Not Much of a Monday Rundown: June 18, 2012: Blueberry & Grapes with Brown Sugar & Sour Cream

I got to spend the day with little Samantha. She took care of me.

Alright gang, so there’s not much of Monday Rundown today.  If there was, it would look something like this: sleep, shower, doctor, soup, sleep, sleep, sleep, soup, sleep.The quick and dirty is I still feel crappy, and now I have a fever, chills, sweats and body aches. The doctor said I have a virus. Translation: no antibiotics or quick fix for me. Hopefully, I’ll still recover fast. She did offer me Vicodin for the pain, but I turned her down. Not because I’m tough (nobody is tough when they’re sick) but because I still have some leftover from a pulled muscle last summer. I tend to actually only take them as needed (or as directed). Imagine that.

In lieu of a Monday rundown, I’m going to share some dessert recipes with you. I noticed my Dessert section is lacking, and I’ve had a couple of requests for more deserts, so here you go. 

This dessert requires no baking and no cooking of any kind. Yep, you heard right.  It has four ingredients total, couldn’t be any easier and is always a hit when I bring it to summer cookouts. Probably because it’s hot out and by the end of the day, everybody is looking for some lighter fare and something refreshing. This dessert delivers on both counts. It is Blueberries & Grapes with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar (cue music…I Want Some of Your Brown Sugar).

Ingredients

• 1 bag of grapes
• 1 pint of blueberries
• 1 container of sour cream
• Brown Sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Combine and rinse your blueberries and grapes in a colander under cold water until clean. Shake gently to remove excess water. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Once ready to serve, set out the blueberries and grapes. In separate bowls, put out the sour cream and the brown sugar. Ask guests to serve up the blueberries and grapes, add a dollop of sour cream and then sprinkle with as much brown sugar as they’d like.

The flavors in this dessert are spot on: crisp, refreshing, a little bit creamy, a little bit sweet. The brown sugar sort of carmelizes when combined with the sour cream and magic happens. This little ditty came from my parents, so you know it’s a hit because it’s been passed down through the generations. Seriously, take this to your next summer cookout and watch people’s reactions. You’ll get more compliments than the people who slaved over the stove for a day.

On to the other dessert. This recipe came from Pinterest and only requires seven ingredients (http://themarathonmom.com/chocolate-granola-bars.htm)

Ingredients. 

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup local honey
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup oats (not quick oats)
• 2 tablespoons wheat germ
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (Mini work best, but it doesn’t really matter.)

What to do:

1.  Melt  the butter, peanut butter and honey in a pot over medium to low heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the burner when melted.

2.  Pour in the cup of oats and the wheat germ. Stir until well combined.

3.  Wait til it cools and stir in the coconut and chocolate chips. Or, if you’re impatient with things like this, go ahead and dump it all right in.  The result will be a more uniform chocolate taste.

4.  Pour into foil-lined 8 X 8 pan and stick in the fridge.

5. Once cooled, flip out the bars onto cutting board and cut to the size you’d like.

See, I told you they were easy. I actually made them Sunday morning, when I was just starting to feel under the weather, so I haven’t tried them yet. The Hubby has declared them outstanding though and he implied they wouldn’t last the week. I may have to hide one or two away for when I’m fully recovered.

Typing up this post has completely exhausted me, so I’m going to leave you now and retreat to sleeping…some more. Enjoy your day and here’s to hoping mine gets better.