People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] All Naturally Sweet ‘n Moist Dark Brownies [+winners!]

People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

• 1 stick [1/2 cup] unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups cocoa powder [we love to use dark for this!]
• 1.5 cups pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup expeller pressed canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Butter your pan. I use a smaller glass casserole-type dish that is about 9″ x 6″. However, it’s deeper than your average dish. So if you use a 13″ x 9″, be prepared for thinner brownies.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

What I like about this recipe, too, is that we make it all on the stove top, so you’re not dirtying up 500 extra dishes for mixing. Everything goes into this one pan, step by step.

In a medium-sized skillet on the stove top, melt your butter on low. Then incorporate the cocoa powder. When you get to this point, it will smell soooo divine but it will honestly look like crap. If your hubby were to suddenly walk in at this point, he might question your kitchen skillz. It looks like this pasty mass of blackness. YUH, not too delectable. Anyhoo, just keep doing your thing and know that they will come out on top in the end. Kill the heat.

Next, add in your maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla. Mix.

If your eggs are still in one piece [mine just barely made it in time thanks to Gianna's curiosity], add them in – one at a time – and mix pretty durn skippy after each one. By now, you should see the mixture starting to come together nicely. It actually looks like a batter!

Finally, add in your flour and salt, and mix just until there are no huge chunks of flour and all the white is gone. At this point, you can taste the batter [if you are into that raw egg sorta thing and if you trust your chickens] and see if it’s sweet enough for your liking. If not, simply add more maple syrup…a little at a time until it’s perfect for your family. Our family loves it by my recipe here. Do what works for you, though.

Pour it all into your pan and then pop it in the preheated oven for approx. 40 minutes. This takes a lil’ while, but will fill your entire home with the most delicious scents. Oh. My. Goodness. While you’re waiting, get out the rubber spatula and start scraping at that batter leftover in the bowl. You didn’t seriously think that I was going to recommend not eating that, did you?!? Naw, girlfriend! Go to town! Oh, and wipe your mouth, quick-like.

So you know the drill: you’ll know the brownies are done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes back out clean. Let it cool for just a bit…and either cut it into 12 tee-niny pieces [perfect for your frail, dieting friends], or 9 average sized pieces, or 4 huge-a-MONGO sized pieces [perfect for those late night gorge-fest sessions after all the kiddies are in bed! what? you don't do that, too?? oh, stop being so modest!!].

These lovelies are DARK! Yes, dark chocolate is a love of mine. How ’bout you? [They were also hard to photograph because of that!]

Serve ‘em up and chow down – all too happy that you successfully baked a sweet chocolatie dessert with zero processed sugar in it. It’s proof that it can be done!

In cased you missed it live online, the winners of the Lisa Leonard Jewelry were announced on Twitter! Scroll down to recap that info:

3rd prize [$25 gift certificate to Lisa's shop!] goes to:

Angie!!

I’m happy that you get to get that necklace! It’ll be cute!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Next, 2nd prize [Heartstrings necklace] goes to:

Andrea!!

Wow! Just what ya wanted!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Finally, the grand 1st place prize [Family Crest Necklace] is given to:

Very Married!!

Yep, I’m chuckling over this because she was one of the folks who chimed in with how she never wins anything! Looks like you were PERFECT for this giveaway, friend!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Congrats to all the winners! [Please contact me so I can hook you up with your prizes!] And if you didn’t win, don’t worry ‘cuz I never win anything, either! Why do you think I gave this that title? But seriously, I plan on having more awesome giveaways in the future, so keep trying and you will surely get yours one day.  

As I mentioned in a previous post about Gianna’s recent party celebration, we love smoothies for a treat or for breakfast or for anytime! Can I share with ya on how we make these? It’s supa dupa easy!

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Naturally Sweet ‘n YUMMY Smoothies

As I mentioned in a previous post about Gianna’s recent party celebration, we love smoothies for a treat or for breakfast or for anytime! Can I share with ya on how we make these? It’s supa dupa easy!

• 3 cups of fresh milk [preferably with the cream still on top! what? fresh milk is unhealthy?? somebody LIED to YOU!]
• 4 frozen bananas
• 1 [10 oz.-16oz.] bag frozen fruit [you pick: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangos or just a mix]
• 4 big spoonfuls of raw honey
• mint for garnish ‘n flavor

We are in the market for a new blender, and have been researching some good ones out there. I tell ya….they ain’t cheap! But we both know that when you buy the best stuff up front, you might spend more – but in the LONG run, you will save a lot of money from having to buy a new blender every year or two! So y’all with blenders out there, tell me what brand you have and if you love yours or not.

Since we don’t have a blender right now, we actually use our ghetto food processor to whip up smoothies. It truly does whip it up in a decent manner, I suppose, but a.) it makes a pretty big mess and b.) I can only do small batches at a time. So when I make these smoothies, I have to split it up and make half of it at a time. Do you feel sorry for me? Just send Paypal money if you want to donate to our new blender fund!

