Chocolate Caramel WOW...

The other night we had company over for dinner and Tad made some amazing speghetti and I was incharge of dessert. MMMMM....I wanted to make something good without having to buy anything. Trying to use up some pantry items....so I found this and it was GREAT!!!

"A tempting delight in every bite."

1 (18.25 oz) Chocolate or German Chocolate Cake Mix

1-1/4 Cups Water

1/3 Cup Oil

3 Eggs

1 (12 oz) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (12.25 oz) Caramel Topping

1 (8 oz) Cool Whip Topping

4 (2.1 oz) Butterfinger Candy Bars

1. Bake cake in 9x13 inch pan as directed. Cool cake for 5 minutes. Using handle of wooden spoon, poke several holes in cake.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix condensed milk and caramel topping. Pour caramel mixture evenly over warm cake. Cool completely.

3. Spread Cool Whip Topping evenly over cooled cake. Sprinkle with chopped Butterfingers. Refrigerate until served. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

Monkey Muffins, Monkey Muffins......mmmmmmm

Monkey Muffins from The Pioneer Woman. These are Yummy!! I made them this morning for breakfast and used refrigerated biscuits. They turned out great and a lot less baking time then regular monkey bread. You gotta give them a try :)

Three Girls - N - Bows

I love it...Three Girls...Three Bows :)

My Pilgrim & Little Indian Girls

I finally got the pictures from my Mom that she took of the kids at Tate’s Thanksgiving Feast at school. I mentioned all the details of this fun filled day in my post Thanksgiving Eve... She got some good pictures of the kids and dressed them all so well. It was a lot of fun :)

Sweet and Sour Chicken & Outrageous Caramel Fudge Brownies

These recipes comes from a cookbook my sister gave to me a couple of years ago for my birthday. It is called “The Real Ranch Cookbook” From the Elko County Cattle Women. It is a great book and it has a lot of heritage of Nevada’s Northeastern working ranches, their recipes, histories and photographs. I have really enjoyed reading all the history and looking at all the photos….not to mention, a ton of recipes. These are a couple of recipes I have tried and really like…

Sweet and Sour Chicken:
1 to 2 lbs, chicken cut up in bite-size pieces
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch
oil for frying

Sauce:
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup catsup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Dip chicken in egg and roll in cornstarch. Brown in oil. Put in 9"x13" baking dish. Pour sauce over chicken. I add peppers, onions and pineapple at this point. Bake for 45-60 minutes at 375 degrees. Turn chicken over a couple of times while cooking.

Chinese Style Fried Rice:
1-1/4 cup water
1-1/2 cup Minute Rice
1 slightly beaten egg
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
2 to 3 Tbsp. soy sauce

In a small pan bring 1-1/4 cup water to boil. Stir in rice and remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, using a skillet, cook egg in butter; add onion and rice. Saute; stirring over medium heat until mixture is browned. Mix 1/4 cup water with soy sauce and stir into rice.

Outrageous Caramel Fudge Brownies
These are so, so, so good!!!

1 bag (14 oz.) caramels, unwrapped
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips (2 cups)
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 tsp. vegetable oil

Heat oven tto 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a 9"x13" pan with shortening or cooking spray. Heat caramels and milk in 2 quart saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until caramels are melted and smooth.

Melt butter in 3 quart saucepan over low heat; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, vanilla and eggs until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa and salt. Stir in 1-1/2 cups of chocolate chunks and 1 cup of of the pecans. Spread evenly in pan.

Gently and evenly drizzle melted caramel over batter, preventing caramel from reaching bottom of bars. (Carmel can cover entire surface of batter). Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until set.

Heat remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chunks and the oil in 1 quart saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Drizzle over the warm brownies. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans; press in lightly. Cool 20 minutes. Refrigerate about 1 hour 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. If refrigerated longer, let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Sloppy Buffalo Joes

These Sloppy Buffalo Joes are so GOOD! Oh my goodness, they are just as good as buffalo chicken wings. Then when you add the blue cheese to top it all off…it’s just really, really good. Just a note…when I added the vegetables to the chicken the water from the veggies made it mixture runny so after I made and added the sauce I made a flour rue to thicken it up. IT IS SO GOOD!!!

Kaylee Jane....1 month

Hard to believe that Kaylee is almost 7 weeks old. I took her to the doctor last week for her one month check up (even though she was 6 weeks). It gets harder to keep up on doctor visit when there are so many kids to look after. My goodness...how time flies when you're having fun :) So, I took her in and she already weighed 9 pounds. I could not believe it!! In as little as 5 weeks she gained almost 3 pounds. It is great to know that she is growing well and is very healthy. She is such a great baby and a wonderful blessing to our family. We love her so much...

Candy's Clam Chowder

This is my mom’s Clam Chowder Recipe and it is my favorite and quick!!

2 (6 oz.) cans chopped clams

1 C. finely chopped onion

1 C. finely chopped celery

2 C. diced potatoes

1-1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 Tbsp sugar

Couple shakes of pepper

2 C. half and half

¾ C. flour

¼ to ½ cube of butter

Drain clam reserving the clam juice. Add vegetables to large pot. Add clam juice to vegetables then add just enough water to cover vegetables. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add butter to vegetables. Lower heat. Mix half and half with sugar in blender, then add flour and blend well. Pour the blended mixture over cooked vegetables (do not drain water), add clams and cook until thick.

Instead of using water you can use all clam juice. It is next to the clams in the grocery store….and I always use more clams.

