Week 48 - Strawberry Spinach Salad

I've been cooking and baking so much......I just keep forgetting to post it all! My husband and Josiah love to eat salad! I wasn't too sure about this salad but it was a big thumbs up. Of course I found it on Pinterest and posted it to my salad "board" or you can go directly to the original recipe here on the "Women Living Well" blog.

                          

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Week 47 : Black Magic Cake

I have been baking a ton in the last month but I just haven't been posting. I always forget to take a picture and when I remember it's all gone! This past week we had some men over for a dessert night so I tried out this pin on my Pinterest cake board. Not only did I bake black magic cake but I also made cheesecake truffles (tried and true recipe), pecan wreath coffee cake (another tried and true), and pineapple cobbler (super easy). Jon and the men had a fun evening while I hung out in the kitchen with a couple of the wives chit chatting.

Week 46 - Easter Pull-Apart Bread

The second I pinned this pin, I knew I just had to make it. It looked so yummy on the picture but the recipe was a bit complicated. In the past I probably wouldn't have tried it but I'm a little braver with my baking now so I thought why not! I'm so glad I tried it because it really turned out so nicely and tastes delicious.

It's also one of those recipes which I have all the ingredients for here in Russia. You can check it out on on my sweet bread board. This recipe will make two of these beauties so I am just freezing one of the big dough balls for another time. If you try this out then I recommend that you scroll through the pictures on the actual site where they show you how to cut the dough to make the rosette buns.

Week 45 - Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bars

If you need to bake a quick and yummy dessert that will feed a ton of people then this one is it! I have had pumpkin puree in my freezer since last fall which I have been meaning to use and plus Thursday night I was in the mood to bake. So, I searched my Pinterest boards and found this pin to try .  I only made some minor changes. The recipe calls for 2 cups of whole wheat flour but I used 1 cup of all purpose flour and only 1 cup of whole wheat flour.........mainly because I wasn't too sure if I could trust the wheat flour I recently bought here. The recipe also calls for canned pumpkin but of course we can't get that here so I just used my puree. Thankfully, it turned out great and the boys love it. Only problem is that it makes a ton but it keeps well in the fridge so I see us eating pumpkin bars for the next several days!!!

Week 44 - Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

My friend Christina sent me some Oreo cookies recently and I've been meaning to use them up. I've had this pin  on my cookies board for a while and so I gave them a shot. My cookies didn't turn out like the picture on the board.......it must be the cream cheese, plus I didn't have white chocolate to drizzle over the cookies.  They are pretty yummy anyway and a big hit with the boys!

Week 43 - Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

These cookies are absolutely amazing! They literally melt in your mouth. I think mine turned out real squishy probably because I didn't use shortening but they still tasted delicious. For Christmas we got a bag of marshmallows and I keep saving them and saving them but I finally decided to put them to use! Thanks to Pinterest I found a few recipes I could use but went with this one.

Week 42- Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

This past Friday I had some women over again and I made this delicious cake. It sure looked so pretty at the end but I was afraid it wouldn't taste as pretty as it looked. Thankfully it was super delicious. I only got one small slice though because that was all there was left! I will definitely be making this recipe again. It's over on my cakes/cupcakes board on Pinterest .

Week 41 - Cream Cheese Danish

I have been M.I.A for a while. Things just haven't been too exciting around here!!! Last week though I did make this amazing danish. It was delicious to say the least and not very hard at all to make.
We had a few guests over for dinner and I served this (along with Texas sheet cake cupcakes) for dessert. By the end of the night it was all gone. This is a pin that I have had on one of my boards for a long time but needed to make sure I had the right kind of cream cheese. You can't get Philadelphia cream cheese here anymore like we used to but there is something very close to it that I can only find at a grocery store that we seldom go to. Thankfully, my hubby took me to this certain grocery not too long ago and I was able to buy my cream cheese. You can find the recipe here on my Pinterest account!

Week 40 - Cranberry Orange Bread

Earlier this year my husband had a bout with kidney stones. The doctors here told him to drink homemade cranberry juice so we stocked up on frozen cranberries. I still have a few bags left so I was excited to find this recipe on Pinterest. The recipe calls for fresh cranberries but I used my frozen ones. I realize my picture doesn't look anything like the one on Pinterest but it tasted amazing, especially straight out of the oven with a pat of butter. It got a thumbs up from the boys so I will try it again to use up my frozen cranberries.

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Day 4/Week 40 - Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cookies

Today we spent most of the day finishing up school work since the boys will have Thursday and Friday off. We also spent the afternoon going through a Thanksgiving unit study. I don't know if it's just my boys but they are so uneasy lately.....I think it has to do with Christmas being right around the corner. It's almost as if they have some crazy energy going on.

We made these cute fingerprint turkeys this afternoon while waiting for daddy to come home. I didn't bring my nice camera back with me to Samara this year so my pics aren't that great or detailed but I
think you can get a good idea of what they looked like.

I also made some peanut butter crackers covered in chocolate. The idea of course comes from this pin on Pinterest . Even though the recipe calls for white candy melts, I used chocolate instead and they were a big hit and with some orange sprinkles just perfect for our Thanksgiving season.

