chocolate peanut butter pretzel bars

I have been dying to try this recipe from make happy ever since this summer when Marisa posted it. I finally had an excuse to make some this week for a friends birthday and WOW were they good. Chocolate and peanut butter are too of my favorite things. Throw in salted pretzels and you’ve got a pretty sweet {no pun intendend!}combination. I think next time {because there will most definitely be a next time} I might even take it up notch with dark chocolate chips. Yum!

1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
1 ¾ cups brown sugar
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
½ cup melted butter
3 cups pretzels
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup butter

• Combine peanut butter, sugars, and ½ cup melted butter, mixing well. Place pretzels in a re-sealable plastic bag and crush into tiny pieces. Add crushed pretzels to peanut butter mixture, incorporating thoroughly. Press peanut butter pretzel mixture into 9×13 dish, lined with parchment paper. Place in freezer to chill while you prepare the chocolate.
• Place chocolate chips and ¼ cup butter into a microwavable bowl. Microwave one minute; stir. Microwave until chocolate is completely melted, 30 seconds at a time, stirring between.
• Bring dish out of freezer and spread melted chocolate evenly on top of peanut butter layer.
• Return to freezer for 1-2 hours until completely chilled and chocolate has hardened. Use parchment paper to lift chilled deliciousness out of the dish; use a strong, sharp knife to cut into small bars/squares.

* *Marisa suggested that If you use a thicker peanut butter, you may need an extra tablespoon or so of melted butter to hold the ingredients together. I used JIF creamy peanut butter and I ended up needing an extra TBSP of butter to get the peanut butter mixture smooth and cohesive.

ENJOY!!

original recipe via make happy

quinoa recipes

I have been wanting to try a quinoa for a while now but for some reason I was a little intimated. I’m not sure why! I first heard about quinoa {keen-wah} last spring when Erin did her week of quinoa posts. I was intrigued since the quinoa sounded so healthy. But did it really taste good?

When we were on our latest trip to Trader Joe’s they had an end cap of organic quinoa so I decided to get a box and finally try it all ready. image source: let’s dish

For my first quinoa recipe I made creamy quinoa primavera. Not only did Ben and I love it but so did the boys. WHAT! Our boys eat practically nothing. Word to the wise if you are only feeding 4-6 people you might want to cut the recipe in half. We’ve now got enough creamy quinoa primavera for weeks! Head on over to let’s dish for the  recipe!

Next up I’d like to try this Mexican Quinoa recipe I found over at the Peanut Butter Runner {a new favorite read}.  Do you have any favorite quinoa recipes?

apple picking

As I mentioned in my October ten on ten the littles and I went apple picking at a local orchard. Ben needed to re-vamp his resume so we scooted out of the house for an hour to give him some peace and quiet.I have never been apple picking before but have always wanted to! This was one of the last little things on our New England bucket list and I am glad we were able to squeeze it in. Unfortunately it was on the hot side the day we went. Never in my mind did I picture wearing shorts while picking apples. ha!  The boys and I may have each eaten an apple while we were walking around finding the fullest trees. Graham most definitely ate two!

The boys love pears so I went to the orchard when I knew their pears were ripe. I don’t really care for pears {I think they have no flavor}. BUT these pears were great and very delicious. Maybe I am just a pear snob?On our way out we had to walk by the owners house/garage. I loved the doors and lights on the garage! I took a quick pic when I thought no one was looking. LOVE the barn-like doors!

If you are in the area I would highly recommend Rocky Brook Orchard!

image source zoomyummy

Most of our apples we ate straight out of the bag but I did pick out five golden delicious apples so we could make this apple crisp. I had to leave out the nuts for Noah so I ended up doubling the topping part. Very yummy especially served with vanilla ice cream!

Southern Unfried Chicken

Southern Unfried Chicken
serves 4

1 cup buttermilk

2-3 tsp hot sauce {I used Rhode Island Red}

4 skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

3 tbsp parmesan

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1-2 tsp black pepper

1-2 tsp hot red pepper

1 tsp paprika

In a bowl, combine buttermilk and hot sauce. Soak chicken breasts in the buttermilk marinade for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. In the meantime, combine the panko, parmesan and the rest of the spices in a large ziplock bag. Shake to blend. Using tongs, remove the chicken from the marinade and place directly in the bag. Shake well, until the chicken is evenly coated with bread crumbs. Remove from the bag and lay flat on a sheet pan. Allow to chill uncovered in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and then bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Thoughts on this recipe::

Ben and I loved this recipe! It was spicy but good spicy. I used two tsp of the hot sauce and marinated the chicken in the buttermilk mixture for about 24 hours. Next time I’ll do the same thing for half of the chicken. It was too spicy for the boys so I will probably cut their chicken into bite size pieces and soak in the buttermilk only. Our chicken was done after about 25 minutes but we use small organic chicken breasts and I had cut them in half. You would probably need the full 35-40 minutes if your were using large chicken breasts.

recipe source:: runner’s world

trail mix bars

This summer Ben showed me an article { in Runner’s World?} about the benefits of honey. There was a recipe for granola bars in the article that he wanted me to try and some how the article went missing soon after he showed it to me. Since I felt bad for losing the article I went in search of another granola bar recipe. I came up with this trail mix bar  which I think sounded even better than the original recipe I was supposed to make. Shhh, don’t tell!

I’ve made these trail mix bars twice now and the are SO good. I have been alternating between making these and the Energy Bites. It’s nice to have one or the other on hand for a healthy snack.

Trail Mix Bars::

3/4 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4th tsp salt

2 T granulated sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup oat bran

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup dried cherries, cranberries or berry blend (I used a blend of dried cherries, raspberries and currants)

::Combine the honey, vanilla, salt, sugar and peanut butter in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about four minutes, stirring occasionally.

::In a large bowl, combine all other ingredients except for chocolate chips. Pour the boiling honey mixture over the oat mixture and toss well. Finally, add the chocolate chips and fold together (being careful not to overmix and melt the chocolate).

::Press mixture into loaf pans  and pat down with wet hands. I put some wax paper in the bottom for easy clean up! Chill in fridge for about half an hour, or until firm, before cutting into bars.

Thoughts on this recipe:: It’s a little tricky to add in the chocolate chips and not have them melt on you right away. The second time I made them I stuck the granola bar mixture in the fridge for a few minutes and then mixed in the chocolate chips. The chocolate still mostly melted right away even though the mixture didn’t seem that hot any more. Oh well! They are still delicious melted chocolate or not. Also we’ve made the recipe with the cranberries and without and Ben and I both prefer the bars without as pictured above. I left the cranberry’s in the recipe though just in case any of you are die hard cranberry fans.

I would highly suggest using the loaf pans to set your bars. The first time I made mine I used a 9×9 pan which mad for very thick bars. Then I ran across this post and loved the idea of using loaf pans instead. I think the loaf pans worked great and will definitely make them this way from now on.

adapted from: eat, live, run