Homemade BBQ Sauce

Last night we made "beer butt chicken."

It's one of my favorite ways to make chicken.

It always turns out perfect, moist chicken on the inside and that perfect crunch to the skin on the outside!

We made two, since it was Sunday, I knew I could do something with it for dinner tonight.  

I decided to go the easy route and throw it in the crock pot with some BBQ Sauce, and have sandwiches.

Turns out, my BBQ sauce was almost gone.

When in doubt, make you're own I say!

So, I whipped some up, and have extra for another meal another time.

Can't say the same about that chicken in the crock pot, if my kids don't quit sneaking bites, we might be having grilled cheese!

But on a good note, they said they can't leave it alone because the sauce is "SO GOOD MOM!"

Homemade BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 cups ketchup

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon Siracha (optional)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

Add all ingredients to a saucepan and stir until combined.

Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator.

Egg Hunt Snack Cakes

Our parish has a fish fry every Friday during Lent.

They are not only a lot of fun, they generate a good source of income for our church via the Men's Club who does all of the "heavy lifting."

Now, I do my part and stand in line with  a beer and consume yummy fried fish, coleslaw and french fries, shell out money for the kids to get heir faces painted and for raffle tickets, but aside from that my "job" is pretty easy.

The church asks that families donate desserts.

There is one week, based on the first letter of your last name, that you are asked to do so.

I don't abide by that, and usually bring a couple of different things every week.

(I sometimes lose my inhibitions for dessert after consuming keg beer in line for an hour+, and I, for one, wouldn't want dessert lovers to go without a choice.)

So, I whipped up a batch of chocolate mint brownies, and the kids helped me with these little cakes.

If you have never visited partypinching.com you are seriously missing out.

She does the MOST ADORABLE things for parties, and just for plain fun.

My 11 year old daughter LOVES the sight, too, and if forever saying "we should make this!"

Best part is, your kids will have fun helping you do it.

So when I saw these on her page, I fell in love.

My kids love when I have those Little Debbie cakes around anyway... and I thought, how fun they would be to make for the fish fry!

Link to PARTY PINCHING EASTER BASKET SNACK CAKES

I literally didn't do anything!

My 11 year old twins made these.  Our only problem was we couldn't find the Sour Punch candy, and bought licorice (the colored flavored kind) and it was too limp, it kept falling over.

So, my son unwrapped the packages of snack cakes while my daughter squirted on green frosting from the can, then he added the jelly beans.

I plated them on an aluminum pan and off the to the fish fry they went!

Follow the link to Party Pinching's original idea, to make the cute baskets.

Egg Hunt Snack Cakes

Little Debbie Easter Basket Snack Cakes

Jelly Beans 

Can of "squirtable" green frosting

Squirt on green frosting and top with jelly beans.

done.

easy peasy!

easy "dump" Salsa

It seems like every time I buy cilantro for a recipe, some of it goes to waste.

I love cilantro, but a little bit goes a long way.

I used to wish the bunches came half their size ... that was until I told my friend, Betsy that, and she said, "just make salsa!"

Well, I LOVE to make Homemade Pico de Gallo in the summer when all of the veggies are fresh from my garden, but this particular day it was blustery and cold.

She raved about the Pioneer Woman's Salsa made in a food processor, and reminded me that I had even had it at her house one time.

Best part, I have all of the ingredients on hand.

So, because my most popular recipes seem to be the easiest ones, I knew I had to pass on this one!

"Dump" Salsa

inspired from: The Pioneer Woman

2 -14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes

2 - 10 ounce cans Rotel

1/2 of a large onion, sliced

1 clove minced garlic, or 1 teaspoon garlic puree

1 whole jalapeno, sliced

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2-3/4 cup cilantro, packed into measuring cup, no need to chop

juice of 1 small lime

This makes quite a bit, instead of using my food processor, I used my blender.

Simply dump everything into your large food processor, or blender.

Don't blend it though, use the pulse setting and whir it a few times until bigger ingredients are incorporated.

and Ta-Da!

Grab your chips, because you have SALSA!!

Keep covered in the refrigerator, tastes even better the second day!

