Crockpot Chicken

A long time ago, Torrie introduced us to 365 Days of Crockpot Cooking. Ever since then, I like to venture there and try something new. I've been using my crockpot every Tuesday because we get home from our activities so late it's the only way we can have dinner (besides cold cereal). Tonight's dinner was a success. Here is the link - It's quick, easy, and super tasty. A hit with all three kids (even Mollie - little miss picky pants - had seconds). I served it in corn tortillas, like a chicken taco with some mozzarella cheese. We have enough leftover to have it tomorrow over rice. Even better - two dinners in one :) Enjoy!!

Red Velvet

It was my friend's birthday last week, so I made her some cupcakes. It is the Red Velvet cake & Cream Cheese frosting recipe from my Pioneer Woman Cookbook. I was just going to post a link to it for you to get, but I see it isn't one she's shared on the blog. So, I guess I'll type it up sometime . . . . . . soon. In the meantime, enjoy the photo and just take my work for it, they were good!!

Creamy Potato Soup

It's almost October, so we are supposed to be eating soup. It's also supposed to be in the 90's all week. Oh well, we made soup anyway. This was a yummy one.

I found it on PW's Tasty Kitchen. Here is the link. I didnt' do the creamy onion topping, I put the bacon in the soup instead of on top, and I used yukon gold potatoes. I'll definitely be making this one again this fall, when fall comes . . . . .

Ice Cream Yumminess

I think I could have this kind of party several times a year, instead of just once a year. Unfortunately we had a few cancellations, so we only ended up with 6 different ice creams, but we all concluded that this definitely needs to be an annual event. Here is a recap:

I ended up making that Deeply Chocolate Gelato, and unless you are a serious dark chocolate lover, this isn't for you. Me, on the other hand, LOVED it. It was kind of like a mix between ice cream and fudge. Just a small bowl full was all you needed, and it was pure dark chocolate bliss.

Not knowing how the gelato would turn out, I also ended up making Blackberry Ice Cream. It did not disapoint. It was so creamy, and black berryee. Definitely a keeper.

The other tasty flavors were: Peach, Chocolate Cherry Jalapeno (interestingly good), German Chocolate, and Mixed Berry.  I wasn't so good at taking pictures, so you'll just have to imagine how dreamy a countertop full of homemade ice creams was.

I had a scoop of every one of them, and honestly couldn't pick a favorite. They were all so good. I need to send out a request for all of the recipes. Luckily I still have plenty of the two I made in the freezer downstairs. Maybe I'll go have some now. Oh, and some leftover salsa. Ahhh, life after the party is good (except for the mess, but we'll address that another day).

If you love Andes Mints . . . .

. . . . then you'll love these cookies.
{I know, I said enough food talk, but these were sooo good, I had to share}

Guittard Polka Dot Cookies

2 cups (12oz) Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Salt
3 large Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 cups (12oz) Guittard Green Mint Chips

Melt semisweet chips and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. Set aside to cool. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until light. Blend in melted chocolate then dry ingredients. Stir in green mint chips and chill for 10-15 minutes or until stiff. Drop by well rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes; cookies will be soft in centers but will harden as they cool.

Makes 4-5 dozen 2-inch cookies.

My notes: Dave said there were too many mint chips - I thought it was perfect (but I really like mint). I baked them closer to the 10 minutes (or so). The ones that were only 8 minutes were too soft and gooey. These chocolate chips are a bit of a splurge, but oh these were good cookies, so if you need some for something special, go for it.

Gelato

The summer is almost over, and we never had another homemade ice cream social.  Oops.  So, last minute, we planned it for this weekend.

I've been searching for the perfect ice cream to make, and while Foodnetwork was playing (it plays a lot during the day, and if its something interesting, I record it and come back to it later) I saw it.  Ina was making Deeply Chocolate Gelato.  It looked so good, I wanted to lick the tv.  Seriously. I'm going to try it, so wish me luck.  If it's good, I'll let you know, so you can whip some up before summer is over.

If you have any more ice cream recipes to recommend, feel free to post them.  Maybe I'll make a couple of kinds.  You can never have too much home made ice cream, right??  I'm planning on loading up the counter with some different salsa's again too.  It should be fun!  Wish you guys lived closer!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

I love strawberries.  I love bacon.  I love almonds.  I love spinach.  I love poppy seed dressing.

Put them all together, and you have true love.  I've had this salad on many occasions, and was craving it the other day.  I didn't have the yummy store bought poppy seed dressing that you usually use, and I wasn't about to make a trip to town to buy some, so I googled it.  And now, I'll never go back.  This is my new  favoritest dressing ever!!  The salad is pretty good too (only you have to add bacon to this recipe, for some reason they left it out)  Strawberry Spinach Salad.  Enjoy!!

