Author Archives for simplifiedbystacie

Simply Homemade: Aunt Patty’s Fudge Pie!

I’ve known for quite some time now but only recently admitted openly that I am completely biased in wholeheartedly believing my family has some of the absolute best cooks (and, therefore, recipes) in the world. Furthermore, I’ve come to the realization that there is no reason the world shouldn’t be able to partake in some of that yumminess just because not everyone was blessed enough to be born into our family! In the spirit of sharing, this next recipe is brought to you by none other than my gorgeous godmother, Aunt Patty. 

Since I love her dearly and don’t want anyone kidnapping her so she will bake the following recipe for them, I’m not going to share any more of her personal details than that 😉 My only request is that, as you take the first bite of this dessert, you send out a silent heartfelt thank you to my Aunt Patty and the friend of hers who shared this with her years ago! If you wish to follow that silent gratitude up with some colorful cursing at me for introducing you to this less-than-healthy-but-oh-so-magical dessert please be my guest! I realize we are all attempting to prepare for bikini season and some of us are still holding onto that misplaced strand of hope that we’ll finally be rid of these last 10lbs. But I stand firm in my belief that cheat meals (or, in my case, cheat weeks) are necessary and vital to any diet because they do wonders for your mental health which is imperative to your physical health. See? Justified! And honestly, this is just too good not to indulge in.

If you’re reading this and wondering what the heck is fudge pie, you’re in luck! With just a few ingredients and simple instructions, you’re about to find out. If you need motivation to get those ingredients and follow those instructions please take a moment imagine a scrumdiddlyumptious fresh baked fudge brownie around the edges of a pan. Inside that outer brownie ring, there is ooey gooey molten hot fudge in the middle of the pan. Now imagine that you just pulled this delightful concoction out of your oven and the air in your kitchen smells like it’s good enough to eat as your last meal. Tempted yet? You haven’t even heard the best part. Let’s go back to imagining…imagine yourself putting a couple scoops of ice cream into a large bowl and then dishing out some of the fudge pie on top so it spreads out over your ice cream giving it the warmest, most delicious hug in the whole world and YOU now to get to enjoy that bowl of heaven. That, my friends, is fudge pie! I won’t even go into the possibilities of adding a drizzle of caramel, just a bit of whipped cream, chopped nuts, perhaps some sprinkles…no seriously, I’m not even going there, that must be your imagination running wild… All joking and completely-made-up-adjectives aside, check out the fantastic recipe below because if it isn’t in your life yet, you are truly missing out!

Aunt Patty's Fudge Pie

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Simple
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This single pan combination of hot fudge center and fudge brownie ring around the edges is the absolute best topping for an ice cream indulgence!

Ingredients

  • 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate (4 rectangle pieces, see picture below)
  • 1 stick (aka 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons) butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • One quarter cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • One quarter teaspoon salt
  • Ice cream

Directions

  1. Beat eggs together in medium size bowl then add in vanilla and mix again.
  2. Next, add in the sugar, flour, and salt and combine everything together by mixing well.
  3. Melt just the butter and chocolate squares together in 30 second increments until all melted then stir to combine.
  4. Add chocolate butter mix into the first mixture then stir well to combine.
  5. Pour mixture into lightly greased 9″ round pan or pie pan.
  6. Place pan into preheated (325 degree) oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
    7. ***IMPORTANT: turn the oven light on/watch/check frequently after it’s been in the oven around 10 minutes as you should only bake this until the edges of the pan sets into a brownie-like consistency (about an inch and a half from the edge towards the middle should be like this) and the remainder (middle) of the pan is hot fudge consistency!***
  7. Scoop ice cream into bowls and be sure to get a mix of the brownie and hot fudge portions of the fudge pie scooped directly on top so you get the full decadent experience!

For those of you out there who aren’t familiar with baker’s chocolate, see the picture below and check the baking aisle at your local grocery store. Trust me, if I can find it, so can you 😉

Also, check out what it looks like when opened and how much you need for one batch of Patty’s Fudge Pie (again, it’s 2 squares which is made up of 4 of the rectangle sections). That’s right…one box of this goodness yields 4 batches of fudge pie. FOUR. BATCHES. OF. DELICIOUS. POSSIBILITIES!

Remember that important note you skimmed over while looking at the recipe? The picture below is as good as I can get to show you that the consistency is key here people! Brownie on the outside and hot fudge on the inside! PS this picture was taken right after I pulled the pie pan out of the oven.

And, just to entice you one more time to try out this simply fantastic dish…look at the end result! Oh. Em. YUM!!!

Simplest Dip: Rob’s 3-2-1 Party Dip!

This next recipe gets a grudging shout out to my brother for introducing it into our family’s rotation of favorite dips. Grudging, because he’s my brother and one does not simply praise one’s brother 😉 But it’s a shout out nonetheless because this recipe is the ultimate simple dip recipe and there’s really just no denying it’s awesomeness! Crockpot friendly, three ingredients, and soooo satisfying! I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea here, my brother isn’t your standard guy only capable of throwing together three ingredients..he just recognizes when things done simply are simply the best. I also don’t want him to ever catch wind of this and realize I’m onto his cooking skills or have him get a big(ger) head from thinking this recipe is worthy of a blog post…shhh!

