Hillary's Carmel Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (1/2 cup regular milk with a dash of vinegar)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
vanilla to taste - about 1 1/2 tsp

Melt butter, add buttermilk. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Add the baking soda. The sauce will rise, cook in a tall pan.

This sauce is more like syrup. It's divine on french toast, pancakes, ice cream...pretty much anything. Like I said, it's more like syrup than sauce.


When I was in Ecuador, I'd make myself french toast and carmel sauce every morning after a Noc shift (Noc was the night shift, so we'd go at night and leave when the next group of volunteers got there in the morning).


It's called Hillary's Carmel Sauce because Hillary was one of the project managers, and she introduced us to this recipe. I have since come across it in other cookbooks, but to me it'll always be Hillary's recipe. Pin It

Mustard Sauce

Mix in saucepan:

1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp dry mustard (powder)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch

Add:

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vinegar

Mix over medium heat. Add:

2 TBSP butter

Cook over medium heat for fifteen minutes. Yields 1 1/2 cups.

We put this mustard sauce over ham. I would literally make a ham JUST so I can have mustard sauce. When I visited my parents over Christmas and we had ham, I had to phone my mother-in-law to get the recipe just so I had mustard sauce to go with my ham. If you find something else to eat mustard sauce with, please be sure to let me know! Pin It

Yummy Rolls

Mix together: 1 cup margarine - melted
2 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs

Add & Mix: 2 TBSP yeast - then let it sit until it bubbles up (around 7 - 10 minutes) See picture:



Mix, add, and mix again: 1 tsp baking powder

Mix in gradually: 6 1/2 cups flour


Let rise until dough doubles (about an hour). Divide dough into thirds, or if you want smaller rolls you can do fourths. Roll out into a circle. Cut into 12 equal triangles. Start at the top and roll as tight as you can. Put on a pan, about three rows of six rolls. Let rise for a little bit but not too much. About 15 minutes. Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees F or until golden brown.

Rolls are soft and fluffy, not flaky like a croissant.


Fun Varieties: Still bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees F or until golden brown.

Almond Rolls: (note by Deborah: This is the only way I make these rolls. They are to die for. You will crave them for days afterwards.) Mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle.

Spread about 4 TBSP of melted butter on dough (note from D: I don't bother with melted butter. It's too messy to me. I just spread regular butter and it melts in the oven.)

Then sprinkle with mixture.

Follow directions from original recipe. Cut into triangles. Starting from fat end, roll tightly.

Put on a pan (note from D: I've never sprayed the pan for fear of making the rolls soggy on the bottom, but I think you probably could) and let rise for 30 - 40 minutes. (Note from D: Yeah right! As soon as I get those puppies on the pan they go in the oven! They'd probably be bigger and fluffier if I let them rise, but I can't wait that long.)

You can sprinkle a little sugar, or the mixture, on top to give it a little extra something. Or you can frost it while the rolls are still hot.

Eat these with dinner, for breakfast, or as a snack. Eat them, and you'll always want more. Mmmmmm.

Cinnamon rolls: Instead of using almond roll mixture, put butter and then sprinkle whatever toppings you want inside: brown sugar, cinnamon sugar, nuts, raisins, craisins, coconut. Let rise for 30 - 40 minutes. Bake and frost while hot.

Chicken roll-ups: Mix together 4 oz softened cream cheese, 2 cups cooked and cubed turkey or chicken, 1 can of mushrooms drained and diced, and chopped onions. Roll out half the dough into a rectangle, cut so that the pieces are in smaller rectangles (about a dozen of them). Put some of the mixture onto the dough, fold over and pinch the edges. These don't have to rise. After they are done baking, serve with a hot gravy made from cream of chicken soup and milk.

This dough can also be used for scones or pizza dough (just roll out onto sprinkled dry corn meal).

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Mom's Five Chip Cookies

1 cup Crisco shortening or butter
2 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
chips: butterscotch, milk chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, white chocolate, mini kisses or peanut butter or swirls or vanilla.

Beat together shortening and eggs. Add flour, salt and banking soda and mix. Add sugars and vanilla and mix. Stir in chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.



These cookies are absolutely a favorite in our house! My mom sent them to me while I was in Ecuador. Every time we go on a family trip Tyler says, "Are you going to make your mom's cookies?" I think there would be mutiny if I ever tried to make a different kind.


