It's Yummy to My Tummy

Cinnamon Crunch Nuts

2017-09-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: This is a love and hate snack in my house. I just love these cinnamon crunch nuts and will eat them any time of day for a quick bite. However, my kids both have nut allergies, so whenever I make it, they give me the evil eye and are like, seriously, mom, you are making a yummy smelling treat that we can't have?! Yes, my darling kids, sorry, it is not all about you this time, haha. So now I try and make it when they aren't around or late at night to stop teasing them with the waffling smells of cinnamon and nuts in the house. Just so you know, the other bad part of this snack, it can be quite addicting; the cinnamon sugar spice goodness and the saltiness combined with the crunchiness, yeah, the ultimate sweet and salty snack. Good luck trying to stop with just a few of these bad boys. These cinnamon crunch nuts are amazing when tossed with granola on top of yogurt or ice cream.

Ingredients:

1 egg white
2 tablespoons Fireball Whisky (or can substitute with water)
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound pecan halves or other mixed nuts
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (depending on how spicy you like them)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg white until frothy. In a separate bowl, melt butter and whisky together. Mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add nuts to the foamy egg white, add butter and whisky and stir to coat the nuts evenly. Toss the nuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees for anywhere between 45 minutes and 1 hour, or until coating starts to crunch up. Stir nuts every 15 minutes. Depending on your oven and mixture of nuts used, sometimes they are ready within 30 minutes of bake time, so keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.

Zucchini Salsa

2016-08-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Yummy note:
This is my first year with a much larger garden. I will say right now that my garden has been getting out of hand lately with the weeds and ground cover. I was doing fairly well early on, but it has recently got crazy-so if anyone has tips to control the weeds for next year, I'm all ears. I am honestly about ready for it all to be done for the season. The early raspberry bushes are done and have been pruned, the pumpkins are going well with about 6 pumpkin babies, however the vines have also took over a good portion of the garden. I am still getting a handful of peppers and zucchinis, too, which is nice for a late harvest. And then there's the tomatoes, they are close to fizzling out. However, I really got a decent crop out of my tomato plants this year, so I can not complain about that. I've planted a few different varieties, ranging from roma to heirloom, so I've been able to get some nice batches of salsa and tomato sauces. A few years ago, a friend introduced me to this zucchini salsa, which is similar to this recipe below. The biggest difference between the two, is the time involved in making the salsa though. The original recipe takes a 2-day approach with the zucchini in a brine overnight, while this one incorporates a sautéed zucchini instead and only takes a few hours start to finish realistically. Both recipes are on the mild side and not a lot of heat, but you could easily ramp up the heat by putting in more jalapeños and their seeds or a hotter pepper. This recipe yields about 8 pints of salsa.

Zucchini Salsa

Original recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/salsa-with-zucchini-with-a-hint-of-lime-319758

Ingredients:
8 cups of tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
olive oil
1 1/2 lbs of zucchini (about 6 cups shredded)
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups of diced sweet onions
3 jalapeños, diced
1-2 habaneros, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (either red, orange, or green)
4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, diced
6 garlic cloves, diced
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
1 lime, juiced and zested
1 1/2 cups of vinegar, 5% acid
12 ounces of tomato paste
1-2 tbsp fresh basil or 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro

Directions:
Yummy note: This recipe is to be canned using the waterbath canning process. If desired, you could always cut down the ingredients and make a smaller batch and not can this recipe for a fresh salsa.
Prep tomatoes by placing them in a pot of boiling water. Remove after about 30 seconds or once you see the skin beginning to peel. Then place them into a bowl of ice water to cool before removing the skins. Remove the skins and cores and chop tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to catch the juices. In a large stock pot, drizzle in a little olive oil and add the shredded zucchini and 1/2 teaspooon of salt and sauté the zucchini until it starts to reduce. After the zucchini has reduced down and is less watery, add in the reserved tomato juice from the chopped tomatoes to the pot and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. While this is reducing, chop and prep all of your other vegetables. Next, add in all of your other ingredients, except for the fresh basil and cilantro. Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. If the consistency seems to thick or chunky for your liking, you can finish up and puree the salsa a bit with a quick pulse of a hand blender. Just be careful not to splatter the hot salsa. Finish by stirring in the fresh basil or cilantro. Fill hot clean sterile jars with the salsa and check for air bubbles with a spatula and wipe the jars edges clean with a damp cloth, and screw on bands. Adjust the bands so they are not super tight, but just enough so that they are on there with slight resistance. Process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling waterbath canner. If the jars do not seal properly, place the jars in refrigerator and use within the next few days. Store canned jars and use within a year or so. Yields 8 pints.

Yummy note: New to canning - Check here for some tips - http://www.freshpreserving.com/canning-101-getting-started.html

banana bread variations

2016-06-15T23:13:00.001-05:00

Yummy note: This original recipe is one of my old standbys. I recently modified it slightly to reduce the amount of sugar and replaced regular vegetable oil with a healthier substitute of coconut oil. This is a great basic banana bread that stays delicious for several days even after you make it. Or if you make bigger batches, you can always freeze and they thaw out nicely for a quick breakfast snack. We like making the mini loaves at our place, in order to be able to change up the flavors a bit. Usually we have a few plain traditional loaves, plus some cinnamon swirl, chocolate chip, any my recent favorite variations here - peanut butter swirl and whiskey banana bread. Have fun experimenting and enjoy the flavor combinations.

Banana Bread Variations
Adapted from http://itsyummytomytummy.blogspot.com/2010/04/banana-bread.html

Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp orange juice
2 eggs - well beaten
3 large ripe bananas - mashed
2 cups flour
3-4 tbsp peanut butter
Optional:
1/4 cup chopped nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips

Whiskey Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
2-3 tbsp whiskey
2 eggs - well beaten
3 large ripe bananas - mashed1 tsp baking soda2 cups flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix slightly softened coconut oil and sugar together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix orange juice and baking soda until bubbly and stir in eggs and mashed bananas.If using the whiskey variation, just replace the whiskey with the orange juice in the above step. Next, pour that into the larger bowl with the oil and sugar bowl and mix. Lastly, add in the flour to the larger bowl. Stir well, but try not to over mix it. Pour batter into greased loaf pans. Stir in your optional mix-in ingredients; whether it be, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or peanut butter. With the peanut butter swirl, place a peanut butter on the top of the batter and take a knife and swirl it in. Bake accordingly to the size of pan you choose. For about 8 mini loaves - bake about 13-15 minutes, for 4 small loaves - bake for about 25-30 minutes, and for a larger pan, bake roughly about 1 hour. Continue to bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Baked Donut Muffins

2016-03-29T08:50:00.001-05:00

Yummy note: Holy cow, stop and drop what you are doing now, and make these guys. Baked donut mini muffins are amazing. We whipped up a batch for breakfast, and by the end of the day, I think they were all gone, as they were heavenly. We couldn't stop eating them, the sugary and spice flavor really hit the mark with what a donut should taste like. The nutmeg was the real flavor winner in this recipe and shouldn't be replaced with another spice. What was even better, this particular recipe was easily adapted to be dairy-free for my allergy kiddos, so they could enjoy it, too.

