My crazy weekend!

On Saturday morning, I went to my Graduation Ceremony. I walked across stage and received my Associates degree. I am finally complete with school now!

That evening, I went to a jewelry party at my friend’s house. It was a blast! I brought red velvet cake mix cookies with chocolate chips melted on top. Yum! (recipe is below). I didn’t buy any jewelry (which I wasn’t planning on anyways), but I did sign up to host a party. We get free jewelry for being a host, which is the only way I would feel comfortable with getting any of it (I am beyond extremely frugal and stingy when it comes to buying stuff for myself). The next party will be mid-July.

That night, my lovely sister stayed over and we had a “Darko Movie Night”. We stayed up all night and watched Donnie Darko and then S. Darko. I’ve seen Donnie Darko before and knew I absolutely loved it!!! They were both amazing, although I must admit that Donnie Darko is sooo much better (Doesn’t it always work like that, the first one is always the best?). DH described it well when he said that it seemed like S. Darko was being weird and emo just for the sake of being weird and emo. It’s kind of true though… I mean it was a good movie, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t quite make complete sense with its purpose. Idk.

(click on images for IMDB description/review)

Anyways… Sunday, after taking sis home, was a complete waste of day. Period! Seriously, I don’t know how or why it happened, but I went to take a nap around 1:30pm. DH joined me a little while later. Crazy thing was that I didn’t even get up again until 6pm! And DH stayed in bed ‘till 8pm! What?!? I have no idea, but like I said… complete waste of day. It was pretty rainy and dreary outside though. But once again, there are still a million things to do on our To-Do List.

Red velvet cake mix cookies

www.recipezaar.com

Ingredients
1 (18 ounce) box red velvet cake mix (any brand will do)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Directions
1 Mix all the cookie ingredients together. This will make a cookie dough.
2 Roll into balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Flatten down slightly (depending on the thickness you desire).
3 Bake at 375° until the tops crackle (about 8-10 minutes) or until desired doneness.
4 Cool and then frost (they're also good without the frosting).

Mothers day get-together

Our Mothers Day family get-together was good. Lunch was simple, smart and yummy. We had make-your-own sandwiches with veggies 'n dip or chips 'n dip. I brought a couple desserts. I didn't know what to make at first; I knew I didn't have any chocolate and we hadn't gone shopping yet. I thought about using peanut butter, so Sunday morning I woke up and looked up recipes. I made blondies (minus the chocolate and nuts) with peanut butter frosting, and 1lb of peanut butter fudge (instead of 2, since I only had half a container of marshmallow fluff.) They turned out pretty good and were quick and fairly easy to make. :)

Blondies

(BHG New Cookbook 12th Edition) http://www.bhg.com/bhg/store/product.jsp?psrc=origsource&prodid=prod590004

A Southern cook's preference for brown sugar over granulated sugar resulted in these butterscotch bar cookies many years ago.

Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 25 minutes
Oven: 350°F Makes: 36 bars

2 cups packed brown sugar

2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup chopped nuts

1. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat brown sugar and but­ter over medium heat until butter melts and the mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Stir in eggs 1 at a time; stir in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
2. Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and nuts. Bake in a 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wood­en toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (avoid chocolate pieces). Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm.

Nutrition Facts per bar: 157 cal., 8 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 21 mg chol., 65 mg sodium, 21 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 2 g pro.
Daily Values: 3% vit. A, 2% calcium, 5% iron
Exchanges: 1 1/2% Other Carbo., 1/4 Fat

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-Peanut-Butter-Frosting/Detail.aspx#nutri-box#nutri-box

"The perfect fluffy frosting for brownies or chocolate cake. Sweet but not too sweet. Peanut buttery but not greasy. So wonderful and it won't over power your brownies!!!"

PREP TIME
10 Min
READY IN
10 Min
Original recipe yield 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS
Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Peanut Butter Fudge with the Marshmallow Fluff

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/35/Peanut_Butter_Fudge_with_the_Marshmallow_Fluff42723.shtml

Ready in: 30-60 minutes Difficulty: 3 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)
Serves/Makes: 2 lbs

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

1 jar peanut butter (12oz.) smooth or crunchy
1 jar marshmallow Fluff (also called creme)1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Directions:
Boil 2 cups sugar and 1 cup milk to soft ball stage. Remove from heat and add 1 jar peanut butter, and 1 jar marshmallow fluff, add vanilla. Pour into a buttered pan 8x8x8-inch. Let cool and cut into squares.

Have sprinkled red and green sugar on for the holidays too.