Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge

♫ On the second day of Christmas Treats,
                                ♫ my true love made for me... ♫

As Mary Jane told you in her post yesterday, we're celebrating Christmas at the Cafe with Twelve Days of Christmas Treats and Giveaways!!! Merry Christmas to us all!

In case you miss Mary Jane's post, be sure to check it out HERE.

Today I'm sharing an idea that I shamelessly stole from Ruthy. Every year, she does a "Make-and-Bake-a-Memory" day with her grandchildren. (And in case you missed this year's beautiful post, check it out HERE.)

I love her idea of making memories with those sweet grandchildren. Isn't that just the best idea?

One problem: I don't know if you noticed, but we're in wedding mode in our family (our daughter's and son-in-law's wedding was June 2016 and our oldest son and his fiancee have a February 2017 wedding planned), not grandchildren mode.

YET.

But I decided to steal Ruthy's idea anyway, because it's never too early to start, is it?

I invited the girls in our family (my daughter, my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and the middle son's girlfriend) to the first annual "Drexler Family Bake a Memory Day." We had a blast!

We made cookies, fudge, Christmas candy....

Half-way through the day, we were glad we had kept the number of projects small. It's a LOT of work to bake all those cookies!

But by the time the day was over, we had filled all of our containers with Christmas treats.

The recipe I'm going to share with you is one that I make every year, my Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge.

Okay, okay. I have a confession to make. This isn't Grandma's Fudge. Her recipe is from the Great Depression era, and lacks.... um.... richness.

I learned a lot from Grandma.

1) She could get more pies out of a batch of piecrust than was strictly legal, rolling the dough so thin it was nearly transparent.

2) She knew how to stretch leftovers to get three meals where anyone else would get two.

3) She knew how to lay out pattern pieces to use every inch of fabric when she made a dress.

Grandma (standing in the center) with her sisters and mother, 1964.

But when it comes to fudge...sorry, Grandma, but I had to fool with your recipe.

Even though I have changed this recipe enough to be unrecognizable, I still call it Grandma's. :)

Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 5-oz can evaporated milk
1 7-oz jar marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy - your choice)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lightly grease a 9" x 9" baking dish and set aside. Instead, you can line it with aluminum foil, like Mindy showed us in her fudge post last week. You can see how she did it HERE.

Heat sugar, butter, milk and marshmallow cream in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full boil, stirring constantly.

And yes, you read that right. In this recipe, the marshmallow cream goes in the first step, not the last.

Once the mixture comes to a full boil, continue cooking and stirring for five minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth and creamy.

Pour the fudge into the prepared dish. Cool, then cut into squares.

Peanut Butter Fudge and Chocolate Fudge...yum!

And now it's time for the GIVEAWAY!!!

As I hope you know, I write Amish stories.

(By the way, my two 2016 releases would make a great Christmas present for someone on your list!)


What are your earliest fudge-making memories?

A little of this, a little of that, and some peanut butter

I don't want to spoil the run of peanut butter treats this week - so here you go.

Jan mentioned breakfast bars in the comments of Jill's post yesterday. I thought of these.

I haven't made them yet, but I'm definitely going to.

No-Bake Chocolate-Coconut Protein Bars

I'll update this when I make them.


Okay, back to the regularly scheduled post.

One of the things I find most challenging about healthy eating is finding the energy to cook something after a long day of teaching and tutoring. There's no way I'm going to eat what I cook for my husband - I'd weigh a ton. (He does very physical work and needs the calories) But cooking a second, healthy meal... well let's just say that more often than not, it doesn't happen.

That's why I love finding something healthy and easy. Monday night was crazy - first day back at school after Easter break, teaching, tutoring, and then a long parent meeting. It was almost 7 by the time I got home. I was starved, but I wanted something healthy.

I had beets in the frig.

I bought a sweet potato.

I had mini-pitas (low-sodium ones).

I have sprouted lentils that I love and that only take 5 minutes to cook.

