Recipe Review: Crockpot Chicken Soft Tacos

Our family’s new fav meal.
Found this idea/recipe on Pinterest.
My only changes was to use homemade taco seasoning (my sister gave us this as a Christmas present) and Rotel with cilantro instead of salsa.

For Kalla’s camping party this weekend, she asked for this.
Not really campy, but when you do it in the back yard, you can have anything you want right?
Find recipe post here.

Oh and sorry for weird one photo.  I made these for a large 40+ person group a couple of weeks ago and used most of my taco seasoning.  Never got a pic of the tacos.  But if you follow the link, she's got lots of great yummy pics.  :)

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Lemonade Cupcakes

I made 40+ cupcakes the other day for some campers at Summer Camp that is held through many people that go to my church. 
It was my turn to feed them lunch. 
I wanted something easy and fun and yummy for dessert.


I started with a box of lemon cake that I made cupcakes with.
Then I made my standard buttercream frosting and added some Country Time lemonade mix to it.

Lemonade Buttercream Frosting
1 C shortening
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp milk
1/8 C instant lemonade mix
Mix til well blended. 


I have a love/hate relationship with frosting.
I like it thick, but hate spreading it on cupcakes.
Sometimes I do the frosting tip in a big ziplock bag trick.
But when I made the last batch of cupcakes (star wars party) I ripped a hole somewhere in the bag and frosting escaped all over the place.
I was tired and on the verge of tears over silly frosting.
So on this day I just messily piled it on top.
Who cares what it looks like once its in your tummy right?
And the sour gummy worms hide the mess that is the frosting anyway.  ;)

These cupcakes had the right bit of sour and sweet. 
Even my not-so-big-on-cupcakes kid liked them.  :)

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese

Try this:

One 8oz container of your fav plain cream cheese.

 Mix in 1/4C sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and beans scraped from half a vanilla bean.

Spread on a bagel or waffle.

Other suggestions: on a slice of pumpkin bread, muffins or use as dip for gingersnaps!

I HIGHLY recommend the new Eggo Pumpkin Spice waffles.

Simply heaven.

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The prize is pretty awesome!!

Fruit Dream Cookies aka cherry koolaide sugar cookies

I was making cookies the other day to take to Kalla's piano recital this past weekend.  

These cookies had been on a 'need-to-try' list for some time.  

They are in my BHG The Ultimate Cookie Book (probably a impulse buy at Sam's one day last year).

They are called Fruit Dream cookies.

And yes they are dreamy.  YUM YUM

Definitely will be making them again....in perhaps grape flavor.

I think these would also make great sandwich cookies with buttercream squished in between two.

Or vanilla ice cream.

Here's the recipe:

1/2C butter, softened

1/2C shortening

1C granulated sugar

1/2C sugar-sweetened fruit drink (I used cherry flavored koolaide)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2C all-purpose flour

1 1/2C white baking pieces

colored or coarse sugar (I used rainbow colored sugar sprinkles)

Preheat oven to 375F.  In large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, drink mix, baking powder and baking soda.  Beat til combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Then beat in flour and baking pieces.  Cover and chill for about 30 minutes.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in coarse sugar or sprinkles.  Place on baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are just set (centers should be soft).  Let stand for 2 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

They are of course just melt in your mouth dreamy right out of the oven.  

Special snack: Fluffernutter candy

Do you call those marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwiches fluffernutters??
Or is that a regional thing?

Anyway, I bought some marshmallow fluff the other day for no particular reason but that every time I have a recipe that calls for it, I don't have any.  Course I ended up using pretty quickly.  I was brainstorming a special snack for the kids as I was about to leave for a ladies retreat that weekend.  I thought of making peanut butter ritz cracker sandwiches dipped in chocolate.  Then I thought how marshmallow fluff would make them that much more awesome.

So I spread some peanut butter on some crackers and marshmallow fluff on the other.  

Then sandwiched them together.

