Fall baking favourites

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with baking. I have a favourite recipe for every season, holiday, and special event. Fall is one of my absolute favourite times to bake though. It's not too hot to have my oven on for hours, and there's just something so cozy and homey about having fresh baked chocolate chip cookies or banana bread on the counter. Which is why today I'm giving you guys two of my favourite fall recipes, golden Crisco walnut chocolate chip cookies, and triple chocolate pumpkin seed banana bread!

First, the cookies! The recipe for these can be found on the back of any package of golden Criso, but I need to make sure that EVERYONE knows about this amazing chewy, soft, chocolatey marvel. Just make sure to not add 1 cup of baking soda like I did the first time I made it! I was making them for my siblings lunches and I ruined a triple batch because I wasn't paying attention. Oh well, lessons learned, even if I cringe every time I think about it!

Golden Crisco walnut chocolate chip cookies

3/4 cup golden Crisco all-vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cups lightly-packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Beat shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Next, the banana bread. I happened upon this one on www.twopeasandtheirpod.com while looking for a chocolate banana bread recipe earlier this year. I'd never made chocolate banana bread before, but I'm so happy that I did! I am in love! It's so soft and moist and full of chocolately goodness!

Triple chocolate pumpkin seed banana bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large brown bananas  (1 1/2 cups mashed)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1/4 cup canola, vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup dark chocolate pumpkin seed Bark Thins, chopped

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1. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix.
5. Mix together chocolate chips and chopped Bark Thins. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chip and Bark Thin mixture.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate mix over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.

You can also use a bundt pan, as I clearly did in the above picture. I find this makes for a prettier finished product.

Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.

Also, a personal note - I got this recipe from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com, and they used just a cup of chocolate chips. I'm sure this would be delicious as is, but I find the dark chocolate and chunks of pumpkin seed add a whole new depth of flavour, and the seeds a new texture. Also, if you don't have dark chocolate pumpkin seed Bark Thins, as I don't always, since they only seem to be available in the fall at Costco, you can just use 1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate with a couple tbsp. of chopped pumpkin seeds.

I really hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I and anyone I force to have some has! Let me know in the comments below if you try either of them, or what your fall favourite is!

Recent Winners finds!

I recently moved, and I am now within walking distance of a Winners. I've loved this place for years, but now that I'm so close, my new favourite pastime is to head there after work at least once a week and scan the racks for good deals and interesting finds. Now that I'm going more, I've managed to find more than just a good deal on Batiste dry shampoo. Below are a few of my best recent finds.

Look at how adorable this purse is! It was $30, which, to me at least, is a tad pricey for something so small, but it's honestly so amazing. It has the zippered pocket that you can see from the front, then right behind, a little pocket that closes with a magnet, then the whole open inside that opens from the top and has a little "secret" zipper pouch in the back of the inside. It holds everything I need, and my favourite part is that in the big pocket, it has card slots, so I no longer need to carry a wallet. Love it! And such a cute colour for fall!

A while ago, for no particular reason, I became fixated upon owning a pair of black Adidas sweatpants with the word Adidas written on the leg. I was not going to rest until I got them. I checked the Adidas outlet, their website, and Sportchek, and could not find them anywhere. I just happened to be browsing through the men's section one day, looking for clothes for my fiancé, and there they were, the sweatpants of my dreams. For only $45! At least $20 less than any of the other Adidas sweatpants I'd seen in other stores. They're so soft and cozy, perfect for evening walks in the fall, or just lazing around the house!

I've recently started trying to get back in shape, and wanted something a little fancier than an old grocery bag. I looked at a few in a few different stores, but this came out the winner. I love the minty colour, and wired piping around the edges give it structure, which is great. And only $20!

Please ignore the wrinkles in the pillow! I had to test it out before I could say if I liked it! For literally years, my fiancé has complained that my pillows are too thin, so we've finally done something about it. I was looking for something that wasn't too hard and dense, but I didn't want it to be so fluffy that it didn't support my neck. These Calvin Klein pillows are the perfect in between. Somehow firm and light as a cloud all at the same time. And only $30 for two!