Baked Donut Muffins

Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/214651/donut-muffins/

Ingredients:
Muffin Batter:
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of butter, melted
3/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp of baking powder
1 cup of all-purpose flour

Coating:
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp of ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk and add in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Spray or grease a mini-muffin tin. Fill the prepared mini muffin tins about half full. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they start to brown on top. While donut muffins are baking, melted the other 1/4 cup of butter in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, or brown lunch bag, mix together the other 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. When muffins are done baking and cool enough to touch, dip each muffin lightly in the melted butter and coat in the cinnamon and sugar goodness. You can also shake them up in a brown bag for evenly coated yumminess.

This makes about 24 mini muffin donut bites.

Granola

2016-02-04T20:32:00.002-06:00

Yummy note:
Just recently I've been making my own granola more, I really don't know why I didn't before. It's great, as you can control the quality of the ingredients that go into the granola, which in turn makes it amazing compared to the prepackaged store stuff. My kids have several allergies to contend with so it is often easier for me to just make my own stuff than to buy and contend with potential contamination. I found this granola recipe, seriously to no surprise from Alton Brown. My daughter recently has been getting hooked on old Good Eats episodes, so it's awesome to find gems like these and rewatch with her. Did I mention before that I got to meet him a few years back and he's got to be one of my favorite food aficionados. So thank you Mr. Alton Brown for your amazing granola recipe, as it is hands down a keeper in our book and always gets rave reviews.

Granola

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe.html

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats or old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup slivered almonds*
1 cup cashews*
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar (equivalent to about 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
6 tablespoons maple syrup (equivalent to 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts, coconut, and dark brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, and salt. Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir well to coat mixture evenly. Spread out the granola onto 2 large cookie sheet pans. I lined my pans with parchment paper, but I don't think it is necessary. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure the granola does not burn and to achieve a nice brown and crunchy golden granola. Remove pans from the oven and pour granola into a large bowl and mix in any additional dried fruit or raisins. Keep stored in an airtight bag or container. This will keep for several weeks usually, if it lasts that long in your house before it is gone. :)

* Yummy note- I have swapped out these ingredients to be sunflower seeds and other dried fruit to give it crunch and variety to eliminate the nut allergy concerns. Also, this recipe can be done in a dehydrator or oven. I've done it both ways numerous times and it has worked great. If using a dehydrator, dry according to the manufacturers recommendations, but usually the granola takes about 4-5 hours to achieve desired dryness and crunchiness.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti

2016-01-17T23:00:00.000-06:00

Yummy note: So anyone that knows me, I really enjoy baking and cooking for others; especially, doing surprise goodie drop-offs or mailing a fun package out to friends with a yummy treat delivered at their door. This winter, I thought I'd add another treat to cookie day, besides our typical sugar and gingerbread cookies and make some biscotti. I've never made biscotti before, but I knew it would hold up well for traveling and it lasts long so that making it a few days before getting to hand them out wouldn't be an issue. This month's Secret Recipe Club pairing had a biscotti recipe that was a perfect choice- White chocolate and berry biscotti sounded good to me! This month's Secret Recipe Club feature recipe is coming from Nayna Kanabar's blog called Simply.Food. Nayna's blog has a variety of recipes and features them all with a vegetarian flair. What also is nice about Nayna's blog Simply.Food is that many of the recipes are pretty straight forward and easy to execute without a lot of craziness. Two more recipes on my radar that I can't wait to try from Nayna's are these: I'm a sucker for a good rice pudding, however the last recipe I tried to use, it was a miserable fail, so I might have to try out her recipe for rice pudding in hopes for perfection! Also these bread rolls look bakery perfect and the recipe isn't too scary or time consuming, so I think these would be amazing with the next bowl of homemade soup I make! Happy Secret Recipe Club reveal day.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti

Adapted from: http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2014/12/white-chocolate-and-berry-biscotti-with.html

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup mild-flavored olive oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate drops
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the sugar, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. In a separate small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients- eggs, water, vanilla, and olive oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture a little at a time until the flour form a dough. Once the dough has formed, divide it into two loaves. Bake on a greased and/or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden and then let the loaves cool completely. Next, using a sharp serrated knife, cut the loaves on a diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Place biscotti on baking sheet again and bake the biscotti slices for the second bake, about 15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top. Cool completely before enjoying or packing up.

White chocolate chips and cranberries went into this biscotti, but I'm sure many other varieties would be delicious.

Mixing it all up.

Forming loaves of biscotti dough. Warning, this gets a little sticky :)

Biscotti loaves after the first initial bake.

Good looking white chocolate and cranberry biscotti ready for the double bake.

Have biscotti - ready to travel!

Biscotti individually packaged up perfect for sharing.

An InLinkz Link-up

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash and Bacon

2016-01-07T11:26:00.004-06:00

Yummy note: I had seen several of these fall or Thanksgiving-inspired recipes floating around before using some amazing fall and winter vegetables and I knew I had to give them a try. I just adore brussels sprouts and butternut squash on their own, so why not bake them all together in a big dish-- yes! Then adding in the bacon and onions, who could resist that in the crowd I wanted to feed. I was slightly skeptic on the brussels sprouts, as they can be a bit intimidating or overpowering for people, so I knew I had to win them over. I made this dish twice for family gatherings around the holidays and I had like no leftovers and people ate it up, and kept asking for the recipe, so I guess this side dish was considered a hit.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash and Bacon

Adapted from these recipes:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/brussels-sprouts-squash.html http://www.perrysplate.com/2013/12/roasted-brussels-sprouts-and-butternut-squash-with-bacon.html http://itsyummytomytummy.blogspot.com/2014/11/roasted-brussels-sprouts.html

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of brussels sprouts, ends trimmed off and cut in half
1/2 of a butternut squash, peeled and diced (cut into smaller 1/2-inch cubes)
4 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
4-5 slices of thick-cut bacon, diced or crumbled
half of onion, diced
salt and pepper to season

* optional - add in 3-4 diced carrots

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place trimmed brussels sprouts and diced butternut squash in a large 9x13 baking dish. Depending on the amount of vegetables you have, you may need two pans to distribute them. Toss the veggies in the garlic olive oil until coated. Spread them evenly in the pan and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and place in the oven. Meanwhile, on the stove top, saute the diced onions and bacon until soft and partially done. Check the veggies after about 20 minutes of roasting, and then add in your bacon and onions to the veggies and mix together to infuse all the flavors. In the next 15-20 minutes, the squash should be starting to get fork tender and done. Keep a close eye on the brussels sprouts so that they don't start to burn, and stir every few minutes if needed towards the end. The vegetables will start to almost caramelize at the end and begin to turn a golden brown when ready.

