Christmas Candy - Reindeer Chow

This is chocolate covered Crispix cereal and is super easy to make. My children call it puppy chow, but at Christmas time it was suggested we call it reindeer chow instead!

Ingredients:

box of Crispix cereal
small bag of chocolate chips (I forget the ounces, but it's smaller than the 24 oz bag, maybe 16?)
1/2 cup peanut butter
powdered sugar

The original recipe I had said to use "half a bag of choc chips" and "half the box of Crispix", but we doubled it because it was easier to use the whole bag or box, and that meant we made more each time! In doing this, however, it is important to add the Crispix to the chocolate/peanut butter mixture in stages and stir each portion well so that all the Crispix pieces are covered with chocolate. If you just dump the whole box in it will be very hard to mix up.

First, melt the choc chips in the microwave for one minute. Stir them up and melt for one minute more. Stir them up again.


Add 1/2 cup peanut butter, stir again, and then start adding your Crispix.



Put portions in a large ziploc, dump in some powdered sugar, and shake to coat. You should do this step in stages too, to make sure that all the chocolate covered Crispix is coated with powdered sugar.


Voila! Reindeer chow! It is *so* good and fun to munch on!

Christmas Candy - Orange Balls

These are delicious, orange flavored morsels of goodness! And very easy to make.

Ingredients:

one box vanilla wafers
one stick butter
one 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
powdered sugar
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans



Put the vanilla wafers in a large ziploc and start beating them into small pieces with your rolling pin or some other heavy wooden object. This is really fun!


Dump the wafers into a large bowl and add the butter, orange juice, pecans, and about 2-3 cups of powdered sugar. It should be moist but not so moist it is sticking to your fingers. It needs to be able to stick together in ball shapes, so if it's too moist add more powdered sugar.


Shape into balls the size of large marbles, and roll in more powdered sugar.


Voila! Orange balls!

Thanksgiving Recipes

What is your menu for Thanksgiving dinner? Besides turkey and mashed potatoes, here are a few of our favorites:

Cranberry Relish

This is super easy, tastes like an amazing combination of sweet and tart, and we love to make it for my father in law who loves cranberries. I learned of this recipe two years ago and it has become a regular part of our Thanksgiving dinner.

1 bag cranberries
1 cup sugar (this year I'm using sucanat instead of white sugar)
1 orange or tangerine (do not peel)
1 cored apple

Blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor and chill.



Walnut Broccoli

This is called walnut broccoli because of the small amount of walnuts included in the topping. Their taste is barely discernible, but if you don't care for walnuts, or someone you love is allergic to them, you can just as easily leave them out and it won't alter the overall flavor. This is NOT a low-fat recipe! It contains lots of butter, which means it's really good. :-)

Grease bottom of 9x13 pan. Steam two or three (depending on size) packages of frozen broccoli and spread in greased pan. Be sure to not over-steam ~ it should be barely done. In saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Take from heat and blend in 4T flour and 1 1/2 T powdered chicken stock base. Gradually add 2 cups milk. Return to heat and cook until smooth and boiling and thickened. Pour this sauce over broccoli in 9x13 pan. In saucepan (I use the same one I just used, and I don't even rinse it out) heat 1/3 cup water and 6 T butter. Remove from heat. Add 2/3 package of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Stir well. Top broccoli/sauce with stuffing mixture. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes. Can be prepared ahead of time and baked just before serving. Sorry no picture, but it looks pretty and tastes even better!

Cran-Raspberry Pie

I first made this about 10 years ago after seeing it in a magazine. My goal that year was to make a really scrumptious dessert that would be like the ultimate capstone to a delicious meal. It worked!! My husband's uncle, who is very sparing with his compliments, raved about it and I decided then and there to make it every year.

Pie Crust

Use prepared crust or make your own using favorite recipe. Here's mine:

Mix 2 cups flour and 1 tsp salt. Cut into this mixture 1 cup butter until pieces are the size of small peas (I literally cut the butter in using two knives). Sprinkle 1/2 cup COLD water (must be cold!) over mixture and mix lightly with fork. Best to add a little water at a time until you've reached the 1/2 cup mark, as humidity can affect the total amount of water needed. Add a bit more if it's really dry where you live, a bit less if it's really humid. Form dough into two balls. Roll out one ball for bottom crust and one ball for top crust.

