microwave caramel corn

This recipe is perfect for making with the family on Sunday nights or for FHE.

Microwave Caramel Corn

(recipe from my friend Kat)

(makes 4 quarts of caramel corn)

1 cup unpopped popcorn

1 stick melted margarine

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pop popcorn and place in a large brown paper grocery bag. (remove any unpopped kernels so you don't break a tooth.) Set popcorn aside.

Mix margarine, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.

Stir and cook 2 min. on high in the microwave.

Stir in baking soda. (it will foam up)

Pour caramel over popcorn in brown paper bag. (The recipe doesn't say to, but I stir it up a bit.)

Close bag.

Put in microwave, cook 30 sec. on high.

Remove from microwave and shake.

Optional: Return to microwave and cook another 30 sec. on high. This makes a crunchier, less gooey caramel corn.

Shake again.

Place on waxed paper and spread out to dry. (It doesn't take long.)

Crunch and Munch.

The Best No-Bake Cookies I've Ever Had (Peanut-Butter Free)

I had some places to take treats to last week and got some treat-making out of my system.

I have always loved no-bake cookies. Making and eating them. Most recipes call for peanut-butter though and I have to make our treats peanut-free because of Cali.

I found this recipe in "The Worldwide Ward Cookbook" and tried it out.

They really were the best no-bake cookies I've ever had. I think that using chocolate and brown sugar made the difference. Mmm.

Fudge Cookies

(from the Worldwide Ward Cookbook)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine (I used the new "I can't believe it's not butter" sticks)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 cup coconut

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Boil for 2 minutes. Remover from heat. Add remaining ingredients. Beat exactly 2 minutes with electric mixer on medium, until thick but still shiny. (The baby was sleeping so I mixed it by had and it still turned out.) Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cool until set. Lick the pan. Eat every day. (those were the recipe's exact words that I wish I could follow)

homemade tortillas

Did you guys know how easy it is to make your own tortillas?

I just found out.

My kids like tacos, but they ate even more of them when I made these.

And my kids usually wonder why I had to go mess things up by turning it into homemade.

(I also have tried a different recipe using all wheat flour, but it didn't go over quite so well. I'll let you know when I work that one out.)

Flour Tortillas

(from recipezaar)

3-4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup shortening

1- 1 1/2 cups warm water

Combine the 3 cups of flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.

Either by hand, or with a pastry blender, work in the shortening until crumbly.

Slowly add water. (start with 1 cup and slowly work in more as needed)

With your hands, knead vigorously for 2 minutes, until a nice dough ball forms.

Cover and let sit 15 minutes. (this makes the dough easier to roll out)

Take a ball of dough (golf-ball sized for a small tortilla)

Roll in flour to cover.

On a floured surface, roll out dough evenly and very thin. (a thicker dough will give you more of a pita bread or thicker wrap which, in fact, I like)

Place each tortilla on a medium hot cast iron skillet. (I used a regular fry pan)

Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side or until it no longer looks doughy.

(ingredients can be adjusted to get the right dough consistency)

crock pot roasted chicken and vegetables

This is actually a picture of the leftover byproduct of this recipe. I love leftover byproducts for lunch.

This recipe is more of a method for how I make shredded chicken. I hate dealing with raw meat so I like to cook it all up at once.

By cooking it this way we eat roast chicken and veggies one night with homemade rolls, I get to eat chicken soup with what's left of the vegetables and broth the next day, and I get enough shredded chicken for about three more meals like chicken enchiladas, hawaiian haystacks, chicken pot pie, chicken salad sandwiches, etc. This makes life easier and I love that.

Here's the basics:

Like I said this is not really a recipe so the measurement isn't exact

I just try to cram as much as I can into my 6 quart crock pot

I use 1 package (about 5 lbs) of fresh boneless skinless chicken,

1 onion cut into large chunks

a couple potatoes (I think that time I used 3)

a couple carrots cut into big chunks

a couple ribs of celery cut into big pieces

Trim the chicken and put a layer in the crock pot

sprinkle with seasonings such as poultry seasoning, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

layer veggies on it

repeat until its all in the crockpot

It will then look like this:

Pour 2 cups of broth (made from bullion) into the crock pot and cook the stuff on low all day long.

Serve vegetables and large pieces of chicken for dinner. Remove the rest of the chicken and shred and freeze for later. Add some pepper and salt to the broth, veggies and fine shreds of chicken left in the crockpot for a delicious soup for lunch the next day. Yum.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Beef (or Chicken) and Broccoli

Warning: not a kid-pleasing dish. Scott and I ate it all ourselves. I had to make a regular chicken gravy to put on their rice.

I got this recipe off of Recipezaar. (#99476) It was listed as "The Best Easy Beef and Broccoli Stirfry." It was easy and yummy.

I am lazy today so I am just going to paste the recipe right from recipezaar. I used chicken breasts instead of beef in mine.

The Best Easy Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup water, plus
• 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb boneless round steak or charcoal chuck steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• hot cooked rice

Directions

1. 1

   In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.

2. 2

   Add beef and toss.

3. 3

   In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.

4. 4

   Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.

5. 5

   Return beef to pan.

6. 6

   Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.

7. 7

   Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

8. 8

   Serve over rice.

Healthier Banana Bread

I was trying to find a better alternative to my favorite banana bread recipe which is scrumptious, but contains a whole stick of butter.

I found a muffin recipe that I thought might work. I also reduced the sugar in it, substituted wheat flour for part of the white, and added vanilla. Really there wasn't a noticeable difference from my other banana bread recipe as far as taste or texture go, and my family ate a whole loaf in one sitting.

Healthier Banana Bread

(adapted from a muffin recipe in the Favorites cookbook)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and oil well. Add eggs and mashed bananas and beat. Add flour, soda and salt. Pour into greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes for small loaves (it baked 3, 7x3 1/2)

(It would probably make 2 medium loaves or 1 large loaf. Increase bake times accordingly.)

(also makes 18-24 muffins, bake for 18-20 minutes.)

(UPDATE: I just made this again the other day and substituted applesauce for all of the oil. It was a little more dry, but still very yummy.)

Any Cake Mix Cookies

I made these a few weeks ago when I had leftover frosting in the refrigerator and decided to put together some homemade oreos for the kids. The old me would have just got out a spoon and taken care of that frosting.

There are a few reasons why this is a GREAT recipe.

1. You can use any cake mix. I've used rainbow chip mostly. This picture was a triple chocolate cake mix.

2. They are good chewy cookies that you put together in no time. (3 ingredients)

3. Unlike the regular recipe I use for homemade Oreos, this one doesn't have shortening. Not even any oil. Sure the shortening makes your cookies puffier, but now I cringe when I add shortening to food. Flatter cookies are more like real oreos anyways, right?

4. They taste good.

The recipe came from a ward cookbook I was looking at a few years ago.

Cake Mix Cookies

1 package cake mix

2-4 tablespoons water

2 eggs

Mix well to form soft cookie dough. Place teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Watch the time. I actually left that part off the recipe and just guessed at it. I can't remember how long it took a few weeks ago.)