A New Post?!

Whaaaaaaaat!

I know right? I've been cooking still, a little. I've even taken pictures! But they're on Husband's computer at school all day.

This time I'm going to use the photo that came with the recipe I just made and when husband is home from doing class work and hiking and playing football
{while I sit at home with Peaches and Chancho saying "oh no! don't do that! HEY! GET OVER HERE! I SAID PUT THAT DOWN! PUT IT DOWN! don't hit your brother. Really? you felt a need to dump that EVERYWHERE?!"}
I'll see about doing posts for my other recipes.

We did find a new car. HURRAY! I love it. It's an 03 Expedition and it's lovely. Though yesterday the computer that monitors the door sensors and the gas mileage and all that jazz started freaking out {something to get checked on. Woo!}.

Anyway, recipe.

I love potato chips. Crunchy, crispy, flavorful chips.

But I don't like spending approximately $3 for a bag.

Solution?

Our Best Bites homemade potato chip recipe!

Potato Chips

Ingredients:

Potatoes (1 medium potato makes about 2-3 servings)
Oil for frying
Seasonings

Heat oil in a deep skillet {about 2-3 inches deep} to 375 degrees, slice potatoes {no need to peel first} using a mandolin, food processor or {what i did} a regular potato peeler going horizontally across the top of the potato {rather than lengthwise down the sides}. This got them REALLY thin and were very close to the Lays brand of chips as opposed to the thicker Tims Cascade style. Place potato slices in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes and swoosh them around. Rinse a couple times in cold water to make sure you get the extra starchies off. Lay flat in a single layer on a bed of paper towels. Blot with more paper towels to dry them off.

**OIL AND WATER ARE NOT FRIENDS! make sure you get them VERY dry so the oil doesn't pop and splatter**

Working in batches, fry potatoes for 1-3 minutes or until just GOLDEN. If they get too dark they taste burned and that's not Tasty Town. Remove and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Season immediately while still hot.

That's all she wrote.
They're super easy and SUPER good! Some seasonings the website recommends are:

Salt
Black Pepper
Rosemary {pulsed in food processor with salt}
Malt Salt {salt and vinegar style}
Parmesan Cheese {powdered kind you put on spaghetti}

I used Parmesan and OH MY STARS. It was so good! If you come up with any other seasoning ideas let me know! I'd love to try something new.

♥ K8

Hiatus

Our car died so all my free computer time is being devoted to researching SUVs and
*gulp*
minivans

I'll try to get something posted today or tomorrow.

Promise.

♥ K8

Grandma Carrie's Very Blueberry {or poppy seed} Muffins

There were more, the recipe makes 12-16 muffins, but I took the picture mid dinner

Grandma Carrie is actually my mother in law, but to Peaches and Chancho, she's Grandma Carrie.

These muffins are so delicious and have that classic muffin taste. Its easy to swap the blueberries out for poppy seeds and they make a great addition to any breakfast spread.

Grandma Carrie's Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla {for poppy seed sub 1 tsp almond extract}
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries {for poppy seed sub 1 Tbsp poppy seeds}

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs {like for pie crust}.

In a small bowl mix eggs, milk and vanilla until well blended. Add to flour mixture then add blueberries.

Place paper baking cups in muffin tin and spoon batter in until 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

A little butter, some OJ and a side of fresh fruit...sounds like breakfast to me! I also like to use them in place of rolls or biscuits at dinner time. Thanks for the recipe Carrie and we'll see you on Skype!

♥ K8

O-O-REO!

Ready for something awesome?

Something that will make your taste buds dance and sing?

Something so rich you will need a gallon of milk to survive the next bite?

Oreo Truffles
AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 32 oz package Oreos
2 bags chocolate chips {can also use 16 oz semi sweet baking chocolate}

Crush 9 Oreos into fine crumbs using a food processor or a ziploc bag and a rolling pin. I used the rolling pin. Set aside. Crush the remaining 36 Oreos into fine crumbs {again using whichever method you prefer} and put in a large bowl with cream cheese and mix until there are no more loose crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll Oreo/cream cheese mixture into 1 inch balls {I bought some latex gloves for this part, made it a LOT easier} and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper. Insert a toothpick into each ball and refrigerate {or freeze} for an hour.

