Long name, amazing treat.
I make these for the boys to have for snack. They are slightly better than other sweet treats because of the protein in the peanut butter and the whole grain in the cheerios. And they’re addictively delicious.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 cups mini marshmallows
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 6 cups honey nut cheerios (store brand works fine)
Measure out the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add marshmallows. When marshmallows are partially melted, add the peanut butter. Stir and melt over medium-low heat until all ooey-gooey. Do not burn! You might want to take it off the heat when there are a few unmelted marshmallows left and stir until smooth.
Pour over cereal and stir until well blended.
Pour into a buttered 9×13 pan. Press down with buttered hands (or sprayed wax paper or silicone spatula).
Let cool, then cut into yummy, awesome bars.
Enjoy!
I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I know that was 2 weeks ago, but this is my first post since then. Now it’s time to dive into 2010 with a nice slow-cooker recipe.
This week, I decided to get back into the habit of menu planning. This was not a New Year’s resolution; it’s something I have been meaning to do for a long time.
I was having a hard time coming up with ideas, so I went to a Kraft Kitchens e-mail newsletter and started clicking on links. I came up with a week’s worth of dinners, made a list, and went to the grocery store.
The first recipe I made was this Slow-Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork. It uses barbecue sauce and chicken broth for the flavor. I also added a little bit of the juice from the canned pineapple.
What You Need!
1-1/2 lb. boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, drained
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups instant white rice, uncookedMake It!
PLACE meat in slow cooker; top with onions.
ADD barbecue sauce and broth; cover with lid. Cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours (or on HIGH 4 hours).
STIR in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on LOW 30 min. or until rice is tender.
The recipe calls for a boneless pork loin, but I substituted pork chops because they were on sale for pennies on the dollar compared to the pork loin. It required a bit more work, but the new kitchen shears I got for Christmas made quick work of that.
I like that the recipe calls for adding the green pepper near the end of cooking. I never thought of doing that, but I hate how mushy peppers get in slow-cooker recipes.
Tip: cut up the peppers when you are putting everything else in the slow-cooker and put them in a container in the frige until needed. That way, you only have to do veggie prep once and it’s easy-peasy to throw the chopped peppers, pineapple, and rice in a the end, without having to lug out your cutting board and knife again.
Both my husband and I liked this dish.
Sorry that I don’t have any pictures. I didn’t realize I would like this so much that I would want to blog about it.
Looking for a last minute gift? Looking for a way to wrap your gift of homemade baked goods, so that the outside of the box is as irresistible as what’s inside? Look no further.
Grab your scrapbooking paper, decorative punch, double-sided tape, paper cutter or scissors, and embellishments, and your box, and let’s get started.
Cut a strip of paper almost as wide as your box (or smaller, if you want the box to show in the margin). Next, cut a coordinating strip of paper about three-quarters the width of the first strip.
Use the decorative punch to punch one side of the smaller paper strip.
Wrap the bottom paper around the box, making sure it is centered, creasing the corners. Secure with double-sided tape. I like to slip the paper band off and make sure the tape is pressed down securely and the edges are creased.
Repeat with the second strip, aligning the non-punched edge with the edge of the bottom paper.
Add an embellishment to the top of your box. Three-dimensional scrapbooking stickers are perfect. I also used gift tag stickers, with the recipient’s name written with a ball-point glue pen, from Martha Stewart Crafts, then topped with super fine glitter (also from Martha).
For an alternate layout, punch both sides of you top strip and center it over the bottom strip. There are so many ways you can make this project reflect your own unique style.
You can fill your boxes with anything from soap to fudge and everything in between.
And, if you see this post after the holidays have passed, just remember that you can use this technique to decorate boxes for any occasion.
Christmas is only a couple of days away, so I am sure you can’t possibly be looking for a last minute Christmas dinner menu, but if you are, you’re in luck. All of these recipes have been tested out on my parents-in-law to rave reviews.
Appetizer
Dinner
Slow-cooked Cranberry Roast (I doubled this and cooked it in a 6qt slow cooker)
Potatoes Anna
Sauteed Peas and Red Onion
Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
Rolls
Dessert
For a quick and easy to make, but lovely to receive, Christmas gift, try making vanilla-infused sugar.
Just place a few vanilla beans in an air-tight jar and fill with sugar. Allow to sit for a few days and the sugar takes on a wonderful vanilla essence. This vanilla sugar can be used in place of regular sugar in everything from baked goods to coffee.
For added elegance, print out a white mailing label and punch the top and bottom with a decorative edge punch before applying to the jar.
Gingerbread cookies are a must at Christmas. Martha Stewart has a recipe for Gingerbread Snowflake cookies that is just dreamy. Since I do not have a snowflake cookie cutter, I made gingerbread trees, instead. I piped the outline with royal icing and topped with Wilton Cake Sparkles.
Note: Martha’s cookie recipe is a bit spicy for younger children.
I am so far behind on Christmas crafting, baking, and blogging. I just can’t seem to convince myself that it really is almost Christmas. The dusting of snow we got today helped. Hopefully, the 3 – 6 inches we are supposed to get tomorrow will even more so. I did make Gingerbread Cookies today, though. I will post the recipe and pics after I decorate them with icing tomorrow.
I thought I would link to a couple of my Christmas posts from last year. Here are a couple of simple melt and pour soap tutorials that are fun to make, give, and receive.
Last month, I had the honor of hosting a Martha Stewart Crafts house party through House Party.com. House Party sent me all of the materials to make some fantastic craft projects using the Martha Stewart Crafts product line, available at Michaels craft store.
Here are two of the projects.
Using the same techniques of layering punched and decorative papers and embellishments, I made Christmas cards and gift boxes today.
That holly edge punch is from Martha Stewart Crafts.
Sometimes the smallest details can make the biggest difference. That was definitely the case with these Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats from Smitten Kitchen. Deb increased the butter content, browning it before adding the marshmallows, and added course sea salt, turning this childhood favorite into a classy grown-up dessert.
You have to taste to believe how incredible these are.
This amazing taste adventure led me to a week-long quest to determine if everything tastes better with the addition of course sea salt.
The verdict? Yes. Yes, it does.
Last, but not least, the pictures.
(Link found via Emily at Candleblog.)
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A blog about cooking, crafting, and making soap.