Almond Bark Popcorn

What do you get when you have 2 saltys + 2 sweets?? It = an addicting and yummy treat! I'm sure you guessed which direction I would be headed in and you are right!!! It's time for some holiday goodies! I look forward to making this each Christmas. The best part is that is doesn't involve a recipe. Just three simple steps! That's something to shout about! This treat takes about fifteen minutes to make and will make a great little snack for any holiday party or just to have around the house to munch on while you deck your halls. This next month will be full of holiday cookies and treats to treat your sweet tooth! I can't wait!

HAPPY SWEET TOOTH TUESDAY!!!

Ingredients:


* 1 bag of microwave popcorn
* 2 cups of chex mix
* 1 large bag of peanut butter M&Ms
*1 package of white almond bark



Directions:

1) Melt the almond bark on low heat in a pan on the stovepot.

2) Combine popcorn, M&Ms and chex mix in a very large bowl and pour melted almond bark on top. Using large spoon or spatula stir the mixture well to coat with the bark.

3) Spread out on a flat pan to dry. Separate into clear holiday treat bags to pass out to your friends or just serve from a large bowl.

You might try putting some waxed paper down on the pan so that it won't stick. My bad. ;) In the past I've microwaved the bark to melt it which resulted in second degree burns on both hands while I tried to mix it. STUPID! One year I even thought wearing latex gloves would help keep from getting burned. Nope. STUPID! I guess all it takes to keep from being scalded is by melting it in a pan. Please, please, please promise me you won't microwave your almond bark. Promise? Oh yeah, one more thing....ENJOY!!

GOT MOTIVATION?

New Recipe Night: Tator Tot Casserole

A childhood favorite for sure. During my grade school days I adamantly refused to eat the cafeteria food. Instead I requested a turkey sandwich on white bread with a sprinkle of pepper along with a bag of Doritos and a cheese stick EVERYDAY for lunch. It was as simple as that. I didn't envy watching my classmates eat from their trays and drink their little milk cartons. But there was one exception....that was on tator tot casserole day. On some occasions when it was this day I would try to bargain with my friends to set up a lunch room trade. It turns out I'm the only person who liked a plain turkey sandwich. I would sit there picking at my sandwich while I watched them eat what I wanted. This usually led to me requesting the tator tot dish when I got home after school. Thankfully I had a wonderful mother who obliged. ;) Here's my lunchtime favorite and I'm sharing it with you....

Ingredients:


*2 lbs. ground beef

*salt and black pepper, to taste

*1 can cream of mushroom soup

*1 cup sour cream

*2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*1 package frozen tater tots

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
2. Brown ground beef. Season with salt and pepper, while browning. Drain.
3. Spread ground beef in the prepared baking dish. Whisk together soup and sour cream. Spread over ground beef in an even layer.
4. Sprinkle one cup of cheddar cheese over the soup layer.
5. Top with tater tots.
6. Bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

This was my first time to make it myself. I have no idea why it has taken me this long considering it takes about two seconds to prepare. And I don't think I've eaten this since I was fifteen so it only made it that much tastier. Guess who also shares my love for this oh so simple dish?? My daughter and husband!! Oh yeah, one more thing....ENJOY!!

The half tator-tot missing is thanks to my hungry hubby

GOT MOTIVATION?

Key Lime Pie

Happy Tuesday Dishers!

It's my favorite day yet again...

And the last Tuesday for Thanksgiving PIES.....

HAPPY SWEET TOOTH TUESDAY!!!

Do you have that one dessert that you can't say no to. That one dessert that is impossible to resist. Well hello key lime pie, don't mind if I do! It seems incredibly strange to be excited about cooking and baking lately. I still can't get used to the fact that I get antsy when I'm not cooking. I look forward to Tuesday for several reasons now: it's my day off work, it's my day to spend with my daughter and it's the day that my house is filled with yummy smells of sweet treats baking in the oven. This week was no exception and it only seemed that much more appropriate with it being Thanksgiving week. The first Thanksgiving that I've been excited about the cooking part. I've volunteered to make three dishes for our celebration this year. That may sound silly and not worth a lot......but let's put it this way....I'VE NEVER MADE A DISH FOR THANKSGIVING.....EVER. This Tuesday's treat happens to be one of the dishes I'm taking with me to share with my family. We all seem to share a love for key lime pie so I'm sure it will be a favorite! I made Tuesday's treat on Sunday and made sure it found a home away from my tummy....the pie found its new home in my in-laws fridge. :) I have no idea why I've never considered baking a key lime pie before....now that I know how easy it is I feel like it's probably a good idea I never did before. It's so sweet it must be a sin.