Now, the original recipe is what I followed for dipping them in chocolate. It was a nightmare. That's what reviews are for though! Everyone said to add 1 Tbsp shortening to thin the chocolate and make it easier to get a nice, even coating. Melt chocolate and shortening using a double boiler {don't have one? put a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl} until completely melted and smooth. Using the handy toothpicks, dip each truffle in chocolate, roll in reserved Oreo crumbs and place on wax papered baking sheet.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes, remove toothpicks and Voila! Gourmet lookin' {and tastin'} truffles! Store covered in fridge and eat at your own leisure. I've got a plate of 'em next to me with some Grey's Anatomy on Netflix

Bon bons and a chick flick ;)

♥ K8

Winter Food in July

I love cold weather...around Christmas time.

After Christmas, I'm done. I want summer back.

If we could jump from big, fluffy snow on Christmas to 85 and sunny on December 26th I would be in heaven.

One of my fave winter foods is stew.

Thick, Hearty, Warms your bones.

Well, it's July.

But I wanted stew.
{and I forgot to take pictures}

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/2- 2 lbs stew meat
5 potatoes {washed and peeled as much or as little as you want, i like a little peel}
1/2 lb baby carrots
5 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf {or a few shakes of dried, crushed bay leaves}
few shakes of dried rosemary
Salt & Peppa
1 package Au Jus gravy mix {or brown gravy mix}
2 Tbsp oil
some flour {maybe 1/2 cup?}
6 cups water

Heat oi in a large pot. Roll individual pieces of meat in flour until coated. Brown meat in oil with garlic, Salt & Peppa, Bay leaf and Rosemary until meat is seared on the outside. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch thick half circles. Add potatoes, carrots and water. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer on low until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add gravy mix and simmer until thickened.
{if you want it thicker, mix 1 Tbsp corn starch with 1 Tbsp cold water until smooth and throw it in the stew}

I served it with Buttermilk biscuits

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp SACO Buttermilk Blend
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup water

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal. Add water and mix until dough is pliable. Do not overbeat. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick, no less {i did mine about an inch thick}. Cut with floured biscuit cutter {i used a cup}. Place close together on ungreased baking sheet {i greased min with a little Pam}. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees.
{Recipe from Saco Buttermilk Blend can}

Big thanks to neighbor Audrey for the buttermilk powder stuff. Those biscuits were DELISH! {and the stew was too of course!}

♥ K8

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

I've been dying for a great slice of cheesecake, but being Rexburg, there is none to be found.

So I found a great recipe in a cookbook I got at Ross for $11.00 4 years ago:

4 Ingredient Cookbook

The recipe in the book had cherry pie filling for the topping, but I'm not a huge cherry pie filling fan.

Mine is topped with...

Yup.

Strawberries.
{we're drowning in strawberries over here}

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

1 {8 oz} package of cream cheese softened
1 {14 oz} can sweetened condensed milk {NOT evaporated milk}
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 graham cracker crust {I buy mine pre-made}
1 can cherry pie filling {or 8 medium/large strawberries}

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into graham crust and chill for 3 hours.

To serve: Top with cherry pie filling or sliced strawberries. You can also use any pie filling or fresh fruit. This would also make a great filling for a fruit tart!





♥ K8

More Strawberries

I don't have pictures of the recipe right now, but I'll throw some up here later.

We have a little garden behind our town home that husband has been meticulously caring for all spring/summer. Our landlord started it and then moved out leaving behind large strawberry plants.

These strawberry plants are ridiculous. We HAVE to pick strawberries every day or they rot. It's not just one or two berries a day either.


Every 2 or 3 days we have a FULL gladware container!

I've been trying to eat them and use them as much as possible before they go bad, but we still end up giving quite a few away to friends and neighbors.

I wanted ice cream yesterday, but all we had was boring vanilla with no toppings. So I got creative.

Strawberry Ice Cream/Milkshakes

Ingredients:

2 cups strawberries rinsed and de-stemmed
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups vanilla ice cream

put it all in a blender and blend until all the ice cream is pink. If you want chunks of strawberries, put the ice cream in first with the strawberries on top and pulse on low until combined. It'll be like soft serve ice cream, but you can put it in the freezer to harden it back up. If you want milkshakes, add milk until you get the consistency you want.

If you live in Rexburg and want some strawberries, be our guest! I'm getting sick of 'em!

♥ K8