Fried Butter Bread

With the busy lives most Americans' have, it's easy to skip breakfast in the morning.  Whether you're running to work or school, what have you, sometimes a granola bar just won't cut it.  Now I know what you're probably thinking, 'butter is unhealthy enough and you want to fry it on bread too?'  my answer to that is yes, wholeheartedly.

Here's the deal, butter is great on bread, softened butter on toast is great also.  But melted butter friend INTO bread for a nice crisp?  Out of this world.  Needless to say, you must try this, it only takes 2 ingredients and takes 5 minutes.  Try this before you run out of the house!

Directions:
Heat up the stove to medium and put about a half tablespoon of butter to melt once it has heated up.  Put in a slice of bread (white is best) and flip once one side is slightly golden/crisped.  Repeat the same for the other side of the bread.  Repeat the same steps for multiple slices.  I guarantee, one slice will not be enough after you get a taste of these.

Sugar Cookie Cobbler

July brings some of of my favorite things, birthdays, sun, vacation, grilling, ice cream, ice cream, ice cream..oh.. I said that more than once..right, okay well another thing, PEACHES.  As a kid, I always loved family trips to the orchard, I remember traveling forty minutes in the hot car, and we still do.  Although this year, we were unfortunately unable to due to the low amount of rainfall this year.  Thus, we had to go to a different orchard, but who cares??  In the end, we got peaches!

Now two full baskets of peaches is great, butttt there is a slight problem; they get bad quickly.  So I decided to test out a new recipe for a peach cobbler.  Now I didn't think my mixture was thick enough, so I added more flour.  I ended up with a cookie tasting cobbler, but I wasn't complaining, it was YUM!  My sister, who is not a huge fan of sweet treats loved it, that was enough to tell me that this recipe was postable (is that even a word?)

Now this post was extremely late in coming.  Why?  None other than the fact that my computer is being a douche and completely hates me.  In short?  I have the worst luck -_-  but I'm assuming I'll be able to post this eventually because I assume you're reading this?

Urgh, enjoy anyway, happy eating, I'm extremely sorry for the lateness of this post!  All social media links can be found in the About section.

Sugar Cookie Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:
3 Peaches
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 cup, minus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and grease a 8x9 baking dish.  Peel and slice peaches and lay them in the dish.  Cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. The mixture should resemble cookie dough.  Pour the dough over the peaches and bake for 25-40 minutes until the top is golden.  Wait 5 minutes to cool and slice and serve with whipped cream

M&M Cake

Summer holds a lot of things in store for us, fun walks in the beach, morning runs, hanging with friends, biking into the sunset....oh...OH...people actually do that?! Huh weird, I sit in my room all day on wattpad binges, yikes!
Okay so I think its fair to say that summer is never really good to me..well maybe that's a bit wrong, in fact I'm not very good to summer.  Staying up until 3 am and waking up at 12 pm used to drive everyone in my house crazy.  Did I say used to?  Nope, it still does!  Haha I honestly think they're cool with it nowadays.  But I think it's safe to say that I get literally no social interaction, about once or twice a month I suppose.
And by now I bet you all think I'm crazy and I should just rambling and goodness on Earth, how in god's name does this have anything to do with cake?!  Patience my litter grasshoppers, I'm getting there.
Or maybe I'll just never get there and goes on tyraid after tyraid, good plan right?  I mean it's not like I actually talk to people.  What is interaction even ppsh ahh how do I function in society.
...My point is I really don't, so when your lovely best friend asks you to make her a m&m surprise cake you jump right at it.
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and when I say favorite I am implying that I really really refuse to use any other.  Why would I?  ITS PERFECT OKAY?! Right, calming breathes.  Anyhow I was a bit upset that I couldn't get an actual picture of the inside surprise, by hey you can't just go to a party and say "hey mind if I take a few pictures of the inside of the cake?"  yeah, there are just some things you don't say.
But eeee it was so easy to make!
I woke up early that morning, and after a ten minute pep talk, I headed out for a run.  When I came back home, I just pulled the cake layers out of the freezer, whipped up the frosting and bingo!  Only took an hour, whereas decorating cakes usually takes me like 4 -sigh- talk about being a loser right?

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, I post every two weeks, all social media is linked below:
instagram- https://instagram.com/kubarah.ghias/
twitter- https://mobile.twitter.com/Kuubz_
facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Sweet-Load/443837109025272

Congratulations Grads!

