess I'll be sharing :)

What to do...

This has been sitting in my cupboard for awhile now. I think I am ready to use it up. I am in search of a great Nutella recipe. First on the list are these. I hope I'm not the one who eats them all. My kids (and husband) are afraid of anything that has flecks, discolorations, colorations, texture, or anything else 'unknown' to their palates. I've tried that whole 'sneak it in and they'll never know' thing (pureed' veggies in spaghetti sauce, tofu in banana bread, wheat germ in pancakes, etc.) If there is a HINT of flavor different than the usual - I eat it all so as not to waste. This recipe is pure sugar and yumminess, right? So I shouldn't be left with 7 dozen cookies with my name on them, right? We'll see what happens.

Hazelnut Hot Chocolate at Starbucks...ranked #2

I tried it, I liked it, but the winner is Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate. YUM!!! This one is good too, and I'd never turn it down - but my heart belongs to Salted Caramel :)

Caramel Apple Taste Test

I'm in the mood for caramel! I've been wanting to start another taste test, and caramel + taste test needs apples!

So tonight we tried our first caramel recipe. I found it on 101 Cookbooks blog. It is a vegetarian blog that posts mainly healthy recipes, so I figured I'd start with the "healthy" caramel and go up from there. (Hers look prettier that mine because a) I used forks instead of cute lollipop sticks and b) I couldn't find my candy thermometer and used the soft ball/hard ball test so mine wasn't quite as thick and there are other reasons as well...). The recipe uses honey as a base instead of brown sugar, and, as a result, is pretty honeyish tasting. But if you are used to honey instead of sugar in your recipes, this is a good caramel. My kids noticed the difference between what they know as caramel and this caramel right away. But it didn't stop them from eating their apple! Moving on to Kelly McDonald's amazing caramel recipe...

The Molasses Cookie Results

I have been out voted! The kids all said the same thing. Kelly's recipe has won the challenge! Sophie's first response to the taste test was that these tasted just like Trader Joe's cookies. Matt said the exact same thing. Okay. I admit defeat!

Molasses Cookies Part 2

I finally made Kelly's recipe for Molasses Cookies. I must say, they are good, but I think I like my original recipe the best.
The kids will be home from school within the hour to give their opinion.
I think these taste wonderful fresh from the oven and have the perfect soft texture. As they cool, the flavor reminds me more of a gingersnap rather than a molasses cookie. But I like it! Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream together shortening and brown sugar. Stir in egg and molasses and mix well.
Fold in dry ingredients and stir. Cover and chill till firm (1-2 hours). Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough into small balls and roll in white sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes.

(For some reason, the ingredients link to Recipezaar Dictionary. So if you ever wanted to know more about, say, molasses, you can just click the link.)

I do have to ask, WHAT HAPPENED TO TRADER JOE'S MOLASSES COOKIES??? They were there and now they aren't. They were a staple for my secret stash. I hope they sell them again soon.

Sophie's Thoughts and Cookies

I have to start with a "motivational quote" from Sophie. At their school, they have an art contest each year. The kids can submit poetry, photos, stories, hand drawn pictures, etc. interpreting a different theme every year. This year's theme is "WOW!" So I asked Sophie if she'd like to participate. She was not sure, but she was willing to discuss some ideas with me. I asked her if she could think of anything that would make her say, 'Wow!' when she saw it. She thought for a moment and replied, "If our van was clean."

Anyways, my sister called me yesterday asking for a Molasses Cookie recipe. I gave her my most favorite one. She ended up making a different recipe she found on Recipezaar.com and said that they were delicious. (I ended up making my own recipe because...well, why not). She thought hers would be better, so we are doing another taste test! Here is my recipe:

Molasses Cookies

14 tablespoons butter
2 cups sugar, divided
1/3 cup molasses
2 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ tsp. Ground ginger
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¾ tsp. Baking soda
¼ tsp. Salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Oven 350
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. In a medium –size saucepan, melt the melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the sugar along with the molasses. Cool for 15 minutes, or until tepid.
Meanwhile, mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium-size bowl. Beat the egg into the butter mixture in the saucepan, then gradually add the flour mixture and stir until well combined (the dough will be soft).
Pour the remaining sugar into a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, then roll each ball in the sugar. Place the balls on the baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies have flattened. Makes about 5 dozen.

Next week, I'll make her recipe (which I'm still waiting for her to e-mail to me.)

The Molasses Cookie Taste Test has begun!

S'mores Taste Test

My sister brought me some of my favorite Canadian chocolate bars when she came to visit, so we decided to have a taste test of which chocolate made the best s'mores.
The Curfews came by to help out...
The final results were: Canadian S'mores = 6 votes. Hershey S'mores = 1 vote (Steve said he liked the Canadian chocolate by itself better than in a s'more, and he loved good ol' Hershey in his s'more.)

On to the next taste test!

The Search Continues

Last night we decided to venture out to Yo Yum Yum Frozen Yogurt. I believe we found a family favorite.
The kids pretty much filled up trying all of the flavors with tester cups. The price was according to weight, and you still got a lot for a decent price.
They had a wide variety of flavors from Original (think Pinkberry), to Chocolate, to Mango, etc. The self serve topping bar reminded me of Pinkberry with fresh cut fruit and cereal (love Captain Crunch), but then they throw in all things chocolate (brownies, peanut butter cups), and gummy (worms, etc.). So there was something for everyone!
The yogurt was a bit creamier than Pinkberry, but with the same tart flavor - definately not as sweet as Golden Spoon.
I am definately enjoying this taste test.

Our Next Test...Frozen Yogurt!!

My friend called and let me know that Yogurtland just opened!!! I haven't been yet, but believe me - I'm going this week. We decided, before trying the new Yogurtland, to find our favorite frozen yogurt in town. We started yesterday with yummy Pinkberry. 5 stars from me!!! Their original is the best. Alex gives it 2 (she likes the sweet better than the tart flavor), Matt gives it 5 (go Matt!) Steve gives it a 4 1/2 - saying that it is better if you don't have it often - like my old "at least once a week" habit. Sophie will finish her medium size- loaded with fruit-every time and she gives it 5 stars. The only down side - the price!! At almost $5.00 each - we can't afford to do family treats there very often.
Today, we went to Golden Spoon. Everyone got side-by-side vanilla and whatever other flavor they wanted plus cookie dough. The price was great - $2.35 for a small - plenty for my kids - and the topping was cheap too. I gave it 3 1/2 stars for flavor. Steve gave it 2 stars. Sophie didn't like the Strawberry flavor she got and didn't even finish her mini size because of it. Spohie gave it 2 stars.
Matt gives Golden Spoon 4 stars. He loves the chocolate vanilla combo, and the cookie dough is pretty yummy!
Alex gives Golden Spoon 3 1/2 stars. She likes the first few bites and then ALWAYS puts a little over half in the freezer (which inevidably I get into later...I can't rest knowing there are goodies in my freezer!) Next up Yogurtland!