My parents don't ask for anything for their birthdays and since they are only a day apart and around Thanksgiving, gift buying usually gets overlooked. So the last couple of years I've just added ingredients for a sweet treat to give them to my Thanksgiving shopping list. Last year they got some of the toffee peanuts that you can find here. This year it was sugared pecans and they were a hit. They were fighting over the jar on Thanksgiving morning!
It's an even easier recipe than the toffee peanuts!
What you'll need:
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
1 lb pecan halves
1 c white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I actually added more cinnamon)
What you'll do:
1. Preheat oven to 250. Grease one baking sheet.
2. Mix together egg white and water together until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add pecans to egg whites and stir to coat. Then toss pecans in the sugar mixture and stir until coated. Spread out pecans on the greased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
I warn you now that you're house will smell amazing!
This would make a great gift this holiday season, just pour cooled pecans into a pretty little jar that has an air tight seal.
Special thanks to allrecipes.com for this little treat.
Happy baking!
New School Puppy Chow
Puppy Chow is a treat that reminds me of two people. The first I've known for more than 20 years. She would always make puppy chow for church and youth functions, usually because we always requested it. The second was my first and last college roommate. We once trekked to the grocery store in more than a foot of snow, and by trekked I mean, on foot - there were no way our cars were getting out of the parking lot, for ingredients to make puppy chow and ugly dip. It was AWESOME!!!
Did you know that you could use cake mix to make AMAZING tasting puppy chow?! I didn't, until I found Pinterest.
I decided to make some Cake Batter Puppy Chow for tomorrow's staff meeting. And of course, I had to make sure it was good enough for them and...I might actually like it more than regular puppy chow.
Here's what I used:
1 box of rice chex cereal
1 box of yellow cake mix
3/4 c powdered sugar
3/4 bottle of sprinkles
9 cubes of white almond bark
2 tsp vegetable shortening
paper grocery sack
What I did:
Dumped the whole box of cereal in the paper sack. Poured cake mix and powdered sugar in bowl. Used a whisk to mix the two together. Then added sprinkles and mixed again. Placed the almond bark in a microwave safe container and then melted in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. About half way through the melting process, I stirred in the shortening - this will thin out the chocolate mixture, making it easy to coat the cereal. After chocolate was completely melted and shortening was well incorporated, I dumped it on top of the cereal and gave the bag a good shaking. If the cereal isn't well coated, use a rubber scrapper to stir the cereal and chocolate until well coated. Once it was well coated, I poured in the cake mix-ture, closed bag and gave it another good shake. After the cereal was coated with the cake mix-ture, I dumped it all out on wax paper I had laid out on the table to dry before putting in an air-tight storage container.
I may regret ever trying this recipe...it is really, really good!
I've seen several versions of this recipe on Pinterest, but the one I used for a base came from Six Sisters' Stuff. Click here for the link to their recipe.
Happy cooking!
Did you know that you could use cake mix to make AMAZING tasting puppy chow?! I didn't, until I found Pinterest.
I decided to make some Cake Batter Puppy Chow for tomorrow's staff meeting. And of course, I had to make sure it was good enough for them and...I might actually like it more than regular puppy chow.
Here's what I used:
1 box of rice chex cereal
1 box of yellow cake mix
3/4 c powdered sugar
3/4 bottle of sprinkles
9 cubes of white almond bark
2 tsp vegetable shortening
paper grocery sack
What I did:
Dumped the whole box of cereal in the paper sack. Poured cake mix and powdered sugar in bowl. Used a whisk to mix the two together. Then added sprinkles and mixed again. Placed the almond bark in a microwave safe container and then melted in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. About half way through the melting process, I stirred in the shortening - this will thin out the chocolate mixture, making it easy to coat the cereal. After chocolate was completely melted and shortening was well incorporated, I dumped it on top of the cereal and gave the bag a good shaking. If the cereal isn't well coated, use a rubber scrapper to stir the cereal and chocolate until well coated. Once it was well coated, I poured in the cake mix-ture, closed bag and gave it another good shake. After the cereal was coated with the cake mix-ture, I dumped it all out on wax paper I had laid out on the table to dry before putting in an air-tight storage container.
