Sweet Crispix Snack Mix

When my friend told me about this snack mix I was curious about the method but I tried it and it is so yummy.  The problem is that I can't stop eating it!  It isn't overly sweet and I love the nuts.

1 (18 oz.) box Crispix cereal
                       (18 cups)
1 (8 oz.) can mixed nuts (1 1/2 cups)
1 (8 oz.) can cashews (1 1/2 cups)

Mix together.

2 cubes butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 t. soda

Melt together butter, sugar and syrup and let it boil for 90 seconds.  Remove from heat and add 1/2 t. soda. Pour over the cereal mix and mix well.  Place in a double brown paper bag and fold the top down.  Put in the microwave for 1 minute.  Take it out and stir the mixture well.  Repeat in the microwave for a total of 4 minutes.  Spread out on parchment sheets or wax paper to cool and dry.
**Pay careful attention to stirring well because it can easily burn in the microwave.

I used a pound of mixed nuts/cashews from Costco.  They are cheaper and taste better.

OR instead of putting in the paper bag and microwaving, place on two baking trays and bake in a 200º oven for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Ginger Snaps

My favorite autumn cookie.  They just taste SO good! 

1 ½ cups shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

½ cup molasses

4 cups flour

2 t. ginger

4 t. baking soda

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. salt

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs and molasses and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Form into walnut size balls and roll in sugar.  Place on baking tray and flatten slightly.  Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, until cookies begin to crack and are lightly brown.  Makes 5 dozen.  From Crystal.

I have doubled this recipe for you!  The original recipe never made quite enough.

Great Pumpkin Cookies

From my Mom, the great cookie maker, this recipe is a favorite of hers.  They really look like a pretty unassuming cookie but I couldn't stop eating them this week.  They just taste good.  And, besides, Grandma always says that they are healthy because they have oatmeal and pumpkin in them.  Who can argue with healthy?


Great Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, soda and salt and set aside.  Cream butter and gradually add brown sugar and sugar.  Beat until fluffy and light.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Alternate adding dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Lightly spray baking trays with baking spray.  Using a cookie scoop, drop cookie dough onto baking trays.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes, until cookies are firm.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Gooey Monster Cookies

Go good old instagram, to find these amazing cookies that I had to make.  Check out her website for more amazing recipes and further instructions if you need some. . . 

http://lilluna.com/gooey-monster-cookies/

Ingredients

• 1 White Cake Mix Box
• ½ cup butter softened
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• 1 8 oz. Cream Cheese Bar softened
• 1 egg
• Powdered Sugar
• Food Coloring ( Lil'Luna used NEON food coloring to make them more vibrant)
• Candy Eyeballs  CANDY EYE BALLS can be found in the Baking/Wilton Section at Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or JoAnna.  I recommend getting 2 different size eye balls like she used above in her pic and you don't have to go through as many little eyeballs

Instructions

1. Beat butter, vanilla, egg and cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Mix in cake mix. Divide batter into bowls for the amount of colors you want.
3. Add food coloring to each individual bowl and mix until all combined.
4. Chill for 30 minutes. (necessary since dough so so soft)
5. Roll into balls and dip in a bowl of powdered sugar.
6. Place on greased cookie sheet and pat down a bit.
7. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes
8. Add candy eyeballs while cookies are still warm. ENJOY!

((I used a small cookie scoop and made over 3 dozen cookies, and doubled for playgroup fun and had a ton of cookies and one jar of small eyeballs was used up.))

Easy and  Hit!

Streusel Topped Peach Pie - fall favorite

I got this recipe from Family Circle magazine 7.16.02 pg. 142-143 and have saved and loved every year since.  I love how easy it is turns out great and you can even mix your peaches with the spices and freeze in the freezer take out / un thaw and add a bit more cornstarch and have a yummy pie in the winter.

enjoy!

pies before i added the streusel topping...  Why not make two and make someone's day!

1 unbaked single crust pie shell (i have a good pie shell recipe if you want that - sometimes I buy in a hurry but homemade turns out nice too!)
3 TBS. finely chopped pecans
1.5 lbs. peaches about 9 medium
3 TBS. granulated sugar
3 TBS. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Streusel
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 TBS. (3/4 stick) of butter cut into pieces at room temp.
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Whipped cream / ice cream for topping

1. Get crust ready in 9 inch pie plate.  Sprinkle chopped pecans over the crust.
2. Bring pot of water to boil, drop in peaches, boil about 2 min. until skins peel off easy, spoon into bowl of cold water.  Remove peach skins. Half peaches, make quarter wedges. [never have done this my peaches are so soft/ripe I usually just peel them quick...]
3.Place oven rack in lowest position (stays there whole time).  Heat oven to 400 degrees.
4. In a medium bowl toss peach slices, granulated sugar, cornstarch & allspice until well blended.  Spoon the peach mixture into the pie shell, spreading evenly, mount form.
5. Streusel, in a medium bowl mix together the flour, light brown sugar and cinnamon until well blended.  Work butter in with fingers  until medium crumbs form.  Lightly toss in pecans.  Sprinkle and mound over top of peach mixture.  
Bake on lowest rack on 400 degrees for 10 min. Reduce the oven temp. to 350 and bake for another 65 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and pie crust and streusel are brown.  Let cool  until you can comfortably hold bottom of pie plate, slice pie and serve with whipped topping/ice cream.

