LOVE LOVE LOVE my weekends

So apparently this weekend for me has been all about Pinterest recipes.  I love them so much when I find a good one, and they have really helped out my husband and I make our food stretch...which is good because we don't always have the money to keep it stocked. 

Anywho~ today I decided I would use some of my Saturday time to make what I have dubbed double chocolate chunky bark.  It's a recipe that I found on Pinterest and I've added some of my own touches and methods to it.

Of course I always have my faithful helper underfoot awaiting any little droplets.  I was extra careful with this recipe however because it does have the chocolate in it.

 

These are what you'll need to make this delicious delight.  I think that's what I love most about this treat...it only takes 4 ingredients!!  The other thing that I loved most about it was when I was in the mood to make it I already had every ingredient on hand...win win!

First you're going to want to melt your chocolate chips.  Now one thing this recipe DID dirty a lot of dishes for me, but I didn't want things to mix, and I wanted to make sure it was right. 

So after you melt your chocolate chips you're going to want to add your cereal.  Now the recipe called for 5 cups of cereal, and I didn't measure mine out I just kept pouring until it seemed like all the pieces would be covered.  It did use all our cereal (sorry hon!) but I figured this treat was worth it.

After your cereal is coated with the chocolate you'll want to melt your white chocolate and I used the whole block of almond bark but it was too much with what I ended up doing.  When your white chocolate is all melted you will want to add peanut butter.  The recipe I copied this off of had black and white chunks and mine has a bit of a tan tint to it (what can I say I LOVE peanut butter and couldn't stop shoveling it in...) so it all depends on how you mix it up.  The heat from the white chocolate will melt the peanut butter just fine and it smells so amazing.

So this is the finished product!!  You can put this in whatever you want...silicone cupcake molds would make the perfect portion sizes but I didn't have any that weren't minis and I don't have any regular cake molds so I just put it out on foil and laid it out on my cookie sheet.  It's in the fridge cooling right now and I so can't wait to cut into it and eat some.  We have a big pizza cutter rocker style that I will use to cut it up.

Enjoy!!

Chunky Monkeys

Ok guys sorry for the absence I was kind of having a time of it so I didn't get on for awhile...sorry for those of you who were actually reading it...which is probably not many anyway. 

So my hubs and I are cookie fanatics and I LOVE eating raw cookie dough but I've been told over and over and over that it's "bad for me" and I "can't have it" but I eat it anyway. 
Soooo with the recent -healthy bandwagon- I've been searching for recipes that would be healthier for us, and I came across these.  I've decided to call them chunky monkeys because the main ingredient for them (the one that you use the most anyway) is bananas.

Here is a photo of all the ingredients you'll need:

This is what they look like going into the oven and really coming out...they have no rising element so they come out looking like no bakes, they're just baked so it makes them better because the chips are gooier.  Also yours truly is allergic to bananas unless they've been cooked in some way so this recipe had my attention from the top.

So ok these were good...not that great...but acceptable.  I decided to not put them up because honestly we didn't devour them like I thought we would.  Then I had one this morning...they were amazing!!  It's crazy to me how they could be that much better after sitting out all night and I really don't know why or how...my hubs had 5 of them this evening instead of the 1 the other night so I'm not complaining lol. 

Enjoy!

Chicken on the Ritz

Sorry to all my followers (if I have any)- hubs and I been under the weather and nothing happens when you don't want to move...

Tonight our delicacy will be 'chicken on the ritz' and it's really quite simple it seems. 

You have your chicken and 2 cans of cream of chicken soup and I don't remember how many poppy seeds and you're supposed to use sr cream but I'm out so I will be substituting with cream cheese I decided and ritz crackers and butter.  Boil your chicken so it's cooked and cut it up into pieces and mix all the other stuff together with it minus the crackers and the butter.  Lay it into a 9x13 dish top with the butter and crackers and bake at 350 for 30 mins. 

I haven't started cooking yet or there would be pictures...I will post those later tonight :)

Coke BBQ Chicken and Red Pepper Potatoes

Ok so tonight's menu had Coke BBQ Chicken and I didn't really have anything to go with it.  My friend said well why don't you put it with cheesy rice?  It sounded good and I went with it all day but when it came time to make dinner I didn't want cheesy rice I wanted potatoes.  I didn't want baked potatoes, and I didn't want mashed...but I didn't have any french onion soup mix...I was looking through my cabinet and found a container of McCormick Pinch Perfect seasoning with Sicilian seasoning and red pepper flakes...so here we go.

Crockpot recipes are one of my favorite things...I can prep them before I go to bed one day and get up before work in the morning and put them together...hit LOW before heading out and when I come home from work it's almost done...love love LOVE...and it makes my house smell GREAT when I come home!!

This recipe has 5 ingredients...5 simple easy cheap ingredients!! 

