Homemade Granola Bars!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey (or brown rice syrup or light corn syrup)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 (plus up to 4 tablespoons) whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1 square vanilla almond bark

Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.  Set aside. - NOTE I did not have parchment paper and the first time I used wax paper - no bueno.  The second and third time I didn't use any.  I sprayed the pan with Pam Baking (with flour) and it was just fine.

In a large mixing bowl combine the butter, syrup, brown sugar and granulated sugar.  Heat on high in the microwave for 1 minute.  Remove and stir and repeat cooking on high for another minute.  Remove from the microwave and stir again.  Cook for one more minute (for a total of 3) but watch the mixture closely as it may boil and bubble over if not watched. 

Add the vanilla, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and salt.  Stir until combined.  Add the oats folding until incorporated.  Add the flour in three portions taking care to mix well after each addition.  If the mixture is still very wet and sticky, add more flour one tablespoon at a time. 

Press the mixture into the prepared pan and refrigerate for an hour to set.  

Remove from the  pan.  Melt the almost bark on low heat, then spread over the granola bars.  Cut into desired size.  

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies

Ingredients: For the cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
3 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (See Kelly's Notes)

Directions:

Make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces.
Use your hands to divide the dough in half, pressing it together to compact it into two disks. Wrap the disks securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until firm, about 1 hour.
Once the dough has chilled, roll each disk out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter. (See Kelly's Notes for cookie cutter alternatives.) Place the cut-out cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Make the coconut topping:

Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn. (See Kelly's Notes.) Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside.
Melt the caramels, milk and salt in a double-boiler by placing the caramels in a medium saucepot set over a large saucepot of simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the saucepot from the heat and combined 3/4 of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.
Carefully spread the remaining 1/4 cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it's spreadable again.
Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.



Notes:

If you don't have a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter, you can use two cookies cutters (such as a circular 2-inch and a circular 1-inch) to form the ring shape. Alternately, you can use the caps to any dry spices to serve as cookie cutters.

If the dough is too firm to roll out after being refrigerated, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling and cutting out the cookies.

If using dark chocolate chips, 8 ounces is equal to about 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips.

Coconut burns very quickly, so keep an eye on it and stir often!

Spreading the cookies with the reserved 1/4 cup of caramel gives the coconut mixture a stickier base to adhere to.

Cinnamon Bread

I found this recipe online. So yummy. Jeff and Sadie ate one whole loaf today.

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups milk, plus 2 TBS lemon juice)
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda

Cinnamon/sugar mixture

2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, 2 cups sugar and eggs. Add flour and baking soda, alternating with the milk.

Grease two loaf pans. Fill each loaf pan halfway with batter, then sprinkle part of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top. Cover with remaining batter and finish off with the rest of the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Swirl with a knife.

Bake for 45-50 minutes and let cool before removing from pan.

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

 

Ingredients

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup Canola or Vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz bag of Reese’s Mini cups

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter or shortening.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
4. In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
5. Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy. DO NOT OVER-STIR.
6. Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

Notes

*I bake my breads in a stone loaf pan, but certainly you don’t have to. BUT if you notice the bread browning too fast, lower the temperature down to 325° and loosely tent it with foil.

**Also, some readers have noticed that if you over-stir the batter the texture will be crumbly, so make sure not to over-stir!

LOW -CARB, SUGAR FREE Peanut butter cookies

Ingredients:
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Splenda, plus a little extra for dusting
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put all 4 ingredients into a medium size bowl. Mix thoroughly until well blended. Roll dough into walnut sized pieces, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Dip a long-tined fork into a small bit of splenda, and press into the balls making cross hatched design.

Cook for 12 minutes & move to cooling rack. Dust with splenda & cool. Store in an air-tight container.

Number of Servings: 16

I MADE THESE LAST NIGHT.  THEY ARE JUST AS GOOD AS MY NORMAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES I MAKE...BUT A BETTER ALTERNATIVE!!!!!

Clean Towels

This isn't really a recipe. but something I found on Pinterest.

My towels get so stinky over time. Even washing them doesn't get out the musty smell.

So, set your washer on the hottest cycle. Add 1 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup baking soda and your laundry soap. Wash. It gets the funk out of your towels. I do this with my sheets, too.

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

This is another recipe I found online. Here

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes
5 Tablespoons real butter
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below)
1- 1 1/2 Cups warm milk
1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.
Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.
Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. I put a little parsley on top to serve.

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bulb of garlic with skins on, wrap lightly in tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from foil and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove garlic from skins, place in a bowl and mash with a fork until completely mashed. Set aside. One garlic bulb will have around 12 cloves.

* My changes? I doubled everything but the pork and potatoes. This was amazing and so easy. 

Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup

I found this soup here. 

 Ingredients

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery 
1 cup finely diced carrots 
1 cup finely diced onions 
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano 
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil 
4 cups chicken broth 
½ bay leaf 
½ cup flour 
1 cup Parmesan cheese 
½ cup butter 
2 cups half and half, warmed (you can also use skim milk to make it healthier)
1 tsp salt 
¼ tsp black pepper

Directions
1.  Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker.
2.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
3.  About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper.  Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don't be afraid to always season to taste at the end).
4.  Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve.

*The only change I made was that I blended the soup in a blender before I made the roux. I like my soup smooth, not chunky. This was so good with garlic bread. YUM!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Drop spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.

*I made this recipe with just butter and the cookies spread. The second time, I used half butter half shortening and they turned out much better.

Chocolate Pan Frosting

12 TBS butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in cocoa powder and milk. Cook for 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until it is the consistency of hot fudge sauce.

Spoon over top of cooled cake, spreading evenly.

Work quickly, the frosting hardens as it cools.

Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

Blurry pic, I know.

Recipe from here.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup milk
1 egg

In a medium bowl whisk milk and egg. Place chicken in mixture and cover. Let marinade for 2-4 hours. I did an hour and a half. We were hungry.

1 1/4 cup flour
2 TBS powdered sugar (I will probably only do 1 TBS next time)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
peanut or canola oil

In a gallon sized bag, add all ingredients except oil. Place the oil in a deep frying pan and heat on medium high. Using a fork or tongs, remove chicken from egg mixture and add to flour mixture, shake to coat. Place a few in the hot oil and cook until browned on one side and flip to brown the other side. Place cooked chicken on paper towel to drain. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.

Chili's Salsa

Sorry for the terrible picture, I had to snap a shot before Jeff ran off with the bowl. 

I got the recipe here.

2 cans whole tomatoes, drained

1 small can diced jalapenos

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp lime juice

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. It has a kick to it, so if you are not a spicy fan, maybe reduce the amount of jalapenos you add. Jeff likes spice, so we added the whole can. 

Crunchy Crumb Apple Pie

Martha requested this recipe. It's awesome super yummy and the best pie I've had.

INGREDIENTS
1 refrigerated ready-to-bake pie crust (from a 15-oz box)

CRUMB TOPPING
1⁄2 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick (1⁄2 cup) cold butter, cut in small pieces

FILLING
7 medium to large tart apples (about 3 1⁄4 lb), such as Granny Smith
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
1⁄8 tsp ground nutmeg
I usually add a little more of both the cinn. and nutmeg to suit my taste.


Recipe Preparation

1.Have 9 in. pie plate and a baking sheet. Place oven rack in lowest position in oven. Heat oven to 450
2. Line pie plate with pie crust, flute or crimp edges
3. Topping:Mix flour, sugars and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter (or rub in with fingertips) until mixture forms moist coarse crumbs that clump easily.
4. Filling: Peel, halve and core apples. Cut in 1/8 in thick slices. Place in large bowl, add lemon juice and toss to coat. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over apples, toss to coat.
5. Layer apples in pie shell, mounding them higher in the middle. Pat topping evenly over apples to form a top crust. Place pie on baking sheet to catch drips.
6. Bake 15 min. Reduce temp. to 350 and bake 45 min. longer or until skewer meets some resistance when center of pie is pierced and topping is golden brown. apples will continue to cook after removed from oven. If topping is getting to dark or burned, drape a piece of foil loosely over the pie.

Pumpkin Muffnuts

Pumpkin Muffnuts? Seriously? Yeah, probably not the most appetizing name, but my friend, Casey and I came up with it on a long drive back from Utah County. It is a combination of a muffin and a donut- muffnut.

Look at those bad boys. 

I made them for a potluck at Casey's house. You know, kind of a tongue in cheek, "hey I actually made the muffnuts we were talking about." Yeah, I ate most of them before they could make it to the plate.

I got the recipe here. It is so easy. It takes 10 minutes to put everything together and 10-12 minutes to bake it all. Perfect for me, since I can't be on my feet for too long these days.

1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain pumpkin (I used pumpkin pie filling, because I didn't read the can)
1/2 cup milk

1 stick butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 TBS cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 24 cup mini muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. In a separate bowl, mix oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth, gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tins evenly. Bake for 10-12 minutes (I did 11).

Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool slightly. Dip the muffins into the butter and then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Voila! Muffnuts.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I have posted a simple recipe on here before using spice cake mix. Jeff wasn't so happy about it. So, last night I made some from scratch. YUM. He accused me of eating a whole dozen myself, to which I guffawed. But, let's be honest, he was probably right.

