Desperation Brownie

Several months back I read about these brownies in a mug in the Chicago Tribune. I thought it would be fun to try them, but never got around to it. Well last night I had a taste for chocolate but didn't feel like putting any real effort into baking, then I remembered the recipe and was happy to find it online!

Let me tell you this is dangerous - to be able to make yourself an individual brownie with staple ingredients in under 5 minutes?! I wonder how many you'd have to eat to gain 5 pounds?! I'm renaming them desperation brownies because I feel it is a more fitting name.

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

Dash of salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large coffee mug. Add liquid ingredients and mix well.
Microwave on high approximately 1 min. Middle should not quite set up. Beware I think I overcooked mine a tiny bit at 1 min. Still tasty though!

This could be a fun baking activity for elementary age kids to master on their own!

Tea for Two

During struggles in my teen years, living in a blended family made it easy to feel overlooked. Knowing that, Mom would wake me up periodically in the middle of the night for a tea party. We would creep into the den with steaming mugs of tea and share our lives. Our time together always made me feel important, special and loved.

Shared by Christy Gilliam in the August 2008 Focus on the Family Magazine.

Isn't that a sweet memory? What memories are you making for your teens?