Chicken tortilla soup

2015-12-14T13:10:00.000-06:00

Yummy note:
I've seen variations of this Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe floating around many times before, but never got around to trying it out until recently. I wish I had tried it earlier, as it was delicious and easy to throw together in the crock pot. I've had something similar where we did like a dip and just ate it with chips, but that seemed to not be as healthy of a supper option, rather than if we just made a soup instead. So if you need a quick prep meal and are in lack of time, all you really need to do is toss these all in your crock pot and you are good to go. In just a few hours, you have a really flavorful, not too spicy chicken tortilla soup. If you want to spice it up more, I'm sure if you add in a can of green chilies that would really add some kick fairly easily. Also, if a crock pot isn't your thing in the kitchen, you can easily use this recipe below and just make on the stove and in short time, you'll have some amazing semi-homemade soup to enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Modified from Campbell's Kitchen Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken

2 cups of chicken broth

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup

1 jar of picante or salsa

1 bag of frozen southwest corn

1 can of black beans

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Optional:

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

corn tortillas or corn chips to garnish

cilantro to garnish

Directions:

In your crock pot, mix together broth, can of condensed cream of chicken soup, picante, corn, black beans, cumin and chili powder. Dice or shred any leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and add to the crock pot. Cover soup and set on low for 4 hours. At the end, you can stir in cheddar cheese if you wish. You can also reserve the cheese for the top and garnish the soup with the cilantro and cheese and then serve with corn tortillas on top. Yummy note: If you are in a super hurry, you can always make this soup on the stovetop as well. All you need to do is add of the ingredients in a large stock pot and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are all cooked through. Again you would add your cheese, cilantro, and corn tortilla chips at the end.

I used leftover smoked shredded chicken that I had in the freezer.

Mix all of the ingredients together in the crock pot and that's it - super easy prep!

Add cheese and cilantro either to the soup or garnish with at the end.

Hearty chicken tortilla soup

Chocolate gelato

2015-11-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

Yummy note: This month has begun to get away from me at bit. It was literally just Halloween, I thought... then I looked at calendar and yikes, halfway to Thanksgiving already!?! what happened to November. Oh, I recall, we have been having some amazing warmer weather days for us in the Midwest and we've been taking advantage of it some. Sneaking in those extra park trips, walks outside, fishing, and playing in the yard and raking up all those leaves! I thought it was going to slow down a bit since the soccer and other fall activities wrapped up but I guess I was wrong. With this nicer weather, the kids thought it would be fun to make ice cream. We haven't made ice cream in while so I told them sure, and convenient enough, it was Secret Recipe Club time! So why not start there.. I was in luck, my blogger for this month was Jane from over at The Heritage Cook! Yeah, I love Jane's site, perhaps it is that she has this feature called Chocolate Mondays.. Oh boy, Chocolate Mondays! What a great concept, I sure would enjoy some chocolate goodies after a long weekend to start the week off right ;) Jane has such great a variety of recipes that you are bound to find a recipe that fits your taste buds. Also, Jane does such a great job lending a hand out in our Secret Recipe Club too, so she is a busy lady! Back to the task... Kids want ice cream.. so here's the short list.. Darkest-chocolate-in-the-world-ice-cream, Pumpkin-ice-cream, summer sorbets, and chocolate gelato... the Heritage Cook offers many dietary alternatives, so I was thrilled to find a few potentials. However, the one requirement I had was the recipe must be both dairy-free and nut-free so that both kids could enjoy it, as I was not up for making two different batches today. This chocolate gelato recipe was the winner, also I've never made a gelato before so this was new. Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, is a winner in my book at home. This chocolate gelato sure doesn't taste free of anything though! It was amazing rich and full of chocolate goodness.

Chocolate Gelato

Original recipe from The Heritage Cook

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

2 (14 oz) cans of "lite" coconut milk (about 3-1/2 cups)

1 tsp of vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of sugar

2 tbsp of cornstarch

1/8 tsp of salt

Directions:

Measure cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk in a small amount (no more than 2/3 cup) of coconut milk to make a smooth paste and then stir in the vanilla. In a separate sauce pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in the remaining coconut milk into the sugar mixture and heat over medium heat. Stir coconut milk mixture frequently. Once the mixture begins to just simmer, keep stirring. The mixture should simmer for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes to fully cook the cornstarch. Note- keep stirring mixture constantly to prevent it from burning or sticking to the bottom or sides of the pan. Next, pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cocoa paste. Whisk both together until it is well blended. Let chocolaty mixture just sit without touching it and let it cool for about 45 minutes. Then cover bowl and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3-4 hours. This gelato mixture can be made days in advance if needed. Next pour the gelato mixture into the frozen ice cream maker bowl. Run the gelato in your ice cream maker according the the directions. My ice cream maker turned the gelato into a softer set after about 25 minutes. To store, freeze the gelato in an airtight container. It should last in the freezer for a week or so. For the best gelato texture, let it soften slightly before scooping and serving. This recipe yielded about 1 quart of gelato.

Use quality ingredients with this simple recipe makes all the difference in taste.

Mix the warmed up coconut mixture into the cocoa paste.

Pour gelato mixture in the frozen ice cream maker container.

Process ice cream for about 20-25 minutes or until soft set.

Get ready to enjoy your homemade chocolate gelato!

A rich dessert served with berries and chocolate sauce drizzle.

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Dessert

2015-11-05T22:35:00.001-06:00

Yummy note: I rarely make desserts like these, as they are oh so rich and amazingly sinful. My sister-in-law pointed this chocolate and peanut butter layered dessert recipe out to me a few months ago from 365 Days of Baking and More. I just got around to making it recently. Oh boy, it was as delicious as expected; I mean we already knew the peanut butter and chocolate combo was a winner, but the addition of the peanut butter cookies, cream cheese, and then more chocolate on top, mmm, yummy. I don't even want to count the calories in this dish, so I knew I couldn't keep the whole pan in my house... So guess what I brought to the last family get together, yep, I was like I want to bring a dessert- hello, the chocolate peanut butter dream dessert.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Dessert

Original recipe - 365 Days of Baking and More - Chocolate-peanut-butter-dream-bars

Ingredients:
1 (16-ounce) package of peanut butter sandwich cookies, divided
1/2 stick of butter, melted
4 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 (8-ounce) container of Cool Whip, divided
1 (3.9-ounce) package of instant chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Finely crush 24 of the peanut butter cookies in a food processor or blender. Next, mix together the crushed cookies and the melted butter. Press cookie crumbs into an ungreased 8 x 8 baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Allow crust to cool. In a small bowl, mix the pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk. Then in another bowl, mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and peanut butter together and then fold in 1 cup of the Cool Whip until blended. Spread the chocolate pudding over the cooled crust. Then layer the peanut butter mixture over the chocolate layer. Next, spread the remaining Cool Whip on top. Chop up the last of peanut butter cookies and chocolate/peanut butter chips and sprinkle on top. Refrigerate several hours or until dessert is set before cutting.

Peanut butter cookies - aka Nutter Butter

Chocolate and peanut butter layers of goodness

Cookie crumbles and chocolate peanut butter chips top the dessert.

Delicious layers of chocolate, peanut butter, and cream cheese ready to enjoy.

Apple Strudel

2015-10-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: Every fall, I love to hit an apple orchard and pick apples. I don't know what it is, but the apples you pick directly from the trees seems much more different than if you would just pick them up at the store. Earlier this fall, I found a small local orchard and we ended up picking a bushel or so. The apples were lots of varieties and sizes and tasted amazing, but, Oh so many apples left... what to do with them before they spoil. Let's see we've had a steady supply of applesauce, apple pie, apple crisp, apple cobbler, apple pork chops, and others, you get the idea. I was thinking maybe we can make an apple butter since I haven't made that before, but then when I got this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment blog, The Avid Appetite - this Apple Strudel looked perfect. I am always a sucker for the little strudels in the doughnut case, so I could only imagine how these might taste if I can make it at home and eat them fresh and warm from the oven. I've never made a strudel before, so it was worth a shot, especially when Rachel from The Avid Appetite said it was only like 5 minutes worth of prep time, now that sounds like a winner.