I think I speak for all of the youngest children in the family when I say being the youngest has never been easy..not counting the expectations you have to fill but, you've got the responsibility to your oldest sibling's graduation surprise!  Now I know what your probably thinking, I bet your sitting there going "Isn't baking a cake a little predictable?  How wouldn't your sister expect that?!"  Allow me to give you a little run through.  Gi?  She doesn't like stuff, she followed the health nut path with me a few years ago, and honestly she hates cake, forget that she doesn't do sweets.  Icing?  I bet the word makes her cringe.

It was clear to any of us that she wasn't expected anything for her graduation, she didn't want anything that is.  But me?  I've got duties fill here man, I had to make sure her graduation was a big surprise, something she wouldn't expect.  My parents had come up with the idea of having a grad party, they and my oldest sister (Gi is the middle daughter) handled reservations and invites, those such things.  My job was simple, yet complex: keep Gi out of the loop of the party plans and decorate a cake.

Now I don't know about you, but I think it's pretty hard to decorate a cake as a surprise when you live in the same house together.  But it was easier than you'd think, Gi is completely oblivious to many things doesn't suspect a thing, she's golden; trusts people too much sometimes.

Now my oldest sister (Deeba), insisted that she help with the cake, something I did not take well -_-

But that's besides the fact she had two expectations, a marble cake, and a three tier.

THREE TIER?!  I had exclaimed, there was no way, too much work I thought, and the weather?  Woah wayy too hot to decorate three tiers!

....

Okay so fine, I agreed to it, wasn't happy about it though, but it was for Gi after all.  So after 5 hours of struggle, irritation, and possibly one of the hardest cakes I had ever decorated..wa lah.

So Gi was at work, and when she came back I was the only one home, it was my job to get her to the party venue.  She wasn't suspicious once, and she almost didn't notice when we walked in!  And it was a success, she enjoyed it very much and boy was she surprised.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Back Soon

Sorry guys I haven't posted in a while so sorry about that but for now you can read " A Love That Killed" on wattpad, I'm co-writing it with a friend. http://www.wattpad.com/story/25033230-a-love-that-killed

Yogurt Drops

A picture of a frozen final product

To begin with, I am so so so so sorry that I haven't posted in FOREVER!  I do apoligize, summer brings out the laziness in me, and then school started, and then I started this natural sugar only diet so I haven't really been able to bake at all.  But I was thinking of healthy things I could post and I saw this idea on pinterest.  Its such an easy and effortless dessert/healthy snack!

Ingredients:
Vanilla yogurt (yes that's it!)

So here's what you'll need:

• Yoplait Greek 100 calorie yogurt
• Parchment paper
• A sandwich(ehhe..did I spell that wrong..?) bag
• Scissors
• A baking sheet (it can be small)

Cut a piece of parchment to fit the baking sheet

So the parchment paper doesn't really stick to the pan and that was extremely annoying -_- so if you're like me, and can't stand that, just use the left over yogurt from the lid as glue:

Yes, it looks weird, but it works ;)

 Cut a small hole on the tip of your bag and fill it with yogurt.  Pipe small circles or as big as you desire

The finished product should look like this:

Don't mind the wrapper underneath, that was my attempt of keeping the parchment down.

Freeze the drops until they harden, make sure you cover them, or else they'll end up absorbing the taste of your freezer. Heheh mine tasted like vanilla jalapenos! :D

Italian Country Loaf Bread

I was browsing though my Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book and I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  I was looking for a loaf bread, other than french bread, because I always eat that bread.  Not that I don't love french bread!  But I wanted something different.
So bread!  I want to be healthier, but then there is all this good stuff!  Like oh, I don't know, REFINED SUGARS.  Here's a healthier bread recipe :)

Italian Country Loaf Bread
Prep time: 40 minutes
Rising and standing time: 6-24
Makes: 2 loaves
Ingredients:
! cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
9 3/4- 10 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 warm water
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt

In a Large bowl, stir the 1 cup warm water and yeast together.  Let the yeast mixture stand for about 4 minutes or until it looks creamy.  Stir one cup of flour, milk, and sugar into the yeast mixture.  Add one more cup of flour.  Cover and set for 4-24 hours in a warm place.

3 1/2 hours later.....

Beat the 1 3/4 cup water, 1/3 cup olive oil, dried oregano, garlic powder, and salt into the yeast mixture.  Stir in the remaining flour a cup at a time.
Turn the dough on a floured surface and knead until the dough is somewhat stiff and has a smooth elastic-y consistency.  Place in a greased bowl and let rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.

