Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie Bar Deliciousness

I had book club this week, one of the commitments that got me out of making dinner for Winnie's Dad.  We gathered at a good friend's house to discuss Freedom by Jonathon Franzen.  I'm sure you have heard about this book, and the author.  If not, get out from under that rock!


It took me about three weeks to read this book. And, by "read" I mean listen on cd.  This book was hard to get in to at first.  Frankly, I didn't find a single character at all likeable.  However, it was well-written, and the story was engaging.  Later this week, I'll share some of my recent favorite reads.  But, enough about books, let's talk about food.  For our book club gatherings, everyone brings a snack.  I stumbled across this recipe a few weeks ago on the internet that I was dying to make and decided book club was as good an excuse as any. I adapted it a bit by adding more peanut butter chips.  Winnie's Dad, who is not a big fan of desserts (something is wrong with him, I know), gave these bars of yumminess rave reviews.  I think my fellow book clubbers liked them as well. 


Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie Bars


1 c. butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. peanut butter chips (or even a mixture of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 325.  Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. (You could skip the sifting if you want, just make sure to add the dry ingredients in batches so your kitchen doesn't end up covered in flour dust.)  Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture a little at a time and mix until combined.  Fold in peanut butter chips. Spread dough in a 9 x 13 baking dish, lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Start checking them after twenty minutes, and remove when toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. For me, that was at about 22 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve.  They will keep for about a week in an airtight container...if they last that long.

Non-Menu Monday

I really wish that my one week blogging break coincided with a real, actual vacation.  Rather, I was just out of town over the prior weekend, and in Columbus for two workdays, which threw my schedule off for the entire week.  Winnie's Dad and I didn't eat very well last week.  In fact, I'm not sure I cooked an actual dinner all week.  Not good. 

Unfortunately, this week is not going to be much better and so I do not have a menu for you this week.   I have commitments after work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so aside from leftovers from dinner tonight (slow cooker lasagne), Winnie's Dad is basically on his own for dinner until Friday.  I did pick up a frozen pizza, a turkey pot pie, and some soups for him to choose from.  Even worse, as I look at my calendar for the next few weeks, I realize Winnie's Dad and I are going to be like ships passing in the night and my meal planning is going to suffer.  Maybe March will bring a calmer schedule?  I can only hope. 

Last weekend was very busy, and a little profitable.  Winnie's Dad and I posted three items for sale on Craiglist on Wednesday night, and we had potenial buyers stopping by on Friday evening (sold), and two on Saturday (both sold).  In between the visits from non-killers (that "Craiglist killer" moniker sure has people scared of Craiglist), I spent a good part of my day on Saturday making and delivering lasagne to a college friend who is in town for an extended stay and then staring at a spreadsheet.  Spreadsheets.  Not my forte!  But first, let me tell you about the lasagne I made on Saturday.

First off, Winnie's Dad was excited when he woke up on Saturday morning, and entered a kitchen filled with the smells of a batch of lasagne in progress.  But, that excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I told him the lasagne was not for us.   As soon as it was done, I told him, I would be taking it to a hotel to deliver to a college friend, actually, the older sister of a college friend. The short version of this very long story goes like this.  Sorority sister's older sister (who was also in our sorority) lives in South Carolina, married, with three children.  Husband needed a liver transplant and his wife, my friend's older sister, matched as his living donor.  Husband, his parents, wife, and her Dad, arrived in Pittsburgh the first week of January for the transplant surgeries and extended stay for recovery.  My friend's father has been keeping an online journal and I have been following the ups and downs of the couple's recovery.  I couldn't stop thinking about this family and wanted to do something to help make their situation and their stay in Pittsburgh a bit easier.  I couldn't help medically.  I wasn't close enough to them to feel comfortable visiting.  So, I decided to cook.  That is something I can do, and hoped it would bring them all some comfort to come home from a day at the hospital to a ready-to-cook meal in their refrigerator.  That's where the lasagne comes in.  So, Saturday morning I made lasagne, delivered it to the hotel and then headed home to stare at my spreadsheet.

