Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake

That's a lot of C's! I wanted to try something new for my birthday... something light, with chocolate, but not too rich.  This was perfect! It was much more "bready" than I anticipated (not very sweet), and was nicely accompanied by homemade whipped cream.  I was disappointed that the mini chocolate chips all sunk to the bottom of the pan (which created a layer of them on the top of the cake), instead of being scatter throughout.  Next...

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Skillet Chicken Tamale Pie

I was craving a new recipe, something I had never made before... I flipped through my Healthy Test Kitchen Cookbook, and this was the recipe I landed on (mainly because I had MOST of the ingredients, and substitutes for the things I didn't have).  I made two mistakes... I had cut the recipe in half, but kept the topping the same... the ratio was off; definitely needed to keep the filling the same! Second mistake was turning the oven on to 450...

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Laundry Detergent

A little different than our normal posts... this is a peak into the crazy homemaking life of Mikaela.  Yes, I make my own laundry detergent.  You would too if you saw how easy it is and how much money it saves! The resource I use for my recipe broke down the cost between making laundry detergent and buying name-brand (he estimated 2 1/4 cents per load with homemade, and 20 cents with namebrand).  That saves about $65 a year if...

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Chewy Chocolate-Oat Bars

These are a forgotten favorite in our house... I always double the recipe to put in a 9x13 pan.  It was gone in 2 days! Ingredients:1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips1/3 c. fat-free sweetened condensed milk1 c. whole wheat flour1/2 c. plus 2 T. old-fashioned oats1/2 tsp. baking powder1/2 tsp. baking soda1/4 tsp. salt3/4 c. packed brown sugar1/4 c. vegetable oil1 egg1 tsp. vanilla Directions: Heat oven to 350.  Heat the chocolate chips and...

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Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have a picture of these cookies, but this is the cookbook they came out of: Thanks, Chama for the 2010 birthday present :) Just imagine an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, 75% baked, with inconspicuous banana pieces.  Take my word for it, they're amazing. I froze half the batch, which worked out fantastic.  Next time, I will use half the batch to make a chocolate-banana trifle. Stay tuned for that recipe. :) Ingredients: 2 1/2...

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