Sunday, August 5, 2012

Lemon Glazed Blueberry Muffins




It isn't a secret that we're broke and do everything in our power to save money, including picking our own fruit and making it into jam. Amanda went blueberry picking with her mom and brought us back a ridiculous amount of blueberries. We made two cases of jam and still have a million berries to eat! In good broke gal fashion we are not about to let them go bad! We have been eating lots of blueberry pancakes and our Lemon Glazed Blueberry Muffins just came out of the oven!

For this recipe you will need:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  • powdered sugar
  • lemon juice

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl mix together the butter, egg and milk. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until combine. Add the blueberries and give it a gentle stir to not burst the berries. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full and bake for about 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice. We don't glaze all the muffins, as Amanda prefers them without the glaze. So how much sugar and juice you use depend on how many muffins you want glazed. Tip: You will need much more powdered sugar than lemon juice. Start with a very small amount of juice, you can always add more (why can I never remember this when I am making them?)

When the muffins have cooled completely, spoon your lemon glaze over the muffins and let stand until the glaze is hardened. 


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Starry Night Inspired Office

I love designing rooms and playing around with colors and furniture. I cannot wait to have a huge house, so I can fill it with DIY projects and paint every room around a cool picture or an awesome painting. Tonight I was inspired by van Gogh's Starry Night. I used the Behr Color Smart Center and chose colors to match the painting. I think this would be great for an office with a lot of windows. I would paint the walls this nice bright blue and get an old vintage desk and paint it light yellow. White trim around the windows and doors is a must and maybe a small chocolate brown sofa in the office as well. This would be beautiful in a large bedroom too, very romantic!


Monday, July 30, 2012

Four Ingredient Chocolate Pie





Thanks for stopping by! You picked a great day to check out my blog, today's post involves my favorite chocolate pie! This pie is so easy to make, and the flavor is so chocolaty and decadent.

Amanda's parents don't really cook. They have a few staple meals, most of which are desserts. But maybe there's something to having a few staple meals, because the ones they do cook are always tasty and this is her Mom's chocolate pie recipe.

Here's what you'll need:
2 packages of cook and serve chocolate pudding (4oz)
3 1/2 cups of milk
1/3 cup of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of butter

That's it! Oh... and the pie crust of your choosing. I like the pre-made dough that you just roll out and bake. So maybe its a five ingredient pie, you be the judge. 

Combine all ingredients and cook on medium heat until it comes to a full boil. Stir constantly. Take off the heat and cool for five minutes. Pour mixture into completely cooled crust and refrigerate for a few hours or until the pie is set. 

What's your favorite pie? 




Sunday, July 29, 2012

Chocolate S'mores

I love summer, and I love summery foods. Hamburgers, baked beans, fresh salads and my favorite, S'mores! When we moved into this apartment we were bummed about having a gas stove. We both grew up with electric and it took us a while to get used to having the open flame and the differences in cooking times. One good thing came out of that open flame, though...toasting marshmallows!


This s'more has a chocolate graham cracker for that extra chocolate flavor. I like my marshmallows burnt and crispy!


Hot Meter! My Favorite Olympic Uniforms




Amanda and I have lived together for nine months. We do a lot together, cook dinner, watch TV, go grocery shopping...pretty much everything. I always knew she liked the Olympics, but you would think she knew someone competing in every event! She gets so into it, it is kinda cute. I'm not a big sports fan, and she likes sports less than I do, which is what makes this whole Olympic experience so funny! She wants me to be as excited as she is about this Olympics and I am keeping my energy level up...GO USA!

After taking a trip to the outlet mall last week and spending all of our 'fun' money for the month, in a way I'm glad the Olympics have Amanda in a trance. For the next 17 days we have a fun and free event 24/7!

I love fashion, which is not conducive to our Two Broke Gals lifestyle. So if I am going to be watching the Olympics, I had to find a way to make it fun for me.  Here are my top five favorite outfits from the opening ceremonies:

5. In fifth place we have the Bahamas, I appreciated how classy the outfits were. I liked the light blue jackets, it didn't look like they tried too hard. It was the right amount of class for the event.


4. Serbia gets fourth because the look is very Hamptons! Some day when we are Two Rich Gals, and can afford a house in the Hamptons we will have to get the designer of the Serbian team to make us some outfits!



3. Denmark got it right. I love a good cardigan, and those short red ones really work for the athletic bodies and the high-waisted skirt. I think the pearls were a nice touch. I would wear that outfit to work! 





2. The Netherlands- Huge fan of the trench coats! I love the bright blue in contrast with the bright orange. I think they stood out amongst the crowd and just looked so fashion forward. I want to move to Denmark and rock the shit out of that orange coat!


1. Brazil brought the heat, those Olympians looks damn sexy in the Brazilian uniforms. I loved the mix of neon yellow and green, I thought the outfits looked fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy wearing them. I think Brazil wore the outfits, they didn't get worn by them... cough cough like the US (what were you think Ralph Lauren?). 



Sound off in the comments below, what country wore it best? Am I crazy or was the US a HOT ASS MESS?

Friday, July 13, 2012

Tzatziki Dip



Wow, it has been a while since we were last blogging! I guess with the summer sun we have spent more time outside and less time sitting on our butts in front of the computer. That is probably a good thing but I missed sharing recipes and things with you guys! We have been eating lots of summer foods and have an abundance of cucumbers. Thus: Tzatziki Dip!

All of a sudden, I am completely obsessed with Greek food. I didn't like olives until about six months ago, and I would normally choose almost any cheese over feta. I don't know when it happened but now I eat, sleep and breathe tzatziki dip. I love the dill and cucumber flavors with the bite of the lemon juice and the Greek yogurt. It is just a perfect blend of many flavors. 

You will need: 
2 large cucumbers
2 cups of Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of dill weed
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon course salt



Peel and chunk your cucumbers, then put them in a colander sprinkled with a little bit of the salt and let them release some water for about twenty minutes. Once the cucumbers are ready, pat them dry with a paper towel and put them in a food processor with everything but the yogurt. Once the mixture is well blended, stir it into a bowl with the Greek yogurt. Taste the dip and season with more salt as necessary. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or more before serving. I made the mistake of tasting it, and adding more dill. After it sat for a few hours the flavors really popped and mine was too 'dilly'.  

I really like the cucumber flavor and the crunch, so I like to use thin slices of cucumber to eat my dip. Pairing it with pita bread is nice too, it becomes a much heartier snack.

Let us know what you think of this great Greek dish! 


Monday, July 9, 2012

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Ice Cream Edition


There's this ice cream place down the street.  We don't go there often since we can make delicious sundaes at home for a small fraction of the price, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about my favorite sundae there.  Sometimes I just drive by and stare longingly out the car window.

They have a variety of specialty sundaes, a good list of 25 or so to choose from.  Shelle and I have experimented a bit with some different items off the menu, but we just keep coming back to one:  The Moose Track Monster.

Moose Tracks is a delicious flavor of hard ice cream all on its own - a creamy vanilla with huge chunks of fudge and mini peanut butter cups.  Our favorite sundae takes these flavors and amps them all up.  Hot fudge and peanut butter sauce are poured over the ice cream, more mini peanut butter cups are sprinkled generously over the top, and the whole thing is topped with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, and a cherry.

I can't write any more.  I'm starting to drool.

What's the best ice cream you ever ate?