Thursday's Sweet Treat - Marshmallow Bars

I figured since it is Thursday we could all use a sweet treat to get us through the rest of the week!  I mean we made it to Thursday, the weekend is in site and who doesn't love a little something sweet?  So here is that sweet treat I teased you all with on Tuesday!

Let me introduce you to Marshmallow bars!

One of Derek's favorites!

 I first had Marshmallow Bars a few weeks ago while down in Whalan, for Derek's family vacation.  And let me just say, it is hard to eat just one of these suckers (seriously, they are that addicting)!

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is simply amazing, I mean in my book there is no better food combination!   Derek's mom sent us the recipes: all you need is 5 simple ingredients, and a microwave!  Shall we get started?

Marshmallow Bars:

Ingredients:

1 and a half Bags of Mini Marshmallows

1 and a half Bags of  Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 1/2 Sticks of Butter

3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 - 9x13 Pan.

First grease your pan so that nothing sticks when you cut your bars!

Now pour your marshmallows into the bottom of your greased pan, making sure the the entire bottom of the pan is covered.  It should look something like this!

In a large mixing bowl place your semi sweet chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter.

Melt your ingredients in the microwave until everything is melted (about 3-5 min, check periodically), stir well to combine.

Pour your chocolate peanut butter mixture over the marshmallows making sure that all the marshmallows are equally covered!

What I think is the best part of baking...

Now place in the fridge until your chocolate has hardened (now you can eat the.  If you want to enjoy these bars faster stick them in the freezer!

Enjoy!

 I dare you to try and eat just one of these!

From the Black Hole of Recipes

Hello Lovlies! 

Did we all survive Monday?  I felt like I was dragging a bit yesterday, maybe it was because of my busy weekend! 

This week for my Pin Challenges I decided to go back to the archives and dig up some Pin recipes I made a while back, I don't want those amazing recipes to get lost in the black hole! 

But before we get into those I thought we could recap last weeks recipes! 

I already told you how amazing these Quinoa Black Bean Burgers were! 

Seriously, you have to make them!  I ate them on a bun, wrapped them in a tortilla and even topped a salad with these tasty burgers!  I subbed in a chilly garlic sauce for the mustard!  

But I am not kidding, you need to make these tonight! 

And secondly these delicious Chickpea Tacos! 

Source: cadryskitchen.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

(sorry my picture was not very good)!!!

Also great wrapped in a tortilla or even on chips or as a salad topper! 

Delicious! 

But now lets take a look at this weeks recipes, yes we are going back to the achieve of recipes! 

Enjoy! 

My favorite go to dinner, bake potatoes! 

Not just any baked potatoes black bean stuffed baked potatoes! 

Source: myrecipes.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I remember loving all the flavor combinations in this meal! 

And who could forget the Sweet and Sticky Chicken! 

Source: allrecipes.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I am going to serve this with some brown rice, and roasted broccoli!  

Yum!

And stay tuned for a yummy treat that is so easy to make, trust me you will want to make these!

Scenes From the Weekend

You know those weekends when you just go with the flow, and whatever happens, happens. 

Well that is exactly how I feel about this weekend! 

And I had a blast. 

We had a few things planned this weekend, but the days were pretty much ours to do whatever we want! Here are just a few highlights/pictures from the weekend! 

Nothing better then being surprised with beautiful flowers! 

A delicious Tortellini Salad, from Two Peas and Their Pod: 

(Source)

Seriously make this salad (makes great leftovers)! 

I made it for a BBQ on Saturday night.  Grilling, friends and a bon fire; no better way to spend a Saturday night.  And yes the evening was made complete with S'mores!!

To die for French Toast from the Edina Grill! 

There is nothing I love better then an early Sunday Morning Brunch before church!

The iconic Cherry on the Spoon, at the Walker Art Center Garden. 

And a few more pictures from our walk around downtown, and a local Art Fair! 

and of course just some of us goofing around! 

What did you do this weekend?

Weekly Challenge

I realized that I have been slacking on my Pin Challenge the past few weeks! 

Last week I shared the results for my Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes, and the Mediterranean Crunch Salad! 

This week I have two new tasty recipes for you! 

Since summer makes me think of grilling/cookouts I decided I wanted to try my hand at a vegetarian burger! 

May I present to you the Quinoa Black Bean Burger!

Source: greatist.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I think these are going to be delicious! 

And since I am scared to death of open fire, I will be grilling these on my mini George Foreman! 

Yes, that is my kind of grilling! 

I am also going to try these Chickepea Taco's!

Source: cadryskitchen.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

I have made a number of Vegetarian mexican dishes, but I want to give these a go and see how I like them! 

I am hoping these recipes will get good reviews from my tast tester! 

Will see!

And while we are on the topic of recipes, I want to share with you a recipe/smoothie I have been loving this week!  

The Glowing Green Smoothie from Kimberly Snyder! 

I just started reading her book "The Beauty Detox Diet" and thought I would give this smoothie a go!

