Peanut Butter Fudge

While shopping at the grocery store the other day, my sister, Wilma, met an elderly woman who was so excited about a recipe she had discovered that she couldn't wait to tell everyone.

That's one thing about being a senior citizen--it's okay to talk to total strangers in the middle of the baking isle at the grocery store. So I would like to thank the creative chemist who thought up this recipe with only two ingredients! Yes, you read that right--just two.

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter
1 can vanilla or white icing (or chocolate if you prefer)

But wait, there is a caveat. Make sure you buy the cheap peanut butter, not the all natural with just peanuts and peanut oil ( The fudge will turn out too soft.) If you prefer to use natural, try peanut butter with coconut oil or something that makes it homogenized--in other words, it should have a spreading consistency without having to stir it.

1. Pour the can of frosting into a medium-sized microwave safe bowl.

2. Heat in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes.

3. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth.

4. Pour into a buttered 8x8 baking dish.

5. Place in refrigerator until set.

6. Cut into cubes and serve only when you are having guests. Otherwise you're likely to eat the entire dish yourself--not good for you, unless you are a senior who is of a mind that you should have dessert first because life is short.

I used Chocolate icing for this batch:
 

This is great to make with children, but be sure only adults handle the icing while it is hot. Making goodies with your kids is great fun. Make enough to give some to their favorite people, like Grandma, Grandpa, and their teachers.
Wrap it in a gift bag and see if they can keep a secret until the holidays!

Stealthy Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Food is my passion, but I realize that I’m consumed with finding not just delicious, nutritious, and appealing sustenance, but also finding ways to get my grandchildren to eat them. After polishing off two meals one day last week, I realized that my granddaughter had eaten only carbohydrates and dairy all day. Now she was begging for a chocolate muffin before dinner. It was time for Grandma to convince her to eat something from the vegetable kingdom.

“Princess, you haven’t eaten fruits or vegetables all day. It’s very important for your health that you eat vegetables and fruits—a rainbow of color that covers half your plate at every meal.”

She thought about that for a moment then said, “But Grandma, the other half of the plate can be brown, right?”

It was very hard to keep a straight face, but I continued, “Yes, but some of the brown needs to be meat, bread, beans, or nuts. Now can we have some cucumber slices or celery trees with humus just to last until dinner?”

She sighed deeply and said, “Okay.” I put a sandy beach of humus on her plate and planted some palm celery trees around it. She ate most of it. That’s when I decided we would make some chocolate zucchini muffins and hide some vegetables in her favorite food—chocolate.

First we began with the following ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
¾ cup of canola oil

The princess beat the eggs and sugar and then added the oil a few spoons at a time until the ingredients were thoroughly blended.

Next we measured and mixed the dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
¾ cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Then I combined the contents of both bowls and added 1 cup of dark chocolate chips while the princess lined the 12 muffin cups with paper liners. She was happy as she snacked on the chocolate chips—two for the bowl and one for the mouth. Then I took out the grater and two glossy green zucchini which I began grating into a bowl.

Eying me suspiciously the princess stopped chewing the chocolate and said, “Grandma, what are you doing with that zucchini?”

I continued to grate listening to the life-blood of the squash swishing through the tiny blades. “I’m going to put two cups of this living rainbow green vegetable into the muffin batter to keep you healthy and strong.”

“No-o-o-o, Grandma! Don’t do it. You’re going to ruin my muffins,” she said as she sprang from the stepladder and left me to finish the detestable task of spoiling a perfectly delicious chocolate dessert.

Ignoring her, I mixed the two cups of grated zucchini into the batter watching the green disappear. She writhed on the floor and mumbled that mixing vegetables and sweets wouldn’t work.

“Look, Sweetie Pie, the zucchini disappeared,” I said and scooped half the dark chocolate batter into the muffin tins and the rest into a greased loaf pan.

“But the zucchini is still there even if you can’t see it—right Grandma?”

“That’s right,” I said and placed the pans in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. The loaf had to remain in the oven for about 55 minutes until set, but the muffins were ready in about 25 minutes.

