Maple Syrup

Who knew that maple syrup was so incredibly fast and easy to make. Not to mention that it is delicious!! 

What you'll need:

1 cup hot hot water

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 T Maple flavoring

In a medium saucepan, combine water and both sugars. Stir constantly over high heat until boiling. Be VERY careful as this will boil over really easily at this point!

Reduce heat to medium-high and continue to stir constantly until all of the sugar has dissolved. Continue stirring mixture over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until mixture begins to thicken to a syrup consistency. Keep in mind that this mixture will further thicken when cool. *I tested mine by scooping a small amount into a glass dish and setting it in the freezer for 1-2 minutes* Remove from heat and stir in maple flavoring.Set pan in an ice bath and continue to stir mixture for 3-5 minutes to cool.

 

Serve over something yummy and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Veggie Tray

We have all made that plain old, boring veggie tray. Spice up your table this year with this super cute Turkey Tray! He was so easy to make. 

 

You'll Need:

Lettuce

Pea Pods

Olives

Carrots

Broccoli

Peppers

Cucumbers

Anything else you'd like to add. 

Zuppa Toscana Soup - Olive Garden CopyCat

2 lbs sausage (Pork Shop!! or if you aren't lucky enough to live near the pork shop, make sure you buy the best quality you can find)
4 large potatoes (if you live in Idaho) or 8-12 regular potatoes if you don't, sliced very thin
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups kale or 2 cups swiss chard, chopped (If you can't find this, it's not a big deal. You can leave this out.)
16 cups water
4-5 T chicken bullion
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Place water, potato slices, onion, and chicken bullion in a soup pot and cook over high heat until potatoes are soft. Cook on medium high heat until potatoes are done. Brown your amazing pork shop sausage while the potatoes cook. (It is really important to buy very high quality sausage. You'll be sorry if you don't.) Add sausage to soup and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off heat and add kale and cream. Stir and serve.

Don't forget to check out my fabulous makeup from Younique and don't forget to frost your lashes with 3d fiber lash mascara!

Chili's Salsa - Copy Cat Recipe

Really easy Chili's copy cat recipe for salsa. I made this today in less than 2 minutes. All you have to do is put everything in a food processor and blend it up. In fact, if you want the chunks of tomatoes, you can just dice the onion and then put everything into a bowl and mix it up.

6 - 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 c diced jalapenos
 1 onion
1 T. garlic salt
1 T salt
1 T. cumin
1 T sugar
1 T lime juice

French Bread

Sorry I have been MIA lately. Summer vacation got the best of me, but the kids are back in school and I am back in the kitchen. Today I came across this recipe for French Bread. Despite the confusing way it is written, the bread turned out fabulous! So I'm giving you the recipe the way I put it together and hopefully it is easier to follow than the original recipe.

What you'll need:

• 1 T dry active yeast
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 T sugar
• 3 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg white 

In a large bowl (I used my kitchenaid stand mixer), combine water, sugar and yeast. Add salt. Stir in flour one cup at a time until you have a nice dough that isn't too soft or too sticky. Knead for 5 minutes. Let dough rest in bowl for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 300*. In the mean time start a small pan of water boiling. Roll dough out on counter into a rectangle. Roll up jelly roll style and tuck ends under. Place on greased cookie sheet. Make slits in the top of the loaf. Brush loaf with beaten egg white. Turn off oven. Place boiling water into a shallow baking dish on the bottom rack in the oven. Place the cookie sheet on the rack above the water. Let dough rise until double. Turn oven on to 425* and bake for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 375* and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

Marshmallow Caramel Popcorn

I was in the mood for really soft caramel popcorn so I decided to try something. I made up a batch of caramel sauce and melted marshmallows into it. It was fabulous!

1 cup cream
1 t salt
1 c brown sugar
1 bag large marshmallows
1 large bowl of popped corn, kernels removed

Pop enough popcorn to fill a large mixing bowl.  Set aside. In a large sauce pan combine cream and salt over medium-high heat and bring almost to a boil. Stir in brown sugar and stir frequently for 10-12 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and add a bag of large marshamllows. Stir until all have melted and mixture is smooth. Pour over popcorn and toss to coat evenly.

