Chocolote Mint Pie and another hike!

We went for a hike yesterday. I haven't taken the kids on the pipeline road before. It's a road just above the water pipeline that comes down the canyon. There are some great views!



The kids hiked up this animal trail for a picture.


If you look real close you'll see a rock in Sloan's hand. Her backpack is full of them!



It was a nice afternoon for a hike!





Sloan just made this pie the other day, but it was so good she wanted to make it again with mint. This pie is just to easy! Oh, and did I tell you how yummy it is? If you go here, you'll find the original recipe. You can make this pie with any kind of cookie!


Chocolate Mint Pie

1 tub Cool Whip
1 package mint Oreos
2 cups milk
Chocolate Syrup

Put the milk in a shallow bowl and dip the cookies into the milk one at a time. Line a pie pan with the cookies, breaking them where needed and going up the sides of the pan. Put a layer of Cool Whip on top of the cookies, then do another layer of cookies and finish with a thicker layer of Cool Whip. Make a spiral design on top of the pie with the chocolate syrup, then drag a knife through to make a pretty design. Put in the freezer for 2-4 hours and serve frozen. Yum!

The easiest Marinara Sauce ever, or what to do with a slew of tomotoes!

My sister in law brought me over a huge bowl of tomatoes! Yum! But, there wasn't enough to can, but to many for us to just eat. I mentioned it to my daughter Jennie and this is what she told me to do!


Easiest Marinara Sauce Ever

A bunch of tomatoes
2-3 zucchinis
1 onion, chopped
6-9 cloves of garlic (I used 9)
2-3 tablespoons basil
Sea Salt and Pepper (just eyeball it)

Heat oven to 425. Use a big cookie sheet.

Blanched all the tomatoes and take the skins off, you could skip this part.

Quartered them and lay them on a cookie sheet along with, zucchinis (I just cut them in strips) cloves of garlic, and onion. Sprinkled on the olive oil, and then you kind of toss everything around a little to distribute the olive oil. Sprinkled on the basil, sea salt and pepper. Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the zucchini is fork tender. You can stir it around a little halfway through.

After it cools a little I put it in the food processor in batches and pureed it. I used a slotted spoon to get it off the cookie sheet. I didn't want all the juice to make the sauce runny.

I put it in quart size freezer bags and froze most of it.

We had some for dinner over tortellini!

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins and a Contest!

I'm off for another 20 mile run this morning with my running buddy! It's our last long run before the marathon! Next Saturday we're running in our local 10k Peach Days Race, then the next Saturday is the marathon! After the marathon I'll be able to sleep in again!

I found this recipe in a library cookbook last night and I thought it would be good for breakfast. You know how we like chocolate and muffins at our house! Well, this is a little healthier because it has oatmeal in it!


Double Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup quick oatmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with Pam and also 2 custard cups.

In a large bowl whisk all the dry ingredients. In another bowl whisk the wet ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed, add the chocolate chips and mix.

Scoop into muffin tin and custard cups with an ice cream scoop. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

There is a great contest over at Needle Little Inspiration.  She is giving away 6, 1/2 yard pieces of fabric!  This could be fun!

Super Easy Rolo Pretzel Candy and a Contest!

I came across this recipe the other day, but can't remember whose blog it was on! Wow, are these easy! This is a great treat to make with the kids! I let mine peel all those little Rolo's! The kids just love these. We'll be making them again!


Rolo Pretzel Candy

1 package Rolo's
2 cups or so small pretzels
1 cup or so pecan halfs

Roast the pecans on a cookie sheet at 359 for 3-5 minutes. Stir them around and roast another 3 minutes. Reduce oven to 250 degrees.

Spread the pretzels out on a cookie sheet. Remove the wrappers from the Rolo's and put one on each pretzel. Put in the oven for 5 minutes.






Remove from the oven and put a pecan half on each Rolo. Let cool.

There's a great contest over at Wight House Gifts for some vinyl lettering!

Golden Puffs a Tasty Breakfast Treat!

I made these for breakfast the other day. The kids just love them. They taste like a cake donuts and they're super easy to make. The leftovers taste pretty good too. I just put the leftovers in a Ziplock baggie.


Golden Puffs

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Nutmeg (I used Chai Spice Blend, but you could use Cardamom or Mace)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Oil for frying 3-4 inches

Heat oil for frying to 375 degrees, I used a cast iron skillet.

Mix the 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl whisk the wet ingredients. Mix the wet into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Drop by teaspoons full into the hot oil. Fry on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Work For Me Wednesday, an Organizing Tip and Chocolate Crinkle Puffs

Today is Work For Me Wednesday and we're sharing an organizing idea. I came up with this idea the other day. I have a box of note paper near the phone and I use it to write messages on, make to do lists and grocery lists etc. The problem is, that the notes fall off the table or get left somewhere. So I decided that what I needed was a nice little spiral notebook that I could keep handy, and if I need the page, I can just tear it out! So I picked one up at the store, then I spiffed it up a little with some scrapbook paper and I added a little clip to hold notes. It Works For Me! And it's been really handy already. Head on over to We Are That Family and see what everyone else is up too!



Now on to a recipe!




I found this recipe in a cookie cookbook. It seemed a little different because you roll it in granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar. The recipe doesn't make very many, but that could be a good thing, because they are really, really good! They have a great butter flavor even with the chocolate flavor! The middles are nice and soft too! I'll be making these again soon!

Chocolate Crinkle Puffs

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350. Put granulated sugar in a small bowl, about 1/4 cup.

In a bowl whisk the dry ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll in balls and then roll in sugar and place on cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.