Rice Krispies

 I got creative with some Rice Krispies the other day. James apparently doesn't care for Krispie treats... weird! So the kids and I enjoyed these plus I shared them with my visiting teaching ladies.

These are my "Krispie KupKakes."

Then I made "Snowballs." They were easier to mold than the cupcakes as they had set up more by then.

Then I put them on skewer sticks and wrapped them in plastic and ribbon.

So yeah, it was fun. :)
Tonight I am making Krispie Pops with my kids and the kids I'm babysitting. Kinda super excited. :)

Chocolate Covered Caramel Nut Graham Clusters

I had a bunch of left over caramel Wednesday night and didn't want it to go to waste. I put on my creative cap and here's what I came up with!

 I mixed cashews, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts into the melted caramel. It wasn't quite thick enough of a mixture for my taste, so I added broken up graham crackers. I scooped them onto wax paper and let them set up over night.

I melted milk chocolate chips in my make shift double boiler and then scooped up the nut caramels. They didn't get as firm as I had hoped and stuck terribly to the wax paper. I figured they'd be firm enough though once the chocolate coating set up. I dipped and coated each of them and set them on tin foil over night.

There are still a few things I'd like to perfect, but over all they set up nicely and my family has been loving them! I now have this overwhelming desire to learn how to make some other candies and things. Probably the time of year...

Baking With Yogurt

 I got a good deal on a tub of plain yogurt last week and decided the other day that it was time to use it. I've been working hard at not wasting food. I had an old banana and a bag of apples that needed eating. I found a yummy banana peanut butter chocolate chip muffin recipe and started putting it together. I had it half way done and then went to grab the banana. I was surprised by a family of maggots. :(
 Undaunted, I pressed on! I used rolled oats in place of the banana. My mini muffins, more like cookies than muffins, were all gone within an hour! I highly recommend this recipe!!

Peanut Butter Chip Muffins

2/3 c granulated sugar

3 T oil

3 T crunchy peanut butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 c rolled oats

1/4 c low-fat plain yogurt

1/2 bag milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips

Heat oven 350

Spray mini muffin cups

Combine sugar, oil, peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda, rolled oats.

Add to batter and mix well.

Stir in yogurt and chocolate chips.

Fill cups 3/4 full. 

Bake 8 minutes.

Check with fork.

 After the muffin cookies, I started peeling apples. Lots of apples! My mom has apple trees and we've been gathering the fruit. We just haven't been eating it fast enough so I am working on ways to preserve it.

I found this recipe for Apple Crunch Bars. I tried it per the recipe directions and was really disappointed. 

 They refused to bake all the way through. The taste was good but the consistency was not. So I tried the recipe again, with several variations.

 I pressed the crust into the glass dish (instead of metal this time). I sprinkled it with chopped walnuts. (I will add more next time as they really add to the dish)

 I spread the apple mixture over the crust.

 Then I added my own crumble topping. It really seemed to need it and to make a lot more sense than the original recipe.

I baked it and was in love at first bite! I highly recommend this recipe as well and suggest topping it with a generous dollop of Cool Whip!

Julie's Apple Crunch Bars!

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c all purpose flour

1/4 c butter

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz plain low fat yogurt

2 egg whites

2 c apples, peeled and chopped

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Crumble:

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c rolled oats

3 T butter

Combine first 3 ingredients. Beat well.

Reserve 2 C. flour mix. Set aside.

Add baking soda and next 3 ingredients to flour mixture. Mix well. 

Add vanilla and next 2 ingredients. Beat well.

Stir in apple.

Press reserved 2 C. flour mixture into bottom of greased 9x13x2 glass baking dish.

Sprinkle with walnuts.

Spread apple mixture over crust. 

Mix the crumble ingredients together and use hands to combine.

Sprinkle crumbled over apples.

Bake at 350.

30-40 minutes.

Check at 30 minutes.

 I will be doing more baking and experimenting tomorrow. Feeling the passion again!

Carribean Pork & Rice

 Today I made Carribean Pork with brown rice. I found the recipe in my Namebrands cook book. It's a battered old book that I pulled out of my mom-in-law's donation pile. I LOVE this book!
 So the taste was nice and I enjoyed it, but it needed something more. I'm thinking maybe cream of chicken soup would have done the trick.
 I did end up adding crunchy Chow Mein noodles, shredded cheese, and lettuce. It worked well with the dish.

 Brown pork on all sides in butter.

 Add onion and garlic. I forgot to buy fresh garlic and had to use powder. I think it would have been better with real garlic. 
Saute until onions are soft.

 Stir in pineapple juice, water, lime peel and juice, thyme, salt and cayenne.
I didn't have cayenne and used chili powder instead.

 Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

 Mix small amount of pan juices with cornstarch.
Pour back into pan.

 Add bell peppers and pineapple. I added orange peppers since I had them. I love the colors!
Cook until sauce boils and thickens.

We ate ours over rice but the recipe said to spoon it over lettuce leaves.