I found the recipe on Pinterest, which linked me to here.

As I am apt to do, I made a few modifications.

2 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups white sugar
1 cup applesauce
2 eggs
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp milk
2 TBS vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine pumpkin, sugar, applesauce and egg. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Slowly add flour to mixture. I added the vanilla and milk as the batter became a little dry.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a GREASED cookie sheet. I say that because I forgot to grease mine and was scraping crumbly cookies off of them and into my mouth. Bake for 11-12 minutes. This makes about 4 dozen.

Brunswick Stew

Brunswick Stew

6 lb. stewing chicken
3 med. potatoes, diced
2 large onions, diced
4 c. corn
4 c. tomatoes
3 t. salt
2 c. butterbeans
1 t. pepper
1 T. sugar

Cook chicken in 3 qts. water until meat is ealily removed from bones(about 2 1/4 hrs.). Add rqw vegetables and simmer, uncovered, until tender. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Add boned diced chicken, and seasonings. Let stand refrigerated overnight, to blend and enhance flavors. Serves 8 to 10.

Comments and helpful hints: You can use fresh, frozen, or canned corn; fresh or canned tomatoes; and if you don't know what butterbeans are--baby limas. I usually don't wait for the vegetables to cook completely before I put in the meat and seasonings. Cook it until it reaches the thickness that you like--and go ahead and serve it right away. When it is cooked outside in big iron pots, it sometimes is very difficult to tell what is what--just a great brown mass of delicious stew.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

OK, disclaimer. This is not my picture. I got it from this site, where I also got the recipe. I took a picture, I swear, but it wasn't on my camera this morning! This recipe has chocolate peanut icing, but I didn't have heavy cream, so I made my chocolate glaze and it was heavenly!

2 ounces unsalted butter (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
3 ounces creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I eyeballed and know I put in more than that- hee hee)

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease 9x 13 pan. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Mix together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter for 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and mix for another 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix for 1 more minute.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Then add sour cream. Mix for 20 seconds. Gradually add remaining flour mixture. Add the water in a slow steady stream and mix for 30 seconds. Add vanilla and mix. Add chocolate chips and stir by hand to finish mixing.

Pour cake batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 22 minutes. Let cool and top with chocolate icing, or the one listed in the recipe link if you so desire.

Paradise Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't get me wrong. I love my chocolate chip cookie recipe. Love it! But last night, I was feeling a little antsy and wanted to try a different recipe. I found a Paradise Bakery one. I don't know if it is their actual recipe, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Let's just say I ate a few with a cold glass of milk, and then grabbed a couple to eat on my late night walk with Jeff.

I did tweak a few things from the original recipe. I know what a whole cup of butter does to my cookies:

Preheat oven to 375.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Incorporate into the butter mixture.

Spoon drops onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes.

This seriously took me 20 minutes to mix (that includes pulling all the ingredients out) and it made 3 dozen cookies- so about 1/2 hour to bake them all.

Enchisagna

Jeff loves enchiladas and lasagna. How about mixing the two and making this delicious meal?

2 TBS olive oil
1 pound chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks
5 cups cheese (Mexican blend or whatever you have on hand)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 small can chopped green chilies
Small corn tortillas ( I used about 12)
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Brown your chicken in the olive oil, over the stove top. In a medium bowl combine soups, sour cream and green chilies.

Now onto the lasagna potion of our meal. Spoon some of the soup mixture in the bottom of a baking dish. I used a 9x 13 glass dish. Layer a few tortillas on top. Spoon more mixture, chicken and then some cheese. Repeat these layers, finishing with soup mixture and more cheese.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.

One Pot Mac and Cheese

I have been trying to find the perfect Mac and Cheese recipe. I love that stuff. I finally found a few that are in competition for top dog.

I tried this one last week. It's all in one pot. My kind of dish.

2 cups large elbow macaroni (uncooked)
2 cups milk. I used low fat
1 TBS butter (but you can omit, it won't harm the flavor)
1/2 tsp mustard powder (did you know mustard powder enhances the flavor of cheese?)
1 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheese. (I only had Colby Jack, but I think next time I want to mix Colby Jack and Sharp Cheddar- use what you like)

Okay- Quickly rinse the noodles in a colander.

In a medium sauce pan combine noodles, milk, salt and mustard powder and butter. Cook on medium heat SLOWLY. We don't want the milk to curdle. Bring it to a simmer.

When mixture comes to a simmer, reduce heat to low. Low helps the macaroni to cook and doesn't evaporate the milk too quickly.

Keep stirring!! Let noodles slowly cook. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Mine took 15. When the milk has evaporated, stir in your cheese until melted.

This was so yummy!