Apple Strudel

Adapted from The Avid Appetite and Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour (plus a little extra for rolling out dough)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large apples, or 4 small apples- peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 sheet of puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package), thawed

* optional - 2 tbsp dried cranberries, powdered sugar (for dusting or to make a simple glaze of water and powdered sugar)

Directions:
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry. Then preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and thinly slice your apples. Mix the apple slices, sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl. Next, prepare to roll our your puff pastry sheet on a floured surfaced. The pastry should be rolled out to about 16 x 12 inches. Next, place the apple mixture on the bottom half of the pastry only. Note - leave a small border around the edges with no apple mixture and then start to roll up the pastry very carefully without ripping the dough and keeping the apples tucked inside. Once it is rolled up, tuck in the ends and place on a greased baking sheet. To finish, cut small slits on top of the pastry and brush the top with the beaten egg and water mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes and then allow to cool slightly before enjoying. Top with sprinkled powdered sugar or make a simple glaze of powdered sugar and water.

A few months ago, Rachel featured my taco pizza in the Secret Recipe Club, so it was great to return the favor this month! Don't forget to check out a few of these other recipes from The Avid Appetite like this hearty but quick meal- Italian goulash, or some seasonal pumpkin butter, or wait, these cupcakes that could go with some fall tailgating - Irish car bomb cupcakes.

An InLinkz Link-up

How to Freeze Fresh Green Beans

2015-10-02T14:30:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: Every summer, I always forget, how do I freeze fresh green beans again?? Between trying to grown them in our gardens and buying them at the farmer's market, I always seem to overdo the amount I have and don't want them to go to waste. So instead of eating them for like 4 days straight, I try and freeze a batch for later to enjoy. So this isn't really a recipe, but it is more of a how-to, and I always seem to have to look it up in my cookbook each summer. So I figured I should just archive it here so I have it for reference.

How to Freeze Fresh Green Beans

Ingredients:
fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
water

Directions:
First, trim the ends of your green beans and cut the beans into smaller pieces, if desired. The general rule of thumb I've heard about having enough water to boil, is to have roughly 1 gallon of water to 1 pound of fresh green beans. So adjust accordingly, and then bring that large pot of water to boil. Then working in batches, drop the green beans into the boiling water. Blanch the smaller pieces of green beans for about 2 minutes or for larger cut beans closer to 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water to have off to the side. Once green beans have reached your desired time, carefully remove the green beans from the boiling water and place into the ice water bath. Another tip I've heard is that they are to spend as much time in the cold water for as long as they have spent in the boiling water. Once green beans have cooled, prepare them for freezing, by using either freezer-safe containers or freezer bags.

Trim the ends of the green beans and cut into smaller pieces, if desired.

In smaller batches add green beans to boiling water.

This process, also called blanching, preps your food for freezing.

After blanching, drop beans into the ice water bath.

When preparing green beans from the frozen state, saute in a pan with a little bit of water for about 3-5 minutes or until they are tender crisp and done to your likeness.

Zucchini Brownies

2015-09-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: Oh, how I miss you, zucchini... I didn't really get a chance to have a real garden this year, so no home grown zucchini here. :( Last year, I had a bunch and of course, my friends at the Secret Recipe Club helped out in giving me lots of great ideas using that up last year and coincidentally enough, this month I found yet another great way to use up some zucchini that I had from the farmer's market! So kudos to the SRC bloggers and their creativity. In all the recipes, I've tried with zucchini I don't recall ever making brownies with them. I've baked breads and cakes with it, and even made salsa and fried zucchini, but no brownies. Well, that must be fixed instantly, after I saw this recipe from Ashley at Rainstorms and Love Notes. I am pretty sure I've seen recipes like it before floating around, but I just never tried it. I knew from previous baking with zucchini sometimes my kids can be a bit picky and I need some tricks to get past the green stuff. So the chocolate here was my ammo. I also ended up pulsing the brownie mix just slightly in the food processor to incorporate the zucchini strands better, as I wanted the kids to like the brownies without finding "something stringy is in my food, mom!!" and then it would be a no-go. This recipe was kid-tested and approved and they thoroughly enjoyed these zucchini brownies and kept asking for more. It was a 2 thumbs up dessert all around. Thanks Ashley for this great treat! Don't forget to stop by Ashley's blog and learn more about her here. (btw, love this intro page!) If you are looking for other great treats, check these out... these are on my short list to try-- cookie dough bites, cinnamon doughnuts, and these amazing looking caramel shortbread bars.

Zucchini Brownies

Source: http://rainstormsandlovenotes.com/2013/10/zucchini-brownies.html

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini (roughly 2 cups shredded zucchini)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely grate zucchini, you should try and have approximately 2 cups for the recipe. Next, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the zucchini into brownie batter. Yummy note: If your kids are like mine and they don't like to see zucchini strands perhaps pulse the zucchini a little in a food processor to incorporate it better into the batter. Pour brownie batter into a prepared 9x13 pan. For best results, line your pan with aluminum foil and then spray with cooking spray. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

Ingredients all ready to mix together.

1st attempt at zucchini going in... then the kid factor.. "mom, that looks kinds yucky.." Ok, time to switch things up. Sneaky mom takes a bunch of zucchini out and pulses it in food processor to achieve a more smooth consistency and then blends it right into the brownie batter.

Added a handful of chocolate chips just to make sure we are good.

Ready to bake!

Warm chocolate, almost cake-like brownies ready to be eaten!

Yummy note: If you want to make it extra decadent try topping the brownies with this frosting!

Easy Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, melted
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk or coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Mix butter and cocoa together until combined. Then add in milk (or coffee) and vanilla and beat until smooth. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar until desired consistency for frosting is achieved.

Chocolate-loving kid tested and approved zucchini brownies!

An InLinkz Link-up

Blonde Brownies

2015-09-09T14:47:00.002-05:00

Yummy note: Last month, my mother-in-law and I were discussing how delicious those blonde brownies from Applebee's are, and how you just can't eat one by yourself. Seriously, there is a lot of warm gooey sweet goodness going on with that dessert. So instead of heading out to the restaurant with the kids and all to get a treat, I figured let's bake something similar to these blonde brownies for Grandma and Grandpa instead. Then we an portion control ourselves and have like little blonde brownies treats all week long! ;)

Blonde Brownies

Original here: adapted from http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=50419

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I also have used dark chocolate)

Directions:
Melt butter and add brown sugar, and stir until well mixed. Add in egg and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Combine butter mixture with flour mixture, stirring well. Stir in nuts and desired chocolate chips. Pour into a 9-inch square pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

chicken enchilada dip

2015-08-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: Over here at It's Yummy to My Tummy, it has been a whirlwind of the last few months here, and blogging has been set on my back burner. Long story, short, my family has finally relocated back closer to both of our families. We made the big move out of state, sold our townhouse, and bought a single family home in just a few short months. Phew, now if any of you all can tell me when it begins to get easier with transitions and "normalcy" again, I'm all ears... Taking a little bit of time off from blogging was needed to focus on our family and take care of things on the home front. After being in our new house now for just a few weeks, it is fun to kick off my mini-vacation from blogging and get back to our Secret Recipe Club. This is the first time in over 4 years I've taken a longer break in my blogging here at It's Yummy to My Tummy, so I thank you all for being patient and letting me run idle for a bit while I get back into the blogging routine again.

