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It's Valentine's Day! Let's Eat Chocolate!

Let's be honest, nothing says "I love you" more than melting chocolate, right?  Here's a recipe that is sure to please if you're a chocolate lover.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

1/2 stick butter
4-5 ounces dark chocolate
1 t vanilla
1 t red wine
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup flour

Grease 4 baking ramekins.  (Mine are 4 inches in diameter.)

Melt the butter on low power in a 4-6 cup pyrex bowl in the microwave.  It usually takes 2-3 minutes on low, stirring occasionally.  Add chocolate and stir until melted, it may need a little more microwave time.  **Be careful if you've never melted chocolate before.  It can seize up and harden if you heat it too much.  That's why the butter is melted first.

Add the vanilla, wine and powdered sugar, stir.  Add the eggs and keep stirring.  It will look strange, just keep stirring.  Finally add flour and the mixture should be shiny and sticky.

Spoon batter into 4 ramekins and bake on a sheet at 425 degrees for 13 minutes.  This is really important!!  Have the oven hot and ready, and don't bake it any longer than 13 minutes or you will overcook these.  I put these ramekins on another small dish and serve with a warning that the ramekin is hot!

I prepare the batter ahead of time when I have guests.  The unbaked ramekins can sit nicely for a few hours while we have dinner.  Then I bake them and serve them hot.  There's never a drop left!

Lowfat Banana and Fruit Bread

In this crazy world we live in where there's so much emphasis on being thin and young and...  I like to focus my attention on being healthy.  I try to walk and exercise, because I like being outside and moving.  I feel better when I've had a morning walk to clear my head, had time to pray and remember what's important in life.

What's this got to do with Banana Bread?  Well, here's a healthy recipe that I've been making and enjoying for years as a breakfast.  I'm a teacher, so my day starts very early and I don't usually like to eat before I leave my house around 6 am.  I take one of these slices with me and eat mid-morning.   It looks like a complicated recipe with a lot of ingredients, but it's not.  It makes 4-5 small loaves and freezes beautifully.

Lowfat Banana and Fruit Bread

2-3 bananas
2 eggs
2 T oil
1 C buttermilk (can be made with 1T vinegar in a cup of milk and let to curdle)
3 T molasses
2 T honey
1/2 C wheat or oat bran
1 1/2 C white flour
1/2 C wheat flour
1/2 C oats
1-2 t flax seeds
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1 C chopped dried fruit (craisins, apricots, figs, dates, cherries)
1/2 C chopped walnuts or almonds

Blend all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  The batter should be sticky, not runny, add a little extra flour if necessary.

Pour into 4 or 5 greased mini loaf pans.  Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes until nicely browned.  Test with a toothpick to make sure they're baked through.

I cut the loaves into 4 sections.  My guess is that they are between 100 and 150 calories.  This is loaded with "good for you" ingredients, protein, fiber, flax seeds...

What are your tips for being healthy??

Brighten Up Your Home

Here's another great post from Susan!!  Enjoy...

Especially at this time of year our homes need a little brightening and changing up.  Maybe it’s just that we’re inside so much now that we THINK that we need to make some changes. Instead of going out and spending a lot of money to do that, here’s what I do.  Simple, simple, simple!

1.  Move your wall décor around.  This can be as simple as moving a picture/painting out of one room where you may not see it very often to a more visible spot in your home.  Move a lamp; shift the furniture around; add a plant to a room.  It’s amazing how small changes can change a whole room. 

2. Burn those candles!  For some reason, I’ve bought candles and been given candles as gifts but I must have thought that I was taking them to Heaven with me because I didn’t burn them!  Well, now I use them and what a difference!  The fragrant ones are so enjoyable as they freshen the winter air.  The plainer ones can help change the look of a room as they burn. 

3. Put a strand of white lights up somewhere in your house – on a mantle, in some plants, in a hutch, anywhere!  You will be surprised at how warm and inviting they make your room feel.

