Volume 1 No.2 Brownies and 5 mile walks

Well here we are again. Nice to see you.....now go invite a few friends to read this bloggety blog too. : )


So in my little world we are currently in the midst of a relocation from one state to another. Uprooting the family, selling our home in a ridiculously upside down market, trying to find a home in yet another ridiculously tight market, changing schools, changing work, being separated from the hubby until we can find a place there and decide what to do here. In the midst of this relocation craziness I have had a somewhat successful yard sale, managed to go grocery shopping with four children wild heathens oh and most important of all I have picked up a wonderful cold along the way. Shivers, chills, clammy, no voice at moments (its hard to yell at kiddos without one ya know), the sneezing, the all around malaise; well I have had enough! That is right I am putting my foot down and not going to let it all get to me.
So I started to think what makes me instantly happy? Winning the lottery? Um duh! But the thing that popped into my head right away was M & M Brownies.  Am I an emotional eater? Ya! What's it to ya? I mean (shrugging my shoulders) aren't we all?

So I am going to cheat and use a store bought brownie mix.I try not to as a general rule because 1. I like to know what goes in there and 2. because I prefer homemade.
Believe it or not the best Brownie mixes are the generic no- name or store brand ones. SERIOUSLY! Would I lie to you? Did you say no? GOOD ANSWER!  You can add to these little babies or leave them as is and they almost never have an issue. It is sad to say that the name brands (you know who you are) suffer sometimes from serious big headed brownie mix egos and I swear to you they never turn out the way they should. In our house we like then dense and fudgy. If I want chocolate cake I will make cake. I want a brownie!

No name brownie mix and add the funnest all occasion, all holiday, never fail to make some one smile candy......drum roll please........M&M's. I used the mini's this go 'round. Mix brownies as instructed on the box, preheat as instructed do everything the instructions say except right before pouring this chocolate-y bowl of wonderfulness into the baking pan mix in about half a bag of mini M&M's. Bake as instructed. Let them cool. NO now I meant it. Let them cool. The aroma fills the house and totally allows the ole taste buds the required amount of time to warm up and be ready to enjoy the heavenly goodness that is a brownie. SIDENOTE: I tried baking brownies in the middle of the night once trying to help the kids stay healthy ok, ok, I really just wanted brownies and I was up. But I can say that the smell of baking brownies wakes small children up better than an alarm clock, a fire alarm, a dog licking their face or me flipping on the lights, throwing back the covers and screaming at them. So if your trying to satisfy your middle of the night cravings and don't want to wake the family or share for that matter, midnight brownie baking is NOT for you.
Now get out your very best brownie knife. WHAT? You have never heard of a brownie knife? Well I think the common term is plastic silverware knife. YEP! Believe it or not they cut brownies perfectly. I keep at least one handy all the time. Don't believe me? Well go bake some in the middle of the night and then try to cut them with a regular butter knife.  DISCLAIMER: if you do your going to have to share 9in a sing song voice).......

My 5 mile walks everyday totally negate the ultra yumminess of these brownies and since I was unable to sweat out the cold (that I seriously thought was a sudden onset of adult allergies) I now intend to sweet talk it right out of my body or put myself into a diabetic coma, whichever comes first.

Speaking of 5 mile walks why is it that if you stop for even 1 minute and begin walking again your muscles decide that moment to revolt against you and make your neighbors think you are a drunk staggering down the street at 10:30 am on a weekday? And then  once again the attack in the middle of the night when your bladder is about to pop. After silently crying and whimpering and drunken like staggering down the hall to the bathroom all the while you think you are being so very very  stealthy. Imagine if you will, that as you try, notice I said try, to seat yourself, it becomes painfully, notice I said painfully, aware that you are in dire need of a handicap rail to lower yourself down and let us not even speak of the crying that takes place as you rise back up.
Why do I do these things to myself? Why because my walking buddy is the best! Have I mentioned her? Well trust me she is the best. She and her family of  nine (7 kids and 2 parents) are amazingly good people.