This month for our SRC group, I was assigned Happy Go Lucky. What a fun name for a blog, and sounds like a good theme for me to go along with for my next chapter of life here. I need to be more like that and less worry about things! :) So Kara at Happy Go Lucky has such a variety of blog posts that appeals to many audiences- from her creative artsy tutorials to her crafty items to her awesome recipes. Some of the DIY projects on the blog fit right in with my new house projects, and seriously, I can't wait to try out a few! This month, I was all about the least amount of mess and kitchen involvement for this SRC pick. So I was keeping an eye open for a crockpot recipe. I figured since it was the move weekend, a few dishes that could be easily done in the crockpot was a done deal; plus something hot and ready in the kitchen for the hungry guys would be a good thing, too! Kara had this one post that had about 20 different ones that hit the mark, oh, the possibilities... I finally settled on the Chicken Enchilada Dip. What a crowd pleasing recipe, it was a hit, when we ran out of chips, we were seriously using whatever we could to eat up the delicious dip. Tortilla chips, Pringles, or maybe just a spoon, whatever the method is, it is a great appetizer that you can practically turn into a meal, as it is that satisfying.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

http://www.happygoluckyblog.com/2014/12/crock-pot-chicken-enchilada-dip.html

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce

1 can (7 oz) chopped green chiles

2 cups Mexican Blend shredded cheese

Optional add-ins:
1 can of black beans
1 can of Southwestern corn (corn with red and green peppers)
additional shredded cheese or jar of queso salsa

Directions:
Shred the cooked chicken. Then add all of your ingredients to slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours. If in a hurry, this can be made in the microwave by melting everything together until creamy and the cheese is melted thoroughly. Then you can keep the dip in a crockpot on low or warm while serving dip.

Yummy note- I took Kara's advice and added a can of beans and tossed in a can of corn with peppers in it as well. I noticed the dip was getting rather thick and needed a bit more "goo," so I all I had on hand was a jar of queso salsa and it was just the right add-in of flavor and creaminess. So if you opt for the additional ingredients, you might need to adjust your cheese ratio to ensure creaminess of your dip.

Just a few ingredients thrown in your Crockpot makes for a fantastic appetizer!

Getting all mixed together and gooey! Mmm, cheesy chicken dip...

Let's dip into action! I barely had time to capture the finished product as it was flying out of the crockpot.

Happy flavors mixed in this bowl here- a little spicy, cheesy, and meaty topped on a little crunchy chip. Practically a walking taco-enchilada!

These tortilla flavored Pringles made the perfect little vessel for the chicken enchilada dip. Did I mention that you can just eat this for a meal? oh yes, you can... and I did just that.. The next day I had just a little amount of leftovers, that warmed up nicely, and you know there just wasn't enough to share.. or well maybe I just didn't want to share ;)

Also, Kara had some great drink recipes on Happy Go Lucky, that I can't wait to sip on these bellinis once I get a few more raspberries from the backyard! A nice nightcap drink perhaps in the backyard at night might be just what is needed lately with all the move craziness.

The kids helped me prune and pick up canes from our one purple raspberry patch, while the other red raspberry bush has just begun to bloom. Yeah, for backyard fruit at our new home!

Blogger/Self hosted WP widget:

An InLinkz Link-up

Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

2015-06-14T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: Bacon... yes, whenever I say that word, I think everybody I know, their ears, eyes, and nose perks up... oh, not to forget the cat too. The bacon aroma just fills the house. Not sure what it is about the bacon, but it seems it has some magical power. Speaking of that, the blog I was assigned to for this Secret Recipe Club, mentioned a kitchen witch. I have never heard of this custom, but I like it, and could totally use a kitchen witch with good luck in my kitchen to help prevent any thing from burning, boiling over or spilling!! So back to the bacon, I got this amazing bacon hash and broiled eggs recipe from Rhonda at the the Kitchen Witch blog for this month's Secret Recipe Club. Thanks to my hubby for helping me scout out this hash recipe for this month, I think it is a keeper recipe on our list :) It had delicious flavor, not to mention you use bacon fat to saute potatoes in; yes, bacon fat,yes, grease, that is what gives this dish its depth of flavor. I was a bit intimidated at first, as I've never made a hash from scratch, as I usually just by frozen or pre-diced potatoes. I learned my lesson, not again, just use real potatoes, so much better and crispy. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my husband and I did!

Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

original recipe http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2011/09/30/bacon-hash-broiled-eggs/

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon, diced
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
4 eggs
2 ounces grated cheese, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large oven/broiler-safe skillet, I used my cast iron skillet, as bacon turns out wonderfully crispy usually in this pan. Over medium heat, cook bacon until the fat starts to render. Once you have a nice coating of that bacon fat/grease coating your pan, add the diced potatoes and onions. Cover pan and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and onions start to caramelize, making sure to check and stir frequently so they don't stick on the bottom of the pan. Oh, that is also the next best part here, too...caramelized onions with crispy bacon..yum... Be careful though, that pan and grease is hot! Remove lid and turn heat up some and cook until all of the bacon and potatoes are crispy and browned. Salt and pepper to season. Next, if you are using the same pan, blot the pan a bit and remove excess bacon grease. Or if using smaller broiler safe dishes, use a slotted spoon to drain, and transfer the bacon hash into 4 individual dishes. Crack one egg on top each bacon hash dish and place under the broiler for approximately 3 minutes or until the whites are done. Sprinkle some cheese on top, if desired, and return to the broiler to melt.

Just a few ingredients for this homemade hash!

Try and dice potatoes evenly. Yeah, easier said than done, haha. ;)

Add potatoes to the partly rendered bacon and continue to saute.

Drain some of the bacon fat if too much before broiling the egg.

Crack an egg on top of the bacon hash and broil egg until set.

Cut into the egg and enjoy your hash.

If you are not a broiled egg fan, you can eat the hash as it is, or serve with a side of scrambled eggs as well.

Yummy note: So I got lost (in a good way) a few times on the Kitchen Witch blog meandering through her beautiful pictures. Someday, I want to capture images like Rhonda does. :) Rhonda has some amazing shots, not only of food on her site, but art. You should really visit her photography site and see what other things Rhonda likes to shoot, besides yummy food ;) Speaking of yummy food, if bacon hash doesn't look like your thing, she has plenty of other options! Other recipes that caught my eye from Rhonda was this brisket, -this looks simple and delicious that I might have to try making this one when I need to feed a crowd the next gathering. The other top one was this venison lo mein. I really need to try and make this at home again; the last time I tried the noodles became mush. She had a good tip that I will share, and she said to just use regular or leftover spaghetti noodles for this dish! Well, duh, why didn't I think of trying to use those, instead of those mushy sticky noodles I attempted to try before. Make sure to visit the Kitchen Witch for other great tips and tricks like this from Rhonda.

