Simply Crackers Candy

Whew!  It has been a while since I posted.  For that, I must apologize.  School let out a month ago and for my own sanity I had to take a break from everything.  And I do mean everything.  I kept cooking (like that would stop!) but I chose to not post to give myself a break to recoup and relax and it was very much needed!

But, I am back and I have quite a few posts on back log right now from my culinary adventures in the kitchen since I’ve been gone.  I’m starting out with a really simple recipe I found the other day in one of the mystery novels I read (one of those that includes recipes in the back) and decided to try it.  And it was well worth it to make.  You need only 4 ingredients and requires very little cooking.  If you can follow directions and not burn yourself, this is definitely the recipe for you!

Simply Crackers Candy

What you need:

• 1 sleeve saltines (about 35 is what you’ll use.  I also used the unsalted tops since that was what I had on hand)
• 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter (I used unsalted)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 11.5 oz pack of milk chocolate chips (or any chip of your choosing)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking pan (one with sides) with nonstick foil and layer saltines on it.

2.  Boil the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until frothy.  You will definitely notice a change in texture, so pay attention!  At this point you run the risk of this starting to burn.

3.  Pour over the crackers.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Mixture will be quite bubbly.

4.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with chips (all of them).  Let set for 5 minutes.  Spread chocolate with a spatula.

5. Refrigerate at least 1 hour; break into pieces.  Refrigerate leftovers.

As I said, super easy to make and quite yummy to make!  Just be careful, this will disappear quickly because it’s so good!

Peanut Butter Cookies: As Easy as 1-2-3!

Every so often I get in a baking mood and I feel like I absolutely have to bake something or my day will go horribly.  Today was one of those days.  I had a sudden and overwhelming urge to bake something.  But the question was:  what should I bake?

I scoured the internet trying to find something that was fairly simple and that included ingredients I already had so that I wouldn’t be forced to go buy something special.  I originally wanted to make a pound cake or something like it because I absolutely love pound cake (especially my grandmother’s) but I didn’t have a few of the ingredients in my kitchen.  So bake to the drawing board.

Then I started to think about peanut butter cookies and how good they are because they’re so moist and (most of the time) melt in your mouth.  So, I set out to find an easy peanut butter cookie recipe that I could make relatively quickly and satiate my baking craving.  And I hit pay dirt with this recipe.  There were several variations floating around on the internet, but I picked the one I found here on Recipe4Living.  This recipe is so easy to make that you could probably do it in your sleep (though I wouldn’t advise it).

Want to know the secret to why it’s so easy?  It has only 3 ingredients.  That’s right folks, only 3 ingredients and you probably have them all in your kitchen!  So, here it is, a super easy peanut butter cookie recipe.

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

What you need:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all the ingredients together.

2.  Roll the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet.  Gently flatten with your fingers or a fork.

3.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

4.  Let cookies cool for a few minutes and place on cooling rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Chicken Ranch Tacos

Today’s cooking was quite the hit.  I found this recipe on Pinterest a while back and finally decided to make it today in honor of summer officially starting.  The recipe itself can be found here, but is for making it in the skillet.  I read the comments and a lot of people discussed making it in a crock-pot and I decided to try it that way and it was a huge hit!  My boyfriend said he would eat just the chicken without the tortilla it was so good and I had plenty left over for lunch later this week!

Believe me when I say this is a super easy recipe to make and one that you will be coming back to again and again to make.

Chicken Ranch Tacos

What you need:

• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 packet ranch dressing mix
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1.  Place all ingredients in a crock-pot and cook on low for 3 hours.

2.  Remove chicken from crock-pot and shred.  Place back in crock-pot and cook an additional 30 minutes.

3.  Put in a tortilla or enjoy as is with some other sides.

Enjoy!

Trials in Cooking with Spaghetti Squash

I’ve never had a lot of spaghetti squash in my short life.  I had it for the first time last year and, while the dish I had it in was ok, it wasn’t anything to write home about and because of that, I haven’t made any since.

That changed tonight.  I bought a spaghetti squash the last time I went shopping and haven’t had a chance to make it yet.  I had been thinking about it sitting in my fridge and decided that tonight I would try it again and made it for dinner.  Now, my boyfriend hadn’t had it before, so it was an experience for him as well.

I can say, thankfully, after tonight’s meal that I feel much better towards spaghetti squash and I look forward to experimenting with this a bit more this upcoming summer as I can get it fairly cheap right now.

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

What you need:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• About 1/2 cup of pasta sauce of choice
• Olive oil
• Mozarella cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Place whole squash on a baking pan and roast in oven for 60 minutes or until it is relatively easy to cut into the squash with a knife.

2.  Once squash is finished, carefully cut the squash in half and remove seed and pulp.

3.  Using a fork, shred the inside of each half, creating your “spaghetti.”  Set aside.

4.  In a skillet, place olive oil and coat the bottom of the skillet.  Turn heat to medium-low.

5.  Add squash and sautee until to desired crispness.

6.  Add sauce and stir together.  Heat through.

Top with the cheese and enjoy!

