Scotcheroos

 

This is one of my ALL TIME favorite desserts.  Its easy, fast, and you can eat a few rows of them without thinking!  They're also something we eat every time I'm with my family.  I was with my parents last week, we made them and devoured the tray.

 

SCOTCHEROOS

1 cup sugar

1 cup Karo syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups rice krispies

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

 

Combine sugar and syrup in a pot.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

 

Stir in one cup of peanut butter.

 Mix in 6 cups of rice krispies.

Pour onto greased cookie sheet.

Melt both chips in the microwave.



 

Pour on top of rice krispies.

Put in the refrigerator (NOT FREEZER!) until they set.  Then pull them out and eat as many as you want!  Enjoy! :)

Follower Friday: Avocado Lime Salsa

FOLLOWER FRIDAY!! It's been awhile, hasn't it?  I asked Crystal if she'd do today's post.  She's...amazing!  I married her husbands best friend.  My first date with my husband was actually a double with Crystal and her husband.  Crazy huh?  From the beginning she was kind and loving to me.  When my husband and I got engaged, I knew she'd be a dear friend for life!  She was at my wedding, threw me my FIRST baby shower, and drove an hour one night to dip strawberries with me.  She's selfless, an amazing mother and let's be honest, I wish I had her taste in fashion.  Enjoy her recipe!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Tiff for giving me the opportunity to be featured as a Follower Friday on your blog! I thought long and hard about what recipe to share (I'm not very savvy in the kitchen, and I haven't really considered myself to have any awesome recipes up my sleeve.) The only recipe I have taken pride in is for sugar cookies, which I got from my mom, and Tiff has featured here. So wouldn't it only be appropriate for me to share a tried and true recipe given to me by my mother-in-law for this? :)

Get ready to jump into spring/summer with this DELICIOUS side or snack. (Heck I eat so much of this stuff it becomes more like a meal than a snack! Ha ha)

AVOCADO LIME SALSA

You will need:

1 packet Italian Salad Dressing Mix- made according to package directions

Olive Oil (called for on dressing mix)

Vinegar (called for on dressing mix)

2 Avocados

4 to 5 roma tomatoes, diced

1 can white corn (shoepeg), drained

1 can black-eyed peas, drained

1/2 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

2 to 3 limes, squeezed

Side Note: I've noticed brand of Dressing Mix doesn't matter for this so I just get the cheapest ;)

Mix salad dressing in a large bowl.

Slice Avocado

How I slice it: After cutting in half and removing the seed, slice to the skin vertically and then again horizontally, then scoop out with spoon and break up the slices.

Add drained corn and beans

Slice tomato

How I was taught: after removing top of tomato, slice down about halfway one direction and then again the other direction, then cut across the length of the tomato to get "dices". Repeat on the remaining half. (The reason I go only halfway is so your slices don't flop all over the place as you are trying to cut across)

Continue adding the remaining ingredients (Cliantro and squeezed limes) Then stir and your done!

Serve with your choice of tortilla chips :)

This is best served on the same day, but can be refrigerated for about a day. (After that the cilantro gets limp and the vinegar flavor soaks into all the ingredients a little too much) 

Mmmm....DELICIOUS! Enjoy :)

stir fry

I can't remember if I've told you this but I just love a big bowl of food all mixed together.  Ya know like a big plate of rice, beans, and tortillas or a bowl of chinese food.  And this is probably why I have a huge crush on stir fry.  My hubby doesn't really care for vegetables which is just so sad!  So I rarely make stir fry.  But tonight he was out with my toddler.  They called to say they would stop to eat somewhere so I decided us girls at home (me and my 18 month old) were going to have stir fry.  And here's how I made it.

 

 

Chicken:

Cut two chicken breasts into small chunks. 

Heat 2 T of oil and 2 T of butter in a pan.  (I LOVE the taste of butter...I know, fat fatty over here)

Throw in chicken, 3-4 T of parmesan cheese, 2 tsp of garlic powder, 2 tsp of dried onions, and salt and pepper to taste

Cook until nice and brown!

