But when it comes to actually dropping the pounds… not so much.
However, I fully anticipate that I will one day eat my way through enough Halo Top Ice Cream to discover that it’s finally made me skinny.
At least that’s what I tell my husband every time I spend 5.99 on a pint ????.
Good man that he is, I never actually see him roll his eyes.
Anyway. The point that I’m trying to make here is… I may not be very good at the actual losing of the weight. But I’m very, very good at breakfast on day one of a new diet. Ahem, er, “lifestyle change.” ????
Side note: how irritating is it that no one is allowed to “diet” anymore. The PC way to say diet these days is, “lifestyle change.” But… what if I just want to lose 30 pounds? Do I really have to change my mindset and my pantry for the rest of forever. Is that really totally necessary?? Is it???? *hysterics*
But back to breakfast on day one…
How about a ridiculously decadent skinny peanut butter cup smoothieWITH 35 FREAKING GRAMS OF PROTEIN that tastes like peanut butter cups? Works for me.
Ice Cream in a Bag?!?!? No ice cream maker required! All you need is ice, rock salt, and a few simple ingredients to shake up inside a bag. A perfect recipe for kids!
Oh man, you guys! I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe yet!!
It’s practically pumpkin season (which I’m late posting for every year as it is), and here I am with two summer-y ice cream recipes left to post. Sometimes I just get so obsessed with making more and more and more recipes, that I forget what I’ve already got on hand. ???? *palm to the head*
Anyway. I don’t want to delay sharing this recipe any longer with you guys, so I’m going to jump on in!
Making homemade ice cream was on our bucket list for this summer, but I kept forgetting to put the ice cream canister in the freezer. And I knew the overnight recipe wouldn’t fly with this kid, because… you know. We’d have to wait. ????
But I’m glad we didn’t go that route, because we had so much fun making this ice cream in a bag recipe! Plus, it is absolutely DELICIOUS. I was really pleasantly surprised at how good this ice cream is. I mean… it’s cream and sugar, so how bad can it be, right? But still, I had kind of assumed it might be a little runny or a little icy or a little…. something or other.
But it actually turned out just right. Like, perfect-o.
So how does this magic work? Well, let me tell you all about it!
First, you need some basic ingredients:
✓ Half & half
✓ Sugar
✓ Vanilla extract
✓ Ice
✓ Rock salt (not much)
✓ Gallon sized zip top bags
✓ Toppings
✓ Little helping hands to shake the bag!
You’ll mix together the cream (half & half), sugar, and vanilla and pour it all into a bag– zip that up tight! Then you’ll put that bag into another bag filled with the ice and rock salt (and I’d suggest double bagging here).
And then…. shake, shake, shake, shake!
For 10 whole minutes. You can even play a game of hot potato and toss the bag to each other, which is what we ended up doing, to keep your hands from freezing!
Voila! Open the bag, scrape down the sides, and like magic… perfect homemade ice cream in less than 10 minutes without an ice cream machine! (unless you count child labor as a machine… which I don’t ????).
Add toppings and dig in!
Hopefully it’s still warm enough and summer enough wherever you are that you can enjoy a little more homemade ice cream.
I’ve got one more summer-y ice cream recipe coming your way this week, and then hello! all-things-pumpkin and velvety rich cakes and Thanksgiving pies!
Nothing beats a thick slice of super moist chocolate chip zucchini bread smothered in butter.
We DEVOURED this bread. Inhaled it.
Like… it didn’t even last two days. It barely stuck around past the 24 hour mark.
It’s incredibly moist thanks to THREE CUPS of zucchini and the brown sugar.
And can you see how shiny the chocolate chips are? That’s my favorite part. In both banana bread and zucchini bread, I love how the moisture seeps into the chocolate chips creating a little chocolate “bubble” around each chip. I know I’m not doing a great job describing this, but you know what I’m talking about right?
I don’t know why, but that just gets me every time. ????
Now, I’m no nutritional expert…. ahem, clearly ????… but I figure all the green veggies here make this bread a pretty square meal. Who’s with me?!
Enjoy a thick slice of this delicious zucchini bread warm or day-old, smothered in butter, with a tall glass of milk. And try it with my Maple Cinnamon Butter. You’ll be in heaven!
How To Make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Making zucchini bread is an efficient way to use up fresh zucchini, and it’s a recipe that’s both simple and rewarding. The process begins by combining the key wet ingredients in a large bowl—zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. The grated zucchini adds moisture and a subtle, earthy flavor, while the sugar and oil ensure the bread will be sweet and tender. The vanilla and eggs bind everything together, creating a rich and flavorful base for your batter.
