Caramel Brownie

Tonight we threw together a Caramel Brownie Recipe. It made for a very sweet bedtime snack for Jason and I.

Caramel Brownie

Caramel Brownie Recipe

• To 6 Tbsp. melted margarine, add:
• 2 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Beat well, then blend in 2 1/2 cups flour sifted with 2 tsp. Baking Powder.
• Spread and push into greased 8x8 inch baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. 
• Cut into squares while still warm.

The girls loved to help like always.

Lol... I felt like our house was a mess.

This is how it looked before baking.

The inside was soft and moist, but the top was dry.

It was delicious with ice cream.

Things I've Learned

• I wonder if I should have baked it for 5 or 10 minutes longer to melt the top more into a brownie like shape.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

We are actually running out of leftovers, so I decided to make more of the 3 ingredient recipes. Today I made Crockpot Salsa Chicken.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Crockpot Salsa Chicken Recipe

• 6 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
• 1 jar salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• Place whole chicken breasts in crockpot and pour salsa over it. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on high. Once crockpot chicken is done baking, preheat oven to 425 F degrees.Take a 8x8 or 9x13 baking dish, depending on how big your chicken breast are. Place the chicken in the dish. Spoon some of the leftover salsa over the chicken and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

Things I've Learned

• Not all crock pot recipes take half a day to cook.

Play Dough Recipe

Yesterday, I did make some play dough with the non-sick girls.

Play Dough

Play Dough Recipe

• In saucepan combine the following:
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbs oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• food coloring (as desired)

• Cook and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball. Store in covered container.

The girls love to help mix in ingredients.

My house was still a little messy from the chaos of a sick kiddo.

You have to make sure to stir the entire time while cooking otherwise the play dough may burn.

With food coloring you can make many different colors and shades of colors.

Things I've Learned

• To make purple play dough you combine 1 drop blue and 3 drops red of food coloring.  

Life Happens

Two days ago was the first day this year I didn't bake or cook anything, but with a sick kiddo this house was just too busy. With throw up clean-up, laundry, comforting, and regular household chores there was no time. Jason did make tortillas though, but he was even frustrated about them with being in a rush to make them. However, the same day I made tortillas I threw together some stuff to make salsa.

Salsa

I didn't use a recipe I just threw this stuff together.

I used a nutribullet to blend stuff up.

It looked okay...

Things I've Learned

• Jason had a love hate relationship with the salsa. He didn't like the initial taste, but he loved the after taste. Yesterday it went down the drain though. 
• I think next time I just need to chop everything and not nutribullet any of it.

Tortillas

With all of these burrito recipes lately I ran out of tortillas. Luckily I found this tortilla recipe! I feel really pretty proud of them.

Tortillas

Recipe

Things I've Learned

• I loved making these! 
• This was an incredibly easy recipe to make.
• I may make the tortillas bigger next time. They were a little small for us. 

Burrito Filling

My house is pretty much a burritos are great all the time kind of place, so today I made this beef taco recipe. Another 3 ingredient crock pot recipe.

Beef Taco

I added some rice and corn, but I think it would have been just great by itself.

To Help Use Leftovers

Tonight I decided to make an Easy Roll recipe, so I could use them as a bun for the pulled pork.

Easy Rolls

Recipe

• 2 Tbs. yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening or margarine
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6-7 cups flour
• Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir remaining ingredients except flour. Mix in flour until dough is easy to handle. Shape and let rise until double (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Bake at 375 for 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

I made my rolls larger, so I could use them as a bun for the pulled pork. Since they are bigger they took about 20 minutes to bake instead of 10-15 minutes. The recipe made about 13 large rolls.

Things I've Learned

• These rolls made me feel like my mom was living in my house.
• I may need to double the recipe next time. There are only 4 left. CRAZY!

Another 3 Ingredient Crock Pot Recipe

Yesterday I made another one of the 3 ingredient crock pot recipes. I made the Creamy Chicken Taco Recipe.

Creamy Taco Chicken

Recipe

• 1 can of tomatoes
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 oz cream cheese
• Combine tomatoes and chicken and let them cook on low for 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before it is done use a fork or tongs to stir and shred the chicken. Then place the cream cheese on top, but do not stir in. When the final timer goes off stir in the cream cheese.

We served it with rice in a tortilla. I ate mine like a burrito, but my girls and husband ate theirs like a quesadilla. They were delicious! My husband said it was one of the best quesadilla's he has ever had!

Things I've Learned

• Jason thought all crock pot recipes were soups. The last 2 days he was totally shocked at what turned out.
• My girls will actually eat this in a quesadilla. They are so picky. I was shocked!

Barbecue Pork

I am going to try some of these recipes this week. Today I made the Barbecue Pork Recipe.

Barbecue Pork

Recipe

• 1 (3 to 4 lb) boneless pork shoulder roast (Boston butt), trimmed
• 1 (18 oz) bottle barbecue sauce
• 1 (12 oz) can cola soft drink
• Place pork in a lightly greased 6 qt. slow cooker; pour barbecue sauce and cola over pork. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours. Transfer pork to a cutting board; shred with 2 forks, removing any large pieces of fat. Skim fat from sauce, and stir pork into sauce.

Things I've Learned

• I may need to drain the crock pot a bit before pulling the pork. It was a little soupy. 

Zucchini Bread

I decided to make a zucchini bread recipe today.

Zucchini Bread

Recipe

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 Tbs. vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• Beat eggs and add sugars, oil, zucchini, and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Mix just until flour is more mixed in. Pour into greased baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

The last time I attempted to sneak nuts in Jason did not like it, so I didn't put nuts in this time. Also, I used parchment paper to line the bread pan instead of grease.

I don't have a grater, so I peeled and then stuck in my nutribullet.

She is a great helper!

It looked excellent at first.

Then it caved in. 

It was raw that I baked on a baking sheet for like 20 minutes. 

Thing I've Learned

• It is getting easier for the girls to help me bake.
• I don't have a grater. It broke years ago, and we have never needed another one.😕
• I don't know if this is a thing or not, but I feel like the last time I used parchment paper the bread caved in and was under cooked. I baked for 10 extra minutes with the parchment paper and 10 extra minutes without the parchment paper and the dough was still not done. Finally I baked for 20 minutes on a baking sheet.😔😣😞😔 It tastes good, but it sure doesn't look pretty. I feel like I could have posted a "nailed it" photo here. 😁

Something Easy

Alright I'm feeling a little under the weather and I did cook Danish Pancakes this morning, so I needed something quick and easy. Don't laugh it is in the recipe book. I am going to make cinnamon toast.

Cinnamon Toast

Recipe

toast

butter

sugar

cinnamon

Sprinkle hot buttered toast strips, rounds, or triangles with mixture of 3 Tbs. sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Put in oven at 300-375 degrees to melt sugar.

Thing's I've Learned

If it goes in the oven it has to count for something (recipe wise right?). I mean easy recipes should be a staple part of our life!!!!

Cinnamon toast kind of tastes like donuts. 

Also, this is a yummy bed time snack as long as you feel sick enough for the sugar to not hype you up.