Chrstmas cooking...puppy chow

Ingredients:
9 cups chex cereal (I use corn)
1 cup choc. chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 tsp. vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
(I make adjustments depending on the size of the box of chex.)

Directions:

1.  Pour cereal in a large bowl. 

2.  Combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and margarine in a separate bowl and microwave on 50% power.  Stir every 30-45 seconds.

3.  Stir in vanilla.

4.  Pour chocolate mix over cereal and toss until all are evenly coated.

5.  Place a third of the mix in a ziploc bag with 1 cup powered sugar.  Seal and shake until all pieces are white. 

6.  Spread on wax paper to cool. 

7.  Repeat with the other parts of mix until all is coated in powered sugar.

8. Store in an air-tight container. 

Makes a great gift to share with others around the holidays!

Christmas cooking...Tiger Butter

Ingredients:

6 oz. Almond Bark

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

6 oz. Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate chips

(My batch is doubled or tripled, depending on how much almond bark is in the package.)

Directions:

1.  Melt almond bark in microwave on low power (50%).  I do this in 30-45 second increments, stirring in between.

2.  Stir peanut butter in with almond bark.

3.  Line a 9X13" pan with wax paper and pour in mixture.

4.  In a separate bowl, melt chocolate chips.  Spoon over mixture.

5.  Use a knife on top to make swirls.

6.  Let harden in refrigerater 1-2 hours. 

7.  Break apart and serve. 

8.  I store extra in zip-loc bags.

Snow Ice Cream

Last time it snowed, several people posted on Facebook that they made Snow Ice Cream with their kids.  I decided it was time for us to try it.  I googled and found Paula Dean's recipe.  Here it is:

Ingredients:

8 cups snow, or shaved ice

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl.

Pour condensed milk over snow and add vanilla.

Mix to combine.

Serve immediately in bowls.

Taste...

Yummy!!!



365...Day 25

                                                              Fabulous Crackers

These oil-drenched crackers are sinfully delicious and addicting.  Our friend Andrea brings them to our scrapbooking retreats.  We almost fight for the last few in the bag...usually eaten about 2 am.  I don't have her exact recipe, but here is one I found online.  Now I just need an occasion to make some!

Ingredients:


1 cup of Light-tasting olive oil

1 box of multi-grain saltine crackers

1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix (dry powder package)

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes or cheyenne pepper


Directions:

1.  Make sure you use "light-tasting" olive oil - regular olive oil has to strong of flavor. Also make sure to use Hidden Valley Ranch "Dressing" mix not the "Dips" mix

2.  In a large tupperware container place entire box of saltine crackers.

3.  In a bowl mix light-tasting olive oil, package of HVR dressing mix, 1 tbsp of garlic powder, and 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes.

4.  Pour mixture over the saltine crackers and seal tupperware container. Continuously flip the container to make sure the mixture evenly coats all the crackers.

Some people bake for 10 minutes or so at 200 degrees.

Makes 33 servings of 5 crackers each.

Blueberry Whole Wheat/Oatmeal Pancakes

Had a craving for blueberry pancakes this morning, and didn't have any mix.  Found this recipe on allrecipes.com and changed it a bit.  Great pancakes!  May not buy that boxed stuff again.

Ingredients


1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-2 tablespoons wheat germ

1-2 tablespoons flax seed

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups milk

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup frozen blueberries (chopped)

Directions

1.Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.

2.In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, wheat germ, flax seed and salt.

3.In a small bowl, mix oats and milk. Whisk in eggs and olive oil. Pour into the flour mixture all at once. Continue mixing until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries.

4.Pour batter about 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly. Flip, and continue cooking until lightly browned.

My kids ate these with sugar-free syrup.  Shane even asked for a 2nd pancake!!

Garlic Lime Chicken Marinade

This was super easy, and the chicken was so moist!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice --about 2 med-sized limes
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper

Instructions:
1. Place chicken in a ziploc bag. Mix together soy sauce, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and mustard. Pour remainder over chicken in bag. Toss to coat well.
2. Marinate in fridge 30 min or up to 4 hours. Drain chicken; discard leftover marinade. Sprinkle chicken with pepper.
3. Grill chicken and enjoy!!

Cinnamon Rolls

This weekend, we had some fabulous, homemade, so sugary-squishy in the middle, that I wish I could have eaten 10 cinammon rolls made by Terry at The Stillwater Retreat Center in Glen Rose, TX. While my recipe (well, one that I got from my military friend Deborah Q) is not as good as the ones we had, they are still mouth-watering delicious.

Here is the recipe...

Set alarm for 4 o'clock in the morning so that you can slave over these rolls for your adoring family, or...prepare the night before and refrigerate following the directions in Step 7.

Step 1: Mix these and let rest for 10 minutes. Should start to bubble and to almost double.

1 cup milk (warmed to 100 - 110 degrees)
1 tsp. sugar
1 T. or one packet of yeast


Step 2: Mix in a large bowl

4 1/2 cups all purpose ""unbleached" flour--unbleached is optional
1 tsp. salt

Then mix in...
2 room temp eggs
1/2 cups butter, melted, or oil
1/2 cup sugar

Then mix in bubbly yeast mixture.

Step 3: Knead lightly and shape into a ball. Put ball in greased bowl and turn over to grease all sides. Cover and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise 1 hour or until double.

Step 4: Punch down and turn onto lightly floured surface. Roll about 8" X 20-24" OR
2- 8" X 12" rectangles.

Step 5: Brush with 3-4 T. melted butter and sprinkle with mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 T. cinnamon.

Step 6: Carefully roll up starting on the long side (so your log is 20-24" long). Pinch seam shut with fingers. Cut into 1" slices with dental floss. (Slide floss under log and cross over top to cut through.)

Step 7: Put in 9X13 greased pan and let rise till nearly double (30-60 min) or put in pan, cover and refrigerate 2-24 hours. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking.

Step 8: Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Step 9: Make icing with powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1-3 T. milk. Drizzle over cooked rolls.

Enjoy and let me know what you think if you try them!

Next time I make these, I'll add some pictures!!

Zucchini Bread

My dad dropped off a few veggies from his garden this past weekend when he came to help Steve replace our hail-damaged shed. I decided to use the zucchini to make some bread. Anything to procrastinate cleaning the house, right?

I got this recipe from a military friend during pilot training. Wow, that was ages ago, 10+ years. Wonderful recipe!! Thanks for sharing Cindy!!

3 cups flour (I use sneaky chef mixture--one white, one whole-wheat, one wheat germ)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder


3 eggs
3/4 cup oil (I use applesauce)
2 cup sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (2 -3 med-sized, or 1 big one)
3 tsp vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients, except sugar together with a fork, set aside.

Beat eggs until foamy, add oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla. Mix lightly, but well. Slowly add all dry ingredients. Divide intp greased and floured loaf pans.

Bake 350 for about an hour. Makes 2 big loaves, or 4 small. (Muffins bake in less time**)

Once baked, these freeze well. :)

Sopapilla Cheesecake

If you have not yet tasted the dessert Sopapilla Cheesecake, then you simply must. It is fabulous. Of course, with 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 packs of cream cheese, and a stick of butter, how could it not be good? Click here for a great blog full of fun recipies.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls

2-8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 tsp Cinnamon1 stick butter (1/2 cup real butter not margarine)

1. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

2. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish and press the seams together.

3. In a separate bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 and a half tsp vanilla -- spread over top of dough.

4. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again.

5. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents.

6. Mix the reaming 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together.

7. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown.

9. Cool, slice and enjoy!