Boston Creme Pie

Almost every year my dad's birthday request is Boston Creme Pie. I don't know why it's called a pie, because it's a pretty darn good cake. Dave has since fallen in love with it, and now he requests it every year too. This year I got to make my dad's cake. I like that, because I like licking the pan.

Boston Creme Pie:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup shortening (or butter, I like butter)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well, pour into a well greased & floured round cake pan. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Let cool completely. Then the fun begins.

Using a really long knife, cut the cake in half, making two thin layers.

Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
2 TBSP corn starch
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup milk
2 beaten egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla

Stir together sugar, corn starch, and salt in sauce pan. Add milk and heat untill beginning to thicken. Add egg yolks (temper first with the warm filling, then add to the rest). Continue cooking until thick and boiling. Cook another minute. Add vanilla. Let this mixture cool a few minutes (sometimes a I put it in the fridge to be a little quicker). (If making pudding scares you, you can use instant pudding, but I promise, you'll love the real stuff!)

Put the pudding over the first layer of cake. Then top it with the 2nd layer. Now make the chocolate.

Glaze:
Melt 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate and 3 TBS butter over low heat. Remove. Beat with 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla and 2 TBSP water to make a smooth and shiny glaze.

Pour this warm over the top of your cake - letting it drip down the sides.

Refridgerate to let it set up - maybe an hour or so, then enjoy!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Zucchini Brownies

Since summer = zucchini around here, we are always looking for new ways to use it.  A friend of mine's mom used to make these for us in high school.  They are tasty, give them a try.

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
4 TBSP cocoa (or more :)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp soda
2 cups shreaded zucchini (just washed - leave the skin on)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds (opt.)

Cream butter, oil, eggs and sugar.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Add zucchini.  Put in 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips and almonds.  Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Salsa

This one's for you, Amelia. Mo and I made oodles of this last year - it's pretty tasty. This makes a fairly mild salsa. You can add more peppers, or leave the seeds in to make it hotter.

Salsa
6# tomatoes (13 1/2 cups) - chopped & peeled
5-6 jalepenos (no seeds) - chopped
2 onions - chopped
1 1/2 bell peppers - chopped
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 TBSP. salt
1 TBSP. mexican oregano
1 bunch cilantro - chopped
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 - 6oz can tomato paste
1 - 4oz can diced green chiles
10 hot yellow wax peppers - chopped

Cook down for atleast 1 hour
Process PINTS in Boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes.
Makes 6-8 pints

Ice Cream Cake

My sister made one of my birthday cakes this year.  And it was soooooo good, and sooooo easy.

Ice Cream Cake

Pick your 3 favorite flavors of ice cream (simple is sometimes better in this case)

She did Vanilla, Chocolate, and Mint Chocolate Chip

2 Packages of Oreos

1 Cube Melted Butter

Blend the butter with the oreos in the blender or a food processor, then start layering:

Oreo Crust

Softened Ice Cream

(you can't really spread it, so just scoop up thin layers and lay it over the oreos - a 9x13 doesn't quite fit the entire quart, but the one just bigger does)

Oreo Crust

Softened Ice Cream

Oreo Crust

Softened Ice Cream

Top it off with a few chunkily (is that a word) crushed oreos

Cover with plastic wrap and foil freeze until party time.

Typing this up makes me want some.  Now.

And when you are really old, and your sisters think you must have oodles of candles on your cake, the kids have a blast licking ice cream off them.

My New Favorite Pizza

I forgot to take a picture.  Sorry.  Next time for sure.  I'm tellin ya though, it's pretty, and it's good.

I begin with a sour dough crust
(it's my new favorite way to keep my sour dough alive)

Spread on a little store bought alfredo sauce
Heap on some spinach leaves (I used to just lay a few on, now I heap them and it's much better!)
Throw on some shreaded mozzerella
Layer on some sliced/grilled chicken breast
Sprinkle over that some crumbled bacon (I kinda like a lot)
Now some thinly sliced bell peppers
Top it all off with another sprinkling of mozzerella and some parmesan
Oh, and add some pine nuts if you have them.  I've been out for a while and haven't been able to justify coughing up the dough for them - for some reason they are kinda pricey right now.

I suppose I should share another favorite while I'm at it:

BBQ Chicken

Start with your favorite BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's, baby!)
Throw on some mozzerella
Now the sliced/grilled chicken
Toss on some crumbled bacon
Finish it off with some more cheese

Enjoy!

{One of our favorite things lately is to make individual crusts, have oodles of toppings, and have friends over for a make your own pizza night.  It's fun to see what everyone comes up with. - Then make some homemade ice cream and it's a swell night!}

What's your favorite pizza topping??