Ingredients:
1 can pineapple in syrup
1 lb boneless pork loin, cubed (I used spare ribs since that was what was on sale)
2 T oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 1/2 C water
1/2 tsp grated lime peel
1 T lime juice
1 tsp thyme, crumbled (I used dry powder)
1 tsp Salt
1/8 Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Cornstarch
1 med green bell pepper- julienne cut
1 medium red bell pepper- julienne cut
6 C salad lettuce

Recent adventures

So now that the baby sleeps like a person, I have started feeling the desire to get my creative juices flowing in the kitchen again!
I got a great deal on pork chops a couple of weeks ago and tried a Vietnamese recipe. Yes, random. Quite tasty though!

They were a teeny bit spicy but it was a pleasant kick. I was so proud that they were just the perfect doneness.  :)

A few days ago, I had a slightly less successful outcome on some wheat rolls. I tried two different recipes and started on them way too late so I had to rush. One of them didn't rise and was very dense. The other was too peppery, even though I followed the directions exactly. I will exchange the pepper for garlic next time. I did like my addition of sesame seeds though.

On to tonight's adventure with chicken!

I have decided to start including fish in my diet as I work to put my post baby body back together. I have started with Tilapia since it is really mild. I looked up a few recipes to try and also found a box of Cajun fish fry on clearance last week.
I tried it last night along with some mashed potatoes and gravy. It was super yummy! Like an adult fish stick. James found it too spicy but as we are preparing to go to Mexico, I think it wise to build up our spice tolerance. I really liked it!

Last night James and I tried some new recipes. It is so great to be experimenting in the kitchen again!!
 I made Indian Pakora, a deep fried appetizer.

 Par boil chunks of peeled potatoes.

Chopped onion, cauliflower, and shredded cabbage. Doesn't need to be cooked first.

 I didn't have chick pea flour as the recipe called for, and ended up using half wheat/half white. I would really like to try the chick pea next time to get the full Indian effect.

After manually mixing the flour, oil and spices, you blend them for 5 minutes to make the batter fluffy.

Add the veggies into the batter and coat well.

Fry in boiling olive oil.

Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. We ate them with ketchup, but next time I want to try something a little more authentic. They were a big hit for the whole family!

Our cherry tree produced enough cherries for one batch of pie filling.

I washed, seeded and chopped the cherries and cooked them with sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. As James is our resident pastry expert, I left the dough making to him.

It turned out beautifully of course. James has perfected the art of pie making. I especially love the sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon on top that gets all caramelized. Yum!

St. Patty's Cookies

Princess "O"-- my daughter-- and I decided to do a fun project for St. Patty's while little boy slept.
I found some paper plates at Joanne's for half price and I took advantage of Maceys' one day deal yesterday to get huge bags of Skittles and Starbursts for just .99 each.
The recipes I used are from my cooking class in high school. They turned out so freakin yummy that I will be including them for your baking enjoyment.

The Princess did most of the dry ingredients.

She helped with the wet ingredients but I did most of it. Holy BUTTER!!! This recipe is NOT for the diet conscious. It called for 4 sticks of butter just for the batter. Butter sure does make for yummy treats though!

Cleaning off the paddle to change to another one that would be suitable for adding in the dry ingredients.

Adding green food coloring to the batter!

 The Princess and the cookies.

Green cream cheese frosting. Seriously the BEST frosting I have EVER eaten!! I know that's a big claim, make it yourself and you will see what I mean!

 Frosting the cooled cookies.

Getting ready to plate them for a few neighbors.

Princess and Little Boy with the cookies they decorated and ate.

Daddies and Mommies need yummy, colorful treats too!!!

Recipes

Sugar Cookies

4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 C butter, softened

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 C dairy sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

Sift flour with baking powder, soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. At low speed, beat in sour cream and vanilla until smooth. 

Gradually add flour mixture, beating after each addition until well combined. Here I added the green food coloring. Form dough into a ball, wrap in waxed paper or foil, refrigerated several hours or overnight. I omitted the cooling. Still worked great!

Divide dough into 4 parts. Preheat oven to 375. I did 350 on mine as it bakes hot.

Lightly grease cookie sheets. On well floured surface, roll dough one part at a time to 1/4" thickness. Cut with cutter and using spatula, move cookie to cookie sheets. I didn't bother rolling the dough out. Instead, I sprayed Pam on my hands and made balls of dough and then slightly flattened them.

Bake 10-12 minutes. I did 9 minutes for mine. You may have a great oven and not have to mess with the called for times or temps but don't be sad if you have to experiment a bit. I feel your pain. ;)

Cream Cheese Frosting 

I had to double this recipe to cover all of my cookies. The cookie recipe makes LOTS of cookies!

 3 T butter, softened

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 C Cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla 

Beat butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice and cream cheese, beating until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Here's where I added the food coloring. Frosts 12-14 cupcakes or one 9-inch cake. Or about half the above cookie recipe.

Enjoy!!!

Please let me know if you try this recipe out and how you like it!!!