3-4 chicken breasts (can be put in frozen)
one lemon-cut into quarters
one onion-cut into quarters
one can of coke
one 20 oz bottle of BBQ sauce (whatever kind you want)

 

The lemons and onions I cut up the night before because I knew I wouldn't feel like doing it the day of.

 

 

Put the chicken in the crockpot raw and frozen first.

 

 

Add the onions

 

 

Add the lemons

 

 

Add the whole bottle of BBQ sauce

 

 

We bought the coke in the bottle because it was cheaper so I measured the 'can of coke' with my ounce measure.  A can of coke is 12 oz. and this only went to 8 so a little math 8 + 4 = 12 ta-da!

 

 

 

All the ingredients have been added and it's ready to go!

 

 

Cook away my crockpot...cook away.

 

 

We use yellow potatoes at my house because that's what we like to eat and that's what we usually always have in the house.

 

 

This is the spice/seasoning I put on the potatoes.  The unmarked container is garlic salt.

 

 

Cut up the potatoes and I ALWAYS cover my cookie sheet because it's way easier to clean that way.

 

 

Yum! Apply the seasoning generously

 

 

The side I made with it...had to have another vegetable with our meal! :)

 

 

After 8 hours this is what it looks like...yummy and ready to go!!!! :)

 

 

YUM!!  This is what it looks like on the plate and it is so good.  I went back for double potatoes...the chicken was a little dry so I think next time I'll either add more sauce or add sauce when I serve it...because I had extra sauce...because I had a 42 oz bottle of sauce.

 

Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes hamburger helper is on the menu...

Ok so sometimes hamburger helper is what's to eat...not really my favorite thing...doesn't really get much easier, and nothing is really made it's just put together.

 

See?  This is it...I know it says Chicken Helper but I don't care...I had hamburger so it was hamburger helper...also we had corn and biscuits.  Like I said earlier nothing is really "made" it's just put together.  Just because two boxes can fit in your skillet doesn't mean that it's a good idea either...

 

 

This is what it looks like done.  Usually I'm a little more anal about my foods can't be the same color...we needed a green vegetable and a crusty bread...too much  mellow yellow for me. 

 

So this ended up being yucky.  I was having a little pity party to myself and this is why I married Mike.  He makes me think of all situations in all scenarios.  He takes my hand and says babe but we aren't hungry.  We aren't going hungry and we are going to bed full.  So then I stopped having my pity party and we ate our dinner.

 

Cakes and an amazing bakery :D

 

This post is going to have quite a few pictures but it's because I had an amazing weekend!!  Thus the reason for no posts for awhile...although it was snowing pretty heavily I was still able to get out and about to my friends for the weekend (hubs was in Lawrence) and make cakes!!  I will also be putting a plug in the blog for her amazing bakery Amanda's Bakery Creations in Oswatomie, Kansas!!

Well here goes...I wanted to make a 3 tier cake and Amanda had new hexagon pans to try and I also wanted to make gum paste flowers and Amanda has taken a baking class on flowers so she had all the appropriate materials and know how to show me!!  (it's a dream to have my own bakery someday and this was so much fun).

I'm going to start off with her pricing sheet...she has WAY more items now, but this was the only one posted that I could find lol.

 

 

Apparently this pan is supposed to feed 12...? I thought it was a little small...

 

 

And this one is supposed to feed 50...? Small, but we seem to be getting there maybe...

 

 

The batter in the pans all ready to go in the oven!!  We made homemade strawberry cake which is one of my absolute favorite cakes!!  It had real strawberries and strawberry jello in it and it was the most delicious tasting cake I've had in a long time...I'm pretty sure we got the recipe from allrecipes.com, and I will definitely be going there to get it when I want to make more!

 

 

This is the big boy all ready to go in!  We made the bottom two tiers first, but I'm not going out of order that would drive me crazy...LOL

 

 

This is what they will look like when they're done...you might look at this picture and think "uhm Jana, those are burned." Not the case!!  They DID have to cook longer than the time recommended, but I think it was because they were purely homemade and all the extra ingredients made the batter a little squishy...if your time is up and you can jiggle your cakes they're not done.

 

 

The big boy is done :)

 

 

For Christmas, my husband got me a superhero cake pan...not that I like superheroes, but my husband does and he likes cake...so yeah "I" got them lol.

 

 

All battered up...we used Ironman, Wolverine, Spiderman, and Captain America...if you know my husband you can guess the first two that were eaten upon their arrival home.

 

 

All done :)

 

 

Look how AWESOME those are!!

 

In order: Ironman, Captain America, Wolverine, and Spiderman.

 

 

Now it's time to make the flowers for the big cake!!  (Actually we started on this when the cakes were baking because it takes a little bit of time to get the gum paste ready and we wanted to be multitaskers. :)

 

 

I chose pink for one of the flower colors and apparently I can't be given food coloring.  I told Amanda "well you told me to knead it!!"  "well I didn't know you were going to knead it like that!!!!"