In a separate bowl, you’ll mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. These ingredients not only give structure to the bread but also infuse it with warm, spiced flavors. The cinnamon and nutmeg add a cozy, aromatic touch that complements the zucchini perfectly. Once the dry ingredients are well combined, gently fold them into the wet mixture. It’s important to mix just until a batter forms—overmixing can lead to dense, tough bread.
To make your zucchini bread extra special, fold in a generous amount of chocolate chips. The chocolate adds a delightful sweetness and a bit of indulgence to each slice. Once the batter is ready, divide it evenly between two prepared loaf pans. As the bread bakes, the kitchen will fill with the irresistible aroma of spices and chocolate. After about 45 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaves. If it comes out clean, the bread is ready. If the tops are browning too quickly, cover the loaves with foil and continue baking until fully cooked.
Allow the zucchini bread to cool in the pans before slicing. This ensures the loaves firm up nicely and are easy to remove. Once cooled, slice into thick pieces and enjoy the soft, moist texture combined with the rich flavors of chocolate and warm spices. This zucchini bread is perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert, making it a versatile treat that everyone will love.
These moist and ultra fudgy chocolate zucchini muffins are so good. You’ll never believe they’re full of vegetables!
My CJ is a muffin fiend. It is the only bread I can get him to eat. He won’t touch sandwich bread, buttery soft rolls, fluffy buttermilk pancakes… turns up his nose at all of it.
Don’t ask me how he knows the difference between a muffin and a cupcake, but he does. And apparently the appeal of the cupcake doesn’t even come close to how he feels about muffins. I guess I should feel pretty good about that… but really it just makes me wonder, is he really mine??
I suppose the 25 hours of grueling labor it took to bring him into the world should be enough proof, but his carb snobbery seriously has me questioning things.
These muffins take a big step toward bringing our two worlds together, because these chocolate zucchini muffins really are BETTER than cupcakes. They are ridiculously soft, so fudgy, and utterly indulgent.
You’d never believe that there’s a cup and a half of shredded veggies in there.
So sneaky! ????
My other secret ingredient? Pudding mix!
You know how it makes cakes crazy stupid soft and moist? It does the same thing in muffins.
Did I mention that these freeze really well? They do! So when you’re up to your eyeballs in zucchini this summer, make a double (or triple!) batch of these to stash in the freezer. And just set them out at room temp to thaw when you are ready to dig in.
Fudgy chocolate brownie bites layered in cool, creamy peanut butter mousse. You won’t believe how good this is and how easy it is to make!!
I’m all about the easy in the summer time, let me tell you.
Part of me kind of thought that summer might be a little easier than the school year. I mean, I knew it would be challenging having both kids home all day every day. But I guess I still thought that just maybe I would feel like I had more hours in the day to get stuff done.
Since I figured the days would feel longer and all.
Turns out, I was part right. And part so, so, so very wrong. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this… the days are NEVER ENDING. Never, ever ending. And yet somehow, there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.
WTH? If someone figures that math out, let me know.
In the meantime, I’m doing lots of quick-and-easy around here. I average cooking a real meal about once a week. Cleaning just doesn’t get done. And I let the kids pretty much rule the roost all day.
Seriously. As I sit here and type, I can see a (LARGE) milk puddle in the carpet that I haven’t sponged up since lunch time (that’s gonna be fun), CJ is rubbing in applesauce on the rug at my feet, clothes and knick knacks and what nots litter every inch of living space as far as the eye can see, my empty fast food cup of soda is leaving a water ring on the table to my left, and there’s a sticky bottle of infant’s Ibuprofen stuck to a book on my right. I still don’t know what we’re having for dinner, Chris will be home in about 15 minutes, and then I’m leaving for a baby shower.
I’m not complaining. But at some point… the situation does become comical.
So when it comes to prepping recipes for the blog? It’s gotta be EASY. We’re talking the minimum amount of effort here.
And friends, it does NOT get any easier than this recipe for Peanut Butter Brownie Parfaits.
You’ll need pudding mix, peanut butter, Cool Whip, and milk for the mousse part. And you’ll layer that with brownie bites (home baked or store bought, box mix or from scratch, my recipe or yours, WHATEVER) and chocolate chips.
Guys, this recipe is the very definitely of minimal effort. And it’s SO GOOD. And it looks so fancy too. People will never know that you whipped this up whilst standing in a pile of smushed grapes and animal crackers in your yoga pants!
🍋🍋🍋 Celebrate LEMONS with us in this roundup of our best LEMON DESSERTS! 🍋🍋🍋
This recipe is so ridiculously easy. Four simple ingredients is all you’ll need:
sugar
lemon juice
egg yolks
butter
What You Need
Now, a lot of recipes will have you making this over a double boiler. This supposedly prevents any egg lumps in the mixture. I don’t own a double boiler, and frankly, I don’t have room for anything else in the pots and pans and bowl department in my little kitchen. So, I didn’t use a double boiler.
