Try-It Tuesday: Peanut Butter Bars.

I tried a new recipe tonight. Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust. Gotta be honest... it was just ok. I'm confident that there have got to be better Chicken Pot Pie recipes out there. So I will continue looking...

In the meantime, I want to tell you about these Peanut Butter Bars I made the other day. My boss has been on military leave for the last three months and he came back yesterday. I asked his wife what his favorite treat was so that I could do what I know how to do best... bake for him. He requested these Peanut Butter Bars. I love clear direction. This recipe is easy... with no oven required. (So I suppose I didn't technically bake for him...) But for sure a winner of a recipe! I don't have the original source so I've typed out the recipe for you. If you are a fan of peanut butter and chocolate... then this is the recipe for you.

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
1 cup salted butter (melted)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 (11 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips

Instructions
Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a medium sized bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour peanut butter mixture into a 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips. (The recipe says to microwave them at 50% power for 1-2 minutes but I am pretty stinking convinced that any time I microwave chocolate chips I burn them. This time proved my theory be true.) I'd recommend using a double boiler or a pot of bowling water with a heat-proof bowl on top and melting the chocolate chips that way to avoid them from burning. Spread chocolate with a spatula over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate bars for one hour. Cut while bars are still cool. Enjoy!

I made Pumpkin Roll Bars that were a hit with the co-workers as well. I didn't actually have any of these (trying to watch the sweets so I only allowed myself to partake in one and chose the peanut butter and chocolate over the pumpkin.) These bars are all the deliciousness of a pumpkin roll without the hassle of rolling it. Now that's a good idea...

P.S. The pumpkin cupcakes that I blogged about yesterday... I tried one tonight... they were amazing.

Another post about baking...

(Full of fall spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves...)

I had a rough day today. It's a work thing. I'm weary and am ready for a change and things aren't moving forward... they are moving backward. At least today they were. I signed, and vented, and walked (that's what I do to clear my head at work), and vented some more. (None of which are good ways to deal with frustration.) I went to dinner with my aunts. I sang my heart out on the drive home. Nothing really did it. I was grumpy.

Then I baked. And I don't know what it is about baking... It works. every. time. It combines the things I love... structure, creativity, food, people... and it takes me out of my self-centered, worldy self and back closer to the woman God wants me to be. Tonight I made Gimme Some Oven's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. I didn't actually try a cupcake because they are for tomorrow night, but I tried the batter and the frosting and I think they have the potential to be some of the best pumpkin cupcakes I've made. These pumpkin cupcakes saved my day...

Well, ultimately, Jesus saved my day. He has wired me to get peace from little things like baking. And I'm thankful. Thankful that that's what it takes to bring me back to Him after a day full of sighing, venting, and walking.

(This makes me happy... Oven lights are the best thing.)

(You know what else is great? Taking perfectly peaked cupcakes out of the oven.)

(Tada! Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.)

Happy October!

It's October. I love October! If someone were to ask me, "What's your favorite month?" I would answer October without hesitation. (But let's be real, who asks funny questions like that except for me.)

My new place was lacking in the "fall" department so on Sunday when it dawned on me that fall was approaching, I thought it was time that I do something about that. So I bought some pumpkins, made a wreath, partook in some tallish snacks (candy corn and peanuts and pumpkin spice puppy chow - not as great as it sounds, unfortunately...) Then today I saw my first changing tree of the season... It's really beginning to feel like fall!

Happy October!

Try-It Overload

I've been cooking a lot the last couple of weeks but haven't had a chance to post what I've been trying out. Here are some of the recipes that I think are worthy of your stomaches.

Easy Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork. We had a food day at work and I was in charge of bringing pulled pork. Confession: one of the reasons why I cook with chicken and turkey so much is because I'm afraid of other meats. It's silly, I know. I consulted my friend Jessie and my mom, and they gave me some pointers so I faced my fear and cooked with pork. And this recipe was a winner! I made it the night before, refrigerated it overnight, then heated it up the next day. The blog it came from is called Yummy Healthy Easy and that's exactly what this recipe was. (And it has Diet Coke in the recipe... that's awesome.)

San Antonio Migas. I get the Food Network magazine but rarely make recipes from it. Don't ask me why. So I made it a goal to cook at least one recipe from the most recent issue. I had also always wanted to try my hand at making migas so when I saw this recipe, I knew it was the one. This is a fun alternative to your typical egg breakfast. I actually had it for dinner, but would love to try it again.

Chicken Tortilla Soup. I've been looking for a really good chicken tortilla soup recipe for quite some time. I've tried quite a few recipes but haven't really found any winners... until now. Pioneer Woman came through yet again! And this recipe isn't even that unhealthy (which is good for her). It was flat out tasty.

Chipotle Turkey Chili with Apples. I am drawn to weird recipes. If you tell me, "Hey, I have a good chili recipe!" I'd probably respond with, "Eh, ok?" But if you tell me, "Hey, I have a good Chipotle Turkey Chili with Apples recipe!" THAT, is when I get on board for. This chili doesn't even have beans in it but the flavor was incredible complex and it had the consistency of chili. If you like weird recipes like me, here's one you should try.

How would you spend your days...

You've probably heard this before, but I love ice breaker questions. I love asking people questions and having discussions about things you don't normally discuss in every day conversation.

Tonight, I went to the first small group of the season for my church. It was a lot of new people that I haven't been in a group with before so my friends put me in charge of ice breakers... because that's what I do and that's what I love. I decided to go with the question above. I thought it would get people talking about what they like to do and what they are passionate about.

If you didn't have to work for a living, how would you spend your days?

My answer? "I would travel, and bake, and cook, and create things... then I would write about it." I didn't really spend a lot of time in deep thought coming up with my answer... but for some reason that's what I said. Thinking about it more, that answer is a little selfish. I want to spend my time helping and loving on others, too. I would like to think that I could do that while traveling and baking and cooking and creating things. The good news? Even though I do have to work for a living... I can still do those things. And write about them here. So thanks for being here...

*Side note: upon further discussion at small group tonight, my friends have decided that I should write a book and make a movie and become the next Eat, Pray, Love but better. I'm on board. Add that to my list of things to do.

Last day of summer...

...which means tomorrow is the first day of fall! It's finally here, y'all! I'm currently sitting outside Starbucks, drinking my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, wearing a scarf, and feeling pretty great about it. Have I mentioned that I love fall?

It's been a crazy week. I moved... New house. New state. New roommate. New room (and we thought my LAST room was small...) New kitchen. New commute. A lot of new things... We don't have wifi yet so I haven't blogged until now but it's probably a good thing. I suck at change... initially. So I wasn't the happiest of campers in the beginning. But I'm over it. I'm feeling settled and I'm good. I should be back to blogging soon because we should get wifi sometime this weekend.

Until then... happy end of summer. And an even happier beginning of fall!

"Ask me what's now."

The other day my friend Katie shared a blog post with me entitled "26, unmarried, and childless". Funny because I just happen to be: 1. 26, 2. unmarried, and 3. childless. The post was a really good one. You can read it yourself here but to give a few highlights.

1. Questions/comments from people like "What's next?" and "When are you going to get married?" and "Better get started!" are seemingly harmless small talk questions... but they hurt more than most people realize.

2. Us childless, unmarried 26-years-olds are quite aware of where we're at in life. We are aware that we are getting older and we are aware that the path we are on doesn't really line up with the "normal path" that everyone else is on. And sometimes it's hard.

3. This is the good part... so I thought I'd put it in the bloggers' words, because they are better than my own...

"I would like to suggest one thing, though: instead of asking me what's next, ask me what's now. Ask me what God is teaching me, ask me what I'm struggling with, or what brings me joy. I am learning, I am growing, and I am happy. I would love to tell you all about it."

What's now:

-I work for JPMorgan at a job that is a challenge right now. I'm in this weird place where I am doing the job of the people above me but management is taking their time to promote me. It's hard. But God is teaching me a lot: to be content with where he has me and to love people wherever I am, no matter what I am doing, no matter what my title is, and no matter how much I am getting paid.
-I am moving to a house with a girl I don't really know to a city that I never in a million years thought I would want to live in. I've had a great year with my current roommates, but I'm excited to live with a roommate who is more in the same stage of life as me - she, too, is 26 (ok, she's actually 27), unmarried, and childless.
-I bake a lot. The other day my friend King said, "Abby, I foresee you opening a bakery someday. No one that I know likes something to the point that it is weird like you, so I think it's going to happen." (My response, "Uh... thanks, King? You think I'm weird?") Opening a bakery falls in the "what's next" category. So right now... right now, I bake a lot.
-I love to play games.
-I love to sing.
-I love to learn how to do new things, e.g. sewing. (Unless I don't catch on quickly, then I'm pretty quick to give up. Just being honest...)
-I struggle with being single. I work with my ex-boyfriend and being around him every day is hard.
-I love my church.
-I love my family. I have been thinking lately about how incredibly proud of my three brothers I am.
-I'm learning the balance between being non-confrontational and being too "assertive." I used to run from conflict... now I'm becoming assertive. I'm not afraid to deal with things and tell people exactly what I feel and think. I fear that I'm leaning too far on the assertive side. I'm working on finding the balance.
-I get joy out of being creative and making beautiful things.
-God is teaching me more and more about his grace every day. I've just recently been digging into the fact that I feel guilty a lot. I feel like I could always love people more, or work harder, or keep my cool better, etc... and I end my day feeling guilty about it. I asked my friend April the other day, "Is it normal for Christians to feel guilty all the time? We know that we're never going to measure up... Where is the line between being humble and knowing we're not enough and feeling guilt because of it." I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm confident that God's grace through Christ is the answer.
-I think that's enough for now... you get the picture. This is what's now.

"So please, my dear friends, don't ask me what's next. Ask me what's now."