Shopping Therapy or Baking Therapy

These are two types of therapy I love. I will be the first to admit the shopping therapy rarely happens though … you know this whole life on a budget thing plus a job and family that keeps me busy. Baking Therapy on the other hand, I seem to find time for that. Some times it is after the kids go to bed and I bake just for the sake of baking. That is tonight. I printed out two recipes and didn’t have the ingredients for them. I search through my Pinterest Cakes Board and couldn’t find a recipe I wanted to make that I had the ingredients for there either.  I needed to bake so I kept looking and ended up on my Pinterest Cookie Board. I found the recipe for Skillet Baked Candy Bar Stuffed Double Cookie so I used that for my inspiration.  don’t need to eat the cookies … sure I will eat one or two but the baking is the therapy not the eating for me. I think it is the measuring and mixing and creating that I love. So …. Ta-Da …

Cookie Surprise Sundae

 

OK I was ready to take the picture and Brian (This Cookin’ Dad took over and styled that picture. What do you think?)

Want to make your own Cookie Surprise Sundae?

I totally cheated.

Ingredients

2 rolls of Sugar Cookie dough

1/2 roll of Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (or use the full thing!)

approximately 12 piece of candy (we used Reese cups, Twix, Snickers, Kit Kat bars that were left over from gosh knows what candy collecting event the kids attended … the Christmas parade maybe?)

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your cast iron skillet with a cooking spray. Press one package of sugar dough into the skillet. Place candies on top and add the chocolate chip cookie dough to the middle of the candies. Cover the top with sugar cookie dough. Bake for 35-45 minutes. I baked it for 35 minutes and it is gooey so if you like gooey for the lesser time!

Flip it out of the skillet onto a cutting board. Cut into pieces with a pizza cutter. Top with ice cream and chocolate syrup. Enjoy!

I don’t need to eat the cookies … sure I will eat one or two but the baking is the therapy not the eating for me. I think it is the measuring and mixing and creating that I love. Well, I don’t even need to measure or mix apparently. I can just create and be happy but apparently I need to go shopping so that I can make those recipes I printed out today!

How about you? Do you like shopping therapy or baking therapy? Well you can either go shop for shoes or go buy baking supplies because Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland is offering one of our readers a $50 Visa gift card.  Good luck in the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: No compensation was received for this post.

This Cookin’ Dad Challenged – King Cake

I decided to challenge This Cookin’ Dad to some seasonal recipes this year. The first one up was easy. It was a King Cake for Mardi Gras. You see, we live in Central Virginia and King Cakes aren’t really a thing around here. I remember Brian finding one back in 2004. Yes, I can remember this based of where we lived at the time but I can’t remember what I wore yesterday. That is so sad. Anyway last year he complained he couldn’t find a King Cake around here so I figured the easiest way to fix that was to have him make his own!

I saw some of this …

And some of this …

Do you follow me on Instagram and see the pictures I posted there?

Here is a half of a King Cake. To see the rest … check out the King Cake post over at This Cookin’ Dad! (I’ll break the news that he not only made one but he made SIX King Cakes this year!)

half king cake

What do you think? How did he do? 

The next challenge for This Cookin’ Dad is Irish Soda Bread. Do you have a favorite recipe he should try? Let us know!

Great Value Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats Part 2

Last week, in Great Value Valentine’s Sweet Treats, I shared a couple of easy recipes to use for Valentine’s Day. You got to see just how easy it is to make Berry Tartlets, Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls,  and Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies using dough products found in the refrigerated section of your local Walmart.  It is so easy to great yummy treats for entertaining using Great Value refrigerated dough. So where did all of those sweet treats go?

The Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies were a planned snack for an upcoming party but they didn’t even survive the afternoon that I made them long enough to even get a picture of someone eating one. The good news is that even though they didn’t survive, they are really simple to make and I can make a dozen more with a big fuss so here was another round of the Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies !

Our kids love cinnamon rolls … OK, they love anything breakfast but, when they see cinnamon rolls, they go a bit nutty. I  have to confess that I didn’t even get one of these Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls. Grace asked for more and well that little six year old girl has me wrapped around her finger, so I said yes. Sophie LOVED the heart shape and kept taking bites to make other shapes. Matthew was just all in it for cinnamon roll and didn’t even care they were pink. I think he would have noticed more if I  made them red since that is favorite color right now!

Last but not least, the Berry Tartlets actually made it to a Super Bowl Party instead of a Valentine’s Party. Beth was asked for the recipe four times and had to admit each time that it wasn’t written down yet. ummm … oops! She knew there was success with this recipe when she saw the last of the mini size Berry Tartlets stuffed in a coffee cup to be eaten on the way home! That is a recipe endorsement right there! Oh and this tray was full of the Berry Tartlets when it arrived at the party!

great value berry tarts

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

Great Value Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats

Do you remember our Great Value Thanksgiving goodies and Great Value Christmas goodies?  Well, we are back with some great Valentine’s creations using Great Value cookie and pastry dough.  I am helping Sophie’s preschool class for Valentine’s Day this year, so I wanted to try out a couple of things using Great Value cookie doughs.  Some of them worked out better than others.

