Backwards N High Heels

Balancing work and play while wearing many hats (I mean heels).

Easter Snack Mix

Easter-Snack-Mix
If there is one thing I know with certainty it is that our home is a house full of sweet tooths. No wonder my dentist loves me.

Between Nathan and I, Logan’s poor genes don’t stand a chance with our instant cravings. I was born with an ice cream spoon in my hand, growing up with a grandmother and great-grandfather who could eat ice cream for every meal. I did not stray far, and my husband, well, I landed the sweet tooth jackpot as his family owns an ice cream shop in our hometown. Have you ever heard of a Boston Shake? It is a hot fudge sundae inside a chocolate milkshake. I mean just typing that I feel like I added 250 calories into my body.

Nathan is a mean sweets sleepwalker. Yes. You did indeed read that right. The man sleepwalks and eats sweets. As I type this I giggle but it is so true. I have woke in the middle of the night to what sounds like a flurry of mice nibbling in our kitchen to find my husband in a half asleep / half awake state, leaning against the counter, nibbling on a Reese’s Cup outside the junk cabinet, and I cannot do this superpower of his justice without mentioning the many times we find a cup with milk residue sitting on the coffee table after a night of sleep, only to giggle and say, “Well, I guess you found the Oreo’s last night?”

Clearly, someone is going to private message me this is a problem! 🙂

For me, it is a problem when we do not have sweets (because my gosh what will we eat?!) and it is a problem when we do because they are gone within 1- 2 days, and some sleepwalking nights. 🙂

Easter-Snack-Mix Easter-Snack-Mix

Easter Snack Mix

  • 5 Cups of Honey Cheerios
  • 5 Cups of Chex Mix Cereal
  • 2 1/2 Cups of Pretzel Sticks
  • 1 Bag of Peanut M&M’s
  • 1 1/2 Cups of White Chocolate Chips

Directions: Mix the first three ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave. Once the chocolate is melted into a smooth consistency, pour over the mixed ingredients and stir. Add the peanut M&Ms to the mixture and mix. Pour the mixture out across a table on wax paper and let it set. Once it has set, break apart and serve.

Looking for additional recipes? Here are some similar options.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Remember that time I decided to make Bloody Mary’s and garnish with a Grilled Cheese? Oh, you don’t? No, worries! I am here to remind you over and over. It was my “think outside the box” grand idea, that I am sure has already been claimed.

So, I will take another chance on some creative food therapy. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwiches. I know. You are thinking, “Mind Blown!”

It always starts with three ripe bananas. Always. I look over at these three lonely, spotted amigos on my kitchen counter and I think, “I cannot let you go to waste. I will not let you go to waste.” And, then begins the baking.

I contemplated Banana Bread. You know the safe route. But, honestly, my sister-in-law Amie makes the best and has set the standards so high every time I make my own, it never compares. And, I sit in the kitchen eating my dish daydreaming that it is hers.

Anyways, I found This Recipe and thought, why not? I changed it up slightly and then had the idea to make Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Let me tell you… this does not disappoint! So, ripen those bananas and scoop out some ice cream, we have dessert to make ya’ll!

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CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD ICE CREAM SANDWICH:

  • 3 Ripe Bananas
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Stick of Butter
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp of Baking Soda
  • Pinch of Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 Cup of Chocolate Chips
  • Vanilla Ice Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add eggs, vanilla and bananas. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt, until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spoon onto a baking sheet. The batter will be wet. Bake for 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn a light golden brown. Remove and let cool.

For ice cream sandwiches, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to bread and top. Wrap in wax paper and freeze before serving.

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Banana Bread Blondies with Caramel Frosting

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When I get hungry you know what I crave? Well, besides homemade mashed potatoes, brick oven pizzas and wings… sweets! Yep. Anything sweet. That is why the Double Stuffed OREOs don’t last in our home. Ever.

But besides my sweet tooth, I am actually trying to get better at not being so wasteful. Especially when it comes to food. So, when some ripe bananas hanging out on my kitchen counter caught my eye, I thought, “I better use them up.”

