My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Easter adventures with the family.

My Emerald City.

He loves using anything as a pillow.

It's been FIVE years. It feels like yesterday.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Lately

1. [Wo]man down. These instant temperature changes have me down. Allergies have me down. I missed three days of work... but hey, I caught up on sleep. Go me.

2. And during those three days I parked myself, quite comfortably, on the couch with nonstop episodes of Hawaii Five-O. Re-watching all my favorite episodes. <--- read: all of the episodes. Oh, Steve McGarrett. :)

3. Every day for my afternoon snack I have a La Croix and a rice cake smeared with light cream cheese and all natural almond butter. I. CAN'T. STOP. It's my daily power fix. My guilty pleasure. The day is perfect for 10 minutes. Y'all should try it.

4. Mr. B has been quite the busy bee. He's painting doors, building chicken coops, taking me to Lowe's almost every day (with promises of swinging by Target --- side story, while I was sick he actually asked if I wanted to go to Target to restock my La Croix supply and to get me Starbucks to make me feel better...he's sweet.) where I promptly wanted to buy every piece of deck furniture I laid eyes on. Can you tell we're excited for spring?

5. And the heavens opened up. The angels sang. And I got my new coffee pot. Wait. You mean coffee pots don't take a half an hour to brew six cups? I feel spoiled. Stop it.

And it's programmable! Hello, to waking up to the smells of tall, dark, and strong.

(Oh, and a mug of steaming coffee. ....Of course, I meant Mr. B.)

6. Ummm, this pup will be ONE next week. What?!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

{Super} Sunday Sweets

IT'S SUPER BOWL TIME!!!!!

How many of you are gathering with friends and family to watch the game today????

My family always gets together for the big game, and this year is no exception...even though a few tears were shed when Dallas (daddy's team) and Green Bay (my aunt's and grandma's team) were eliminated. We're still all in. It's tradition over here. Big TV. Packed room. And more food than you can imagine. It's fabulous.

It's football.

It's Sunday.

It's sweet.

Except for this....

This beautiful snow globe of white is why Mr. B and I are staying home today. My family is almost two hours away, and I love 'em and I'll miss watching the game with 'em, but I'd prefer to NOT end up in a ditch, ya know?

(However, I did drive a few miles down our street to pick up a family bucket from KFC. Definitely recommend staying off the roads if you're currently getting this crazy blizzard.)

Soooo....the snowstorm hits and plans change. Now, there's a possibility the in-laws may be over to watch the game tonight (they're only five minutes away) and food plans consist of a brownie sundae bar with all the fixin's, including three types of granola, vanilla ice cream, Greek yogurt, and whipped cream. Of course, there are plenty of fruit toppings to choose from, which also doubles as a choose-your-own-fruit-salad bar for those who may not want to indulge in a brownie sundae. I'm not sure who those people are and, truth be told, they probably aren't invited anyway.

I even cut out the brownies in cute football helmet shapes to coordinate with the days' festivities. I made football helmet krispie treats as well. These are the healthier option. Instead of rice krispies and butter, I used 6 cups puffed rice, 4 cups mini marshmallows, and 3 tablespoons coconut oil. DELICIOUS. And Mr. B never even knew the difference.

But, just in case you are in need of throwing together a quick appetizer or are of the I-don't-know-what-to-bring-to-a-Super-Bowl-party lot, here are a few delicious recipes worthy of gracing your game-day table.

Nachos (Two Ways)
Cold Vegetable Pizza (a popular reader item here on Sweet B's)
Ham & Cheese Crescents
Apple Coleslaw
Zesty Broccoli Dip
Potato Skins (definitely a must!)
Multiple Crescent Rolls recipes...quick, simple, and delicious.
Baked Egg Rolls and Snack Plates

Also bar-themes are excellent choices when one must feed a hungry crowd. Some of my favorites are baked potato bar, chili bar, nachos/taco bar, popcorn bar, or something I stumbled across the other day: a mac and cheese bar. What?! And don't forget DESSERT! Krispy treats are always a hit. (Ice cream bars/sundaes are perfection, obviously.)

Who y'all rooting for today?

I'm thinking we're anti-Seattle over here. Go AFC!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Hard Candy Christmas

It's tradition.

It's a family tradition to make pounds and pounds of hard tack candy.

And, boy, do I mean POUNDS. Go big or get out of our kitchen, as Grandma Barb says.