And you know what, it is pretty delicious!  So refreshing!

You really ought to try it, I swear you won't taste the spinach!

So there you have it, two meatless meals for your week!

Now tell me, are you a fan of green smoothies?  Or does the color kind of gross you out?

Happy Wednesday! 

My Where Abouts

Happy Tuesday Lovlies! 

I know I have been a bit MIA, but last week got super crazy and work.  And then I was gone all weekend relaxing! 

This past weekend I was down in Whalen Minnesota. 

You may have heard me talk about Whalen before!  Whalen is the little town my family always bikes to, you know the little town that has the amazing pie shop! 

Well the reason I was in Whalen this past weekend was for Derek's family vacation/get together! 

I had a wonderful time.  I got to hang out with some great people, play lots of fun games (we had our own Olympics) eat tons of amazing food (like these some of my favorite bars!) and of course watch we watched hours upon hours of Olympics!  

Have you all been watching the Olympics?

What did you think of the opening ceremony?

I have to say the opening Ceremony this year was not my favorite.  

I did however love the torch at the end... 

(Source)

and the fireworks!  

The fireworks for the opening ceremony were spectacular! 

(Source)

There are several events I love to watch in the summer Olympics !

I love watching both Mens and Womens Gymnastics!

I really hope... does well! 

And I love watching Sycronized Diving and Platform Diving! 

I seriously wish I could do some of those dives!

What about you?  Any sport you enjoy watching during the Olympics?

What I am Loving

Happy Hump Day! 

I know I have said this before, but I am going to say it again!  

I just love Wednesdays!  It is the middle of the work week, and that means the weekend is in sight! 

Here is a short list of a few things I am loving right now! 

I am loving that I get to go to lunch today with a great high school friend of mine! 

She just started working at the same company as me, it will be great to be able to catch up over the lunch hour! 

I am loving all the wonderful sales that are going on right now! 

I scored this necklace 

and these earrings 

from Banana Republic!  

I am so excited for them to come in! 

I am loving that Mid August (which is right around the corner) I will be reunited with these lovely ladies!

Butler Girls weekend, we are going to take on Minneapolis! 

I am loving fresh baked banana bread!  Check out my new go to recipe here! 

It is delicious! 

And finally I am loving that two new recipes turned out to be a great success (last weeks pin challenge) 

Whole Foods Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes 

While not a favorite of my taste tester, I sure did love them!  The combination of quinoa and temeph was right up my alley!  I am thinking next time I will have to make two different versions of stuffed tomatoes! 

and 

Whole Foods Mediteranian Crunch Salad

Source: wholefoodsmarket.com via Hilliary @ Brunch and Cupcakes on Pinterest

(this one did get a good review from my taste tester)!

This salad was perfect to pack for lunch!  I threw in some quinoa and temeph for a little extra something! I will be making both of these recipes again!

What are you loving these days?

Things About Town

This past week and weekend  I got to experience so many new things!

Not only was I crossing things off my Minneapolis "To Do List" but I was enjoying quality time with great company! 

Shall we take a look at what I have been up to?

This past week was part of the 70th Annual Aquatennial Festival  

Now I have to admit people kept talking about the Aquatennial and I had no idea what is was, or that it was such a big deal! So here is a quick little description of what the Aquatennial Festical actually is!  

"The Aquatennial is the official civic celebration of the City of Minneapolis. Entering its 73rd year, Minneapolis residents, workers, and tourists have come to love and appreciate all that the City of Minneapolis has to offer during the Aquatennial Festival." 

(Source)

  So now that we covered what Aquatennial is I can tell you about the fun that took place outside of my apartment window Wednesday night!  

This past Wednesday night Hennepin Ave (a major street going through downtown, that I live on) got completely shut down at 7pm for the Aquatennial Torch Light Parade and 5k!

The best part  about the Aquatennial parade was that it literally took place right outside my apartment, I just had to walk out my front door!   It was neat experience to be able to look out my apartment windows and see the parade go by!
I decided that next year I want to run the Aquatennial 5k Race!

Saturday I got to have a night out on the town!
A night at the Guthrie Theater (Check out my post about the Guthrie here)!

where we saw, Roman Holiday the Musical!

Roman Holiday is by far one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies, well besides Breakfast At Tiffany's!  I just love Audrey Hepburn, and the actress Saturday night did a wonderful job portraying the classic movie star!  I thought the performers did a lovely job bringing this iconic film to life on stage!  Not only was the Musical wonderful, but the Guthrie Theater is beautiful, with large windows, and picturesque views!  Just take a look!

The Aquatennial Fireworks made for a perfect way to end our night out at the Guthrie.  We literally walked outside after our show into a splendid fireworks display!    I have to say that the Aquatennial fireworks were some of the best I have seen, maybe even better then the ones I saw on the 4th of July!

(Source - Joyce of J.D Photography)

And now a few of mine!

So Bright! And Loud!

It was a fun filled week/weekend!
Does your city have any big celebrations?