Fun with Peanut Butter

I’m sixteen. When you are sixteen and no restaurants or businesses will hire you, where do you go? Your next door neighbors. I babysit often for a few families in my neighborhood, and I’m constantly looking for new ways to entertain the little ones. Now, granted, I don’t just go giving peanut butter to every child I see, that is just plain irresponsible (because of peanut allergies). But when you know for certain that the child doesn’t have a peanut allergy, making Peanut Butter “Playdough” can be a fun, and yummy activity! It’s super easy and quick to make, so it’s perfect for any babysitter just plain out of ideas, or a mom in a bind! Here’s the recipe!

 

Ingredients:
1 cup of peanut butter (creamy)
1/2 cup of honey
2 cups of powdered sugar

Prep:

Mix up all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl, and you are done! Put any leftovers in the freezer to store, or bake them into cookies! (Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.)

Breakfast Combo #3

In Brazil, flavored coffees and creamers aren’t readily available. For someone (like me) who has become accustomed to flavored coffee, that’s a problem. I devised a recipe for a “mocha” that is quick and easy, especially when you are having one of those slow mornings and need an extra kick. Adding to that, I don’t have a specific thing for you to eat with the “mocha”. So I would say just eat a fresh apple or fruit of some sort. Granola bars are also a great way to start off the day, especially because they come in so many varieties.

 

“Mocha”

What you need: Milk, Chocolate milk mix, Instant coffee.

Prep: Heat up a mug of milk in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Add the two teaspoons of instant coffee and 4-5 tablespoons of the chocolate milk mix. Stir together and enjoy. Decorate with whipped cream and cinnamon if desired.

Fridays

Some of you were probably looking at my blog last night, eagerly awaiting a fresh new post about delightful baking goodness and whatnot. But I had forgotten to advise you all of one, small detail. It was Friday. Fridays are my days off. A day for me to bake for pleasure and not for work, to go out with friends, and just enjoy life. Don’t we all agree it’s never a bad thing to have a little “me time”? Now that we are all on the same page, stay tuned for tonight, as I will but putting up a new post about something utterly delicious! Catch you later!

Frosting

Butter-cream frosting. It’s the best. Especially when it’s homemade. That’s why I’m going to share my recipe. It can go on anything! Cakes, cookies, you name it! One batch is enough to cover a dozen sugar cookies, so for cakes you may need to make a double batch.

Butter-cream frosting

1 stick of butter (softened)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Prep:
Combine your ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whip with a beater until smooth (like frosting).

That’s it! Super easy right? Enjoy!

Easy Cookie Dough

Tonight, I am going to a bible study with my best friend’s new friends. And nothing says “I’m a try hard” like a fresh batch of cookies. So, being the kiss up I am, I made a fresh batch of cookies. The dilemma? I only have 45 min. So what do you do when you are short on time, and need to whip some cookies real quick? You make them out of cake batter. That’s right, cake batter. Here is the simple recipe, that will have all of your friend’s friends gawking.

Cake Batter Cookies
1 box of cake mix (any flavor)
1/3 a cup of vegetable oil.
2 large eggs

Prep: Preheat oven to 375. Put the cake mix, oil, and eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix together until the mixture forms a doughy ball.  Take the dough, roll it into balls and place onto cookie sheet.  Flatten the balls ever so slightly. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Take out to cool.

And bada-bing-bada-boom. Cookies. Nothing says “I want your friendship” like cookies! Hope you enjoy!

Breakfast Combo #2: Just Peachy

Peaches are amazing. So sweet, so delicious. There is something about peaches that just makes me happy, and gets me going for the day. Which is why I am presenting to you “Just Peachy”. It’s a homemade fruit parfait that’s easy, and perfect for any busy morning routine!

Just Peachy

1 cup of peach yogurt
Fresh fruit (I like to use blueberries, but you can use anything you like!)
Granola

Prep:
Put a third of your yogurt cup into a glass or a bowl. Add a one inch layer of granola. Next, add another third of yogurt. Add a layer of fresh fruit, again, about an inch. Add the rest of your yogurt. Sprinkle some granola on top and some more fresh fruit if desired.

And there you have it! A quick and easy fruit parfait to help start your day out right!

 

Classic Cookies

Another all time American favorite. The infamous Chocolate Chip Cookies. Unique to our country and how we love them so. Here is a great recipe for those nice, flat, chewy, gooey, original chocolate chip cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookie Dough:
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 cup of butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
lots and LOTS of chocolate chips!

Preparation:
Pull out a  rectangular cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 375.

Make your cookie dough. Add in as many chocolate chips as you like. I love chocolate so I’m going to add a LOT. Put your dough into the fridge to chill.

Take your cookie dough out of the fridge (I know it’s hard, but try not to eat it all beforehand!).

Roll the dough into ping pong sized balls. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and press them down just a little bit. Throw those puppies in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Place them on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Stay fresh!