While we were in the checkout line for the above pillows, it was going very slowly, which gave us too much time to look at all the snacks they strategically place in the checkout area, and we got trapped with these. But I'm happy we did. It's been years since I've had these, but they're as good as I remember. Delicious crispy cookies, and amazing hazelnut chocolate inside. Yummmmm. I believe they were $3.99. Kind of pricey, but a great treat!

Last but not least, we have one of my favourite cooking gadgets. When I lived with roommates, one of them had a handy dandy steaming container very similar to this. Prior to moving in with this girl, I never ate broccoli. Literally never. She showed me that it can be amazing with just a little bit of water, some salt, and a vented steaming bowl. It is now one of my favourite vegetables, and I eat it all the time. All I do is sprinkle the broccoli with some water and salt, pop the lid vent, and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Voila! Perfectly steamed broccoli, a great addition to any dish, but most especially mashed potatoes. I'm pretty sure it was only about $5!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my favourite recent Winners finds. Let me know yours in the comments below! If you're in the States, I hear Ross and TJ Maxx are similar to Winners? Have you gotten anything interesting there? I want to hear about it too! I love hearing about bargains!

Rhubarb crisp

I recently found myself invited to my future in laws, and decided, an hour and a half before we were to be there, that I should make a dessert. I quickly threw my cupboards open, but could not find a single thing that could be made that quickly, or didn't have the ingredients for my old standbys. Also, my fiances family are not ones for overly sweet desserts.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had rhubarb in my freezer that my grandma had sent back with me at the end of a recent trip home. I suddenly knew I had to make something with it, as being tangy and tart, I figured it would be perfect for his family. A pie couldn't be made from scratch and baked in an hour and a half, but a crisp certainly could. I quickly Googled a recipe, and the following recipe, from www.geniuskitchen.com, was the first one to come up that I had all the ingredients for, and it turned out perfectly. Even my fiances ultra picky brother asked if I could make him another one if he bought me more rhubarb. It was a hit all around, so I want to share it with you today!

Genius Kitchen Rhubarb Crisp

• 8 cups rhubarb, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Combine rhubarb, sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon and put in an 8 x 8" glass baking dish.

Combine flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, and melted butter, and sprinkle over rhubarb mixture.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Let cool until just warm and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did! Let me know in the comments below if you make it, and whether it was a hit!

Mint chip ice cream pie

Summer is finally in the air! We’re almost half way through May, and the sun is shining high in the sky. I don’t know about you, but the second it gets warm out, I immediately start wanting ice cream, in any form that I can get it in. That’s what led me to create the recipe for this delicious ice cream pie. It’s been a big hit every time I’ve served it, and I hope you enjoy it just as much, whether you make it for a family BBQ, or a simple Sunday dinner. I promise it’ll be a hit!

Mint chip fudge ice cream pie

Ingredients

Approximately 38 chocolate sandwich cookies
1 bottle of microwavable fudge sauce
1 carton of mint chip ice cream
8 tbsp. butter/margarine

Directions

Take approx. 30 fudge cookies; take out the middle, put them into a resalable freezer bag, get as much air out as possible, and crush with a rolling pin, until they’re fine crumbs.

Melt 8 tbsp. butter/margarine. Pour into a bowl with the cookie crumbs, and stir until combined. You want it to look kind of pasty, so it sticks nicely in the pie pan in the shape of a crust.

Pour into a 9 inch pie plate. Pack the crumb and butter into the sides and bottom into the shape of a crust.
Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on the counter, then chill for half an hour in the freezer.

Take about 8 more cookies with the middle out. Mix with hot fudge sauce. Take blobs of the mixture and put in the bottom of the crust. After you’ve done that, put the crust in the freezer to chill for another half an hour.

While the crust is chilling, take out the carton of mint chip ice cream, and let it soften a bit on the counter.
Remove the crust from the freezer, and scoop almost the entire carton into the crust. It will stick up higher than the crust, but that’s what you want, a nice tall pie. If you find it’s too uneven, you can use a metal cake spatula to smooth it out.

To top it off, microwave some of the fudge sauce and drizzle it over the top. Put it back in the freezer for an hour or two for ice cream to get hard again.

Serve and enjoy!

You can also make other variations, including one with butterscotch ripple ice, vanilla cookie crust, caramel sauce and peanuts, or any other combo that your heart desires. Let me know in the comments below if you try it out, or if you have any other favourite summer recipes!