1 1/2 hours later.....


Punch the dough down.  Turn onto a floured surface.  Grease 2 large baking dishes.  Divide the dough in half.  Shape the 2 halves into a ball shape. Flatten to about 6 1/2 inches in diameter.  Cover and let rise for an hour.


1 hour later.....

Adjust your oven racks to the lowest possible position.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes.  Periodically spray bread with water for crispier crust.  Remove from the oven when a deep golden and crispy looking.

This bread stores about 3 days unrefrigerated.  If you toast, and spread with butter it will be delicious!

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Spiderman Cookies

Hey friends!!  Sorry, I realize I haven't posted for a while!  But its been such a busy summer!  So first there was these: cookies!  50 of them!  I'm a perfectionist so I wanted these to be perfect.  Guess how long they took me.  6 hours..? Yepp, I'm still kinda new to this so.. they aren't perfect I know.  Let me explain the cookies and there meaning to you:

New Politics Cookies

So here's the scoop, ever heard of New Politics?  Well, early this summer, a friend of mine took me to a concert, the Monument tour.  New Politics?  Probably the BEST BAND EVER!  So since that concert, we have been in love with New Politics.  I posted this on instagram and Oh my ajdkaldja;!  The lead singer liked it!!!!!  But lets move on shall we?

Spiderman Cookies

Where do I start with spiderman?  Well let's just say, my friend has an obsession, nuff said.

Whale Cookies

I don't have a close up on them on  my phone and all of these pictures are from my phone because I can't find my camera :/

Tell me what you think about the cookies!  I'd love to hear what you have to say!  Like A Sweet Load on Facebook and follow A Sweet Load on Instagram @sweet_town19

Apple Milkshake

That summer weather has finally started to kick in.  We've had more than 2 weeks of sunny warm weather!  And I'm on a healthy diet until Tuesday.  Tuesday, I have one of my biggest track meets, so that means absolutely NO ice cream for me.  I need to cool down, it was so hot!  So then there's this milkshake...

I remember my mom making this milkshake when I was younger and we would go on vacation to India.  The weather there was unbearably hot, not counting mosquitoes.  I always used to ask for this milkshake.  It was an easy way to cool down with something healthy.

Apple Milkshake
Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:
2 apples, cut DO NOT PEEL THEM
1 1/4 -- 1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 -- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Wash and cut the apples, I used red delicious, but it doesn't matter as long as you don't use a tart apple.  Blend the apples with the milk in the blender.  Add the sugar and blend once more.  Empty the juice into glass cups and drink up!

Divergent Cupcakes+Taking a Stand

Dear Divergent Fandom,
I went there, I made Divergent themed cupcakes!  It has been two months since I finished the Divergent book series, and those of you who haven't read this amazing series, I strongly suggest you do.  Today was my friend's (also a fellow divergent lover) birthday.  I took these cupcakes to her yesterday during lunch and sang happy birthday to her.  These cupcakes were a joy to make and eat :)

Bullying
I wanted to take the time to talk about a more serious topic: bullying.  Those of you who follow my instagram _kubarah may have seen my post about bullying.  If you didn't see it here it is:

I just want to say that this is so true. I've realized that people in our world have become horrible cruel and judgy words hurt how would you feel if someone started hurting themself because of something you said? We are all human we all have feelings some of us are strong. But what happens after you're pushed to your breaking point? Everyone is unique and beautiful in some way. Just because everyone is rude to someone doesn't mean you should be rude to them too. People think they know what you've been through but they don't at ALL so please help stop bullying and take a stand...WORDS CAN HURT MORE THAN A GUNSHOT

And so I have decided to take a stand folks and do everything I can to eliminate bullying even at a young age, this is something I believe in, and you should too.

Help eliminate excessive bullying online and in schools/the community!

Baked Spicy Fries

I think we all struggle with the problem of wanting to eat but not wanting to get fat.  I’m guilty I admit it!

 So I want to eat healthier, I think we all do right, I mean everyone loves junk I can rattle off my list of favorite unhealthy things if you want:

• CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!
• Graham Slam Ice cream (I am a sucker for that)
• Cookies in general
• French fries
• Did I mention cookies already???
• This list will gone on forever if I continue, I"ll just stop now :)

Let me give you an example; yesterday I came home early from school because of a half day, the whole time I was in school I kept thinking how dead set I was on getting home and having graham slam ice cream.  When I got home that's exactly what I did.  I had a good amount and then I realized hmmm I think I want some more and I took a very very generous serving!  See?!  We try so hard but tend to stray sometimes.  And many of us like french fries, baked fries are sooo much healthier than the fried ones!  Plus I like spicy things, so I came up with this recipe.

