crunchy carmel corn

 My friend, Rachel once brought this to a yw party and I could not believe that 1. it was homemade and 2. it was sooo delicious! She gave me the recipe and now every time I make it, I think of her. Even if she does live clear across the country. People love this wherever I go! Thanks Rach!

 Crunchy Carmel Corn

20 cups popcorn 

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup karo syrup

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. vanilla

Place popped corn in brown paper sack, top cut off to fit in microwave. In sauce pan put all ingredients but soda and vanilla, bring to boil. Boil for 4 minutes stirring constantly. Remove. Stir in soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and stir. Microwave on high 3 minutes. Stir every 30 seconds. Spread on wax paper to cool. Once cooled breakup popcorn and serve. 

chocolate covered raspberries

I got this lovely idea from V Chocolates. I had a huge basket of raspberries from Costco so I decided to see if I could make them myself. First you need tiny cupcake papers. Then, just melt some good milk chocolate chips (I like ghirardelli,) and while the chocolate is still warm, drop in some raspberries. Then drizzle with white chocolate (melted chips) and put into the fridge until ready to serve. I'm usually not a huge raspberry fan, but these flavors together are delicious!

homemade pizza

*I love the tomato, olive oil sauce- so simple and yummy! But you can easily put on your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce. I usually split the dough in half and make the boys their own with whatever they want on it.

Margherita Pizza Ingredients

Makes one 16-inch pizza or two 12-inch pizzas

*Basic Pizza Dough (see below)

*2 pounds very ripe Roma or hot-house tomatoes

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*1/4 cup olive oil

*8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

*2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

*Coarse salt and ground black pepper

*14 small fresh basil leaves or 7 large, torn into pieces

Preparation

1. Oil the pizza pan(s) and set aside

2. Prepare the pizza dough, roll it out, and place it in the prepared pan(s).

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

4. Peel and dice the tomatoes, discarding the seeds, and combine with the salt and 1/4 cup oil in a bowl. Spread over crust.

5. Bake 15 to 20 min on the lowest oven rack. Remove pizza from oven and arrange the mozzarella and Parmesan, if using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle on additional olive oil. Return to oven till bubbly, 5 to 10 min.

6. Top with basil and serve immediately.

Basic Pizza Dough

Makes one 16-inch medium-crust pizza or two 12-inch thin-crust or four 8-inch thin crust pizzas.

Ingredients

*1 tablespoon active dry yeast

*1 cup warm water

*2 tablespoons olive oil

*1 tablespoons honey

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour or half all-purpose and half whole wheat

Prep

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 min.

2. Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition. You may have to stir in the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine. Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.

3. If dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.

4. Lightly grease pizza pan(s) or a cookie sheet(s) with oil. If you are making two or more thin- crust pizzas, divide the dough. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pans(s).

(Recipe from www.thefoodnannyrescuesdinner.com.)

Yummy Pumpkin Cookies

2 c. flour
1 c. quick oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. oleo softened (I used butter)
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. pumpkin
1 c. chocolate chips
candy corn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Cream butter, gradually adding sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well ater each addition. Stir in Choc. chips. For each cookie drop 1/4 c. dough onto lightly greased pan and spread with spatula into pumkin shape, add a bit more dough for the stem. Bake 20-25 min (I did 20) Remove from oven and make face with candy corn, return to oven for 2 min. Remove from cookie sheet and cool.

Chicken Pot Pie

Thanks for inviting me to this fun blog...Here is one of my families favorites. Will turns 6 next week and this is his request for his birthday dinner. PLEASE dont be intimidated by making your own crust. It's really not bad, give it a shot! This is a little time intensive, maybe an hour to make, but worth it!
Crust:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening
1 t. salt
5-7 T cold water
Sift together flour and salt. Cut in shortening till size of peas. Sprinkle in 1 T at a time of cold water till it all sticks together. Roll into a ball and divide in 2. Roll each piece out on floured surface. The secret of a flaky crust is not to overmix it after adding the water. For a pot pie, back after filled. If you want to use this crust recipe for another pie that required a pre-baked crust, fork the bottom and bake at 450 for 10-12 min.
Filling:
1-10oz pkg frozen peas and carrots
1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
1 - 14oz can chicken broth
1/3 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cut and cubed pre-cooked chicken
Heat margarine in medium sauce pan over med-high heat. Add onion, saute for 2 minutes. Add flour, cook for 1 min. Stir in milk, broth, salt and pepper, wisk and cook for 5-10 minutes or until sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in chicken and veggies. Pour in unbaked pie crust, cover with top crust and fold edges over. Put a few slices for air holes in the top crust. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes. If you are on Weight Watchers, this is 1/8 of the pie for 10 points (not the greatest for you, but so yummy!)

If anyone is interested...

Hey anyone who is interested in adding to this blog please email me and let me know. We started it at book group and want anyone who is interested to be able to contribute! So my email is naomastewart@yahoo.com... Also those that are already a part of it please share some more yummy recipes! I love trying new things and know that you all have delicious secrets that I want to try out!!! =)

Orange Chicken

Surgeon General's Warning: This is not a healthy meal. If you are looking for a healthy meal do not read on. Avert your eyes of all yummyness involved in the making of this blog post and come back to this blog another time.

