Well, a nasty gastro bug has had our family under the weather in turns since thursday morning… so I’m not really feeling the blog love today. However, I did try making these sugar cookie bars I found on pinterest recently and they are worth a share. Makes an entire cookie sheet full and they are quite thick, so they can be cut fairly small. Great and easy party snack! The only modification I made was to add cream cheese to the icing. Yum!

Sugar Cookie Bars
Sugar Cookie Bars: (from A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock and Roll)
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla to the creamed mixture and then slowly add the dry ingredients.

Press into a greased 13 x 18 inch pan and bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes.

Cool and frost.

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons of milk
food coloring (optional)
sprinkles (optional)

In a mixing bowl, beat the shortening and butter until creamy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Gradually add the 5 tablespoons of milk until you reach your desired constancy.

For the sprinkles, I found that they rolled all over the place. To help this, place a sheet of plastic wrap over the frosted sugar cookies and gently press the sprinkles into the frosting.

Chill and cut.

(These cut beautifully with a pizza wheel cutter.)

These were a total hit tonight. I doubled pretty much everything except the black beans, and we had plenty of full wraps… maybe 9?

Delicious!!!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
from melskitchencafe.com
*Makes 6 wraps*
1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drianed
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of monterey jack and sharp cheddar)
Sour cream (optional)
6 burrito-sized flour tortillas
Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: on some of the wraps, I dotted the cheese with about 1-2 tablespoons of reduced fat sour cream before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it made the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.
Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.

Marg and Sarah (love you two!!!), my former co-workers and dear friends from Compassion told me how to make this energy boosting shake back when I was preggers with the June Bug. I was dead tired the entire pregnancy…

Oh hello anemia face. So thankful for the pictures to help me remember such a wonderful season of life. lol

The vitamin c in the strawberries and orange juice help the iron in the spinach to absorb effectively. While I didn’t appreciate it back when everything made me vomit, it really is yummy and our favourite mid-morning treat.

Frozen strawberries
Banana chunks
Fresh spinach
Orange juice

Try it! You’ll like it!

There is a weird Yo Gabba Gabba song for any and every situation.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup applesauce (or I’ve heard you can just grate an apple for the same effect)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar (I used a bit less)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
Can add 1/ cup chopped walnuts, etc

Preparation:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, applesauce and vanilla extract.

Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes.

For the many requesters of this recipe… I shall repost.

Fudge Revel Bars… courtesy of the Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter, Plus 1 Tablespoon, Divided
• 2 cups Brown Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-½ teaspoon Salt, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2-½ cups Flour
• 3 cups Quick Oats
• 1 can (14 Oz. Can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 package (12 Oz. Package) Milk Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Cream together 1 cup of butter, brown sugar, and eggs. Add the vanilla. Add 1 teaspoon salt, baking soda, and flour. Mix. Add oats and mix well. Press 2/3 of the dough into a greased cookie sheet (I like to line it with parchment paper instead).

Put sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute and stir. Keep cooking at 30-second increments and stirring until melted. Pour over the dough and spread out. Sprinkle the rest of the dough over the fudge.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cut into squares once cooled, and serve!  :)

this is delicious.

Sorry for the blog silence, perhaps it’s all the rainy days, but I’m just not feeling it right now. So I’ll post a summer cake recipe in hopes it encourages a little spring/summer weather to show up!

This recipe is from a former Compassion co-worker/domestic goddess, Cathy Hewer. It’s easy-peasey for those non-bakers out there and a favourite every time I serve it!

Lemon Cake

Use 2 lemon pudding and pie filling mixes (the cooked kind-Sheriff brand is preferred) and cook on stove-top according to package directions (will need eggs for this part).

Cool lemon mixture until you can rest your hand comfortably on the bottom of the pot.

While mixture is cooling, break 2 angel food cakes into pieces/chunks (pre-made cakes or make them yourself… the boxed mixes take awhile to cook, but they are much bigger than the pre-made kind). Place pieces in a large bowl.

When cooled, pour lemon filling in bowl over angel food cake pieces, mix until covered, and pack everything into an angel food cake pan.

Chill in fridge for several hours until set.

When set (firm), turn out of the pan (use a knife around the edges to loosen it up first so it doesn’t break), and ice with Cool Whip or whipped cream.

This cake is great to go after a heavy meal or on a hot day because it is so light and cool.

Yum! Now I want some!!