Lemon Brownies

My sister lives in southern California.

We try to get the kiddos out to visit once a year, and had the pleasure of doing so last month.

She and her husband have an AMAZING backyard.  It's so tastefully done, and yet it's overwhelming what they have!! Gorgeous flowers, succulents and PALM TREES (swoon!)

Top that off with a beautiful paved patio and fire pit that begs to be seated around, laughing and sipping your drink of choice.

This last year, I literally squealed when I walked out and saw all of the LEMONS!

I hadn't remembered them being there last year, and her trees were FULL of them!!

I said to her ...

"Do you know all of the things I could MAKE with these?"

I rattled off a few ideas, and turned lime green with jealousy; all I had in my backyard was snow.

My Mom was also out in California, thawing out, and on her way back she visited her cousin who lives just north of where I had been oogaling Teresa's lemons.

They have not only lemons and lime trees, but avocado trees, too! She brought me home about 60 of them!

The MOTHER load!!

In addition to that I got a bowl full of lemons and a few limes.

I was so GRATEFUL!  I know that Teresa would have shared with me, but I wasn't going to try and take anything else on the plane... When we all travel together, we are quite a sight to behold in the airport anyway!! 

It's like a PACK.

I made quite a few things with these beauties, but hands down, these were my FAVORITE.

I had seen these posted on facebook from another blogger, My Prairie Window.

Instantly, I knew what I would be doing with a couple of those luscious lemons!

I'd be baking up some of these lemon brownies, and I couldn't be happier that I did!

Flaky brownie, covered in a zesty tart lemon glaze ... heaven in a little bitty bar.

Lemon Brownies

from My Prairie Window

For the Brownies:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons lemon zest

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

(recipe will take the zest of 3 medium sized lemons and the juice of 1 1/2 of them)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter.

Zest and juice lemons and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together eggs, zest and juice, set aside.

In your mixer, cream butter with sugar, flour and salt.  Add the egg mixture.

Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes and spread into prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Do not over bake, or bars will be dry.

Cool.

For the Glaze:

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

8 teaspoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whisk together and spread on bars.  Place in the refrigerator to set.

Cut to serve.  Store in the refrigerator.

Shared at Wonderfully Creative Wednesday at Nibbles by Nic
Linked at Wined Down Wednesday at Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Linked at Hearth and Soul Hop at The 21st Century Housewife
Shared at the Weekend Social thrown by Kitchen Dreaming and The McCallum's Shamrock Patch

Oriental Pork Soup

I have been doing the Spring Purge around here, even though Mother Nature seems to have missed the memo that Spring officially started last week!

I have a cupboard that I keep all of my cookbooks in.

I have TONS of the little magazine ones from ages ago, that I always feel I can't part with, but now with the internet and Pinterest, I never seem to dig out and dust off.

So, I told myself I had to weed through them and pull the recipes that I wanted to make someday out, and file them, and throw the magazines away.

I found one with coupons in it that expired in December of 1992.

(gasp!)

So, my cupboard took a breather, as did the one next to it, that took over part of the now empty one, and I found this recipe in a very old version of a Betty Crocker's Busy Day Crock Pot Meals Cookbook. I made it almost exactly how it was written but changed the ground pork to sliced, and the ginger root to ginger paste, because that was what I keep on hand.

Oriental Pork Soup

adapted from Betty Crocker

2 pork chops, sliced thinly

1 cup julienne strips of carrots, I used shredded carrots in a bag

1 clove minced garlic, or 1 teaspoon garlic puree

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1/4 cup soy sauce, I used reduced sodium

32 ounces chicken broth

2 cups water

1/8 -1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 medium green onions, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cup bean sprouts

Cook meat over medium heat in a small amount of oil for about 10 minutes, or until evenly browned.

Drain any excess fat.

Add all ingredients EXCEPT mushrooms and bean sprouts, to your crock pot.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

Stir in mushrooms and bean sprouts, cover and cook on low for one hour more.

Makes six servings.

**I browned my meat the night before and put all of it in the crock pot the next morning! **

DIY Pedicure at Home - Listerine Foot Soak - Callus Remover

Seriously?

Who thinks of this stuff?

