Posted in appetizers/snacks, Desserts, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, No-Bake

Bananas and Berries Frozen Graham Bars

Posted on by lmc

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As some of you might know, I am a coupon girl! I never leave the house without a fist full of carefully selected coupons when I am headed to the grocery store. I have the “SnipSnap” App on my phone so I can get a deal nearly everywhere I go. Well, last week there was a sale on graham crackers and I had coupons to reduce the price to 75 cents per box. I bought 6 boxes. We were headed out of town for a week and I thought they would be a great car snack to pack for the trip. When I arrived home with my groceries, M spied a cool recipe on the back of one of the graham cracker boxes and she asked if she could make the recipe for dessert. She said that it was a no-bake recipe. I was delighted because it was too hot to turn on the oven to compete with the air conditioner.
The next day, I headed to work and M made the frozen graham cracker recipe. We have an agreement that while Dad and I aren’t home, no ovens or blenders are to be used without permission. The original recipe called for pulsing the fruit in the blender. Instead, M chopped the fruit and added it to the yogurt mixture. When I arrived home from work, I was thrilled to see her creation and ohhhh, they were so yummy and refreshing. They were gone in no time at all!
Below, I have listed our adapted recipe but have included the website for the original recipe as well.

Bananas and Berries Frozen Graham Bars

10-1/2 cinnamon topped graham crackers, broken into quarters to make 42 rectangles
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup bananas, mashed
1/4 cup blueberries, sliced
1 cup vanilla nonfat Greek-style yogurt
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Line a 9-inch square pan with waxed paper, placed so paper extends over the sides of the pan . Arrange half the graham cracker pieces, in 3 rows on bottom of pan.
In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, bananas, and blueberries. Add the yogurt and whipped topping; mix well. Spread fruit and yogurt mixture over graham cracker pieces. Top with remaining graham crackers aligning to match the graham cracker pieces on bottom layer.
Place in the freezer for 4 hours. Use waxed paper handles to remove dessert from pan; cut between graham crackers to form bars.

Original website:
http://www.snackworks.com/recipe/banana-berry-frozen-yogurt-bars-155123.aspx

Posted in Chicken, Food, Main Dish

BBQ Honey Teriyaki Chicken

Posted on by lmc

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Recently, we had an open house graduation party for my oldest daughter. We were expecting 75-100 people and had made arrangements with a Chicago pizzeria to come to our home with a pizza oven to cook made-to-order pizza upon request. We have had this particular pizzeria here several times over the years because everyone raves about the flavor of their pizza and I love that most of the work is done for me when preparing for a party. I usually make a few salads and desserts while the pizza is taken care of by our pizza guy.
Well, this year things didn’t go so smoothly. We had told the pizzeria that the party was set to begin at 1:00pm and that we would set up an area with tables for pizza preparation and serving. Well, about one hour before the party, I sensed that something was wrong when no one was here to start the oven and prep for the party. I called the restaurant and got no answer. I called a friend of the owner next, looking for a cell number to talk directly to the owner. After a confusing conversation, we realized that the pizzeria had booked us for the wrong date! I was panicked trying to think about how I would manage serving all of our guests with just the salads and desserts I had prepared. Here it was 25 minutes before the party was to begin and we were without our unique main dish. Well, I spent no time worrying and put myself in damage control mode. I opened my huge freezer and found 6 – 3 lb. bags of frozen chicken breasts. I ripped open the bags and threw the chicken in as many roasting pans as I could find. I instructed my oldest son to turn on the outdoor gas grill at the highest heat possible. I have 3 indoor ovens so I turned them all on and popped the pans of chicken in. While my son grilled the first batch of frozen chicken, I tried to thaw the remaining chicken in the oven. I sent my daughter on a hunt to find any kind of bottled marinade available in the pantry. She found Sweet Baby Ray’s Teriyaki Marinade Sauce. I poured it into a bowl and gave my son a brush to slather it on the barbecued breasts. As he pulled the finished breasts off of the grill. I pulled another batch out of the oven and threw them on the grill to finish cooking. We made a fabulous team and within 25 minutes we had made quite a few breasts that were ready for initial serving. I sliced each of the breasts in bite sized pieces to fit on bakery rolls that we had purchased to go with the salads. All the while, my husband was manning the beverage area, greeting guests and refilling drinks. My sister jumped in the car with her husband heading to the local grocery store to fill the shopping cart with an assortment of foods suitable for the buffet. You can ‘t imagine how quickly we worked together. And oh how surprised and delighted we were when our guests praised our efforts and raved about the great tasting flavor of the chicken. After all of the guests said their good-byes and I had a chance to catch my breath, I was thankful for the help of family and friends, good company, and relieved that it was all over. Things have a way of working out. When the going gets tough…family and friends pull together and help each other out. …Can’t wait till next year as we will do it all over again when our twins graduate!

