Hershey Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

I was on Pinterest, like I am almost every evening on my iPhone with DH deployed, and I came across this wonderful recipe. Holy cow!! I was in love with the picture and so naturally since its chocolate and I am a woman after all, I had to give this a try. Hats off to Doughmesstic for posting this yummy, rich recipe! Her blog is amazing so please check it out. She has tons of awesome recipes.

Well here we go.

What you need:
10 Tablespoons of Butter (the real stuff please)
3  ozs of Hershey's milk chocolate chips
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour (NOT SELF RISING)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder

For the Cream Cheese Swirl
8 ozs of cream cheese softened (please use real cream cheese..this is already so fattening, there is no point cutting back calories with this and it will ruin the texture)
1/3 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons of vanilla

For the top after it is baked you will need full size Hershey bars to top it with. I used almost 7 full bars

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper long enough to hang over all sides for easy removal. Spray the paper with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan or in the microwave, which is what I did, melt the chocolate and butter over medium heat until melted and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla with the sugar until well mixed and slowly add in the chocolate mixture until well combined.

In small bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, and salt and add to the rest of the batter. Mix together just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX. and pour batter into prepared baking pan spreading it evenly across the pan.

For the cream cheese mixture, beat the ingredients until smooth ( I mixed this in the same bowl I mixed my brownie batter in.) Pour over brownie batter and spread evenly across. Use a knife to swirl together.

Okay so this is where I differ from her, She says to cook one hour to one hour and 10 minutes. I only had to bake mine about 40 minutes before it was done. You need to be able to stick a toothpick in and it come out clean.

Take out of the oven and turn oven off. Top with hershey chocolate bars and return to an already turned off oven until slightly melted.

Allow to cool, IF you can wait that long. ;) Serve with ice cream or milk, but please enjoy!

This is what it looks like pulled out of the pan with the chocolate bars slightly melted and before it was even cut. As you can see. I covered the surface in Hershey bars :)

This is completely cooled! The chocolate is still soft and it is so yummy!

These brownies were so dang good!! I am mean for real. They were rich! So warning, you will need milk.
I hope you enjoy these as much as my girls did. Have a great rest of the week.








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The Deployment Blues

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord they God is with thee withersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9

One thing I LOVE about my blog is, I can pretty much "vent" and not get people's panties in a wad like you do if you post on Facebook. I am trying to be more cautious what I do post on Facebook as far as that goes. MOST of what I say is a general statement, but some people take it to heart. Anyway, enough about Facebook. MOST if not all military wives who have been through deployments, and its hard finding one nowadays that hasn't, will tell you that you have your really good days and your really bad days. Your really good days are really good, good mood, all smiles, feel good about everything, feel like you got this. Then you have your bad days which for me are few, but nonetheless there. Those days, I HATE! You feel helpless, like you have been abandoned, lonely, and depressed sad. It is those days when I kind word from your husband or best friend goes a long way.

I will say this. I AM NOT one of those wives that need to be "babysat" while hubby is gone. I am 34 years old with 2 girls. HOWEVER, not everyone deals with things the same way. I had someone say on facebook a while back that people needed to put their big girl panties on and quit "whining" when you don't hear from your husband or quit "bitching", hey that is a quote, because you have to cut your own grass. Let me tell you something. If I wanna "whine" as they put it to a good friend then that is what I am gonna do. End of story. Am I gonna expect someone to do things for me? HECK NO. But what people, me included, need to realize is, not everyone deals with things the same way you do. Ya know? And you don't always know what else that person has had to deal with on top of the deployment.. Now, I know there is a difference between acting like a big baby and venting. I KNOW that. Now that person that posted that was making a reference to several different people as she put it. But from experience, and I am still learning this, you don't need to be dogging other people on Facebook or twitter or anywhere else. If you have something to say to them you need to say it to their face or in a PM. They way I deal with stress is to let it all out. I need to tell someone! I feel better afterwards.

Now as you may have noticed, this is a down day for me. I am not looking for pitty, honestly I'm not. It just helps to get it out. Again, that is how I deal with it.

I hate that my husband is thousands of miles away in a combat zone. I wish I could just go to him and get a big hug, but I can't right now. I hate it. but I know I can deal with it. I know after a good cry and a good conversation with my husband I am better in the end. I know God does not give us more than we can handle and I love and respect my husband for what he is doing. He is doing his part to keep me and his girls safe.

Tomorrow is another day and honestly without, God, family, and my close friends (in that order) I couldn't do this.

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Labor Day. Enjoy your families and thank a man or woman in uniform today if you see one.

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Pillsbury's Mo-Carameluscious Pie

Hello all! I have been silent for a while and I am so sorry. Coming back slowly. A little here and a little there. My sexy, sweet man is deployed right now so it is just me and the girls holding down things here at home until he is home again.