I mean who sits around thinking "I wonder what would happen if I put banana on my face? 

Would it work like botox?"   

i.e.: Banana Botox Mask

Or "what if I soak my feet in Listerine? -- will they not only be minty fresh, but callus free?"

I'm not sure who thinks of it, but I am here to tell you that when it works?

AWESOME!!

I am the queen of going barefoot.

I go from Ugg boots to barefoot, and vice versa.

If I'm not in my running shoes, that's me.

I am not going to gross you about with foot talk, though, because honestly, feet totally gross me out.

I mean, even my kids'.

Once they get past that cute little kissable baby foot, and start running around and getting sticky, they can kinda just keep them to themselves.

It took me a whole lot of years to even go get a pedicure somewhere, because the thought of someone wanting to TOUCH my feet? gross.

Now, I got over that, and I do love to get pedicures, but I'm not crazy about the expense.

I reserve it for a treat a couple of times a year.

So, in between, I do my own, because I HATE to not have my toenails polished.

When I ran across countless posts of foot scrubs, I thought I would give this one a whirl over the winter.

And by golly, it works!

(you'll have to trust me on this though, and try it for yourself, because I am so not putting a photo of my feet on the world wide web. again, gross.)

Listerine Foot Soak (Callus Remover)

1/2 cup Listerine (I used blue but any will work)

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup warm water

Combine ingredients in a shallow pan or basin. Soak your feet for 15 minutes.

With a brush or pumice rub the dead skin right off. I usually just hop in the shower for this part.

The blue Listerine will turn your feet blue, but it comes right off in the shower while you're removing skin.

Apply lotion.

Voila!

It REALLY works great.

Banana Botox

Brownie Bites with Rolos

I am so excited to post my first recipe as a new member of The Secret Recipe Club!

They made my time as a "first timer" an easy one when they gave me a fabulous blog called

Deb's page is one tummy rumbling, lip licking recipe after another.

I have to say, it was hard to choose!

I already have plans to make her Irish Cream Flavored Popcorn as well as Lemon Supreme Desserts,

but of course when it came right down to it, Chocolate was the direction I went in!!

We are BIG fans of brownies around here, and when I saw these with Rolos? I said Oh Yeah!

I'll let you in on a little secret.  I had been wanting one of these pans, and this was the PERFECT reason to treat myself! 

mmmm... the inside

Brownie Bites with Rolos

Cooking on the Front Burner

Brownies:

1 box brownie mix

package of Rolos, I used mini baking ones

Frosting:

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons warm water

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla

Caramel Sauce for drizzling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare brownie pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray.

Prepare brownie mix according to box instructions.

Fill sections about 2/3 of the way full, and place a Rolo in the center.

Mine made about 18, so I baked these and then when they cooled made another batch. (yay for me!)

Bake for about 25 minutes or until done.  If you use the toothpick inserted in the center trick, avoid that gooey Rolo! ;)

Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then on a rack the rest of the way.

Make your frosting, and dip the tops of the brownies into the frosting, and place on a rack or waxed paper to set.

Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Enjoy!

I didn't have any caramel, so I made my own Salted Caramel Sauce and it was perfect on them!

An InLinkz Link-up

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

I like to think of this recipe as a bonus.

I am going to share a super yummy recipe with you first thing in the morning, You'll have to wait and see what it is, but it needed to be topped with caramel sauce.

Guess what?

Didn't have any.

I seriously am at the grocery 6 days a week it seems, and I wasn't going!

So, I did a google search to look up recipes for caramel sauce.

Looked at a couple then happened upon this one from Sally's Baking Addition -- I love her website, and knew this was the one I wanted to try.

Even better, it was for salted caramel.

Love that sweet and salty combo...and knew this would be perfect!

And it WAS!!

I said it was a bonus?

Well, I hadn't planned on sharing a recipe today, but when I posted the ooey gooey picture on my facebook page and a bunch of people wanted to lick their screen... so I had an unexpected recipe share.

bonus.

 I can add the link to this recipe on the one I am posting tomorrow?

bonus.

I can stir a little of this into a coffee? Bonus.

Top some ice cream with it? Bonus.

