Oreo and Peanut Butter Cakes AND Peanut M&M Cakes

Top two layers: Oreo and Peanut Butter Cakes
Bottom layer and extra one: Peanut M&M Cakes
Frosting: unnecessary because of everything in them!
Recipe from here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Oreo-and-Peanut-Butter-Brownie-Cakes/
Thanks Dani!

Ingredients:

• 1 package cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil's Food Cake Mix)
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 12 Oreos, one for each cake (all my box had)
• 6 tsp Peanut Butter
• 26 Peanut M&Ms, three for each cake

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F/176C.
2) Line the cupcake tin with wrappers.
3) Place one Oreo in each.








4) Add 1/2 tsp to the top of each Oreo.








5) Make the cake batter.









6) Add the cake batter to the top of the Oreos.
7) Bake for about 20 minutes.







8) For the Peanut M&Ms, add 3 in the middle of the batter (in the picture, the bottom three I topped off and am about to do the top three).

Bean and Vegetable Chili

 National Chili Day! Plus, veggie chili is delicious, so why not make it all the time?

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tsp, sugar
• 250 g/9 oz chestnut mushrooms, slices (I used button mushrooms and 300 g because that is what Tesco had)
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder (I used hot because it's all I have
• 1 TBSP ground coriander
• 290-350 g jarred sweet red pepper sauce
• 300 ml (1/2 pint) vegetable stock
• 410 g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used 400 g because that is what Tesco had)
• 410 g can black eye beans, drained and rinsed (I used kidney beans and 400 g because that is what Tesco had)
• Rice
• 1 cup of dry rice
• 2 cups of water

Directions:

1) Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan.









2) Fry the onions and sugar over a high heat, until deep golden.








3) Add the mushrooms, garlic, chilli powder and, ground coriander.
4) Fry for 2-3 minutes.







5) Stir in the pepper sauce, stock, chickpeas and beans.
6) Bring to a boil.







7) Begin making the rice by bringing 1 cup of rice to a boil with 2 cups of water.








8) Reduce the heat of the chili, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.








9) Once the water has disappeared from the rice, it is ready to be served with the chili.

Chocolate Covered Cashews

Chocolate Covered Nut day was yesterday so I made Chocolate Covered Cashews for the hike I went on the next day.

Ingredients:

• 150g Chocolate (whatever kind you want, I used milk)
• Cashews (or another nut)

Directions:

1) Chop the chocolate small enough that it does not burn while you melt it.
2) Put the chocolate and melt it, stirring constantly so it does not burn.







3) Once it is all melted, add the cashews.








4) Either eat right away or place into cupcake wrappers for individual eating or into tuberware to break chunks off of.

Sticky Buns

National Sticky Bun day was yesterday! It was also running dinner (see here for an explanation of that) so I did not have time to post.

It's a fantastic breakfast, if you don't care about your health :)

I found a non-yeast recipe, because it is impossible (from my experience) to get yeast in grocery stores in Dublin--you need to go to specialty stores and the only one I have found is open for only a few hours a day.

Recipe taken from here

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup raisins

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
2) Grease one muffin pan.
3) In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 
 




 
4) Cut in the 1/4 cup of the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 
 




 


5) Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk. Mix until blended.
 


 


 

6) Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 8 to 10 times. Make sure there is a lot of flour on the board and your hands so it does not sick!
7) Roll dough out into a rectangle 12 inches long and 1 inch thick, trim off any uneven edges.
 



8) Cream the 1/3 cup butter and the brown sugar.
9) Stir in the raisins and ground cinnamon.  

 






10) Drop small amounts into the greased muffin pan. 
 







11) Spread the remainder over evenly over the dough.
 








12) Starting at the short end roll the dough up (jelly roll style)
13) Cut into pieces. 
 

14) Place 1 each in the muffin pans. 

15) Add any extra filling to the top
16)Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. 
17) Let sit in pans for 10 minutes then invert to remove.

Aubergine (Eggplant) Goats' Cheese Gratin

From: Veggie Feasts

Ingredients:

• Spray oil
• 2 x 400 g (13 oz) cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 TBSP chopped basil
• 2 aubergines (eggplants)
• 250 g (8 oz) soft goats' cheese, sliced or crumbled
• 50 g (2 oz) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Salt and black pepper

Directions:

1) Lightly oil a 1.5 litre (2 1/2 pint) baking dish with spray oil.








2) Put the tomatoes, garlic, half the oil, sugar, basil and salt and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3) Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until reduced and thickened.
4) Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6





5) Cut each aubergine lengthways into 6 thin slices.
6) Season the remaining oil with salt and pepper.








7) Brush the aubergine slices with the seasoned oil (I used my hand).







8) Cook under a preheated hot grill for 3-4 minutes. (I did this while the oven was sill pre-heating)








9) Remove and flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes.









10) Arrange one-third of the aubergine slices, overlapping them slightly, in the base of the prepared dish.








11) Add one-third of the tomato sauce.








12) Add one-third of the goats' cheese and Parmesan cheese.
13) Repeat these layers, finishing with the 2 cheeses.
14) Bake for 30 minutes.