Chile Colorado

Tad was having a craving for some GOOD red chile and we found this recipe for this really good Chile Colorado. Of course I am talking about Tad here so he had to add his changes to the recipe. The first go around it did not have enough chile flavors so the second go around he added more of the dried chiles, and both times he more than doubled the recipe. This second making is really good, the first was good, but this one is better. So if you are looking for a good red chile recipe…give this one a try. It is YUMMO!!

Great Recipes....

Thanks to Kira, I have come to love The Pioneer Woman. I encourage everyone to check out her site and try a few of her recipes. Here are just a few of the recipes that I have tried and LOVE!!!
Cynthia's Spicy Shredded Pork

Chicken Parmigiana

AND….This one came from the Tasty Kitchen…

Chocolate and White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
Seriously…these recipes are all GREAT and The Pioneer Woman is GREAT!! I check out her site daily for something new!!
Another really yummy recipe Kira has suggested is these really good Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream. My kids love them and ask for the quite often. And the cinnamon cream is GREAT on hot cocoa.
Big THANKS to my dear friend!! She rocks!!

Quick, Easy, Yummy Vanilla Popcorn

I got this recipe from my mom! Gotta love recipes like this :)

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Light Karo Syrup

Boil those 3 ingredients together for about 2 minutes until golden. Then remove from heat and add:

1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Then toss with popcorn. For a more sticky popcorn double the recipe, or use 1 bag of microwave popcorn. I use 2 bags and less stickyness. ENJOY!

Little Kid's Pictures...November 2009

My mom and sister took my 3 youngest (at the time) to get thier pictures done the day after Thanksgiving. The last time I took them Emilee was 2 months old. I love the pictures and they were in and out of there in 30 minutes. I could not believe it. Needless to say, I will leave all the picture taking to them :) cause they are so good at it!!

Christmas Dinner 2009...

So we kept our Christmas dinner this year pretty simple, but still good. The menu was "Gorgonsola-and Mushroom-Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Merlot Sauce", Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and a salad. For dessert it was pumpkin pie and a triple chocolate cake (my mom bought them both from Sam's Club). It was all so good. The beef tenderloin was GREAT and is a recipe worth keeping around....and pretty easy :)

Beef Tenderloin...

1 beef tenderloin (about 2 1/2 lb)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz)
1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 1/2 slices bread)
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Roquefort cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt) or regular salt

Merlot Sauce...
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/2 cup Merlot, Zinfandel or nonalcoholic red wine
1/4 cup beef flavored broth

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1. Heat oven to 425°F. To cut beef so that it can be filled and rolled, cut horizontally down length of beef, about 1/2 inch from top of beef, to within 1/2 inch of opposite side; open flat. Turn beef. Repeat with other side of beef, cutting from the inside edge to within 1/2 inch of opposite edge; open flat.
2. In 10-inch skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid has evaporated. Cool 5 minutes. Add bread crumbs, cheese and parsley; toss to combine.
3. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over beef to within 1 inch of edges. Tightly roll up beef, beginning with long side. Turn small end of beef under about 6 inches so it cooks evenly. Tie beef with kitchen string at about 1 1/2-inch intervals. In shallow roasting pan, place beef, seam side down, on rack. Brush with oil; sprinkle with salt. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in center of thickest part of beef.
4. Bake uncovered 30 to 40 minutes or until thermometer reads at least 140°F. Cover beef loosely with foil and let stand about 15 minutes or until thermometer reads 145°F. (Temperature will continue to rise about 5°F, and beef will be easier to carve.)
5. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat all sauce ingredients to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced and syrupy. Remove string from beef before carving. Serve beef with sauce.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.


Time-Saver...

Pick up a prepared sauce in a gourmet food store to save time.
Special Touch...
Use extra sprigs of parsley to garnish the beef.

Of course I made some changes...I used blue cheese inplace of gorgonzola and my beef tenderloin was almost 4 pounds and that fed my my family and my mom and step dad. Therefore, added a little bit more blue cheese and mushrooms and parsley when stuffing it cause my piece of meat was a little bit larger. It is such a great recipe :) ENJOY!!!

Christmas 2009...and much, much more...

Well, I can honestly say I am so glad that Christmas has come and gone...even though my Christmas tree has only been up for 3 weeks. There was just not a whole lot of Christmas spirit around our home this year. Just A LOT going on I guess. We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl early in the month so I concider her our Christmas Gift!! She is wonderful...they all are!!

It was GREAT to have my mom and stepdad here or Christmas. I feel spoiled to have had my mom here for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has been so long since I have spent the holiday's with her. I miss her not having her so near anymore.

A new year is upon us with so many things and new adventures to look forward to. First thing on the list...my baby girl's baby blessing next week....ALREADY!! She is almost 4 weeks old. I really wanting to hold off until February...but we will see what we decide to do. It seems we just go day to day anymore. Planning never seems to work out for us!!

Chapel Fudge

Very, Very Yummy!!

4 Cups sugar
1-1/3 Cups canned milk
20 large marshmallows
2 tsp. vanilla
1 Cup margarine
1 12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a large saucepan, cook sugar, milk and marshallows on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When mixture comes to a rolling boil, set timer for 10 minutes and continue to sti constantly. If the mixture starts to burn, slightly reduce the heat. After cooking, remove from heat and add vanilla. Place margarine and chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot marshmallow mixture over the margarine and chocolate chips, and beat for 5 minutes. Spread into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Let cool. Makes 35-40 pieces of fudge.

Variations:
You can use milk chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mini marshmallows, nuts, or coconut may be added to the mixture right before spreading it in the pan.

When I made this I forgot to add the vanilla....oops!! I also used milk chocolate chips! It still tastes great. Oh yes....and everything is better with butter...I did not use margarine :) ENJOY!!!