Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Decadent Chocolate Mint Brownies (with Chocoloate Ganache)

If you asked me what my favorite dessert is, brownies would be my go-to-sweet! I love them... they are thick & chewy, sweet & delicious, and if they have frosting... well, that is just their crowning jewel!

I recently bought a half-gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream and it was so good and refreshing and I thought the only thing that would make it better is if it was a brownie... then it would be heavenly! Immediately, this recipe started swimming around in my head, I didn't know if it would be good, but I thought I would give it a try... fortunately it turned out amazing! I would highly recommend this to satisfy any sweet craving you might experience!

Two thumbs Up, 5 Stars & 1 satisfied hubby!

What You Need:

Brownie Bottom

1 Brownie Box Mix
2 Eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. Mint Extract
1/3 package of Andie Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Chocolate Mint Ganache

1 package milk chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 package of Andie Creme de Menthe baking chips

Mint Frosting

1 can whipped butter cream frosting
1 tsp. mint extract
1 tsp. green food coloring

Topping

1/3 package of Andie Creme de Menthe baking chips
1 jar hot fudge (optional)

How to Do It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix brownie mix, eggs, oil, water and mint extract. Mix well. Stir in 1/3 package of Andies Creme de Menthe baking chips and pour into 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.

While that is in the oven, melt chocolate chips and 1/3 package of Andies Creme de Menthe baking chips in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir mixture until chocolate is melted and smooth. Right before you pull brownies from the oven (after 10 minutes of baking) add sweetened condensed milk to the melted chocolate mixture and mix well, the chocolate mixture will thicken up significantly so wait as long as possible to mix together. Scoop over half-baked brownie mixture. This will drop throughout the batter but not to worry. Then return to oven and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off oven, crack open the oven door and keep the brownies inside for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Once the brownies are cool, Mix frosting with 1 tsp. mint extract and 1 tsp. green food coloring. Spread evenly over cooled brownies. Take the remaining Andies baking chips and sprinkle over the top of the frosted brownies. Using a spoon lightly drizzle hot fudge over the top of the frosting (this is mostly for a beautiful finish so it is optional if you choose to do this).

Serve & Enjoy!

Enjoy! if you try this recipe; let me know what you think below!

Inspired by Bright & Bold Colors

Two summers ago my husband and I went to Jamaica for a week. We went to an all-inclusive resort, it was super fun way to relax and enjoy the tropics. It was everything a fabulous beach vacation should be. While I was there I bought a colorful surrong and now every time I pull it out I am reminded of our fabulous trip. The colors speak to me. I am inspired by bright, bold colors. I love wearing them and decorating with them. I love to be surrounded by color. This fabric is so bright I thought I would post some pictures to remind myself of the inspiration that a little color can bring!

Wordless Wednesday

Stuffed Pepper Soup (with Jalapenos)

This is a great dish! I first had this at a friends house and fell in love with this warm & hardy soup. Although, this is a great dish to serve in the fall, I was craving it today so I decided to make it for lunch. My husband rolled in from his golf game just about the time this was ready and was immediately excited and looking forward to this spicy soup.

What You'll Need:

2 lb. ground beef

8 cups water
1 can (26 oz) tomato sauce
2 cans (14 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups cooked long grain rice (I like Jasmine rice; it's worth the price)
2 medium green peppers; chopped
5 jalapeños, sliced (optional... I love spicy food and these add a lot to this dish)
1 small onion; chopped
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
1 tsp. pepper

How To Do It:

In large stock pot, brown ground beef on medium heat, drain and add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes; until peppers are tender. Serve with warm bread.

Serve & Enjoy!

If you try this, let me know what you think?

Colorful & Fun Bottle Cap Magnets

While browsing at Hobby Lobby I came across these colorful and fun bottle caps. Right beside them were trendy and bright stickers so I decided to give it a try and thought they would make great fridge magnets. So easy to do, I made a bunch and took them to work to give aways to the kiddo's that stop by the office with their parents (I work at a church) and I let the kids choose either a magnet or candy... Oh who am I kidding, I give them both:)

What You'll Need:

Bottle Caps
Stickers
Modge Podge
Round Magnets
Super Glue

How to Do it:

Coat the insides of the bottle caps and back of stickers with Modge Podge (I found that the stickers were very stiff and not very sticky so adding the extra adhesive to the stickers helped in applying them). Let dry and then apply Modge Podge to the top of the sticker and let dry (glue will dry clear). Using superglue, glue the magnet to the back of the bottle cap. Let dry over night. Place on your fridge!

Step1: Modge Podge the stickers onto the bottle cap.

Step 2: Apply Modge Podge to the top of the stickers.

Step 3: Glue the magnet to the back of the bottle cap.

(My husband made fun of me for placing the magnets so far apart, however if they are in close proximity they will snap together and spray superglue all over... what a mess!)

Step 4: Let dry and enjoy!

What do you think of my fun art project?

Finding Beauty Through the Viewfinder

I was recently asked to volunteer for the Youth Art Team during spring break, as several of their regular volunteers were gone. This is a joint community group sponsored by several local churches in town to inspire and teach kids about art. The current year long project is a photography project. I was excited about helping out, but what I found was more than an enjoyable afternoon with some fantastic kids, I also found inspiration and a perspective change on how to take great photos...




Maybe this was because of the current topic they were studying or because they had invited Tim Dodd, a fantastic photographer, to speak to the kids, or a combination of both... but what I learned was two things...

• First you can find beauty through the viewfinder in everything. [ Check out the Youth Art Team's lesson & photo's from that day ]. The kids (ages 5-18) took amazing photos and it is interesting to see how they found beauty in so many things we would pass by as uninteresting.

• Secondly, it is okay to take the time to find the photo you want before taking the picture. They encouraged the kids to take the time to set up the picture, aligning it in their viewfinder first before taking the picture. They were asked to only take 24 pictures of a variety of things;  spending the time first to get the picture they wanted.

I know these sound like very simple things, however being well versed in Photoshop and Lightroom, I find myself taking rapid-fire pictures because I know I can go back, edit, crop and tweak my photos to get the picture I want. However, why not get the photo you want in the first place and save yourself some editing work. I guess being a hobby photographer I took 'the law of averages' approach... 'If I take a lot of photos then chances are some will turn out as hoped'.

However, I decided that I would start practicing these simple things so that I could develop and grow as a photographer. I decided to start with a photo essay with images from our property while walking my dogs. I borrow one of the themes from week one of the Youth Art Team's curriculum and took photos of the things that were ugly in order to find beautiful images through the viewfinder. I wanted capture them through the lens of my camera with minimal adjustments (besides color correction of course) in my photo programs...

Here Are The Results!

What do you think of my photos?

Am I successful in finding beauty from ugly things? Any suggestions to make them better?