No Bake Nutella-Peanut Butter cookies

Who doesn’t love Nutella? Those that have had it at least.  My boyfriend, I discovered recently, had never had it and I put it on a biscuit one day, so I let him try it.  He wasn’t too hot on it, but a biscuit is not the best way to showcase the wonderfulness that is Nutella in my opinion.

Since then, I’ve been trying to decide on or find something that I could use Nutella with.  Well, tonight I found my recipe while browsing the internet.  I found it here on a blog called Evidently.  These are super easy to make and quite yummy to boot.  I can definitely say these will be making another appearance at some point.

As a note before starting, I would suggest measuring all ingredients before starting the recipe as working with any type of “butter” can be somewhat difficult as it doesn’t like to cooperate at all times.  I did this and then lined up the ingredients in the order they were to be used and it definitely helped me as I went along.

My lined up ingredients to expedite the process.

No Bake Nutella-Peanut Butter Cookies

What you need:

• 3 Tbsp butter (I used unsalted)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/4 c peanut butter (I used smooth, though I’m sure crunchy would be a nice addition also)
• 3/4 c Nutella
• 2 1/2 c oats (original calls for rolled oats, though I used old fashioned with no problem)
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder (I omitted this with absolutely no problem)

1.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2.  Over low heat, melt the butter.

3.  Once melted, add the sugar.  Stir together.

4.  Add in the milk and the butters, stirring until smooth.

5.  Continue to heat until slightly bubbly.  This will be about a minute or so.

6.  Remove from heat and stir in oats.

7.  Quickly drop by the spoonfuls onto the baking sheets and let cool to harden.  You can also place in the fridge or the freezer to help aid in the cooling and hardening of the cookies.

Store these in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Who doesn’t enjoy banana bread, whether it’s just plain banana bread with nothing extra or with nuts?  I remember getting banana bread as a special treat when I was younger and that has always made it special for me, even when it wasn’t a “special” occasion.  I haven’t had it much in recent years until very recently since my boyfriend has a very (unnatural to me) large love for banana bread.  This is the recipe that his mother used (which is a very standard recipe).  He asked for this because he hadn’t had it in so long and (being the nice girlfriend I am) I bake it for him occasionally.  This is a super easy and fairly quick thing to make as the baking is what takes the longest.

A note before giving you the recipe is that I used frozen bananas for this recipe instead of very ripe bananas like I usually do.  As far as I can tell, there isn’t any difference in the taste, which is good in case you can’t use those ripe bananas as they ripen and you can save them for later.

Banana Bread

What you need:

• 2 1/2 cups of self-rising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• 3/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed bananas (2-3)
• 1Tbsp cinnamon (optional)-I added this for the first time today since the bf wanted to try it with this and it seems to add a little something extra to it.

1.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan (9×5).

2.  Put all ingredients in a large bowl.  Beat on medium speed, scraping the sides constantly.

3.  Pour into pan.  Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool and remove from pan.  Let it cool completely before slicing (the bread will crumble if warm when sliced).

Enjoy!

“To Die For Blueberry Muffins” Remix

Who doesn’t love a warm, gooey blueberry muffin?  I think it’s safe to say that most people enjoy them for breakfast, as a snack or with their coffee.  I myself am one of those people.  I actually made blueberry muffins last week (from a box *gasp* as I had no fresh blueberries on hand) and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

This past week when I went grocery shopping, I saw that the price had finally dropped since they’re now in season and picked up a pint of them, planning on either freezing them or using them to make something.  I find that I can’t really eat blueberries plain because they’re usually just this side of tart and are too tart for my little tastebuds to handle by themselves.

So, I decided I wanted to use them to make something.  But the question was: what to make?  I didn’t really want to make another batch of blueberry muffins because I recipe that I have isn’t sweet enough and I haven’t quite worked out the “kinks” in it for me to be happy enough to write a post about it.  And all the recipes I found online or in cookbooks that I have required things that I didn’t have and wasn’t going to go buy just to make something.

Finally, I found a recipe (from AllRecipes) that used things that I had on hand (mostly) and based on the reviews, decided that I would use this recipe to satisfy myself, but to do a little twist with it (here comes the remix part!).  Instead of making muffins, I decided to do a skillet cake instead.  I’ve seen a lot of people trying skillet cakes and they always sound so delicious that I’ve been itching to try to make one.  Well, today was my day and I’ve given you the recipe to make one delish “To Die For Blueberry” Skillet Cake.

“To Die For” Blueberry skillet cake

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cups of milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Grease your skillet and sprinkle with flour.  *I sprinkle with flour to help ensure that it won’t stick when finished.*

2.  Combine the flour and sugar together in a large bowl.  Place the oil in a 1-cup measuring cup.  Add the egg and fill up with milk till you fill it up to the 1 cup line.  Add to the flour/sugar mixture.  This will form a thick batter (much thicker than I was anticipating).

3.  Lightly toss the blueberries in flour.  *This is so the blueberries don’t sink in the batter while baking.*  Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.  Pour into your prepared skillet.