 

Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies

In the end, I decided to go simple.  Using a silicone petite heart pan, I filled the molds up about halfway.  I baked them according to package directions for 14 minutes and then allowed them to cool completely before removing them from the molds.  I simply filled the depression with pink vanilla flavored cake frosting and topped with sprinkles.  Easy, right?  They turned out ridiculously cute and my little testers really loved them.

Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls

One of the nice things about holidays with kids is that you can easily make the holiday go all day long.  Not only do they get school parties and the opportunity for cards, flowers, etc. at home in the evening, we can also have a special breakfast for them.  Great Value cinnamon rolls can be easily unrolled and then re-rolled into the shape of a heart.  You wind up with them about half-rolled on each side.  When you pinch the middle, you have a beautiful little cinnamon heart.  We up the Valentine’s Day ante by adding a little red food coloring to the icing included in the package.  When we tested it with our kids with the pink icing and the heart shape…well, let’s just say that I didn’t get to eat much breakfast that morning!

 

Great Value Berry Tartlets

Heart shaped cookies and cinnamon rolls may be great for the kids (or for sneaking after they’ve gone to bed!), but what if you are having an office party?  You need something that hints at Valentine’s Day, but that isn’t to childish.  These Berry Tartlets have the right color for the holiday and they have that lovely berry taste that you expect in a Valentine’s treat for adults.

Ingredients

2 Great Value refrigerated Pie Crusts (one package)
1 can of pie filling (We used mixed berry)
1/2 cup of  oatmeal (quick oatmeal is fine)
1/2 brown sugar packed
1/4 cup butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Let the refrigerated pie dough warm up by leaving on the counter for 30 minutes. Unroll the pie dough and spray it with a cooking spray with flour. You can make muffin size tartlets or mini-muffin size tartlets. Use a circle cookie cutter (or a glass) that is the same size as the top of the muffin pan hole to cut circles. Cut the circles out of the pie dough. The closer the circles are together the more you will get out of the pie dough!  Put the circles in the muffin tins with the sprayed side down. Scoop a small spoon full of the pie filling into each dough circle. (For the mini-muffins this was only 1-3 berries!)

Mix the oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter together in a small bowl using a pastry blender or a fork. You will have clumps of butter but that is ok.  Put a small spoon full of the crumb topping on top of each tartlet.

Bake the mini-muffin size tarlets for 22-25 minutes and the muffin size tarlets for 25-30 minutes. Let them cool complete in the pan before trying to remove them from the pans.

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

The Mason Jar Cookie Company

This is post will feature The Mason Jar Cookie Company, one of five finds that we will feature from the DC Metro Cooking Show back in November! Watch this week for ALL of these finds as they might make a great Valentine’s gift for your love or even your kids … or maybe a teacher … or even yourself!

Details …

From The Mason Jar Cookie Company … We think how your Mason Jar Cookie blend looks is every bit as important as how they’ll taste.  So each is presentation quality, inside and out.  From the moment the shipping box arrives, every element of the package is designed to delight.

You design your jar in three steps … the base, the mix ins, and the name. How simple is that?!

Our Thoughts …

This is a unique review for us because we won the raffle for a cookie mix jar that The Mason Jar Cookie Company held at the DC Metro Cooking Show! I ordered a mix a day they told us that we won and called it Just for the Kids!

I loved the jar and well how pretty everything looked in the jar! It was super easy to make the mix but I did have to use a spoon to get everything out the jar. It was well packed in the jar. Matthew, who is three, helped me make these cookies. It was the perfect cookie job for him as it didn’t take me all night to measure ingredients!

Matthew loved “his” cookies so much that I missed a picture of the baked cookies! oops! I love the idea that you can order Party Favors from The Mason Jar Cookie Company. These would make perfect gifts for since they even have special Valentine’s Day blends!! Or you can just put in your favorite mix ins and give your jar a fun Valentine’s Name! Be Mine? I would certainly not say no to a cookie mix jar that said that! ;)

Oh if you are a gluten-free house … they even have a gluten-free mix base!! How great is that?!

What do you think? Would you love to gift or receive a cookie mix jar from The Mason Jar Cookie Company?

 

Friday Favorite: Frosted Zucchini Brownies

Friday Favorites is another almost weekly feature here at Simply Budgeted. The whole point of this feature is to share some of our favorite finds. Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly post about.

Reminder/Disclaimer/Whatever: Everything in Friday Favorites is something that we use and bought on our own.

 

A few weeks ago, I started searching for a recipe for Zucchini Brownies. I found one by Mommy I’m Hungry that was inspired by one from blogchef.

So I started to make the recipe … I had written it down and everything and then it didn’t look right to be brownies so I started changing the recipe. This recipe makes a cake-y brownie. If you like a fudge-y brownie you might try the original recipe!

This picture isn’t going to win me any awards but it does show how yummy these brownies are so I hope you keep reading!