But, I digress, back to the good stuff..this recipe is not a healthy one but it is a hearty one and an overwhelming crowd pleaser. It’s perfect for when you are in a bind and needing something quick and easy to contribute to a food day, potluck, sports party, etc. You can class it up by having added toppings like cilantro, onions, green onions, diced tomatoes, jalepenos, etc or easily leave it as-is and serve with tortilla chips. This can even be used as a super simple weeknight meal, just call it into macho nachos and add a side salad to lighten it up and “balance” out the meal.

The reason this is one of my favorites is because it’s not only simple to make, but also simple to remember the ingredients and recipe just by saying the name (3-2-1 Dip)…THREE pounds of meat, TWO packages of cream cheese, and ONE jar of salsa. No more frantically searching Pinterest while in the grocery store aisle because there are too many ingredients to remember what you were supposed to be adding to your cart. No more chopping for hours or tweaking spices. The hardest choices involved are picking if you want spicy or mild sausage and what brand of salsa. That, my friends, is my kind of recipe…limited decisions needed and maximum flavor results! Enjoy!!!

Rob's 3-2-1 Party Dip

  • Servings: Approximately 10
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Three ingredient dip recipe that is always a hit at parties!

Ingredients

-3 pounds sausage, browned and drained

-2 packages cream cheese (16 ounces total)

-1 jar salsa (16 ounces), picante style is preferred

-Scoops tortilla chips

Directions

1) Brown the sausage in a large skillet and drain excess grease.

2) Put crockpot liner in crockpot (optional but oh-so-life-changing with clean up!).

3) Put cooked and drained sausage, cream cheese, and salsa in crockpot and cover.

4) Cook on low crockpot setting for approximately one hour before serving, stirring occasionally.

5) Serve when ingredients are combined and it’s warmed through. Best with scoop style tortilla chips!

There really is no need for step by step directions with this dip, that’s one of the best parts. It’s basically a dump it and devour it dip 😉
I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to grab a heaping serving of this dip at your next party?

Meal planning simplified!

I’m going to come right out and say it, I love meal planning! No, I am not crazy and yes, I do honestly mean that. I know what you’re thinking but honestly, once you get in the groove of regular meal planning you will love it too. I can say that confidently because who doesn’t love saving time, knowing not one but multiple options to have for meals, and saving money?

I have been happily married for lucky number seven years now and I can say, without a doubt, what my husband and I fight about most: what are we going to eat? Neither of us wants to decide, neither of us wants to run to the store for that one missing ingredient we need to make a meal come together, and neither of us wants to go broke from eating out every day. Ready for my simple solution? Meal planning!

Follow the steps below and yes, it really can be simple!

I started meal planning years ago when we were going through that lovely phase of life where we weren’t technically struggling but we weren’t technically not struggling. Where we had graduated college, gotten married, bought a house, and had a baby (yay us!) then realized that all those exciting accomplishments we thought made us functioning adults actually made us have student loan payments, house payments, daycare payments, etc, etc. Kind of takes the joy out of being an adult when you have to face real life doesn’t it?

Anyway, back to my earlier point of not wanting to be broke from eating out all the time. We resorted to eating out due to the earlier mentioned recurring fight of neither of us having a plan or wanting to figure out what to eat. At that stage in our life, ‘eating out’ would have consisted of some sweet dollar menu combinations and us convincing ourselves we’d start working out at home to offset all the low quality food going into our bodies…starting next week 😉

I was blessed to be raised in a family of amazing cooks and grew up in an area that didn’t have places with dollar menus. If you wanted to eat out in my hometown it was at the combination bar/bowling alley/restaurant in town and the quality of food there beats anything I’ve yet to experience from a dollar menu here where there are options around every corner. Needless to say, my body wasn’t happy switching from homemade deliciousness to frozen, flash cooked, chemical ridden fast food. I also want to point out that I do enjoy cooking and am capable of doing so, my issue has always been deciding what to cook. Thanks to meal planning, I’ve come up with simple solutions to solve all my past dilemmas!

