Cracker Toffee

Our oven was on the fritz for a few weeks from the day before Thanksgiving until about a week and a half ago.  Two oven parts later, it was finally fixed and I was eager to get back to baking!  The first thing I chose to make was a homemade toffee recipe since I knew I had all of the ingredients on hand.  I used this recipe, but I didn't do any extra toppings-- I just left mine plain.  

Ingredients:

-saltine crackers (about a sleeve)

-1 c. butter (2 sticks)

-1 c. brown sugar

-10 oz. chocolate chips (about a cup and a half) 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* Fahrenheit.  Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet with a rim. 

2. In a medium pot, melt the butter and brown sugar together. 

3. Lay out the saltine crackers in a single layer on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet. 

4. In the medium pot, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil, and continue boiling for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

5. Pour the butter mixture over the saltine crackers and spread to cover all of the crackers.  

6. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.  

7. Once removed from the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit for 5 minutes. 

8. After 5 minutes, spread chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or mixing spoon to evenly cover all of the toffee.  

9. Place in fridge or freezer to set.  

10.  Once cooled, break into bite-sized pieces.  I've cooled this both ways (in fridge and in freezer) and placing in the fridge makes for a much easier time when it comes to breaking toffee into pieces.  Store extra pieces in the fridge. 

11. Enjoy!

Here's some of the steps in pictures. 

Preheat oven to 350* Fahrenheit.  Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet with a rim. In a medium pot, melt the butter and brown sugar together.

Lay out the saltine crackers in a single layer on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet. 

In the medium pot, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil, and continue boiling for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour the butter mixture over the saltine crackers and spread to cover all of the crackers.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit for 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, spread chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or mixing spoon to evenly cover all of the toffee.  

Place in fridge or freezer to set.  Once cooled, break into bite-sized pieces.  I've cooled this both ways (in fridge and in freezer) and placing in the fridge makes for a much easier time when it comes to breaking toffee into pieces.  Enjoy!

Store extra pieces in the fridge.

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Apple Hand Pies

Michael and I got creative in the kitchen last night and whipped up some super simple apple hand-pies!  We happened to have all ingredients on hand, but these would be a cinch to get on a weekly grocery trip also!

We used the recipe that came in the mini cookbook with our Cosori Air Fryer. My changes and/or tips are noted in italics. 

Ingredients:

1 medium apple, peeled and diced into bite size pieces (I diced mine very finely)

2 1/12 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 sheet pre-made pie dough 

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon milk

Directions:

1. Combine the diced apple, granulated sugar, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a medium saucepan or skillet over low-medium heat.  Bring to a simmer. 

2. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from heat. 

3. Allow the apples to cool, uncovered at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

4. Cut the pie dough into 5-inch circles (I found a cereal bowl of the right diameter and used that.  I was able to get 4 fairly circular-shaped pieces.)

5. Add the filling to the center of each pie crust circle and use your finger to apply water to the outer ends.  Some filling will be left over (that's what the recipe says, but I divided the filling to give every pie the same amount and I had none leftover.)

6. Crimp the pie shut and cut a small slit on the top (I lightly poked a fork into our pies instead).

7. Select Preheat on the Air Fryer and adjust temperature to 350 degrees, and press Start. 

8. Mix together egg and milk to make an egg wash and brush over top of pies (I did have quite a bit of egg wash leftover). 

9. Place the pies into the preheated air fryer and cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until pies are golden brown. 

Here's my star chef (isn't he adorable?!)

These were so delicious!  My parents came over to bring us some fresh peaches and they both tried a pie.  My mom liked them so much that she says she might request these for a birthday dessert!  If that isn't a seal of approval, I don't know what is!

Until Next Time, 
Much Love, Reba

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

This is the made-up recipe we use for chicken pot pie.  I hesitate to even call it a recipe per se because it's so simple.  The only reason I even had to come up with this approach was because I've tried and failed several times in making a real chicken pot pie from scratch, so this is how I have to get my fill instead. 

What You'll Need:

-a frozen deep dish pie shell that you've thawed

-a refrigerated pie crust that you can unfold or unroll (I let this sit on the counter for 20-40 minutes to soften up so it doesn't break upon opening)

-cream of chicken soup (1 regular size can ~ 14.5 ounces)

-can of Veg-All (bigger can ~29 ounces)

-3-4 chicken breasts (boiled and cut up or shredded, or you can use a rotisserie chicken that you've pulled the meat from)

-sprinkling of dried parsley

Directions:

1. Assemble chicken (either boil, cool, and shred or cut it into bite sized pieces, or gather the meat pulled from a rotisserie chicken)

2. Preheat oven to 350* F

3. Place thawed out frozen pie shell on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  (The frozen pie shells that I buy come in a foil pie plate.  If yours does not, then you'll need to insert your pie crust into a pie plate before placing on cookie sheet). 