Let me correct myself. It's the women of the family who make the hard tack. We make pounds and pounds of it to give away to family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, churches, mailmen, Santa.... If you come over to one of our houses during Christmastime, you're either snacking on it or taking a bag of it home with you.

Honestly, I don't remember a Christmas season without bowls and bowls of this powdered sugar stuff. Looking back on home videos you can see the bowls on the counters, on the end tables, Great Grandpa popping a piece in his mouth.

Oh, and the absolute best is watching someone pop what they think is their favorite flavor into their mouth only to horridly discover it is their least favorite and quickly spit it out. I have been guilty of this on several occasions, especially if I wasn't there to make it that year or can't remember the color codes. Sometimes it's just so hard to decipher those darn pieces when they are proficiently covered in powdered sugar and a crowd has formed around the bowl and you don't want to be accused of fingering every piece just to find your favorite. I know we are all victims. Sorry.

I know. You're probably suggesting we sort out all of the flavors into their own special bowls. But where's the fun in that? And, y'all, I don't have time for any extra dishes let alone have the space for a dozen cute holiday dishes. (Mr. B would kill me if I took up any more cabinet space.) Besides, it's nice when the flavors...merry, you know?

Of course, if you absolutely despise a flavor (just throwing it out there for an example, but let's say pineapple,) you don't have to put it in your batch. Just make sure you're there burning your fingers with the rest of us if you're going to make such demands, mmm'kay?

While waiting for Grandma to make the candy batches, the rest of us girls chit-chat, laugh, and try to right some disastrous event that probably happened behind Grandma's back. It's all fun and games until the scalding hot sugar hits the marble.

Then all that can be heard from the kitchen is "Owww, owww, owww!"

"My fingers. I.Can't.Feel.My.Fingers."

"I'm sure I have no more fingerprints."

[insert a few choice words]

"Oh, for crying out loud! Stop whining!" <--- usually from Grandma. (But you know, she's the one pouring the scalding hot liquid, not touching it. I guess after years and years of doing it, one eventually graduates to the coveted stirring and pouring position.)

"I swear, Brindi Michele, if you suggest doing this next year...." <---usually said by Mama. (I do believe, at this very moment, she is not joking.)

"I NEED more butter!"

I always need more butter. I can never cut fast enough. There must be a faster way. You could wait until the sugar hardens and then break it off, but that results in very, very, sharp glass-like edges. And when you toss a handful of hard candy into your mouth, that truly IS something you want to avoid.

So, apply the butter and more butter. And when you think you have enough, apply more butter on top of that butter. And cut as fast as your pretty little fingers can.... if you want to keep them pretty and the pain minimal.

Usually, we make about a dozen different flavors, everything from cherry to spearmint, from blueberry to cloves, from cinnamon to grape.

Hard candy is kind of a big deal over here.

Occasionally, we have to rope the men in. Daddy is always willing to help...as long as he gets to make a few suckers. Grandma would object, but by the time the men are called in, we'll do just about anything to get this over with. I'm quite confident one time our patience will run out and we'll just decide a big square will suffice. We'll just break pieces off and pass it around. (I'd love to see the powdered sugar mess created with that one.)

Cheers to another kitchen fiasco full of family, sugar, and brunt fingers! Oh, and entertainment memories one can get nowhere else.


Hard Tack Candy
*ingredients for ONE regular batch

2 c granulated sugar
2/3 c light corn syrup
3/4 c water
1 t flavoring (i.e. clove, butter pecan, tropical punch, coffee, spearmint, cinnamon, cherry, lemon...)
1/2 t food coloring (and you'll want to note what color you use for each flavor)
powdered sugar

Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to boil without stirring. When syrup temperature reaches 260 degrees, add color. Do not stir; boiling action will incorporate color into syrup. Remove from heat at 300 degrees or when drops of syrup form hard threads in cold water. After boiling ceases, stir in flavoring. Immediately pour syrup onto buttered marbled slabs or cookie sheets. CAREFULLY, using buttered scissors to prevent sticking, cut hardened syrup into bite-size candy pieces. Syrup will hardened quickly, so this needs to be fast! Toss cut pieces onto extra cookie sheet or into a big bowl. When cooled, toss candy pieces with powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

**Note: you can easily multiply this recipe to your needs, like if you need to make 25 pounds of candy :)

***I recommend not doing this alone or with small children.

I'll take my five pounds, please.

