Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

I've been trying really hard lately not to buy store bought cookies or other sweets. They are expensive and don't usually last long around this place. We love our sweets, especially my husband. I've decided that I will only make sweets for us from now on, not only to save money, but to help our waistlines. I figure I will want to have a sweet pretty darn bad to actually whip something up.

After browsing the Internet for a good brownie recipe I stumbled upon one that looked scrumptious. The only problem was, was that I didn't have any cocoa powder. Well I had already started to melt the butter that the recipe called for so its not like I could just back out. I forged ahead and created these little beauties. We loved them and the girls enjoyed helping me sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. I love having the girls in there cooking with me. Some of my best memories of my grandma are in her kitchen cooking.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies
Inspired by: bunsinmyoven.com

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1.) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10x15 inch baking dish.
2.) In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in peanut butter and stir until complete incorporated. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
3.) Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, eggs,  and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
4.) Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
 5.) Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the center. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Allow brownies to cool before serving.

Serve with a cold glass of milk and you have  yourself a wonderful, sweet snack!

Juicy Lucy on an english muffin bun.

I know that there is one meal that I can cook my husband that I will get no complaints from. It doesn't matter how I cook it, he'll eat it without a second glance. He fits into the Murphy family so well. My dads favorite meal is also a hamburger. We're those people that grill outside in the middle of winter, we're serious about our grilled meats...lol.

The bad thing about hamburgers is you tend to find yourself in a rut when it comes to serving it. You can only eat a hamburger, on a bun, with your typical hamburger condiments so many times before you get burnt out. Thank heavens for wonderful recipe sites and food bloggers that have allowed me to increase my hamburger recipes.

I came up with this one after hearing about the "juicy lucy" which is pretty much two hamburger patties formed around a slice of American cheese. I hope you enjoy, I know I sure did.

Katie's Juicy Lucy
Adapted from: chow.com

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
4 slices of american cheese
2 md. onion, cut in half and then thinly sliced
olive oil
butter
mayonnaise/miracle whip
sliced pickles
4 English muffins, lightly toasted

Directions:
1.) In a small sauce pan on medium heat, add a teaspoon of olive oil and a two tablespoons of butter. After butter has melted add your sliced onions. Cook until caramelized.
2.) In a medium sized mixing bowl add your ground beef, egg, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix by hand until ingredients are equally distributed.
3.) Using meat mixture, form into one to one in a half inch balls and then flatten into thin patties.
4.) Taking one piece of cheese, fold into half, then fold again to form a small cube. Place cheese onto the middle of one patty. Place a second patty on top and pinch edges together. Repeat to make four hamburgers.
5.) Cook hamburgers in a large skillet, drizzled with about a teaspoon of olive oil, over medium heat until cooked thoroughly. Probably four to five minutes depending on how thick your patties were.
6.) On bottom half of toasted English muffin, spread a thin layer of mayo. Top with sliced pickles, hamburger, caramelized onions, and then lastly, top half of the English muffin with another thin layer of mayo.

These burgers were awesome and the addition of the egg helped keep them really moist. I was hesitant about the English muffin as a bun, however its all we had on hand and I had seen them used before so I figured, what the heck. I was surprised to how good the burger was on the muffin. I'll definitely be making these again.