If you notice, there are no measurements for the chips. That's because I don't know how much is supposed to go in. I usually just pour in a bit of all the chips until it looks like there are enough. Maybe a fourth to a half a cup of each. And I usually just use whatever I have in my freezer for variety. That means my cookies are usually four chip: milk, semi-sweet, and white chocolate and butterscotch. Yes, I always have those kinds of chips on hand because Tyler loves cookies, and he loves these cookies.


The recipe says to bake for 8 - 10 minutes. I pull them out right at 8 minutes because I've found that even at 9 minutes they flatten out and turn crispy. So if you like flat, crispy cookies (and some people do!) then you can let them go for a little longer.


Enjoy! Pin It

Q-tip: Spaghetti

Spaghetti is boring. The same old same old. Right?

*shrug* Depends on who you ask. If you're askin' me, no. It's not boring. But that's probably because We don't just eat warmed spaghetti sauce from a jar on top of noodles.

Spaghetti is a very versatile thing. Add meat and the whole thing changes. Ground beef is a normal choice for sure. We usually brown a pound of hamburger, then I save half of it and freeze it for future spaghetti uses. Or try making it with meatballs instead of just browning ground beef. That'd be a treat.

Bored with beef? Try ground pork. Tyler LOVES spaghetti with ground pork. My mom used to make it with sausage. That's a favorite of mine. Or try chicken.

Chicken? Yes. chicken.

So you've tried all the meat options and decide you love it with beef, but it's still boring. What now? Try changing the pasta. There's an idea. Eat spaghetti with angel hair, bow tie, elbow macaroni, penne, or rotini (the swirly pastas). They all taste pretty much the same but you'd be surprised how much of a difference it will make.

So you decide you like the chicken and the rotini the best. What now?

Here is my new favorite idea. Add a jar of Alfredo sauce to your spaghetti sauce. Yes, Alfredo. My sister, Maura, does this all the time and calls it tomato cream sauce. I just ate it tonight for the first time and loved it. Tyler loved it too. He even went back for seconds. It's easy, it's delicious, it's new. What more could you ask for?

Let's say you make regular spaghetti and beef, but you make too much. Dreading leftovers? Don't. Butter fry your left over spaghetti and it will taste better the second night than it did the first. Just melt some butter - a lot of butter - in a skillet and dump in your leftovers. Heat until warm and the noodles have turned orange. Oooooohhh, it's so delicious.

So. Now you have some ideas for ways to dress up your spaghetti.

Enjoy! Pin It

Dangerous Chocolate Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips, optionals
mall splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug





Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time - day or night!

I'm eating this right now. I'm surprised to discover that's it's light and fluffy. I expected it to be dense and rich. It's pleasant and I don't feel all that bad about eating it all because it's so light.

It may look gross, but trust me, it's delicious. I topped mine with a little chocolate syrup. Next time I'm going to put some cherries on top. Mmmm.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

chicken breasts, sliced into 2"strips
cornstarch
1 dash salt
oil
egg
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
3/8 cup vinegar
1 TBSP soy sauce

Dip chicken in beaten egg, then coat in cornstarch. Fry in oil until brown on edges. Place in pan. Combine remaining ingredients in a sauce pan to make sauce and bring to boil. Pour over the top of the chicken and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Baste while baking.

I won't lie, this recipe is deceiving in it's easiness. The first part is kind of hard and very messy. It uses a LOT of cornstarch, so to cut it back a little, try mixing in a bit of flour. The consistency will change just a bit, but not too much.


I usually double the sauce (as usual) and make plenty for leftovers. This is such an amazing dinner! I promise, you'll never go to Fong's again...or whatever cheapo Chinese food place you frequent. This is a hundred times better.


Serve with Fried Rice. Pin It

Fried Rice

1/4 cup oil
2 eggs, well beaten
1 - 2 cups chopped ham
3 cups cold, cooked rice
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
2 TBSP soy sauce

Scramble eggs in oil. Add meat, saute for 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook, occasionally stirring, until warm. Serve with your favorite main dish, like Sweet and Sour Chicken or Teriyaki Meatballs.

We generally follow this recipe as is. Why mess with perfection? We do not use real ham because that's too expensive. We use the fake ham ("meat" that's molded, dyed and flavored to look and taste like ham) and it's a lot cheaper.