 

 

Drying on the rack awaiting their debut for the 3 tier masterpiece :)

The stems we had to make as well and those are wires with floral tape put on them and little baby pearls on the tips of the stems...those are A BEAST to do and I hated that part the most...drove me nuts. 

DO NOT HAVE JUST TRIMMED YOUR NAILS IT WILL BE QUITE DIFFICULT TO COMPLETE THIS TASK.

 

 

The bottom two tiers frosted with Amanda's AMAZING homemade frosting that contained a CRAPLOAD of Crisco, powdered sugar, water, and vanilla but it was oh so delicious.

 

 

All 3 :)

PAPERTOWEL TRICK:  Ever spend what seems like an uneccesary amount of time trying to get your frosting to look just right??  Take a Viva papertowel and put it on the cake after frosted (not even kidding) and take your spatula and rub the part that has the paper towel on it...I should've taken a video of this because as I type it out it's hard to imagine...but your cake will come out wrinkle free just like freshly laundered work pants :)

 

 

We did a teal dot border so it would look extra beautiful

 

 

TA-DA!!  Isn't it marvelous!!??!

 

 

Look it even ALMOST survived the ride home with minimal damage!!!

 

 

Up close of the flowers :) so beautiful they're too good to eat!! *tear tear sniff sniff*

 

AND THAT was my amazing weekend!!  I LOVED spending time with Amanda Perry and making this beautiful cake and our amazing superhero cakes and I can't wait for the next time!!  Our cake will be even bigger and better than this one!  If you are in Oswatomie and need a sweet treat pick me up go by and see Amanda Perry at Amanda's Bakery Creations!!!!

 

DO IT!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mac and Smokies

So it's funny to me that the next thing I had planned on the menu isn't really a recipe at all, is so incredibly simple, and has so many things about it that I love.

Mac and Smokies to me is the ultimate comfort food...if you looked up comfort food in the dictionary there would be a picture of mac and smokies.  If you've had a bad day or even a good day mac and smokies is the ultimate comfort food.

I love it so much and it's so easy.

The big pack is the little smokies and of course mac and cheese and I love ranch and Mike loves BBQ.  I would hope that I don't have to tell you how to fix this because it is incredibly simple and I didn't take any pictures of the preparing process.

Basically you put the smokies in a pan on the stove with water and let them boil...like you would boil a hotdog...boil until you can smell the delicious...and TRUST ME it will smell delicious.  Make the mac and cheese according to the directions on the box.

That's my #2 taste tester thinking she can sneak up on the table and get a smokie without me noticing...I don't think so!!!

This is what you will have when you're done...of course only THE FINEST china for this dish :) and would you like a glass of milk with that??  Why yes I believe you would...
You can mix the sausages with the mac and cheese if you so desire and eventually I ended up mixing my food together and doing both.

 

Miss Penny Lane making her debut...she loves little smokies just as much as mommy and thinks that if she sits pretty in the chair that she will get some...(which is absolutely true).

 

Checking out :)

Ranch Chicken...Triple D.

Of course the first post would be a flop...of course it would be a triple D (disaster disaster disaster).  Of course I am super excited to be doing this and it's an epic fail of disasterous proportions. 

I wasn't going to post...I was going to wait until tomorrow and be like no they don't need to see my disasters they don't need to see my failures, but this is real and disasters are real and people need to see when something fails.  It wasn't the recipe that failed just my own inability to think and being tired.  Because honestly this is one of my husband's favorite recipes.  I say ranch chicken and he starts drooling. 

See what happened was I used chicken that was no longer good.  I smelled it before I put it in the dredge and it smelled fine...it looked fine...nice and pink and squishy just like nasty raw chicken should be.  About 15 minutes before it was done it started oozing this dark red almost black 'blood substance' and my husband covers his mouth and goes no baby that's bad that's salmonella...sooooo we didn't eat it. 

I will still post the recipe as if I had used good chicken and had actually eaten it.



This is the dredge that I used for my chicken...the items in the unmarked containers are garlic salt and cayenne pepper...the vegetable oil is for greasing the 9x13 that you will put your chicken in to bake.  It smelled really good and I wish we could've eaten it.  If I were to give measurements I would say 1/2 c or less on the crumbs/cheese and just eyeball for the small things and the whole ranch packet.



This is what it looks like after you get the raw chicken dredged and in the 9x13.  I used chicken legs, but  next time I will use those thinly sliced chicken breasts or any chicken breasts or any chicken tenders or ANYTHING OTHER THAN CHICKEN LEGS THAT I THOUGHT WERE STILL GOOD!!



What I would've served it with had it been a success...although me having to multi-task I already had the potatoes done and the green beans done...so we will be taking them to work tomorrow to eat with our pb&j's since there was no leftover chicken...should be deeeee-lightful.

Thanks for reading...checking out! :)

*feel free to leave any comments just know I will be monitoring them*