Hawaiian Haystacks

I saw a recipe floating around on Pinterest from Picky Palate for these yummy Hawaiian Haystacks and thought I'd try it out. I make Hawaiian Haystacks once in a while, but I liked how her gravy sounded. I made a few changes, like omitting the ranch. My family loved it. Every single person (all 7!) loved it. That's almost unheard of. My family picky, but not often do all of us really love the same thing.

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 T (or 4 cubes) chicken bullion
4 cups hot water

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cans chicken, or 2-3 cups chicken breast cooked and chopped small or shredded
Rice, cooked (I had about 7 cups)
Toppings:

Chow Mein Crispy Noodles
sliced green onions
black olives
pineapple
cranberries
cheese
whatever else sounds good to you

In a large sauce pan melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Whisk until smooth, then add pepper, garlic salt and chicken bullion (if cubes, add AFTER water). Slowly whisk in water 1 cup at a time until smooth.  Continue to stir over medium heat until thickened. Add chicken and remove from heat. Serve over rice and top with desired toppings.

Teriyaki Chicken in the Crockpot

I got a Teriyaki chicken recipe from my sister years ago. Today I decided I didn't want to deal with it so I adjusted it a bit and tossed it all into the crockpot. It was a bit salty so I adjusted the recipe to help correct it.

Ingredients:
3/4 c soy sauce
1/3 c cider vinegar
3/4 c water 
3/4 c sugar
4 T cornstarch
1 t minced garlic
1 t minced ginger (I use Gourmet Garden in the tube if I have it. If not then the powdered ginger works fine)
1/4 t pepper
3-5 chicken breast halves
rice

Place chicken in crockpot. In a bowl combine soy sauce, cider vinegar and water. Mix the sugar and cornstarch to combine. Add to soy mixture and stir. Add garlic, ginger and pepper. Pour over chicken and cook on low 4-5 hours. Shred chicken and serve over rice.

Cheesy Ham Roll Ups

This is just my own quick snack idea with things I had in the fridge. These are a ridiculously easy after school snack for the kids.

1 Pillsbury dough sheet
6 slices Ham
6 cheese sticks - I used the swirled kind

(You can do these with anything really. ie. Turkey & Swiss, roast beef & Swiss, ham, eggs and cheese for breakfast, long long list of options)

Roll the dough sheet out on a cookie sheet and cut into 6 sections. Place one slice of ham on each section. Place a cheese stick on each section and roll up. Bake at 350* for 15-17 minutes.

Crockpot Taco Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
green onions, sliced
cheese, shredded
cilantro, for serving (optional)
re-fried beans
tortillas
rice

Directions:

Put chicken, soup, and salsa in slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Cook on low for 6 hours. Pull the breasts out and shred; return back to slow cooker. Stir in sour cream and green onions; heat just until everything is combined. Serve burrito style wrapped in a tortilla with rice, beans and cheese.

You could also serve this over rice.

No Bake Cookies

1 cube butter
2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. milk
4 T. Cocoa
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. Nutella
2 T karo syrup
1/4 c. coconut
3 c. Oatmeal

In a large saucepan mix butter, sugar, milk, karo and cocoa. Boil 2 minutes. Add peanut butter & nutella and stir until well blended. Add vanilla, oatmeal and coconut. Stir until all oats are covered. Drop by cookie scoop onto wax paper or into mini muffin tin.

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Bites

I found this recipe at Made in Melissa's Kitchen and knew I just HAD to try these out so I enlisted Husband and we made them tonight. I edited it a little because that's what I do. :) I've NEVER been known to follow a recipe exactly.

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Bites

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, boiled and shredded
  
• 1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
  
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups cheese, shredded (I used colby jack)
  
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
  
• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups Italian style bread crumbs
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 c. Bleu Cheese Dressing, I recommend Bob's Famous Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/2 c. Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

Have oil heated to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken in a large bowl and add the hot sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions, and toss to combine. Scoop the chicken mixture onto a plate using a cookie scoop and roll into balls.

Place the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in 3 separate bowls. Roll each ball in the flour, then the egg and then the bread crumbs. Set aside.

When the oil is hot fry the chicken balls in batches of about 6-8 (depending on fryer size). Cook for about 2 minutes per batch. Remove the chicken to paper towel lined plate to drain the excess oil. Serve with bleu cheese dip or alone. Or for a kick, I served them with a Bleu Cheese/Hot Sauce mixture.