The Breakfast Battle

Ever since I was little, people told me how important breakfast is to a healthy diet, body and mind. So why am I so picky when it comes to breakfast foods? I won’t eat cereals or granola bars, pancakes, sausage, or bagels before 10:30am. So what on earth are people like me (and me) supposed to do? It’s not our fault that eating breakfast is time consuming, or quite frankly not delicious at 7am. This week here at Sugar Me Up, I’m going to be putting up a new “breakfast combo” every day. These are things that are light, but help to get you going on those tough mornings. So without further delay, here is breakfast combo #1! (I’m going to be keeping these “combos” super simple, because like I said, breakfast is time consuming!)

 

What to drink: Strawberry Juice
2 cups of fresh strawberries, 1 cup of water, 3 teaspoons of sugar

Prep: Just throw your strawberries, water and sugar into a blender and adjust the setting to “liquefy”. Blend until you have a nice, smooth juice. If it isn’t sweet enough, go ahead and throw in some more sugar.

 

What to eat: Cinnamon Sugar Toast
plate of cinnamon sugar (you can use what left over from making your “All American Pie”), butter, 2 slices of bread, 2 strawberries (for decoration)

Prep: Pop your slices of bread into the toaster and wait for them to pop back out. Slather the warm pieces with butter and dip buttered side into cinnamon sugar. Put onto a plate with your strawberries and serve.

 

All American

When I was on my Study Abroad program in Brazil, people were practically craving American food. My friends and host family were constantly begging me to make them “typical” American meals (other than McDonalds). Around Thanksgiving (a holiday not celebrated in Brazil) I decided to make my friends an “All American Meal”. Complete with turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, fresh bread, stuffing, and of course, the American icon, apple pie. Since I didn’t have a recipe of my own, I had to call up my grandma and ask for hers. It is so delicious and surprisingly simple! It’s a great finish to any meal, especially when topped off with vanilla ice cream!

The Crust:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of water
1 table spoon of softened butter

The Filling:
2 cups of white sugar
4 to 6 apples (you can use any kind of apples, but Granny Smiths are my favorite!)
2 tablespoons of softened butter
2 tablespoons of cinnamon (this doesn’t need to be exact. You can add as little or as much cinnamon as you like)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
The preparation of this pie crust is super simple, and always turns out super yummy. You just grab yourself a mixing bowl, and throw in the flour, butter and water. The trick is to add the water slowly so that your dough doesn’t get too goopy. You may need more water, or you may not use it all. If you accidentally add too much water, you can just throw in some more flour to stiffen up the dough. When your dough starts to become, well, dough, go ahead and stick it in the fridge.
Take out another bowl and mix your cinnamon and sugar together to create, you guessed it, cinnamon-sugar. Add the butter to your cinnamon-sugar. If the butter is a little bit chunky, don’t worry. It’s supposed to be that way.
Cut up your apples into nice little slices, if you want them thick, make them thick. If you like them thin, make them thin. You can also peel the apples. But I prefer to leave the peels on.
Now that your cinnamon-sugar is ready, and your apples are sliced, your crust dough should be ready as well. Go ahead and remove it from the fridge. There are various ways of decorating the top of your pie crust by making crisscrossed designs, but for now just roll out two circles that can fully cover your pie pan. Put the bottom circle into the pie pan.
Put the apples inside of the crust and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over. Don’t be stingy! Place the second dough circle on top of the cinnamon covered apples and cut a few slits in the top so that the filling can “breathe”. Sprinkle a little more sugar on top of the pie. Go ahead and stick your pie in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown. And, tah-dah! You have yourself an All American dessert! Enjoy!

Quentão

Believe it or not, Brazil has a lovely little season called “Winter”, and it is no more enjoyable there than it is in Michigan. Winter down there is almost worse because they don’t have anything to heat up their houses or stores. I spent most of my time curled up with my Snuggie (yes I know, feel free to judge), laptop, and a nice, hot mug of quentão. What? Did you hear me right? Yes, quentão (pronounced “kane-town”). It’s a simple, tea like drink that really warms you up and is great for the holiday seasons. It’s normally served at parties in Brazil, but it’s also great for a quiet night at home. Here’s the recipe!

Quentão

1 bottle of sweetened grape juice
2 lemons
1 orange peel
1 1/2 table spoons of cinnamon
1 table spoon of ginger

Preparation:

Put a pan on the stove and throw your grape juice in there. Put the stove on a medium setting.
Cut up your lemons. They don’t have to be pretty, but you should cut them into slices.
Throw your orange peel into the mix as well.
Next add your cinnamon and ginger. This part is tricky because there is no exact measurement for these ingredients. It’s kind of just a “season to taste” sort of deal.
Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring occasionally.
Serve hot.

And there you have it, quentão. Stay warm!