This recipe is extremely easy to make.  I don't mean to brag but these are really delicious, even my sister liked it!  And she doesn't tend to like most of the things I make!  Happy Eating!  Like A Sweet Load on Facebook!  You can also follow me on Instagram @_kubarah

Spicy Fries-Baked

Ingredients

3 medium sized potatoes

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Dash of coriander powder

Dash of oregano flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.  Cover a few baking sheets with aluminum. 

Peel and cut the potatoes into strips that resemble french fries, wash them and drain the water.  In a medium or small bowl mix the spices together.  Add the potato strips into the spice mixture until they are coated.  Spread the fries on the pan.  Bake for 10-15 minutes DO NOT BURN THE SPICES!!

***Warning:

You may find these fries very spicy

Back, With Nutella Eclairs!

I believe this weekend should be the weekend for getting fat, I mean seriously.
I went to the mall with some friends yesterday and we got frozen yogurt, with a lot more candy toppings than yogurt.  Then we saw a movie, you know movies aren't complete without buttery popcorn and soda.  Those so called 'small' sodas are absolutely not small at all, in fact, they're huge!  So even though I've been eating healthy all week, I've been splurging a smidge :)

And then I found myself making eclairs....

So I know I haven't posted for a while, I've been feeling a little down though.  First Pennsylvania had nice spring-ish weather, and then we randomly got bitter cold out of nowhere, so now we have non-stop rain that actually I think just stopped.  You can probably guess how annoying this weather change is, it is so sudden! -_-  Anywho..it was raining all of today and I was bored, and I bake when I'm bored.  I don't know why but I was like hmm I should make eclairs.  And I did, so there you go.  I was also motivated to bake something because my cooking idol, Gordon Ramsey started following me on Instagram, yes the real one!!

I was caught by surprise when these eclairs actually came out really good!  I thought they would flop the way my attempts of lady fingers have.  I got this choux pastry recipe my Better Homes Cookbook.  I had to improvise on the filling and topping so I added rice pudding in the center and topped it with nutella.  It was delicious!  Happy Eating!

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Melting the butter

Added the flour and eggs

Piping 'em

Right out of the oven

Choux Pastry for Eclairs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Makes about 12-14 eclairs

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt (I just added a pinch)
1 cup all purpose flour
4 beaten eggs
Nutella
Rice pudding

Grease a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400.

In a medium saucepan, add the butter, water, and salt (see note).  Bring to a boil and add flour all at the same time.  Stir until the mixture becomes thick.  Cool for about 10 minutes and add the beaten eggs a little at a time.  Transfer to a piping bag and pipe strips that are 4 inches long, 1 inch thick wide, and 3/4 inch thick.  Bake on the prepared sheet for 35-40 minutes in a 400 degree oven or until golden brown.

Cool the eclairs for about 10 minutes and then cut in half.  Take out soft dough from inside (see note) and fill with rice pudding.  Spread Nutella over the top, enjoy!

Notes:
The butter does not need to be melted before you add the water and salt, it will melt while the water is boiling
If you do not take out the soft dough, it will taste eggy

3 Boxes= 100 Funfetti Cookies!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE COOKIES!

GOT 3 BOXES ENDED UP WITH 100+COOKIES!

Coffee Brownies

Wednesday March 12, 2014: We had a nice break from the cold weather for maybe 3 or 4 days, all these days in which I actually got to go on a pleasant run :)  And for a little bit there, I thought 'hey we're finally getting there'  But apparently and all too sadly it's true when they say all good things must come to an end :'(  Yesterday was CRAZY!  These wind was howling sooooo loud!

Friday March 15, 2014: The weather has been great!  Not too hot or cold with the perfect breeze!

Anywho, my sister found this recipe on Pinterest and requested I make them, so here you go.  I must say, it wasn't the texture I had anticipated, but it was amazing regardless, the texture was cakey and also slightly chewy.  I modified this recipe from http://cakesharing.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/box-of-delicious-foodie-pen-pal-june-coffee-brownie-recipe/ .  Happy Eating!

Coffee Brownies
adapted from http://cakesharing.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/box-of-delicious-foodie-pen-pal-june-coffee-brownie-recipe/

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
15 tablespoons butter (you'll melt this)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons ground coffee beans
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a 13x9 pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melt the butter on the stove and add the sugar, salt, ground coffee, and cocoa powder until grainy.  Wait until the mixture cools a bit and then add the eggs, vanilla extract, and flour, transfer into a separate bowl if needed.  Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Coming Soon...