If you love Panda Express' Orange Chicken then you will be amazed with this recipe. It is so good that I can no longer eat Orange Chicken from Panda without being thoroughly disappointed. It is not a hard recipe but is time consuming so plan on at least an hour. Trust me when I say it is well worth the wait though!

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken cut in approx. 2 inch pieces
1 egg
white pepper
oil
1/2 c. plus 1 tlbs. cornstarch
1/4 c.. flour
1 tlbs. minced ginger root (or powdered ginger)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 dash crushed hot red chilies
1/4 c;. chopped green onion
1 tlbs. rice wine (I use white vinegar if I don't have rice wine)
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. sesame oil

*Orange Chicken Sauce
1 1/2 tlbs. soy sauce
1 1/2 tlbs. water
1/4 c. plus 1 tlbs. sugar
1/4 c. plus 1 tlbs. white vinegar


Cut Chicken into 2 inch pieces and place in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tlbs. oil. Mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Add to chicken pieces stirring to coat.

Cut up, meaure out, and mix up remaining ingredients, prepare orange sauce, and put all aside.

Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep fryer to 375 degrees. Add chicken pieces in small batches at a time and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. (do not overcook or chicken will be tough. I cook my chicken 4 minutes and no more) Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Clean wok and heat back up. Add 1 tlbs oil, ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add and stir crushed chilies and green onion. Stir. Add rice wine and stir. Add orange sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken back into wok. Stir chicken until well coated. Stir water into remaining 1 tlbs cornstarch until smooth. Add to chicken and stir until sauce is thickened. Add 1 tlbs. oil and sesame oil.

I serve with stir fried veggies and rice. This particular meal we didn't have veggies so we served with pot stickers instead.

Poppy Seed Chicken

This is a dinner that my kids actually get excited about eating.
Mix the following together and pour in the bottom of a 9x13 pan:

4 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz. sour cream

Mix the following and spread on top of chicken mixture:

1 roll of crushed Ritz crackers
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 cube butter melted (6 Tblsp)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve over rice or angel hair pasta.

BBQ Chicken over Rice.

About 2 lbs chicken

Sauce:

4 T. EVOO

6 cloves garlic

1 c. onion

1 16 oz. can tomato sauce

1 12oz. bottle chili sauce

1/4 c. vinegar

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

4 chicken boullion cubes

1 1/2 t. pepper

Best if sauce made the night before. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add all other ingredients, boil gently, uncovered for 15 minutes- not less. Preheat oven to 350 and cut up uncooked chicken and salt and pepper. Put in baking dish and pour and mix sauce with the chicken. Bake for 50 minutes covered and an additional 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand 5 minutes then serve over rice. Sauce can also be used with coutry style boneless pork ribs slow-cooked all day in the crock pot.

Category: Dinner

Summer Strawberry Spinach Salad

Toasted Almonds (I do my own with just acouple tablespoons of sugar and almonds. On low-medium heat till browned. Do not Burn!)

1 Bag Spinach

1 Pint Strawberries (Sliced)

Dressing

1/3 c. sugar

2 T. sesame seeds

1 T. poppy seeds

1 1/2 t. minced onion

1/4 t. worsch.sauce

1/4 t. paprika

1/2 c. veg. oil

1/4 c. cider vinegar

Mix all together right before serving. (I don't usually use all the dressing so just use enough to cover the salad, or you each put it on individually.. but stir it really well!!) Does not keep so eat up!!

Category: Salads

Zucchini Bread

This is Heather's recipe that I haven't actually tried yet- but everything she makes is great!

3 eggs

1 c oil

2 c sugar

Mix

Add: 

2 c grated zucchini

3 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

3 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c nuts if desired

For 3 large loaves 325 degrees for 60 minutes

For many small loaves 275 degrees for shorter time

Yummy Lemonade with a Twist.

This is the one I made for that shower at Lindsay Nielson's house. I do not have a picture, Sorry!!

The Juice from 8 lemons
1 lemon zested
1 T. lemon extract
3 c. sugar
4 c. milk

Mix with club soda to taste.

I know it sounds a little funny but really it is good!

Category: Drinks

Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

This is a yummy recipe that is sooo easy and even my 3 year old really likes it.

Prep Time 5 minutes; cook time 10-15 minutes. Serves 4.

6-8 boneless pork loin chops 1/4"-1/2" thick - trim fat
1/2 tsp Salt (I use kosher)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T. olive oil
3 T. chopped green onion
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. packed brown sugar

Pat pork with paper towel. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. In non-stick 12"skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook chops 4 minutes on each side till no longer pink. Transfer to another dish and keep warm. Increase heat to high; stir onion into pan juices for one minute. Stir in vinegar and sugar and cook an additonal minute. Pour sauce over chops.

Category : Dinner