I may regret ever trying this recipe...it is really, really good!
I've seen several versions of this recipe on Pinterest, but the one I used for a base came from Six Sisters' Stuff. Click here for the link to their recipe.
Happy cooking!
New Family Favorite
I found this recipe on no other than Pinterest and never thought it would have gotten the reviews from my family that it did. I was totally blown away...I mean, Paul was the first one to say how good it was and went back for seconds (which he doesn't do very often). AND...this recipe is so ridiculously easy.
Here's what you need:
4 chicken breasts
1 pkt of Italian dressing seasoning
1 - 8oz block of cream cheese (softened)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
milk
1 box of rotini or penne pasta
Here's what I did:
The night before, I cooked the four chicken breasts on the stove in a covered skillet. After they were fully cooked, I threw them in my mixer and let it do the shredding (another helpful trick I learned from the many hours of research I've done on Pinterest). I then let the shredded chicken cool and before going to bed, covered it and put it in the fridge to hang out overnight.
**Update (12/2/12) - I used the beater attachment on my KitchenAid Mixer. When using this trick to shred chicken, it's a good idea to place a towel over the mixer to keep the chicken in the mixing bowl.
**Update (12/2/12) - I used the beater attachment on my KitchenAid Mixer. When using this trick to shred chicken, it's a good idea to place a towel over the mixer to keep the chicken in the mixing bowl.
The next morning, I set out the cream cheese to soften while I got ready for church. Before leaving for church, I got out the crock pot and dumped in all ingredients except for the milk and turned it to low and let it do it's thing while we were at church (recipe said cook on low for 4 hours). When we got home from church, I put on a pot of water to cook the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, stir the Italian chicken mixture...this is where you might need to add some milk to the mixture to thin it out a bit. After the pasta is cooked, drain and then dump in a large bowl (I mean, LARGE, you're going to need a large one for all the pasta and chicken mixture) and add the chicken mixture and stir everything together. OR you can do what I made my family do...mix it together on their own plates!
I didn't have any pictures of this delicious meal, but my family loved it especially with salad and homemade garlic bread.
I want to credit someone for this recipe, but the pin I found with this recipe doesn't actually link you to the recipe you see here...so, whoever you are, thanks for a great and easy recipe that is Karrick family approved!!!
Happy cooking!
Easy Cupcakes/Muffins revisited
We are finally starting to feel a cool down in the weather, which I love...because I LOVE FALL! And when I think of fall, I to wear jeans and long sleeve shirts and get out my fleece. And when I start to dress like fall is in the air, I want to start enjoying some of the great tastes of fall like soup and persimmon cookies.
I made these super easy cupcakes/muffins last fall and when I felt the chill in the air this past week, the hunger for them started. I say cupcakes/muffins because I'm not really sure which they are...they would be good with a nice cream cheese frosting, but they are more dense like a muffin. I wanted to add some additional ingredients this time to "fall" them up.
Main Ingredients:
white or yellow cake mix
can of pumpkin
milk
Additions:
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon
raisins
Review of what to do:
1. Mix cake mix and pumpkin together with mixer. Add a little milk to mixture. (You want the mixture to look like a mousse. I think I added between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of milk.)
***Now add the additional spices. I didn't measure the spices, I just sprinkled some in and then tasted the batter until I got the flavor I wanted. Then mixed in the raisins (about half of the 15oz box I had.)
2. This recipe makes 24 regular sized cupcakes. I didn't spray the cupcake papers (if you "have" to eat one as soon as it comes out of the oven, the bottom will stick to the paper, but have no shame when you eat the cupcake/muffin off the paper like a little kid! Have no fear though, after the cupcakes have cooled and sat for a couple of hours they will easily peel away from the paper.) When filing my cupcake pan, I use an ice cream scoop...the easiest way to fill cupcakes EVER! And yes, the one scoop will look like too much, but this batter doesn't rise that much - one scoop is perfect!
3. Bake for 20 minutes....the cake mix said 20-25 minutes, at 20 minutes I checked them with a toothpick and they were done.