Occasionally we won't have green onion and we'll use a yellow onion instead. The flavor isn't as good, but it still works just fine.


Usually we double this recipe so that we have plenty of leftovers. Pin It

Q-tip: Meatballs

Meatballs are awesome. I love meatballs. You can put them in spaghetti, serve them over rice, make a bunch of them at once and freeze them...the possibilities are endless! And don't get me started on flavors.

The thing I've found with meatballs is that it's the sauce that really makes the dish. I have a generic recipe for meatballs and I switch it up depending on the sauce.

I always use seasoned bread crumbs, egg, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, and dehydrated onions. Sometimes I add some wheat germ or corn meal for extra folic acid or something. Occasionally I put rice in them, though I don't have a ton of luck with that.

The biggest trick with meatballs and making them healthy is this: bake them instead of fry them. My mom always baked her meatballs, so it was weird to me to see a recipe that called to fry the meatballs. That's just crazy talk! Bake them for less oil, less grease, and better chances of having your meatball cooked thoroughly. Also, make them smaller so they'll cook faster.

Cheers! Pin It

Teriyaki Meatballs

3 lbs ground beef
3 cups quick oats
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 large onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup oil
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 cup brown sugar
a/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 TB flour

Combine onion and oil in fry pan. Cook onions. Combine ketchup, vinegar, mustard, garlic salt, brown sugar, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and flour in saucepan. Mix together with onions and simmer for 1 hour. While sauce is simmering, make meatballs: mix ground beef, eggs and oats.

*D: That's the recipe. Here's how I do it:


I disregard the recipe. Honestly. I make meatballs the way I make them: ground beef (one pound for the two of us, but I'd use three pounds if you've got more than four people eating), an egg per pound, seasoned bread crumbs, garlic powder, dehydrated onion, pepper, Mrs. Dash, and Worcestershire. I mix it up, form the meatballs, put them in a glass baking dish, pour the sauce over the top and bake at 350 - 400 degrees for about a half hour.


The sauce I do NOT simmer for an hour. No thanks. I mix the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce and heat until mixed (about 5 - 10 minutes). The dry mustard gives it a little more of a kick, so I don't always add it. I do not add the flour or garlic salt. I just don't.


Serve these bad boys over rice or pasta or with steamed potatoes and corn. Mmmm. Pin It

New York Cheesecake

15 graham crackers (1/2 grahams, so 7 1/2 whole crackers)
2 TBSP butter, melted
4 packages of cream cheese, 8 oz each
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c milk
4 eggs
1 c sour cream
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1/4 c flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" springform pan. This is a springform pan:



There's a glass, or metal, disc in the bottom or the pan and then the latch is released, the disc is removable.

Put the graham crackers in large plastic bag and crush them. I use a rolling pin and it works marvelously. In a medium bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and butter together. The mixture will be that of moist crumbs. It will not be wet, and it won't even clump together.

Press the crumbs into the bottom of the greased pan. Press them slightly higher along the edges to create a very shallow lip.

In a large bowl mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Blend in milk and then mix in eggs one at a time; just enough to incorporate them. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust. As you can see, it's very near the top. Yes, it does rise. I have never had it over flow, but I'm not willing to risk it. I put a cookie sheet under the cheesecake just in case.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn oven off and let the cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 - 6 hours. This prevents cracking.

Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Here you can see the cake has risen out of the pan.

Once it cools, it will condense again. It is important to read the instructions. But it's even more important to follow them. Leave the door closed on the oven, otherwise this will happen:

I wasn't too worried because it all tastes the same. But your cake will not crack if you leave the oven door closed. I promise.

It still looks good anyway, if I do say so myself.

Next you just need to slice it up and "doctor" it (as my in-laws say) to perfection. My drug of choice? Cherry pie filling and chocolate sauce.

Mmmm.

Tell me your mouth isn't watering right now...

Aren't you impressed? If you make this for company or your spouse or your in-laws, they will be impressed too.

And trust me, it tasted as good as it looked.

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Turtle Cookies

2 eggs
1 cup flour
3 TBSP cocoa
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients and spoon into waffle iron. Cook until done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.


