Gooey Almond and Coconut Chex Mix

When I saw this recipe on Six Sisters' Stuff I may have drooled all over my keyboard.  Since I had some girlfriends coming over for a little holiday gathering I figured it would make a great gift for share.  Um, they weren't kidding, this stuff IS super addicting!  Luckily I remembered to keep some for myself.  It was super easy to prepare and I was able to get 7 good sized containers out of this recipe.  (and even had enough to snack on in the process!)  If you're looking for something outside of the standard Chex mix treats we're used to, give this one a try.  It's FAB!!

Gooey Almond and Coconut Chex Mix

1 (14 oz-17 oz) box of Rice OR Corn Chex cereal
1 (7 oz) bag of sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cup +/- of almonds (about 1 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) margarine or butter
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/2 bag +/- of mini marshmallows
Christmas sprinkles (optional)
Dash of salt

Spray a LARGE (the biggest you can find!) bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the Chex cereal, coconut, and almonds. Gently mix together.

Mix together the sugar, butter, light corn syrup, and dash of salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a full boil, turn heat down to medium, and cook for three minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over the cereal mixture in the big bowl and stir evenly.  Gently mix in the mini marshmallows.  (If you add them before, they will melt too much.)


Spread cereal evenly on parchment, shake desired amount of sprinkles on top, and let cool.
Once it cools, you can package it up as you'd like.  I filled containers of holiday Gladware and tied a pretty bow on them to five to friends.  It was a HUGE hit!  Don't forget to keep some for yourself!  Enjoy!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Oh my YUM!  These Mexican style stuffed shells were DELISH!  A little odd in concept you may think, but oh so perfect in taste.  I've seen a few similar versions of this dish floating around Pinterest, but I'll credit the site that I first Pinned over a year ago from BlogChef.net.  I served these tasty stuffed shells on a bed of shredded cabbage, dressed very lightly with a bit of oil, vinegar, salt & pepper.  On the side I made some homemade Spanish rice & smashed black beans.  Also for topping I had sour cream and avocado.  I loved this meal and had leftovers for the next 2 days.  Even Mr. B who is typically anti leftovers was happy to have them for dinner a second night.

So, if you're in the mood for something a little different from the regular, but with very familiar flavors, give this one a try.  You won't be disappointed.  Enjoy!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Adapted from BlogChef.net

lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 package taco seasoning
1 8 once package cream cheese
12 +/- large pasta shells
1 lg can of red enchilada sauce*
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
small can of sliced black olives (optional)

Cook the pasta shells according to directions.  Once done, drain and toss well with butter.  Meanwhile...

While pasta is cooking, prepare ground turkey.  Add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  Remove from heat and add cream cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to cool.
Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with remaining enchilada sauce.

Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, uncover, and top with shredded cheese and black olives. Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, salsa, green onions or whatever you think goes good with tacos!



*In my opinion most canned enchilada sauce tastes like crap.  The only brand of canned sauce I've found that I like is Old El Paso.  If you don't want to use canned, you can of course make your own!

Ebates

Hi friends!  Have you been getting cash back for your online purchases?  If not, what the heck is wrong with you???  I just did some of my Christmas shopping and added some more money to my next check in the mail!

If you aren't familiar with Ebates, you should be.  You get cash back on almost EVERY online purchase.  This is stores you already shop at!  Macy's, Target, Nordstrom, Best Buy, you name it.  It's free, I've yet to find a single downfall for signing up since I've joined in July.  And I recently received my 2nd check in the mail!

Click here to sign up:

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=IFJSCXe11I%2FT8cU78QXInw%3D%3D

*Note: Ebates does not pay me to say this.  All opinions expressed are my own :)

Loaded Potato Soup

It's that time of year when I could eat soup for lunch every day & dinner every night!  I love a good bowl of hot soup!  Mr. B's favorite is a good potato soup.  I've been playing with a few recipes since I haven't mastered my mom's yet.  I saw this recipe by the Neely's on Food Network and decided to give it a try.  It was delish.  I completely pureed the soup to give it a nice silky consistency and then topped it with sour cream, crumbled bacon, chopped green onions, and hot sauce.  Everyone was looking for seconds!  Enjoy!