Week 39- Buttermilk Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

I didn't know if this bundt cake would turn out because I was in such a hurry getting stuff done when I made it! I even forgot to put the blueberries in the cake mix! I had to take the cake out of the oven after several minutes had gone by and just scatter the blueberries over the top and push them in. Speaking of blueberries, I used frozen ones. I did some internet browsing whether or not I needed to defrost them to avoid the bluish/gray tint you can get when using frozen blueberries. Most of what I read said not to defrost and to stir them into flour.

I've got to say that this cake turned out amazing! It was delicious and after our guests left, there was only 1 slice left. I will definitely bake this one over and over again. I am so glad I pinned it on my cakes board . The origin is from Brown Eyed Baker which is one of my favorite baking blogs!

Week 38 - Lemon Crumb Bars

I've been doing a lot of baking lately......some oldies but goodies and some newbies like the lemon crumb bars I made Thursday night. Even though they didn't look exactly like the picture on the post they tasted wonderful. The recipe was super easy and I can get all the ingredients here in Russia. It was a big hit with Jon and with the ladies who came over Thursday night but for some reason the boys didn't like it! Oh well, you can't please everyone. If you want to give it a try you can check it out here on my Pinterest board. 

Week 37 - Chocolate Cupcakes

For the longest time the Hershey's chocolate cake recipe has been my go to recipe for chocolate cakes and cupcakes but the cake is not real spongy and it's super moist.....which is not a bad thing but I wanted to see if I could find a different recipe. So of course I headed over to Pinterest and found a bunch of choices but decided on this one-buttermilk chocolate cupcakes. One thing I loved about this recipe is that it makes only 12 cupcakes. I didn't have buttermilk though and so I did the vinegar and milk trick. These cupcakes didn't rise as much as I would have wanted and sank in a little . Maybe it was because I didn't use buttermilk? Maybe the recipe needs a little more baking powder? Or maybe that is just the way they turn out? One thing was for sure-the cake was spongy! ( I learned this term after watching Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars a whole lot the last two months)

 Here's Nathan helping me decorate cupcakes. Once 

the frosting was on, it really didn't matter if the 

cakes sunk in a little.

On a side note, if you happen to have a 5 year old

boy and you teasingly tell him that you are going 

to throw him in the cupcake mix, cook him up, 

and then eat him...he may just take you seriously

and have a total meltdown and start screaming

"please, don't eat me!".... so please don't joke

around with little kids this way.....not that I

would know or anything!

 

Week 36 - Apple Fritter Cake

So this cake sounded much better than what it actually turned out to be......it really wasn't so bad at all but I guess I was expecting the cake to taste just like an apple fritter (Jon's #1 choice at the donut shop).

I don't even have a picture of the apple fritter cake, but it's here on Pinterest if you want to check it out.

Week 35 -S'mores Bars

Friday night  I decided to open the bag of marshmallows that I brought back with me from the States. So, I tried out this recipe from my "sweets" board on Pinterest. It was a big thumbs up. We can't find
graham crackers here so instead I just used plain cookies for the graham cracker crust. It is a very rich dessert so a little goes a long way!

Week 34- Chocolate Delight

I did get to do some baking while in California and I tried some recipes from Pinterest that asked for ingredients I can't get in Russia.  I am so behind on the "Pinterest" challenge that I've challenged myself with but I'll catch up with a few things I tried in California.

This recipe is called something else but I like the name a commentator left on the original link of the blog better :). It was pretty easy to make too and tasted delicious! Only problem was that it was huge.....the boys weren't crazy about it so that meant Jon and I had to finish it. Oh well!

                            This is the pecan crust which I loved! It's then followed by a cheesecake layer.

                            After the cheesecake layer comes chocolate pudding, then vanilla pudding,
                                                               and finally whipped cream!

Week 32 & 33 Lemonies and Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

Since next week we'll be in Greece! I thought that I would post two things I baked yesterday for Father's Day.

I love lemon and since it's summer time I tried out these "lemon brownies" over on Pinterest. The recipe was super easy to make and they tasted just great. Not too much lemon where it was overwhelming but just perfect.

I also made chocolate peppermint crinkles which I had baked before but this recipe was a little different. The cookies turned out great also and Jon was pleased!

Week 31 Carrot Cake

I had some extra carrots and before they went to waste I made some yummy carrot cake. I have actually been craving carrot cake for a few weeks. The pin actually links back to the "Brown Eyed Baker", a blogger who never disappoints. I have to say that all the recipes I have tried from her have been a huge success. The carrot cake has coconut flakes in it which gives the cake a nice little crunch....plus who can resist a delicious cream cheese frosting!!!

 Naynay enjoying a little snack before bed time. 

 

Week 30 Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are an oldy but a goody. Back during Christmas time we were able to find Hershey's Kisses! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them so I bought a few packs. Last night I had to make some cookies for a get together so I thought I'd make peanut butter blossoms. Of course there were some left over for the boys to enjoy at home.

I know you can find this recipe anywhere online but I found mine on Pinterest  of course!

Week 29 Peanut butter, chocolate chip, and pretzel squares!

This weeks Pinterest dessert was a big hit! We have a guest staying with us this week ........the pastor of one of our supporting churches and a good friend and he loved it. My husband loved it too!! Unfortunately both men are trying to watch their "waste lines" so I'm going to have the share the dessert with our next door neighbors.

The pin is over here !