And it was just fine.
I cooked my curd over medium-high heat and stirred it constantly (just like you would have to do with a double boiler anyway). Well, I did end up with a few little lumps, but nothing that wasn’t easily strained through a small sieve.
I feel like I’ve read a million times, “no straining required!” “no sieve needed!” like it’s such a hassle to strain the curd. But really, it’s just not a big deal at all.
Pour the mixture through the sieve over the container you plan to store it in. The curd passes through, and the lumps stay out. Easy peasy. And you can buy a small sieve for less than ten bucks at any superstore.
Seriously. Just buy the sieve. Use it. Save yourself a headache. It’s not a big deal. And it makes this process so much easier and keeps that lemon curd smooth and creamy!
Ok, so now that we’ve talked about how to make it… what exactly is lemon curd? And how do you use it??
Lemon curd is sort of like the filling in a lemon meringue pie. It’s sweet and tart and creamy.
Or, my personal favorite, serve spoon it over angel food cake and top with berries and whipped cream! This is such a yummy summertime treat. And the berries compliment the sweet of the curd, while the whipped cream balances the tart, and the cake soaks it all up.
No matter how you use it, you really can’t go wrong with homemade lemon curd! Enjoy 🙂
Chewy, fudgy brownie cookie bars with a marshmallow and Nutella swirl, graham cracker crust layer, and milk chocolate chips.
If you’ve been hanging around Something Swanky for any amount of time at all really, you know my love of these brownie cookies. And if you’ve been stopping by for a little longer than that, then you also know that I’m obsessed with s’mores.
Bringing the two together was simply the natural progression of things.
Ok, so… Brownie Cookie Bars. You may be wondering why I took brownies and turned them into cookies and then took those cookies and turned them back into bars. Yeah?
And the answer is… I wanted something a little firmer than brownies, like a cookie, but still basically brownies. Ergo: my favorite brownie cookie recipe baked into bars.
So, yeah. They’re basically still brownies. A little firmer on the tops and bottoms than a brownie, but still just as rich and fudgy in the centers. I know it’s a little backwards, but just trust me on this. It works.
Speaking of centers… would you get a load of that?! ????
Sandwiched in between these rich and fudgy brownie cookie bars is a thick and gooey layer of marshmallow cream, Nutella, and a ridiculously perfect, buttery graham cracker crust.
YES. All that. ????
These are so, so, SO easy to make. You’ll only need one bowl– and you can make the graham cracker crust layer in a ziplock bag like I did, so there aren’t even any extra dishes needed there!
Starting with the brownie cookie dough. It’s simply a variation on a box mix recipe. You will need an actual box mix, but don’t follow the recipe on there for brownie batter. I’m giving you a different set of ingredients and measurements that will create a different texture than what you’d get using the recipe on the box. More cookie-like, remember?
Next up, a dreamy graham cracker crust. I ALWAYS make graham crusts in a bag. It’s so much easier, less mess, less fuss, so it really just makes sense. Place the graham crackers in a gallon-sized zip bag and crush them up using a rolling pin until they are fine crumbs. Toss in the butter and sugar, and then nuke the whole bag for about 30-60 seconds, until the butter melts. After that, all you have to do is mush the mixture in the bag until the crust comes together! Dump it out over the brownie layer and press it down, easy peasy.
The marshmallow cream and Nutella layer is probably the hardest part, because they’re both so sticky. But if you have a release ice cream or cookie scoop, that pretty much solves all your problems. I just scoop on what I need and spread it just a little with an offset spatula.
Add some more brownie cookie to the top and your milk chocolate chips, and…
This quick and easy mousse looks fancy, but it’s actually SO quick and easy to make!
This easy version of mousse has long since been one of my favorite go-to desserts. Not only is it delicious, but it’s super duper quick and easy, cheap, fairly diet friendly, and really versatile. There are so many different ways to make it! Plus, I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, so it’s a great recipe to keep in your back pocket for dessert in a pinch.
If that’s not a win all over, then I don’t know what is!
The ingredient list is pretty simple. And really short.
Instant pudding mix (white chocolate flavored for this snickerdoodle variation).
Fat free milk.
8 ounces Cool Whip.
And for this version you’ll also need cinnamon, white chocolate, and (optional) snickerdoodle cookies.
Sweet and juicy strawberries and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between light and fluffy shortcake.
Ok you guys. RUN to your nearest farmers market and buy as many cute little baskets of strawberries as you can carry back to the car!!