Sorry, sorry, sorry!  I know I haven't posted for a while but I've been really busy and if you could just bear with me, I would really appreciate it!  There will be new posts coming soon so keep checking back to asweetload.blogspot.com

You can like A Sweet Load on Facebook and subscribe!

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

So the weather was momentarily warm a few days ago. But only for TWO DAYS!!  I mean come on, I used to wish for this weather, love love loved it!  How about sick sick sick of it?!  Because it's getting a little boring and cold and slippery and...I really could go on.  Anyone who lives in the United States, with the exception of Hawaii (luckies)  I would say consider Hawaii if only though, I dream on...These cookies are delicious http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/05/chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies.html

Let it Snow!

So most of the country of getting pounded with snow, 3 inches, 6 inches, 9 inches...etc.  So with all this snow, schools around the country are pretty much closed.  And while we're happy that there's no school, the school boards are reducing our off days and spring break, so yeah, kinda sucks.. Plus, it's a little too cold to go outside with temperatures in the single digits

There is ice everywhere!  A few years ago I had crazy long icicles hanging from the roof it was beautiful even beautiful-er than these.  As much as I love winter, this is getting a little crazy.  Share your snow stories or what you think about the snow. Happy Valentine's day <3! 

Isn't this great? Google+ auto awesomed it for me?!

Valentine's Day Heart Biscuits

I originally wanted to call this post Valentine's Day Salty Hearts instead of sweet hearts, but I didn't know if people would get it.  Anywho, remember how I was really depressed that my camera wasn't working?  Well with a good night's sleep and a fitful shove into the sd card slot, I did it.  I present to you my dear friends, the heart shaped baking powder biscuit!  Mmmm..I broke open these biscuits and spread them with butter. Right. Away.  I love them with melted butter.  So you're probably wondering, all of the other blogs you will see, are doing some kind of sweet treat for Valentine's Day, it's perfectly natural to wonder why I'm not.  Well to be honest, I felt a little left out, everyone was doing Valentine's posts and I was still sitting here wondering what to do.  I know that I wanted to cut down on my sugar intake because I've been baking sweet stuff all week, I know Valentine's day is a day for chocolates and what nots, but sadly and I don't know how this is possible, some people don't like sweet too much.

I know, crazy right?  But I want to respect everyone's opinions and I thought this year I would change things up a smidge :) I hope you guys don't mind.  
Don't forget to like A Sweet Load on Facebook!  Happy eating!

Heart Baking Powder Biscuits
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit racks in the middle
Serves 3-4 people
Bake for 12-15 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/3 cup shortening
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 425
Mix the dry ingredients together, split the 1/3 of shortening into 5 pieces and roll them around in the flour mixture.  Rub the shortening and flour mixture together to form small crumbs, it's okay to have a few big chunks.  Add the milk and toss with a fork to moisten the mixture.  Knead on a floured surface 10 times ONLY and roll out a 9 inches circle and cut biscuits with a heart shaped cutter.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Notes:
These taste amazing warm!
If the dough is too sticky to even put on the kneading surface add a small amount of flour.
Great with butter as well!
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Heart Shaped Baking Powder Biscuits

So with all of these valentine's day blog posts, I'm feeling a little left out, here is the recipe for heart shaped baking powder biscuits  http://asweetload.blogspot.com/2013/10/baking-powder-biscuits.html

M & M Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Bars

So I think we can all agree that a lot of us have had the same new year's resolution; healthy eating!  And....erm, okay well, I made these delicious chewy m & m bars and they were amazing.  But every piece I took, A: I wanted more, and B: I felt sick, C: I still took another piece :) So obviously, I'm probably the one who ate the most, so now I have to work it all off.  Anywho..the goal was to healthi-fy the recipe, and I have a lot of oatmeal in the house so that was my answer I guess.  Yay!

So figured as long as I'm takin' pictures of these bars, I may as well dip them in milk when I finish the photo session.

And that my friends, is exactly what I did, yum!

Don't forget to like A Sweet Load on Facebook!
Happy eating!

