Peppermint Bark

I promise that I am not trying to wreck anyone's new year resolution to eat healthier. I meant to post these recipes during the holiday and things were a wee busy... :) More recipes to follow...

Ashley, this recipe is for you! :) 

(If we put crushed oreos instead of peppermint we'd make our own cookies and cream candy bars... yum!)

If you like white chocolate and peppermint, this is the holiday treat for you. It's simple, impossible to mess up and goes as a great flavor and aesthetic contrast to the pecan buttercrunch toffee. This recipe is fun b/c it has rice crispies in the white chocolate to give it a light crunch. I love peppermint and white chocolate, so I was a big fan of this. As for my husband... not so much. He said that it's good, but not his favorite. With Doug, it's a triumph to get him to say he liked anything with a mint flavor. Usually he says he's eating toothpaste. Hehe. According to Doug, mint is for freshening breath, not for dessert. I disagree... but each to his own. I let my kids have some, so I didn't eat it all, and they liked it.

Peppermint Bark


1 pound white chocolate, chopped*
2 cups puffed rice cereal
6-10 candy canes, unwrapped and crushed (You can use starlight mints, but they are about 10x harder to crush)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil



Spray a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; line with a piece of waxed or parchment paper.


Melt white chocolate. I melt mine in the microwave. Place white chocolate in microwave and cook 1 minute on full power. Stir. Return to microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue stirring every thirty seconds until it's smooth.

Stir in rice cereal and oil.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan; with a spatula, spread to edges of pan.

Sprinkle with crushed candy; with a piece of waxed paper covering the entire surface, press in gently (paper prevents hands from sticking to candy and chocolate). Chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes (no longer, as candy will begin to soften).

Peel waxed paper off. Break bark into pieces. Store at room temperature in an airtight container, up to 1 week

*Martha Stewart's recipe says not to use chips, but I did... and it was delicious! Use whatever you can melt successfully.

Seasoned Pretzels

These pretzels are easy and tasty. You can whip them up for a party appetizer or just for the kiddos to snack on. They are delicious and a little zesty! Enjoy. 

Seasoned Pretzels
Printable Version

1 bag of pretzels
1/2c. oil
1/2t. garlic powder
1/2t. cayenne pepper
1/2 package of ranch dressing mix (approx 1.5T)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Put pretzels in a large bowl. In separate small bowl, mix oil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and ranch dressing mix until combined. Pour over pretzels and stir until evenly coated.

Spread pretzels onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1 hr. Stir every 15min.

Store in an air tight container. 

Almond Joys or Mounds

 

Chocolate-Covered Coconut Bars
Printable Version

2 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
12 ounces chocolate (your favorite, milk, semi or dark)
Almonds (optional)

Line baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, combine the coconut, powdered sugar, butter and corn syrup. Divide mixture into 15 mounds. Shape each into compact 2" bars. Refrigerate 10 min.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. Working one at a time, dip into the chocolate. Let sit until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Breaskfast Pizza

 

We used bacon and sausage and did a half and half pizza.  This was so good!  Even good reheated!

Ingredients

• 1  (8-ounce) can reduced-fat refrigerated crescent dinner roll dough
• Cooking spray
• 12  ounces  turkey breakfast sausage or bacon or regular sausage... whatever you please
• 1  cup  frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
• 1/4  cup  fat-free milk
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  (8-ounce) carton egg substitute or (we used 6 eggs and added the milk to the eggs)
• 2  tablespoons  grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
Separate dough into triangles. Press triangles together to form a single round crust on a 12-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.
Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain.
Place the sausage, potatoes and cheese on top of the prepared dough.  Combine milk, salt, pepper, and egg substitute, stirring with a whisk. Carefully pour milk mixture on the top of the pizza crust and toppings. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until crust is browned.

When we made it... we pre-cooked the dough on the pizza pan for about 7 minutes and then followed the steps.  We still cooked it for the full 25 minutes.

Pizza Rolls

These are a fun variation for pizza night! :) You just pull these apart and dip in marinara sauce. Inside each roll, there is a center that is warm and oozing with pizza toppings. They are delicious and the kids have fun dipping them. There is no pizza sauce in each roll which is nice. Unlike your traditional pizza rolls, the sauce wont scald the inside of your mouth. Plus, we have some "anti-pizza sauce" people at our house, so this was perfect! We did the pepperoni, green pepper version. I will definitely be making these again and trying a variety of fillings. Enjoy!

Pizza Rolls

Printable Version

Ingredients:
frozen rolls or homemade pizza dough

Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese of choice

Any meat/veggie pizza toppings of choice, diced small
(We mainly do pepperoni (cut into 1/4ths) &cheese and plain cheese)

Defrost frozen roll dough for about an hour. It should be cold but soft. Flatten each roll. First put a light smear of pizza sauce in the center of the roll. (Don't get the sauce on the edges or it wont want to seal) Next, layer the shredded cheese or any diced small topping that will have a tendency to fallout. Finally, press a few quarters of pepperoni to hold cheese in place and wrap the rest of the roll around the toppings. Pinch to seal edges. The more toppings you use, the harder it gets to tuck them all within the dough. Now place seam side down in a lightly greased casserole dish or glass baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle generously with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. (oregano, basil and thyme, etc) Bake in a 400 degree oven until rolls are light brown (12-15min). Watch carefully. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce for dipping.


Recipe by SistersCafe

No Bake Cookies

For those of you who don't live with Dad or Slade, this recipe is for you!

You too can have good no bakes any time you'd like ;) 

Another "must have" recipe for the food blog.

No Bake Cookies

2c. sugar
1/2c. milk
1/4c. cocoa
1/2c. butter (1 stick)

Simmer for 2min. Remove from heat and add:

2/3c. peanut butter
1/2t. vanilla
Add approximately 4c. oats (or until desired consistency)

Drop by the spoonful onto foil, wax paper or parchment (whatever you have will work) Let them cool slightly and enjoy!

I know you have been waiting for this recipe so.....You are welcome! :)

Comfort Corn Pudding

Why do I like corn pudding?

1) Basically...it's delicious!
2) You can serve it with almost any type of meal. We make it to go with hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken or bbq sandwiches. We even make it to go with a roast or pulled pork for a Sunday dinner.
3) It's SUPER SUPER easy! You can throw it together in 5min or less and let it bake while you prepare the rest of the meal.
4) Anytime I make this it gets rave reviews and gets gobbled up. Who doesn't like compliments to the chef? (That's you!)

Give it a try and let me know how much you love it too! :)

Comfort Corn Pudding

Printable Version

1 (8 oz) box corn muffin mix

1 (16 oz) can whole corn, undrained

1 (16 oz) can cream corn

1 cup sour cream

1 sick margarine or butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until blended.

Pour mixture into a shallow, 2 quart baking dish

Bake, uncovered, for 45 – 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

Seriously... how easy does that sound? (PS It's delicious!)

Recipe from A. Trzeciak :)