We bought our first batch of farm fresh strawberries last weekend in NC, so I know we are on the cusp of massive amounts of strawberries being all over the place. Can. not. wait. I loooooooove strawberry season. Like, fiercely.
And, because I care about you, I wanted to be sure that you had this recipe for old fashioned strawberry shortcake before your kitchen is overflowing with sweet, juicy red berries.
I know that the grocery stores all want you to think that strawberry shortcake is those like sponge cake cups that you can buy right by the strawberries in the produce section.
But that’s actually false. That’s sponge cake.
Strawberry short cake isn’t made with an angel food cake loaf either.
That’s angel food cake with strawberries on top.
Strawberry shortcake, REAL strawberry shortcake, is made with incredibly soft, fluffy, flaky biscuits that melt in your mouth with every bite.
And it’s ah-mazing. And way better than using sponge cake or angel food cake. I promise.
You can certainly make the biscuits that require rolling and cutting, like these. But I think it’s even easier and just as delicious to make a good batch of drop biscuits.
A while ago I posted about these biscuits that are made with whipping cream instead of butter or shortening. I was shocked that you could make a biscuit so tender and flaky without using butter! But it turns out, YOU CAN! And that’s how these shortcakes are made.
You only need a very few simple ingredients:
all purpose flour
baking powder
a little bit of sugar
heavy cream
And that’s it!
The trick to making great biscuits with heavy cream is basically the same as when you’re using butter: take it easy.
Making biscuits is all about being gentle with the dough or else it’s going to get hard and tough. Add the cream gradually, and gently mix BY HAND with a wooden spoon or spatula. And stop mixing way before you think you should.
You’re not looking for a smooth, elastic dough here. In fact, these should be really lumpy, even crumbly. Your dough should look something like this when it’s time to stop mixing:
Not over mixing the dough is absolutely crucial in achieving a soft and tender biscuit.
Once the dough looks like that, you can scoop the dough (about 1/4 cup) and drop it on to a lined baking sheet.
While these are baking, go ahead and slice the strawberries.
Add some sugar and let them sit for about 30 minutes.
Now it’s time for the magic.
Traditionally, you eat strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. But I think it’s better with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! As it melts, it soaks right into the biscuit and all over the berries, and it is utterly sinful.
You guys. I’m telling you, this is your new favorite recipe for this spring and summer! Hoard those strawberries and then invite everybody you know over for short cake!!
And here’s a tip for using frozen strawberries instead of fresh (because if you’re like me, you buy out all the strawberries when they’re so good and freeze them for later): make this strawberry sauce to go with your shortcakes instead of macerated berries! So, so good.
This soft and moist blueberry quick bread can be mixed up so fast! Packed with blueberries and vanilla flavor.
Happy Friday! Any fun plans for the weekend?
I’m hoping to squeeze in a few mini photo sessions (did I tell you that I’ve started doing portrait photography? It’s so much fun!)
But before I can get to my weekend, I have to get through the Farm Days field trip with my daughter’s class…. ????.
Maybe even as you’re reading this, I’m likely trudging through animal mud with a baby strapped to my chest, a handful of kindergartners at my side, and sneezing my way through horse dust.
I am not an animal person. I know I just lost about half of you, but it’s the truth. I’m not. No, I don’t even like your cute puppy. I mean, I’m not going to kick it while you’re not looking or anything. But I’ll kind of pretend to sort of half pet it and then spend the rest of our conversation hoping your dog’s hair doesn’t make my eyes swell up or give me itchy hives up and down my arm.
I swear, I really am a nice person. I just don’t do the animal thing.
And I’m not really a kids-that-aren’t-mine person for that matter (ha! and I’m only barely a kids-who-are-mine kind of person!)
So basically, what I’m getting at is this. Farm Days with my daughter’s kindergarten class is my own personal version of parental hell. And I would so much rather be planted on the couch with a book and a warm loaf of this blueberry bread.
Just sayin. ????
Moving on….
This bread is so spring time to me! It’s sweet and fluffy and packed full of juicy blueberries. Remember back when I had a weird thing with the texture of blueberries and could only eat them from a can and in muffins?
Thank goodness this Berry Cheesecake Trifle came along and totally changed how I feel about fresh blueberries! Just think about all the yummy things I’d be missing out on ????.
This bread would be so good with a lemon glaze! But it’s also amazing on it’s own, smothered in butter, fresh and warm out of the oven with a glass of milk and a good book. It’s the perfect spring time, Saturday morning breakfast 🙂
I hope you spend at least part of this weekend curled up on the couch with a thick slice of Blueberry Bread. Enjoy!