I thought why not make my first post back be something sweet and yummy. I got this recipe in an email from Pillsbury not too long ago and decided to give it a try! It was such a hit I have made it twice in 3 weeks. NO changes were needed to this recipe. It calls for a refrigerated pie crust but I cheated a touch and used a Pillsbury frozen pie crust and in place of the chocolate covered english toffee bars I used some out of a package that was already chopped.

What You Need:
1 ready made 9" pie crust (you can use frozen or use a refrigerated pie crust and bake in your own pie pan)
8 ozs cream cheese softened
1/3 cup caramel topping
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules
1 tablespoon of hot water
1 Cup of cold milk minus 1 tablespoon (will see why in the directions)
1 box (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding
1 8 oz container of frozen whipped topping thawed
Additional caramel topping for garnishing
2 bars of chocolate covered English Toffee candies coarsely chopped ( a little out a package that is already chopped that you can find where you get your chocolate chips)

What to Do:
Bake pie crust according to package directions and let cool completely (about 30 mins)

In a small bowl with an electric mixer beat cream cheese, caramel topping, and powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth. Spread in cooled pie crust.

In a one cup measuring cup, dissolve instant coffee in 1 tablespoon of hot water. Add enough cold milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Pour into large bowl and add pudding mix. Beat with whisk until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of whipped topping and spread over caramel layer. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours to chill.

Before serving remove plastic wrap and spread whipped topping over top of pie. Drizzle with caramel topping and sprinkle chopped candy.

Slice and enjoy :) Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

I hope you enjoy this as much as me and my friends. Have a blessed and  fantastic Thursday.

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Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo Olive Garden Style

When my friend over at MidgetMomma.com told me about this recipe I had to try it! I made a couple of very small subtle changes and this was so very yummy! This has that wow factor as Cent Less Deals would say!

What You Need:
1 stick of butter ( the real stuff please)
6 ozs cream cheese ( I am sure you could use cooking cream although I haven't tried it yet)
1/2 medium onion
1 - 2 tsps of fresh crushed garlic
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1 quart of heavy whipping cream (please do not skimp and use light! It will not taste the same)
6 ozs grated parm. cheese. (I used the parm/ Romano cheese blend)

What to Do:
In a medium saucepan melt butter and cream cheese over medium heat. (the cream cheese and butter mixture is not going to be pretty but mix as best you can. It will come together in the end I PROMISE)
Grate onion using a hand grater into melted butter ( I do not like chunks of onion in my alfredo sauce)
Add fresh garlic and stir cooking 2-3 mins.
Add heavy cream, nutmeg, and cheese and stir until it starts to bubble. Turn heat down to med low and simmer for 15-20 mins stirring and checking it often.
Serve over fettuccine noodles and chicken and serve along side some garlic bread! This makes for a very yummy meal!!

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Thankful Thursday

Verse of the Day:

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25

Today is going to be a super busy day for me. I just wanted to wish everyone a very Thankful Thursday.  What are you thankful for today? I am thankful for my friends! Without them NJ would almost be unbearable and deployments would be unbearable. Have a great day everyone!

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Wordless Wednesday - A Child with Autism Bullied by his Teacher and the Father Caught it All

I wanted to share this with everyone and encourage you to do the same. I think it is absolutely despicable this teacher cannot be fired due to tenure after doing this to a child. Her first name is Jodi and she taught at Horace Mann Elementary in Cherry Hill, NJ which is right down the road from us here at McGuire AFB.  The aides have been fired and Jodi has been moved out of the classroom of course. I am hoping and praying she gets so much grief from everyone that it forces her to resign and I sure hope that she apologizes to this father and the little boy. For her to pick on and bully a poor helpless child with special needs that cannot communicate to his father what is going on is horrible. People like this need to be held accountable for what they do! What a despicable human being!
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Tasty Finds Tuesday - Egg in a Hole

I am almost embarrassed to even post this as a recipe since it is so easy, but then again some people may not have ever had one. Anyway, I have been following The Pioneer Woman for a long time. Way before she had a TV show and I love her. She has super simple recipes that are so yummy! One day on her show she done, egg in a hole and it took me back!! This isn't the first time I have had one.

What you need:
1 Slice of your favorite bread (we only use whole wheat)
1 egg (I have chickens so we use fresh and boy is there a HUGE difference in the taste)
1 Tablespoon of butter (we only use real butter in my house, no margarine)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:
With a biscuit cutter or rim of a glass press a hole in the center of the bread.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet
Once the butter is melted place the bread in the center of the pan and crack the egg in the center of the hole hence the name egg in a hole :). Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Let it cook for at least a minute before you attempt to flip it or it will get all nasty and not look so pretty.

Once flipped cook until yolk is soft and jiggly. Yes I said jiggly. Hey, I am just quoting Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman.

Once cooked take out of the pan and enjoy!!!

As always, I hope everyone has a very tasty Tuesday!

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