Chocolate is a woman’s best friend.  But, brownies with an ooey gooey chocolate sauce?  Even better!

I was flipping through my grandmother’s recipes a few months back, and this recipe caught my eye and has been a favorite ever since.  The hardest step in this recipe is the waiting part!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

1¼ cups sugar; divided

1 cup flour

7 Tbsp. Unsweetened Baking Cocoa; divided

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup milk

1/3 cup butter; melted

½ packed brown sugar

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1¼ cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 Tbsp. cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Add in the milk, melted butter and vanilla, beating until smooth.  Pour the batter in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

In another bowl combine the remaining ½ cup sugar as well as the brown sugar and the remaining 4 Tbsp cocoa.  Sprinkle this mixture on top of batter, and pour the hot water over the top.  DO NOT STIR!

Bake for 40 minutes.  Let it sit for 15 minutes to allow the hot fudge sauce to cool and thicken.

Top with whipped cream, or even fresh fruit.  Yum!

This post is joining in on Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday.

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Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

If you are looking for an easy, flavorful dessert, look no further than Strawberry Cheesecake Bites.

Sunday afternoon our church hosted it’s annual Ladies’ Tea. I volunteered to bring something along before I knew I would gone the whole day prior. I went shopping with a few friends in the city; we left my house at 6:30 am and arrived back at my house at 2 am! To say I was exhausted would be an understatement.

When Sunday rolled around, I knew I couldn’t make the cookies I had planned, and I was going to need something super easy with ingredients I had on hand. On the spot I came up with this dessert, and it ended up being a huge hit!

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Phyllo Shells (this isn’t something I normally
have, but during a recent sale I picked some up for Christmas appetizers.)

8 oz cream cheese; softened

1 cup powdered sugar

Frozen Strawberries; thawed

In a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Spoon in the strawberries to the desired flavor. I didn’t measure mine, but if I were to guess, I would say I used probably ¼ cup. Once mixed together completely, spoon or pipe into Phyllo Shells.

For an added touch, garnish with a sliced strawberry.

Makes 30.

This post is linked to:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap: Holiday Food Fest Edition
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Strawberry Cheesecake Bites is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

**UPDATED** Winner is announced at the bottom.

Welcome to this weeks round of the Holiday Food Fest! This week we’re covering Packaging Ideas for Edible Gifts. I absolutely adore packaging Christmas presents. My husband makes fun of me for all the time I spend on packaging up our gifts.

I usually try to give a fair amount of homemade gifts every year. Not only do I find it to be more personal, but it makes for a frugal Christmas. Over the last year I have become more comfortable and confident in the kitchen, so I purposed to make even more edible Christmas gifts this year.

For Thanksgiving this year, we are going to see my family in Iowa. What a great opportunity to drop off some Homemade Christmas Gifts!

I took a jar of Jalapeno Jelly and a jar of Corn Cob jelly and attached a festive ribbon around the jar band. For the tag, I used a piece of white cardstock and wrote the serving instructions inside. For this gift I also included Buttermilk Biscuit Mix with a cute snowflake cutter. The candy cane bag was purchased at Dollar General for $1. Total Cost=Under $4

{Please forgive the quality of the photos from here down. My 4yo knocked the camera off the counter..I have yet to find part of the lens that flew off. }

I’m so upset that you can’t see this basket very well. This is a Breakfast Basket and includes:

• Cinnamon Pancake Mix
• Buttermilk Buscuit Mix with Snowflake Cutter
• Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix with Snowman Mug
• Jalapeno and Corn Cob Jellies in Red Snowman Bag
• Plastic Condiment Bottle w/these instructions on a cute printable Christmas Label: Fill with favorite pancake batter and draw on hot griddle for fun, shaped pancakes! My children LOVE it when I pull mine out!
• Wooden Spoon for mixing
• Plastic Spatula for flipping pancakes
• Green Snowman Towel for cleaning up
• All of this is contained in a plastic green bowl, perfect for use later on.

