Parmesan couscous with peas and bacon

We love bacon in our house, for some reason bacon makes very thing better. I came up this recipe in my creative state of mind. I ordered a ten pound bag of couscous for $10 on amazon just to give it a try. Turns out ten pounds was a lot so I started getting creative.

My cooking assistant has a rich pallet and loves this recipe

The ingredients you will need are:
2 cups couscous
2.5 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic
1/2 lb bacon (I used peppered)
2 cups peas
1 cup parmesan cheese

Finely dice up bacon and cook it on low in a skillet, once cooked add the peas with the bacon grease still in the pan

In a saucepan, add the broth and couscous and bring to a boil
Remove from hear and fluff with a fork, add the pepper, garlic, bacon, peas, and parmesan cheese.
Mix well and enjoy!

We have made this recipe with different types of vegetable. Brussels sprouts was my favorite but not a family favorite!

Boxed brownies turned sinful ;)

After a extremely long and amazing Sunday filled with family time, going to a church event, watching people get baptized, and coming home to a nice toasty fire and a Redbox rental of "Arthur Christmas " I felt an amazing dessert was in order. I usually make my brownies from scratch, but I had a box of brownie mix in the pantry and decided to tweak the recipe.

I searched online for a recipe to tweak to make my own and came across this one:
Sinfully Rich Brownies
source: Carolyn Keller

1 family-size pkg brownie mix
double the number of eggs called for on box.
Milk and or cream in place of water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter; melted

(My brownie mix came with a packet of dark chocolate syrup)

Preheat oven to 325.

With the help of my wonderful baking assistant, Aria, we began our creation.

First we mixed the ingredients in the order listed, we did have one egg fatality thanks to some over excited eggs.
Next we Greased a 9X13 in pan well, with Pam baking spray, then press brownie mixture into the pan. Bake for about 40 minutes. While the brownies were baking we had to lick the mixer spoons (a childhood staple)

3. Let brownies cool in pan, then cut in pan with a wet sharp knife. (Using a wet, sharp knife was a new trick for me and it works great!)

These brownies are extremely delightful, my husband ate half the pan.

Meet the assistant

I have been blessed with a high spirited baking assistant. At the age of almost two she is full of life and precision. Aria Grace is such a gift and a huge contender to the chaos.