Father's Day Craft-WFMW

My hubby is an AMAZING Father. Jaythan just adores him and I think he is pretty special myself. Darin truly is an example of a Godly Man in our son's life (Ephesians 6:4). So, this year for Father's Day, I decided to get a little crafty and make something super secretive and super cute for Dad.

I bought the frame and letters at Michaels for about $15 total, and the cute kid in the picture is PRICELESS :). I am no photographer, but I think the pictures came out pretty good. I captured our son's joyful, silly self as he held the "D" and "A" for Dad.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads. Your Heavenly Father Loves You Immensely!

Making Memories for Dad totally Works For Me! For more "Works for Me Wednesday" tips, be sure to check out www.wearethatfamily.com

Buttermilk Spice Loaf & Cookoo for Cookbooks

Okay, I am a little obsessed...with cookbooks. I am seriously running out of room in my kitchen to store them. My absolute favorite cookbooks are Gooseberry Patch. You can order them here: http://www.gooseberrypatch.com/

I read them like novels...seriously, my hubby thinks I am little crazy ;-). But, they are just SO GOOD...I want to make every recipe in them. I would love to own them all-but there are 100s and that might seriously cause me to add on to my kitchen. Gooseberry Patch cookbooks are filled with simple, southern, good-for-you, yummy-in-your-tummy, made-by-real-gals, recipes. My current favorite in my Gooseberry Patch collection is the "Country Baking" cookbook given to me by my BFF in Carolina. She totally respects my love of cookbooks, and she could rival me in having an insane amount of cookbooks :-).

I made the Buttermilk Spice Loaf this past weekend and took it to our Sunday School Class to enjoy. They absolutely loved it. When I pulled it out of the oven, it almost made me cry tears of joy. It looked perfectly brown, nice and tall, and it filled our house with the most amazing aroma. When sliced it had two beautiful cinnamon sugar rings inside. You seriously have to make this bread. I promise you will love it. Cut a slice of this right after it gets out of the oven. Slather it with butter, and just wait for the party in your tummy to begin. I bet thick slices of this bread would also be super delicious as French Toast.

One way that I make sure I have quick access to my favorite tried-and-true recipes in a cookbook is to take a small colorful post-it-note and post it at the top of the page with the title of the recipe written on the part that sticks out from the closed book. So, I can quickly pick up my "Country Baking" cookbook and turn automatically to this winner of a recipe :-). Tagging my cookbooks TOTALLY WORKS FOR ME! For more WFMW tips, visit http://www.wearethatfamily.com/

If you are new to my blog, welcome! My blog is a mixture of yummy and simple bbaking recipes, musings from my heart about God and my family, and words of encouragment for this journey as mothers, friends, and women. My prayer is that each of you will take time daily, "Taste and See that the Lord is GOOD!" Psalm 34:8

Buttermilk Spice Bread

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar, and egg with a hand mixer. Add buttermilk, baking soda, flour, and salt; mix well. Combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In greased 9"x5" loaft pan, place, in order, 1/3 of batter, 1/2 of cinnamon-sugar mixture, 1/3 of batter, remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture then remaining batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. ENJOY!!!!!

Black Bean Brownies-WFMW

Okay, if you actually decided to read this post after seeing the title, then I applaud you. Black Beans and Brownies just don't seem to go together in the same sentence, much less the same recipe. I have been trying very unsuccessfuly to get my three year old to eat vegetables, so when I found this recipe for Black Bean Brownies, I figured it was worth a try especially since my joyful son is like his father and loves all things chocolate.

These brownies are flourless, and I substituted the 3 tablespoons of oil for 1 snack size cup of applesauce. So, they are also super healthy, low-fat, and packed full of fiber. They finished baking while my son was taking a nap, so I decided to be the first taste-taster. To be honest, I almost threw them away-they looked fine, but I personally thought they tasted like pureed black beans. Yuck!

But, I didn't throw them away, and decided that I would see if my son would eat them despite my misgivings. Not only did he eat one, he INHALED it, and said, "Mommy, this is YUMMY in my TUMMY!" Rarely, does he say those words! He then preceded to inhale two more of these Beany Brownies barely stopping to swallow. YAY!! The trick worked, and he had no idea he was eating a ton of beans :-). Just look at the pictures above....he is one happy boy eating those black beans ;-)!

That being said, try them with your kiddos. The adult palate may detect the "beany" flavor, but apparently kids do not. And, apparently, grown men who love chocolate do not either. My hubby arrived home tonight and said that they tasted great. Maybe I didn't like them because I am not a big fan of chocolate or brownies to begin with?

Hiding Vegetables in my Recipes TOTALLY Works For Me! For more Works For Me Wednesdays, check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/

And, if you are new to Butterfly Kisses & Tasty Dishes, then THANKS for stopping by! Check out my recipes, ramblings from my heart, and my 100 muffins in 100 day adventure. May your day be filled to overflowing with God's Love so that you naturally spill it out on others!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil or 1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, sprinkled on top

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
Combine the all ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Yields 16 brownies.