Awesome Homemade Brownies

I have tried lots of homemade brownie recipes, and finally can say that I found one that was as good, or better than the store-bought kind! This one was "Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies" by BROOKE on allrecipes.com with just a couple minor changes suggested by one of the reviews. I borrowed my sister Kim's idea of cutting them out with a greased heart-shaped cookie-cutter, sprinkled on some powdered sugar, and ta-da! A perfect Valentine treat for a few friends and MUCH easier than all the sugar cookie mess...My kids even loved eating the "scraps" around the edges of the hearts, and okay, I found them addicting as well!

1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 TBS vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white flour (my fav, of course, Lehi Roller Mills from Costco)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips (Hershey's again)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla together in mixer. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add salt, then slowly mix in flour and cocoa powder, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix in chocolate chips at the last. Pour in pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack before cutting.

Fabulous Sandwich Bread

I stole this recipe from my friend, Debbie, at a playgroup/lunchgroup and the kids and I fell in love with it! It makes awesome peanut butter sandwiches (or any sandwiches), or stands great on its own! You can alter the wheat/white flour ratio, but this had a great rise and tasted so good...

3 cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 rounded TBS yeast
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 TBS salt
3 cups wheat flour
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups white flour (I love Lehi Roller Mills from Costco)

Mix all the ingredients except the white flour and let rest for 3 minutes. Then add white flour, a little at a time, until kneading consistency. Knead for 10 minutes on a floured surface ( or you can mix it in your mixer like my friend, Debbie does), adding flour as needed. Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes. Put in two big loaf pans and cover to let rise again for 20-30 minutes. As a side note, Debbie omits the first rise, and just puts in pans to rise once. I tried it this way and thought it was yummy either way, but I got a better second rise after I did the first one and thought it made for bigger loaves...Slash the tops with a knife if desired and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Saucy Crock Pot Black Beans

I have long been on a quest to learn to do something edible with dry beans. I had a recipe a couple of years ago that David liked, but it wasn't my favorite, so here was my exciting new discovery of a FAMILY-FRIENDLY (yes, EVERYONE ate and like it!) recipe for black beans, adapted from a few recipes online....

6 cups (1 small bag) dry black beans
9 cups chicken broth
extra water as needed
1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic (equivalent to 6 cloves)
1 TBS baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin

Rinse and strain the dry beans, picking out any nasty ones or rocks. Put them into your crock pot and add water until at least 2 inches above the beans. Mix in baking soda and let soak about 8 hours (I did this overnight, but had to add water a couple of times to keep the beans covered). The baking soda softens the beans and is especially important if your beans are "old," but you can omit the baking soda from the soak if you want. Baking soda also helps get the gas out if you know what I mean...If you used the baking soda in the soak, thoroughly rinse the beans after the soak. If you just used water, just dump out the water and add the remaining ingredients to the beans without rinsing. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Enjoy over rice, salad, or just plain (I couldn't stop dipping my spoon in the pot for a snitch!). I love it with brown rice, lettuce, and tomatoes, but the next day I decided this combo was better with my favorite salsa instead of tomatoes!