Cinnamon Almonds

posted by Torrie


Because Jason's brother works on a nut farm in California, we always seem to have almonds hanging around. They keep a long time in the freezer. The other day while on my "Domestic Diva" kick I decided to make some Cinnamon Almonds. Very easy and very tasty I must say. So if you find some almonds for a good price here is a easy great recipe to try.

Cinnamon Almonds:

1 Egg White
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Beat egg until frothy and add vanilla.
Add nuts, stir until coated.

In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. Stir into nuts and spread on greased cookie sheet. Bake one hour at 250 degrees stirring occasionally.

If there is any still left after you pull it out and eat a bunch you can put them in little snack ziplocs and put them in the freezer. They are awesome snacks to grab and go, I usually always have almonds in my purse in one form or another.

Note: picture above is not actually mine but it is exactly what they will look like. Today I just put some almonds in a cute sack with a ribbon for a gal I visit teach to give to her for her birthday.

It was awesome to already have something ready.

Chicken Curry & Garlic Naan

{Almost as good as Bombay House}

I've been craving me some curry ever since we ate at the Bombay House in SLC, and since there isn't any within a reasonable driving distance, I pulled out my recipes and made my own.  Yumm-o!!.

Chicken Curry:
2 TBSP Curry Powder
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander
5 large Chicken Breasts
1 large Onion, chopped
16 slices peeled fresh ginger (I was out, so I just sprinkled some powder in)
8 Garlic Cloves
2 cups Unsweetened Coconut Milk
2 10 oz. packages Frozen Peas

In a slow cooker, toss chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, coriander, and cumin to coat.  Season with 2 teaspoons of salt.  Cover.  Cook on high until chicken is fork tender (about 4 hours).

Stir in Coconut Milk and peas.  cover.  Cook until peas are heated through (20-30 minutes).  Shread chicken, toss with sauce.

Serve over rice with toasted cashews and cilantro leaves.

Garlic Naan:
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup flour, plus more while kneading
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup clarified butter or oil

Combine yeast, sugar and water.  Let rest until foamy.  Sift together flour and salt, making a well in the center.  Add the yeast mixture and oil and knead with your hands until a smooth dough forms (you'll need to add a bit more flour to get it a nice texture - not too sticky).  Knead for 3 minutes.

Oil a small bowl, place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat, and let rest until doubled in suze (about 1 hour).

Prehead oven to 400 degrees F.  Divide the dough into 6 pieces and gently roll out into a thin circle.  Bake for about 8 minutes, then spread melted butter (sauteed with garlie) over the top.  Bake for a couple more minutes, until just golden brown and puffed.  Serve warm.

Fried Chicken: 3 different meals

On Sunday Dave's speaking assignment took him up to Riggins. It's about 100 miles away, so we went as a family.  His speaking companion took his family too, and we planned a picnic in the park for afterwards. What's a picnic without fried chicken?? It's still a picnic, but cold fried chicken just somehow makes it better, right? Anyway, here's how it went down and how we got 3 meals out of it:

I had to cook the chicken on Saturday, so I made extra so we could have hot fried chicken for dinner with some side dishes.

Sunday we planned on a picnic lunch by the river, but after I had the chicken going, Dave found out that the Branch in Riggins was planning a potluck for us. We couldn't pass that up, but I packed up the chicken and cookies just in case we were still hungry afterwards :) Which we were, so it worked perfect to hang out at the park and eat some more before driving back home.

After that, we still had some leftover, so I had to get creative on how to eat it again. I dug through the fridge and found a green pepper, and some rice from a couple of nights earlier. Perfect ingredients for Sweet and Sour Chicken. Easy and Good.

So, there you have it. Cook up some fried chicken and you've got dinner for a few nights. I should mention that I used Chicken Tenders - because I had them, and because it is so much easier to eat it that way than off the bone - and just as good.

Now, the recipes:

Fried Chicken

Soak it in Buttermilk for 4-6 hours (as a brine)
Let it drain well in a colander while you get the station set up.
Turn on your oil (about an inch) to get good and hot
First stop: Flour, seasoned well with salt, pepper and paprika
Second stop: A mixture of egg and milk (sorry, I totally eye-ball it)
Third stop: Panko bread crumbs (some say to divide the flour in half, and then just dip in flour again, I like the crunchiness of Panko)
Fourth stop: Hot oil. Fry it good and brown on both sides - cut open one or two to make sure you are getting it good and cooked.
Let drain on a cooling rack (with a cookie sheet under it to catch the oil) then on a plate lined with paper towels. Before refridgerating, be sure it cools completely.