Now, the spreadsheet.  Well, that might be another long story.  Since 2006, I have been a member of a women's group (not Junior League, but close) in my town that does fundraising, volunteering, and has lots of social events.   Most members refer to our group as "Juniors", so that's what I will call it here, from now on.  I was president of Juniors a few years ago, and have always been very actively involved. I am not really capable of being "slightly" involved in something.  I am either all in or all out. This year is no exception.  Each year, Juniors selects a charity that benefits local women and children, and then throws a gala to raise money for that charity.  I have previously chaired the event, and this year, I signed on to chair the event's silent auction and ticket sales committees.  Silent auction is well on its way, with great donations coming in daily and one of my co-chairs in charge of keeping our donation inventory.  As ticket sales chair, I'm also responsible for organizing the event's registration, which means creating a spreadsheet for all guests who have purchased tickets.  So, that's what I did on Saturday afternoon.  We are about three weeks away from the actual event, and I'm feeling much better about my "workload" not that the spreadsheet is started. Turbo Tax is on my agenda for next weekend. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Sunday was not productive and a bit disappointing.  The Super Bowl did not bring Pittsburgh its seventh Lombardi trophy.  Three turnovers.  Really, that is all that we need to say about the game. Though, I could go on and on about what an embarrassement Christina Aguilera was to her hometown--yes, she's from the Pittsburgh area--by messing up the National Anthem or how boring the commercials were this year. The bright side is that Winnie's Dad and I had a fun evening with some great friends, that included chicken wings, nachos and reuben dip.  I made the reuben dip and it was pretty good.  Though I profess to hate sauerkraut, I guess the better explanation is that I don't like it on its own.  Mixed with soure cream and cream cheese, well, that's another story!  Here's the recipe, altered for how I will make it next time.  There was not enough corned beef in the recipe I used.

Reuben Dip

1 lb sliced corned beef, diced
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
1 c. sauerkraut, very well drained
1 1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
2 T. ketchup
2 T. spicy brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients in large bowl and transfer to a 1 quart baking dish.  Bake for at least 30 minutes until bubbly and top is browned. Serve warm with cocktail rye bread.
To ligthen this recipe up, use light or fat free cream cheese and sour cream.

Super Simple Sunday Dinner

I mentioned a few posts ago, that I would share with you another one of my go-to favorite dinner recipes. It is a meal that I only make on Sundays, and I just love how my house smells while it is in the oven.  It smells like my childhood, if that makes any sense.  I have always loved it, and thankfully it has become one of Winnie's Dad's most requested dinners.  This is also a great dish to make if you are taking a meal to a sick friend or new mom.

No Peek Chicken

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice (original recipe with the herbs, NOT instant)
1 can Cream of Mushroom condensed soup, regular or reduced fat
1 can Cream of Celery condensed soup, regular or reduced fat
1 can water
dash of curry powder
1 package Pick of the Chicken (aka: two legs, two thighs, two breasts--bone in, skin on or off, your choice)
1 package onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease, or spray with non-stick cooking spray, a 9x13 glass casserole dish.  Mix first 6 ingredients and pour into casserole dish.  Place chicken pieces on top. Sprinkle chicken with the onion soup mix.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Bake for 2.5 hours.  DON'T PEEK!!! Really, don't peek.  I promise it will be done in 2.5 hours.

Serve with a salad or simple vegetable for a complete Sunday dinner.  Maybe a certain follower of Winnie's Mom Makes will make this for Winnie's Mom this weekend, since she's making a trip to Columbus?
Have a great weekend everyone.  Next week, I will try to find some time to talk about an upcoming sewing project. 

Dinner for under $10

Every so often, I challenge myself to make dinner for under $10, not including already on-hand ingredients.  This recipe meets that criteria and is a cinch to prepare.  It is a great one-pot recipe for a casual dinner with friends.  

Spicy Mussels

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/3 c. chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley--once you have Italian parsley, I just know you'll never buy the curly stuff again!
2 1/2 lb. mussels, scrubbed and debearded
One French baguette, cut in the four large pieces

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic (I used a garlic press rather than bothering to chop garlic, which is a pain in the neck!) and crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and 1 cup water.  Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat to medium and cook for ten minutes.

Stir in half of the parsley, add the mussels, cover and cook until the mussels open, about 5 minutes.  Discard any unopened mussels.  Divide the mussels and broth among 4 bowls, sprinkle with the remaining parsley, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and serve with a piece of the bread.  Better yet, prepare the mussels in a pretty pot and bring it to the table and allow your guests to help themselves.   
If I'm willing to splurge and make this more than a $10 dinner, I will pick up a bottle of white wine.  My favorite for this recipe is a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Take Out Fake Out: Slow Cooker Style

Winnie's Dad and I love Asian food: Chinese, Thai, Japanese, even Indian on occasion. The spicier the better.  So, when I found an Asian slow cooker dish, I was sold before we even tried it.  Whip this up in 15 minutes in the morning, and after work, enjoy the taste of take out without the ginormous amounts of salt and MSG or take out containers.  I have a feeling this might show up on an upcoming weekly menu.