By the way, it's National Hard Candy Day!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Photo an Hour

8 AM

9 AM

10 AM

11 AM

12 PM

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

4 PM

5 PM

6 PM

7 PM

8 PM

9 PM

10 PM

Yesterday was my first (and last for awhile) day off without plans in quite some time, and I spent it at home with Mr. Darcy. I was busy cleaning, organizing, and packing for our upcoming vacation to Maine. I was supposed to have book club later that evening, but it was pushed back a week, so Mr. B and I enjoyed a dinner of Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken and a movie. The chicken was tasty, the movie, Noah, was awful. Love me some lazy, me-time days, which are few and far between but readily welcomed.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Latest Snacking Obsession {Review}

I've been MIA this past week. I apologize. But it was my birthday. I celebrate all week long. ( <--- read all month long, actually.) I'm a huge fan of birthdays, and everybody's birthday should be a special day spent doing your favorite things with the people you love. Last year my bestie treated me to a picnic lunch at the Cleveland Museum with a side tour of the Botanical Gardens (where, at the time, she worked). Oh, and THE Starbucks stop must. It was a beautiful and hot day, of course. I melted. This year was quite different and it was absolutely wonderful. I've never celebrated my birthday week in jeans and long sleeves. What glorious chilly weather! Perfection.

This week Mr. B surprised me with a half dozen balloons to celebrate (and, yes, those will be tied there until they're dragging on the floor and Mr. Darcy tries to take off with them). I adore balloons; nothing shouts "SPECIAL OCCASION" like balloons. And candles. Balloons and candles are a must.

Allow me to quickly throw out a few other words regarding my week/weekend birthday celebrations in order to avoid an overly-long detailed celebration post, and to quickly get to the actual point of today's review obsession.

Multiple Starbucks trips.
Ice.cream.every.day.
A Mexican dinner outing where I ended up with a big sombrero on my head and a chorus of loud off-key singing.
FAMILY.
Daddy's ribs.
My favorite food dish of all time.
Birthday Sundae Bar.
Lots of puppy time.
Oak Ridge Festival.
More coffee.
Birthday wishes.
Sleeping in past 6 A.M.

And these tasty power snack balls. <---point of this post (See? I'd get to it eventually....)

These are fabulous. My pastor's daughter, Stephanie, and daughter-in-law, Amber, came together to create a wonderful web site called, Wild Saints. {Please head on over and check it out!} It's a new project, and on here these talented and gorgeous ladies provide DIY tips, fashion, kid-friendly recipes, videos, and more on their blog. In one of their YouTube videos, they shared this lovely snack recipe. Y'all, I was all over it. When I finished watching, I went straight to my pantry, brought out all the ingredients, and quickly mixed up a batch (fitting the recipe to my own tastes, of course). Because of the size I made my balls, I was able to get two dozen out of one batch. This will vary depending on the size of your balls. I cannot stop eating these. A huge fan of them, I decided to bring the ingredients to work and let the tweens in my yoga program make these as their healthy snack. They loved them. So did the parents. My co-workers devoured the leftovers. I came in the next day bombarded with multiple "When are you making these again?" demands.

The only thing I did differently than the original recipe is omit the vanilla and replace it with water. The snack balls are sweet enough with the honey, you won't even know you're missing it. If extra liquid is needed, just add a few tablespoons of water. (And, you know, I like the darkest chocolate you can find.) Definitely cannot get enough of these. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Mid-day snack. Late-night snack. Crumbled on yogurt. Fan-freaking-tastic. I think it tastes like cookie dough. I keep mine chilled, and eat them straight from the freezer.

However, I'd like to get the sugar content a tad lower since I'm liking these for an everyday breakfast snack ball. (They go perfectly with my morning cup o' Joseph.) Otherwise they're perfect for a "dessert" when eating clean, and as the ladies suggested, or as travel treats.

A few days later I brought another batch into work to share because it was the day-before-my-birthday treat.

'Cookie Dough' Power Snack Balls
*recipe slightly adapted from Wild Saints

Makes 20-24 snack balls

2 c dry quick oats
1 c chopped 85% dark chocolate (or your favorite dark chocolate chips)
1 c ground flax seed
1 c raw almond butter
2 T chia seeds
scant 2/3 c honey

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. (If too dry, add in 1-2 T water.) Roll mix into balls and set on platters to chill in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Keep stored and covered with wax paper in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Nutritional information per snack ball (varies depending on size of ball; I got 24 balls): 145 Calories, 8 Fat, 5 Protein, 4 Fiber, 8 Sugar

*I know, you're asking where's my birthday cheesecake? It's coming. I'm still celebrating. Hello 28!