I don't feel the need to frost these, but if you need a little something extra on this pretty little fall treat, then by all means frost away!
I am looking forward to trying some new fall recipes this year and will be sure to post the pros and cons of the tested recipes.
Happy baking!
I made these super easy cupcakes/muffins last fall and when I felt the chill in the air this past week, the hunger for them started. I say cupcakes/muffins because I'm not really sure which they are...they would be good with a nice cream cheese frosting, but they are more dense like a muffin. I wanted to add some additional ingredients this time to "fall" them up.
Main Ingredients:
white or yellow cake mix
can of pumpkin
milk
Additions:
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon
raisins
Review of what to do:
1. Mix cake mix and pumpkin together with mixer. Add a little milk to mixture. (You want the mixture to look like a mousse. I think I added between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of milk.)
***Now add the additional spices. I didn't measure the spices, I just sprinkled some in and then tasted the batter until I got the flavor I wanted. Then mixed in the raisins (about half of the 15oz box I had.)
2. This recipe makes 24 regular sized cupcakes. I didn't spray the cupcake papers (if you "have" to eat one as soon as it comes out of the oven, the bottom will stick to the paper, but have no shame when you eat the cupcake/muffin off the paper like a little kid! Have no fear though, after the cupcakes have cooled and sat for a couple of hours they will easily peel away from the paper.) When filing my cupcake pan, I use an ice cream scoop...the easiest way to fill cupcakes EVER! And yes, the one scoop will look like too much, but this batter doesn't rise that much - one scoop is perfect!
3. Bake for 20 minutes....the cake mix said 20-25 minutes, at 20 minutes I checked them with a toothpick and they were done.
I don't feel the need to frost these, but if you need a little something extra on this pretty little fall treat, then by all means frost away!
I am looking forward to trying some new fall recipes this year and will be sure to post the pros and cons of the tested recipes.
Happy baking!
Rollin'
It's safe to say that my family loves pasta. We have pasta at least once a week and I have leftovers for lunch...that's how much I love pasta. One of my husband's favorite pasta dishes is stuffed shells. I've mentioned the stuffed shells recipe before and I have it thanks to a dear friend of mine who now lives on the west coast and I miss her terribly :(
There are tons of recipes for the pasta stuffing out there and you may have a favorite that you use, so I'm not going to share my recipe with you (it's now become a secret family recipe!). I've seen several meal ideas for lasagna rolls which are supposed to make the idea of lasagna a little less overwhelming due to the small amount of work involved in the process.
Get rollin'...what you'll need
- lasagna noodles
- ingredients for pasta stuffing
- pasta sauce
Get rollin'...what you do
1. Prep your pasta stuffing. I mixed mine up and then let it chill in the fridge until the pasta was ready.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Cook lasagna noodles. I cooked mine just long enough to be able to roll them. You'll want them just over al dente because you're going to bake them once they're rolled. Drain them and rinse them with cold water. (Rinsing goes against all great pasta recipes, and normally I don't rinse my pasta, but if you want to be able to handle the noodles to make the rolls, you'll need to cool them down, which is the only purpose for the cold water rinse.)
4. Prep your rollin' station...cooled lasagna noodles, pasta sauce, stuffing mixture, paper towels, baking dish. (See above picture)
5. Pour enough sauce to just cover the bottom of the baking dish.
6. Lay out your paper towels and pat both sides of the noodles dry. They will still be sticky, but you don't want them soaking wet or the stuffing mixture won't stick.
7. Spread a small amount of the stuffing mixture on the noodle and then start rollin' em up! Lay them with them seam down in the sauce. Continue the drying, spreading, and rollin' until you've used all the noodles and stuffing mixture.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle on some mozzarella the last 5 minutes for some added cheesiness!
There are tons of recipes for the pasta stuffing out there and you may have a favorite that you use, so I'm not going to share my recipe with you (it's now become a secret family recipe!). I've seen several meal ideas for lasagna rolls which are supposed to make the idea of lasagna a little less overwhelming due to the small amount of work involved in the process.