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

So I've been trying my best lately to eat a bit healthier, but it's not always easy because I LOVE sweet things. At the mall, there's this smoothie place that makes PB smoothies and they are sooooo delicious that I decided to make my own version of it with a few twists.

I know that this isn't the healthiest smoothie on earth, BUT it is a slightly healthier way to satisfy your sweet tooth. It makes a great snack or an easy breakfast.

This recipe is for one serving.

YOU'LL NEED:

A blender

1 banana
1 spoonful of peanut butter
1 large pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup of vanilla (or plain) greek yogurt (bonus if it's frozen)
1 scoop of protein powder (convenient that mine is PB & chocolate flavoured!)
1/2 (or 3/4) cup of chocolate almond milk

If you want to kick it up a notch, add some coffee to it!

Blend it up, and there you go! It'd delicious and very filling.
One thing I love about smoothies is how you can customize them - you can add more or less of whatever you want to make it how you like it. 

What's your favourite kind of smoothie? Let us know in the comments below!

Talk to you soon,

How to beat the winter blahs

January can be a tough month. Everyone is falling fast from the high of Christmas and New Years, and its freezing cold out, and people instinctually don’t leave their home, unless they have to go to work. Who would want to? But the lack of activity and socializing can really take a toll on mental health.

I’m one of the masses that don’t want to go outside between the beginning of January and mid March. I’ve learnt though, over the years, that sitting at home in bed alone doesn’t help. Having people and heading out for some fun can really help pass the time until the warmth returns.

Below are some ideas for things big and small (and usually cheap) to assist you in bringing some joy back into the coldest, darkest months of the year.

1.  1.     Pyjama party

                Last January, I started thinking that if I’m sitting here, miserable and alone, maybe everyone else is, and so                             I came up with a super fun plan for a karaoke pyjama party. I made a huge pan of macaroni and cheese, put in a                       Sing Star disc, and we sang and ate the night away, snuggled in our pyjamas. It was a huge hit, and it was so                         great to have laughter and fun fill up my home.

2. 2.      Hit up the shopping mall with friends

It might seem simple, but just getting out of the house is a huge thing. And what better reason to get out of the house than for shopping? Making a whole day out of it can be great. There’s a mall in Ottawa with a movie theater in it, and my roommates and I have gone to the mall for lunch, seen a movie, done shopping, and went to dinner before going home. It was a great way to spend a Saturday, and it felt good to get out of my bed, and away from Netflix.

3.   3.    Have a fancyish dinner

Most of my roommates are vegetarians, but the other meat eater and I like to, every once in a while, have what I call a “meat date”. We had one this past Sunday and it included pulled pork on homemade dinner rolls, a mix of mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, and brownie ice cream sundaes for dessert. It’s another small thing, but can really cheer you up. And if you split the cost of the meal half way, it can be relatively cheap.

4.   4,    Go to a winter festival/skating rink/sledding hill

I cannot stress enough the importance of getting outside in the winter. I HATE it, but it’s a necessary evil for dealing with my depression. I have to get fresh air. Making it fun helps a lot. In Ottawa, there’s a n outdoor winter festival called Winterlude, and we’re home to the Rideau Canal, so ice skating is at easy access, but it doesn’t always need to be a big production. Plenty of towns have sugar bushes, and you can go out and visit them, or hit up the local skating rink for some fun. Sledding is also a great, cheap (free if you already have a sled) option, and can be crazy fun if you go with friends.  Topping off the night at home, with big mugs of hot chocolate can also make the night super special.

5.  5.     Galentine’s Day

What’s Galentine’s Day, you ask? Why only one of my favourite days of the year, February 13th. Since 2011, I’ve been hosting this event for all my female friends and family, all my favourite gals, inspired by Leslie Knope on the show Parks and Recreation. We dress in pink and red, eat heart shaped food (last year we did heart shaped naan bread pizzas, red punch, and heart shaped sugar cookies – I’m going to elaborate on the event, and tips to host your own in a future post), and it’s always a great way to split up the winter months.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my tips for combating the winter blahs. I know it can be a tough time of the year, but we can all get through it together. Let me know in the comments below if you have any suggestions of your own to fight the winter blues!