Homemade Hot Fudge

Hot fudge, I thought I knew how good it was, until I made some homemade.  Wow.  It is so rich and chocolaty.  So much better than the stuff out of the jar.  I never realized how easy it was either!  I made some for this icing and had plenty left over to enjoy over some Blue Bell Southern Blackberry Cobbler ice cream. 

Hot Fudge Sauce

recipe courtesy of How Sweet

1 cup sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water or scalding milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a bowl or pot over a double boiler. Bring water or milk to a boil.

Gradually add hot liquid to sugar mixture. Stir constantly until mixture thickens.

Once it has reached the desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Spinach & Tomato Stuffed Flounder

Here is another one of those posts that got lost and never got posted!  I usually don't get around to posting recipes until a week or two after I've made them, but this one has probably been over a month. 

Anyway, here is a dish I came up with on a whim when I had nothing planned for dinner.  Its not really "stuffed" flounder, more like topped flounder!  I used a bunch of tiny heirloom cherry tomatoes I picked up at the farmers market along with a huge zucchini.  You could really stuff (or top) fish with anything you've got on hand!

I served this with some "stuffed" zucchini.  I scooped out the seeds of a large zucchini and filled it with marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese.  The needed to bake longer than the fish so start these first and bake until tender!
Ingredients:
4-6 flounder fillets (mine were pretty thin)
6 oz fresh spinach
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
6 cooked shrimp
1 cup cherry tomatoes (I used heirloom)
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
seasonings: basil, oregano, and S & P

Chop shrimp and half tomatoes.  In a bowl mix spinach, mozzarella, shrimp, tomatoes, and garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with whatever you choose.  Top fish fillets in a baking dish and cook until they flake easily with a fork.  Mine took about 12 minutes at 375.  Top both fish and zucchini with parmesan cheese before serving.

Grilled Vegetable Quinoa

This post is about a month old along with the next one...somehow they got lost in the shuffle!  I had been wanting to make another quinoa side dish recently and had the idea to do a grilled veggie one since I am loving grilling this summer.  We loved the sweet grilled corn from this pasta so I definitely wanted to include that.  I also included zucchini, squash, eggplant, tomato, and roasted garlic.  I decided I wasn't a fan of the eggplant consistency in it, so I left it out of the recipe below!  I roasted the garlic by putting it on the back of the grill while the rest of the veggies cooked, but you can also do that in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 bulb garlic

1 squash

1 zucchini

1/4 red onion

3 roma tomatoes

1 ear corn

3 basil leaves

olive oil

1/2 cup quinoa

Method:

Slice zucchini & squash lengh wise.  Slice the top off the garlic bulb.  Brush zucchini, squash, garlic, & corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Place the garlic clove at the back of the grill and grill all veggies.  Corn will take the longest, be sure to grill it on each side until it starts to turn carmel colored - it will take about 40 minutes total.  Add whole tomatoes to the grill last and watch carefully.  They will get mushy and stick to the grill if you cook too long.  While veggies are grilling add diced red onion and a few tablespoons olive oil to a saucepan and saute until the onions are tender.  Add 1/2 cup water to the pan with onions and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add 1/2 cup quinoa.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes.  Once veggies are grilled, dice them, slice corn off cob and squeeze out garlic cloves.  Add all veggies to cooked quinoa.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste.  Top with thinly sliced fresh basil.

Roasted Garlic Bread

Here's another thing I've made multiple times in the past two weeks!  I have never had better garlic bread!  One of my best friend's mom, Mavis, suggested spreading roasted garlic on a french loaf a while ago and I have been dying to try it.  I love roasted garlic, if you've never had it, its completely different than fresh garlic.  It becomes almost like a spread and becomes very sweet with a deep garlic flavor, not too intense.  I made it for the first time with a salad I still need to share last week and the second and third time this week with this soup.  This recipe is so easy and really just irresistible.  We also melted some sliced fresh mozzarella on top of some of the bread but that's completely optional!

1 french loaf
2 bulbs of garlic
olive oil
S & P
mozzarella cheese

Chop the top off your garlic and drizzle with olive oil and S&P.  Wrap in foil, and roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.  You will know its done when you can squeeze the cloves out very easily (and your house will smell amazing).  Cut your bread down the center longways.  Spread it with butter first and then with the garlic.  Add some sliced mozzarella if desired and broil for just a few minutes to melt the cheese and heat up the bread.

Lasagna Soup

Yet another dinner idea found via Pinterest (I see a trend continuing in the future) original recipe from A Farm Girl's Dabbles.  This soup was amazing, it really tasted just like lasagna.  It was so warm and comforting, yet it felt like a lightened up version of the original.  So good, I made it again 4 nights later!  The best part was it was so incredibly easy to make compared to lasagna.  If you think about it, there are so many steps involved in lasagna - cook the pasta, cook the meat, make the layers of pasta, meat, sauce, & cheese.  For this soup though, you cook it all in one pot!  I made the recipe pretty identical to hers with just a few small exceptions.  I didn't have enough lasagna noodles, so I added in spaghetti (you could really use any pasta - the second time I made it, I used all penne).  I also added in some mushrooms because I had them.  And when we ate the leftovers the next day I threw in some spinach while it was heating back up on the stove to get in some more veggies.