4. Stir together the chicken, Veg-All, and cream of chicken soup in a large bowl. 

5. Pour chicken mixture into the thawed pie shell. 

6. Unroll or unfold the refrigerated pie crust over the top of the pot pie.  Pinch sides to seal crusts together. 

7. Cut a few steam holes in the top of the crust.

8. Swipe a slightly wet (and clean!) hand over the top of the top crust. Sprinkle dried parsley over the crust.  

9. Bake at 350* for 40-50 minutes (watching it within the last 5-10 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.  This is dependent upon how thawed your crusts were when you began.  Add a few extra minutes if crusts are still pale). 

10.  Broil on high for 2-3 minutes (set a timer and watch the pie closely!).  This will help create a golden brown crust. 

See? Super simple.  Super delicious.  And it's certainly not anything I can create a claim to fame on.  It's just a recipe for busy moms.  Usually I'll cook my chicken on the evening before I plan to make the pot pie.  That way, on the day when I'm going to cook this for dinner, I can just assemble everything quickly and get it in the oven.  

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Maple Apple Blondies

 Over the weekend, my mom's sister drove into town from Michigan and she brought a bounty of awesome fall treats!  She gifted us with apples, real maple syrup, and apple cider!  No joke, I had been browsing Pinterest the night before she came (not knowing what she was bringing) and I pinned this fall recipe from "A Latte Food." It involves apples and maple syrup so it was the perfect recipe to try out this weekend!  I whipped up these "Maple Apple Blondies" on Sunday morning and I'm not that ashamed to say that the pan is almost gone!

Find Recipe here. 

Maple Apple Blondies (originally from A Latte Food).  My tweaks to the recipe are shown in italics below.

Ingredients

Blondies

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Apple Filling

• 2 large apples chopped finely
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Maple Glaze

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line an 11x7 pan with tin foil (or spray with pan with cooking spray). **(I used a 13x9 inch pan)

Apple Filling

1. On med-low heat, cook apple filling mixture for about 3-4 minutes. Pull off heat and allow to cool.

Blondies

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in brown sugar and granulated sugar, and mix until well combined.
2. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add in salt and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. (I accidentally added the salt to the dry ingredients, and it didn't seem to hinder anything). 
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
5. In the bottom of the pan, spread half the blondie batter evenly, using a spatula (or your hands--batter is very thick, so I prefer to spread with my hands).
6. Spread apple filling all over the layer.
7. Top with remaining blondie batter and spread evenly.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. (The cake tester (toothpick) was key because they don't completely look done at that point, but the toothpick indicated they were ready.)

Maple Glaze

1. Melt butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon over low heat. Once melted together, pull off the heat. Sift in powdered sugar, and whisk until fully combined. Allow to cool for 8-10 minutes so the glaze can thicken.
2. Allow bars to cool for about 10 minutes, then pour the glaze over the bars and allow it to set.
3. Slice into squares and enjoy!

This is how the pan of blondies looked after the maple glaze was spread on the warm bars. 

How perfectly fall is this dessert?!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

I read in Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Table, Volume I that her favorite comfort food is a cinnamon roll.  Many of her breakfast recipes focus on cinnamon roll-type of pastries.  I have heavily modified her Easy Orange Sweet Rolls recipe to be something I can whip up in just a few minutes.  When I saw that it uses crescent rolls as the base, I was in!  I'm all about easy recipes I can throw together for my kiddos on a weekday morning!

I was only using one pack of crescent rolls, so I cut Joanna's recipe in half. 

What You'll Need:

1 package crescent rolls (I try to get the dough sheet that doesn't have perforations, but if it did have perforations, just press them together until it's one full sheet)

1/4 c plus 1 Tablespoon brown sugar

6 T softened butter

1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 T vanilla extract

Milk (enough to create the consistency of a glaze that you like best)

9" round cake tin

What You'll Do:

Preheat Oven to 375*.  Spray cake tin with non-stick cooking spray. 

Lay out the crescent dough sheet (press together the perforations if needed)

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon together with a fork until it forms a paste.