Frosted Zucchini Brownies

½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini (shredded)
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 eggs

Chocolate Frosting-

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
½ cup 2% milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with the spray+flour (or flour after spraying). Mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Add flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix in zucchini and walnuts. Spread into the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

In a small saucepan, over low/medium heat melt together the cocoa powder and butter (this took a lot of stirring and I upped the heat some to get it moving along but kept stirring so it didn’t burn!)  Let cool (so you can touch it and not think it is hot). In a medium bowl mix confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Pour over the brownies and move the pan around to cover the tops. This icing pours out over the brownies and super yummy. I loved. Brian didn’t. The second time, I used less milk 1/4 cup and it was more of a traditional spreadable icing that Brian liked better. (I still loved the poured version as it reminds me of the icing my mom puts on her Texas Sheet Cake!)

What have you been making with zucchini? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Friday Favorite: Oneida Trigger Cookie Scoop

 

Details …

The Oneida Trigger Cookie Scoop is an essential tool for anyone who loves to bake. This classic, trigger-style scoop features a brushed stainless steel handle. It’s also dishwasher safe for easy clean-up.
Oneida Trigger Cookie Scoop:

  • Trigger-style cookie scoop
  • Made of stainless steel
  • Brushed handle
  • Dishwasher safe

Our Thoughts …

I thought about this being a Friday Favorite recently but we had a comment in my Cookie Therapy Wordless Wednesday post about how the cookies were so round so I decided to make this post now!

This cookie scoop is a favorite because of the “trigger” design. Most cookie scoops seem to have two handles that you squeeze together. I just don’t have the same success with those that I have with this cookie scoop. You will end up with cookie that are all the same size so they bake evenly which is really great. The chocolate chip cookies don’t get the perfect round edges like these oatmeal raisin ones but the peanut butter cookies get pretty edges too! You will find this is a kitchen gadget that you use all of the time as soon as you have one!

I have no idea where we bought this but the only place I am seeing this Oneida Cookie Scoop online is Walmart.

Do you use a cookie scoop? Do you use this trigger style or the two handle squeeze style? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Wordless Wednesday: Cookie Therapy

Baking is therapy for me. The graduate school semester ended and I started baking. (These all left our house to go to new neighbors and co-workers!)

 

 
Let us know where your Wordless Wednesday post is …

Want to guess what kind of cookies? Leave us a comment and let us know!

The Daring Baker: Armenian Nutmeg Cake

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

Jason described the Armenain Nutmeg Cake as a twist on traditional coffee cake, although it might bring a nice respite to bakers longing for a break from yeasted dough pastries. I went with Jason’s easy method and made this in the food processor. This was a big step for me a I really hate the food processor. I mostly hate it because I always seem to have to clean it after Brian uses it but I also fear it will chop my fingers off. At any rate, I got over this fear and not only used but cleaned it with all of my fingers still in tact!

I was excited this recipe called for freshly ground nutmeg. Freshly ground nutmeg is another kitchen tip that Brian introduced me to over the years. It is so simple that I am amazed the ground stuff still sells! If you haven’t tried using freshly ground nutmeg, you really must give this a try!

Here is the final cake. I was worried it didn’t bake enough when I pulled it out and it didn’t. It was getting so brown though I went ahead and took it out. The bottom was done for sure so I am glad I didn’t leave it any longer.

And here is a slice …

Finally, here is Sophie (4 years old) enjoying a bite …

The nutmeg taste with the walnuts in this cake is amazing. I really love the crust on the bottom … now to figure out how to get the middle to cook all the way!

I love all things coffee cake (well minus the actual coffee, I know I am odd) so this was an easy love for me. I did like the food processor method and will have to think about this for some of my other baking efforts!

Have you ever tried an Armenian Nutmeg Cake? Leave a comment and let me know!

 

Friday Favorite: Reynolds Parchment Paper

Friday Favorites is another almost weekly feature here at Simply Budgeted. The whole point of this feature is to share some of our favorite finds. Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly post about.

Reminder/Disclaimer/Whatever: Everything in Friday Favorites is something that we use and bought on our own.

 

 

Description …

  • High quality, nonstick paper that is ovenproof up to 420 degrees
  • Excellent for baking cookies, cakes, breads, pizza, fish or chicken en papillote, and making candy or frozen desserts
  • Works great when used to cover foods in the microwave oven
  • Professional bakers and cooks have been using it for years

My Thoughts …

I have Brian to thank for introducing me to parchment paper. It wasn’t something that my mom ever had at her house … OK, I still don’t think she has it at her house. Brian loves the brown unbleached parchment paper. I am always out for a bargain though and found Reynolds Parchment Paper thanks to  coupons  awhile back. I like to save the coupons for the Super Double Sale at Harris Teeter and really save on this new to me kitchen staple! It doesn’t go bad so I can two boxes and toss in it the drawer!

Why do I really love parchment paper? Well besides it makes your cookies cook all nice and even … it saves on clean up. I always have dish duty here and any trick I can find to save me time in that area, I love. If you want to see how those cookies turned out, see the Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe from 4 Ingredients Gluten-Free post!

Do you use parchment paper? What is your favorite use for parchment paper? Leave me a comment and let me know!