Ingredients:

*1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

*1/2 cup granulated sugar

*4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted

*2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk

*1 cup key lime or regular lime juice

*2 whole eggs

*1 cup sour cream

*2 tablespoons powdered sugar

*1 tablespoon lime zest

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2) In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

4) Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the sour cream and serve chilled.

Oh my sweet tooth!!!!!!!!!! This is the tartiest, tangiest, sweetest creation thus far that I've made. And did I mention that key lime is my absolute favorite?!?! Oh yeah, one more thing....ENJOY!!

GOT MOTIVATION?

New Recipe Night: Easy Mexican Meatloaf

I can never go wrong with meatloaf around here. It definitely falls into the "can't go wrong" category. I don't use a recipe...but instead just toss eggs, ground beef, a variety of seasonings, cracker or bread crumbs and ketchup in a bowl and get to mixin'. I decided to change things up a bit and add some kick to the meatloaf. I'd heard of Mexican style but had never tried making it before. After doing a quick search I realized that it may be more complicated than I had imagined. I was looking for easy and I found very difficult with lots of meats that I'd never heard of and words that I didn't know the definition of. No beuno! I have no idea why a Mexican meatloaf needed to be that complicated. So I added the word "easy" to my search and up popped this great quick recipe....

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef (or can use ground turkey)
• 1 cup corn chips, crushed
• 1/3 cup taco sauce
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese, grated

Directions:


1) Mix all the ingredients together and place mixture in a loaf pan


2) Cook in a pre-heated oven at 350º for about 40-45 minutes until meat is well cooked from inside


3) Or cook in a crock pot on high for about 3-1/2 to 5 hours, or low for about 8 to 10 hours

This meal served us for two nights! The second night I made meatloaf sandwiches with it and the hubs was a happy man. Don't make it unless you have time to wait though....in other words, don't start preparing it at 7:30 like I did. It took about 80 minutes to cook!! It's my meatloaf curse so maybe you will have better luck. The taste is splendid though! Just a little something different from your regular ol' loaf of meat (makes it sound so enticing, right?)   ;) If you don't like spicy then add a little less taco seasoning. I added extra and it was HOT!!! Oh yeah, one more thing.....ENJOY!!

GOT MOTIVATION?

New Recipe Night: Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings

I guess I should say "New Recipe Day" because we chowed down on this meal for a nice Saturday lunch. I had planned on it being nice and chilly outside but the weather did not get the memo that I was making a nice cozy dish for cold weather. You can eat chicken and dumplings when it's in the mid 60s right? Sure ya can! This was my first Pinterest recipe attempt. I've been pinning recipes for about a month now and finally got around to actually looking at a real recipe and not just the picture of it. This pin just kept popping up and yelling at me..."make me!!!! make me!!!!" Am I the only one that pins, pins, pins but never actually looks at the recipes? I think I'll be pulling a lot of recipes from my A is for Appetite board because this recipe was out of this world yummy and so so so easy! Here's why....


....when I think of crock pot recipes I always assume it's going to have to cook overnight or be put in of a morning and be ready for dinner. Well not this recipe. I started cooking it at 8:00 and it was in a bowl in front of me at noon. How's that for crock pot cooking!? The recipe calls for 4-6 hours of cooking the chicken but mine was ready after 3 1/2 hours. The smell had infiltrated every corner of the house by the time I returned from a shopping trip this morning. I couldn't wait any longer to add the "dumplings." This will for sure be a new Fanning favorite!

Ingredients:

*1lb of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (3-5)

*2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

*2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

*1 can Chicken Broth

*1 medium White Onion, diced

*4 Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits

Directions:

1) Place chicken in crock pot and top with butter.  Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions.  Cook on High for 4-6 hours.

2) Remove chicken from crock pot and use a fork to shred.  Return chicken to the crock pot.  