Ingredients:
1/2 lbs. Italian sausage (I used breakfast sausage because I already had it!)
1/2 large chopped onion
1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
6 c. chicken stock (I used 5 and 1 cup water)
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta (whatever pasta you have will work, whole wheat is best!)
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I used dried basil)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
for the cheesy yum:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  At this point I just started tasting the broth and added more seasoning to our taste.  I also added a few teaspoons of sugar to sweeten it as well.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Cleaning Schedule

Can I just tell you that this little schedule I came up with in 15 minutes has changed my life?  I am not being dramatic either!  I think I usually do a pretty good job keeping my house clean.  But in reality, in the past, if you saw it during the week I would probably be embarrassed!  That's because I used to do all my cleaning on the weekend if someone was coming over, or if not...whenever I got around to it.  I always had this overwhelming 'I don't have enough time' feeling (i.e. 4 loads of clean laundry sitting in front of me that I don't feel like folding and 3 dirty bathrooms that desperately need cleaned).

I don't remember where I first came across the idea of making a cleaning schedule, but who's-ever idea that was is a genius!!!  I basically started by sitting down and listing what all I would LIKE to get done on a normal basis.  Then I placed them into groups based on how often I would like to do them.  Then I assigned them to nights of the week based on what I typically have going on that night - for example: not much to do on the nights we have bible study, and more to do on the nights Corey is in class for his MBA program.  Once I had everything scheduled I put task reminders in my phone to go off weekly so I would know what to do that night when I got off work.  Lastly I started making a list of "big" or random other house projects that I would like to get done sometime in the future, that I usually put off.  Last weekend I organized our shoe/coat closet - took probably 20 minutes. 

I think the thing to remember is to try out your schedule and if after a week or two it's tough to keep up with, modify it so that it works for you!  I think you will be surprised like I was though.  Now I always feel caught up and its amazing the feeling a clean house will give you.  Like I said above, I feel like I am only committing an extra 15-30 minutes each night, which is a lot less overwhelming than hours and hours on the weekend.  Plus, now I actually get around to those random projects that have been in the back of my mind for who knows how long and get to cross some of them off my list!

So here is my schedule.  Its specific to my house and my other schedule commitments, but if you follow the same steps I did above, you can come up with one of your own.  I am also going to skip over the everyday things that I do everyday.  Those include make our bed in the morning, wipe down counters & do dishes after dinner, and pick up clutter at the end of the night.

Monday
Budget
Pay Bills
Clean out microwave
Clean/Polish Stainless Steal Appliances

Tuesday
Wash & dry 1 load of laundry

Wednesday
Put away laundry

Thursday
Either clean bathrooms or Wash our sheets (I switch these every other week)

Friday
Vacuum
Dust
Gloss Counters (granite)
Deep clean sink

Saturday
Wash & dry 1 load of laundry
Wash Towels
Big project (either Saturday or Sunday)

Sunday
Put away laundry
Sweep & Mop Kitchen

I hope this helps you simplify your life like it has mine!

Pear Muffins w/ Cinnamon Crumble

These muffins were by far the best I've ever made!  The. Best.  They were so moist and fluffy and the pears with the cinnamon crumble on top was amazing.  I was in the mood to bake something Saturday afternoon and after making brownies earlier in the week I decided to make something a little healthier - muffins for the following week!  I asked Corey what kind he wanted and he suggested pear since we had some sitting on the kitchen table.  I had never come across a recipe for Pear Muffins, so I decided to do a search on Pinterest.  Second thing that came up was these muffins!  They come via pinterest from the Frosted Bake Shop blog.  We seriously loved these!  I followed the recipe pretty close below, decided to go with the all purpose flour, etc. and they did not disappoint.  The recipe yielded 18 muffins for me.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable oil (didn't have so I used 1/3 c olive oil & 1/3 c vegetable oil spread)

2 eggs

approximately 1/2 cup milk

2 cups peeled and diced pears

Crumb topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup cubed butter

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 2 cup measuring cup, add the eggs and then add enough milk to take it up to 2 cups (if you don't have a 2 cup measuring cup, then half the oil, eggs and milk into a 1 cup measuring cup.) Mix the flour mixture with the oil mixture, then add in the vanilla and pears.

In a medium bowl, mix the crumb topping ingredients and cut with a fork until the butter is in very small pieces. This works best when the butter is still a little bit cold, if it is too warm it will just mush with pressure from the fork.

Fill the muffin tins almost to the top and the sprinkle with the crumb topping mixture. Bake for 15 minutes and check them with a toothpick.  Mine ended up taking about 18-20 minutes, make sure not to over bake.