Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Found these on KSL and had to give them a try!  I liked them warm from the oven best!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c. softened butter
• 1 c.granulated sugar
• 1/2 t.salt
• 1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10
• packets (I found this in my grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 3 c. all purpose flour
• 1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Method:

· Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)
· In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
· With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.
· Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
· Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
· Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)
· When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.
· Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)
· Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
· Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over- bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.
· Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

Muddy Buddy Brownies

I forgot to take a picture so I took it off her website!

I found this recipe and had to try it!!  I love chex muddy buddies!!   

INGREDIENTS
8×8 pan of brownies, baked and cooled (I used a Ghirardelli mix, which makes a small pan. If you want to use a box/recipe that makes a large pan, just double the topping)**
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBS milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
About a cup of powdered sugar

In the bowl of a mixer, beat 1 stick of butter, peanut butter, and vanilla until combined and smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on medium high until combined. Add milk and beat on high for about a minute. Spread on pan of brownies and refrigerate for a couple of hours, until frosting is cold and firm.

Place 1 stick of butter and chocolate chips in a large microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave, stopping to stir at 20 second intervals. Once melted and smooth, cut brownies into squares and dip the top half of each in the chocolate. Place on a baking sheet and spoon powdered sugar over the top.

**I used a 9x13 brownie mix and I doubled the toppings, it was too much.  I would just use the normal toppings or 1 and half it.  but double was way more then was needed!!

Oven Dogs!

Hot Dogs!!!  not my most favorite food.  Over a open fire I love them any other way I turn up my nose!!  But when I saw this recipe I decided to give it a try.  It was really good.  Everybody loved it!! 

Oven Dogs

8 hot dog buns

mayonnaise

8 all beef hot dogs (I like Ball Park Franks)

1/2 cup sweet relish

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 (15 oz) can of chili or 2 cups of your own chili

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Spread a coating on mayonnaise on the inside of the hot dog buns.
2. Fill the buns with the hot dogs and place in a 9x 13 inch baking dish. You will have to squeeze then into the dish.
3. Top each dog with a Tablespoon of the relish.
4. In a pan, saute the butter and onion until tender. Add the chili to the onions and stir until well combined.
5. Top the dogs with the chili and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
6. Cover with foil at bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

From realmomkitchen.com

*I left out the relish, we don't like that stuff around here!!

Kitty Litter Cake

Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted. It makes me sad that I've been so busy that I haven't had any time to cook. I miss it.

This weekend my MIL asked if I would make THIS cake for our Halloween party, and to celebrate my nephew's birthday. I laughed, and couldn't turn it down. It was a hit at the party, and believe it or not, quite delicious too!

Ingredients:

• 1 brownie mix
  
• 1 can Cream Cheese frosting
  
• tootsie rolls - small bag
• 1 bag animal crackers or Keebler Sandies shortbread cookies
• green food coloring
• 1 small cat litter pan (never been used - very important)
• 1 cat litter scoop (also never been used - also very important)
• parchment cooking paper (or saran wrap) to line the litter box
  
  
  

Directions:

1. Make brownies according to instructions on the package. Make them to fit the 9 X 13 pan.
   
2. Line the litter box with parchment cooking paper. (Litter boxes are not treated to hold food, so be sure to line it)
3. After brownies are cooled, break into large chunks and place into cat litter pan.
4. Spread frosting onto the brownies, making sure none of the brownies are exposed. (I melted mine in microwave for 30-40 seconds and then poured it over brownies)
5. Put some animal crackers or shortbread cookies in a baggie and smash into tiny bits. You don't want to have a fine sand but a bit chunky. (I used a rolling pin)
6. Take a small amount of crushed cookies and set aside in a small baggie.
7. Make sure you have enough crushed cookies to cover the frosting. Spread the cookies on the frosting.
8. Take the amount of cookies that you set aside and drip a few drops of green food coloring into the baggie. Seal and shake up. Try to color all the chunks in this baggie. Keep adding more food coloring until most of the chunks have some kind of green on them. Doesn't have to be perfect.
9. Spread the green colored cookies in with the others.
   (If you have cats, you probably have a good idea where this is going. If you don't have cats, you want the green to be spread sparsely around. Try not to have big areas of just green.)

   10. Unwrap a few tootsies at a time, place on a plate, and microwave for a few seconds (7-10) just til they are soft. Pinch, twist, and mold into you-know-what. I believe mine were 3 small tootsies for each 'one.'


DIG IN and ENJOY!

Carrot Zucchini Bars with lemon cream cheese frosting

 These Zucchini bars have become a favorite.  I have even been leaving out the carrot and just adding more zucchini!  The lemon in the frosting gives it the perfect taste!!