Total Cost: Under $8

This is more of an All-In-One Basket, I used Jars for the mixes intead of bakery bags. It includes:

• Homemade Vanilla Chai Mix with Snowman Mug {Breakfast}
• Buttermilk Biscuit Mix {Breakfast}
• Jar of Homemade Apple Butter {Breakfast}
• Chili Mix in a Jar w/plastic serving spoon {Dinner}
• Brownie Mix w/wooden stirring spoon {Dessert}
• Snowflake Towel for cleaning up
• Also in a plastic green bowl.

Total Cost: Also right around $8

When making homemade mixes, be sure to attach a label with directions so the recipent knows what to do. I did a quick Swagbuck search for “Christmas Lables” and found a lot of really cute options. I use a fair amount of ribbon and Christmas Stationary because it adds a special touch. If you want more of “country” feel, you can use Raffia in place of the ribbon–or even together. Before passing these gifts along, I will wrap the baskets in cellophane and tie off with coordinating ribbon and another home printed tag.

Oh, I can’t wait to give them out!

Additonal ideas: I packaged up hot cocoa, homemade marshmallows, and made baggies of Heaven on a Stick for teacher gifts.

Now it is your turn.

What Edible Gifts are you giving this year? What are your Packaging Ideas?

Last weeks giveaway winner is: Saveur at TasteSpace! This week if you link up you enter to win an EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Scale.

“The EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale is a versatile multifunction home appliance. Designed to be highly accurate and aesthetically pleasing, the Precision Pro is manufactured to the highest quality specifications. Weigh items up to 11 lbs quickly and accurately, with results displayed in four different units: grams / ounces / pounds / kilograms. Weigh food items directly on the scale platform or utilize the scale’s tare (zero) function, which eliminates the weight of a plate or bowl and makes cleanup a snap. The high resolution screen provides easy viewing angles on any kitchen counter and the five rubber feet eliminate sliding. Additionally the three minute auto-turnoff feature ensures that you will never again lose your measurement in the middle of your recipe prep!” ~Excerpt from Amazon.com

Digital scales are a great tool for any cook. They come in handy when having to measure ingredients for canning, or even bread making–as some recipes state the weight of an ingredient versus a measurement. This scale is pleasing to the eye, so it won’t be gawky sitting out on your counter top. The Auto-Turnoff is especially handy for forgetful cooks like me–don’t want to waste those batteries!

Link up or comment on this post to enter to win! Must be in the United States to win. Winner will be announced on Wendesday, November 25th.

Can’t wait to see your ideas!

Linda from Gluten Free Homemaker–you were picked by Random.org!!

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Packaging Ideas for Edible Gifts is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

All of my children were out of school today due to deer season, so I was trying to come up with something to occupy them. It was chilly and rainy for the first day in weeks, giving me the urge to bake. I had the brilliant idea of making cupcakes, since we rarely make them. I envisioned the kids helping me measure and mix up the cupcake batter, scooping into the festive cupcake liners and decorating to their hearts content.

After listening to the children argue over this, that, and the color of the moon–I sent them to their rooms for a nap. They were told they had to get rid of their attitudes before we could proceed with the cupcake making process. When they woke from their naps they feared that I had already made the cupcakes..while it did cross my mind, I was really wanting them to be able to be creative and create their very own, unique cupcakes.

I mixed up a chocolate cake mix, substituting applesauce in for the oil and baked away. I gave each child a small plate with 2 cupcakes each, a dollop of icing, and set the decoration in the middle of the table for them to use.

Aren’t these the prettiest cupcakes ever??

Apparently they were too worried about eating them, and forgot to decorate them! So much for festive cupcakes to share.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Cupcake Tuesday

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Decorating Cupcakes With Children is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

I am out of town for the weekend, and Lynn has graciously offered to do a post in my absence. I love Lynn’s recipes! Her Oatmeal Pancakes quickly become our favorite pancake, even my daughter, who hates oatmeal, gobbles them up!