Spicy Sweet Asian Pork Shoulder

1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1-2 T chili-garlic sauce (like Siracha, found in the Asian food aisle of most grocery stores, even Wal-Mart! It looks like a bright red ketchup.)
1 T. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder, optional
Kosher salt and pepper
2 1/2 lb. pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup brown rice
1 medium head bok choy, thinly sliced
2 scallion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, chili-garlic sauce, ginger (have you invested in a microplane grater yet?  If not, I implore you to do so immediately!), five-spice powder, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Add the pork and toss to coat.  Cook, covered, until the pork is tender, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.

Cook brown rice according to package directions to be ready when pork is ready--the brown rice I use takes about 50 minutes, so make sure to plan ahead.  Better yet, find some instant brown rice!

Fifteen minutes before serving, skim off and discard any fat from the pork.  Gently fold the bok choy into the pork and cook, covered,  until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes.  Serve with the rice, and sprinkle with the scallions.  This should serve about 4.

Now, isn't that better (and more affordable) than Chinese take out?

Cold Weather Comfort Food

I don't know what it is about cold weather and snow that makes me crave a yummy pot roast dinner. But, it does, and I'm not one to ignore cravings.  Luckily, I have a great pot roast recipe, courtesy of my dear mom who made it regularly during my childhood, that Winnie's dad has come to love as much as I do:  Pepsi Pot Roast.  Pepsi, not coke!   I know, you're thinking "Pepsi and beef? That's weird."  I know that it sounds weird, but the ingredients combine to make a delicious, sweet and savory gravy.  I promise.  I've tried to tweak it over the years, but the original recipe always turns out the best.  This recipe is equally as good made in the oven or in a slow cooker.  If you make it in a slow cooker, cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3.5-4 hours, depending on the size of your pot roast. We're having this on Sunday night. 

Pepsi Pot Roast

3-4 pound beef pot roast (I recently read a recipe that used a pork roast, but I've never tried it with pork)
16 oz Pepsi--do not use Diet Pepsi, or any other Pepsi variation, and don't use Coke.  I've tried them all and they did not turn out well!
1 can Cream of Mushroom condensed soup
1 package Dry Onion Soup Mix (Lipton or your store generic)

Place roast in a dutch oven (or 4 qt slow cooker).  Spread the mushroom soup over the roast, and sprinkle the onion soup on top.  Pour the Pepsi in the pan.  Cover pan tightly (if your lid is loose, cover with foil first). Bake at 325 for 3.5-4 hours or 250 for 6-8 hours. If you are making this in the oven, it might be a good idea to place your dutch oven on a rimmed baking sheet.  If you buy a larger piece of meat, use a bigger slow cooker.  You want your slow cooker to be about two-thirds full.

I typically make roasted potatoes, onions and carrots to serve with this roast.  After some trial and error, I now make these separately on a rimmed baking sheet rather than placing them in the pan or slow cooker with the roast.  Just cut some potatoes in half or quarters (depending on their size), add some baby carrots, and a few sweet yellow or red onions, quartered, to the baking sheet, toss with some olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven for at least an hour at the same temperature as the roast.   Just keep an eye on them--they are done when the potatoes are fork tender. 

Serve the pot roast "gravy" over the roasted vegetables.  Better yet, make some mashed potatoes and use the gravy on those.  This recipe probably deserves attribution to a cookbook, but all I have is my mom's handwritten recipe card.  Sue me. ;-)

After you try the Super Simple Cranberry Roast, give this one a try a few weeks later, and let me know which you prefer.  Coming soon, a tried-and-true casserole that makes your house smell divine:  No Peek Chicken!

Cranberry Pot Roast: a review

The woman, Stephanie O'Dea, who motivated me to make my weekly-slow-cooking resolution has two cookbooks out.  I bought More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow, released on December 28, 2010, off of Amazon with an Amazon gift card that I received for Christmas (thanks to my Aunt Annette and Uncle Graham!).  The great thing about this cookbook, other than that every single recipe is made in a slow cooker, is that it contains over 200 recipes divided into three sections: $7 and under, $10 and under, and $15 and under.  Each of the three sections is then divided by course.  I've already marked dozens of recipes that I am looking forward to testing on Winnie's dad, including some beverages and appetizers that I'd never thought about using a slow cooker to make. I had a can of whole cranberry sauce in my pantry, so tonight's dinner only required the purchase of the meat and an onion.

