Sloppy Joes

I was searching for a sloppy joe recipe at allrecipes.com and found this. (They call it Pennsylvania Coal Region Barbecue.) It was really delicious! Sweet, tangy and easy! You can even make it earlier in the day and keep it on low in the crockpot until dinner. (I added a little more brown sugar than the recipe called for, but I like my sauces a little sweet.)

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 hamburger buns

Directions

1. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Drain excess grease, and stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, ketchup, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Serve on buns.

Breakfast Apple Cake

I saw this recipe on allrecipes front page this morning and decided it would be a nice breakfast treat for the kiddos. It came together really quickly and I stuck it in the oven. Twenty minutes later, I checked on it only to discover that nothing was happening. My oven wasn't working.

I ended up carrying it over to my sweet neighbor & she let me bake it in her oven. It was nice to catch up with her.

The kids surprised me by devouring it ALL when I got home. My neighbor tried it too and said it was very good. I will definitely be making it again (well, if my oven will let me, that is).

I altered the original recipe a little.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour (I subbed all purpose flour + 1 Tbs baking powder & 1 tsp salt)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups peeled, cored, and chopped tart apple (I used golden delicious, because it was all I had)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (left these out)
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour and cinnamon. Mixture will be thick. Fold in apple and nuts. Spread in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with butterscotch chips.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Salty Buckeyes

My personal chef, Sugar Baby, made these for us yesterday. They were good, but a little too sweet for most of us. I was surprised to find there was no added salt in the peanut butter mixture (only what already came in the peanut butter). So, to add some saltiness, I sprinkled sea salt on the finished product. That's more like it!


Sugar Baby got the recipe from allrecipes (just want to give credit where credit is due!)... Here it is:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar with hands to form a smooth stiff dough. Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on prepared pan, and refrigerate.
3. Melt shortening and chocolate together in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat.(Or you can use the microwave to melt this - just be careful not to let it burn!)
   
4. Remove balls from refrigerator. Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into melted chocolate. Return to wax paper, chocolate side down, and remove toothpick. Repeat with remaining balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.

Lastly, and most importantly, sprinkle each one with a little bit of sea salt. Mmmm...

Sweet, Sticky and Spicy Chicken

Sugar Baby found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made it for our lunch (or is that dinner?) today. It was soooo good! We will definitely be having it again. She doubled the sauce part of the recipe and it made enough for all eight of us. Here is the recipe, copied & pasted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix together brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and hot sauce in a small bowl.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken strips.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken strips and brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.

Warning!

You may gain several pounds by viewing the following picture. Proceed with caution.
It's worth it though, right? ?

Mmmm... that's Sugar Baby's Brownies topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream, and then topped with today's recipe: homemade hot fudge sauce.

This recipe, unfortunately, is very easy and fast to whip up. In a matter of minutes, you can add a hundred or so calories to an ordinary bowl of ice cream. Terrible stuff, hot fudge sauce...

Ingredients:
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

Combine everything except the vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve hot or cold, but hot is best.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs

We eat quite a bit of grilled chicken around here. It is so simple, delicious and reduces the amount of cleanup in the kitchen. (That last part is the most important.)

Usually, I marinate the chicken in zesty italian dressing or mojo sauce and then grill them and they are soooo good. Like, company good.

However, I am always on the lookout for new recipes, and when I saw this flavor combination, I was intrigued. Plus, it had about a zillion 5 star reviews on allrecipes.
I had never done kabobs before, but since we had a box of 1,000 wooden skewers (think cake pops), I thought I'd try them.

The results were definitely 5 star. We all loved them & it was a nice change from our marinades. I served them with pasta & homemade marinara sauce & it made for a really scrumptious meal.

From allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
• 5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

   

Give 'em a try!

Popcorn Cake

Check out this new treat I recently discovered! It's like a giant rice crispy treat, only it's made with popcorn instead of rice crispies. The kids loved it (as did I) and it was really pretty and simple to make!

Ingredients:

About 4 quarts of popped popcorn, seasoned with salt & butter
1 stick of butter/margarine
1 bag of marshmallows (10oz)
About 1 cup or so of m&ms

Grease a bundt pan with butter or cooking spray. Melt the marshmallows and butter in a large pot over low heat, stirring constantly until the marshmallows are completely melted. Stir in the popcorn until it's thoroughly mixed & coated with marshmallow goo. Place 3/4 of the m&ms in the bottom of the greased pan. Pack (be careful - it's hot!) the gooey popcorn into the bundt pan, occasionally sprinkling with m&ms, until the pan is full. Chill for about 15 minutes. Turn over onto a serving dish or plate. Cut into chunks and wow your kids with this tasty treat!