Peanut Butter Brownie Puppy Chow

by penji1

Peanut Butter Brownie Puppy Chow

We took the Young Women down to Ephraim for Youth Conference this weekend and of course there needed to be treats so I whipped up a bunch of this puppy chow for them to snack on.  It comes from a blog called “Your Cup of Cake” and it is easy to make and super yummy!  I love that it’s tossed in brownie mix instead of powdered sugar.

6 cups Rice Chex cereal

1 cup milk chocolate melts or chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup brownie mix, from a box

optional add ins: peanut butter brownies, Reese’s Pieces or Peanut Butter cups, chopped

1  Place cereal in large bowl.

2  In a microwavable bowl, melt chocolate, peanut butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.

3  Pour chocolate over cereal and fold until covered.

4  Dump into a large plastic bag and add brownie mix, seal and shake until coated.  Or pour brownie mix over cereal in bowl and stir well.

5  Dump onto a cookie sheet and toss with add ins if desired.

White Chocolate Fruit Dip

by penji1

White Chocolate Fruit Dip

I made Bob a big dinner for Father’s Day – bacon wrapped filets (from Costco), Oven Fries, Broccoli Salad and Cheesy Garlic Bread and then for dessert, this tasty (and super easy!) dip with fruit.  It was delicious with the fruit but I bet it would also be really good on a piece of cake or pie or a brownie, you get the idea!

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

1 (3.5 oz) package instant white chocolate pudding mix

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine pudding mix, milk and lemon juice and mix well.  Fold in Cool Whip and mix until completely incorporated.  Serve with fruit or graham crackers and Nilla Wafers (or cake or pie or brownies!).

Kit Kat Brownies

by penji1

Kit Kat Brownies

These were delicious!  The idea comes from a blog called “Raining Hot Coupons”.  She made a homemade brownie batter and layered it with Kit Kats but I was in a hurry so I just used a box mix.  Couldn’t be any easier or yummier!

1 box brownie mix plus ingredients to make brownies

1 bag fun size Kit Kat bars

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.  Grease bottom only of 9 x 13″ pan.  Spread half the batter on the bottom of the pan.  Unwrap Kit Kat bars and place in single layer over batter to cover entire pan.  Top carefully with remaining batter to cover candy completely.  Bake according to package directions.  Let cool completely before cutting.

Star Wars Kit Gift

by penji1

Star Wars Kit Gift

This just makes me smile!  My daughter and I put together these kits as Father’s Day gifts for Bob and Jaren.  They are awesome, Bob loved his!  He even took a picture of it and put it on Facebook, he never puts anything on FB!  The idea comes from a blog called “Popsicle Blog”, we did them for Father’s Day but they would work for almost any occasion.  The Popsicle Blog lady made this awesome messenger bag to put all the goodies in but neither my daughter nor I have the skill set to accomplish such a thing but it was really cute.  So here’s what’s in it:

Yoda Soda & Droid Chips

Yoda Soda – a bottle or can of soda (in this case, Diet Coke)

Droid Chips – a can of Pringles

Jar Jar of Gungan Snacks, Vaderade & Wookie Cookies

Jar Jar of Gungan Snacks – any kind of snack (I used a jar that once had sunflower seeds in it and put some trail mix kind of snack in there)

Vaderade – Gatorade

Wookie Cookies – your choice of cookies (I used a can of those Pirouline cookies that you can find at the dollar store)

Jedi Lightsabers & Boba Gum

Jedi Lightsabers – I used red vines, she used chocolate dipped rod pretzels

Boba Gum – your choice of gum

Han's Rolos, Ewok Gummies & Leia's Buns

Han’s Rolos – bag of Rolos

Ewok Gummies – bag of gummy bears

Leia’s Buns – cinnamon buns

SO CUTE!

Copycat KFC Coleslaw

by penji1

Copycat KFC Coleslaw

I am not a huge fan of KFC but I do love their biscuits and their coleslaw so when I say this recipe I was excited to try it.  It is close to the KFC coleslaw and went great next to or on top of the shredded pork I made.  My husband, who doesn’t love coleslaw, loved it on his shredded pork sandwiches.  It comes from a blog called “Mom on Timeout”.

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used 1/4 cup light mayo and 1/4 cup fat free sour cream)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

16 oz bag shredded coleslaw mix

1  Whisk together all ingredients except coleslaw mix.

2  Add bag of mix and stir until combined.

3  Refrigerate 2 – 3 hours or longer.

4  Mix again before serving.

Puerto Rican Shredded Pork

by penji1

Puerto Rican Shredded Pork

Dinner last night from Food.com, it was yummy, very citrusy, which is what I was hoping it would be.

2 – 3 pounds sirloin pork roast or 2 – 3 pounds sirloin tip roast, trimmed and tied with kitchen twine if necessary (it wasn’t necessary for mine)

1 tablespoon oil

4 – 5 garlic cloves, skins removed, crushed

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon oregano

4 oranges, juiced or 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

4 limes, juiced

1  Using a sharp knife, poke a few holes in the pork and stuff holes with half of the crushed garlic.  In a large skillet over medium high heat, warm oil.  Add pork and brown on all sides, 6 – 8 minutes.  Transfer meat to slow cooker.  (I skipped this entire set and just set the pork in the slow cooker without garlic in it and without being cooked, seemed unnecessary to me.)

