The Miss Elaine-ous Life

random acts of life, family and photos

Brownies in Uganda

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I’ve been keeping up with my next guest blogger for a while!  I think she and I would be good friends in real life because she likes to cook and bake and I think she writes like she talks, even though I’ve never met her. In other words, I believe she is a truly genuine person and that shines through in her blog posts.


Vanessa and her family are Canadians who are currently living in Uganda and she has two adorable boys (I mean seriously, SO cute!) and her third son is due in September!  On Fridays she posts Friday Links and sends us off  to other wonderful things she has found on the web.  I really enjoy checking them out each week to see what she has found that I probably have not!


Please welcome her and visit her at her blog, Strickly Speaking.  You can also find her on twitter too – @vanster.

I started reading The Miss Elaine-ous Life several years ago before Baby K was born. Elaine had two boys and I was probably at least pregnant with my second son. I could relate to her, I loved her positive outlook on life but without being cheesy or too perfect. She was someone who I felt blogged as she lived; transparently. And I am drawn to people who seem normal and real. Aren’t we all?

So when Elaine asked me to guest post on her blog I was flattered. I’ve been blogging for a long time, but mainly for myself and for family. I’m not sponsored by anyone and I don’t have a fancy template. I do type faster than I can journal and that’s mainly why I started blogging in the first place.

Right now I’m 35 weeks pregnant with my third son, living in Uganda and as I type this we are experiencing another power outage.

Almost a year ago, my husband, my two boys and I moved from Toronto, Canada to Kampala, Uganda for 2 years. One year down, one more to go. This year has been an interesting one full of challenges, beauty, bugs and lizards and learning to bake things in an oven with no temperature gage!

I love cooking and baking. It brings me joy and is somewhat therapeutic for me. When we run out of gas for our stove/oven, {they call it a “cooker” here} I feel lost and a bit stressed. I’ve learned how to be more consistent with making a meal plan and have had to learn how to “make do” with less or slightly different or unusual ingredients.

That being said, I wanted to share this delicious and incredibly easy brownie recipe that has saved our team {this past year we had two other Canadian single guys here with us} here from turning into grumpsters {on more than one occasion} when the culture is too demanding or we’re stuck in chaotic traffic jams {just called “jams” here} or our water cuts out for hours, if not days. 

Make this. Be happy. Make others happy.

Deliciously Easy Brownies
Ingredients:
¾ cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 eggs
¾ cup flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Make it!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
In a large bowl, blend the melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together. Gradually blend into the egg mixture.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes {since I have no idea how hot my oven actually is, it usually ends up being closer to 20-25 minutes for me} or until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the brownies cool {if you can!} and then cut into squares and enjoy!



This is a really versatile recipe.  I’ve thrown in chopped up pieces of a delicious Cadbury chocolate bare we get here called Mint Crisp and made mint chocolate brownies {amazing, by the way!} and just this Sunday for my youngest son’s birthday party, I threw in a a banana I had that was super ripe.  Delicious!  Oh heck, slather on some chocolate butter cream icing while you are at it…  Yum! 

Comments

  1. I love brownies. But all my from scratch efforts have failed. I must try again.

    I think it is amazing that you and your family are serving in Uganda and that you’re having a baby while doing it! God bless you!

  3. Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing!
    I’ll have to stop and visit your blog soon. I have three boys myself. 🙂