Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup 70%(or more) dark chocolate pieces
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup vanilla ice cream (we use our homemade ice cream but you could use any vanilla ice cream)

Melt butter and chocolates over in pot over low heat. Add sugar and stir. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir the ice cream into the chocolate mixture.

This stuff is amazing and versatile. It is great over ice cream, over desserts, or even just eaten with a spoon out of the jar!

Date Cranberry Pecan Bars

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans minus 2 tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ground flax
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Add dates, and cranberries. Put 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed in a 3/4 measuring cup. Fill rest of cup with chopped pecans, add to above mixture. Stir until well mixed. Beat eggs until foamy. Add vanilla to eggs. Then add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well. The batter will be thick.

Place batter into a greased 8″ square baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minute until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Kyle loves to add vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple to the bars, I think they are amazing on their own. Either way it's a recipe you have to try!

Homemade Deodorant

Mix about 1/4 c. baking soda and 1/4 c. cornstarch or arrowroot starch in a small bowl. Add unrefined coconut oil, not melted, about a Tablespoon at a time, mashing with a fork until all the dry ingredients have been mixed in. I find it takes 4-6 Tablespoons.
Optional: If you’d like a scent, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil at this time.
You could use this mixture as is and apply with your fingertips, or put it into an deodorant container. We just use our fingers to apply.

The above was taken from here which I found through my friend's post here. I find it perfectly fine to leave the mixture in a small container and apply with my fingers. I have been using this for about a month now and it is far superior to store bought natural deodorants and regular deodorants as well. No stink and very minimal moisture. I haven't noticed any oil staining either! Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Broccoli Salad with Apples and Cranberries

4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 organic apples
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup plain, low-fat yoghurt with probiotic bacteria
2 Tbsp Dijon style mustard
1/4 cup honey

Combine broccoli florets, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, chopped apples, and chopped onion in a large serving bowl. Blend yoghurt, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Add dressing to the salad and toss. Chill before serving.

Meat Thukpa (Nepali Recipe)

1 lb. Tibetan noodles, similar to spaghetti, or cavatelli(I used regular spaghetti)
1/2 lb. Lamb, cut into ¼-in. slices (can be substituted with chicken or shrimps)
1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and cut into pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced (I used about 1 tsp. powdered ginger)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
3 fresh chilies, julienned
1/2 teaspoon jwanu (lovage seeds)(I omitted this as I didn't have any)
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups lamb broth (I used beef broth)
2 tablespoons musturd oil (I used olive oil)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until slightly undercooked. Drain and rinse. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of musturd oil. Add onions, fry till light brown. Add turmeric, garlic, ginger, cumin powder, and chilies. Stir well for 1 min. Put the pieces of lamb and brown well. To the lamb mixture add tomatoes, soy sauce, yogurt, broth, jwanu seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the lamb is tender. Add the noodles and stew for 5-7 more minutes. At last, add spinach and fold into the stewed noodles for a minute or so, until wilted. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with roti.

Sweet Scones

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until crumbly. Add the milk and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of milk. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour. Dust a clean table top with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or tho open end of a drinking glass, cut the scones into circles. I used the dough scraps to make more scones by patting the dough into a round, flat circle and cutting into four wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

We served them the Scottish way, with jam and whipping cream spread on the insides and put together like sandwiches. We had a Scottish afternoon tea party today while studying the country of Scotland.

Finnish Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 yellow onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have allspice so I used French Onion Dip Mix instead)
1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, cream, salt, and allspice in a bowl with your hands until evenly mixed. Roll the mixture into golf ball-sized spheres.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook about half the meatballs in the melted butter until evenly browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, keeping the liquid in the skillet when finished.
Sift the flour into the skillet drippings; cook the flour in the skillet drippings until brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly stream the milk into the skillet while whisking vigorously; pour the cream into the mixture and stir until smooth. Add salt and pepper. If you aren't good at making gravy and end up with some lumps you can pour the gravy through a strainer. Return all the meatballs to the skillet; stir to coat with the gravy. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.