Then I melted down some chocolate bark and spread it on top.  I wasn't sure how the cracker sandwiches would dip.  Thinking next time I might thin out the bark with some shortening and then try dipping them.  But to be honest I wasn't going for the cutest snack award, but for quick and easy and delicious.

And delicious they were.  Made many friends at the retreat handing these puppies out.  ;)

Today's special snack I made these.  One of my favorite cookie bars. 

 My house smells so yummy right now I'm not sure I can wait for the kids to get home.  :)

A favorite meal

Well, I didn't intend to leave this week hanging over here.  I am at my sister's house 6.5 hours away from my home this week.  She had a very big surgery on Monday and I'm here taking care of the kids for the first week (she will be in the hospital at least 2).

So in planning to keep blogging from here,  I brought lots of fun crafts, pictures from home on my camera and planned to take pics of her house and do a post gushing about the wonderful artist my sister is.  Her home is like a mini art gallery.  However, I can't the wireless to work and use my netbook for downloading my pics.

So after many tries to get the wireless security code for my computer, I decided to just talk about some food that I already had pics uploaded to my photobucket.

It's a simple dinner, but definitely a favorite.  Teriyaki chicken kabobs.

Making them is ridiculously easy.  I cut up chicken breasts to pieces and do the same with red and green peppers, onion (though didn't have one on this occasion) and fresh pineapple.  mmmm hmmmm

Soak all veggies and meat and pineapple in teriyaki sauce.  My fav is LaChoy.  I also pour a little pineapple juice in if I have it.  You can soak in the fridge overnight or the day you make it.  Load up your skewers with all the yummies.  I usually grill these, but I think on this day it was rainy and really cold.  So I just broiled them instead.  I broil/grill them total 15-20 mins turning a few times.  I like to use a meat thermometer to be sure they are done (I've given myself food poisoning before and that is so NOT fun.)

I serve with a side of yummy sticky white rice (am I weird that I like my rice to be sticky?)

Homemade Peppermint Mocha...new addiction on the rise

To make your own at home:

Brew strong coffee--I use a bold Starbucks blend and brew 4 tbsp to 3C water--this will make a couple of mochas.

While brewing, pour 1/3-1/2C milk (depending on size of mug) into your mug.  Now add a tsp of  choc syrup or Quick or cocoa powder.  I have tried the syrup and cocoa powder and I like how there isn't any graininess with the Hershey syrup version.  Now warm the milk with chocolate in microwave for 1 minute.  Fill mug the rest of the way with fresh brewed coffee.  Now add 2-3 tsp of peppermint syrup (recipe to follow) and stir.   For extra special mocha, add whipped cream (I use fat free) and crushed candy cane on top.

Peppermint syrup:

Put 2 C granulated sugar in a medium sauce pan and 1 C water.  Heat and stir til sugar is dissolved.  Pour into a reusable container and let cool.  Add 1 1/2 tsp of pure peppermint extract.

If you don't want that much peppermint flavored syrup like me, I divided my heated simple syrup into 2 containers and made one peppermint and one vanilla.  If you do this, reduce peppermint extract to just under one teaspoon (this extract is strong stuff!).  And add 1 1/2 tsp to the other half for vanilla syrup to make yummy vanilla lattes with.  :)

Enjoy!

Cranberry Jello Jigglers

Last week, Maressa's preschool class had their little Thanksgiving party.  I made mini pumpkin muffins with this pumpkin bread recipe and these cranberry jello jigglers.

To make your own flavored jello jigglers you just need the flavor juice you want and unflavored gelatin.  I used cranberry cherry juice to make these.  Pour 1 C cold juice in a bowl and add 4 envelopes of gelatin and leave for a minute.  Bring 3 C of juice to boil in a pan and pour over the other juice and gelatin in the bowl.  Use a whisk to stir briskly but carefully until all the gelatin is dissolved.  Spray a 9X13 pan with Pam or the like and pour gelatin mixture in pan.  Refrigerate for a few hours until completely set.  You can now use cookie cutters to make shapes of your gelatin.  I made these mini leaf jigglers and the kids just loved them!

