Nikki's Amazing Mug Brownie

This post is in honor of my friend, Nikki Harker, who gave me this recipe. Nikki has, if possible, a bigger sweet tooth than myself. Until I met her, I'd never heard of the glory that is a personal mug brownie. She has gone through many drafts and versions of mug brownies until she has perfected this one and now I want to keep it in a safe place to look back on often. (Just to be clear, Nikki is still alive and well! Pregnant in fact with her first child which is super exciting. This isn't a memorial post. Gosh if it was I'm pretty sure I could immortalize her with something better than a mug brownie recipe!)

It was your typical Thursday. You know the drill, class, lunch with your pregnant bestie, routine doctor's appointment, find out you're actually 31 weeks pregnant not 30, work and then prenatal yoga class. Since I was so busy all day I really wasn't hungry until I got home from Yoga and the one thing I wanted was, you guessed it, a brownie.

A personal mug brownie in my personal 'K' mug

Thanks to Nikki constantly talking up this recipe, I finally snagged it from her after a Young Women's activity (she is the Beehive Adviser in our Ward) and set to work. I quickly gathered the ingredients, combined them in a mug and turned on the microwave. Truly that simple! In about 2 minutes I had a steaming mug of brownie just for me. I topped it off with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and went to enjoy this creation. Before I got to work, I realized my pregnant belly is now the perfect size and shape to hold my bowl, or in this case mug, of food without assistance from my hands. It was glorious. You know the scene in the TV show Friends when Pheobe is pregnant with the triplets and she has a bowl of cereal on her belly? I've been watching every episode since the beginning of my pregnancy and have been waiting for this stage. It has finally arrived! What fun.

The joys of being pregnant... I might miss this when it's over

And now, without further adieu, here is the recipe for the best mug brownie you've ever had! (Ok so it was my first ever and I might be bias but honestly why would I go looking for a better recipe when this one is clearly amazing?)

Personal Mug Brownie

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar + extra (she was insistent that I add extra because it's never sweet enough)
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cinnamon
1 drop vanilla
2 TBSP canola/vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

1. Mix all the ingredients in a mug.
2. Microwave for 1 minute plus until the edges come off "cleanly" from the mug and is no longer gooey. (I did it for 1 min 45 sec and I thought it was slightly over done but pretty close to perfect.)
3. Let it cool for a few minutes before eating. Top with ice cream, fudge, caramel, marshmallows, cherry, fruit or nothing and just eat it plain. Savor every delicious personalized bite!

So worth the wait

April Showers bring... another random update on the Jacksons!

Since our last post a few things have happened in the exciting lives of Scott and Kiersten. The main thing is Kiersten's belly continues to grow daily. She is getting better at detecting the baby's movements which are both fun and at certain times annoying, specifically when it's time to go to sleep and the baby insists its time for a rave inside mommy's womb. Calm down kid! But the miracle of life is truly amazing.

26 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks

Ready for a quick update run down? Here goes!

January: The Blizzard of 2016 hit us hard. The snow fell for a glorious 2 1/2 days and we ended up with about 2 feet in our area. Scott's parent's were in the eye of the storm and got 3 feet. We both love snow and enjoyed every minute of it. The federal government closed on Monday and Tuesday and Kiersten's classes were cancelled the entire week. An impromptu Winter Break. This was just about the only snow we got all winter but it sure was a lot! The last of the snow finally melted in our parking lot by the end of March.

That's Scott on Saturday morning after it had been snowing about 15 hours

February: For President's Day and Valentine's Day weekend we drove up to Vermont for our second annual trip to Stratton Ski Resort. This time we did an airbnb in upstate NY right along the NY/VT border with some BYU alum friends, Mathias and Amber Gardner. Since Kiersten was unable to participate in the joys of skiing and snowboarding, she took part in some more pregnancy friendly activities such as pedicure and prenatal massage at the spa and swimming at the fitness center. Scott, Mathias and Amber FROZE on Saturday when the high for that day was 0 degrees. It was the coldest weekend Vermont had had that whole winter and we happened to be there to enjoy it with them. That night we witnessed the fireworks display in subzero temps. It was about -30. Not an exaggeration!

Snowshoeing with Amber and Mathias.
Another pregnancy approved activity!

March: Kiersten has been working more and more steadily this year and this month she worked A TON! Trying to add some income to the family finances before Baby Jackson arrives. In pregnancy news for March, Kiersten had a glucose test scare when she went in for her routine glucose screening to test for gestational diabetes. She failed the one hour test. Aghast she had to return the next week for a tortuous three hour test where they drew her blood FOUR times! Her reward was a Wendy's chicken sandwich and junior chocolate frosty. Then it was Easter weekend so she gorged on candy and delicious food with family for one last hurrah before getting the test results on Monday. She passed! No diabetes for Kiersten! Bring on the ice cream!

April: And now here we are at the start of April. Kiersten is now 30 weeks and trying her best to prepare for June. Only 2 more months! It's amazing how fast this pregnancy really has gone. Scott has been amazing through it all too. So helpful and loving.

Last weekend we had the immense joy of listening to the prophet and the Lord's chosen apostles in the most recent General Conference. I loved all the talks during the sessions but most especially Elder Christofferson's talk about Fathers. It was so timely for us as we prepare to be new parents and in today's world when Fathers don't get the credit they deserve in helping to raise and rear their children. I love my father and the other men in my life who are fathers (my brothers, I'm looking at you) and can't wait to see my adorable husband be a father to our daughter in the coming months and years. I love that we can still hear a prophet's voice today and receive counsel and guidance from our loving Heavenly Father through his mouth piece on the earth who is President Thomas S. Monson.

And now that's us all caught up. Again, can't promise that posts with be forthcoming from here on out but we shall see. School ends for Kiersten in another month and who knows what she'll do with all that extra time waiting for baby to pop.

Thanks for reading!