Loaded Potato Soup

Serves 4-6

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
1 (12-ounce) bottle light beer
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar (about 8 ounces)
Dash hot sauce
Dash Worcestershire
Sour cream, for topping
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp, for topping
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, for topping

Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and saute in butter until the vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and continue to stir for 2 minutes to toast the flour. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Gradually whisk in the stock, then the milk and the beer. Stir in the potatoes and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the potato is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return the soup to low heat. Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring until melted and smooth after each addition. Season the soup, to taste, with hot sauce, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.

Divide the soup among bowls and top with sour cream, crisp bacon and chopped chives.

French Dip Rollups

These little guys were SO easy to make and SUPER yummy!  You can customize them so many ways.  I wanted to go french dip style so I chose to do deli sliced roast beef and shredded cheddar.  I can think of so many different combinations that would be great too.  Pepperoni & mozzarella, turkey and Swiss, the possibilities are endless.

To make the french dip style here's what I did:

French Dip Rollups

1 can crescent rolls

sliced roast beef

shredded cheddar cheese

au jus

Roll out your crescent roll dough and lay triangles flat.  Top each triangle section with some of your meat and cheese.

Roll up and place on a baking sheet.  and place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.  While in the oven, heat or mix your au jus.  (Note: you are not seeing things, in the picture I thickened my au jus to make it more like brown gravy.  You can do what ever suits your mood.)  Enjoy!

DIY Napkin Rings

These adorable napkin rings were SO easy to make.  I needed to make 31 of them for a bridal shower, so they did end up taking a LONG time to complete, but I feel like the finished product was well worth the time.  They did not go unnoticed.  A few people even asked if they could take a set home.  Seeing as I have no need for 31 napkin rings I was more than happy to let them go, as long as I got to keep a set for myself!!! :)

You only need three things to make these little cuties:

1.) Rope/Jute

2.) Toilet paper or paper towel rolls

3.) A loaded hot glue gun and plenty of ammo

They ended up costing me about $5 which was the price of the rope/jute material.  I had been saving toilet paper rolls for a while with visions of a completely different, unrelated craft in mind.

Cut your cardboard rolls in to desired width rings.  (I made the first one pretty wide & while it looked fine, it took too much time.  I quickly realised that smaller rings ended up looking just as nice.)

Begin gluing & wrapping around your ring. 

Once you reach the end, just spiral it down to the next row.

And tada!  You've got hand made adorable napkin rings that end up costing pennies!  How adorable would these look on your Thanksgiving table!!

Don't Forget the Cranberry Sauce!

My favorite holiday recipes wouldn't do you much good this year if i waited until after T-day to post them right??  So here's another blast from my holiday past...
I've been making homemade cranberry sauce for our holiday meals for as long as I can remember.  I was given a traditional family recipe to make when I was around 10.  Over the years I've switched it up a little here and there.  In the past I would add fresh raspberries (which I still think is great) but last year I tried adding some fresh chopped pear.  The fresh pears complement the cranberries so well!  I absolutly enjoyed the different texture.  I was so pleased that I will be doing it again this year.

If you've never had homemade cranberry sauce you should give it a try.  It doesn't take long to make and it is so much better than the stuff from the can! You can even make it a few days in advance.  (Dontcha just love make in advance recipes!)  Give it a try, you're family will be so impressed by your fancy skills!  Enjoy!

Pear Honey Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup +/- water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 pears, peeled, cored and diced
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In a medium saucepan, add together OJ, sugar, pears, cranberries and enough water to just come to the top of the fruit. Cook over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes, add honey and cinnamon. Continue to cook until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens slightly, about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.