4.  Add the crumb topping (how to make is listed below).

5.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until done. *I baked mine for 20 minutes, then stuck it back in for about 2 extra minutes as I wasn’t very comfortable with my toothpick when I pulled it out.*

Enjoy!

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For crumb topping:

• 1/2 white sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.  In a bowl, combine the four ingredients with a fork until crumbly.  Put on top of the batter before baking.

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

Who doesn’t love Mexican themed dinners and tortilla chips to go with it?  I think I could honestly eat my weight in chips (and salsa!) if it came down to it.  Tonight was our “Mexican” themed night and what I was making (chicken enchilada skillet (post to follow)), we needed tortilla chips for, which we didn’t have.

So, I hopped online to see what was out there in the way of homemade tortilla chips.  I came across whatscookingamerica.net and decided to try the recipe out tonight on the flour tortillas we tend to have lying around.  Let me just tell you that they are quite yummy and worth the work it takes to get them (which is very little).

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

What you need:

• 8 Tortillas (I used flour)
• Cooking spray

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Take you tortillas and spray both sides with the cooking spray, placing on a cutting board.  Do for all tortillas and layer them on top of each other.

3.  Take a knife and cut the stack into quarters (you should have 32 chips total).

4.  Place in a single layer on baking sheets.  Bake for 6-7 minutes, paying close attention to them after the 5 min mark to make sure they don’t burn.  When the edges are curling up and turning a golden brown, you’re ready to go!

As I said before, they are so yummy and worth making next time you want tortilla chips.  Not to mention, they’re cheaper than buying a bag.

Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Just reading the title of this makes me drool.  Who doesn’t love funfetti cake or have fond memories of it?

A few weeks ago I did a post on funfetti cupcakes that I made for my boyfriend and said that the next time I made a funfetti anything I would be doing it from scratch.  Well, that time has arrived.  I teach high school English and one of the classes I teach is AP.  Last Thursday (the 10th) they had their test.  Because of this I decided we should have a little celebration on their test being done in class one day.  After discussing it with them, a funfetti cake was voted on by them.  So here we are!

I found this recipe for the cake from the Kitchn and the frosting was linked from that site to where she originally got it, i am baker (you’ll need to scroll to the very bottom to get the recipe.  I missed it the first time I scrolled through.).

Homemade Funfetti Cake

What you need:

• 4 egg whites from large eggs
• 1 cup milk, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, very soft
• 8 Tbsp non-hydrogenated shortening
• 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles

1.  Heat your oven to 350.  Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans.

2.  In a small bowl mix the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla and almond extract.  set aside.

3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer (I don’t have one of those, so I used a very large bowl and a hand mixer), mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Mix for 30 seconds or until well-combined.

4.  Add the butter and shortening and mix for another 30 seconds or until it’s well-combined.

5.  Pour in the remaining 3/4 cup milk and continue mixing on medium speed for about 3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

6.  Gradually pour in the egg white mixture, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition.  Mix for one more minute.

7.  Gently fold in the multi-colored sprinkles.

8.  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.

9.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

10.  Remove from the oven and place the pans on baking racks to cool for about 10 minutes.  Turn the pans over onto the rack.  Flip the cake layers over and let them cool completely before icing.

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Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

What you need:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract (optional)

1.  Place the butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add four cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla (and almond).

2.  On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.  Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.  (You might not need all the sugar).

You can store it in an airtight container for 3 days, but don’t store it in the fridge!  Store it at room temperature.

To ice the cake, I used a cake leveler to make the layers level, did a crumb coat and stuck it in the fridge for a little while so that what I had already put on wouldn’t slide off when I put more icing on.

Doesn’t that cake look/sound yummy?

Anyone have any homemade cakes that they love to make?

Super Easy Cheese Quesadillas

I love finding really easy things to make that take absolutely no time at all to make.  Especially when I have a craving for it.  For whatever reason (probably because I started a Couch to 5K workout today) I am craving quesadillas.  However, I’ve never made them, only had them made for me.

So, I piddled around the internet a bit, looking at different methods and ways with different ingredients and times until I figured out how I want to do it.  I’m basing this particular recipe off one I got from AllRecipes as it has the same ingredients, but mine is just a plain cheese quesadilla and doesn’t have any extra stuff.  Although, I strongly encourage adding other things to this as well.

Cheese Quesadillas

What you need:

• 4 large flour tortillas
• mild or sharp cheddar (prob around 2/3 a cup, but it really depends on how much cheese you want)
• cooking spray

1.  Preheat your oven to 350.

2.  Spray one side of your first tortilla with cooking spray and place that side down on your baking sheet.  Repeat for another tortilla.

3.  Layer your cheese in the middle.

4.  Place your other 2 tortillas on top of the cheese (so you have a sandwich) and spray the side on the top.

5.  Bake for about 15 min or so (depending on your oven) and you’re ready to go!

*Note:  if you don’t use the cooking spray, you’ll want to flip your quesadillas about halfway through to make sure they crisp correctly or it could be a chewy mess.*