Marinated Teriyaki Chicken

1 3 lb. bag frozen chicken breasts
Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Teriyaki Marinade

Preheat barbecue on high heat and carefully oil barbecue rack. Lower the temperature to a medium- low setting and place thawed chicken breasts on the grill. Continue to grill flipping breasts to cook evenly. When meat has reached desired internal temperature, remove from grill and slather with marinade to coat completely.

Posted in Baked goods, Brunch, Desserts, Food

Apple-Blueberry Slices

Posted on by lmc

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When my kids were young, we used to find every opportunity available to pack up the car to find a local farm or orchard where we could pick the latest harvest. We’d arrive home with our bounty of goodies and spend the next few days canning, freezing, and baking with the produce that we picked. One of my favorite apple orchards was in Wisconsin. The owner would always have a recipe sheet displayed on the front counter for customers to take home with their purchase. All of the recipes were tested on the owner’s family and proved to be delicious.
One year, we picked bushels of apples and arrived at the front counter to see the usual list with various apple recipes listed along the front and back of the page. When I got home, I tried the recipe for Apple Slices. Wow, was it delicious! Every time I make the slices, I am asked for the recipe.
This week I added a handful of blueberries to the filling mix. I had a few leftover blueberries and I thought they would compliment the apple and cinnamon flavors.
I was right! These are delicious! The original apple slice recipe will always be at the top of my favorite recipe’s list.
Here’s the recipe for the revised apple-blueberry version.

Apple-Blueberry Slices

Dough:
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
Filling:
3 cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray with cooking spray a 9×13″ pan.
For the dough: In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Cut in shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. Set the rest aside.
For the filling: In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Gently mix in the apples and blueberries. Sprinkle the apple-blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the apple- blueberry layer. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely. Use my powdered sugar glaze recipe to drizzle over cooled pan.

Posted in Baked goods, Brunch, Food

Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

Posted on by lmc

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Boy, if you don’t like this cake, I don’t know what to say! A bonus…it’s super easy to make. Once again, I started with a basic cake mix.
Years ago, I found a recipe for a cinnamon coffee cake that was a bit time consuming to pull together. It tasted great so I continued to make it for the family. Then, a couple of years ago, I found a similar (but easier) recipe in the newspaper and tucked it away for another day. Yesterday, I had a taste for my original cinnamon coffee cake recipe. While looking through my recipe binder, I found the page ripped from the newspaper that I had tucked away some time ago. I thought…why not give it a try? After altering the recipe a bit, I quickly mixed it up and threw it in the oven.
Well, the smell of the cinnamon and extracts was enough to make me salivate in front of the oven, as I watched the cake rise and take shape. Mmmmm, it sure smelled wonderful! And, after letting it cool and giving it a taste, I was not disappointed! This sweet, moist, cinnamon roll coffee cake is absolutely delicious!

Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

1 box yellow or white pudding cake mix
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter extract
Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon softened margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Prepare cake mix as directed on the package. Add extracts to the batter and mix well. Spray, with cooking spray, a 13×9″ baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Pour half of the batter in the baking dish. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture over the batter. Pour on the remaining batter and finish by adding the remaining topping. Swirl through the cake mix with a knife. Bake according to package directions. Cool and top with my powdered sugar icing. Yummy!

Posted in and sauces, Food, Main Dish

What’s For Dinner?

Posted on by lmc

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There’s something to be said for getting a quick meal on the table after a long day at work. The trick is in making sure that it is a relatively healthy meal that can be prepared with little time or effort.
Today, at about 1:30 pm, I got a text from my daughter M asking the age old question…”What’s for dinner?” My answer was short… “We’ll see when I get home”.
When I arrived home, I quickly scanned my storage freezer and noticed a large bag of frozen ravioli some homemade meatballs and a package of bread sticks. I grabbed them and headed to the pantry. Here, I found some seasoned, diced tomatoes and a jar of prepared pasta sauce. In the produce drawer of the refrigerator sat a few vegetables to add to the sauce…onion, carrot, and celery. Quick as a wink, I had the water boiling, the knife dicing the vegetables to add flavor and texture to the prepared sauce, and the breadsticks in the oven. K and M decided that a passion fruit smoothie was in order so they dumped Greek yogurt, Orange/Mango juice, and frozen passion fruit into the Ninja blender for a refreshing beverage. Yesterday’s leftover salad fixings made a comeback and all was well as we gobbled up our creations.
Now…what will I make for dinner tomorrow?

Posted in appetizers/snacks, Food, Gardening, Homemade Mixes, Kids in the Kitchen, No-Bake

Fresh Garden Vegetable Dip

Posted on by lmc

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Lately, the local farmer ‘s market is filled with a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, and celery, are all quite inexpensive and take little effort to prepare for a quick summer snack. My own garden is coming along well but not quite ready to harvest. Looking over my plants, I see that the cucumbers, squash, celery, and tomatoes are all doing well but have a long way to go before they will be ready for picking. Thanks to soft, plentiful rain showers and lots of sunshine, this year’s garden looks strong and healthy. Although, last year’s garden was a complete flop. The drought in my area caused many gardeners to give up on the garden all together. I pulled out this recipe today as I am sure we will be reaping the benefits of our labor soon. I really enjoy the taste of this dip compared to that of the store bought powdered mix. All of the ingredients are common pantry items and the dip can be thrown together with little effort. It’s smooth, creamy, and flavorful and can be used on salads, for chips, or as a vegetable dip.