Get rollin'...what you'll need
- lasagna noodles
- ingredients for pasta stuffing
- pasta sauce
1. Prep your pasta stuffing. I mixed mine up and then let it chill in the fridge until the pasta was ready.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Cook lasagna noodles. I cooked mine just long enough to be able to roll them. You'll want them just over al dente because you're going to bake them once they're rolled. Drain them and rinse them with cold water. (Rinsing goes against all great pasta recipes, and normally I don't rinse my pasta, but if you want to be able to handle the noodles to make the rolls, you'll need to cool them down, which is the only purpose for the cold water rinse.)
4. Prep your rollin' station...cooled lasagna noodles, pasta sauce, stuffing mixture, paper towels, baking dish. (See above picture)
5. Pour enough sauce to just cover the bottom of the baking dish.
6. Lay out your paper towels and pat both sides of the noodles dry. They will still be sticky, but you don't want them soaking wet or the stuffing mixture won't stick.
7. Spread a small amount of the stuffing mixture on the noodle and then start rollin' em up! Lay them with them seam down in the sauce. Continue the drying, spreading, and rollin' until you've used all the noodles and stuffing mixture.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle on some mozzarella the last 5 minutes for some added cheesiness!
Don't they look yummy?!
Happy cooking!
How sweet...
I love bananas, especially when they are overly ripe, mashed up, and baked in banana bread. I have several bags of overly ripe bananas, pre-mashed and frozen for that intended purpose. I've never been a fan of banana pudding, but when I came across this recipe I knew I had to give the sweet dessert another try.
I've had this recipe saved on one of my Pinterest boards for awhile now, but I can't seem to make everything I pin....anyone else having that issue?! Pinterest needs to come up with a way to create a grocery list from the recipes that you pin.
This isn't the simple recipe you're used to...it's rich and decadent. It takes banana pudding to a whole new level.
The original recipe (Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding) is from Paula Deen, but I found this recipe on a fun little blog, Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour. (I'll link both recipes so you can access the original.) I'm not a fan of the name, so maybe I'll rename it with my modifications ;)
1st Class Banana Pudding
5 bananas, sliced
Nilla wafers
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
3 cups of milk
1- 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
1- 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1- 12oz container of whipped topping
1. Line bottom of 9x13 baking dish with Nilla wafers.
2. Mix 3 cups of milk and the 2 boxes of instant pudding. (I let mine set in the fridge while I prepped the other ingredients.)
3. Use hand mixer to combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Then fold in whipped topping.
4. Finish cream cheese mixture by stirring in the pudding until well combined.
5. Slice bananas and layer them over the wafers (they don't have to be perfect, no one is going to see them). Then pour on pudding mixture, finish by topping pudding with some of the remaining wafers.
6. Cover and refrigerate.
What I did differently...I have to watch the amount of carbs that I eat and was a little shocked at the number of carbs in just one serving of the vanilla instant pudding. So...I used sugar free pudding, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and lite whipped topping. I can't take out all the carbs, but a girl has to indulge a little, right?!
Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour made the suggestion to use the 3 cups of milk for the pudding and I would have to agree with her...3 cups will get you the perfect consistency on the pudding. Click here for the link to the blog post.
Paula Deen used Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies instead of Nilla wafers...I most likely won't be trying this considering how much more expensive they are compared to a box of Nilla wafers. Click here for Paula's recipe.
I'm excited to try the pudding after it's been able to chill over night.
Happy baking!
Cookie Pie
Growing up with a bakery in your backyard meant there was a good chance that there was cookie dough chillin' in the fridge. I was never a big fan of cookie dough like others I know, but when the chocolate chips are crying out to you from the cold batter it's a hard temptation to resist. One of my other favorite baked treats is pie....#1 favorite would have to be cherry, but I'm open to pretty much any pie, as long as it doesn't have meringue piled on it - I know...I'm weird. Just don't get me started on pie crust. And if you were to ask my dad what kind of pie he liked he would say, "there are only two kinds....hot and cold."
So, when I found this recipe combining two of my favorite sweets it was love at first sight...well, okay this isn't the prettiest pie you will ever see, but after cutting into it and lifting a slice out you'll see the beauty that will capture your heart and soul.