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg and cheese quesadillas

2015-06-01T19:33:00.002-05:00

Yummy note: This idea started with my youngest kiddo always asking for food almost instantly from coming home from morning preschool. While it is still mid-morning, he gets confused on whether it is still breakfast time or lunch. I tried to tell him, it doesn't really matter what you eat as long as it is good for you. Hey, I'm all about my kids eating well and trying to get them to try something new. Which seems like an everyday battle. So, who is to say, you can't have pizza for breakfast, eggs can be for lunch, or pancakes for supper?! it's ok, kids...(as I get a crazy look from them) there is no one telling you that you can't. So this is where lunch meets breakfast.

Egg and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

4 flour tortillas

1/2 c. cheese, shredded (any kind of cheese will work)

*Use a combination of any of the ingredients below to customize your quesadilla.

*Optional ingredients/add-ins:

Deli ham, julienned

Bacon

Sausage

Diced avocado

Spinach

Finely diced green pepper
Finely diced onion

Mushrooms

Black beans

Salsa

Sour cream

Cilantro

Directions:

In a small bowl, crack the two eggs into it and whisk. If desired, add in milk or water at this point, it doesn't really matter if you do or not, either way is fine, but only add like a tablespoon if you do. In a medium sized frying pan, spray with non-stick spray or a few tablespoons of butter/oil. When the pan is hot, pour the eggs and other optional ingredients* into the pan at this point. Reserve your shredded cheese to the end. Cook on medium heat, scraping the pan occasionally, until the eggs are scrambled and just set. Season with the salt and pepper. Place the egg mixture to the side and place a tortilla in the fry pan and start to assemble the quesadilla. For a larger quesadilla (full circle) - place egg mixture back on top of the entire tortilla and top with cheese and lay the second tortilla on top of the mixture. For a smaller quesadilla (half circle) - place egg mixture on half of the tortilla and top with desired amount of cheese and fold it over to make a half circle quesadilla. Fry until golden brown, flip quesadilla halfway through the cooking time to ensure both sides are nice and crispy and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and serve. Can serve with sour cream or salsa on the side or top with cilantro.

This dish is easily adaptable to many different combinations! You just need a few basic ingredients to start it off.

Make sure to flip your quesadilla halfway to ensure cheese has melted thoroughly and a tortilla shell has a nice golden brown.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Rhubarb Berry Muffins

2015-05-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: When life gets busy, I bake. Seriously, it is almost more therapeutic than anything else. Not sure if it is the process of doing something and feeling accomplished that I finished it in a desired amount of time, or if it is just because I get to indulge in something yummy :) With all of the end of the school year functions going on, teacher appreciation week, volunteer appreciation day, baseball starting and such, whew.. I knew I had to find something fun to bake. Hooray, cue in this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment. This month, I was assigned Cook with Sara. Sara had a bunch of comfort food recipes, but what stood out to me the most was she had an amazing selection of baked goodies..oh, this lady rocks, oh, and I should mention she is from the Midwest like myself... yep, excellent connection, perhaps that is why I liked her recipes so much ;-) Soo many decisions... I recently found some frozen rhubarb in my freezer from last season, and knew I had to use it up in the next month or so. When I had came across several different recipes using rhubarb on Sara's blog, I thought that would be fun. Plus, who doesn't love the sweet and tartness of rhubarb. I chose to make the rhubarb blueberry muffins as they could be easily packaged up and shared with others. These muffins were so flavorful and packed full of deliciousness, many compliments were given. So thank you Sara for this recipe, as it was a hit.

Rhubarb Berry Muffins

original Rhubarb Blueberry Muffins recipe here

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-6 oz. container yogurt (blueberry or plain)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
2 cups chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)*

*Original recipe stated to use 2 cups of blueberries, but I ran out, so I substituted 1 cup of strawberries, along with 1 cup of blueberries.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the softened butter and sugar together. Add in the eggs and yogurt. In a different bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients, alternatively with the milk, into the batter. Then fold in the blueberries, strawberries, and the rhubarb. For best results, use paper-lined muffin cups, and fill muffin tins about 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. You may also make these into mini loaves of bread and bake for about 25 minutes as well. I topped some of these breads/muffins with a simple powdered sugar frosting, using about 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp water and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Mini Rhubarb Berry Breads

Rhubarb, frozen or fresh, works wonderfully in this recipe. I thawed my frozen rhubarb slightly before adding it to the batter.

I used a combination of strawberries and blueberries, but you could use any berries or fruit with the rhubarb.

Be careful not to stir the batter too much when you add in the fruit, just fold it in gently to avoid over-mixing.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.

Bake rhubarb berry muffins about 20-25 minutes until golden brown and set.

Mini breads topped with a simple frosting/glaze.

These little breads are packed full of yummy goodness!

Please visit Sara over at Cook with Sara, as she has some of her favorite recipes ready to share with you. Here's a couple, I can't wait to try out later- restaurant-style salsa and creme egg brownies.

An InLinkz Link-up

Snickerdoodle Cookies

2015-05-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: The other night the kids and I were making cookies to take to one of my daughter's class volunteer appreciation party and it hit me that I have never posted our family snickerdoodle cookie recipe. I had to dig it out of the family recipe binder, since I couldn't find the electronic copy? not cool. Ok, so I had to fix that. Snickerdoodles, according to my kids, are kinda like cinnamon toast- sugary, sweet, and a little crunchy- such a great food analogy! Hope you enjoy our family-trusted snickerdoodle cookie recipe, I wish I knew where the source came from, but I am unaware of who gave me this or where this recipe originated...All I know, it produces fantastic cookies :)

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

* additional 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs together. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into the shortening mixture. Chill dough, if time allowed. I have done it both ways, where I was low on time and baked them right away without chilling and it still worked fine. Roll the dough balls the size of about walnuts or use a cookie scooper. Drop the dough balls into a cinnamon/sugar mix- using about 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. This can be modified to your liking of how much cinnamon you like. Place dough on parchment-lined cookie sheet or on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookie starts to puff up and the edges start to set. The cookies will then flatten some as they cool with a crinkled/cracked top.

Homemade Magic Shell

2015-04-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note:

My Secret Recipe Club blogger this month seems to have a lot of busy activities going on in her life, such as helping her oldest daughter start to plan a wedding, and keeping up with her other soccer star daughter! Loving Life takes an effort to reflect and make comfort, delicious-looking food for her family, while maintaining a busy lifestyle. Kirstin from Loving Life recently even started doing blog entries called The Simple Woman Daybook - which is pretty interesting as it has some good reflection time and as Kirstin says it makes her "just stop and ponder, or slow down and be creative and intentional" - so true. I really liked that Kirstin was dong this, as we often get too busy with the busy-busy of our lives and forget to do that. Speaking of taking time to slow down, I think I add dessert to my routine every night to enforce that, haha. Even if it is a small piece of candy or a treat of sorts, the kids and I enjoy that few minutes of down time in the evening before getting ready for bed to enjoy dessert. Ice cream is always a hit here, and partially I think it is due to me getting to enjoy ice cream when I was younger, as that was something it seemed like we always had around. I vividly recall the Magic Shell topping that we used to use to make a hard turtle-like shell on our ice cream and then be able to crack it open and enjoy all that chocolate. My youngest is allergic to milk, so we've never been able to enjoy the real Magic Shell here, until now with Kirstin's recipe for homemade Magic Shell! What a great Secret Recipe Club recipe find, wahoo! This worked like a charm - just 2 ingredients, and in like minutes... who can complain about that?! No unnecessary processed ingredients like in the real stuff, but with oh, so much flavor! Mm, homemade Magic Shell is now a staple in my fridge, and my kids thank you !!