**Oh, and don't forget to check out my 30 Before 30 List. I'm working my way through it...slowly.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Breakfast+Snack+Treat All in One

Well, hello!

[Whenever I say that, I always picture Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire when he sticks his face in the whipped cream (I think it is?) so his ex-wife won't recognize him. And I say it like he does, "Well, hellooooooo!" I can't help it, my cousins and I were huge fans of that movie.]

Hmmm, anyhoo, I threw a bunch of ingredients in a bowl and discovered a quick and versatile treat.

This Breakfast Cookie came about because I was really, really annoyed with how quickly my bananas ripened. Most people prefer this; however, I do not. I strongly do not. I can't even stomach a banana if there are any brown spots, let alone stand the smell. And my kitchen reeked of overripe bananas. Something needed to be done immediately. So instead of tossing them like I occasionally do, I decided to mash them in a bowl and do something with them....?

At 10 o'clock last night, I searched what ingredients I had on hand and added some oats, nut butter, and chocolate chips. I was aiming for a breakfast bar. The mixture wasn't as thick as I intended, and rather than add more oats, I opted for some flax seed. Alas, my kitchen was sans flax seed. No problem, cookies it is!

These cookies are great. Fantastic. Healthy. Transportable. Delicious with just the right amount of sweetness to make you feel as if you're indulging. I was so thrilled with the turnout, I hadn't realized I'd already eaten three of the little gems until I went to take a photo. Soooo good. And the best part, store them in the freezer, and grab one when ya need it! It's as simple as that. You might want to make a double batch.

Perfect for breakfast, they remind me a little of baked oatmeal. A great snack throughout the day. Or as a guilt-free late-night treat. This morning I enjoyed one crumbled up on top of my plain Greek yogurt with berries. I felt a little indulgent. Awesome start to my day. :)

Breakfast Cookies

Makes 13 cookies

2 very ripe bananas
1 c quick-cooking oats (or rolled if it's what you have on hand; I did a combination in mine.)
1/3 c dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
1 heaping T raw almond butter (or whatever nut butter fits your fancy)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. With a fork, mash the bananas in a medium bowl. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and nut butter. Scoop batter onto a baking tray, making scoops as round as possible.

Bake 12-15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. In a tight container, store in fridge or freezer. (I prefer mine straight from the freezer, no need to thaw!) *Note: this recipe is quite easy to make gluten free and vegan.

Nutritional Information (per cookie): 44 Calories, 1 Fat, 1 Sugar, 3 Fiber, 2 Protein

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Choice Beverages Lately

My beverage consumption of late has been quite frequent and very, very cold. This humidity never agrees with me. My hair is in a constant state of a frizzy mess atop my head.

Making huge batches of ice tea (unsweetened only, please!), and black coffee to have on hand in the fridge for immediate consumption is a must during these hot, irritable, and muggy months. And I cannot seem to get enough water! Good thing I'm in the midst of a water wellness program at work. I'm drinking it on the rocks infused with whatever fruit I have on hand that day...lemons, berries, cucumbers, mint, limes, peaches, Granny Smith apples...

It's National Iced Tea Month

Among these must-have beverages, I'm also enjoying my morning smoothies. These are a great perk to my early (and hot) mornings. My latest obsession includes peaches and cottage cheese. When I was little I loved to eat sliced tomatoes or peaches in a bowl of cottage cheese as an after-school snack. But not together. Hmmm, I do enjoy Peach Caprese, though. I'm going to have to think about this one....

Side note: Mama preferred her cottage cheese with pickles.

I got the cottage-cheese-in-your-smoothie-idea from Katie over at Dashing Dish. (You have to visit her site and try out her tasty protein shakes.)

I like to use frozen fruit because then I don't have to add ice, which gives me a richer flavor. The addition of cottage cheese gives it the perfect milkshake consistency. Indulgent, for sure.

Peachy Keen Protein Shake

Serves 1 generously, or perfect for sharing with a friend as an afternoon snack

1 c unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened refrigerated coconut milk would work well, too)
1/4 c cottage cheese
1/4 c plain Greek yogurt
1/2 frozen banana
1 c frozen sliced peaches
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
(Optional: add honey to taste if you like it a little sweeter. For me, the fruit sweetens it enough.)

Place all ingredients in a blender; combine until desired consistency. Enjoy in a chilled glass!

To quote my Grandma Bays, "It's so humidity outside!" God bless her.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi