Things I'm Lovin' Thursday

Today is my first "Things I'm Lovin' Thursday"! I've seen this done similar to mine on different days, and some bloggers have like a Rant and Rave once a week or once a month.

Personally, I looove seeing what other bloggers are using, wearing, eating and doing. I find cool new stuff to try when they do posts like this.

Instead of doing a rant&rave I want to keep it positive so it will be a bunch of stuff I love. But because I am Irish and there is always something that pisses me off and that I need to get off my chest, I will have 1 and only 1 thing I'm NOT loving. Hopefully, it will help you all stay away from bad products. Or something like that lol! Feel free to comment about anything I post.

Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

Mmmm so good! They only sell this Peppermint Mocha and the Pumpkin Spiced Latte right around the holidays. They will  be gone by beginning of January...its o so sad.

Skull Candy Ear Buds

I always have my headphones on me, so people are always asking to borrow them but I never seem to get them back, or they magically break and it gets blamed on the dog. So hubby gave me one of my presents early-skullcandy earbuds. These earbuds are the best I have ever used, even use them as earplups when I don't want to listen to sometjing. And since they are pink, I only have to fight the girls from stealing them haha!

Heat back pad

 

 

This is almost exactly like my back pad. I got it to use as I'm in physical theapy. It has a heat setting and a vibration setting. The heat setting is really nice, particularly on a cold morning, or after  hard PT session.

 Savory Chick Noodle Soup

For a few days I there I thought we might be getting winter weather. I made red chili, white chili, soups ect. I really love my recipe  for Chicken Noodle ! Check out the Food tab to see the recepe



Something I'm NOT lovin'....

Ok so this is our kids stepdad. I have nothing against him, he seems like nice guy other than clearly not wearing the pants in the relationship. What makes me mad though is all these pictures were taken from his Facebook. So what you say? I have nothing against beer  or drinking wine or beer, it's not that. There are 2 things wrong with this situation.
1. The biggest issue is that neither the ex or her husband works and the only income they have is the child support we pay her. They get food stamps, but you can't buy alcohol with food stamps. So what is paying for the alcohol? The child support money. When you use child support which is supposed to be for the kids clothes, food, toys, medical and educational expenses, to buy alcohol there is a huge, huge, huge problem with that. It's just not right.
2. The second issue is that the ex gave my hubby and I a super hard time about us occasionally having a drink. She made a big fuss over alcohol in court and wanted it written that neither of us would consume any alcohol while the kids were in our care. We both agreed to it because, ya know, not a big deal. I think its a double standard though...and I have a huge problem with double standards.

Well that's my 1 pet peeve/rant for this week, I feel a lot better. Tune in tomorrow for Fashion Faux Pas Friday!

Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake

Have I ever mentioned how much I like bundt cake? It's just so round and pretty! And of course what could be better than a CHOCOLATE bundt cake? I made this cake for Thanksgiving with my family and it was yummy yummy!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose all purpose flour, plus more for the pan
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


The Glaze

For the chocolate glaze:
1 bar Ghardelli peppermint bar, crushed or grated
 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (or agave nectar)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Whisk in the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and the vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing. (It's important to fully cool or your glaze will be runny)

5. While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze. Place the chopped peppermint and corn syrup (or agave) in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir until the cream is hot and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

6. Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cut into pieces and serve.

Banana Bread

I really like this recipe. It's a little more crumbly than the recipes that call for a stick of butter but so much more healthy!

2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3)
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in bowl.

 

3. Beat sugar and butter together until well blended, add applesauce, then add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.

 

 

4. Mash banana, add in along with the yogurt and vanilla.

 

 

5. Add flour mixture, beat at low speed until just moistened.

 

 

6. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 

7. Allow to cool 10 minutes or so before removing from pan.

 

 



Nom Nom Nom!