This is such a fun, delicious treat. They're so stinkin' easy to make (you don't even have to preheat the oven!) and boy are they good. They use and entire stick of butter...they have to be good! A word of caution: don't fill the waffle iron with dough like you would if you were making waffles. You just get giant chocolate waffles. Spoon a little amount in and you get fun "turtle" shaped cookies. Pin It

Coconut Rice

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Natalie Heath)
1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk
1/3 -1/2 cup sugar
¾ cup milk

First rinse the jasmine rice with cold water until your water is clear and not white. Put the rinsed rice in a medium pan and combine with sugar, milk, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Cover and cook for about 25-35 minutes. Stir rice and milk every 5-10 minutes. Rice is done when milk is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve warm. Serve with Island Pork Tenderloin.

It is important to use the jasmine rice and coconut milk. It won't taste the same if you just use regular rice and only regular milk. My mom and I love a dish that is this rice topped with mango. Mmmm!! SO good. We also loved it with the Island Pork. Pin It

Island Pork Tenderloin

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Epicurious.com)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 LB total)
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar I used light brown sugar
2 TBS finely chopped garlic
1 TBS Tabasco


Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 30 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)Serve warm or cold with coconut rice.

I followed these directions except that I used a pork roast rather than tenderloin and my meat took longer to cook. So I ended up having to cut the pork into slices and continue to cook it so that it would cook faster. It turned out pretty good though because then the sauce covered all the surfaces of the meat rather than just the edges.


Mmmmmmm!!!!!! Pin It

Toffee Butter Crunch

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup finely shopped pecans or almonds

1. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan; set pan aside.

2. Butter sides of a 2-quart heavy saucepan. In saucepan melt butter; add sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium;; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently until thermometer registers 290 degrees F, soft crack stage. Watch carefully after 280 degrees F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan, spreading quickly.

3. Let candy stand about 2 minutes or until set; sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened, spread over candy. Sprinkle with nuts. Chill about 20 minutes or until firm. When firm, use foil to lift it out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

I followed this to a t and it still scorched a little. However, instead of chocolate chips, I took a Hershey's bar and broke it up, sprinkling the squares across the toffee. It worked too. The heated toffee melts the chocolate. Don't be afraid to spread it. By that point the toffee will be firm enough that you won't be misshaping it.


Enjoy! Pin It

Pin Wheels

Caramel:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup karo syrup
1/4 lb butter
1/2 cup canned milk (evaporated)
1/4 tsp salt

(triple to make a double batch) Cook caramel until firm ball (between 230 and 232 degrees). Whip slightly and pour in buttered cookie sheet. Once cool, put on wax paper on counter. Roll out melted marshmallows on top until they reach the edges. Marshmallow layer is on top of caramel layer, roll like a jelly roll. Slice and enjoy.

Marshmallow:

20 big marshmallows
powdered sugar: enough to make it a consistency that you can roll out

Put marshmallows in a glass bowl and microwave for ten seconds. Stir until they are a little gooey. Put in for ten more seconds and stir again. Repeat until marshmallows are melted. Add powdered sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a good consistency. You may knead the marshmallow with your hands if desired. Don't overcook the marshmallow or they will go hard and brittle. Pin It

Marinated Pork Chops

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 pork chops, trimmed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup.

Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce.

Bake pork chops 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 160 degrees F.


I got this recipe on allrecipes.com. Holy cow, it is DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! I will never ever ever make another kind of pork chop again. And it was so stinkin' easy. Holy cow. I mean pig. It's almost like a teriyaki chop...almost. They're so good I want to make them again. Mmmm.


The only thing I would change is that I doubled the sauce recipe and it was just barely enough. If you want a lot of sauce for dipping or if you want to serve it over rice, I suggest you at least triple, maybe even quadruple the recipe for the sauce.


Despite the title, the chops don't have to marinate. I stabbed my chops with a knife and then poured the sauce over the top so that the sauce could incorporate in the meat, but otherwise I threw those bad boys right in the oven. I did not serve them with rice, though that would have been yummy too. I served them with fried potatoes. Pin It

Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi

**Warning, this recipe is not cheap, and you must be 21 or older to make it...or at least buy the ingredients.**

1 cup white cooking wine
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, de-veined
3 tsp minced garlic.

Melt butter and mix with other ingredients. Cover shrimp with butter sauce and bake at 350* for 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to over cook the shrimp (or they will get rubbery). Shrimp is done when it has turned pink.

The last few times we have made this recipe, we have been disappointed that we can feel a burning in our throat as we eat the shrimp...aka not all the alcohol burned off. So we had to keep cooking it until it did burn off, and then the shrimp was over-cooked and it all went to pot.