See, not so pretty.
And cue the angels....aaaahhhh!
Click here for the link to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie....the only thing I did differently was the pecans. I didn't have any pecans, so I substituted chopped walnuts instead. Thank you Bakerella for this amazing recipe!
Happy baking!
Dinner's ready!
Don't let my husband fool you...he can cook. When he makes dinner, it always turns out really good and even better that I didn't have to come home and make it. I had saved a recipe on Pinterest awhile back for stuffed peppers and it was my plan to make them this week. Well, tonight happened to be a much later night for me than usual so I asked my husband to make the peppers. He found his own recipe and as always, they turned out amazing!
take a look at these little beauties!
The recipe I found called for ground turkey, I was just going to crumble up some turkey burgers, which means that I didn't have any ground beef like the recipe calls for. Paul seasoned up the turkey with some steak seasoning, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, and some onion powder.
So, like me, Paul didn't follow the recipe to a T, but I'm sure this recipe will get you a great meal.
A little something I like to do before testing a new dish is to compare recipes. It allows me to see what some of the other recipes are using for seasoning or substitutes for various ingredients. AND, if the recipe is online, it has most likely been reviewed by those who have previously tested it and you can use that to your advantage. If multiple people are saying that it's too salty, you'll know to cut back on the salt or use ingredients that are low in sodium. Some of the reviews also give great substitutions for things like sugar or cream of ... soups.
Click here for the link to the recipe.
Happy Cooking!
Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Growing up with a bakery in your back yard meant that you were never in short supply of cinnamon rolls. And they were probably one of my favorite thing we made. I remember rolling out the large ball of dough, covering it in softened butter, and then working in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Every part of making them was an art...and the best of this art is that you could enjoy it warm out of the oven slathered with sweet icing.
The recipe I'm going to share in this post, isn't the recipe for those cinnamon rolls, but for some simple ones that can be rolled out and enjoyed even on a hectic Sunday morning.
Easy Cinnamon Rolls
2 tubes of crescent rolls
spreadable butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
powdered sugar
milk
vanilla
1. Preheat oven according to crescent rolls directions.
2. Lay out crescent roll sections and spread on butter with a knife.
3. Add brown sugar, just enough to cover the whole triangle.
4. Sprinkle on some cinnamon.
5. Then roll the crescents from large edge to small edge and lay on baking sheet.
6. Bake according to crescent roll directions.
7. In a bowl combine a little bit of milk, a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar and a couple of drops of vanilla and stir together to desired consistency. When rolls come out of the oven, let cool for a couple of minutes and then drizzle on the icing.
Last, but certainly not least, enjoy!
Happy baking!
Sunday Dinner
In my quest to start using my crock pot, I searched for a recipe that would be easy and delicious for a Sunday dinner. And the recipe I found has now become my favorite for BBQ Chicken. And it went well with the leftover sides we had from the night before.
Click here for the link to the recipe that I used.
I followed the recipe this time (except for using frozen chicken, I thawed mine first after reading some of the comments), but here are a couple of things I'm going to try differently next time:
- use less vinegar
- cut small slits in the chicken so the sauce will go into the chicken and flavor it even more
And for a little something a little special, I also whipped up some of these Cheesy Garlic Biscuits.
I also followed this recipe, but here are some things I will adjust next time:
- add 1/4 tsp of garlic salt to biscuit mixture, and only use 1/2 tsp garlic salt in butter mixture
- use only 1 tsp of oregano
Happy cooking!
Click here for the link to the recipe that I used.
I followed the recipe this time (except for using frozen chicken, I thawed mine first after reading some of the comments), but here are a couple of things I'm going to try differently next time:
- use less vinegar
- cut small slits in the chicken so the sauce will go into the chicken and flavor it even more
And for a little something a little special, I also whipped up some of these Cheesy Garlic Biscuits.
I also followed this recipe, but here are some things I will adjust next time:
- add 1/4 tsp of garlic salt to biscuit mixture, and only use 1/2 tsp garlic salt in butter mixture
- use only 1 tsp of oregano
Happy cooking!
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