Spread this sugar mixture on the crescent dough.

Roll the dough starting on the long edge.

Cut into sections (I get about 12 small sections from one rolled up dough sheet).

Place rolls into sprayed cake tin.  I put them close together, but not touching. 

Bake for nearly 25 minutes. 

While my rolls were baking, I got my glaze ingredients ready in a small bowl. 

When the rolls were cooling, I added vanilla to my powdered sugar.  I don't really measure vanilla extract and probably added about 3 tablespoons, which it why my glaze looks tinted slightly brown.

I drizzle in some milk to the bowl while I'm stirring it.  Once I reach desired glaze consistency, I stop adding milk. 

I actually added too much this time around since I was trying to take a picture while I was pouring in the milk. 

Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

You really can't mess this up, so even though my glaze was runny, it just ended up covering the rolls and adding a layer of glaze to the bottom of the pan.  Not the end of the world. :)

Serve warm!


Here's the recipe re-written without pictures in between.

What You'll Need:

1 package crescent rolls (I try to get the dough sheet that doesn't have perforations, but if it did have perforations, just press them together until it's one full sheet)

1/4 c plus 1 Tablespoon brown sugar

6 T softened butter

1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 T vanilla extract

Milk (enough to create the consistency of a glaze that you like best)

9" round cake tin

What You'll Do:

Preheat Oven to 375*.  Spray cake tin with non-stick cooking spray. 

Lay out the crescent dough sheet (press together the perforations if needed)

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon together with a fork until it forms a paste. 

Spread this sugar mixture on the crescent dough. 

Roll the dough starting on the long edge. 

Cut into sections (I get about 12 small sections from one rolled up dough sheet). 

Place rolls into sprayed cake tin.  I put them close together, but not touching. 

Bake for nearly 25 minutes. 

While my rolls were baking, I got my glaze ingredients ready in a small bowl.  When the rolls were cooling, I added vanilla to my powdered sugar.  I don't really measure vanilla extract and probably added about 3 tablespoons, which it why my glaze looks tinted slightly brown.  I drizzle in some milk to the bowl while I'm stirring it.  Once I reach desired glaze consistency, I stop adding milk.  I actually added too much this time around since I was trying to take a picture while I was pouring in the milk.  You really can't mess this up though, so even though my glaze was runny, it just ended up covering the rolls and adding a layer of glaze to the bottom of the pan.  Not the end of the world. :) Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

These are fantastic while they're hot, but they also do well heated up.  I can't say how long you could store them because they never make it past a day over here.  Enjoy!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

4th of July Desserts

It's summertime, which always screams "red, white, and blue" to me for the entire season.  I leave 4th of July decorations up all summer long, and I do not tire of looking up red, white, and blue desserts. My kids are all about a theme over here and it's relatively simple to find an easy summertime dessert to make.

It helps that we have blueberry bushes in our backyard, but ours aren't constant producers, so we get about one good bucket full and the bushes take a break for a year. Therefore, I do buy blueberries when we run out of what our bushes make.  This year I'll get even fewer berries since a wasp couple decided that the third blueberry bush looked like prime real estate to build a nest.  This annoys me and I now feel very skeptical about my berry bushes since I'm concerned I'll be pelted while walking around my backyard.  So... if you do not have your own blueberry bushes, don't worry.  I'll be buying berries along side you. 

We made 2 red, white, and blue desserts this weekend, and one just blue desserts.  Our Costco was carrying a 2lb container of strawberries, and a 1lb container of raspberries for a good deal so I indulged.  Buying them in bulk was cheaper than buying them in the store, but raspberries go bad so gosh darn fast that it was almost a waste to buy them at all. That being said, we used them in just one recipe and then the kids ate the rest of them plain. The recipes we made were trifle cups, firework cheesecake brownies, and blueberry pie. 

Trifle Cups:  (I did not get a picture of these, but trust me when I say they were super festive and my kids swooned over them!)

Things to Gather:
6 short glass cups
1 cup of blueberries (washed and dried)
1 cup of strawberries (washed, dried, and quartered)
1/2 cup raspberries (washed and dried)
Cream Cheese Custard Frosting (recipe follows)

Things to Do:
Layer some blueberries in the bottom of each cup. Spoon some cream cheese frosting over the blueberries (I spread it out to make a full layer).  Add strawberries and raspberries on top of cream cheese mixture in each cup.  Add a final layer of cream cheese frosting on top.  (If you want, you can add a few blueberries on top to make it look extra festive.)  Refrigerate for at least an hour until the cream cheese frosting sets.