M & M Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Bars
recipe adapted from http://fantasticfamilyfavorites.blogspot.com/2011/06/thick-and-chewy-m-cookie-bars.html

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted (1 1/2 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup m & m's

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.  Grease an 8 x 8 pan.
Combine the sugars with the melted butter, add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract.  Gently stir in the rest of the ingredients except for the m & m's to form cookie dough.  Fold in the m & m's and put the cookie dough in the pan, smooth it out, bake about 30 minutes or until the bars look golden.

Notes:
If you want the bars to cook faster, use a 9 x 13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes
These will get hard if you leave them in open air for more than two days, to ensure freshness and make sure the bars stay chewy, cut them and store in an airtight container
DO NOT refrigerate or the bars will harden

Herb Crackers+SNOW!!

Do you ever have those days when you just want something that's, do I dare say?  Sweet.  I know, I'm sorry.  I was just kinda craving something crunchy, and crackery.  So sometimes, when I get Taste of Home recipe books from the library, I tend to copy some recipes down to save for later.  I was going through my notebook and I noticed there was a lot of breads, but they all needed yeast and it was cold and I was bored and I bake when I'm bored and I really didn't want to wait for the bread to raise, and then punch it down, and make it rise again...(let me take a breath, that was a long run on sentence)  This recipe nearly saved me from boredom and, I mean, why waste money buying crackers from the store when I can make them right?!

I took this recipe and we all know, changed it a bit to suit my taste.  And I looove olive oil so I made sure I added a good amount.  These crackers were soo good when they came out of the oven!  If you love garlic salt and olive oil as much as I do, I know, you will definitely like these healthy crackers.  Don't forget to like A Sweet Load on Facebook.  Happy Eating!

Herb Crackers

Serves 3-5 (though I could probably eat all of them!)

Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cups flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon dried mint
1/4 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil

For coating
4 teaspoons flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder or salt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the 1 and 3/4 cups of flour with the herbs, salt, and baking powder.  Add the water and oil to form a dough, knead until the dough is elasticy.  In a small bowl, mix the flour for the coating and garlic powder together, rub the mixture on a kneading surface.  Take the dough and split it in to 3 dough balls, roll them 1/8 inch thick on the floured/garlic coated kneading surface.  Cut the dough into small squares and place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Notes:
If you don't want to cut the dough into squares, you can bake it as flat bread and break it into pieces later.

Snow!

Yep, we've gotten a lot of that in the northeast United States.  The year is proving to be a crazy weather kind of winter.  My take-global warming, burning of fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the air etc.  It's only going to get worse if we keep this up here on Earth.  Which will mostly likely mean very cold winters and really hot summers.  Sadly, there isn't much I can do about it :( I do try my best to be eco-friendly though, so I'm doing my job on my part...Anywho, this is snow in my front yard, I believe it's about 3 inches, but who even knows?

Happy Birthday To....A Sweet Load (It's a Blog Birthday!)

I know, wow, it's been a year since I've started this little sweet thing <3  A little something that has earned a special place in my heart...my blog, asweetload.blogspot.com!  I started on January 23, 2013 after deciding to share my ideas, food, pictures etc.  On April 1, 2013 I started a Facebook page "A Sweet Load" and have 23 likes so far, please keep bringing in those likes!  Since starting, on this day last year, I have posted 51 times and hope to continue posting!  Happy 1st Birthday A Sweet Load!

Biscoff French Toast Roll-Ups

So I'm sure most of us have seen these:

It's perfectly fine if you haven't, I actually came across these for the first time on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  But I couldn't help it, I thought to myself I must modify this recipe!  Granted, I know, not my best picture taking skills, I know, I know, I can do better..but do you want to hear about my modification or what??  Anywho, this recipe looked a tiny bit sweet for my taste so I changed it up a smidge.  You guys know what Biscoff Cookie spread is?  I, for the record am obsessed with it.  This recipe called for nutella, jam, cream cheese etc.  I figured why not biscoff?!  So here it is my not too sweet version of french toast roll ups.  Happy eating, don't forget to like A Sweet Load on Facebook and subscribe above :D

Biscoff French Toast Roll-ups

Ingredients
10 slices of bread without crust
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of biscoff cookie spread (1 teaspoon for each piece of bread)
oil or butter

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, add the milk, and sugar.  Flatten the bread with a rolling pin.  Spread some biscoff at the edge of the bread and roll the bread up, if the roll opens, put some biscoff at the other end as well.  Dip the bread in the egg mixture.  Melt butter on the stove in a pan and place the roll up on the side that has the 'seam', cook all sides until golden and the egg is cooked.  Put the roll ups on a paper towel to get out any excess butter.  Enjoy!