(The Easiest) Peanut Butter Brownies

I mentioned that most recipes I post will have less than ten ingredients. Why is this important?

#1 Time. I don't like spending time searching for ingredients in the cupboard/fridge/freezer.
#2 Shopping lists. I don't like writing down ingredient after ingredient on a list, hunting for them in the store, and then paying for them and hauling them home.
#3 Distance (which really goes back to time). I live 30 minutes from the nearest store, so I don't want to run out to pick up missing ingredients. The less I need to keep track of to begin with, the better.

I've experimented with a lot of homemade brownie mixes. Some are really good. However, when it comes to brownies, store-bought mixes are the way to go. It's just a fact of nature and science; there will not be an easier or tastier way to bake brownies. I like that you can adjust the boxed mix to make it "healthier" by using applesauce instead of oil. I do this often. A friend told me once that she also underbakes brownies because that results in a chewy texture, and I agree. With this particular recipe, I followed the high-altitude instructions (for the first time since we've lived in high-altitude...uh, 3 years) and they came out better than ever before. Obviously.

Also happening often, I spruce up the mix by adding something to it. It's not a new idea, of course, but this is a great way to use up leftover candy or seem fancy-ish without actually having to do much. For this batch, I used a Christmas pack of Peanut Butter Meltaways. The Santas and trees and wreaths melted right into the batter and I had peanut butter brownies.

Top them off with ice cream and it's the perfect dessert for entertaining because:
#1 Everyone will like it, especially kids (and adults)
#2 You're using a boxed brownie mix. A nine year-old could do it.

(The Easiest) Peanut Butter Brownies

1 box brownie mix, prepared and poured into a greased 9x13 pan
Peanut butter candy of your choice (Reeses' Cups or peanut butter chips or even swirls of slightly melted peanut butter, in a pinch)

Top the batter with the candy or peanut butter. Press it in gently.
Bake according to package instructions.

Serve warm with ice cream. Or, let cool and warm up just before serving.
You could also freeze these brownies and pull them out as needed.

Lasagna Rolls

Happy New Year!

This year, I'm attempting something new. Aren't we always attempting new things in January? I'm guilty, I admit, of putting on the rose-colored glasses to look forward as well as look back. But here's to new endeavors, because that's how we learn right?

I've had a blog for years, and I've spent a fair amount of time featuring recipes on my blog. Sometimes though, when you're not a "real" food blogger, those recipes get lost in the shuffle. This is my personal effort to compile my recipes into one place and set it apart from my other place, where I talk about clothes, food, TV, books, day-to-day life...and my dogs. A food blog should be a food blog, not a dog blog, right?

My purpose is to post recipes I've already highlighted in the past, and give them the attention they deserve. I will do this by posting as many recipes as I can in the year 2017. 

(I was tempted to say "I will post 365 recipes!" as I may be getting caught up in the New Year's resolution fervor. No need to set myself up for disaster before the year even officially starts.) 

So, here we are. A new space for food only. This feels odd. I would like to think that I could've been a food blogger. I almost hopped on the train back in 2011-2012ish. But I just didn't. Then, were it not for the constant advertising and product-schilling that accompanies regular old food-blogging in 2016-2017, I would perhaps be successful at it. *They* say to think back to what you did when you were a kid for fun and that's what you should do as an adult. Well, I read books, played school, and read cookbooks. I would burn through a stack of Taste of Home magazines and whatever else was in my mom's cookbook collection. I never made many of the recipes, but I just loved reading the stories behind food. Thinking about that, I knew I had to open up a new space where I could share only food. 

On this site, you will find: 

• Dinners that take less than an hour to make and with less than 10 ingredients
• Freezer-friendly meals 
• Slow-cooker recipes
• Food I cook daily...nothing fancy here
• Recipes for a vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters
• Go-to breakfasts 
• Desserts...because they're my favorite
• Appetizers...because they're my second favorite

The plan:

• Post 3 times a week.
• Share recipes from my Stuff, Things, Etc. Recipe Index
• Maybe update pictures if necessary?
• Create new recipe content to post in 2017

Let's start off with the new year....

I made lasagna roll-ups for lunch today and they were very good. It'd probably been a couple of years since I'd done this. This is one of my favorite freezer-friendly dinners. I usually make an extra 8x8 pan for a busy night in the future. 

With this particular batch of roll-ups, I didn't make extra for the freezer, but I have extra meat sauce left over for some random Tuesday night when I can't face cooking, but when my husband would (likely) expect something to be for dinner. 
(Side note: my husband works til 8pm many nights and will stop for take-out if I don't make dinner, so I try to make something that would be healthier than take-out #goals)

Funny story: I had grand plans to make lasagna and bread and salad and dessert for friends on New Year's and then my husband said his friend doesn't eat pasta. 

I made pizza also. It was a carb-fest. 

To note about the recipe:
You can leave out the ground beef if you want a vegetarian meal.
You can either make one 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans. 
To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Usually I also put an 8x8 disposable pan in a freezer Ziploc bag. 

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

1 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (or homemade)
2 cups fresh spinach roughly chopped (think "big parsley")
1-15 oz. container part-skim ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella, separated
1 cup shredded parmesan, separated
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 egg
1 box lasagna noodles (about 16 of them)

Cook the ground beef.  Add the sauce to the beef and set aside.

Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions.  Strain and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combined ricotta, spinach, egg, seasonings, and 3/4 a cup each of the mozzarella and parmesan.  Stir well to combine.

On a cutting board, lay the lasagna noodles out flat.  Spoon about 3 T. of meat/sauce and 3 T. of cheese mixture (really just a big scoop of each) onto each noodle.  Spread thinly.  Roll each noodle up and place seam side down in a 9x13 pan.  They should about fill up the pan.

Top with remaining shredded cheese.  Freeze for up to 2 months, if wrapped well, or bake right away.