Stacie’s Simplified Tips to Starting Meal Planning

  1. Start a note on your phone or a word doc on your computer or a draft email and list out some of your favorite meals. Get detailed here: favorite foods to order at restaurants, favorite dishes your co-workers bring to food days at work, favorite dish you ate growing up, recipes from your family, foods you’ve pinned and been meaning to try, etc. If you have others who rely on you regularly for meals (spouse, kids, in-laws, neighbors, friends, siblings, etc) make them do the same thing and send it to you so you have a master list of recipes.
  2. Take that massive list and skim it, breaking it down into major food categories. What do I mean? If you listed five cheese ziti al forno, your kid listed mac n cheese, and your hubby said spaghetti then Italian is going to be a food category you should likely include in your meal planning regularly. If you’re not big into cooking and/or a lot of your ideas tended toward minimal prep, I’d suggest including Crockpot Meal as a food category (keep it simple people!). If there are a couple favorite restaurant meals you know you just can’t replicate, how about adding Dinner Out – ________’s Choice as a category and rotating weekly who gets to choose. Keep in mind that some things are seasonal, I like to include things like Soup or Casserole for fall and winter categories and Grill Out or Salad for spring and summer. We also like to be able to bring lunch to work so I have lunch categories that are simple things such as Sandwiches or Wraps.
  3. As you are listing the food categories and/or as you meal plan each week, always have that master list of recipes handy and jot down any additional ideas that come to mind. Did you list Mexican as a food category then start craving crunchwraps or chicken enchiladas with white cheese sauce and green chiles? Add them to your master list! Each week, you can pick a couple food categories and use that master list to combine recipes without you having to think up new ideas each time (brilliant, right?).
  4. Speaking of meal planning each week, be sure to rotate out the food categories and keep it fun so you don’t get sick of Italian every Monday. If your family loves Italian as much as me and it is a staple food category almost every week, that’s fine! Find ways to keep it interesting by doing different proteins (chicken alfredo with broccoli one week then spaghetti with meatballs the next and italian sub sandwiches for another). Proteins and ingredients and variety are the real MVPs with meal planning. You can cut down on your grocery list (and cost!) drastically by meal planning smart. Say wha…? Yes, you can. I will have a new post next week titled Meal Planning Budgeting Simplified. Stay tuned for tips on how to make the most of buying in bulk, taking advantage of sales, reusing ingredients or leftovers in multiple meal plans for the week, etc!
  5. I strongly recommend marrying your two lists of food categories and recipes into one master list so it’s easier for you to pick options each week. Did I lose you? Not to worry, I just mean that if you have a Food Category of American, cut and paste all the recipes from your master list that fall into that category next to it (burgers, hot dogs, sloppy joes, etc) so you now have one large organized list you can reference each week and to as you go.
  6. If you’re someone like me who enjoys cooking and loves Pinterest, I’d suggest making Pinterest as a food category and making it a goal to make a new recipe found from there regularly as part of your meal planning. Fun right? Another great tip is to make meal planning food category boards on your Pinterest and save recipes into them so you not only have ideas readily handy, you also have the instructions and ingredient list at your fingertips. Make an Italian Food Planning Board, Crockpot Food Planning Board, etc and get to pinning! Speaking of this, I will be making food category boards on my Simplified by Stacie Pinterest page so feel free to follow me and re-pin to your own boards.
  7. Now it’s time to figure out when works for you to devote time eack week to meal planning. Yes, this seems OCD but it helps to have a schedule and stick to it. Personally, I like to meal plan on Thursdays because I’m random like that. There is a rhyme to my reasoning for this which I’ll circle back to in my final tip. I make time each Thursday to pick a couple food categories and look through my master list/brainstorm for what recipes I want to include in each category so I can make a full fledged meal plan for the week. Make sure to account for lunches, sides, snacks, desserts, etc so you have everything in one place for grocery list time. I strongly recommend keeping your meal plan list handy in the kitchen so you can reference it when you inevitably stare in the fridge after a couple days wondering why you have a pork loin (oh yeah, forgot raspberry chipotle pork loin with baked potatoes and green beans were on my meal plan!).
  8. Ok, it’s time for my final tip and (total honesty here) FAVORITE tip when it comes to meal planning. Online grocery shopping! I don’t care if you choose to utilize the delivery or pick up services (although I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to at least for the vast majority of the items on your list). Either way, download the app for your favorite grocery story and have your meal plan list for the week handy then go through your fridge and pantry and start adding all the ingredients you’ll need for the week on the app. This changed my life with how simple it made meal planning AND grocery shopping. Pull up recipes for any meals you aren’t familiar with and make sure you have enough of each ingredient (got a cream based soup planned for Wednesday? Make sure you have enough milk for that AND your kid’s cereal each morning). As you go through each meal you’ve got planned, you’ll realize a lot of the ingredients for them overlap which cuts down on your groceries. The real genius behind this is that you now know how much you are spending, you’re only getting what you need, and you’re avoiding multiple trips to the store which saves you time. Remember when I said I like to meal plan on Thursdays and you were thinking to yourself that I’m off my rocker? I do that because then I’m at home while going through my fridge & pantry and starting my grocery list. The next morning, I have everything saved on that app and head to work only to realize I forgot I’m in charge of snacks for my daughters class this month and need to add a bulk package of cheese sticks. No worries, I just pull up my app, add them to the list and submit it for pick up after work that day. Having the groceries Friday night allows me time to meal prep over the weekend when I have more free time-it’s a win win for me and hopefully will be for you too once you figure out what works best with your schedule!

Thanks for reading and overlooking all my rookie mistakes as this is (very obvious I’m sure) my first blog post ever and I have no idea what I’m doing. My only hope with this first rambling post is that it made enough sense for you to follow and maybe made the thought of meal planning seem less daunting and help you realize it really can be simple!

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