489 Cal/Serving - just the pie not including the awesome ice cream :)

Fresh Salsa

Heather shared this recipe from her sister-in-law, Ashley, and it is really yummy and easy. It is so good you can't stop eating it!

4 cans (14.5 oz.) Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 can (4 oz.) mild green chilies
1 large green or red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
2 green onions, sliced, white and green
1 T. cumin
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor until chopped coarsely.  Serve with tortilla chips. Stores well in the refrigerator for up to one week.  Makes about 9 cups.

*You can add a can of hot green chilies if you like more heat.

Key Lime Pie

When a neighbor sent an email asking for my key lime pie recipe, I couldn't believe that I didn't have the recipe on the blog. So, here it is!

Key Lime Pie

Graham cracker crust:

Mix 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, 3 T. sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Press evenly into a pie tin with a spoon.

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

3 T. Key lime juice, Nellie and Joe’s (or more to taste)

2 – 3 cups Cool Whip

          Beat cream cheese; add sweetened condensed milk and Key lime juice. Fold in the Cool Whip. Place in graham crust. Chill well. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a quarter slice of lime.

I used to have Aunt Marci bring the Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice from Florida but now I can find it at Dan's next to the Real Lemon juice.

Homemade Pita Bread

After being in the Middle East, I came to love having fresh pita bread with a meal.  It is so much better than the store bought variety that we are used to.  And, guess what?  It is really quite easy to make.  You have to be at home for a few hours but you aren't busy the whole time.  This recipe is from the New York Times and it is wonderful.



4 t. active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
1/2 cup fresh whole wheat flour
5 cups flour
2 t. kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Make sponge: Put 2 cups lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.

Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe which if you do that, you might as well just make it right then because it takes an hour or two to warm up.)

Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile.  I like the ceramic tile because it retains the heat well. Punch down dough and divide into 32 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.  The damp towel is critical.  Not too wet or it affects the dough but damp enough to keep the dough from drying while you are rolling out the pieces.

Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat disc with rolling pin. Roll to a 5-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)

Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Eat plain, dipped in hummus or tahini, salsa, filled with cooked chicken, sprouts and ranch dressing (a favorite of the kids when they were growing up), meatballs with a marinara sauce, whatever you like.

I doubled this recipe so that I could mix it in my Bosch.  A smaller amount of flour doesn't work in that big bowl.

Bundles of Joy (Bacon-Wrapped Asaparagus)

Bundles of Joy(Bacon-wrapped asparagus)

 

1lb or 1 large bunch asparagus

4 slices of bacon or prosciutto

1 tsp olive oil

1/8 tsp pepper

 

Preheat oven to 400. Wash and pat dry asparagus. Separate into 4 equal sized bunches. Wrap each bunch with bacon, overlapping bacon as little as possible (this will prevent undercooked parts and allows more fat to render) use a toothpick if necessary on the underside of each bunch to help hold them together. Lay each bunch on a slotted pan or use a cooking rack on top of a baking sheet to allow the fat to drip away from the bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Place in the oven 8-10 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and asparagus is tender.

Guacamole!

Ina Garten's recipe for a chunky, tasty guacamole.  I love the flavor and the texture.

4 ripe hass avocados (the dark skinned kind)
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
1/2 cup small diced red onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
Tortilla chips for serving

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.  Add the lemon, onion, garlic and toss well.  Using a sharp paring knife, cut through the avocado in the bowl until it is finely diced.  Add the tomato and mix well.  Season to taste with the salt and pepper.  Serve with tortilla chips.