Thinking I might have to make a new batch for Thanksgiving!

Monkey Muffins

My new fav way to make monkey bread. 

So easy to eat, take on the go and more crispy bits made this way!

So grease up two muffin pans and make this for your next breakfast or after school snack.

Take 4 cans of refridgerated biscuits.  Cut each bisuit to 4 pieces with kitchen shears. 

Dip each piece into cinnamon-sugar mixture (1/2 C sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon).

Divide all pieces into 24 muffin cups. 

Do NOT use muffin/cupcake paper liners.  They will stick REAL bad.  Like glue even.

Melt 1 stick of butter and mix in 1/2 C sugar.  Pour this mixture evenly over each muffin cup.

Bake in 350F oven for 12-15 minutes.

Carefully pull each muffin out of the cups with a fork while still warm.

Try not to burn yourself when you feel the need to eat 2 right away!  ;)

I'm going to make some for my sisters and family this weekend (mostly for selfish reasons! ;)

So, will be gone for the next few days. 

Going to go cheer up my precious sister who is having/has had a rough go with health these last few years...yep, I said years.

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Unrelated.

Has anyone else used photoscape??  I just downloaded this free photo editing software.  Loving it so far.  So when you see all the weird/funky photo borders it's just playing around.

Also.

Anyone recommend someone who does custom blog design for not too much $$?  I would really like to 'decorate' around here, but I'm picky and want to keep it simple.  But I've seen some super cute, not overly done blogs.  Now I want one.  :)

Talk to ya'll later! 

 Gonna go pack some fun crafts to do with my sisters and mom. 

 TOTALLY inspired by this ezine:  Inspired Ideas

Pumpkin spice latte addict...make your own at home

I figured out how to make my fav fall drink at home!  Saving some major $$ too!  ;)

To brew my own pumpkin spice flavored coffee, I brew my regular strong coffee to make a latte.  I use Starbucks Verona bold and use 5 tbsp grounds to 2 C of water.  On top of grounds in the filter I sprinkle 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.  Then I brew the coffee like normal.

To make the latte, I pour milk (1% organic) 1/3 way full in my mug.  Then microwave for about a minute to get warm.

Then I pour around 2-3 tsp homemade vanilla syrup (recipe to follow) in the milk and fill the rest of mug with hot coffee.

Very delish!!!

Hubby doesn't do lattes, but does enjoy some black pumpkin spice coffee.  :)

Make your own vanilla syrup and avoid that nasty HFCS and it's cheaper:
In saucepan, bring 2 C sugar and 1 C water to boil til sugar is dissolved.  Set aside and let cool a bit.  Pour into a re-sealable container and pour in 2 tbsp vanilla.  I keep mine in the refrigerator.

A Variety of Homemade Granola Bars

A few weeks back I was making these healthy homemade granola bars for a women's function at my church. I decided to make 3 different varieties.

Using the original recipe I added chocolate and peanut butter chips to one batch (you can get a mixed bag in the baking section of the grocery store).  I then melted some down and drizzled the chocolatey peanut butter goodness on top.

Another batch was made with one of my favorite combos was white chocolate chip and craisins.  I cannot for the life of me melt down white chocolate chips properly, so I just used white bark to drizzle on top.

And these are the kids favorite....butterscotch chips mixed in.  Again the butterscotch chips would not melt down properly either so they look plain on top.  :)

My pasta salad

Here's my fav way to make a super quick yummy pasta salad.  I use the tri colored pasta and boil until it is al dente or slightly firm.  Rinse with cold water.  I use an italian house dressing and pour over the pasta.  Then I chop onions and red pepper and mix in.  Then I like to cut up some hard or genoa salami into small bite size pieces and I sprinkle shredded parmesan on top.  Refrigerate til fully chilled.  Once of my favorite side dishes with grilled hamburgers or chicken.

