Tasty Tuesday: Depression Cake

This cake is anything but depressing!

I don't remember how I came across this recipe, but it made it into my notebook and might be my favorite cake.

The recipe came from the Great Depression, hence the name. If you are familiar with the time period, you know that ingredients were hard to come by, and money was extremely tight/nonexistent. So, people had to make do with what they had. I am glad this recipe still exists, because it is fantastic.

I do not like super chocolatey flavored food. Chocolate in itself is something I can live without. However, this cake is simple and not overpowering. You can dress it up however you want, just like my brownies; however, I prefer this with just a dusting of powdered sugar.



Chocolate Depression Cake

-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 cup sugar
-1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp white vinegar
-1/3 cup vegetable oil
-1 cup water

1. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine vanilla extract, vinegar, oil, and water. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; mix until combined and no lumps remain.
3. Pour batter into greased 8x8 pan.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cake cool completely before decorating and cutting.

Tasty Tuesday: Basic Brownies

Warning: The next two Tasty Tuesdays focus on chocolate desserts, so if you don't like them... read it anyway lol.

Today's recipe is easy to make, easy to customize, and way too easy to eat. At one point I was making these brownies twice a week because they were requested so much. They have a nice rich flavor without being too heavy. You can add anything you can think of (I've done Andes mint pieces, walnuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter). Don't be afraid to experiment!

Without further ado, here is my favorite brownie recipe.

Basic Brownies

-1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter (butter gives a richer flavor)

-1 cup white sugar

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 large eggs

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/3 cup cocoa powder

-1/4 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp kosher salt

-1/2 mix-ins, if desired

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together oil, vanilla, and sugar. Beat in eggs.

3. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt (I usually sift everything into a bowl); gradually stir into egg mixture until blended. Stir in extras, if desired. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the edges of the pan. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into squares. (I will note, I do not have a wire rack, cooling it in the pan worked just as well.)

Tasty Tuesday: Garlic Dipping Sauce

Have you ever ordered pizza and gotten a side of garlic sauce? Of course you have, and you have probably wanted to drink it because OMG it's sooooo good. (Don't do that) And then, maybe next time you ask for extra. Don't do that, either!!! Why, though?

Because it is super easy and cheap to make. Most likely you have the ingredients already, so why bother shelling out money for a packaged product, when you can have it fresh? I prefer to make things whenever I can, so I know exactly what is going in my family's bodies.

WARNING

This is not a diet-friendly recipe!!!! However, if you are eating the ones that come with pizza, this is a better option.

Garlic Pizza Dipping Sauce

-1/8-1/4 cup butter or margarine
-1/2 tbsp garlic powder
-1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in microwave, about 30 seconds. Add salt and garlic powder to taste. Microwave about 5 seconds longer. Done!

He's Gone...

Fifteen years ago, my cousin was murdered.

One of her killers committed suicide before trial. Now, the other one was found dead in prison. Her family now has closure...

Except me.

Everyone is relieved and glad he's gone. And maybe it is because I am more removed from the situation, but I don't feel that way. All I feel is everything I felt that first night that she was gone. I feel those powerful emotions that came when I read her obituary, and followed the newspaper reports of the court proceedings.

I feel that loss all over again.

Everyone keeps telling me I should be happy that there is finally justice. But, I didn't think of him, didn't care about him. The moment he went to prison, he was a distant memory, except to be glad he had to live with what he did.

Thinking about him doesn't bring Carrie back. For that, I sing. I look at pictures and videos of my beautiful angel, my big sister. And I relive all of our memories, because we had a ton. But, when I heard the news, that sorrow returned in full force, and I was faced with memories of loss, and the life she would never get to live, and how lonely it is without her.

Since the day I found out, my heart breaks over and over again every time I wake up. I wasn't healed before, but now yet again I am shattered. My best friend has been stolen yet again, because now all I see is his face.




I just wanted to share my thoughts, because I feel like no one understands my reaction. If you read this, thank you for dealing with my grief.

Happy New Year!!!

2020 is here, people!!!!

Obviously I am overexcited for this year. People closest to me know that last year was not my best, so I'm going to be working really hard to make sure the upcoming year is amazing, for myself and my family.

Some things I am looking forward to this year:

• getting to my goal weight
• building up my savings account
• going back to school for Psychology
• Disney trip
• consistently posting on blog and both YouTube channels

There is so much more, but those are the ones I am comfortable sharing ahead of time. Today starts my consistent posting on the blog, Youtube is going to take a little longer. Next week will continue the Tasty Tuesday and Worth It Wednesday series, with some amazing products and recipes for you to check out!

I hope you all have a great day, and Happy 2020 to you!! 



**OHHHHH, I saw a tip for this year I want to share with everyone: put the full year on any paperwork that requires a date. If you put it as 1/1/20, there is potential for an unsavory person to forge the date to make the document invalid. But, if it is written as 1/1/2020, there is no space to fill an invalid year.**

Worth It Wednesday: Youtuber Edition!