If you like a little kick, add 4 - 8 dashes of Tabasco sauce.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

I love love this soup from Olive Garden and feel like this is a delicious match.  I found this recipe from Brittney Allenbach pg. 80 from my MBASA favorites cookbook.  Once I saw the name of the recipe and how people rave about her soup and want more and that it resembles Olive Garden's I wanted to try it.  I think it's more soupy than taco soup, better than minestrone (like the meat), and a fun chili variation...a new easy fav.  I also love how you dump the cans in vs. need any draining!
enjoy


Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian Sausage, 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, julienne
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
1 can red kidney beans, with liquid (15 oz)
1 can great northern beans, with liquid (15 oz) [Yes there is such a thing ~]
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can of V8 juice (12 oz get reduced sodium) [I couldn't find and used regular]
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups of water or more depending on thickness
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil [I used dried but I like how the pic above showed fresh basil the best!]
1/2 tsp. pepper [guessed and used my cracked pepper grinder]
1/2 tsp. thyme [big stand out flavor - make sure yours is fresh mine may have been over 5 years old I'm embarrassed to say - next time using fresh thyme]
couple of dashes of cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce
1/4 lb. ditalini pasta (they look like 1/4 of a macaroni noodle)

Parmesan cheese to top
bread to go with it :)


Cook and drain off fat from beef and sausage.  Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Saute 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients except for pasta and simmer for 1 hour (or crockpot all day).  Cook pasta until almost tender (about 6 min.) add to soup and simmer 10-15 min. more.

enjoy

loved the look of this pot of soup - although I used a stovetop pan perhaps I'll do this on my stovetop next round~

Roasted Asparagus & Mushroom Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce

Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta in Lemon-Cream SauceRecipe by Our Best Bites pg. 60 400 calories or less

1 lb. asparagus, tough ends snapped off
3-4 cups whole mushrooms, thickly sliced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup strained lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon Creole or coarse-grain mustard
8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 recipe Alfredo Sauce (2 recipes and same method to make below)
Optional: Grilled chicken breast or sauteed shrimp

Alfredo Sauce: (slightly different than the version below - you can choose your fav or try both one I listed is lower cal and from my recipe book vs. online version)

1.5 cups 1% milk

1/4 cup low fat cream cheese

1.5 Tbs. all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. butter

2-3 Garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine trimmed asparagus and sliced mushrooms. Zest the lemons (enough to get 1 tablespoon of zest) and set the zest aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and mustard. Drizzle over the veggies and toss to combine. Spread the veggies out onto the prepared baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until the asparagus is tender but not mushy. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.

While the veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and, when the water is ready, cook pasta al dente. Prepare the Alfredo sauce. After you’ve added the cheese, add the reserved lemon zest to the sauce. When the asparagus and mushrooms are done roasting, you can either portion out the pasta, veggies, and sauce into individual servings or toss it all together. Serves 6-8.

Matt said "Where has this been all my life" and he isn't even a mushroom guy.  You don't miss the meat if you decide to do this veggy style and I love the roasted taste that it would be fun as a side dish with out the Alfredo Sauce noodles.

Like all pasta dishes serve/eat hot for best quality.  Next round I'd not mix all together in one pot since my kids are picky and some wanted veggies and some did not so it made dishing up harder :)  yum yum so tasty and garlic for days which helps fight sickness!

Another one of those recipes I'd be so sad if my kitchen burnt down and I would be missing this new one packed with flavor if you like lemon, asparagus and mushrooms!

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.  In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.

 Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.

When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Season with additional salt if needed.  Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.

Our Best Bites uses this sauce for so many things. Here’s a few ideas from her website:

-Over pasta (obviously)
-As a dip for breadsticks
-As a sauce on pizza (this is the garlic cream sauce I was referring to in this recipe) and a half batch of sauce covers 2 medium pizza’s.
-Mix it with pesto for a creamy pesto sauce (so good)
-Mix it with marinara for a creamy marinara sauce

One time when we had dinner guests over with a bunch of kids, we did a pasta bar. I made a couple different pastas, a couple different meats, and then made this sauce, marinara, and pesto. Everyone had so much fun mixing and matching and combining. The adults could get fancy with alfredo-pesto over bow-ties and the kids could have plain ol’ spaghetti if they wanted to. Toss in some french bread and a salad and you have a really fun, and really easy meal!

http://ourbestbites.com/2008/08/guiltless-alfredo-sauce/

French Toast Sticks

Homemade French Toast Sticks Recipe

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:8 slices white Texas Toast bread
5 eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter
Powdered sugar
Maple syrup

Directions:Cut each slice of bread into 4 equal strips.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, whipping cream, milk, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon.  In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  After butter is melted, dip each piece of bread in egg mixture, let excess drip off and place in saucepan.  Don’t place too many pieces of bread in the pan so it is overcrowded.  Once one side is golden brown, flip over and cook the other side until golden brown and crispy on the outside.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2014/02/homemade-french-toast-sticks-recipe.html

Six Sisters 12 Days of Christmas book pg. 44

A new family hit and I've also adapted and done with homemade wheat bread and kept in large pieces.  The heavy whipping cream in the batter is amazing :) [did 4 eggs and a bit more cream still amazing!]