So. Tonight I made this recipe again and I swore not to get my husband or myself drunk off our shrimp scampi. We value our temple recommends. What I did tonight was melt the butter, we used salted butter (I think it flavors better), and wine in a sauce pan. I cooked it to about boiling, and then I simmered for a few minutes. We also added the garlic while simmering to get the flavor in the sauce. Pour the butter sauce over the shrip and put it in the oven un-covered.


We've used the pre-cooked shrim a few times, so you just have to watch it to know when it's done (because it's already pink). We put the shrimp in the oven for about 8 minutes. We knew it was done when we could open the oven door and not feel like we were walking into a bar. Seriously, if all the alcohol isn't cooked off it smells like a drunk. A very garlicy drunk.


Enjoy! Pin It

1-2-3 Peanut Butter Cookies

1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter

Mix ingredients together and bake on cookie sheet (tablespoon sized portions flattened with a fork) for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

This has to be the easiest recipe ever created. And it was probably made easier by the fact that Tyler made them since I was a little under the weather. Have you ever seen an easier recipe? And it's quick and not to expensive either since it's mostly things you have on hand. Tyler used half creamy and half crunchy peanut butter and they were divine.


Thanks Hanna! Pin It

Chocolate fondue in a CROCK POT!

I found this awesome recipe here. I knew I just HAD to try it out and I'm so glad I did. It's mondo easy and super good. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet, dark, milk, or white. Your choice.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
optional (*Note from Deborah: You know that I do not promote the use of alcohol, especially in recipes where the alcohol does not cook off. However, I told you I'd leave recipes in their original form, so I have. Furthermore, I think these may give you an idea of different ways you could flavor your fondue.)
you can doctor this up with:
1 T Grand Marnier
1 T rum1 T Peppermint Schnapps
1 T Bailey's Irish Cream
1 tsp peppermint, orange, coconut, etc. extract
pinch of espresso powder
The Directions.
The proportions here fit into a Little Dipper. Although the booklet that comes with the Little Dipper says that it only holds 1 cup of contents, I proved this wrong with my earth-shattering discovery that a whole can of Progesso Clam Chowder fits perfectly.

If you do not have a Little Dipper (psst. the holidays are coming...) you can put an oven-safe dish inside of a larger crock pot. Do not add water. There's no need to create a water bath for melting chocolate in the crock pot. It melts nice and slow. Or! you can quintuple the recipe and have a good ol' time.

Put chocolate chips in the crock pot. Add the heavy cream and teaspoon of vanilla. Cover. Plug in and cook on low (or the ON setting for the LD) for about an hour. Stir. Serve with apple chunks, banana slices, cubes of pound cake, strawberries, or marshmallows.

Isn't this the perfect recipe? It's easy, it's entertaining, it's delicious, it's impressive, and it is SO good! If I gave out gold stars, this would get five.

I tripled the recipe because we had company coming over. It was more than enough. But that's ok because guess what? It re-warms nice and easy and might almost be better the second day
.

Mmmmm, I love chocolate. Tyler prefers milk chocolate to semi-sweet, so that's what we used. But it might be a little too rich for the faint of heart.

I freeze my chocolate chips to make them last longer. I did put frozen chips in the recipe. It took a little longer for them to melt, but it was ok. It just meant that I had to stir every ten minutes or so to make sure the outside melted chocolate wasn't burning.

In goes the cream. Yes, we used heavy whipping cream like the recipe calls for. You'll only need a pint. Like I said, I tripled the recipe and had about a half cup left of cream.

The melted chocolate makes me think of Willy Wonka and the fat kid who gets sucked up into the tube because he fell in the chocolate river. If the river was made of this chocolate, let me just tell you that it'd be worth it!

And here:

We have Kadie, Kaleb, Ryan and Tyler. We just put the crock pot in the middle and made everyone swear on pain of death that they wouldn't double dip. We served marshmallows (strawberry and regular, but you honestly can't taste anything but fluffy chocolate), pineapple (canned, but you could use fresh if your ambitious), maraschino cherries, banana slices, and apple slices. They were all someone's favorite. We wanted to try strawberries, but they were outrageously expensive.

We're not fancy, we don't have fondue sticks. We just used forks (or hands as Tyler is demonstrating) and they worked swimmingly.