 

Rice:

Combine 2 chicken bouillion cubes, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of uncooked rice

Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

 

Vegetables:

I love the stir fry mix of frozen veggies.  But you can just add frozen peas or whatever you like.  I cook about two cups according to the package, drain and set aside.

 

When everything is finished, combine the rice and vegetables into the pan with the cooked chicken.  Mix all together, top with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and SERVE!

 



Forgive me with this yummy treat!

December got away from me.  I was busy.  And I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I had second thoughts about this blog.  I kept thinking it was silly.  I know very little about actual cooking or nutrition.  And I hardly do anything new or inventive.  I make my mom's food and then find yummy recipes online.  Nothing new. 

But then a few people said some pretty some stuff to me. (Thank you Sharon for the final boost!) And I realized - I might not know very much about cooking.  And I might never make something insanely new and inventive.  But I LOVE FOOD.  That's why I started this blog.  Because I love food.  I love cooking yummy things and then getting to eat them.  I love trying new recipes.  That's why I started this blog.  Not to impress everyone with my amazing cooking skills or my creative recipes or even my knowledge on nutrion - cause there won't be any of that here.  Just lots of yummy recipes.

I won't be as dedicated to my weekly posts as I was. There will be at least one a week but don't be hopeful on more. And we'll still do Follower Fridays so if you're not following this blog, hurry and click that button! I want you to be able to share your recipes too.

So to my awesome 29 followers - forgive me for being M.I.A. for a few months?  And let's get this thing started again! 

This was one of my "neighbor treats" for Christmas.  It's freaking delicious!  My one neighbor told me she ate it in one sitting - it's addicting.  Enjoy!  And yes I'm buttering you up with this buttery recipe to get your forgiveness....gosh I'm hilarious.

Buttery Nutty Popcorn (with M&M's)

10 cups poppped popcorn
1 1/3 c. sugar
2 c. butter
1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1 tsp vanilla.

Pop the popcorn and set aside.  Place aluminum foil on cookie sheet.  Grease the aluminum foil.  (I used PAM)  Melt butter and sugar together in a pan.  Boil until it turns a light carmel color (about 5 minutes)  Take off heat, add vanilla.  Pour over popcorn.  Stir until all popcorn is coated.  Mix cashews and mixed nuts.  Pour onto the aluminum foil.  Top with M&M's.  Put into little goodie bags to give away or just DEVOUR the popcorn yourself! :)

Mint Chocolate Fudge

I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season.  We can't get enough of my little town's festivities.  Free Christmas concerts, Christmas movies at the library, lights strung up EVERYWHERE, and the list goes on and on.  Enjoy this yummy recipe by Kim

----------------------------------------------------------

I look forward to this time of year for many reasons, but fudge is definitely high on the list.  As a teenager I remember making my mom's "Perfect Every Time Fudge" and it wasn't perfect every time.  Its no secret I'm bad at baking, let's also add candy making to that list!  But, when I found this fudge recipe last year I suddenly knew it was one I could do well.  You can too.

3 ingredients.  3 minutes.  That's it.

Ingredients:
1-14 oz can sweet and condensed milk
1-14 oz package semi sweet chocolate chips
1-10 oz package Andes mint chips (in a bind I've used two 4.67 oz boxes of mints broken in half)

Directions:
1. In a bowl combine the Chocolate and Andes mint chips
2. Add condensed milk and mix.
3. Microwave everything for three minutes. Stir till smooth. (Do not try to be smarter than the recipe and microwave it on low power for longer or stop and stir it every minute.  Just hit three minutes and walk away--not too far away or it will cool again by the time you walk back)
4. Pour into a 9 x 9 pan for thick squares or a 9 x13 pan for thin squares
5. Let it cool on your counter and cover with a towel to keep it from drying out.  Once cooled you can cover with plastic wrap or a lid.

You can garnish it before it cools with crushed peppermints but my husband has requested I not do that anymore.  So I use green sprinkles to clue people in that this stuff is minty.  Its not for everyone.

Sorry about the quality of this picture!  When I remembered to take one the party was in full swing and I had to snap it quick :)