I think that one of the biggest things we can do to save money on groceries and food is to use what we have and to not let things go to waste. This is an area I think most of us struggle with., and it is something that past generations were much better at than our generation.

Most of our grandmothers would not have even thought about throwing food out. But all too often I find myself throwing away the last little bit of something. I let produce go bad or something gets hidden in the back of the fridge or freezer, and by the time I find it, it is too late to use it. Does anyone else besides me have this problem? It is something I really am trying to get better at, but I have a long ways to go.

Bananas seem to be the perfect example of something that goes bad before I use them all. I always end up buying more than we can eat before they turn brown, but I don’t want to throw any out. Yes, you can freeze them and use them in things like smoothies. You can also make banana bread, but my family gets tired of those things. So, when I found a recipe for a banana cookie, I knew I wanted to try it. Not only does it have bananas in it, it also has whole wheat flour and oatmeal in it. So, it is semi-healthy.

My family loves these cookies, and they have become one of our favorite ways to use up bananas. I hope you give these a try next time you have bananas that need used up.

• Frugal Friday
• Recipe Swap

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Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

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Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Guest Post: Using What We Have is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

It has been awhile since I have baked for an entire day, or atleast a good part of it. Earlier this week I decided that I was overdue, so I planned a Baking Day for today. Crystal, has been baking up a storm this week in preperation for baby #3 and blogged through it, so I decided to blog through mine as well.

As the day progresses I will update my post with my progress. Unfortunately, since I still cannot figure out why my computer won’t recognize my camera–there won’t be any pictures. You’ll have to use your imagination!

Here is my “To-Accomplish” List

• Chocolate Chip Cookies for next weeks snacks. I’m going to try out this recipe instead of ol’ trusty.
• Try not to eat all of the cookie batter! It’s my weakness.
• French Bread Baguettes for DH’s sandwiches. (same recipe, different method. I hope to share my “new” way later.) They are all shaped, and are working on their second rise. DONE!
• Oat Bran Bread. It’s on it’s second rise. This is a new one to me–and I just don’t know about it…. **It’s done–and it is not so good! Any ideas on how to salvage it?
• Granola Bars. Finished and bagged up!
• Chocolate Zuchinni Cake (Thanks for the reminder, Jessica!) In the oven, and I just remembered I forgot to add the butter! Hope it turns out! DONE! And delish! Since I’ve single handedly eaten almost half of it, I froze the rest of it in 2 seperate portions.
• Cheese Crackers. I was going to experiment and come up with a recipe, but Laura took out all the guess work for me. DONE!
• Clean up the kitchen.
• Freeze half of the Chocolate Chip Cookies.
• Let Noah help me. This is always a hard one for me, as I mentioned here. It was SO much fun having him in the kitchen!
• Have Fun! Of course!
• Find a snippet of time to do a load of laundry. Getting ready to start load #3!
• Start dinner by 4:30pm. Well, 4:45–close enough.

Time to get cracking!

This post is linked to:

• Money Saving Mom: Baking Day Wrap Up
• Thursday Thirteen

What do you have planned today?

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Time to Bake! is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

My husband’s favorite cookies of all time are Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. As I’ve confessed before, I’m not a cookie maker, but I’m learning. Over the past few weeks, I’ve made my fair share of these since they are somewhat nutritious. Who knew that a kitchen timer would work wonders?!

A couple weeks ago when I was making up a batch, I was low on all-purpose flour, but I didn’t realize it until I already started making them. The only solution I had was to use whole wheat flour. I had no idea how it was going to turn out, but I ran with it anyway.

To my delight–it worked perfectly! The only thing that needs to be adjusted is the bake time or oven temp. I would say that you could probably drop the temp to 325° and bake for about 5 to 8 minutes.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 

1 c shortening

¾ c packed br. sugar

¼ c white sugar

1 (3.5 oz) pkg instant french vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 ¼ c. all purpose flour (or whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

3 ½ c rolled oats

1 c raisins

Cream together shortening, br. sugar and white sugar until smooth.