This is so good, you really should try it. It'd be a great dessert idea for company or for Valentine's Day.

Cheers!

Pin It

The World's Best Fish Recipe

If your house is like mine, your husband/father/brother/son likes to go out and bring home the bacon...or wild game of some sort. And then you're left scratching your head saying, "What do I do with a dead fish?" Or "how do I prepare elk meat?"

For years Tyler would bring home a fish and expect me to prepare it. And being the doting, loving, submissive wife I am (haha! *snort*), I always obliged. So for years we ate fish seasoned with butter, garlic and dill. Sounds good, right? No. Wrong. It's not good. Wild fish taste like what they eat. What do they eat in a lake or river? A lot of moss and bugs. Yeah. Ew. Butter and dill are great on a salmon or a halibut. But they don't go well with moss.

After that I dreaded Tyler going fishing because I didn't want to have to make whatever he caught. I think he dreaded it too because he didn't want to have to eat it. But then we found a couple of really good recipes, and now we LOVE when he brings home fresh fish!

This is his most recent spoil. Caught from Henry's Lake here in Idaho. Tyler was pretty proud of it. I always look at raw food suspiciously. If it still has scales and fins (or fur or feathers) it's not quite food yet. As soon as it's nicely packaged and sitting on the shelf at the grocery store, then I think of it as food. Anyway, here is the recipe that had no name, so I gave it one:)

The World's Best Fish Recipe

1 salmon fillet (we never catch salmon around here, so we use trout. I'm sure you could buy salmon and use this recipe. And when it says fillet, it's not talking a little chunk of fish, it's talking one half of the fish meat that has been cut away from the scales and bones to make a nice portion of fish.)
2 cups fresh lemon juice (we use concentrated lemon juice, so we only use about a fourth to a half of the called amount)
1 cube butter (yes, it pains me to say that Tyler uses real butter in this recipe. I didn't find this out until last night when he replied, "why do you think you like it so much?")
1 T Fish seasoning of choice (we use Old Bay, but you could use a designated fish seasoning, dill, garlic blend, thyme, a mixture of all kinds of seasonings...)
1/4 cup brown sugar (essential ingredient)
lemon zest (we do without)
black pepper

Preheat the over at 350*.
Make a tin foil bowl (on a cookie sheet) and place the fillet inside. Melt the butter and mix with lemon juice, seasoning, pepper, and brown sugar. Drizzle the butter mixture over the fish.
Once the oven is preheated, switch to broil. Put the fish on the upper rack. Check on the fish after 8 - 9 minutes. Pull the meat using a fork. If the meat is pink and flaky, the fish is done.
Once preheated, switch to broil.

Mmmmm. Look at all that butter! That's liquid gold in our house!


It really is very tasty. It's sweet and tangy and you can't even taste moss:) I hope you get to use this recipe sometime. Pin It

Ranch Chicken with Cheese

1/2 c Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing
1 TBSP all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Combine dressing and flour in a shallow bowl. Coat each chicken breast with dressing mixture. Place on ungreased baking pan. Combine cheddar and Parmesan cheeses; sprinkle on chicken. Bake at 375* for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.

First of all, can I just say YUM!!! I LOVE this recipe. Tyler...not so much. He tolerates it for my sake:) I got it out of a Ranch cookbook. All the recipes include Ranch. Heaven. I'm in heaven. Ok, back to earth. This is one of those recipes I've made so much and I changed so long ago that I really don't know what I do. But let me say this, 1/2 cup of Ranch dressing is NOT enough for 4 chicken breasts. I'd double it at least. Then if you need more you can always make more.


Also, who has shredded Parmesan on hand? Not me. I use the fake powder stuff and mix it in with the Ranch and flour.


You know how I am with coating chicken, I just pour the ingredients over the top, making sure there is enough extra sauce for dipping. Then I cover with cheese. I don't sprinkle. Sprinkling is for weaklings. I cover with cheddar cheese. Then I bake until the cheese is melted and the chicken is done. Absolutely delicious! Pin It

Cheesy Hamburger Hash

1 lb ground beef
1 TBSP butter or margarine
1 bag refrigerated diced potatoes with onions
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1 TBSP pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning
1 1/2 c shredded pizza cheese blend (mozzarella and cheddar)
2 TBSP fresh parsley

1. Cook beef in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. Remove beef and drippings from skillet.

2. Melt butter in same skillet. Add potatoes. Cover and cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in beef, tomatoes, and pizza seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

3. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Cover and heat until cheese is melted.