I removed the muffins from the oven as the warm chocolate fragrance wafted through the air—my mouth watered. I took the muffins from the pan and placed them on a wire rack to cool more quickly. Within five minutes I tore the paper from one and bit into the moist richness. “Um-m-m, better than a brownie, I said. “Delicious!” I held out my arm with the half eaten muffin, closed my eyes and tilted my face to heaven and inhaled.

The princess grabbed the muffin and took a bite, “Oh, Grandma, you’re right. I can’t see the zucchini or taste it. It’s magic! Can I have another one?

Yes, Stealthy Granny strikes again!

Happy Birthday on a Shoestring

Have you ever thought about ways to celebrate your child’s birthday without breaking the bank? It’s not unusual for families to spend hundreds of dollars on a child’s birthday party including the gifts, gift bags, venue, and the cake. Does this sound familiar? Well, you think, “My mom always gave me a bash on my big day. If I really love my kids then I have to do the same thing.” Wrong! That is insane and we were insane for doing it to you in the first place.

In my lifetime birthday celebrations have gone from simple to extravagant. As a child I was just happy to be a year older. A birthday spanking with one lick for each year I’d been alive plus one to grow on, just meant I’d grow some more.

When my first two children came along in the 1960’s and I saw others celebrating with birthday cakes and company for dinner I embraced it with a twist. I made a special birthday cake—one pictured in the Betty Crocker Cookbook. How about a cat or a train?
In addition my child could choose the menu—no liver allowed—and invite their best friend. They got one special gift and didn’t expect one from their friend. Since birthdays were celebrated at home, expense and extravagance were held to a minimum.

By the time the 80’s came along things had changed. I was working full time and had two more children. We followed the crowd to Chuck-e-Cheese’s or rented the pool for a party. Not only did thy get a gift from us, but all their friends brought them too.

Thankfully retirement and a new century have knocked some sense into my head. My younger children were having parties for their children that matched their own—until this year.

Thank the Lord; we got off the merry-go-round at Granny-Nanny’s house (That’s me).
I provided dinner that I knew they’d like. The Princess helped bake the dirt cake with a dump truck on top for her little brother who loves anything with wheels. The gifts were purchased at a resale shop at a fraction of the cost that was spent the year before.

Dump Truck Cake

Our cake began with an idea we found online. Even with this I put a frugal twist. Logan already had a small dump truck that would fit on top of a small rectangular cake to serve Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, his sister and himself. I plopped the truck in the dishwasher and Wala! Like new!

When I’m going to cook anything, the first place I look is on the pantry shelf and next is the freezer. I found a box of yellow cake mix and a large box of vanilla pudding. Whoops! I needed chocolate. No problem, I had a box of Hershey’s cocoa. In the freeze I found a small tub of whipped topping. The only thing I had to buy was a package of Oreo cookies (With peanut butter filling), on sale! I did the victory dance!

Now down to business. The Princess and I made the cake according to package directions with ½ cup of cocoa added. We poured 2/3 of the batter into a greased floured rectangular dish and the rest in 2 large custard cups. We baked the cakes at 350 degrees until they sprang back when we touched them in the center. (Remember the little ones will be done first.) When done we cooled them for 10 to 15 minutes and turned the big cake onto a large platter, or I used a metal tray covered with foil. When the cake was cooled completely we prepared the pudding according to package directions with the addition of 3 tablespoons of cocoa, and the princess used a wire whip to beat it until it was smooth. We folded in two cups of the whipped topping and spread part of it on the cooled cake.

I placed the truck at an angle on one end and one of the cupcakes on the other end. I poured more icing on the cup cake while the princess smashed ½ the Oreos in a large zip lock bag (and only snacked on two or three) using a rolling pin. The other cupcake she broke into chunks and put in the truck bed with a final scoop of topping and more crushed crumbs. We sprinkled the rest of the crumbs on the cupcake that now looked like a pile of dirt. Lana sprinkled a few fall-leaf decorator sugars at random on the cake and we made a banner that said “Happy Birthday Logan”. We placed it on the dirt pile using toothpicks.

Our only party extravagance was balloons. Lana wants her party at Grandma’s next time. Now can you think of a better and more economical way to celebrate a child’s birthday? If you can, let me know or post it here so we can read about it.