I have started buying a WHOLE bunch of organic bananas all at once, and then coming home – peeling them and tossing them into this huge lidded, plastic container that stays in the freezer. It totally works – even if it DOES make for ugly banana pics [see above].

In the blender/food processor, throw in your bananas and milk and blend until smooth. As you know, this whips up the creamy milk and incorporates so much air into it that is gets thick and wonderful! Then add in your choice of berries and the honey. Give it a whirl again until it is super smooth and creamy. Oh man! This is SO delish! All of the frozen fruits help to thicken the creamy milk even more and it really does seem like a good ice cream or gelato. Truly, it’s not as dense as either of those because of all of the air whipped into this really quick, but it is just as satisfying, I promise!

Last, pour it up in tall glasses, top it with a sprig of mint and serve it to the people you love most! It will be loved by all!

The “I Never Win Anything!” Giveaway with Lisa Leonard Jewelry Designs is STILL going on here! It’s free to enter and easy to do – and there will be several winners chosen. Click here!

You know what I did? I took a risk and ordered 25 pounds of raw Spanish peanuts from our health food co-op! I say that it was risky because I had only ever made homemade peanut butter just ONE TIME before making the big order…and so I wasn’t quite sure if our family was going

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Make Your Own Peanut Butter~!

You know what I did? I took a risk and ordered 25 pounds of raw Spanish peanuts from our health food co-op! I say that it was risky because I had only ever made homemade peanut butter just ONE TIME before making the big order…and so I wasn’t quite sure if our family was going to be on board with that type of peanut butter…and that MUCH of it. In the end, I decided that it would be the healthier, more frugal option for our family’s peanut buttery needs, so I went for it. We discovered that it was fun to make and quite tasty, too!

Yes, there is a learning curve for your palate because it is different than your regular old store-bought PB – but in a great way! If you’re used to ultra velvety-smooth peanut butter, then you will probably want to do some extra steps at the tail-end of this recipe to get it going that way. I choose to skip that sorta thing because we appreciate  a slightly chunky texture.

Now – if you aren’t on board with a local health food co-op, and you would LIKE to be, then try contacting the friendly folks at Something Better Natural Foods. You can call or email them and ask if there are any health food co-ops in your area that you can join. If you aren’t in a co-op and just want to get your hands on some peanuts, then simply check your grocery store and see if they have raw peanuts. If not, then you may be able to ask for a special order of them and return later in the week to pick up ‘n purchase. Since you are making peanut butter out of these, then try to get Spanish peanuts because they have a higher oil content.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2 cups raw peanuts

6-8 tbsp. water

4 tbsp. raw honey

3 tbsp. peanut oil

salt

Preheat your oven to the standard 350 degrees.

Scoop out 2 cups of raw peanuts…

…and pan ‘em.

I double this recipe for our family because that’s how fast we go through it, but feel free to make as much as you like! Sprinkle salt to taste!

Roast the peanuts for 15-20 minutes. Keep a good eye on them – and sometimes shake the pans while they are still in the oven to ensure even roasting. When they are done, they will be a beautiful deep reddish-brown color. And they will smell divine~!

This next part deals with the papery skins. Do ya leave ‘em on or off? It’s a personal decision. At first, I thought I’d want to remove them. So I tried a few methods:

The first was to pour the warm peanuts onto a flour sack towel and then roll them around with my son’s hand (he was doing this – not me!).

We did this several times and it removed some of the skins.

Next, we tried dumping them into a salad spinner and giving it a go.

That removed a LOT of the skins!

So I just wanted to note that you do not HAVE to remove the skins if you like chunky peanut butter! With all the whirling that you’re about to do in the food processor, the skins get chunked right along with everything else and you honestly don’t notice them after the fact. I haven’t tried making a super smooth peanut butter yet…but am thinking that you’d want less skins involved with that option, but I could be wrong. Try it and see!

See my retro fabulous food processor? My mother-in-law gave it to me back when hubby and I first married. (We are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in December!) She was getting a new one and I was just learning to cook, so she offered to let me have this one in my new kitchen adventures. It has worked really well! Anyway, chunk all of your peanuts in, and then the fun part: add in all the rest of your ingredients and watch as the machine whips up peanut butter right before your very eyes!

Yes, yes! You, too, can be a success in the kitchen!

At this point, please taste your peanut butter to see if it still needs anything – salt, honey, oil, chicken butt – and then add in just a little at a time. Remember kids: you can always add more, but you can NOT take away!

Mmmmmmercy gracious! Once the PB is to the consistency of your liking, spoon it into a mason jar with a tight fitting lid – no…no? Wait. What’chur gonna wanna do next is stick your finger in the bowl and pop that bad boy in your mouth for some supa tasty YUMS! Now – if there’s anything left…make yourself a sandwich…or peanut butter crackers with some apple slices sprinkled with fresh cinnamon…or make yourself a peanut butter chocolate cake…I could keep going here.

After all of that, if you STILL have some peanut butter left, then you can plop it in a jar and stick it in the fridge. It must go in the fridge or it will get yucky on ya, so don’t forget!

Do write back and let me know how your peanut butter turns out!