3) Cut each uncooked biscuit into 9 pieces and stir into the chicken mixture.  Continue to cook on High for 30 minutes.  Serve hot. Makes about 6-8 servings.

The buscuits puff up a lot more than I'd expected which made for a bigger crock pot full that I'd expected....which makes for a very full stomach now! I almost think you'd need two seperate crock pots if you wanted to double the recipe for a large group. Otherwise your buscuits would want to overflow! Next time I'm going to cut back on the onions...makes for great flavor but oh how I hate the texture of biting into a piece of onion (baby steps, people, baby steps). Oh the creaminess makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I can't think of a more perfect, simple and comforting meal than this! Oh yeah, one more thing....ENJOY!!

GOT MOTIVATION?

New Recipe Night: French Dip Sandwiches

I did something bad. Something very, very bad. I tried out a new recipe....a very delicious and lip smacking one in fact....without taking one single picture. I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that blogs are pretty yawn-worthy if no pictures are involved. Well if you are already reading please don't stop now! I promise that the taste of this one is so worth reading through this post with (gasp) no pictures. Geez, I'm boring myself.....so just for the sake of putting some color into this post I'm going to throw in a picture of something similar....

Ingredients:


*1 boneless beef roast
*1/2 cup soy sauce
*1 beef bouillon cube
*1 bay leaf
*3 whole black peppercorns
*1 tsp rosemary
*1 tsp thyme
*1 tsp garlic powder
*1 loaf of french bread


Directions:


1) Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a crock pot.


2) In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over roast and add enough water to almost cover roast. Cook on low heat for 10 to 12 hours or until meat is tender.


3) Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Shred meat with a fork and place on bread for sandwiches. Use broth for dipping.


HOLY BROTH!!!!!!!!!!! This stuff was like crack! Not that I know what crack is like but I'm sure it has to be right up there next to crack. I am embarrassed to admit that I probably ate half of the roast. No, seriously. I was that excited about it! I put up about ten thousand post it notes this morning to remind me to put the roast in the crock pot. The notes worked and as a result I couldn't get my mind off of the yummy juices cooking all day long for my dipping pleasure. I'd never made the broth before because I always took the easy route and grabbed a package of Au Jus mix at the grocery store. This stuff kicks Au Jus package's butt!!! Oh and promise me you won't eat a french dip sandwich without adding a slice of swiss cheese!!!




Oh yeah, one more thing....ENJOY!!

(Insert yummy, picture on a colorful plate)

GOT MOTIVATION?

Creamy Lemon Raspberry Pie

It's still PIE MONTH and I've churned out another new pie option for your Thanksgiving celebration this year. This one happens to be super simple and super sweet! Yep, it's my favorite day again.....

HAPPY TREAT YOUR SWEET TOOTH TUESDAY!!!

I'm not sure why but this recipe makes me giggle because all I can seem to think about when I see it is that Friends episode where Rachel is in charge of making a truffle and Joey is naming off all of the layers that he loved so much. That's not to say that I made the same mistake that Rachel made by combining two recipes....it would've been pretty dang hard to mess up this recipe. I guess it was the raspberry jam on the ingredient list that reminded me of that funny episode. Jam? GOOOOOOOOOOD!!

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
* 1 premade shortbread crumb crust
* 1/2 pint (about 1 cup) fresh red raspberries
* 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
* 2 packages lemon instant pudding and pie filling mix
* Grated peel of 1 lemon
* 1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
* Additional grated lemon peel (optional)

Directions:

1. Spread raspberry jam over bottom of crust. Sprinkle 3/4 cup raspberries over jam.

2. Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually add evaporated milk, pudding mixes and lemon peel. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in half of whipped topping. Spoon into crust; top with remaining whipped topping.
3. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Garnish with remaining raspberries and additional lemon zest, if desired, just before serving.

This pie is simply refreshing. I love the taste of lemon. Tastes so sweet.....mixed with the tartness of the raspberries leaves the perfect mixture of goodness in your mouth. I also love layers. The way they look when you cut into the pie and the way they all mix together to give you a variety with every bite. ;) The layers did not turn out as pretty as the example picture but that rarely happens so I'll just try and be satisfied with it's prettiness. Oh yeah, one more thing.....ENJOY!!

GOT MOTIVATION?