Dip apples in it? Bonus.

Share it with you? B-O-N-U-S!!

Here it is!!

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

sally's baking addiction

1 cup sugar

6 Tablespoons Butter, cut in 6 slices

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Teaspoon sea salt

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar, stirring constantly. Sugar will begin to clump, keep stirring.

Sugar will begin to melt and turn a pretty amber color.

Add the butter, and keep stirring until it's melted and incorporated.

Slowly drizzle the cream into the mixture.  Because of the difference in the temperature of the cream and butter/sugar mixture it will bubble and pop.  Allow to boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in sea salt.

Cool before using in recipes.

Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

(if it could seriously last that long!)

Lick your sticky fingers. Bonus!

Pat yourself on the back for staying home from the store!

Enjoy!

Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

My kids go to a Catholic school close to where we live.

When it comes to teachers, I can tell you that we have hit the jack pot.

They work hard, and truly care about our kiddos.

That's apparent when your kids are constantly telling you something about what one of them did that was "so nice" or "SO funny!"

Most of the teachers that my kids have had know that I have this blog, some that love to cook follow it.

I try to incorporate something homemade into my gifts throughout the year, and I hope they like it as much as they seem to.

Last week was Teachers Appreciation week at school, and as a room mom, we help out by watching over their classes while they attend their special staff luncheon. 

I am on a food committee at church and at school, and always sign up for baked goods etc when needed.

I had made my Chocolate Mint Candy Cookies for their luncheon.

The theme of the week was Candy Land, the school was decorated SO DARN CUTE! So, I thought these cookies would go with the theme.

When I was leaving after lunch, one of the teachers told me they asked the moms serving lunch which of the baked goods I had made because that was what she was eating.

That, to me, was one of the biggest compliments I have ever received.

It has continued to make my heart smile every time I think of it.

Ironically, they were going to have some more baked goods of mine the next day, and they didn't even know it.  The school librarian had contacted me about making cupcakes for the computer teacher's birthday.  They were having a staff meeting, and she wanted to surprise her with cupcakes for her birthday the following week.  So, she ordered 60 cupcakes for yesterday.

She wanted Chocolate Cupcakes with Butter Cream.

I mentioned my Lemonade Cake with Blueberry Filling and said we could switch up the filling if she wanted, and she thought raspberry was a good option, that was how these little beauties were born.

Then she let me decide on the third one.

I had been wanting to try a recipe for this Strawberry Cream Cake for a while and so I made these Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes.

All of them were a hit! I have been showered with compliments and love from many of the staff.

Thank you for letting me be a part of the party!

Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

Filling (make 24 hours before the cake)

1 - 12 ounce package frozen raspberries

1/2 cup water

zest and juice of 1 lemon (about 2 T of each)

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tablespoons of water 

In a saucepan bring water and raspberries to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the seeds out, and return sauce to saucepan, add sugar, lemon juice and zest and simmer for another 5 minutes or so.  Add cornstarch/water mixture and simmer and stir until it thickens.  About 5 minutes more. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours to set.

Cake:

1 - 15.25 ounce box white cake mix

3/4 cup frozen concentrate lemonade

1/2 cup water

4 egg whites

1/3 cup vegetable oil

a couple drops of yellow food coloring, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake pan with liners.

Stir ingredients together until incorporated and then beat for 2 minutes.  Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool.

Frosting:

6 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks salted butter

3-4 Tablespoons of Lemonade concentrate.

yellow food coloring 

Fresh Raspberries

Beat butter until creamy.  Add half of the powdered sugar and mix in, add the rest and the lemonade, mix until incorporated and beat until fluffy.  Add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring until desired color is achieved.

With a knife make a small hole in the middle of the cupcake, and save those little pieces to munch on later. ;)

Fill that hole with raspberry filling.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and top off with a fresh raspberry.

Store in the fridge.

or box them up and deliver them to some Top Notch Teaching Staff!

Makes about 20 cupcakes.

Recipes for the other two cupcakes coming soon!

Egg & Hash Brown Breakfast Pie

It varies whether we go to church on Saturday nights, or Sunday mornings in our house.