I got this recipe from a quick and easy cook book. Want to know why it's quick and easy? Because the ingredients are already prepared! Ok, so that makes it quick and easy, but it also makes it pricey. I am not about to buy frozen potatoes when I live in potato country. (Tyler raises his eyebrows at me when I buy frozen seasoned fries, but he's learned to live with it.) I don't buy a can of diced tomatoes, I dice my own. And I don't buy shredded cheese. I just use a little elbow grease and shred it myself.


Here's how I do it: I brown the hamburger. Then I throw in the potatoes - into the same skillet with the beef. If I'm not in a hurry I'll pull out the meat and drain off the grease, brown the potatoes and then throw the meat back in. But if I'm in a crunch, the potatoes go in with the meat (once the meet is cooked). I season heavily with garlic powder, onion powder, and Mrs. Dash. I use Mrs. Dash religiously. So if you're not a Mrs. Dash kind of person, just use some sort of seasoning you think would go well on fried potatoes. You can use pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning if you want/have it. I just never have.


Voila. The meal is complete. It's pretty much just frying meat and potatoes. I dish out the hash, sprinkle it with cheese and top it off with diced tomatoes if I have them. If I don't I do without. Salsa might also be pretty good on this. Try it out and let me know.


PS. I fry potatoes all the time, but you may be new to this. When I fry potatoes I first melt butter in a skillet. I chop my potatoes small because the smaller they are the faster they will cook. Once the butter is melted, I pour in the potato chunks. Then I LEAVE THEM ALONE until I hear them start to sizzle and I can see the edges darkening (you can see the potato cook). I season them and stir them up to fry the other side. They are done when they are soft, but I love my crispy, so I cook mine until they crunch on the outside. Mmmmmm. Pin It

SUSHI!!

Look me in the eye and tell me you've never wanted to try/make sushi. We are a big sushi family, but it is SO expensive. Well, here is a "relatively" cheap way to make sushi. I say relatively because the ingredients are pricey, but you can make many rolls of sushi with the ingredients.

This is a basic recipe.

You will need:
sea weed paper (I am not a huge fan of the sea weed. It's fine, but I prefer a soy paper. It has less flavor and it's not as chewy.)
Rice
shrimp (precooked, de-veined, shelled)
imitation crab
avocado
cream cheese
other possible ingredients: cucumber, tuna, carrots, etc.

This is a cool little tool that has a name that I don't know. It's a sushi roller. It helps me keep my sushi together as I roll it. You could probably survive without it, but it sure is handy.

First step is to cook the rice. You can use regular rice. Tyler and I found sushi rice on sale for a dollar at the local grocery store. So we use that. When your rice is cooked, you can season it a little with rice vinegar or just leave it plain.

Rinse and thaw your shrimp and crab.

Lay a piece of nori (the seaweed paper or soy paper) on the sushi roller. Now you need a row of rice. Make sure it's evenly distributed including at the ends.

Now you just have fun with the other stuffings. We love shrimp and cream cheese,

crab and avocado.
We really pile it on. I promise it won't be too big. You'll see once you roll it up. Which is the next step.

Turn the sushi roller so the filling is closest to you. This part can be kind of tricky. You need to hold in the filling while rolling the sushi. Make sure you roll tightly or else everything will fall out when you cut it.

Now you get to slice and enjoy. Use a very sharp knife to slice so that you're not tearing. I didn't measure, but these slices are, I dunno, half an inch to an inch thick.

Voila. Yummy, "healthy" sushi.
Try it out and let me know what you think! Feel free to add or subtract to make your sushi delicious. Tyler and I ate four rolls between the four of us. But we were really hungry:) Pin It

Marbled Chocolate - Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup egg substitute (2 eggs)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined.

Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

I made this last night. It was SO good!! Oh my gosh. I am not a banana bread fan, but I sure do love chocolate:) This is definitely a keeper recipe. It's pretty easy (hey, even I could make it!) and it'll impress your friends:) This recipe is for one loaf.


I did follow all the directions except I used milk chocolate chips (though I've had it with semi-sweet and it's delicious as well) and I didn't measure them. I just poured in a bowl until I thought I had enough:)



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