 
Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8 oz) pkg reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, honey, and vanilla.  Don’t worry about clumps of the brown sugar, those will dissolve as it sits while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Then fold in the carrot, zucchini, and walnuts
2. In another bowl combine add the flour, baking powder, ginger, and baking soda.  Whisk to blend together.
3. Add to flour mixture to the wet mixture. Stir just until combined. Spread batter into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
4. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
5. Once the cake is cooled prepare the frosting.   In a medium mixing bowl, beat the frosting ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Spread or pipe the frosting over the cooled bars.  Makes 36 bars.

Pineapple-Glazed Chicken w/ Jalapeño Salsa

This was SO good! The salsa alone was delicious, and pretty. I plan to do this (the salsa) again next time we have halibut. I found this recipe on epicurious. I applied some people's suggestions to my own dinner: I doubled the glaze and tripled the salsa. Also, marinated my chicken in 1 cup OJ concentrate, 1 cup soy sauce, and a few cloves of sliced garlic for about an hour.
*see nutritional facts at the bottom*

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup 1/4-inch cubes fresh pineapple (I used canned. You need the juice anyway! And saves from cutting.)
• 3 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons canned sliced jalapeño chiles, drained, coarsely chopped (I prefer fresh. Cheaper too)
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin (1 3/4 pounds total)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. 
• Bring pineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard to boil in small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until glaze has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Line baking sheet with foil. Place chicken on sheet and brush with glaze. Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with glaze, then broil until cooked through and golden, watching closely to avoid burning, about 5 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes. 
• While chicken is cooking, mix pineapple, red pepper, cilantro, onion, and chiles in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon salsa over chicken and serve.

(this is pre-cooked)

 

Nutritional facts:
Per serving: 344.1 kcal calories, 31.1 % calories from fat, 11.9 g fat, 3.2 g saturated fat, 120.0 mg cholesterol, 14.0 g carbohydrates, 1.0 g dietary fiber, 11.7 g total sugars, 13.0 g net carbohydrates, 43.7 g protein

(Not Fried) Fried Ice Cream

To my dear friend Kellee... Your are awesome! Thank you for introducing me to this dessert. I've made it the past two weekends, and everyone that tried it LOVED it. Definitely a keeper.

The only difference I made, was the almonds. I used sliced, because it was what I had in my cupboard. And 8 ounces seemed like A LOT. (especially cuz I don't really like nuts in my food). So of my 4.5 oz pouch, I only put about half, and it was still tasty. Just throwing that out there.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c butter
• 1 1/2 c brown sugar
  
•  1 c sweetened coconut
• 8 oz slivered almonds
• 3 1/2 c crushed rice chex
• 1/2 gal vanilla ice cream (keep in mind, you need 2 qts to = 1/2 gallon. The boxes of ice cream aren't quite that. At least, I never found one)

Directions:

• Melt butter. Add brown sugar and bring to boil for 1 minute. Add coconut, almonds, and rice chex.
• Press half of the mix in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
• Cut ice cream and fill pan. (I thought boxed ice cream made this easy because they would lay flat)
• Place rest of the mix on top.
• Cover with foil and freeze.

YUM!!!

 I had to take a pic of the coconut.

It just looked too pretty in that blue cup.

The Mix.

Zucchini Bread

I have tried a lot of new  zucchini bread recipes!  This is one of my favorites!!  It has a lot of shredded Zucchini - which is great!  I got this off of Lovin' From the Oven

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups grated zucchini (peeled or not. Doesn't make much difference.)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Butter two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix together the eggs, oil, apple sauce, vanilla, and both sugars in a large bowl.
3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon into the mixture.
4. Gently stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

I still have so much zucchini.  I am going to start posting all the things I have been making with it.  When I searched for zucchini recipes there are actually a lot!!  This one everybody loved!!

Zucchini Pizza Casserole
source: Taste of Home
Yield: 6-8 servings.
4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce
1 medium green pepper, chopped

1. Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture.

2. Combine zucchini with the eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

3. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.

4. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; add green pepper. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through.

Liberty Square Cookies

These are another batch of cookies I made for our vacation!!  They are super yummy!  If you aren't a butterscotch lover half that and put more semi sweet!!

Liberty Square Cookies

by Stephanie Jensen

• 1 lb unsalted butter (4 sticks ), softened
• 2 C. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 C. sugar
• 2 T vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 6 C. flour
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips ( or you can do both bags chocolate chip and don't add the butterscotch chips)
• 12 oz. butterscotch chips

Cream butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, and eggs until creamy. Next add in salt, baking soda, and flour mixture. Fold in the chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not overcook.

Sometimes I use parchment paper to make sure they don't stick. This recipe is very touchy. Follow it exactly or it won't turn out. This is hard work for your mixer. I switched and used my dough beater at the end, made it a lot easier to mix. Probably would stick with a huge bowl and hand mixer. Makes 6 dozen.