If we go on Sundays we always go to brunch afterward, but if we go on Saturdays, that means we have brunch at home, in our PJs,  because we slept in!

It varies what we make, sometimes it's just eggs and bacon, other times, I try something new.

This was one of those weekends.

My kids LOVE hash browns,

pair them with bacon and I have hit a home run!

I wanted to make some sort of a breakfast casserole, but so many of them I have made that are tried and true, are make ahead.

Well it was 10 AM and we wanted to eat it sooner than later, so  I experimented.

This is what came of it.  A pie with a hash brown crust, filled with bacon, eggs, bread crumbs, onion and Swiss cheese.

Egg & Hash Brown Breakfast Pie

4 cups hash brown potatoes, defrosted

1/2 cup green onion, sliced

2 Tablespoons butter

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 cups Italian or French bread, cubed without crust

1 1/4 cup cream (substitute milk if need be)

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4- 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" deep dish pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.

Cook and crumble bacon into fairly large pieces.

Melt butter in a skillet over high heat.  Add hash browns and onions and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Press into bottom and sides of pie pan.

Place bread crumbs in next and top with bacon.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, cream salt, pepper and Dijon mustard.

Pour over breadcrumbs and bacon.

Top with Cheese.

The next time I make this I am going to mix the cheese into the egg mixture.  

I felt it got a litter browner than I wanted, but still tasted fantastic!

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top and egg is set.

Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Shared at: Kitchen Dreaming: Weekend Social

Shrimp Pad Thai Wonder Pot

A couple of weeks ago I tried a dish that I had been wanting to for some time now called 

The Italian Wonder Pot.

Ever see the commercials for V8?

The ones where they smack themselves in the head?

That's how I felt after I had made this so simple, so delicious meal for the first time!

WHY?!?!?

Why, had I waited SO LONG?!?!

Well, it only got me to thinking more and more about how to switch it up, how to make other versions.  

I looked on Pinterest, and on google to see what I could see and both of them made me thinking 

THAI!

I found this original recipe for One Pot Wonder Thai Peanut Pasta at apronstringsblog.com

Then after I looked a bit, I found another blogger, Hungry Hannah, that switched up this same recipe and made it her own, she called it Easy One-Pot Pad Thai.  I pretty much looked at both of them, and used a little of each.

You don't need to add meat to this at all, but I love shrimp in my pad Thai, so I went that route.
You could also add chicken if you wanted, or just leave it the way it is!

Shrimp Pad Thai Wonder Pot

12 ounces linguine pasta

32 ounces of chicken stock (or vegetable)

1 medium sized onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup water

1 red bell pepper, sliced (about 1- 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 cups matchstick carrots (I bought a bag of already shredded carrots, worked great!)

1 Tablespoon ginger paste, or the same fresh grated

tops of 3 green onions (shallots), divided

1 1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts, slightly chopped, divided

1 pound shrimp, cleaned, optional

1 cup cilantro, slightly chopped, divided

1/2- 1 cup bean sprouts

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if your prefer it spicier) 

1 1/2 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste

2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice

Fresh lime, sliced for serving

In a large pot, pour water and chicken stock.

To this add the following: pasta, onion, garlic, bell pepper,  carrots,  3/4 of both shallots and cilantro, (reserve some for serving) 1 cup of peanuts, (reserve rest for serving) soy sauce, peanut butter, red pepper flakes, honey, sesame oil, curry paste and lime juice.

Place lid on pot and turn on high.  Let it come to a boil, give it a stir, and reduce to a simmer.

Cover and cook for about 6 minutes.

(stir every couple minutes, so nothing sticks.)

Dump in shrimp and bean sprouts, stir and cover, let it cook for about 6 minutes more, until shrimp are steamed, and pasta is cooked.

There will be a small amount of sauce in the bottom.

Serve topped with remaining shallots, cilantro and peanuts, with a lime slice to squeeze if desired.

If you are adding chicken, you would most likely want to add it at the beginning to make sure it's cooked properly.  I have not tried it with chicken, but if I do, I will amend this recipe.

Enjoy!


Shared at Marvelous Monday Link Up at Cooking on the Front Burner