It's time for new things

I'm a fickle little thing and I'm feeling the need to change things up a bit around here at Hear Me Roar. Here are the likely changes you'll see happening semi-soon:

1. I'm likely moving over to Wordpress. I think so. I'm almost sure. I hate Blogger's comments section. I want to be able to comment back on specific comments. I also want to section out my blog so I can have multiple sections - which takes us to point two . . .

2. I'm probably going to segment the blog out a little bit and add a section on cooking. This is primarily inspired by my niece, Jenell, who called me yesterday and said, "Aunt Stef, I need you to show me how to cook. Can I have some of your recipes?" She's young, married just a few years with two little kids and a husband who works a lot. She needs some basic recipes and techniques to work with; the basics and a bit more. I said I would send her recipes and then I thought, OH MY GAWD, I can't imagine organizing my recipes enough to send to her without doing something MORE with them, you know? Like putting them out there in a blog for other people to use. So, that's just what I'm going to do. 

3. Name change. Yep, I'm changing Hear Me Roar to something else. I have a few ideas. Nothing set in stone yet, but maybe something with "sassy" in the title. Because I'm sassy. (My husband says so).  Hear Me Roar is always going to be aligned with the women's lib movement and, though I'm AM a feminist, I don't necessarily write about those things. I need a name that will reflect the foodie in me as well. So the name change is about finding a name that's perfectly me.

Back to the foodie thing. I have to admit it: I am a foodie. I love good food. My husband said the other day that he thinks when we really cook a good meal it's better than what we can get at most restaurants. Plus it's made with love just for us and our friends and family. 

I love cooking & baking. Love it. If I could quit my job I would go back to school to be a baker and open a bakery/coffee shop thing of some sort. (As if we don't have enough of those, right?) But, seriously, my husband worked as a barista eons ago and managed a coffee shop - we could do this. The thought just absolutely makes me giggle. And if it was a used book store too? Heaven.

Okay, so that's a bit of a pipe dream, right? Right. In the meantime I'll be changing my blog so keep an eye out.

3 words: Chocolate Mug Cake

Warning: this post is for chocoholics. If you are not a chocoholic then you may want to go on your merry way until I get around to my next post about something that isn't about chocolate. It might be a while. 

A few weeks ago my husband sent me a link to a cake recipe he wanted me to make. This is unusual because, generally speaking, he doesn't like me to bake. I mean, he likes baked goods as much as you and I (well, maybe not as much as me) but he's trying to lose weight. I, on the other hand, am watching my weight . . . watching it stay the same. 

Moving on.

So this past Friday night the boys were asleep (or in bed, at least) and the hubby went outside to smoke a cigar (deplorable habit) and I wanted a little something. Just something dessert-like. With chocolate, of course. It's not a dessert unless it's made with chocolate. 

Then I remembered the mug cake recipe! Excellent idea. I tracked down the recipe in my email inbox and quickly skimmed the ingredients list. 

Whoa, what's self-rising flour? Seriously, I have to buy a special flour? 

Time to do some Googling.

I was happy to find out that it's super easy to make self-rising flour. Essentially for each cup of all-purpose flour you just need to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix. Easy-peasy lemon squeezey. I made a cup of it and stored it in my pantry for future mug cakes.

I didn't have Nutella (or Justin's Nut Butter which, according to my friend Joni, is even better than Nutella and possibly better for you) so I ran to the store. At 10:30 at night in my comfy clothes. (Needless to say, Must.Have.Chocolate prevailed). No Justin's Nut Butter in my local Albertson's so I picked up the Nutella and whipped cream. Normally I make whipped cream from scratch but I was trying to make things simple and quick so I got a can. 

10 minutes later I was sitting on my sofa, turning on House Hunters International and eating chocolate cake out of a mug. 

I was, in fact, eating this very thing: 

Here's the full recipe & instructions:

Nutella Mug Cake

4 tablespoons self rising flour
4 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons Nutella (or Justin's Nut Butter)
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola preferably)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large coffee mug (the large part is important if you want to keep your microwave clean). Whisk well with a fork until smooth. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 – 3 minutes. Time depends on microwave wattage. Mine took 1 minute, 40 seconds. If you cook it too long it will be dry. The top should look kind of wet but if you stick a toothpick in (or a finger, like me) then it should be cake-like inside. 

Like this:

See where I stuck my finger in?

2. Toppings. I topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup & a sprinkle of cinnamon. I have a suspicion that warm, soft caramel drizzled on top of the cake and then topped with whipped cream would be freakin' fantastic.

The recipe makes 1 very large serving. This is a perfect shared dessert with your honey if you are feeling all romantical. (If your honey is being a butthead then DO NOT SHARE. This is serious stuff, man). I luuuurve chocolate but I could only eat about half and then put the rest in the fridge for the hubby the next day (yes, the next day. Due to the previous butthead instruction). So on Saturday morning I told him what I made and he bee-lined for the fridge. He ate half of it cold but I think it was even better after I warmed it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so.

It doesn't have a real Nutella flavor that I could detect. I wonder if playing with the amount of Nutella, or changing when the Nutella is added (like after it's all mixed up, or mid-cooking process) would provide more of that hazelnut flavor. Hmmm, if you try any variations please let me know. 

Enjoy!

(I should note that neither Nutella, Justin's Nut Butter or Albertson's knows me and I'm not endorsing any particular product or business. Except for chocolate. We are intimate friends).