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Sweet and Salty Protein Bites

Back in April I shared my very favorite, super easy, go-to dessert / snack recipe, Protein Bites. It was a hit! By hit, I mean I had more people actually stop me or mention on social media either 1) how they could not wait to make them or 2) how they trusted me, tried the recipe and are now hooked.

Sweet-And-Salty-Protein-Bites_BackwardsNHighHeels VIEW STORY »

No Bake Cookies

I am not a baker. I wish I was.

I am pretty sure I scrambled eggs in a cake once as I added the hot butter. And, I work too fast, which means I sometimes mix up the directions. “Oh, 1 cup of flour not 2!” In my defense, the ingredient below was 2 tsp of Baking Soda. Minor mix-ups, I tell ya.

One thing I can promise is that my No Bake Cookie recipe is easy and delicious. Plus, if this hot mess of a baker can achieve cookie success, you are golden.

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Puppy Chow

Do you ever associate certain foods or recipes with a particular person?  I know I do.

Maybe it is a recipe that no one else can touch.  I have that type of food association with potato salad. No matter where, when or with who… if I am enjoying potato salad somewhere, I am not quite fully enjoying because unless it was made by my grandma, Meema, well there is no comparison. No one can touch her potato salad recipe.

Maybe it is recipe that you can rely on that person to make for every special occasion. My mom’s cheesy potatoes make their debut at every holiday meal.  She really has no choice. It is one of her specialties that us kids just love. I feel sorry for her that she will never be able to venture out with other dishes, because it is expected that when we sit down to eat, her cheesy potatoes will be on that table.

Maybe it is a recipe that you associate with a memory. You know, an item that takes you back to a certain place.  For me, Puppy Chow hits home in this category and reminds me of my paternal grandmother. Known to us grandkids and to many as TuTu.

Unique name for a grandmother, huh? We think so too, but you know we would have it no other way. The story goes that when I was a baby I referred to her as Grandma… that was until she traveled to Hawaii to visit her sister and brother-in-law who lived on the island. There she heard little girls saying “TuTu.” She eventually inquired and learned that “TuTu” is the most common used named to refer to one’s grandmother. It stuck. She liked it and when she returned from her trip she quite simply stated that she would be called TuTu. So, there you have it!

I can’t quite remember the exact moment I had Puppy Chow, but I know it was with TuTu. In fact, when I sit here and write this and think back I just keep thinking of me as a child in her kitchen reaching my hands up onto the counter and pulling down a tupperware container full of this sweet treat.

I am sure I am not the only one who knows her that associates this food with her. It has made its fair share of debuts at family gatherings and picnics. This is not a recipe she created, in fact the recipe exists out there under many names, but as sweet as this dessert is so too are the memories I also have of her.  To me, anytime I hear or enjoy Puppy Chow I know I will think of my TuTu. And, as I make it… I smile at the wonderful memories this simple recipe has given me.

Puppy Chow
PUPPY CHOW:

  • 8 Cups of Rice Chex Cereal
  • 1 Stick of Butter
  • 1 24 oz. Bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
  • 1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter
  • 2 1/2 Cups of Powdered Sugar

Measure out the cereal adding 4 cups to a large mixing bowl and reserving the remaining 4 cups to the side. Cut up the stick of butter into three sections for easy melting. Add the butter, bag of semi-sweet morsels and peanut butter to a sauce pan and stir until combined on low heat. Be sure to stir and pay attention to the melting. You do not want to burn the chocolate.  Once melted add to the rice cereal in the mixing bowl and stir lightly. Add the remaining 4 cups of cereal that were reserved to the side and combine ingredients. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar to a gallon bag and pour half of the cereal mixture into the bag, seal and shake.  Continue to add the powdered sugar and cereal mixture to the bag, seal and shake until all ingredients are combined.  I add powdered sugar and the cereal mixture in batches as I find it is easier to coat vs. combining all ingredients at once.

Puppy Chow

You may think I am thanking you for checking out the Blog, which I am, but also consider Puppy Chow as a gift!  After returning to work from Maternity Leave, I plan on thanking my office for all of their assistance while I was away.  Just package the Puppy Chow in a container. Here I used tupperware, baker’s ribbon and a gift tag.

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