Early Bird Shifts and Piña Colada Dessert Bars

Right now I am currently trying to get as much done as I possibly can while I still have energy and motivation. As you either know or are about to be told, I am a night owl.

The only problem with this is that I generally work from 4am-12pm so I have to wake up at 2 AM which is when I would normally be going to bed. I've been having a little trouble getting to bed early enough so by the time I get home I am absolutely exhausted and fall asleep wherever I land. Which means again that I don't get to sleep during the night and start the whole horrible cycle over again.

I'm determined to get on track so tonight I'm not going to eat, drink, or go on electronics after 8:30 pm. It's gonna suck, but I need to survive these early morning shifts.

Some good news though is that I have finally found an awesome dessert recipe that isn't cookies or bread!! I wanted to make a tropical dessert for my Grandmother as a thank you gift because she gave me a gift card to WinCo for $25. So with that money I made these great Piña Colada Dessert Bars.

You can find the original recipe here.

Some changes I made:

1. I only used half of the amount of rum it called for. I found this was plenty.
2. I think next time I'm going to double the crust amount. It felt a little too thin to me, especially since some of it is used to sprinkle on top.
3. I hate sliced almonds, they're creepy feeling. So I chopped them up instead.
4. If you don't want to use alcohol, you could just use rum extract or skip it all together I suppose.

They were a hit! I would definitely recommend trying them out.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Finally! A recipe that's not paleo! It's a very basic one too, and yummy. I hadn't made peanut butter cookies in a VERY long time, because who wants peanut butter cookies when you can have chocolate? But I thought it might be a nice change from the normal chocolate chip so I looked up the first recipe I found on Pinterest and voila! Here is the recipe I used.

I loved this recipe! Simple, basic, and they turned out perfect. Although I do have a confession to make. I had run out of vanilla extract so I had to use almond extract and it was a little strange. Even with that slight change, they were gone in less than 2 days! I will definitely be making these again (without the almond extract haha).

I tried baking one batch for 10 min., and one for 8 min., and I recommend only 8 minutes. Funny how 1 or 2 minutes can make or break a recipe!

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Everyone loves food. It’s just a fact of life! For a long time I wanted to be a chef, but I soon realized that what I really wanted was to just eat delicious food ALL THE TIME. I'm quite a messy person to be honest, but I have a system I swear! I am an organized crazy person. That’s another thing I like about cooking. I can go a thousand miles an hour and fling food from one end of the house to the other and still end up with an amazing meal. Since I'm usually busy singing and dancing while I cook, this happens more often than not. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it is simple but amazing. I'm sure there are ways to substitute out the unhealthy stuff and you guys will probably know better than me about that (notorious junk food addict here), but it’s still pretty healthy. As you probably guessed by the title, it’s a Chicken Fajita Quesadilla! For some reason I'm not a huge fan of chicken, but I actually liked it in this recipe

The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly. It was pretty good, but I made a few changes the next time. When I made it the second time I added more peppers and less cheese. When I made it the first time I felt like I was being drowned in cheese. Yuck! So I added less cheese and more of the other stuff. I also didn’t have any more fajita sauce so I just used Taco seasoning. Which is kind of the same thing…right? I also didn’t just use one tortilla per quesadilla. I used 2 medium sized tortillas for each quesadilla, which made it easier to fry up. I used butter in the skillet and waited until it was sizzling hot before I put the quesadilla in. This made them crispier and tastier! This recipe only called for sour cream as a side dip, which I thought was a little boring. So I added some guacamole and salsa for my version! The picture below was taken right before I ate them. By myself. All of it. Haha!

All in all, it was a success.

I rate this Recipe: Love It!

The Food Of Spain

Before we get going, I’d like to just say that I'm not actually judging ALL the food in Spain! This is the title of an amazing cook book by Claudia Roden. While I am no expert on foreign foods, their history, or even a harsh critic, I do appreciate a well written cook book. I have checked this book out several times from the library, and I love it every time. Sometimes I don’t even get around to making anything, I just read through it. It is beautifully written and not only has rich beautiful recipes but it also has rich and beautiful histories. It is quite heavy so if you’re going to get yourself one, be prepared! I really love trying different foods from different places, and if you just have a craving for wonderful and authentic Spanish food then this book is for you.

I rate this product: Love It!