Hot Fudge Ice Cream Dessert

This is a great recipe for those times that you don't want to heat up the oven, yet want a delicious, crowd-pleasing dessert that will serve a lot of people. It is also a wonderful base recipe for you to modify to your heart's content, with different flavors of ice-cream bars, sauces, candy or nuts, whatever. But here is how I make it.

Recipe

16 oz chocolate syrup
3/4 cup peanut butter
21 ice cream sandwiches (how many depends on the brand/size of them....I used 10.5 to cover the bottom of my 13 x9 inch pan, and there are 2 layers)
12 oz whipped topping
10 miniature Butterfinger Bars, chopped

Pour chocolate syrup into a bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes, until hot but not boiling.
Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Line a 13 x 9 inch pan with ice cream sandwiches.
Spread with half of the whipped topping.
Drizzle with half the chocolate syrup.
Sprinkle with half the chopped Butterfingers.
Repeat layers.
Your dish will be too full for the lid to fit on, so just stick it in the freezer until hardened and then cover with foil and keep in the freezer. Remove for about 5 minutes before serving, to help make it easier to cut.

Enjoy!

Modification suggestions: Use butter pecan ice cream sandwiches, caramel sauce, and pecans; use above recipe but substitute chopped peanut butter cups or salted peanuts for the butterfingers; use melted raspberry preserves and chocolate chunks/shavings. Sky is the limit here, folks. Be creative!

Pepperjack Pizza

I made this last night for dinner, and everybody, even picky Marissa (2.5) thought it was delicious. I got the original recipe from Tammy's Recipes, but altered it a bit. Here's my version.

Recipe

Crust:

2 T. yeast (or 2 .25 oz packages)

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 T. honey or sugar

2 t. salt

6 T. canola oil

6 cups flour (I use at least half whole wheat)

In a large mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook - awesome!), dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey or sugar and let it sit about 5 minutes, until yeast is frothy.

Add salt, oil, then gradually add flour while mixing. Knead by hand (or let your mixer do the work) for 6-8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I use a preheated but off oven) for 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare topping.

Topping:

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

1/2 cup chopped red or green pepper (optional)

one onion, chopped (optional)

1 t. garlic salt

2 t. chili powder

2 t. cumin

1 t. paprika

1/2 t. onion powder

1 cup (8 oz) pizza sauce (I used one 8 oz can tomato sauce mixed with 1 t. oregano, 1/2 t. basil, 1/2 t. sugar, 1/2 t. paprika, 1 1/2 t. dried minced garlic, and a sprinkle of onion powder)

2 cups (8 oz) pepperjack cheese

2 cups (8 0z) mozzarella cheese

Brown turkey with onion and pepper until browned. Drain grease. Add spices and a few Tablespoons of water and cook 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450.

Divide dough into 3 portions - one smaller than the other two. Put the smaller one aside, I'll tell you what to do with it in a minute.

Roll the 2 equal portions into circles and press into 2 greased pizza pans (I have a 14" and a 12" pan).

Divide sauce between crusts; put on the meat and cheese and bake for 11-12 minutes. I used my convection option and the pizza on the bottom rack was done after 7 minutes, the other one had to bake a few minutes longer.

Now for that leftover piece of dough. Roll it out into a large rectangle on a large cutting board.
Spread with butter or margarine, then sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Spread a nice thick layer of brown sugar over that. Roll up tightly from a long side and cut into cinnamon rolls.
Place in a greased loaf pan and let rise a few minutes.
Turn the oven down to 375 and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until browned and done. Turn out immediately onto a plate.
Sometimes I make a glaze out of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk and drizzle over the top. This time I didn't. Still tasted great!

Cute Kids

I took this picture of the kids the last week of August and just didn't get around to putting it up. I had been working on the computer and heard a little commotion around the corner....I came out to see they had erected their play tent and were all inside having a grand ole time. Moments like these make all those pull-your-hair-out parenting times just fade into oblivion.

Annika's Wellness Checkup

Annika just had her one-year check up today. She did great, picture of health, development is right on track (not that we had any doubts about that). The funny thing was her stats.

Weight: 20.2 lbs - 25th percentile
Height: 30.5" - 90th percentile
Head: 18.5" - 50th percentile

Now, those don't seem particularly remarkable until you compare them to Marissa's at one year.

Weight: 19.8 lbs
Height: 30.5"
Head: 18.5"

Pretty funny, huh? Annika has slimmed down a lot, those squeezable chubs on her thighs are nearly gone. It's a little sad. But, at least now she'll fit into Marissa's old clothes better! That is a definite plus. I was getting a little worried a couple of months ago, because everything was way too tight on her.

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier; she cut two new teeth on her birthday or thereabouts, both on the bottom. She now has four teeth on the bottom, none on top! So cute.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ummmm...don't those look good? I guess all that syrup counteracts the healthy benefits of these full-of-nutrition pancakes, and they really are good without all that....but this was Grant's plate, what can I say?
This recipe evolved from my mom's old standby that I had growing up. We make it every Saturday morning. Sometimes I make them, sometimes Grant. Now I have to admit, they don't always turn out the same.....especially because there are some parts we don't measure exactly. But they're always good, and you should see our kiddos put them away. Lately, we make 1 1/2 times this amount so we can have leftovers for breakfast (for the kids and me) on Monday morning.