Welcome back to Worth It Wednesday!!! I know.... I've been a major slacker on this feature. Whoops.

But I promise I will be better at posting in the future, starting today with the YouTube channels that I cannot stop watching. These are the ones that I will be in the middle of a different video, and get a notification and off I run to their channel. So without further ado, let's GOOOOO!

Outside Xtra

I stumbled upon this channel about a month ago, discovered from this video right here. Now, I am a huge nerd, and have always wanted to play D&D. However, without time nor a group, it's sorta hard to do. So I fell down a rabbit hole of live D&D games, and then ventured into the glorious myriad of lists that this channel has to offer. If you are a gamer of any sort, they will have something for you to enjoy.

The Fitness Marshall

This guy.... is so over the top and I love him for it. He does dance workout routines to popular songs, and they are so much fun to do and watch. Right now I am watching his vlogs and just laughing my butt off.

RachhLovesLife

Okay, I found RachhLoves about a year ago, when my daughter wanted to learn a little about how to apply makeup. Since I did not have the skillset at that time (I still don't fully, but I try), I went on YouTube, and the first channel I found that had easy to understand tutorials was Rachel's.

However, this is about her other channel. Now that Rachel is pregnant, her lifestyle channel has become my favorite. She posts about her cravings, trying recipes and hacks, and just has so much fun. I love her.

zefrank

Lastly, my go-to channel to laugh. The True Facts playlist features National Geographic-style documentaries... with a comic twist. The videos are informative, but funny to watch. There are also  some serious videos that are worth it (like this one).

So please, go head over to these channels, I hope you enjoy them. Also, if you would be so kind as to check out mine, give it a subscribe, a like, or even add a comment. I know it's super bare right now, but I am trying to build it up.

Thank you!

Tasty Tuesday: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

I am so mad at myself...

So, I was super excited to share this recipe with you guys. (I still am going to, don't worry.) However, I went into my recipe book.... and I had never carried it over from wherever I had written it!

UGHHHHHHHHHH!

It's fine, everything is fine. I looked it up (and found the right one because there are like 5 different ways to make these darn things), and the recipe will be linked below.

So, to explain these cookies: they are spicy chocolaty goodness. Every time I make them, they are scooped up by everyone, including the toddler. You can tweak the spiciness to fit your pallet, but they don't have a crazy amount of burn to begin with. They are pretty forgiving if you mess up on the flavored ingredients as well. This is probably one of my favorite cookies, and definitely super easy to make, so I hope you try it, and leave a comment telling me what you think!

Find the recipe HERE

new video up

Just a quick update to tell you my new video is up HERE

Please go check it out, leave me some comments, subscribe, etc.

Also, I am working on a few blog posts this week, one of which will be posted in about an hour!

You Do You

Below is my first Youtube video. I go off on a tangent, so I wanted to fully explain what I wanted to say here.

You do you. It doesn't matter if you are not "good enough", if you feel you don't have everything you need, or even if you feel like you will fail. If you have a passion, DO IT. I have so much fun doing my makeup, and painting my nails. But I look at the beauty gurus and influencers and think that I will never be on their level. That's okay. I don't have the fancy storage, or the best lighting. As a matter of fact, my polish is overflowing the shelving we got to hold it, and my method of sorting my makeup is... labeled ziplocs. For now, that works for me, and saves space that is limited.

It is okay to start small, and build up as you go. No matter what your passion is, there is only one thing not okay (unless it is illegal). The only thing that is not okay is NEVER FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION. Start. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. You only fail if you give up. And sometimes your way won't be clear, or you realize you need to go a different path. That is okay. Just keep pushing, and you will do great things.

I hope you enjoy my video, and look forward to posting more soon. (One day I will have a schedule lol)

My Unpopular Opinion: Game of Thrones Book Series

I may get a lot of hate for this post...


I love to read, and I love fantasy books. BUT...

I could not force myself to read more than five chapters, if that. I felt that I was being tortured by every line of description and dialogue.

(We will never be friends.)

I was super excited to read this, as I had at that point watched the first two seasons of the HBO series. Plus, it came highly recommended to me by numerous people. However, I was BORED. Truth be told, I cannot remember anything of what I read, just the thought, "I will never pick up this book again". I have two bookshelves, and this series will never live there. 

I did not like the layout of the book, even as I understood why it rotated through everyone's stories. It was slow to build, and hard to follow. It's easy to be caught in the flow of description, trying to flesh out backstory and settings. This book did it to the extent that it hurt my head. 

I am sorry if this offends anyone. Also, just in case you were wondering, I did not get though the show either. I stopped watching after the Red Wedding, it was too gruesome and upsetting for me to continue. It also ruined David Bradley (the actor who played Walder Frey) for me.