Cherry Crumb Cake

Yum.  Yum.  YUM!  It is beyond good.  Make it now with fresh cherries in season.  

Easy to make and SO delicious!  Find Martha Stewart's recipe here.

Make some yummy fresh salsa!

When I first had my mother in laws salsa years ago I knew I needed the recipe.  I had not been fond of salsa to that point as I'd really only had the jarred stuff (yuck!).  It took me a while to get the recipe as she's one of those I-don't-use-recipes-just-throw-stuff-together cooks.  I finally got the basic recipe written down.

My fav part of this recipe is the cilantro.  If you've never bought it before, it's near the parsley bunches and looks similar, but is not the same at all.  It has a distinct smell.  yum.  Be sure to pick up the right stuff.

Here's the basic salsa recipe:

1 bunch cilantro (I usually don't use quite the whole bunch)

1 med onion

2-3 cloves garlic

3-4 jalepenos (plus the juice if you like your salsa spicy)

1 can whole tomatoes

Wash and pick the leaves off the cilantro and put them in your food processor.  I like to put them in first so the other ingredients weigh them down to the bottom.  Add everything else in.  Blend.

Now pour in a resealable container and add 1 14oz can diced tomatoes and small can diced green chili peppers.  This last time I made the salsa I used a rotel diced tomatoes with chili peppers and lime.  You can tweak this recipe to your liking.  I've backed off all the onion and garlic because we don't like tasting garlic and onion in our mouths all day.  I used about 1/4 red onion and sometimes no garlic.  It's still just as great.

I love to pair this salsa with yummy organic blue tortilla chips.  Three out of four of my kids love salsa.  All will eat it somewhat, but the 2 littlest will eat it every day if I have some!  :)  Makes a great afternoon snack!

Make some homemade cream soda

I did.  Used these directions.  It was so incredibly easy and so incredibly good.  You won't be sorry!  ;)

Fresh chocolate covered cherries... one of the finer summer time treats!

Covering fresh cherries with semi sweet chocolate was such a yummy idea I had the other day. :)  The kids agreed. 

Of course making these are not rocket science.  ;)  First wash up some of those yummy sweet cherries.

Second, we pitted them with this really cool tool.  Found it at Williams-Sonoma store in the mall last year.

Then you will want to dab them dry with paper towels.  Leaving them too wet can possibly seize up your melted chocolate.

Then I melted some semi sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave.  Throw some cherries in a few at a time and fish them out with a fork and tap your fork on the side of the bowl to let the extra chocolate drip off.  Now place your chocolates on some wax paper on a cookie sheet and place in the fridge til hardened.

Lastly, pop them in your mouth and try not to eat them all in one sitting.  :)

Pineapple Pancakes

These are my absolute fav way to eat pancakes.  My mom used to make them for me as a kid.  We don't remember how the idea to put pineapple in the pancakes, but boy are they tasty!  When I make them for others, they become pineapple pancake converts.  Pre-kids, we used to go camping several times a year with the teens at our previous congregation at a place that you would sleep in tents, but they did have electrical outlets.  So I would bring my skillet and make everyone pineapple pancakes in the morning. Boy I miss those days...we hope to get brave enough to take the kids camping up there this year, but Kalla is afraid of woods in the dark and bugs...ugh.

Make any pancake mix you like (I'm a big fan of the Fiber One mix...it is sweet and light, not to mention low in WW points).  You can used a small can of drained crushed pineapple, or if you have fresh on hand, just cut into small pieces.  I like a piece of pineapple in every bite, so I put in a lot.  Then drizzle on some syrup and enjoy!

Letter Snack time: M is for mmmmmm!

Letter snack time again.  This time it was Kalla's kindergarten class.  We had the letter 'M'.

This is what we came up with:  monkey bread, mangoes and moose milk.

When we decided to make monkey bread I had the idea to make it into muffin cups so it would be easy to hand out to her class.  We made the monkey bread the way my mama always did...the quick 'n easy way.

