Saturday, September 29, 2012

Special K's Trashy Brownies

So this blog has mostly been pics of us usually, something I will try to do is let you all know a project we are working on or a great recipe that is worth sharing.  Here will be the first recipe post!!  So Kristen reached deep into her cooking muscles and came across the middle strong.  You will LOVE these "Trashy Brownie's", that she made.  Take a look at these pictures!! And to answer your question, YES, they tasted as good as they look, and better!! I'll give you the run down on what she did as well!!  Mouth watering and scrumptious is the short answer! Here it is:

They have a couple different names.... Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie N' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar's (www.eatunread.com), as well as a name I'm not allowed to put on the website due to it's graphic name....

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
Brownie Ingredients: 
(OR you can use a family-sized brownie mix prepared according to the box instructions.)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 2 ¼ cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 ¼ cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chocolate chips (I didn’t use these)
And:
  • 1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with wax paper and spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer: Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. 
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. 
  4. For the Brownie Layer : In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
  5. While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.
  6. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
  7. Add the flour, again stirring until smooth. 
  8. Assembly: Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of your prepared pan.
  9. Top the cookie dough with a layer of Oreos. 
  10. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. 
  11. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15-25 minutes. 
  12. Let cool completely before cutting — brownies may still be gooey in the middle when still warm, but will set up perfectly once cooled. 
Note: To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, simply half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients.

I think after seeing these pics you will really want to attempt this.  I'd say the degree of difficulty for making these was about a 3 out of 10.  But i can say that because I did not make them.  I'll ask Kristen her thoughts later tonight.  But from my viewpoint they looked pretty easy.  They are a strong 8.5-9 out of 10 on the taste scale though!!

Thanks for snacking with us, and we look forward to you stopping in again!





So you'll notice half of the Oreo's did not have PB. I like the PB half better!









There's HOT Mama!





Friday, September 28, 2012

First Mud Race

So about 2 weeks ago i ran in my first Mudd Race!  It was pretty fun!  It was called the "Warrior Dash"  it was essentially a 3.5 mile obstacle course.  Here is the website.  http://www.warriordash.com/ I will probably do another one at some point.  We did get pretty muddy, but it was really fun!  Only down side is I took my Iphone and I double bagged it in a Ziplock baggie. (I did buy name brand for this), but somehow both baggie's got wet and my iphone was the only casualty of the day... I will post the last pictures that i took with it... It was a dark day... I had to drive 3 hours back without any phone coverage or service... That hurt!!











This was the last picture on my Iphone... Not sure why...


Friends from the "Lou"

So yes, it's been a long time.  We have had a lot going on, so i apologize for not updating the website.  We have been doing wonderful!!  Nora is now 17 weeks old as of today 9/28.  She is sleeping thru the night!!!  WOOHOOO, Sleeping thru the night!! We probably put her down around 7:30-8pm and she sleeps till
7-7:30am.  Not bad at all!!  She is also getting cuter and cuter every day.  We practice almost daily with her in the Bumbo seat and she has been working on her abs since 3 months old.  So I anticipate her nickname like her Mom's will be "6 Pack".  She is holding her head up great and she is sitting up very well also.  This week on Wednesday 9/26 we had an appt with her Pediatrician.  Nora Jane weighed in at 13 lb's and 14oz's, and she was 25 inches long.  Sophia also had an appt on the same day and she 44lb's and she was 45inches tall.  He predicted Soph's height to be 5'7 or 5'8, when she is done growing.  That should update you on the growth for the 2 of them.  Sophia is going to school 4 half days Monday thru Thursday.  Sophia is loving getting to know her new friends and seeing old friends during recess.  She absolutely loves school.  Our first Parent Teacher conference is coming up for this year.  We are excited to hear how she is doing in class, and getting to speak with the teacher.  We will update you after the meeting.  Last year she had glowing remarks the entire year!! I have just added pictures of our recent month..
Over the labor day weekend we had some friends come up.  Doug, Jill, Claire and Tanner Olroyd came up to spend the labor day weekend with us.  We had a great time as you will see in the pictures.  A little bit of history, but Doug and Jill are the reason that Kristen and I are together.  They kind of set us up together and it was at their house that we first really got to sit down and get to know each other.  That was in 2000... WOW!!  12 years later and look at us now.  Please enjoy the pictures and i think you will see how much fun we had!!



Those don't look like fake smiles at all... REALLY?