Super Simple Cranberry Roast

2-3 pounds beef or pork roast or stew chunks (I used a 2.5 beef pot roast, trimmed of some excess fat)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
16 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

In a 4-quart slow cooker, place the meat (frozen or thawed) and add the onion.*
*The original recipe called for raw, diced onion. I've found that I am not pleased with the onion taste or texture when a slow cooker recipe calls for raw onions. So, for this recipe and most other recipes that call for raw onion, I browned the onion in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker.  It is an extra step that adds about 10 minutes to the preparation time.

Add the soy sauce and pour the cranberry sauce over the top.  Do not add water.  Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 5-6 hours.  If you cook it on high, take the meat out an hour before serving and cut it in to chunks, or slightly shred it with two forks, and then return it to the sauce for the last hour.

I served this with green beans and steam-n-mash potatoes doctored up with some prepared horseradish, salt, pepper, and a few cubes of cream cheese.  The potatoes provided a great base for the gravy from the slow cooker. 

Our verdict:

Clean plate club, for both of us. After going back for seconds. This one will be going in our regular rotation.  Try it and let me know what you think.

I made a French Apple Tart...and it was delicious!

Last week I had a meeting for which I had signed up to bring half of the food.  I made my go-to date nut cheese ball as well as some cranberry-chili sauce meatballs in my slow cooker.  The only new recipe that I tried was a French Apple Tart.  I was a bit wary of this recipe since it required working with puff pastry.  Puff pastry, for some silly reason, makes me nervous.  But, the picture (don't you just love a cookbook with pictures?) made it look yummy, so I gave it a try. 

My serving platter was empty at the end of the meeting and the reviews seemed to be all positive.  I didn't see any uneaten pieces on the dishes in my friend's kitchen at the end of the evening, an even better sign.  For me, that's a true test of a recipe. It is one thing for everyone to put something on their plate.  But what is important to me is whether people think the food is good enough to clean their plates, or at least to have more than one bite.  This French Apple Tart met that test for me.  So, without further ado, I give you the recipe, and my notes/thoughts/changes:

French Apple Tart
Prep time: 25 minutes            Bake Time: 40 minutes

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (optional)
4 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, cored, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
1 egg, slightly beaten
fresh rosemary sprigs, optional


*I neglected to take a picture of my finished product, so here's a picture of the picture from the cookbook.

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. You really must use parchment paper, so if you don't have any, add this to your shopping list.  It can usually be found in the aisle with the baking mixes and ingredients, or alternatively, with the aluminum foil and plastic wrap. 

Unfold puff pastry onto a lightly floured work surface.  With a floured rolling pin, roll pastry to a 10x14 rectangle (frankly, just approximate this to make it at least a bit smaller than your baking sheet). Place on parchment paper on baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

While pastry is refrigerating, peel, core and slice apples.  Before zesting your lemon, roll it on your counter with the palm of your hand and a bit of pressure, to release the juice--it makes getting the juice out much easier.  Zest the lemon (every kitchen should be equipped with a microplane grater!).   Once the lemon is zested, cut it in half and squeeze the juice over your sliced apples, to keep them from turning brown before baking.

Stir together 1 tablespoon of sugar and all the flour in a small bowl.  Stir remaining 5 tablespoons of sugar with the lemon zest and chopped rosemary, if using, in another bowl. I used the rosemary here, but omitted it at the end of the recipe.

Remove pastry from refrigerator and sprinkle flour mixture over pastry, to 1/2 inch from the edge.  Arrange the apple slices on pastry in 3 or 4 rows (depending on the size of your apples and width of your pastry), starting at the short side and overlapping slices.  Sprinkle slices with sugar mixture.

Brush the uncovered pastry edges with the beaten egg.  Bake pastry until browned and apples are tender, about 40 minutes.  If the edges start to brown too much, cover them with strips of aluminum foil.  Loosen tart from parchment paper and slide onto wire rack to cool.  Sprinkle with rosemary sprigs if using.

Use a pizza cutter to cut into 12 pieces (or more if you'd prefer smaller portions) and serve warm or at room temperature.

*This recipe was adapted from the French Apple Tart recipe in the Weight Watchers PointsPlus cookbook.  None of my changes should significantly impact the PointsPlus value per serving. 
Nutritional Info (without the egg wash on the edges):  Serving Size: 1/12; Calories: 73; Fat: 1g; Carb: 17g, Total Sugar: 13g; Fiber: 2g; Protein: 1g; Points Plus Value per serving: 2! That's right, just two points per serving.

Bon Appetit!