If you aren't familiar with it, just take 4 tubes of biscuit dough (10 biscuits in each) and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.  I like to use my kitchen shears for this task.  In a small bowl put 1/2 C sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon and mix.  Dip each piece of dough into sugar mixture till covered.  We then put 4-5 pieces into a cupcake cup, but you can dump them all into a bundt pan.  Melt 1 stick of butter in a bowl or large glass measuring cup, then mix in 1/2 C sugar.  Spoon a bit over each cup or pour over entire bundt.  Bake muffin sized ones for 15 mins at 350F or bundt for 30 mins.  I made 36 muffin sized portions.

Just a hint, the wrapper sticks a bit if you put too much butter/sugar on top.  You can always skip the wrappers and just bake directly in muffin tins.

Oh and the moose milk....I used Microsoft clipart to find a moose and copy and pasted a bunch in a publisher program.  Printed them on a sticker sheet and punched them out with my 1" hole punch and affixed them to tiny blue cups.  Fun fun!


You can find the other letter snacks we've done here:

G is for Gus the Guinea Pig cookies
E is for Elephant
X is for X-ray cookies

Recipe review~Low fat lemon cupcakes

It wasn't great timing that I decided to start a diet just 2 weeks before my birthday.  I hold onto certain traditions and one of them being cake on my birthday!!  In an effort to try to be good, I googled low fat cupcake recipes.  What I really wanted were these Martha-don't-hold-back-the-fat-Stewart lemon cupcakes.  But when I found this site with low fat cupcake recipes and I thought I'd try this lemon one instead.  I followed the recipe except for substituting fat free plain yogurt for the sour cream.  Then I made up a simple icing glaze with squeezed lemon juice, a bit of water and powdered sugar and drizzled over the top.  I came up with 3-3.5 points for these cupcakes compared to the seven I calculated for the MS ones.

Now for the taste test.  :)  In my opinion I thought these were pretty good.  I liked the flavor.  The texture was definitely more spongy than my fav fluffy cake mixes I use.  When I ate these fresh I really liked them.  The next day I found them so so.  The glaze absorbed into the cake and it was all kinda dense and moist.  I would say these are good for an everyday cake craving, but definitely not so much for special occasion splurge.  So on my actual bday (I made them the day before) I bit the bullet and thoroughly enjoyed a real cupcake with a smudge of homemade choc frosting on top (the ones I made for Maressa's party).  :)

Give your Valentine some Spicy Chocolate!

Ok, if you are like me the idea of eating spicy chocolate is not appetizing, but I swear this is SO good!  I would have never tried it, had my MIL not brought some over Christmas.  It was actually quite addicting.  I like some spice in my food, but not to the same measure as my I-have-to-be-on-fire-to enjoy-food hubby!!  But this spicy chocolate thing did have me curious!

Also, to me this is healthy chocolate!  I mean you have dark chocolate with spice that clears the sinuses and healthy nuts on top!  This really doesn't have any spice flavor, but more of a chocolate with a kick that warms up your mouth at the end.

So here's how you make it:

1 bag Ghirardelli semisweet choc
1 bag Ghirardelli  60% cacao
1 tsp cayenne powder
chopped nuts of your choice

Melt chocolate carefully in microwave or double broiler.  Once melted add pepper.  The 1 tsp to me is medium spicy (my preference), you can of course add more or less and taste it as you go.  Once mixed through, pour out onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  You want to let it be thick.  Then sprinkle on your nuts.  My fav is coarsely chopped almonds (above pic is sliced almonds as that is what I had on hand when I made this batch.)  Set chocolate in fridge til hard.  Break into pieces.  This makes a lot, but keeps a few weeks in the fridge.  If you want a smaller amount, just half all the ingredients.

My sweetheart likes super bittersweet chocolate and can't have much sugar so I'm making him a batch of super spicy with 100% cacao and 60% cacao blend.  :)

Enjoy!

btw, with the above recipe, all 4 of my children even love it.  they just keep a glass of water on hand.  lol