Everyone loves brownies, right? Most of the brownies I make are not frosted, but these Chocolate Mint Brownies have a generous amount of yummy cream cheese mint frosting that is hard to resist. The brownies themselves have some mint chocolate chips mixed into the batter, with more sprinkled on top of the frosting! Talk about rich and decadent!
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St. Patrick’s Day is not far away, and here’s a super-easy snack mix you can whip up to enjoy and share! This sweet and slightly-salty mix includes some Lucky Charms™ cereal, dry roasted and salted peanuts, mint-flavored green M&M’s, and some vanilla yogurt-covered raisins. They all combine to make a really yummy and colorful snack mix that’s so perfect for St. Patty’s Day celebrations and get-togethers! It’s also great that this recipe just takes minutes to make!
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Because of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve been seeing lots of green when it comes to recipes the last few weeks! A lot of them have pistachios as an ingredient, and I love pistachios! So I thought I’d try them in a smoothie. A green smoothie, of course, with a healthy blend of milk, yogurt, honey, frozen banana, baby spinach leaves, and pistachios. It’s a lightly sweet, creamy smoothie that doesn’t taste super-spinachy. If you’re put off by green smoothies, you might want to give this one a try–it has less of a veggie taste than others I’ve had. You do have to do a wee bit of planning ahead to make this by putting a banana (or half of a banana) in the freezer the night before you make it, but otherwise this is super quick and easy to make!
GREEN PISTACHIO SMOOTHIE by NancyC Makes 1 (10-ounce) serving
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup low-fat milk (or use soy milk; use 1/3 cup if you want a thicker smoothie)
- 1/3 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (or use soy yogurt)
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1/2 medium frozen banana, broken into chunks
- 1/2 cup well-packed baby spinach leaves
- 2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)
In a high-speed blender or food processor, add all ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a glass, top with a light sprinkling of pistachios, and serve. Makes about 10 ounces.
Have you made any green smoothies? Do you have a favorite recipe for one? Hope you are having a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Linked to Let’s Get Real Friday, Inspire Me Monday, Sunday Showcase, Full Plate Thursday.
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I thought it would be the perfect time to make some Irish Stew. I don’t make stew very often, but I love a bowl of good, thick, chunky stew, and that’s exactly what this is! You might be wondering where those chunks of stew meat are–well, I improvised a little and used ground beef instead, since that’s what I had on hand. But you can use either–ground beef or chunks of beef. There are plenty of other chunky ingredients in this recipe too–onions, potatoes, and carrots. And it’s seasoned with a little dried thyme and basil. Comfort food in a bowl–that’s what this is!
IRISH STEW by NancyC, adapted from Midwest Living Makes 6 servings
- 1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 3/4″ pieces, or 1 pound ground beef
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 medium onions, cut into wedges
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 medium potatoes (1 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into bite-size chunks (about 4 1/2 cups)
- 3 cups sliced carrots (about 6 medium, sliced 1/2″ thick)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, plus a little more for garnish if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine beef, beef broth, onions, and pepper. bring to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Skim off the fat. Add the potatoes, carrots, thyme, and basil. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes more or until vegetables are tender. Stir the cold water and flour together, blending well. Stir this mixture into the stew and cook and stir until stew is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with additional dried thyme, if desired, and serve.
If St. Patrick’s Day will be chilly where you live, this would be the perfect thing to make to warm everyone up! Are you planning on making any special Irish dishes that day?
Linked to Sunday Showcase, Inspire Me Monday.
I thought I’d try a flavored water with a green theme, since St. Patrick’s Day is coming up! But of course, this water is great any time of the year. You mostly taste the lime in this, but the kiwifruit and pear slices make the pitcher of water look so nice! 🙂 I think this water tastes best the same day you make it, but you’ll want to refrigerate it a few hours before serving so the water has more flavor. Use organic produce if you can when making this.
PEAR, LIME, KIWIFRUIT WATER by NancyCreative
Makes a large pitcher (half gallon) of flavored water
- 8 cups of water (I used 2 cups of sparkling water mixed in with 6 cups of regular water to give it a slight fizziness–see note below*)
- 1 large organic pear, cut into thin slices
- 2 limes, cut into thin slices
- 2 kiwifruit, cut into thin slices
Fill pitcher with 8 cups of water. Add slices of pear, lime, and kiwifruit, and stir all ingredients together in the pitcher. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving (the slices of kiwifruit tend to settle at the bottom, so you will need to stir before serving to mix all the fruit evenly). When ready to serve, add ice cubes to pitcher and stir or add ice to individual glasses and pour the flavored water over the ice.
*For a fizzy water drink, use Seltzer water or natural sparkling water (like Perrier) instead of regular water, or use some of each (do not use Club Soda or Tonic Water, as one is high in sodium and the other is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup).
Have you tried making any uniquely-flavored water lately?
Linked to Inspire Me Monday at Create with Joy.
NancyC 