Recipe
2 eggs
4 t. baking powder
2 T. sugar or honey
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups whole wheat flour (part buckwheat if we have it)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 - 2 1/2 cups milk

Beat eggs with a whisk or fork. Add remaining ingredients, ending with the milk. Start with 2 cups and stir until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to get desired consistency. Don't add too much....runny pancakes = bleh.
Heat a skillet or griddle and pour batter into desired size pancakes (I prefer to use a 1/4 cup measure; Grant makes them a little smaller). Cook on first side until bubbles form, then flip and cook until done.
Feed the baby small pieces to keep her from yelling until it's time for the family to sit down together. Realize that she's eaten 2 complete pancakes before you make it to the table. And she's still begging for more. And she doesn't even get syrup. Must be pretty good!

What Country Are You?

I just took this ridiculous and amusing quiz and discovered that I am indeed.......

You're Ireland!

Mystical and rain-soaked, you remain mysterious to many people, and this
makes you intriguing. You also like a good night at the pub, though many are just as worried that you will blow up the pub as drink your beverage of choice. You're good with words, remarkably lucky, and know and enjoy at least fifteen ways of eating a potato.
You really don't like snakes.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

Well, I guess the part about potatoes and snakes is about right.......

Happy Cancer-Free Anniversary, Joseph!

Six years ago today, I had the privilege of donating bone marrow to my younger brother, Joseph. He was only 16 years old, recently diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia and near death.
As God had ordained, all three of his older siblings were perfect - not only good, but perfect - matches for donation.
I was chosen for a few reasons that I won't go into here....and was happy to do whatever I could. I ended up having a much more difficult recovery than I anticipated, but it all ended well and Joseph is perfectly healthy today.
I like to tease him that he has "girly" blood, which in fact he does. His blood carries exactly the same DNA as mine and his blood type is not his original A- but now A+, as mine is. He got an upgrade, that's what I say!
We are so thankful for his healing and his life. The anniversary of September 11 has many sad thoughts and memories associated with it....but for our family, it has happy ones as well, because that was the date (one year after the terrorist attacks) that Joseph got a new chance at life.

Note: I don't have any recent pictures of Joseph....this one was from Christmas 2006, where he's obviously getting a kick out of reading a ballerina book to Corban. HA.

Ranger Kid

Corban(4.5) has joined the Royal Rangers at our church, which is a wonderful program for boys, sort of a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts. Last night was his first night. Grant is helping out in his class, which is really nice. Corban came home very excited about the evening and showed me his handbook, in which was the Royal Ranger Code. I read it aloud to him:

Corban immediately replied, "He must be better than his mom and dad!"

I laughed so hard I cried.

Family Visit

Sorry about the long absence.......we've been enjoying a six-day visit from my parents, older sister, and her two daughters and there has been no time for blogging. During their stay, we went to the beach, the Virginia Living Museum, Trader Joes and the park, had a birthday party for Annika (1), went to church, nursed my dad's toe (he slipped and smashed it into our solid oak dining furniture and probably broke it), shopped for shoes, ate at Cheddars, and had a rip-roaring time just watching the kids.

Corban (4.5) loved swimming in the waves.....

Marissa (2.5) loved shoveling the water.....

And Annika (1) loved crawling into the waves until they knocked her down....

And then she took a face plant. Poor baby.

The kids enjoyed pulling each other around in the wagon...Katie (4.5) would say, "Corban, show me how strong you are."

He'd immediately flex his biceps and grimace appropriately....to which she'd nod and say, "Good. Now pull Marissa in the wagon." And he'd obediently head off across the yard, wagon in tow. It was so funny.

Annika developed a quick attachment to Granddaddy, just like her big sister. There was a little rivalry between them for his attention occasionally.

Marissa and Katie became good buddies and snuggled up together to read.

Sabrina (2) and Marissa, on the other hand, had much more of a tumultuous relationship. They spent a good deal of time yelling at each other and engaging in pushing/shoving/hitting matches before we could catch them. Something about those 2-year-olds.....

But the biggest surprise of all was how Sabrina and Corban interacted. Two peas in a pod, those kids. They would run and play and wrestle....and obviously Sabrina would win. :)

Annika loved giving high fives to anyone who would respond to her constant requests for them....especially Nonny and Aunt Sarah.

This was the best we could do at a photo of all the kids on Sunday morning.

And we can't forget Monty....Sabrina was terrified of him at first and would shriek at the sight of him.....but that quickly gave way to her obsession with following him around, hugging him, patting (okay, smacking) him, and pulling his tail. She meant well, really....but I think he was relieved to see her go.

It was a wonderful visit (except for Dad getting hurt) and we were very sad to see them go.

Happy Birthday, Annika!

Our sweet little girl turned 1 yesterday. What a treasure and delight she is.....she fills our home and lives with joy every day.
We had the special privilege this year of having my parents, sister, and her two daughters here (from Arkansas and Tennessee) on her birthday.

As a photo is worth a thousand words, here are some shots from the day.

Watching tv with Nonny

Marissa (2.5), Katie (4.5) and Corban (4.5) helping decorate cupcakes. They thought that was great fun and actually didn't make too much of a mess!

Annika is very pleased to have her own baby doll.

And now she has two!

Corban and Marissa tremendously enjoyed their goodie bags, with books and toys and yes, a little candy, from the grandparents and me.

"I'm not really sure what to do with this...."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot...."

"Oh yeah, baby, that's some good stuff!"