There was some baby kale for my smoothies and I had a fresh container of hummus.

Inspiration!

I sliced the sweet potato, drizzled the slices with extra virgin olive oil and put them in to roast while I walked the dog. When we returned, I sliced the beets and steamed them while I showered.

Invigorated by a shower and the amazing scent of roasted sweet potatoes, I cooked the lentils, then mixed in the hummus, layered the kale on the pitas, spooned the hummus/lentil mix on top and warmed it all together a bit.

The beets and sliced potatoes went on the side but I piled them up when I began to eat.

Delicious, healthy, and most of it cooked while I was doing other things.

Best part?  Leftovers tonight so I have time to eat before the meeting at church!

Peanut Butter Squares with Guest Chef Jill Kemerer

I am thrilled to have one of my favorite people joining us today. Jill Kemerer and I have much in common. Aside from the fact that we both write for Love Inspired, we both hail from Michigan (our small-town schools competed in sports), we're both blond and we both love to cook. So in honor of her latest release, Her Small-Town Romance, Jill has agreed to share one of her favorite recipes--and a book giveaway--with us.  

Take it away, Jill.

I have a sweet tooth. Let me rephrase that. I have a mouthful of sweet teeth. I love chocolate! And cookies, cakes, candy, pudding…I love it all. I first made this recipe a few years ago as a gift. Needless to say, it turned out so delicious, I promptly made an extra batch for us! The best part? These don’t even have to be baked, and they melt in your mouth.

Peanut Butter Squares

Prep time: 15 minutes

Refrigerate an hour before serving.

Makes 25 small squares

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Layer

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

3 TBS butter, melted

¾ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

Splash of vanilla extract

Top Layer

½ stick (4 TBS) butter

½ cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet, but feel free to use milk chocolate)

Instructions:

First, tear off a sheet of wax paper and line a 9x9 pan with it.

Melt 3 TBS of butter (I throw it in a bowl in the microwave for 20-30 seconds). Put the melted butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl or mixer and blend for about a minute.

Press this mixture into the 9x9 pan. Tip: I put a plastic baggie over my hand and spray it with nonstick spray for less mess.

In a small bowl or saucepan, melt the top layer ingredients (butter and chocolate chips). If using the microwave, heat for 30 seconds, stir, then heat for an additional 20-30 seconds and stir. If using a saucepan, melt over very low heat or use a double boiler.

Spread the chocolate over the peanut butter layer.

Pop the pan in the fridge for an hour. When you’re ready to cut, take the bars with the wax paper right out of the pan and cut them into small squares before serving.

 Nibble on one or two or five. It’s really up to you. Enjoy!

Jill, I don't know whether to love or hate you for sharing these delectable treats. Anyone else out there drooling? If you're like me, you're going to be thinking about these peanut butter squares all day. Make that all week. Things this good should not be so simple. 

Another treat, though, one that doesn't necessarily have an affect on your waistline, is Jill's latest release. I'm in the process of reading Her Small-Town Romance and let me tell you, it is SO good. If you'd like a chance to win your own copy of Jill's book, just leave a comment to be entered. (U.S. mailing addresses only, please) A winner will be drawn at random Monday, April 11th.

Here's more about Jill and her book:

***

HER SMALL-TOWN ROMANCE

Finding Her Way Home 

Cozy Lake Endwell, Michigan, seems the perfect place for Jade Emerson's new T-shirt shop—and perhaps a fresh start. After a lifetime of letdowns, she is finally ready to face the future on her own. So when local wilderness guide Bryan Sheffield offers to help Jade overcome a past trauma, she warns him they will remain strictly business. But soon, with the help of Bryan's big, complicated family and a boisterous St. Bernard named Teeny, Jade's frozen heart begins to thaw. Now Jade wonders if she can return the favor, bringing a little happiness to a man who has long kept his own sorrow under wraps…

Interested in purchasing Her Small-Town Romance? Purchase links available at http://jillkemerer.com/books/her-small-town-romance/.