Sweet and Sour Chicken

I used this sauce recipe as a base, then added a whole bell pepper, diced into 1" cubes, a can of pineapple chunks, drained (using the juice instead of water in the recipe) then adding the leftover fried chicken, cut into cubes, at the end. Serve it over rice.  {Tip: when reheating rice, add water to it, then cover and simmer on low for a bit until it is heated through - tastes like it did after the first cooking if you do it right}

Recipe: Smoothies

Yes, we've talked about them before, and they really are a staple at our house.  My day just goes better when it starts out with one of these.  My top 5 tips have been requested, so here goes:

It's Dave's job to make them, (because when it's left up to me, it ususally doesn't get made before he leaves for work, so he doesn't get one until lunch), and according to Kelvin, he makes them better.  I'm happy to let him make them.  Here's what works for us.

1 - Grind your flaxseeds in a coffee grinder first.  It just makes for a smoother drink.  You can find them for under $20 at Wal-mart or Target.
2 - Ice - it's optional.  We use all frozen fruit (except for the banana) so I don't mind not having it in there, but some think it's a must. Try it and decide what you like best.
3 - When strawberries are cheap (like right now - there is an abundance of them on the market, so the price is good) I buy them fresh, then wash and freeze them myself.
4 - Yogurt - it works with out it, but it's oh so much better with it.  I like Vanilla best, but plain or strawberry is fine too.
5 - Protein Powder.  I've heard a lot of studies lately saying that soy protein is not as good for you as they once thought.  We like to use Whey protein.  You can get it in different flavors (keep in mind this also adds sugar) or get it plain.  I kind of like the vanilla flavored.  Sometimes we get a kind that is packed with other vitamins too.  Most health food stores will offer you all sorts of kinds.  Read labels, see what works for you.  And for our entire family (2 adult size portions and 2 childs portions - Mollie won't touch the stuff) we only do enough for one serving.  We aren't trying to bulk up or anything, we just want to have the added protein in our diet.  We also add a fiber powder to it.  Right now it's the Melaleuca one which uses psyllium husks for it's source.  It's a good one.

There's 5. I could probably list more, but there are my 2 bits.  If I were to add another optional one, it would be to get a good blender.  Frozen stuff, day after day, can be hard on some blenders.  Plus, ones I've had in the past tend to leave chunks of frozen fruit in it.  I've had my vita-mix for quite a few years now and haven't had a problem with it.  My mom (who made drinks and everything else with it) burned hers up after several years, so she got a blend-tech. So far she really likes it.

Bread

Since we've been talking a bit about bread lately, I thought I'd post the recipe I tried today.  I've always wanted to make Cinnamon Swirl bread, but never really knew how.  Then in my February issue of Martha Stewart Living, there was this plain white bread recipe that had some variations to it that looked so fun.  I finally made it today, only I didn't do plain white bread (that is just so boring to me for some reason, so I did 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat and it worked out perfectly).  I ended up omitting the raisins, because I didn't have any (they'd be tasty in it, but it was plenty good without).  I also doubled the batch to get the most out of my making of it.  I ended up with 6 small loaves and 1 big one.  And it was delicious.  I ended up giving 3 away and we ate 1 for dinner.  So much for my morning of bread making.  Oh well, it's good, and I'll definitely be making it again.  I'd like to try the multigrain and the rye next.

Recipes?

Sorry I've neglected my recipe posting.  It gets crazy and I forget to take pictures of our food, and I like pictures with the recipes.  I have been loving my Pioneer Woman cookbook lately, so here are a few things I've made most recently that I think you should try:.

Chicken Pot Pie (she calls it turkey, but in her cookbook it is chicken, but it's the same, and it's delicious!!)

Meatballs

Steak (simple, and perfect)

Enchiladas

Spaghetti & Meatballs (even my kids were begging for more meatballs!)

Mashed Potatoes

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Breakfast Puffs (except I only dip the top in the cinnamon mixture, otherwise it's way too sugary for me)

Cowboy Calzones (sorry, couldn't find this one on her website, but they are good)

 . . . . . and much, much, much more.  If you haven't purchased the cookbook already, you should.  It makes my mouth water just reading it.  Yum.  If you have, what's your favorite recipe??

April Fools Day

I'm a lousy April Fools Day mom, at least that's how I feel after reading about Design Mom's day and how clever her kids are.  Seriously.  They are hilarious.

All I did was this simple dinner, but we had fun with it.  Mollie also hid a plastic bug for Kelvin to find.  She didn't really get it, but it was fun anyway.

What did you do for this silly holiday?

Recipe: Cupcakes

I made cupcakes over the weekend, and boy were they good! Don't be surprised when I tell you that I got the recipe here. I know, shocker, I found a yummy recipe from the Pioneer Woman. The frosting is unlike any frosting I had made before - it had an entire cup of milk, and flour. Weird, I know, but try it, you'll be pleasantly surprised. It was kind of like putting whipped cream on top, but it wasn't.  The kids were not too pleased with me for leaving the frosting white, so I let them bust out the sprinkles and go to town on them.  Fun and Yummy!!