Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Peanut Butter Cookie Candy Brownie Bars

I know that I am lacking somewhere in my life and I am sure that it has to do with my God or my ego… Normally I back-pave those holes with food. Yes, I eat my feelings. For those that know me well, you know that I have battled severe nausea for years now. So, for me, when I get a hankering for something, my brain just does not stop until I feed the need. This week it has been chocolate and pretzels. It has gotten so bad that I stopped at Caribou Coffee, looked at the Barista as if I was waiting for her to read my mind and up word vomitting on her about wanting a Snicker’s in a cup. Of course it did not come out as smoothly as, “May I please have something that tastes like a Snicker’s?” No, there were many more grunts of inaudible words as the thought tried to make it’s way out of my mouth. She for sure thought there was something wrong with me… well, something more than my norm.
All kidding and my grunts aside, I have been falling apart trying to find something that might spark my interest. I came across this beauty of a recipe over at BabyGizmo.com… Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Peanut Butter Cookie Candy Brownie Bars How’s that for a mouthful? I am trying to stay away from the fat content and ignore all the usual bells and whistles, this is purely for the pleasure of having beautiful Noms. Check it out and tell me what you think…

My Nachos

I have been noticing a pattern lately in my eating habits... It is a Mexican kick again. I swear, sometimes I could eat the same foods for a month straight, then all of a sudden, I can't take another bite of "it" for six months! Today I decided to throw myself together some black bean nachos while I was making the Lemur King his foods. Snagging a bit of the black beans and rice, those were the first to go on the tortilla chips... I ended up throwing on some tomatoes that needed to be used up, a little green onion, and cheese of course. Went out of my way to bake them in the oven to spoil myself a bit. Just threw them on 350 degrees just until the cheese melts. For myself, I tend to go a bit overboard here, baking until all edges are brown and crispy. Once cheese is melted, carefully throw onto a plate, add Ortega Medium sauce, and sour cream Full of awesomeness...

1st Father's Day without Him

This weekend will mark the first Father’s Day since my Dad passed. I honestly wish that I could go without it, what does that say about me? I could easily redeem myself by stating that he would totally understand, but the underlying fact that I wish to be selfish in the first place is still there. When he passed, there were a lot of comments thrown around about my brother and I being adopted, so that somehow implied that we were effected less by his passing, or that he wasn’t as much of a father to us because he wasn’t blood? He was more a father to me than any man I had ever known. It was really quite ridiculous. It is funny to hear of stories about how uptight he use to be about people. My mother always said that he changed the way he looked at people quite a bit in the years they were married. We tend to have that effect on people, my mother and I.
He saw it all clearly before he passed, it was like talking to a completely new man. He understood the effect of negativity, he was ready to try anything to keep himself healthy, anything to get my mom back…  I know that I have said it before, but I will probably repeat it time and again, we were so very blessed to have those hours upon hours to talk before he went into surgery. I know in my heart that there is nothing that could replace that. I had that… his adopted, loved, caring step-daughter. We had that…
Can I tell you how it broke my heart that my son picked up his book of photos and before turning to the correct page, he started saying, “Papa, Papa?” It is the small times such as then that tend to catch me off guard and leave me a bawling mess. Think I might take the Lemur King to his Dad’s in Toledo and head over to Molly’s, my Dad’s favorite little diner to eat? His girls would get a kick out of that. Then maybe take a newspaper over to Charlie, Dad’s best friend. He’s in a home right now and he can’t stand it there. Wish I were able to take him out on my own, but I would be too afraid of him losing his footing and falling. We will have to see how it works out. So much to be done. I know that whatever it is that I end up doing,  Dad will be right there laughing his behind off. Such a comforting feeling.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread Pancakes

(Photo courtesy of My New Roots)

I am having the hardest time adjusting to any type of shift in my normal daily food habits. I know it's selfish and it may not be the best thing for me, but I just love food WAY too much! Shame on me that I use the fact that I am in shape to do as I please when it comes to eating. Though I have noticed lately that my skin is getting that "sag" to it. What the heck is that?! I am not even 40 yet! Maybe if I keep finding things this yummy looking to eat then the transition won't be so hard on me? Please check out these Gluten-free Banana Bread Pancakes from My New Roots, they are just awesome over there!

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust and Salted Caramel

I am a complete sucker for a cheesecake. It has got to be one of my favorite things in the whole world! That being said, when I came across a recipe for a Vanilla bean cheesecake with chocolate crust and salted caramel, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Can you imagine? Well our friends over at Former Chef have sure figured it out!

Hot Dog Wraps- Take 1

So, I almost panicked when Spyder said he wanted hot dogs! I remained calm and chose to spice them up a little bit so that I could stomach the thought. We decided to wrap them in Pillsbury Biscuits! I added a half slice of “cheese” to mine. My oven bakes quite high, so I was baking them at 325 degrees until golden brown. I didn’t want to run the risk of the outside burning and the biscuit dough not being done, or the hot dog being cold, on the inside. We serve our’s up with a side of ketchup and spicy mustard around here. Perfect snack for a cold afternoon!

Monkey Bread Leftovers

So, this evening Spyder had asked for hot dogs for dinner. We very rarely have hot dogs, so there were no buns in the house. I had decided to spruce up our dogs by wrapping them in Pillsbury Biscuits. As much as I hate to admit it, serve with a side of ketchup and spicy mustard, they turned out pretty good! There is a forever mental struggle whenever I am dealing with hot dogs, but these were darn tasty! That being said, we only used a couple biscuits for dinner so I had to think of something on the fly...


I decided on Monkey Bread. This recipe is so simple and I honestly change it up each time I make it. Being that I was not working with a full can of biscuits, I decided to skip using a pan to cook it in and decided on a 2 c Mason jar instead. 

First I cut the biscuits into bite-size pieces and tossed them into a bowl of cinnamon and sugar to coat.

Next, toss all yummy coated pieces into greased jar. I cheated and used cooking spray.

 

Once almost to the top (they need room to grow), you could probably skip this step, but I added a big spoonful of butter and a dash of organic Vanilla Extract. mmmm

Then into the pre-heated oven at 325 degrees...

 until it looks like this....

I want to say that it took close to 20 mins., but honestly, my oven is extremely funky and I kind of guesstimate everything. Please feel free to ask any questions!