Pie Filling

In large bowl add the following ingredients:

Undrained 1 1/2 cups frozen red raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
1 12oz package (3 cups) cranberries. Can coarsely chop if preferred, I leave mine whole.
2 1/2 cups sugar (I add barely 2 or slightly less)
1/2 tsp almond extract

Stir till well mixed. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. I actually do this step first and then make my pie crusts while this is standing at room temp.

Pour fruit mixture into bottom pie crust. Roll out top crust and lay on top. Fold top crust under bottom crust and flute edges. Make small heat vents in top crust and brush the whole top lightly with milk. From scraps of pie crust, cut out small hearts and/or stars with cookie cutters and lay on top of crust so that each piece will have a heart or star when pie is cut. Brush cutouts with milk also. Lightly sprinkle top with sugar. Cover edges with foil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more, or until top is golden and juices are clear. IMPORTANT WARNING: This pie makes LOTS of juice ~ be sure to place pie pan on cookie sheet when baking so if juices run over they won't burn on the bottom of your oven and smoke up your kitchen. Don't ask how many years it took for me to remember this.

If you look closely at this picture you can see the children are placing the heart cut-outs on top of the pie. This is VERY sweet, but the sweetness is balanced by the tartness of the cranberries, and it's a winner with anyone who loves berry pies.

Taco Soup

This was super easy to make, and everyone liked it. A winner! It's another one from the Happy Housewife.

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef (or turkey, or can go meatless for the vegetarian version)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes, or about 3 fresh ones chopped up with 1 T Italian seasoning mixed in
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (I used a 32 oz jar)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn or 1 small pkg frozen corn (which is what I used)

shredded cheddar cheese - as much or as little as you like
plain yogurt or sour cream - again, as much or as little as you like
avocado, chopped - optional
Frito Lay corn chips

Brown the meat, drain fat and add taco seasoning. Add all other ingredients and cook til heated through. Let simmer for 15 minutes. You can add water if you want to stretch it a bit further. If you add water, it will look more like soup, without the water it looks like thick stew.



I didn't have any chips so left that ingredient out, but my family would have loved it if I'd put corn chips in! The other 3 of the last 4 ingredients I added directly to the soup, but you can use them as a garnish if you'd prefer, or if anyone in your family has dairy allergies (add to individual bowls instead). This was a winner with everyone - will definitely make again!

Homemade Pizza Crust

I have made my own pizza crust many times, and it was okay, but I recently discovered this new recipe for pizza crust at The Happy Housewife's blog, and it is FANTASTIC! It is my new favorite thing to make. It is also much, much cheaper and healthier than store bought pizza or Little Caesar's, depending on toppings.


Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp salt
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat, white, or a mixture of both)
1 T yeast
2 T Italian seasoning
1 T garlic powder

Mix together in bread machine on the dough setting, in your Kitchen Aid or Bosch mixer for about 5 minutes, or mix and knead (5-10 minutes) by hand. Let rise until doubled. Spread in pan and build your pizza!



This recipe makes enough for two large rectangular pizzas. Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza

Or homemade Egg McMuffins!

I saw this recipe for breakfast pizza on the happy housewife blog, and thought it would be easy and fun to make. I thought I would try to cook everyone's scrambled egg in a nice little circle (like at McDonald's) so it would easily stay on the bottom bun, so I came up with the idea to use canning jar rings as "holders" for the scrambled egg mixture to cook inside of. Well, don't go rushing off to buy canning jar rings for this purpose because it didn't work. The egg mixture leaked out of the bottom of the rings almost completely. So I just scrambled them like usual and most of the children put a top bun on the pizza to help hold the eggs in.


Layer on homemade buns:

sausage patty
scrambled egg
a touch of grated cheese

Eat with a top bun, or without, your choice.

Easy Peasy! All the children loved them and thought it was a fun breakfast!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

This recipes uses regular bread dough for the hamburger buns (which has no dairy in it by the way). Regular bread recipe can be found here. Whether you are using a mixer or kneading by hand, take about half the dough (the amount you'd use for two loaves of bread) and instead of placing in bread pans, shape into buns. Let rise for an hour on greased cookie sheets.



Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350. If you bake a sheet on each oven rack, check to make sure the ones on the lower rack are not burning on the bottom. Let cool.


After cooling, slice and wrap individually in saran wrap. Then put in freezer bags and freeze until use. I have found through trial and error that double wrapping before freezing insures soft, delicious bread or buns after thawing.