Red White and Shia with a Side Jousting

Hi Everyone! SO sorry I am been MIA the past couple of days.  With the 4th of July and traveling up the wazoo to go see BF, I decided to take what little time I had to relax and veg (ie: Women's health and Love Bites- anyone seen that? Surprisingly great!). 

Welp moving on! The 4th was amazing.  It is always so much fun to be down in DC for holidays, all the excitement of being a nice big city without all the stress of the Big Apple makes for one very happy Jessica.

The weekend consisted of all that you need for a successful trip:

1) Transformers 3D: Dark of the Moon- SCORE- Shia is a hottie.(Ok this pic may be a little more scary man than hottie, but you get the idea)

 Source

Shia is totally not my type at all but Selena Gomez has got it right with this one. BTW if you don't know what I am talking bout you are lame- please watch below: 

 2) A party involving outdoor beer pong, an inflatable jousting ring, a rooftop bar, and a lighting storm.  I will leave those images up to the imagination.

3) A little bit of (lot a bit of!!) BF and an extra long visit!

Yesterday after I got home from work I finally had a second to slow down from all the traveling, Shia worshiping and jousting (?) to relax, put up my feet and just hang out.  But nope, I most certainly did not do that. I did what I do best- I baked!!

I have been dying to make some of Julie's Peanut Butter Granola and I finally had the time. As most of you know, I always say, the best thing for a baker is when you have all the ingredients already.  WOOT! Check! Off I go. 

I made one slight tweak because I am a weirdo and I don't really like peanut butter but I would give my Right Arm (not my left, my RIGHT, the one I actually need to do stuff) for a never ending supply of Better N Butter. 

Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons Better N Butter

2 Tablespoons Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

14 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Cup Oats

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

2) Combine BnB and honey in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds. Remove and stir to fully combine

 3) Add in the cinnamon and vanilla and stir to combine 

4) Add oats to the wet mixture and fold until the oats are completely covered in BnB mixture.

5) Spread oats onto a pam-ed cookie sheet and bake for 7 – 8 minutes until granola is slightly browned.

 6) Let cool until granola is crunchy.

* * using too more peanut butter does not make mixture peanutbuttery-ier-, it makes it not crunchy. 

These stuff is the bomb. Julie was not lying. Addictive. Danger. Lock the cabinet... or just dominate the bowl. Hey, I needed to try some in order to accurately starfabulously rate it. DUH. 

Star Fabulous Rating: 9/10- Mine got a little soggy. I got PB happy. Oops! 

I Am a Tinted Window- and I Bake Always

I am so excited to tell you all about my amazing weekend in Rehoboth.  Before I dive into that however, I wanted to tell you guys to go check out my guest post on The Spiffy Cookie! Woot Woot! First guest post.  Let me know what you guys think!

Well now, on to the good stuff.  This weekend in Delaware was amazing.  Great to see the BF. Great to meet his friends. Great to go go to the beach. Great to hang in the water. 

I am proud to say I am slightly less of a window! I am probably a tinted window now.  No not one of the badass tinted windows you see on trucks with rims.  More of the slightly tinted window that you see on your Grampa's old Buick.  I am not upset. Steps in the right direction either way.  

I am going to play a fun game I am calling the Top 5 Fabulous (or not so fabulous) Things That Happened in Rehoboth:

1) One pair of amazing sunglasses was lost- never to be found again.

RIP Sunglasses- you will be missed

2) Two boys swam out to a Drifting away boat- yup we anchored the boat, but obviously poorly because it drifted away. Far, far away. 

3) Three days were spent with the BF- not long enough but I loved every second.

4) Four amazing in a bag-blondies were eaten.  I accidentally opened this bag:

thinking that they were already made cookies and then had to make cause I didn't want flour bugs, or for them to go to waste.  Yes, I HAD to make them :) I told you, if I could I would bake my way through any day- baking occurred.

5) Five hot dogs were eaten in two days.Yup, two days, five hot dogs. No shame. You do not need a picture of that. That is not a pretty situation. 

All in all the weekend was wonderful. I cannot wait for another weekend out at the beach and to soak up some rays!

I am also super sad to say that I do not believe any baking with occur this week.  I am moving apartments (FINALLY) so everything is getting boxed up.  That is alright though, my new apartment is even closer to a grocery store- uh oh! 

How were your weekends?

I Am a Window.....But At Least I'm Eating Butterscotch Brownies

I am so excited to post today. I had one of those mornings where I woke up and was feeling very "WOOT"!  I think its probably the adrenalin rush I am having because I am seeing bf for the first time in a month today and it involves the beach and I am so pale I am see through. Like a window. See-right-through-me kinda pale. Yes, long distance is lame. I am aware. Well either way, after work today I am off to Delaware to bask in the sun and enjoy some time with bf and his friends from DC! I cannot wait.  I am going to sit under this all day: 

(source)

Hopefully I will get some color so I wont be as pale as I was during reunion. 

Ok, well moving on.  I wanted to share a new recipe I created with you guys.  I made these Chocolate Butterscotch Muffins which I will from this point on call Chocolate Butterscotch Brownies.  I am a dummy and put them in muffin tins but they should not be punished for that. So, brownies it is.

Super easy to make. I am a fan.

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup milk

2 Eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt

2 teapsoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Steps: (easiest ever)

1) Preheat over to 375 degrees F

2) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.

3) Put in a pam-ed brownie pan

4) Bake for 20 to 30 min (until you can poke with a toothpick and it comes out clean)

5) Enjoy.

Personally, I really enjoyed these brownies! Especially when hot from the oven (or microwave as I obviously keep heating them up and taking them to the face).  However, there is something about butterscotch that is really tricky to bake with. It is a really strong flavor. I think that these deserve a Star Fabulous Rating of 6/10.  They are good but I am not bringing the left over to Delaware this weekend... and I bring left overs everywhere. 

Star Fabulous Rating: 6/10

Everyone enjoy their weekend!