M&M Heaven

This is the cake I made for the spaghetti dinner and Cake Auction(our stakes annual fundraiser for girls camp and scout/zions camp). I had meant to do a design, but...........well it just ended up this way.

The True Story of 'The Little Red Hen' - Part 2

I have finally decided to share the last part of 'The Little Red Hen'. So here it goes. Part 1 here.

Part 2

Little Red Hen finished grinding the wheat. Now it was time to mix the dough. She decided that maybe hwe friends would like helping with that. So Hen called up Pig.

"Hello Pig."
"Oh hi Hen."
" Pig, I was wondering if you would like to help me mix the dough for bread. I have a great......."
"No thanks Hen, I was, uh, just getting ready to go, uh, mudding with Piglet. Bye Hen!"
So Hen called Duck. "Hi Duck. I thought you might like to help me....."
"Uh, sorry Hen but I've got to study for my diving class. "
"Oh, okay. How do you do that?"
"Sorry, Hen but I've got to go."
So Hen tried to call Goose and Cat. But Goose was going to her quilt club, and Cat was going to the fair.
"Very well," said Hen, " I will do it myself." So Hen mixed and kneaded the dough herself. Now it was time to shape the loaves. She knew that Cat loved doing that, so she called up Cat.
"Hello Cat, back already? Must not have been very good."
"Yeah."
"Well I know that you enjoyed shaping the loaves, so I thought you could come and help me."
"Well thanks very much Hen! but, I've got quite a busy schedule, and I just dropped home to get something before my Fishing Frenzy class. So you see I can't help right now. I'm awfully sorry."
"Alright Cat." None of her other friends could help either. Hen didn't know why. They were NEVER this busy. Hen was so distracted with her thoughts that she accidentally shaped a loaf to big and didn't even notice. Hen set the bread on the stove to rise.
After half an hour of rising time, she returned to find a HUGE loaf that was starting to go over the edge! Oh no! thought Hen. But despite the large loaf, into the oven the bread went. The smell of the baking bread wafted out of Hens open window down to Pig, Duck, Goose and Cat. All of Hen's friends ran down to Hen's house. Hen saw them coming just as she was pulling the loaves out of the oven and said, "Now, who will help me eat the bread?"
"I will!" said Pig.
"I will!" said Cat.
"I will!" said Duck.
"I will!" said Goose.
"No thanks." said Hen. " I will eat it myself..
And she did.

Almond Butter, Blue Agave & Carob

We have been taking a Nutrition class(Nutrition 101) and in the process we have discovered some healthier alternatives for Honey and Chocolate. Blue Agave and Carob. These are yummy and nice substitutes. I also like to use Almond butter instead of Peanut Butter. It is really yummy. Here is a delicious recipe that my family loves. It uses Blue Agave, Almond Butter, and Carob.


Almond Butter Chip Bars

1 16oz organic creamy almond butter (not "no-stir")
1 cup Blue Agave nectar sweetener (can find at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 cup organic carob chips or dark chocolate chips (we used carob)

Mix almond butter with a hand blender until creamy. Add blue agave, eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Mix half of the carob/dark chocolate chips into the batter. Pour batter into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with the rest of the carob/chocolate chips. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Once out of the oven, it will look like a puffed up souffle. Let it sit for five minutes before cutting and serving. Substitute other nut butters for unique flavors.

Let me know how you like it!

You can also find more recipes with almond butter, carob, and blue agave at All Recipes. You can search by Keyword, or by ingredients.

Made to Make Your Mouth Water

We try to make bread every Wednesday. I take the job of kneading(spanking!) the dough and shaping the loaves. Here are some pictures.

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This time went absolutely great!



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This time..........you can see that one of the loaves went a bit over-the-top!