4. Buy some fresh flowers for a room that you are in the most.  Walmart has very affordable flowers – just a small bunch will do – and the Flower Boutique was selling a dozen roses for $12.00!  Not around Valentine’s Day of course – but there’s nothing wrong with buying yourself flowers to get through these drab months.

Let us know what you do to brighten up your home in the winter!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Well, I've heard from some of you that my Powdered Laundry Detergent doesn't dissolve completely in front-loading machines and leaves spots on the fabric.  Here's another recipe that I've tried.  It works just as well as the other one, but its base is Blue Dawn Dish Liquid, so it should dissolve well in any machine!

Here's what you need:

Empty Gallon Plastic Jug

Blue Dawn Dish Liquid

Super Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)

Borax

Measure 3/4 cup Washing Soda and 3/4 cup Borax into the jug.  

Pour 2-3 cups of very hot water and shake until the powder is dissolved and looks milky like this:

Fill up the jug with tap water up to 5 inches from the top.  Then pour in 1 cup Blue Dawn Liquid.

If you put the lid on the container and roll it around a little the soap will mix in.  The Blue Dawn will settle on the top as it sits.  Just give it a shake before you use it for laundry.

Here's the good part:  You only need 1/4-1/2 cup per load!!  That's right, this nifty mixture will clean a LOT of clothes.  Try it and let me know how it works for you.  I still really like my powdered mixture, but I use this too.  I use this for my cleaning rags, sheets, and towels.

"I Learned the Hard Way" Laundry List

I'm honored to post for you all the first (of many, I hope) entry from my dear friend, Susan.  She has so much to offer to this forum.  Please leave comments and let us know if you try any of these Laundry List items!

I would like to add a few “learning the hard way” items to Maria’s “laundry list”!

I wash all good clothes – shirts, blouses, sweaters, dress pants, and dresses – inside out.  I also wash all dark – black, navy blue, and brown – items inside out.  You won’t believe how much longer the color will last in these items when you wash them this way.

I have always used a clothes line (inside the house and outside – you can also use a rack) because I just fluff these good clothes in the dryer for a few minutes and then line dry on plastic hangers the rest of the way.  This cuts way down on ironing and adds body to the clothes.  It also helps your clothes to last longer – have you ever wondered where all that lint comes from in your dryer????

Another big help is Dawn dishwashing liquid to clean collars – just squirt a line of Dawn along the collar and rub in; wash normally.  It gets rid of the “ring around the collar” marks every time!  It also works on any oil-based stains like magic!

As for ironing, I do most of that inside out too.  It prevents scorching and leaving those “heat” marks from the iron especially on dark clothes.  On dress shirts, you can iron the plackets smoother and easier on the inside and if you have used my method of drying, you probably will only have to iron the collar and placket (both sides of button area) and cuffs of most shirts.  The same applies to dress pants.  The pocket areas will look much better if ironed on the inside and then turn to do the crease in the legs.

What's In Your Closet?

Face it, we all have clothes in our closets and drawers that we shouldn't.  Well, I have 2 bits of advice for clothes. 

The first one comes from another blog that I love to read.  I liked this short list so much that I'm going to repeat it!

What kinds of clothes should we have?

-clothes that we love
-clothes that fit us
-clothes that get us compliments

Isn't that simple?  It makes it easy to thin out items that we used to love to wear, but no longer, easier to get rid of dresses and slacks that just don't fit anymore, and easiest to identify those items that nobody compliments us on.

The second is one word:  UPGRADE
Simply defined, it is -  1 item in = 1 item out

Most stores are having incredible sales now to clear out their winter merchandise.  So, if you buy 2 sweaters on sale, just make a pact with yourself to get rid 2 sweaters that you don't love, that don't fit...you know!

This is a great time of year to fill up a few bags for donation to the Salvation Army or Goodwill.  So, make those tough decisions.  Thin out your closet so that you can actually see all the clothes that you love to wear and that fit you!!  And remember to upgrade!!!