Homemade Magic Shell

original recipe here

Ingredients:
1 cup of good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a dairy-free brand- Guittard)
2 tsp of coconut oil

Directions:
Slowly melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove top. Keep and eye on it, as you don't want it to overcook and burn, it really only takes just a few minutes. Stir the two together occasionally, like every 30 seconds or so, until it is completely melted and mixed together. Let the chocolate magic shell cool slightly and then pour over ice cream. Store in the fridge in a microwave-safe container. When you want to use it next, just reheating the magic shell until it is melted and use again. The magic shell solidifies pretty hard, so it is just easier to reheat in the same container when needed and then just put back in fridge when done.

Just 2 ingredients to make your own homemade magic shell - rock on!!

Heat in the microwave or on the stove top, for just a few minutes, until melted.

Melted and ready to use!

Here's to a dairy-free dark chocolate ice cream treat!

Homemade Magic Shell solidified. It gets pretty solid, so it could be hard to scoop out just a small portion to use. So when ready to use again, remove from the fridge and just microwave it all in the same container.

The homemade Magic Shell reheats beautifully time after time.
We've used it numerous times and each time it's been perfect.

Enjoy!!

Here are some more of Loving Life's links that I can't wait to try out...Texas Caviar, Easy Artisan Bread, and this Mixed Berry Sorbet this summer! Make sure you check out all of the other\wonderful bloggers in our SRC.

An InLinkz Link-up

Snow White Frosting

2015-04-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

Yummy Note:

I am always looking for frosting recipes that are dairy-free, work well with decorating cakes, AND taste good. :) Sometimes, when you use a dairy-free alternative, that doesn't taste or act exactly like butter, you can get varying results. So I was excited when I came across this one from Wilton. I can't tell you how many times, I refer back to the Wilton site for the best results. Why mess with their expertise! So when I tried the Snow White Buttercream Icing recipe and realized it actually didn't have any real "butter" in it, and it was dairy-free, I was thrilled. This frosting holds up nicely, you can make it ahead of time, and I've had several compliments on it, noting that the taste of this frosting reminds them of old-school wedding cake frosting. I have used it as a thin layer under fondant, but it sets up and dries rather fast, so make sure you keep that in mind when frosting. A note is I have had maybe one bad run of this frosting, where it almost slid off the side of the cake. I am not sure if it was due to the heat, humidity, or perhaps if I added in too much corn syrup, but it wasn't pretty on about day 2 of my cake. However, the numerous other times, it worked great!

Snow White Frosting

recipe from

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Snow-White-Buttercream-Icing

Ingredients:
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided
1/4 cup meringue powder
12 cups sifted powdered sugar, (about 3 lbs.) divided
1 1/4 cups solid vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavor

Directions:
In large bowl, sift all of the powdered sugar. Next, combine 2/3 cup of water and meringue powder together and mix at high speed until peaks form. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, at low speed. If you mix at a higher speed, you will end up with a powdered sugar dust storm and a big mess :) Mix well, after each additional cup of sugar. After all of the sugar has been added, add the last 3 tablespoons of water, shortening and corn syrup to that and mix well. Add salt and flavorings last, and beat at low speed until smooth. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use, so it does not dry out. For best results, store in refrigerator in an airtight container. The frosting can keep for about 2 weeks.

I don't have pictures of the actual frosting being made as I've always been in a rush when making it or forget. But I have how the finished cake and frosting is.

In our latest cake effort -
My daughter and I made a minion banana cake for my son's birthday and decorated it using this snow white frosting and fondant.

Couscous Bowls

2015-03-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yummy note: This month with our Secret Recipe Club, I really wanted to make sure I tried a recipe using an ingredient that I have never really cooked with much before. I often get wrapped up into looking at these amazing recipes from all of the Secret Recipe Club bloggers, I start to forget why I initially joined the SRC and that was to try out new or different ingredients, not just different recipes. So when I was assigned the Pajama Chef this month, I wanted to keep that in mind while reading through Sarah's blog. Lunch is really one of those meals that doesn't quite fit into meal planning, and I never really have much planned, so I like quick ideas for lunch. When I saw the Pajama Chef had a handful of ideas for 10-minute lunch ideas, I knew this was the category I had to check out. So what a perfect match, as I found this flavorful couscous bowl! I have never really made anything with couscous before so it sounded perfect. :) Boy, was it easy to make! I didn't realize that couscous was this quick to make and delicious when added with other simple ingredients. In Sarah's Italian Chicken & Veggie Couscous Bowl recipe she noted it would be easy to add and change up the ingredients, so when I realized my leftover chicken was no longer to be found in my fridge when I went to make this, I decided to saute up some quick shrimp for a slight variation. Success! A quick and delicious lunch was made, and this recipe was portioned just right for one hungry mama or two smaller lunches. Enjoy.

Couscous Bowl

Ingredients:

1/2 c. water
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c. couscous
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 c. sauteed shrimp (or leftover chicken)
1 c. frozen vegetables
salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

1-2 green onions, diced
large handful spinach, chopped

Italian dressing

* Yummy Note - Can use other variations of vegetables and protein for this dish. - See original recipe and variations here

Directions:
Bring water and butter to a boil and stir in couscous. Then remove from heat and cover. Let couscous sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your shrimp with a little olive oil (or use leftover chicken) and the frozen vegetables for maybe 2-3 minutes. Towards the end, toss in your spinach and green onions and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Next, combine your sauteed mixture with the couscous. Top with a drizzle of Italian dressing and enjoy lunch!

Hello- meet couscous - a quick-cooking grain.

Quickly saute vegetables and a protein together while the couscous is standing and the dish comes together quickly.

Combine together for a perfect lunch!

Shrimp & Veggie Couscous Bowl - made in about 10 minutes!

An InLinkz Link-up

Kettle Corn

2015-02-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

Yummy note: This month I got Debbi Does Dinner Healthy! Yeah! She is our wonderful host in our group C with the Secret Recipe Club, so this was fun to spotlight one of her recipes since I've never had her blog before. Debbi featured my chocolate brownie bites a few months ago during our Cookie Carnival! I wanted to really try for one of her healthier recipes, as she does a lot of great lower calorie (under 500 calories) recipes. Snacks are always our downfall here, and we like to indulge on them, so I had that in mind when looking. However, don't let Debbi fool you, as she has some serious guilty food treats on her site. The recipe I chose, feels like it should be under both categories, as it is so delicious, seriously we've made it a handful of times already since I first found this recipe on her site! So a toss-up between the "healthier" snacks to try from Debbi's site was either these cinnamon pretzels which I got in a holiday plate one year and was like, "oh, these are good, and simple, I so got to make these sometime" or this sweet and salty kettle corn. Then I ran across this post, and totally took me back to my childhood days, when my mom would let me dip apples in cinnamon-sugar for a treat. Then, want to talk crazy food, the not so healthier side, that needs a shout out because I've never heard of this before -- Twinkie Pie! So thank you Debbi for so many options to choose from... but the real winner was homemade kettle corn! Make sure sure to stop by Debbi's blog Debbi Does Dinner Healthy! and say, Hi and thank her for all the work she does with hostessing the group C Secret Recipe Club.