Cream Cheese Custard Frosting
1 8 oz package cream cheese (softened)
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/4 c milk (or heavy cream)
Splash of vanilla extract (I never measure this)

With a hand mixer, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl.  Add in milk (or cream) and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

***

Firework Cheesecake Brownies

Things to Gather:
Brownies
Cream Cheese Custard Frosting (recipe above)
Blueberries (washed and dried)
Strawberries (washed and dried)

Things to Do:
Make brownies on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil, but I should have used parchment paper because the brownies stuck to the foil terribly, even though I sprayed it with non-stick spray).  I always make my own brownies (I use this recipe and just add everything in a bowl instead of making it in bags), but you can definitely use a box mix if you'd like.  Make sure you make the recipe for a 13x9 batch, but pour the batter onto the lined cookie sheet to bake.  Watch your time closely because brownies made on a cookie sheet won't cook in the same time frame as brownies made in a pan.  Note: If you follow the homemade recipe using the link above, make sure you double the ingredients.  I did not do so, and ended up with brownies that were only 1/4 inch thick which is code for: pointless.

Make a batch of the cream cheese custard frosting while brownies are cooling.  Once brownies are cooled, spread the frosting over the top of the brownies.  You'll want to add your berries while the frosting is soft so that the berries can stick. We made kind of a firework pattern.  Once you've decorated the brownies, stick the sheet in the fridge for everything to set.  I had extra berries, so I used some strawberry halves and stuck 3 blueberries on a line of frosting down the middle of the berries and used these to decorate the blank space on my platter.  My kids actually thought these berries were the best part and didn't too much care for the brownies themselves, but it looked festive!

***

Blueberry Pie

Things to Gather:

Blueberry Filling:
4 c. fresh blueberries (washed and dried)
1/2 c sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1/2 c AP flour
1/4 c lemon juice

Pie Crust:
2 1/2 c AP flour
1 1/4 t salt
6 T chilled and cubed butter
3/4 c chilled vegetable shortening

Things to Do:

Crust:
Mix the 2 1/2 c flour and salt together in a large bowl.  Add butter and shortening.  Use a pastry cutter to combine the butter and shortening into the flour until it resembles coarse meal (pea sized crumbs).  Measure 1/2 c ice water and drizzle it in 1 tablespoon at a time while stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.  Stop adding water when dough begins to form large crumbs (Note: can add extra 1/4 c ice water in dry winter months).  Combine dough into a ball (I use clean hands and just combine it in the bowl but you can transfer dough to a floured work surface if easier to combine out of the bowl).  Divide dough in half.  Flatten each half into a one-inch-thick disc and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes minimum (2 hours is better-- or up to 5 days).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  When rolling each disc, use gentle force with rolling pin.  Start in center and work your way out in all directions, turning dough with your hands as you go.  Carefully ease one rolled out crust onto 9" pie plate, careful not to stretch the dough. Cut or pinch excess dough off edges of pie plate.

Filling:
Mix blueberries, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c flour and lemon juice in large bowl.  Spoon this mixture into the pie dough, scraping sides of bowl with rubber spatula.

Carefully roll and ease the 2nd rolled dough disc onto the top of blueberry mixture and pinch dough layers together and edge of pie plate.  Cut 3 slits for steam to escape.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Place pie plate on lined baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes til top is golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

This was the first time using this pie crust recipe (adapted from here), and we LOVE how this pie turned out!  I'd make another one but 4 cups of blueberries is a lot of berries to acquire. :)

Avery approved!

***


It was fun to put together festive holiday-themed snacks and my kids loved every minute of it.  Michael was insistent of having a blueberry pie, and he helped make the crust.  Both boys chose the berry trifle as their snack twice in a day, and I'm always happy for anything that makes them willingly choose fruit to eat.  I'll definitely be making the trifles again (probably without raspberries) and they'd make such a pretty presentation at a family dinner over the summer!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Recipe: Kielbasa, peppers, and onions

One of the quickest weeknight meals we make is kielbasa, peppers, and onions.  Sometimes, we forget about this meal and once we bring it back into our rotation, we wonder how we ever forgot about it at all.

