Sundays with Joy: Lavender Lemon Bars

It's that time again! Sundays with Joy! This weeks recipe is Lavender Lemon Bars! I just love lemon bars and have never made them before! So what a perfect time to do it. I also really like using lavender in baking. I use it in shortbread and I have this nice iced earl grey tea I make with it as well. 

So this was not a recipe I wanted to change anything in, because well, it sounded just perfect. These were absolutely delicious and what made it even better I had people to share it with. My friend hosted a Scentsy party on Friday and I was asked to bring something, well this was it and they were a hit! 

*I am not sure what happened though because my lemon filling split when baking, however still delicious!

If you would like to get your hands on this recipe you can buy Joy's book HERE and for more awesome recipes visit her blog HERE

If you would like to join for Sunday with Joy group, visit the facebook page HERE

Ooey Gooey Goodness

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday season! Mine was great; got to spend time with my brother, sister in law to be and my niece as well as my grandparents who were down visiting. We got to go to Manitoulin Island to visit my bf's family! It was so beautiful there and there was snow! Cause here in southern Ontario we have been lacking snow this winter! The only down side was that I was sick from Dec 22 -Jan 7; started with a cold then the flu then a cold and the flu again!  

Do you guys make new years resolutions? If so what are committing yourself to accomplishing this year.

I have made a few. One is to continue working on my healthy lifestyle that I have been working towards since the fall. For me this includes healthier food choices, exercise and also letting myself indulge in portion controlled ways. So far so good I have lost 15 lbs since October. 

Another one is to post more regularly. I always have some excuse as to why I am soo busy and can't.  But I know I have time because it was easy to find time to fit in my exercise. 

My last one is to take care of myself. Along with the healthy eating and exercise I am going to give myself more me time so that I can continue to help others the way that I have been up to now.

So onto my first recipe of the year! I am not sure what to call this, I have seen many different versions of this cake called so many different things. So I am just going to call it Ooey Gooey Goodness! If you have a chocolate craving this will satisfy it! This is also hard to resist so if you don't have good self control, make sure you have people you can share this with.

Ooey Gooey Goodness

1 box chocolate cake mix (substitute milk for water, butter for oil and add an extra egg) 

1 can light sweetened condensed milk

1 jar chocolate fudge sauce (I prefer PC Dark chocolate fudge sauce)

3/4 tube light Cool Whip (not fat free, that stuff is gross)

2 Skor* bars, crushed/chopped 

Bake the cake according to the box. *I prefer to make the substitutions noted above, as it has more flavour)

Once you take the cake out of the oven, use the end of a wooden spoon and poke holes all over the cake. Then pour the can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over the cake. Pour the fudge sauce evenly over the cake and let cool. Once cooled, spread the Cool Whip over the top and sprinkle with Skor pieces.

Heartbroken

Chocolate Egg Nog!!

So this is my Sundays with Joy post this week! It's not very Christmas-y here, it was +8 today and rainy. Here's hoping for some snow before Christmas.

This week's recipe was Joy's Perfect Hot Chocolate. I made it last week for the kids and it didn't last long enough for pictures, but hey what's new... seems to happen a lot around here. So I decided to change it up this time and made Chocolate Egg Nog.

I know my mug is not very festive, but it is my favourite mug and I have had it since I was at least 8. I used to get really upset if someone else used it. My cousin Blair had a different Disney mug and was the same way with her's.

The mug fits in my theme of favourite things because Christmas is my favourite time of the year.


Chocolate Egg Nog

2 cups Egg Nog (I prefer light)
.5 cup milk
1 tbsp White Chocolate chips
2.5 tbsp Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Heat Egg Nog and milk in a pan until warm.

Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or mug. Microwave on Power 5 for 1 min. Stir until melted.

Stir chocolate into Egg Nog.

Enjoy! I like mine with Mini Marshmallows.

If you would like to find Joy Original recipe Check out her Cookbook Joy the Baker Cookbook

Sundays with Joy: Gingerbread with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

The beginning of December and in my house that means I can start decorating!!!! I live with a scrooge that will not let me put out decorations before December 1st. What better way to start the season than with Gingerbread!!! This was a nice treat to enjoy as we decorated the house and got into the Christmas Spirit. It was really moist and the pomegranate were a nice finishing touch. 

This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker's Orange Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Frosting! This recipe is in her book and on her blog here.

My adaption happened by accident I forgot the orange zest in the gingerbread, but felt it needed to be present in the finished dessert, so I added it to my frosting and it turned out amazing. 

I definitely reccommend you make this Gingerbread!!! Go make it now!!! 

Buffalo Chicken Manicotti

Had a busy but productive weekend. Friday night the girls went to see Breaking Dawn Pt 2, I passed, despite their begging, as I have not read the books are watched any of the movies. But  I was able to get some cleaning and errands done. Saturday we went to Medieval Times for my work Christmas Party! It's always a blast, I never get sick of going. I think I have been 4 or 5 times now. Saturday night we had a Rockband Party! and stayed up until 2:00am playing. Sunday we were up early for church, then I had to drive downtown Toronto to drop on of my girls off at the Bus station as she was home for a visit. I almost got stuck downtown on my way home, by the Santa Clause Parade. Glad I didn't cause I was tired after only 5 hours of sleep. 

The Wii U came out Sunday and if you know me and my bf at all then this should not be a surprise. So needless to say the rest of Sunday was spent playing with that and finishing up other chores. I wanted an easy supper and I had made a batch of Buffalo Ranch Chicken on Saturday.  My bf suggested making Buffalo Chicken Manicotti! He likes to brainstorm new ideas and then have me experiment with it in the kitchen.

So experiment I did! I have never made manicotti before ever, but really it's only stuffed pasta. So I figured it wouldn't be too bad.  These turned out delicious! There was no left overs!

Buffalo Chicken Manicotti

1 box manicotti shells

2 cups Buffalo Ranch Chicken

1 tub light ricotta cheese

2 cups Shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided

2 eggs

1/2 cup light ranch dressing

1/4-1/2 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce (I use president's choice) **If using Frank's use less and taste, it is a lot               

                  hotter

Boil shells as per instructions on the box. When done, rinse in cold water, so easier to handle.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While pasta is boiling combine Chicken, ricotta cheese, 1/2 the  Mozzarella and eggs and mix well.

cover bottom of dish with a thin layer of the sauce. Fill Pasta with Chicken mixture. Place in a single layer in baking dish. pour remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 20-25 min until hot and bubbly. If you want the top browned turn the broiler on for a couple minutes at the end of cooking time.

Sundays with Joy: Sweet Potato Pie

It's good to be back in the swing of things and posting again. It seems that life gets busy and I put the blog on the back burner! I've still been cooking and baking, well not so much of the later as I am trying to eat healthier and the kids are all cooking one night a week each. So that's been nice. 

This weeks Sundays with Joy recipe is Sweet Potato Pie with No Roll Crust! I was curious about this because I have never had sweet potato pie before and was also excited to try Joy the Baker's No Roll Pie Crust!

Well this pie was awesome! Everyone enjoyed it. I really liked the crust, mind you I enjoy making pie crust and don't think I have ever bought a store bought one. This was a nice break from the traditional and it tastes delicious. The texture is very much like pumpkin. I substituted the white sugar for Splenda and used low fat cream cheese.

I would definitely recommend everyone try this.  You can find this recipe on Joy's Blog or in Joy the Baker Cookbook.