About Jill Kemerer

Jill Kemerer writes Christian romance novels with love, humor and faith for Harlequin Love Inspired. Jill loves coffee, M&Ms, fluffy animals, magazines and her hilarious family. Visit her website, jillkemerer.com, and connect with Jill on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for her Newsletter!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJillKemerer

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jillkemerer

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/f3YzL

Peanut Butter Smoothie

It's that time of year again.

Not just time to put away the Christmas decorations and put up the new 2016 calendar.

It's recovery time.

Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed every single bite of fudge, Christmas cookies, and my mom's favorite recipe for Christmas candy. I enjoyed every single minute of the meals we shared with family and friends.

But, there comes that time...a couple days after Christmas...when my body says it wants to lay off the sugar for a while.

Actually, the body says I should never eat sugar again, but I know that eventually I'll be craving something sweet. Sigh.

But no worries. I've found a great way to ease off of sugar and please my sweet tooth at the same time: Smoothies!

I've shared smoothie recipes before, and you can check out that post here: Spring Smoothies.

But today I'd like to add a new one. I've been making one of these for breakfast once or twice a week. There's something so satisfying about this recipe.

The original is from a blog called Working at Homeschool. Jen (the owner of the blog) shares tons of gluten-free Trim Healthy Mama recipes. So far I've only tried this one, but it's a keeper.

Here's my version:

Peanut Butter Smoothie

ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop unsweetened vanilla whey protein powder
4 teaspoons Truvia, or other non-calorie sweetener
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
a pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2-3 cups of ice cubes

A note about the ingredients:
What if you aren't following the Trim Healthy Mama plan? No problem. The main goal is to have a healthy smoothie for breakfast that will satisfy your sweet tooth without adding any sugar to your meal.

Did you notice the fat-laden ingredients in this recipe, though? Those healthy fats, plus the protein, is what makes this smoothie fill you up and keep you satisfied until lunch. Don't worry about the calories - go ahead and eat the peanut butter!

Almond milk: You can substitute your regular milk. It will add carbs to the smoothie, but won't affect the taste.

Whey protein powder: I use the THM brand available on their website (THM Whey Protein Powder), but you can substitute protein powder from your local store. You could also leave it out of the recipe, but it won't supply as much protein for your meal. But here's a thought! You could also substitute yogurt! You'd want to reduce the amount of milk in the recipe, but the yogurt would help supply that all-important protein.

Truvia: I like stevia sweeteners and use them all the time. Some people have problems with stevia, though. So if you've never used it before, buy a small quantity to try. You'll find Truvia near the sugar in your grocery store.

Coconut oil: I use coconut oil often in my recipes because of the health benefits. If you don't have any in your cupboard, go ahead and leave it out of this recipe. But if you aren't convinced that coconut oil is a healthy part of your diet, you can read this: Dr. Oz on Coconut Oil.

Peanut Butter: I like Adam's Natural peanut butter. Other brands have sugar, but not a lot. So if you're fine with a little sugar, use whatever brand you like.


Method:
Using a heavy duty blender (one that can handle crushing ice cubes), blend together all of the ingredients except the ice. Run your blender for 10-20 seconds on high speed to get that coconut oil pulverized and mixed in.

Once those ingredients are thoroughly blended, add the ice cubes, about one cup at a time. Blend until everything is nice and smooth.

Pour into a large cup (I use my one-quart canning jars) and enjoy!

Other than the over-eating of sweets, how was your Christmas?

We had a fabulous time....

There's nothing like getting a future son-in-law for Christmas! We're expecting the wedding to be in June, so stay tuned!

And it's a "destination wedding." You've heard of those, right? When the happy couple and all their guests go to some fabulous romantic destination for the wedding of their dreams? Well, this destination is the Black Hills of South Dakota.

What? You think we'd go somewhere else?

Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and a friend gave me a delicious recipe for peanut butter and jelly cookies. I make peanut butter cookies about every three years so i was little skeptical on how great these could be. But she promised they weren't too hard, weren't too sweet, and were perfect right out of the oven. So, we had to try!

(We used our little cookie press on a few. So cute!)

 1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1.2 cups flour

 Blend the eggs, sugar, vanilla, butter, and peanut butter together. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the egg and sugar mixture. Form balls and bake at 350F for six to eight minutes. Any longer and they start to get crispy, which is fine if you want crispy... but these are supposed to be like a PB&J sandwich.

 When the cookies have cooled a little but are still warm, fill the indentations with jam or jelly. We used our strawberry jelly (from a previous post!).

 The smelled amazing and tasted even better! A real treat!

 The morning glory in our garden is blooming. I had no idea this was considered a weed in some places! Here, we try to get the seeds started inside in the spring and then carefully transplant them outside. Facebook friends told me they take over the property in some regions and have to be ripped out!

 And our seedless champagne grapes are ready. Maybe I already posted about it. Well, they're super yummy and I can't post about them enough. Grape season is so short here that we revel in it while it lasts.

 My neighbors zinnias! Really, they just had to be on the post. Too pretty not to share!

 And my polydactyl kitty is helping me with my new book. He's a great content editor! He goes to sleep if it's too boring...

And have to share this funny shot of our other kitty. He was yawning, I swear, but it looks like he's yelling, "M-om! He's TOUCHING ME!" 

I hope everyone has a wonderful last weekend in August! I can't believe it's almost September already!! Summer has just flown by!
Come visit me on my Mary Jane Hathaway facebook page or on my blog!

Fudge on a Diet? Yes, you can!

Jan and I must be on the same wavelength this week, because I'm here today with yet another Trim Healthy Mama recipe.

It's low-carb, sugar-free and, best of all, it's chocolate!

Chocolate aside, though, one of my favorite things in the whole world is peanut butter. If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one food, I would probably pick peanut butter. I can hardly go a day without it.

The only thing better than peanut butter would have to be chocolate and peanut butter together.

Yum!

So finally, after almost a year on the THM plan, I tried their Rich Chocolate Fudge recipe, and you know what? 

It wasn't bad.

Oh, and did I mention how quick and easy this recipe is?

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup (one stick) of butter (yep, that's the real stuff, not margarine)
• 1/2 cup natural, no-sugar-added peanut butter
• 2 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 4 Tbs. cocoa powder
• 6-10 tsp. Truvia, just depends on how sweet you like it

Melt butter and peanut butter in saucepan over medium heat.

Almost there.

Once everything is melted, remove pan from heat and stir in cream cheese.

I cut mine into chunks so it would melt faster.

Stir until well blended. I actually switched to a whisk.

Add the cocoa and keep stirring.

Now add your Truvia to taste. I added about 7 1/2 tsp,

and stir, stir, stir. 

I was trying to get the Truvia to dissolve, but it tends to be a stubborn creature. Next time I think I will run it through a coffee grinder to make it more powdery.

That's it. Now simply pour the mixture into a wax paper lined, small baking pan.

That is, if you have wax paper. I ran out, so I used foil and sprayed it lightly with Pam.

Place pan in freezer for fifteen minutes (longer, if you desire), then cut into bite-size pieces.

Store in refrigerator or freezer.

The result.

Think dark chocolate fudge. And though it was a bit grainy, it satisfied my sweet tooth. And let me tell you, I've got a big one. However, if you eat too much, it will begin to taste weird.

Do not ask me how I know this. 

Actually, it wasn't peanut-buttery enough for me, so I think I might spread a thin layer of peanut butter on top. You know, frosting. ;)

So how was your Valentine's Day? Did you celebrate or treat it the same as any other day?

Around here, it's pretty much same old, same old. 

Except hubby gave me these.

And these.

He knows me so well.

Looks like I'm the schlep. All I got him was a card. :(

And then we kept the granddaughter so her mama and beau could paint the town red.

They had a wonderful time.