I Eat Dirt

Dirt is pretty much the world's easiest dessert at only 5 ingredients. Shoot, you could buy pre-made chocolate pudding and knock it down to 4 ingredients.

My mom's yearbook class is having their big bake sale today, and this is the big request. We package them into individual servings and sell for $1 each. They're always the first to go. It's something about the way they look, combined with the unmistakable taste of chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, and crushed Oreos. So simple, familiar, and good. If you've never tried it, just do it once for your kids...or yourself!


DIRT

2 cups cold milk
1 pkg (4 serving size) Jello Instant Pudding, chocolate flavor
8oz container Cool Whip, thawed
1 pkg Oreo Cookies
1 pkg gummy worms

1. Dump Oreo Cookies into the food processor and pulse until finely ground, resembling sand or...dirt. Alternatively, you can place the cookies in a Ziploc bag and beat the tar out of them.

2. Pour the milk into a large bowl. Add the chocolate instant pudding, and whisk to mix the pudding for two minutes or until thickened. Let chocolate pudding stand 5 minutes to turn into pudding consistency. When thickened, add in half of the crushed cookies until evenly distributed. Fold in the thawed Cool Whip.

3. I like to make three layers of dirt and cookies. Drop a spoonful of pudding in mixture into the bottom of a cup (an ice cream scoop makes this part easy), add a thin layer of cookie crumbs. Drop in a gummy worm. Drop another spoonful of pudding mixture on top and finish with a layer of cookie crumbs. Top with another gummy worm.


*Note: we double this recipe and package them in clear, 8oz party cups. We get 12 servings out of the double recipe using this method. You could go with a smaller cup and increase your servings. We also cut the gummy worms in half to make them more manageable.

Yes. Bacon Cherry Pie. Yes.

Today is Jack's (my co-worker) birthday.

His birthday present request?

A bacon cherry pie, what else? And so I made it for him. Initially, I was a little worried...I didn't want to eat pools of bacon grease. This pie needs to be eaten warm so the bacon grease is melted.

Honestly...straight up...this was awesome. Tasted like an amazing Saturday morning breakfast.


Bacon Cherry Pie

5 cups cherries
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
10 pieces bacon
2 Tbls cinnamon sugar
Double pie crust


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix cherries, sugar, and cornstarch together. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Line pie plate with a pie crust.

Give cherry mixture a final stir and dump into pie crust.

Make a lattice with 9-10 pieces of bacon.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes.

Lower oven temperature to 350 and bake one hour.

Uncover and bake another 15 min to crisp bacon.

Let pie rest but serve while still warm.

Ravens Game Day Menu

It's the playoffs.

Therefore, special food is essential.


So, in honor of today's Ravens game, I decided to make myself a Baltimore Ravens lunch: Haloti Hawaiian BBQ, Flaco Fennel Salad, Purple & Gold Roasted Potatoes, and Black Bean Brownies.

Now that the Ravens get to play another week... I've got to figure out next week's menu. And, yes, thanks to everyone's suggestions, Ray Rice Pudding WILL be on the menu.





Haloti Hawaiian BBQ
recipe slightly adapted from here

3lbs chicken breasts or thighs
1 18oz bottle of BBQ sauce (Jack Daniels is my fave)
1 20oz can crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped onion (frozen or fresh)

In a slow cooker, layer the ingredients in this order: chicken, diced onion, BBQ sauce, crushed pineapple. Place the lid on top and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 8-10 hours. About an hour before serving, pull chicken out, shred, return to sauce, and cook until the shredded chicken has absorbed the sauce.



Flacco Fennel Salad

1 fennel bulb
1 small apple
1 naval orange

Thinly slice fennel and place into a small bowl. Core, halve, and thinly slice apple and add to fennel. Use a sharp knife to cut away orange pith and cut the orange into horizontal slices. Reserve two orange slices and squeeze over fennel and apples. Cut remaining orange slices into fourths. Add to the fennel and apple. Toss together and serve.



Purple & Gold Roasted Potatoes

1lb Purple Majesty potatoes (or any purple potato)
1lb Yukon Gold potatoes
1-2 Tbls olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a large sheet pan with foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Wash and dry potatoes and cut into bite sized chunks. Place on prepared sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Toss together to mix. Arrange the potatoes so they are in a single layer. Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.



Black Bean Brownies
recipe adapted from here

15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans)
2 ripe bananas
3 large eggs
1/3 cup agave or honey
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tbls instant coffee granules
1/4 cup instant/quick oats
2 Tbls mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick cook spray. In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth (you may see some flecks of black bean skins). Fill muffin tins with mixture until muffin tins are almost full (this makes 16 brownies, so you won't use all the mix the first time around). Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from muffin tin when cool.

Yield: 16 brownies