2  Combine remaining ingredients in blender and blend for a few seconds until evenly combined.  (I just added all the garlic here.)  Pour mixture over pork in slow cooker and let pork marinate for 10 minutes on each side.

3  Turn slow cooker on low and set timer for 8 hours.  (Mine only needed about 6 hours but my crock pot is lava hot!)

4  Remove pork and shred with 2 forks or in your mixer with paddle attachment.  Remove all liquid from slow cooker except for 1 cup and add pork back to pot.  Let cook for 15 – 30 minutes.  (I took all the liquid out and strained it and then added the 1 cup back in, I also reserved the rest of the liquid in case the pork gets dry after sitting in the fridge.)

Smore’s Brownies

by penji1

Smore's Brownies

So really the title of this post should be “Teddy Grahams in a Marshmallow Bubble Bath”!  I decided to make some smore’s brownies for the Young Women for an activity and when the brownies were done, they looked like the teddies were hanging out in a bubble bath.  I baked a 9 x 13″ pan of brownies from a box and when they were done, I took them out of the oven and sprinkled mini marshmallows over the top then put the brownies back in the oven until the marshmallows were all puffy and gooey.  I sprinkled some chocolate chips over that and then stuck the Teddy Grahams in so they were standing in rows in the marshmallows.  Sometimes I crack myself up.

3-Nut Upside-Down Cake

by penji1

3-Nut Upside-Down Cake

This looked great, everyone was excited about it but it wasn’t all that great.  The cake was good but the nut topping actually hurt your teeth when you ate it, perhaps I cooked it too long and it was crunchier than it was supposed to be, I’m not sure but most of it ended up in the trash, bummer.  I have to say that that doesn’t happen very much around here so everyone was disappointed.  It’s a Better Homes and Garden recipe, I’m sure their cake was perfect!  If you try it and it turns out wonderful, please let me know how you did it.

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup light colored corn syrup

1/4 cup whipping cream (substituted evaporated milk)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (substituted almonds)

1 1/3 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup milk

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 9 x 9 x 2″ pan with foil and grease foil.  Melt 1/4 cup butter, stir in brown sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved.  Stir in corn syrup and cream and bring to just boiling (here’s where I may have gone wrong and cooked too long or too high).  Stir in nuts and spread in pan.

2  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Beat 1/3 cup butter for 30 seconds, gradually add sugar until well combined, then add eggs 1 at a time beating after each.  Beat in vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating after each addition just until combined.  Pour into pan, being careful not to disturb nuts.  Bake 45 – 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove from pan and carefully peel off foil and place nut side up on plate.

Rice Pilaf

by penji1

Rice Pilaf

We decided to barbecue for dinner one night when my parents were here and my dad wanted shish kabobs so I decided to make a rice dish to go with it and found this Rice Pilaf recipe on a blog called “A Family Feast” so decided to give it a try.  It was pretty easy and really yummy, everyone liked it.

For the shish kabobs, we just chopped up some chicken breasts and some steaks into good size chunks and then also we did yellow onions, red onions, zucchini, mushrooms and  green/red/orange/yellow bell peppers.  I read online that if you soak your bamboo skewers before cooking that it would help the sticks not to burn as quickly and as an extra bonus it also helps the food slide off the skewer easier.  Now here’s the rice:

1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  In Dutch oven over medium heat, dry toast raw orzo stirring constantly until light walnut color, 3 – 4 minutes.  Remove orzo and set aside.

3  Add olive oil and butter.  Once butter is melted, add onion and rice and saute for 5 minutes stirring occasionally or until onions are translucent.  If rice starts to get brown, remove from heat before going to next step.

4  Add garlic and stir for 1 minute then add bay, thyme, pepper and browned orzo.  Stir and add chicken stock.

5  Stir once, cover and place in oven for 30 minutes untouched.

6  Remove from oven and discard bay leaves.  Fluff rice and add salt as needed.

Baked Chocolate Doughnuts

by penji1

Baked Chocolate Doughnuts

My mom loves chocolate doughnuts so while my parents are here visiting I decided to make her some homemade doughnuts.  This recipe came with the doughnut pan from Wilton, they were chocolatey goodness in the shape of a ring!

1 3/4 cups cake or all purpose flour, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1  Preheat oven to 425.  Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2  Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add buttermilk, eggs, oil and vanilla and mix gently until just combined.  Fill each doughnut cup approximately 1/2 full (about 2 tablespoons of batter).  (I did this by putting the batter in a large Ziploc bag and then snipping the corner off and piping it into the pan.)

3  Bake 4 – 5 minutes or until top of doughnuts spring back with touched.  Let cool in pan 3 minutes before removing.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Finish doughnuts with desired toppings.  Doughnuts are best when served fresh.

Yield:  24 doughnuts

I topped these with chocolate glaze and chocolate jimmies, recipe for chocolate glaze found here but this doughnut recipe came with a raspberry glaze recipe so I thought I’d include it now for future use.

Raspberry Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1 tablespoon milk

pink food coloring, optional

Stir together sugar, jam and milk and mix until sugar is completely dissolved.  Mix in color if desired.  Use immediately to glaze doughnuts.