Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars

 I met my husband when I was just 15 and I can still remember my very-young-self standing in the kitchen next to my future mother-in-law making "Peanut Butter Balls" for the first time.  The first thing I realized was that these peanut butter balls were nothing like the peanut butter balls that I had ever had because they were not covered in chocolate.  The second thing I realized was that my would-be husband really liked them.  Thus, I wrote the recipe down on an index card and we have been making them ever since...well, at least we have been making a tweaked version of the recipe.

 Ingredients

5 cups of rice crisp cereal

1 cup sugar

1 cup kayro syrup

1.5 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 First, measure out your 5 cups of cereal and set aside.  Trust me, when it is time you will want to have it ready.

 On the stove top, mix all other ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

Once your peanut butter mixture is boiling, quickly mix in the cereal.  And this is the part that you have to call in extra enforcement and act FAST!  Everyone gathers in the kitchen, quickly grabbing small bits of the burning hot peanut butter cereal mix, rolling them into balls and then throwing them onto waiting wax paper.  If you don't act quickly, the mixture will cool and crumble and no longer stick together.  So just accept the fact that you'll be burning the fingerprints off of your finger tips.  There will be screaming and peanut butter cereal will be flying all over your kitchen.

OR

(and this is where I tweaked the recipe)...

 You could simply pour the mixture into a greased baking pan, press firmly, let cool, and later cut them into bars instead of rolling them into balls.

Less screaming.  Still just as delicious.

(See my previous post for simple directions for those Christmas Kiss Treats.)

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Been There, Pinned That ~ Christmas Kiss Treats

 Last week I participated in an annual cookie exchange with friends.  Unfortunately, as much as I love to eat sweet treats I really dislike baking....and cooking....really, I prefer to stay at least 10 feet away from the stove at all times.  I use my crock pot.  A lot.

  Thankfully, the world of Pinterest has opened up a whole new world of discovering new "recipes" that are actually easy to make and yummy.  (Unlike one of those fancy cooking magazines that claim "simple" recipes, yet have 20 ingredients and 35 steps.) 

  Now, if you are on Pinterest, you've probably seen the directions for these easy Christmas treats as it has been a popular Pin the last few weeks.  A Pin I found linked to these directions on Cooking Classy.  And if you haven't already tried it yourself, I am here to tell you that these little candies really were simple to make and super tasty!  Here's what to do...

Preheat oven to 200.  Place chocolate kisses on top of square pretzels.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Top each kiss with an M&M.  Let cool and set in refrigerator.

  Funny story...the original Pin called for Hershey's Hugs instead of kisses.  I sent my husband to the store to get the ingredients and soon received this text from him...

"Pinterest is of the devil...how else can you account for a SUPER Wal-Mart being out of both square pretzels and hugs?!?!"

  :o).  He eventually found the square pretzels at another store, but we opted for the kisses as they were also out of hugs.

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Pumpkin Spice Cookies - Been There, Pinned That

   Who hasn't fallen head over heels for Pinterest these days?  The other day my grandma walked into her kitchen and announced sadly, "My flipflop just broke."

   Simultaneously both my aunt and my husband...yes, I said my husband...nearly screamed, "I know how to fix that!"  I knew how to fix it too because, like them, I had seen it on Pinterest.

   So I thought I would ocassionally post the results of pins that I actually pin and use.  First up is some yummy "cookies" I made the other day after seeing them on Pinterest.  The original pin came from a blog called Runs for Cookies Recipes.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This recipe is so simple that even I could make it.  We did double the original in order to fit the needs of our super sized family....oh, and I added chocolate chips. :)

Ingredients:
2 boxes of Spice Cake Mix
1 large can of pumpkin
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

Simply mix the Spice Cake mix and pumpkin together.  Really easy, but you'll be a little worried at first.  Try humming along with Dori from Finding Nemo..."just keep mixing, mixing, mixing...".  Seriously, mix for several minutes and it will eventually look like the above pic.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Place spoonful "lumps" onto a baking sheet and bake according to cake mix directions.  I got about 6 dozen cookies.

I have to admit, they were oh-so-yummy!  But I think they were far too cake-like to be called cookies.  I would consider them more like 'muffin-tops'.  Whatever you call them, we will be making them again and again! Pin It Now!

Freezer Cooking Exchange

I'm going to admit something to you that I am not particularly proud of...

I really don't like cooking.  No really, I really, really don't like it.

Nonetheless, my family still needs to eat and ordering pizza every night simply isn't in our budget or our healthy eating plan.  So, I am always looking for ways to make cooking for my large crew easier and quicker. 

We will often double up meals that are easy to freeze to put an extra in the deep freeze.  But occasionally, I like to go one step further and have a cooking day, cooking and freezing several meals at once.  A couple weeks ago I even talked a couple of friends into a Freezer Meal Exchange!

The idea was simple enough.  Each of us would make five different meals times 3(number of families involved) for a total of 15 meals.  We would keep one set of meals for ourselves and exchange the other 10 meals with each other so that we would end up with 15 different frozen meals.

I made two of my meals on separate evenings just by tripling our dinner for the evening.  But I wound up making 3 of my meals (times 3 for a total of 9...are you still following my math?) in one evening with the help of Chad and A10.

Below you'll find some pics of our experience along with the recipes I used.

All lined up!  It took just 3 hours to get 9 meals made.

Lots of chopping! I chopped and separated the ingredients in bowls.  Above is cooked and cubed chicken and squash in the background. 

Sauteing squash and zucchini.  Polish Sausage to mix in for yummy jambalaya.

I think it's best to write instructions directly on the lid if you have a disposable lid.  Be sure to include the name of the dish, instructions for cooking/reheating, and the date it was prepared.

And for the dishes I made.  Please note I am including instructions for one meal only in each recipe.  You will need to double your recipe (or triple it, etc.) to participate in an exchange or freeze extra.

1. Jambalaya

Ingredients

1 box of Instant Brown Rice (14 oz)

1 zucchini, washed and sliced

1 squash, washed and sliced

2 lbs of Turkey Smoked Sausage, sliced 

Creole Seasoning (We use Tony Chachere's)

1. Prepare rice according to package instructions.

2. Saute squash and zucchini until tender.  Add in smoked sausage and cook until warmed through. Drain.

3. Mix rice and sausage/veggie mixture and add seasoning to taste.

Reheating Instructions:

Let Dethaw.  Transfer to stove top and heat through.  Can add cheese if desired when serving.

 2. Poppyseed Chicken

You'll find this recipe here.

3. Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped red onion

3 cans (14.5 oz) reduced-sodium Chicken broth

1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken breasts

2 cups frozen corn

2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1. Saute the celery, carrots, and onion in oil until tender.  Stir in chicken broth, black beans, beef broth, tomatoes, corn, chicken, and seasoning.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes uncovered.

2. Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

Reheating Instructions:

Let dethaw.  Transfer to stove top and heat until warmed through.

4. Cowboy Casserole

You'll find this recipe here.

5. Pizza Bake

Sorry.  I didn't get a picture of this one before we ate it all up.

Ingredients:

1 box of rotini noodles

1 package of pepperoni

1 lb of breakfast sausage

2 jars of pizza sauce

4 cups of shredded mozzarella

1. Cook noodles according to package.  Drain and pour noodles into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Fry and crumble sausage. Drain.  Mix in pizza sauce.  Stir and pour over pasta.

3. Add a layer of pepperoni.

4. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Cover and freeze or continue to bake.

Cooking Instructions:

Let dethaw.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until warmed through.

 Do you have freezer meal recipes that you love?  Let me know!



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Homemade Laundry Detergent - It's Chic!

Seriously...everywhere I turn I'm hearing about people making their own laundry detergent now. I'm not usually one to follow the crowd, but I have to admit I've been a bit intrigued.

So when I was sitting in our Sunday school class the other day and overheard two friends mention they were planning to get together and try their hand at making a homemade laundry detergent recipe, I completely interrupted to announce, "I want to, TOO!"

So the next day three families all gathered for homemade pizza. After dinner, the dads took all the kids across the street to a local playground and we three moms headed outside to make our homemade laundry detergent.

We decided on a powder recipe as it was less work than the much more popular liquid recipes. And it was very easy to make.

Here's what you need:

A large sealable container
A cheese grater
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap (you can also use other strong bar soap like Ivory)
1 1/2 c. of washing soda
1 1/2 c. of borax

We got everything at a local grocery store.

All you do is grate your bar soap and mix everything together in your container. Very simple. We made 5 batches in less than 15 minutes and split it up equally.

Here's what it looks like:

The Fels Naptha soap has a nice, clean smell and the aroma fills up my laundry room while its washing, but it doesn't leave a smell at all on the clothes once they've been dried. You only need to add 2 Tbs. of the laundry detergent to each load of clothes. I add it in first and get the water going before I put in my clothes.

It's worked really great for me. I washed one of H4's blankets the other day...she calls it "softie" and carries it everywhere. It's a solid white, fuzzy blanket and had gathered many dirty stains from all the "love" it had received. It came out the wash stain-free except for two small pink spots of fingernail polish...it's not a miracle worker, afterall. But I was quite pleased!

We figured the cost at about $3.30 a batch and figured that one batch would last for about 96 loads. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Our plan is to try the liquid version next to see which one we like best. I'll keep in you in the know!

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"Well, we had fun making it..."

So I came across this blog, Filth Wizardry, a couple weeks ago. It's chock full of fun and crafty ideas to do with your kids.

After reading her post "Hotdog and Spaghetti culinary terror" , I simply had to try it out.

I gathered the kids around the table and handed them a plate of chopped up, un-boiled hotdogs and a handful of uncooked spaghetti. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd type.
And then the skewering began.


The kids were really very serious about their creations.


Finally, a mess of hotdogs were skewered and ready to be boiled.


Aren't they funny looking...yeah, I didn't eat any.

The kids however were ready to gobble them up...that is until they discovered that the spaghetti inside the hotdogs still had a little crunch to them. Then they all opted for leftover sub sandwhiches from the day before.

G8 tried to console me with, "Well, Mom, we did have fun making it..."

I think the biggest problem was that I cut the hodogs too big. They should of been bite-sized pieces. They probably could've used some shredded cheese or sauce to make them a little more appetizing as well. The post at Filth Wizardry also shows a healthier option of skewering chunks of turkey and carrots.

We might try these 'blooming snacks' for our next culinary experiment. Pin It Now!