Chocolate Mug Cake

Have you ever had one of those nightmare days when everything is going wrong and you think to yourself "I just really need a piece of chocolate cake"? If you're like me, that craving lasts approximately 4 minutes and you never muster up the will to actually bake anything of substance.. instead reverting to the dove chocolates stashed in the back of your freezer.

OH LORD  DO I HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU.

Feast your eyes on these little babies: Chocolate Mug Cakes!! Tiny, individual chocolate cakes made in the MICROWAVE. Decadence at your fingertips.

Be careful with these.. they are dangerously easy to whip together.

Chocolate Mug Cake
Makes one small mug cake
(Adapted from 2Stews.com)


3T unsweetened cocoa
3T sugar
1T flour
3T milk (I used 1%)
1 medium egg white
1/4T vanilla
Milk chocolate chips

Mix cocoa, sugar & flour in the mug. Then add the milk, egg white and vanilla. Stir like CRAZY for 2 minutes, making sure to remove all lumps. Add chocolate chips (to taste). Microwave on high for around 2 minutes*.

Enjoy!!

**Microwave temps vary, make sure to watch your cake carefully and test with a knife or toothpick to make sure the center is cooked.

Baked Eggs Napoleon

I love breakfast. In fact, I'd eat breakfast for every meal if I could... ESPECIALLY for dinner. When I was growing up my parents called breakfast-for-dinner "Silly Supper".. not sure why, since in my opinion there's nothing silly about breakfast for dinner ;-)

If I had my way I'd make Silly Supper once a week.. but my carnivore husband insists it doesn't fill him up enough. SO.. I have set out to find more filling Silly Supper options. Here's my most recent find:

Baked Eggs Napoleon
Makes 4 eggs, or 2 servings


3 cups frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1T butter
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 eggs
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F and start heating a small skillet on the stove on high heat. Melt butter in skillet and add thawed hash browns. Cook until golden brown.

Divide hash browns among 4 small, greased, ramekins. Make a little nest in the hash browns with your thumb or a spoon (so the egg sits directly in the middle of the dish when you crack it). Sprinkle hash browns w/ salt, pepper and garlic powder (to your taste). Top hash browns w/ shredded cheese, making sure to leave the little nest for the egg. Crack an egg into each ramekin, being careful not to break the yolk. Sprinkle the top of the eggs with any herbs you like & black pepper.

Place the ramekins together on a rimmed cookie sheet (this will make it easier to remove them when they're hot!). Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.. checking on the eggs frequently. Cooking times will vary based on the size of your egg. Make sure the egg white is set but the yolk is runny.

Serve with fresh fruit and of course BACON (if your husband is a carnivore, too) :-)

Enjoy!!

Nuclear Power School Graduation

Today was Rob's graduation from Nuclear Power School. After 6 months of 4:30AM alarms and hours and hours of studying, NPS is OVER. And what makes it even more exciting is that my AMAZING husband graduated second in his class! 

SO PROUD!

My handsome Officer!

I swear I am more proud of him every single day.

I love you, my Ensign. XO

Official Orders

We're learning pretty quickly that "Plan NOT to Plan" is the unofficial motto of Navy families... but we're learning to roll with it :)

When we received our FIRST orders to Charleston last year we expected to be here for no longer than 1 year. Rob's first orders were to Nuclear Power School - the 6 month school he will graduate from in a few days. We expected to stay in Charleston for an additional 6 months for the next phase of training (Prototype), but knew we could also be moved to upstate NY for that training. We decided to make the most of our time here in Charleston just in CASE we had to move to NY for Prototype.

Well, with only a few days left of Power School we finally (!!) have our next orders! It looks like we'll actually be staying in Charleston for a whole 'nother YEAR! Rob will be on "hold" with the Navy for a few months, and will report to Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC) in Groton, CT sometime this Spring for a 10 week training. SOBC is an unaccompanied training, so I'll stay here in SC with the other USN wives. After SOBC Rob will come back to Charleston for Prototype, which will be his last phase of training before joining the fleet. There is a back-up in training with the entire submarine force of the Navy but hey -- another WHOLE year of living in Charleston!? We can totally handle that.

Here's to another year of sweet tea, palm trees, and my (2nd) favorite city in the country. Ahhh.

I think I need to get myself some cowboy boots.... :)