Seeing that a few of the girls were having troubles remembering to post a blog update after hosting their evening (which is a bit of a stress in itself cooking for 9+ other girls), I, Amanda, am excited to announce that I have been appointed to collect recipes and post the blog on a weekly basis to see that it gets done, because after all, who wants to be without all of our amazing recipes and hear about our girl talk??
That being said...We were at Emily's this past Thursday enjoying lasagna, salad and some yummy chocolate peanut butter bars (all recipes to follow).
It was fun to be back at Em's. It is where GN originated over 4 years ago. We started with 5 of us and are now up to nearly 10+ at times. We decided a few months ago that we need to have a "secret of the week" discussion, as we would get half way through the night only to learn that something major was going on in one of our lives..."oh, by the way...I'm now dating so-and-so" or "oh, forgot to tell you, I'm pregnant"...ok, that one didn't really happen, but we didn't want it to get to that point. And frankly it doesn't even have to be a "secret"...just the biggest thing to have happened to you that past week. Hopefully Lauren will report in this week that she got Aiden potty-trained in under a week...hey, a mother can dream. Laur, if you have any tips, please post them as to aid the rest of us in a speedy process :)
My SIL, Jessica joined us this week since she just moved up from California. She needs some girl time as most of her friends are in the Tri-Cities or back in Cali. I was trying to keep her updated with what everyone was talking about, when I realized that WE ARE PROBABLY A PRETTY OVERWHELMING group. Ah well, she'll catch up soon enough. We were glad to have her there and hope she continues to join us. She is planning her wedding, and let's be honest here....WE ARE the group of girls you need to help you do that! :)
Okay, here are your recipes from last week:
Lasagna
1lb ground beef
1lb Italian sausage
4 cups mozzarella cheese
1 tub of ricotta cheese
Italian season (enough to taste)
9 ready bake lasagna noodles
2 bottles of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Brown meats, assemble 3 equal layers of all ingredients. Cover top layer of noodles with sauce and parmesan cheese. Bake 30-45 minutes until cheese is melted and center is hot.
Salad
Spring mix
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 container (about 10) strawberries, sliced
toss with Poppyseed dressing
Peanut Butter Brownie Bars (courtesy of Betty Crocker...gotta love her)
Brownie Base
1box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box
Filling
1/3cup butter, softened
1/3cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/3cups powdered sugar
1 1/2teaspoons milk
Topping
3/4cup semisweet chocolate chips
3tablespoons butter
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with cooking spray or shortening. (For easier cutting, line pan with foil, then grease foil on bottom only of pan.) Make brownies as directed on box. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base.
In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
YUM YUM!
As happy as I am to take on the duty of posting this blog, I have to admit I'm a bit nervous to have Tiff read (and mentally correct) it :) She's our high school English teacher and I KNOW my punctuation can be a little erratic...I seem to over-use the comma...oh well, better that than to under use it, right Ms. Armstrong? :) Don't be too hard on me...
Enjoy everyone! Next week we're going to talk about couponing since a few of us are getting into it and we KNOW more ladies would like to as well. Let me know if you have any questions I can ask our pros (Em & Lauren), and I'll be sure to get some answers for you.
Amanda
About Us
- ThursdayGirlsNights
- Seattle/Tacoma area, Washington, United States
- Thank you for visiting! We are Amanda, Tiffany, Lauren H, Lauren F, Danielle, Lisa, Meagan, Teresa, Emily, Cassie, & Bea. We are a group of women ranging in age from 27-32. 2011 marks the 5th Fall season of us getting together weekly, on Thursdays, to make dinner for eachother, talk about our kids, marriages, jobs, weddings, homes, weekends and so on. We travel as far North as Kirkland and as far South as Graham to visit each week...that's a total of nearly an hour of driving (not counting traffic), so that should show you how dedicated we are to "the cause" of having some girl time each week. A few of us are mothers and have planned our weddings. Our group also includes a dietitian, wine distributor & a few teachers ranging from elementary to high school. We are here to share our favorite recipes, update you on our girl talk each week, answer questions from experience and review products for companies and share our takes on them for the women out there just like us. Please feel free to contact us with topics you'd like us to cover or questions you may have. Our group e-mail is ThursdayGirlsNights@gmail.com Thanks again, The Girls