Kettle Corn

Original recipe here: Debbi Does Dinner Healthy

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. coconut oil

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Salt, to taste

Directions:

Add the coconut oil, sugar, and popcorn kernels to a large pan with a lid. Heat pan over high heat, once the coconut oil starts to melt, give a nice stir to coat the popcorn kernels. Quickly, then cover that pan! Note, seriously, cover it with a lid or else you will be sorry. Flying popcorn everywhere, not to mention that coconut oil gets pretty hot and can burn your hand or whatever else those flying popcorn kernels can hit. So once the kernels start to pop, with the lid on, shake the pan every few seconds to allow even heating. The shaking of the pan, ensures you don't have burnt popcorn on the bottom of your pan. When the popcorn popping has slowed, it is almost done and you can remove it from the heat. Finish with a dash of salt to taste. Then dig into that big bowl of crunchy sweet and salty popcorn!

4 simple ingredients = easy snack!

Yummy yummy kettle corn... those brownish-yellow spots on the popcorn were the best.. like bits of caramel-like crunchy sugar...

Somebody gave the big thumbs up for mom on making this healthier, sweet snack!
Oh, and did we mention it is dairy-free treat, too! yeah, mom!

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Rolled Marshmallow fondant

2015-01-30T23:17:00.000-06:00

Yummy note: I've been using this rolled marshmallow fondant recipe for several years now and it has really held up wonderfully. It is sweet, yet tastes so much better than any store-bought already prepared fondant. This homemade marshmallow fondant is so much easier to work with and roll out. Plus, who doesn't love the taste, and the leftover pieces totally reminds me of those bunny mallow candies from Easter time my grandma used to put into our Easter baskets. This marshmallow fondant quickly goes together, and you could even use your stand mixer if you wish to help knead the fondant, but I think the texture is best when you do it by hand as you can really feel it is done well enough or not. The smoothness can be felt if you knead it by hand, rather than if you used a mixer it just kinda becomes more of a ball, and it's trickier to tell the consistency. I've used this rolled marshmallow fondant recipe for covering cakes, making cut-out cookie toppers, and easy cupcake decorations.

Rolled Marshmallow Fondant

Original recipe here: Wilton

Ingredients:
1 package or 16 ounces of regular mini marshmallows (Make sure you use a good quality brand or else they don't hold up as well.)
2-5 tablespoons of water
2 pounds, roughly 8 cups of sifted powdered sugar
about 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening
optional: flavored extract or food coloring

Directions:
Place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds on high. Stir marshmallow mixture until mixed well and continue to microwave in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Should be roughly about 2-2 1/2 minutes total. At this point, flavored extract or coloring can be added at this point if desired. Next, place about half of the sifted powdered sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mixture. Fold sugar into the marshmallow mixture. Next, grease hands with vegetable shortening and counter/board area generously. Pour marshmallow/sugar mixture onto working surface and start kneading the fondant. Continue kneading, for several minutes )roughly 5 minutes) until about all of the powdered sugar has been incorporated. The fondant consistency and texture should be relatively nice and smooth. If the marshmallow fondant is tearing easily, it is probably too dry, so add a little water at time and then kneading it again until the fondant becomes more firm and elastic like, so you can stretch it without it falling apart. Once fondant is ready, either use right away and roll out as needed, or store in refrigerator. Fondant should be rolled to about 1/8 inch thickness. To store fondant, coat it with a thin layer of shortening, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and place in a resealable bag in the refrigerator. It can be stored like this for several weeks. When ready to use fondant, knead the desired amount of fondant until smooth again and then roll out to desired size. If you need to color the fondant, either add it to the marshmallow mixture as noted earlier for a larger batch or for smaller colored amounts of fondant, add color to fondant as needed and knead to incorporate color.

Rolled Marshmallow Fondant Picture Guide

Examples of how rolled fondant covered cakes look like:

Southwestern Eggrolls

2015-01-18T23:00:00.000-06:00

Yummy note: A new year, brings along a new Secret Recipe Club blogger to feature. It has been about 3.5 years since I've been involved in this recipe posting group, and have been lucky to review a wide variety of bloggers and different types of recipes. This month might have been one of the first blogs that I can remember having with the SRC that featured a variety of content on the blog, besides cooking. What fun this site was - Jenna at The Painted Apron has an abundance of creativity and drive, not to mention tips, how-to's and more on this site, http://thepaintedapron.com/categories/ - wow! Please make sure you stop by her blog, The Painted Apron and dive on it. You will just love Jenna's creative ideas and projects. So I am a sucker for pizza and breads, so this recipe here almost won my heart, the creative use of breadsticks on this recipe and turning it into like a flower-shaped "pizza". Perhaps the kiddos might like it for Valentines. So Jenna has this series she does called Take Out Tuesday, which I got sucked into and finally decided to pick one from here, as everything was looking just amazing... southwestern eggrolls is something I've never really dabbled with trying to make, as I'm not an eggroll person, I would rather have like a potsticker, dumpling, or something a little smaller to nibble on for an appetizer. The filling for these eggrolls is fantastic and I was eating it just as a salsa towards the end of it!

Southwestern Eggrolls

Original recipe adapted from The Painted Apron

Ingredients:

1/2 bag of fresh spinach

1/2 cup shredded cheese, I like the Mexican variety best like Chihuahua

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

12 wonton wrappers or 6 eggroll wrappers

1 bag (about 12 oz) of Fire Roasted Black Bean Blend frozen veggies (consisted of sweet corn, black beans, red and poblano peppers)

1 ear corn

1/2 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 can of diced green chiles, drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Heat the spinach, just slightly just until it begins to wilt. If you are using the prepared black bean veggie mix, microwave for about 1/2 of the time desired in the directions, just until it starts to thaw and cook partially. In a large bowl mix together the corn/bean/pepper mixture with the wilted spinach, cheese, onions, chiles, and seasonings. Prep your wonton wrappers or egg rolls and place a good spoonful of the filling near the center. Fold the sides in and then fold bottom over filling and close tightly. Tip- use a small amount of water near the corners of the eggroll/wonton to seal. Repeat with the remaining and place them slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet. You can also spray the tops of the eggrolls with cooking spray to help prevent them from drying out while baking. Bake for about 10 minutes of so for the smaller wonton bites, or closer to 15-20 minutes if you use larger egg roll wrappers. Make sure to flip them halfway through baking.

Quick tip- I found these frozen veggies and used this as a replacement for the canned beans and chiles since I couldn't find any fresh corn this time of year. It was a fantastic substitution.

Mix all ingredients together.

I could eat this here with a spoon... can you say, Salsa!?!

I easily made dairy-free versions, by leaving out the cheese in some and replacing it with a substitute as well.

Make sure to place enough filling towards the center so your appetizer doesn't explode!

Ready to bake! So pretty looking with the veggies inside.

Your crispy southwestern eggrolls are done!

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