Blend in the dry pudding mix, then beat in eggs until the batter is light and fluffy.

Combine the flour and baking soda, mix into the batter. Add in the oats and raisins. The mixture will be really stiff, and appear dry–but it’s okay!

Drop dough by spoonfuls onto baking sheets.  Bake 8-12 mins in a 350° oven. For whole wheat, adjust oven temp to about 325° and bake for 5-8 minutes.

 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Kitchen Tip Tuesday
• Are you a cookie lover? Be sure to check out the Cookie Throwdown over at LifeasMom.

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

Although my husband was very sick last week, our menu still went over pretty well. We didn’t have the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, but everything else went as planned. Thankfully, Willie is much better, and finally went back to work this morning after being off since April 3rd! He was more than ready to go back! Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers last week–we really appreciated them! Bloggy friends are the best, and I’m so thankful for all of you–and thankful to be back this week.

Also, many of you asked how the Black Bean Browines turned out. They were okay. I’m a cake-y brownie lover, and these were more fudgey. I also revamped my homemade brownie recipe (used some agave nectar and turbinado) and then substituted in the black beans. My kids loved them, while my husband said “there is too much experimenting in those!”. So, next time I will use a brownie mix, or maybe just not tweak my recipe so much!

Breakfast:

• ½ Bagel. Smoothie.
• Oatmeal. Egg White. Pear.
• Cheerios w/bananas.
• Granola Bars

Dinner:

• Sunday: Free For All
• Monday: Asian Vegetable Soup. Vegetable Dumplings. (recipes later this week)
• Tuesday: Spaghetti. Green Beans. HM French Bread. Salad.
• Wednesday: Lentil Brown Rice Casserole. Salad. Biscuits.
• Thursday: Tuna Casserole. Peas.
• Friday: Buffalo Chicken Pizza. Salad.
• Saturday: Roast Beef Burritos w/lettuce and sour cream. HM Spanish Rice. HM Refried Beans.

Snacks:

• Smoothies.
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
• Carrots w/dip.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Menu Plan Week of 4/12-4/18 is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

It’s that time! Time for the Great American Bake Sale! Be sure to head on over to Stolen Moments Cooking to check out all the participants. I submitted Blueberry Streusel and Frugal Delish Cake.

100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs–food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

The ebooks are a compilation of recipes from submitters across the blogosphere and beyond. The ebooks are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer’s choosing.

The Complete VGABS E-Book

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Because we know file size may be an issue for some, the below ebooks have split the 170 recipes into 4 categorized ebooks so that you can choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites, if you’d prefer. Just like for the Complete ebook, many of these recipes include pictures. And again, they are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer’s choosing.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 Recipes

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts

Features 49 Recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Virtual Great American Bake Sale is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt

I’m on this never ending quest to try and regain control of my Recipe Binder. It is the bottomless pit of doom–or so it appears.

I was flipping through it trying to find some snacks/desserts to go with this week’s menu, and I stumbled across an old favorite.

If I’m not mistaking this comes from the Quick Cooking Magazine (which is now known as Simple & Delicious). It is low in fat, simply easy, and incredibly delicious!

• Frozen Pineapple Juice with chopped pineapple topping
• Frozen Fruit Punch with cherries on top
• What about Limeade? Mmmmm…
• White Grape peach juice with peaches on the top
• Or even Raspberry juice, with fresh raspberries for the topping

This post is linked to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

What combinations can you come up with?

Have you purchased your copy of the Home Management Binder yet? It's not too late!

Thank you for supporting our February Sponsors!

Don't Feel Guilty About Dessert! Eat a Smart Sweet! Check out the 80+page Ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.

{Mountain Rose Herbs}--Organic Spices, Herbs, Teas and Essential Oils {Plus MORE!!}

Visit the Clever Housewife for Saving and Stretching a Buck.
Recipe: Arctic Orange Pie is a post from: Getting Freedom From Debt