Garden Fresh Vegetable Dip

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving. Great for chips and vegetables.

Posted in Baked goods, Desserts, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, lunch box

Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

Posted on by lmc

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Growing up, I remember a boxed mix that my mom used to buy to make something called a snack cake. The favorite in our household was the spice mix flavor. Mom used to quickly bake it in a square pan and slice it into 9 squares. Once our family had grown to a count of 10 people, she was out of luck and needed to find a larger cake mix recipe…the traditional, full-sized cake mix that could be baked in a 9×13 pan.
What I like best about the snack cake is the ease of it all…only a few ingredients and no frosting needed.
This recipe is certainly a favorite. I pack quite a few lunches on a daily basis and this cake is really quite easy to slice, wrap and pack. As my oldest child will be heading to college in August, this will be a great cake to bake and send in a care package as I am sure she will be missing our traditional home-baked goodies. (And we will be missing her!)

Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Snack Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips; mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish; bake 35-40 minutes.

Posted in Chicken, Food, Main Dish, One Pot Meal, slow cooking

Easy Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Posted on by lmc

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Oh, how I love when I find a time-saving trick to help me prepare a week-night meal! Last week, I started a new job that takes me into a different time zone in the wee hours of the day and back into my own time zone as I head home from a long day at the office. I am realizing that I will have to stock my fridge and freezer with lots of pre-made items and do lots of cooking on the weekends to keep up with things. The crock pot will probably continue to be my “go to” appliance when preparing easy meals for my clan..
Easy Crock-Pot Chicken Tacos can be popped into the slow cooker in the morning and be ready when the family is looking for something yummy for dinner. A good friend recently shared a variation of this recipe with me, I have added a few things to give the meal a little more kick. The first time I made the dish, I followed the recipe exactly as it was written. My children thought my initial attempt was too bland, so I changed a few ingredients to suit the family. This ooey-gooey meal tastes great packed into tortilla shells or it can be served with tortilla chips as a fun dip. Either way, it’s chocked with lots of vegetables and lean meat. Great for a light summer snack dip of served with beans and rice as a hearty cold weather meal.

East Crock-Pot Chicken Tacos

2 pounds chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup Rotel diced canned tomatoes, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup onions, diced fine
1/2 cup celery, diced fine
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
3 tablespoons sour cream (optional)

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the meat then layer in the vegetables and the salsa. Pour a half cup water over the mixture, set on low and cook for 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Pour shredded chicken back into the salsa mixture; mix we to incorporate. When ready to serve, sprinkle with cheese and top with a dollop of sour cream.

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Posted in Crafts, Gifts, Quilting, Sewing

Upcycled Travel Tote

Posted on by lmc

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Upcycled Travel Tote
When I have time, I love to visit resale shops and garage sales to find objects that I can incorporate in my sewing projects. I often buy old backpacks and purses just to cut out the closures and fasteners for other projects. I sometimes buy resale clothes with great looking buttons, only to cut them off and use the buttons to make some of my less expensive clothes look more expensive.
For this tote, I made the actual bag out of pre-quilted fabric that I found at Good Will. I filled the inside of the tote with fasteners and pockets to hide trinkets and valuables that M might need during her travels. Around the top edge of the bag, I stitched a trim that was originally found at the hem of a pair of capri pants that I bought at a garage sale. After all that, I used my embroidery machine to personalize the tote. M seems to love this colorful bag and she smiles when others ask her where she bought it. She proudly replies, “My mom made it especially for me”!

Posted in Baked goods, Chicken, Food, Kids in the Kitchen, Main Dish

Crispy Corn Flake (Baked) Chicken Strips

Posted on by lmc

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When I was in college, my roommate invited me to her hometown to spend the weekend with her family. My roommate’s mother was a wonderful cook, she prepared all kinds of goodies for us to munch on during out weekend visit. On Sunday afternoon, just before heading back to our college dorm, J’s mom prepared these delicious chicken strips with oven baked fries and a fresh garden salad. I thought the chicken was absolutely delicious. The meat was super tender, while the crust was flavorful and crunchy.
Years later, after I had graduated and was ready to start a family of my own, I asked J’s mom for this recipe. Oh, it’s so easy to make these strips…the oven baking eliminates the greasy mess that fried chicken leaves behind. Yet, these delectable strips are crispy and delicious. Once you try them, this might be the only way you prepare chicken for your family.

Crispy Cornflake Chicken Strips

4-6 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 cups corn flake cereal, finely crushed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 15×11″ baking pan with non- stick cooking spray. In three separate mixing bowls, individually place the flour, butter, and corn flakes. Dip the chicken strips in the flour, then the butter, then the corn flake cereal. Place the coated chicken strips on a baking sheet.
Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with ketchup, BBQ sauce, or ranch dressing.