This is a recipe my mom and dad would make when I was growing up.  It's so easy and simple and Aaron loves it as much as I do.  With our kids, it's still hit or miss because of onions and our kids' semi-make-believe aversion to them based upon how they feel on any particular day. :)

Recipe:  Kielbasa, Peppers, and Onions

Ingredients:
-kielbasa (we buy the Hillshire Farm version)
-1 or 2 green bell peppers
-1 sweet onion
-sesame seeds
-egg noodles
-(butter for the pan)


Process:
-Start boiling a pot of water for the noodles.  When the water is rolling, drop in about a cup of noodles.  You'll serve the meat & veggie over the noodles or you can mix it all up together at the end.
-Cut the kielbasa on the bias.  We use the whole sausage roll but you can use half if you prefer.
-Add some butter to a skillet and bring it to medium-high heat.
-Chop the onion and bell pepper.
-If your skillet is big enough, you can add the sausage, peppers, and onions at the same time and cook until the onion is transparent.
-If your skillet is smaller, cook the sausage first until it's slightly charred and warmed all the way through (the Hillshire Farm brand comes pre-cooked).  Remove the meat from the heat and add in the veggies to the skillet and cook until the onions are transparent, then add the meat back to the skillet.
-When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, then return to the pot or you can add it straight to the skillet.
-Sprinkle sesame seeds all over the meat, veggies, and pasta.  This adds just the right finishing touch!

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

School Lunch Planning

We send our boys with a packed lunch to school 90% of the time.  For the month of September, the boys and I all bought lunch at school each day but then I really did start to understand that although buying a school lunch is cheaper than sending a Lunchable, it's not cheaper than sending a sandwich.  And in my case, my school lunch wasn't appetizing enough to justify the cost.  For the boys, it costs $2.25 for lunch, and I have to pay $3.25 as a teacher.  Buying lunch at school also meant that I had to go to the lunchroom during one of the three lunch times.  Lunch time falls during my planning period and having to pause a stream of planning efficiency to go to the lunchroom is somewhat of an annoyance.  So I began packing lunches again in October and I think the boys and I have only bought a school lunch on one day since then-- they each chose a random day and I chose the day that the cafeteria was serving their Thanksgiving lunch which was pretty good.

Packing lunches, although cheaper, is certainly more of a hassle.  It requires careful grocery lists to make sure that I actually get things that are suitable for lunch.  I pack a lunch and a snack for them. I always packed their snacks, even when they bought lunch, because the snacks sold at PE (which is always right before snack time) are solely candy-ish items. It takes some planning to pick out the items I want my kiddos to have for lunch and snack, which also means that I am specific in where I shop since not every store carries what I have come to rely on for their midday meal and snacks.  When I pack lunch, I have to write the carb amount of every item packed for Michael so this takes extra time.  Over the weeks, I've developed some time savers.  I try to pack up any pre-packaged and non-refrigerated items the night before, then I just have to pack the sandwiches, yogurts, or any other refrigerated items in the morning.

Here's some examples of what I pack.

The Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce pouch, Slim Jim and one juice pouch (Koolaid Jammers or Capri Sun Roaring Waters since those two types are the lowest in carb count) are snack items.  The raisins, chips, other juice pouch, sandwich, and sugar free Jello pudding are lunch items.

Noah's food just has to be labeled as "lunch" or "snack."  Similar to Michael, Noah took Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce and a juice pouch for snack.  For lunch, he took Fritos, pudding, 2 small Chips Ahoy, another juice pouch and two pepperoni-wrapped cheese sticks instead of a sandwich.

On this day, I took a photo the night before the lunches were packed which is why I don't have a picture of the sandwich.  Michael is pretty consistent with what he wants for lunch-- which is typically a PBJ sandwich.  We use Polaner's or Smucker's sugar free grape or blackberry jam, Jif peanut butter, and Sara Lee "45 Calories and Delightful" bread which is very low in carb count.  On this day, Michael would be having a sandwich along with 2 mini Chips Ahoy cookies, some Cheetos puffs, and a juice pouch.

For snack on this day, he would be having roughly 21 Goldfish, a juice pouch, Slim Jim, and a strawberry applesauce.

I also include a little joke/note for Michael.  On one side is a little Knock Knock joke, and on the other side is a spot for me to write a little encouraging note to him.  (When Noah reads with more ease, I will include notes for him too).

Sometimes it is hard to remember all the items I could use for lunch making, so I made myself a little list on the fridge that includes main dish ideas (PBJ, pepperoni cheese sticks, ham sandwich) and side item options so it's not so overwhelming.  I make sure my grocery list includes most of these items each week to make the lunch packing easier.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba