When Joe and I moved from Utah to Michigan, I did not have a job lined up yet. I felt pretty confident that I would find a job quickly. I went to school in Michigan, right where we moved to. My school is well known and respected in the area. Plus, I have 4 years of nursing experience now. Yay! I had 3 interviews lined up within the first week we were back. The first one offered me a job, but I turned it down. I did that because it was for 2nd shift (3-11pm), and Joe had just been offered a job on 1st shift. We never would have seen each other with those schedules :’( And..well.. I really like Joe. I don’t like the idea of never seeing him. That sounds like a nightmare to be honest. Because I had more interviews coming up, I felt ok turning the offer down. It did feel really weird though. I’ve never turned a job down before. Plus, I did not feel like it would have been a good fit after the interview and job shadow. I was a little surprised to get the offer actually.
Unfortunately, I did not get the other 2 jobs I had interviews for. So now it’s been over a month since we’ve been back that I have been unemployed. 2 months since my last day working in Utah. I was very discouraged when I received the phone call from a recruiter saying I did not get the job I was really hoping for. It was similar to my last job in duties and schedule. I am feeling very ready to go back to work. And financially, it would be great if I got a job soon. I might have shed a tear or two. I thought I rocked the interview.
The recruiter is super nice. She immediately asked me what else I’d be interested in, and is in the process of getting me another interview. So there’s that :) I know that God is in control. He has always always provided for us, and I know He will continue to do so. Just one thing I LOVE about God. He remains the same. No matter what is going on. He’s constant.
Even so, I was feeling down and mopey. Baking is therapeutic for me and I decided that I really needed some chocolate. I don’t usually make a lot of really chocolaty things because Joe is not a chocolate fanatic like me. He loves sweets, but he prefers a frosted sugar cookie to a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. Weird. I know.
So I whipped up these chocolate cupcakes.
I was disappointed with the overall taste. The frosting was too thin. It was more like a Texas sheet cake frosting. I’m all about the buttercream frosting. Nice and thick and rich. I should have known when the recipe called for so little butter. So I am posting the whole recipe because the cake part was good, but next time I would make this frosting:
http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/08/24/moist-yellow-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting/ I love Sally. I make a lot of her recipes.
The cupcake left me still craving some chocolatey goodness. So the next day, and since I had all the ingredients for puppy chow, I made a big batch of that too. I’m posting two recipes for puppy chow because one recipe has more butter in the butter to peanut butter ratio, and the other has more peanut butter. They’re both good. Let me tell you, I love PB. It’s a staple in my diet. Plus, I used some milk chocolate in the more pb recipe. I think the milk chocolate goes great with pb. So the recipes are both good, but definitely different.
Here’s the recipe for the cupcakes I made: http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2012/03/chocolate-cupcakes/
But again, the frosting recipe that I like much better: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/08/24/moist-yellow-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting/
And now for the puppy chow:
Version #1 (More butter)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
7 cups chex mix
½ cup or 1 stick butter (I use unsalted)
about 2 cups of confectioners sugar
Melt the chocolate, butter, and PB together. Melting chocolate in the microwave can be dangerous, but because of the butter and PB, it works great for this recipe. I put it in for 30 sec at a time, stirring after each 30 sec until it’s melted completely. Pour over the chex mix. Dump in a zip lock bag that has the sugar. Shake shake shake! Enjoy :)
Version #2 (more PB)
1 cup chocolate chips (this is when I used milk chocolate chips)
½ cup PB
¼ cup butter
1-2 tsp vanilla (optional)
6 cups chex mix
about 2 cups confectioners sugar
Same directions as the first recipe, but if you want to try adding some vanilla, stir it into the chocolate, pb, and butter mixture after it’s melted.
I kind of eye balled the chex mix when I made this version, so you might need a little more or less. Sorry. I would start with 6, and if it seems like there is excess chocolate mixture, you can always add more chex. If you need more chocolate mixture because it’s not coating all the chex, simply melt more choc, pb and butter. I did that once by cutting all 3 amounts in half. And if you have extra melted chocolate mixture, that is certainly not a crime. Nothing you and a spoon can’t take care of ;)
Happy chocolate indulging!
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