Jalapeno Poppers

If you made me list my favorite recipes, this one would be right at the top. It, along with the wonton wrap recipe, are a "must" at our Christmas Eve festivities.

Ingredients:
12 jalapenos
1 pkg cream cheese
1 lb bacon

Obviously, they aren't exactly heart friendly, and to make them even less so, 1/2 fat and fat free cream cheese don't work well in the recipe. They just melt and run out of the popper.

Directions:
Cut the stem off each jalapeno, then slice in half. I would suggest using gloves when handling the jalapenos. In the past, I thought "Heck, I'm tough, I can handle it", and then wondered why my hands burnt all night long. Now I use gloves. My hands thank me.

Next, remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeno. This will remove the "heat" from the pepper. I've found that a a grapefruit spoon works really well. (I never knew what a grapefruit spoon was until I married Ryan. It's a spoon with serrated edges.) But a regular spoon will work as well. A little hint-I try to scrape away from me so that the juice doesn't pop me in the face. See, I've had lots of experience with these things. Wash out the jalapenos if you want to make sure you got all of the seeds. Cover a large cookie sheet (with sides) with tinfoil. Very important for clean up!

Next, cut the cream cheese into 24 pieces. This isn't necessary (at all) but that way I get a fairly even amount of cream cheese in each popper. Again, it's not necessary, a "spoonful" is as good a measurement. Spread the cream cheese inside the jalapeno. It doesn't have to look pretty. Place on the cookie sheet.

Take your pound of bacon and cut in half. I should have taken a picture of this. . .but cut them in half so they aren't as long. Hope that makes sense... Take one piece of bacon and wrap around the jalapeno. I've found that if you start at the bottom of the fat side of the popper, it works better. Wrap the bacon so that it covers as much of the jalapeno as possible. Try to end with the wrap on the bottom as well. That way, it won't flip up when cooked. The bacon will stretch quite nicely. I have seen people secure the bacon with toothpicks. Personally, that is more work than I need. Return to the cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. The bacon should be crisp and the jalapenos should be soft and fully cooked. It's better that they be overcooked than undercooked. Trust me on this one. The cream cheese will kind of squirt out a bit, but that's OK. Remove from the cookie sheet and serve. My mouth is watering just thinking of them. . .

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos

This is a new recipe that I got from Kellie. I actually heard some women at church raving about it-and was pleased to find out it was my own sister's recipe! It's an unusual combination of flavors, but my family found it irresistible. It's kind of one of those not-exact-measurement-recipes. But it's so easy, I don't think you can go wrong.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts ( I used 5)
1/2 bottle of green salsa
1/4 c. brown sugar
ingredients to make tacos (tortillas, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc).

Cook chicken. I boiled mine, but I'm guessing you could grill it, pan fry it, etc. Shred or dice the chicken. In a pan, combine cooked chicken, salsa and sugar. Cook and stir until combined and heated through.

I have a firm philosophy that everything tastes better with onions, (much to Ryan's dismay) so I sauteed onions and bell peppers.

Layer your taco with the chicken and fillings in whatever manner makes you happy. Enjoy!

PS. Cade ate the leftover meat the next day with tortillas. Not quite as tasty to me, but good enough for a 16 year old boy.

Chocolate Cake in Jars

Ok with my obession for getting my food supply stocked up, this is what I did today. I even remembered to take pictures. :) You can use ANY cake recipe.. Box or from scratch. I hardly ever buy cake mixes because from scratch is so much better. ANYWAY~ Just make the cake batter according to the directions. Then bake it in jars instead. Here is what I did...

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. cocoa

Mix dry ingredients well

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. cooking oil

2 c. cold water

add liquid ingredients and beat by hand

* Take 3 WIDE mouth QUART jars….. Or 6 WIDE mouth PINT jars. Grease and flour. Fill jars almost half full of cake batter.

Place in a pan and bake @ 350º for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. * I used the Quart jars and it took approximately 40 minutes or so. Remove the jars from the oven ONE at a time, wipe the rim, and then cap with simmered canning lid and secure the ring. Cool the jars on a towel until they "ping" and seal. Store on a dark, cool shelf. It didn’t take very long at all to hear the jars ping.

Morton's Tri Tip Roast

Hi all! Not posted here yet but love the recipes. I just made (should have taken a picture but forgot and we snarfed it all down!) a meal that I've enjoyed for a few months now and is both delicious and easy.

A while back I was in Costco and kind of browsing, and this lady said to me and I quote, "That is the best thing I have ever bought at Costco" and pointed at this Tri-Tip Roast. She told me that guests were asking about her marinade and her tricks etc, and all she did was cook this thing! So I tried it...wow, its DELICIOUS!!

Only place I've seen it so far is Costco, it looks like this:









This is a frozen one, because I have to have a spare available. You just take it out of the package, put it in a cassarole dish, I usually put foil over the top for the first hour and let it cook at 425 F. Then I check it and leave off the foil for the last bit of browning if neccessary. It usually takes about an hour, maybe an extra 15 minutes depending on how much pink you like in the middle and how large your particular tri-tip is. It is savory and moist and goes well with almost any sides.

Tonight we had it with broccoli, grapes and the kids had crescent rolls. So it makes for a nice low carb meal for those of us dieting and yet it is OH so satisfying! I'd love to hear if any of you have tried it or not and if you also like it!

Pretzel Turtles

We just had a Christmas party at our house and one of my friends brought these Christmas treats that were so good, and easy enough for a young child to help do.

-20 small mini pretzels
-20 chocolate covered caramel candies (Rollo's or Dove)
-20 pecan halves DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel. Bake for 4 minutes. While the candy is warm, press a pecan half onto each candy covered pretzel. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container. This picture shows them drizzled with melted white chocolate, but you don't have to do that.

Orange Fudge

Do any of you like orange sticks? This fudge is a variation of the usual marshmallow cream chocolate fudge recipe, but with the orange, it tastes like orange sticks. My mom loved orange sticks her whole life-we always knew we could get her a box for Mother's Day or Christmas and she would be happy, and she liked this fudge recipe, too.

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter (not margarine)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 -12 oz. pkg chocolate chips
2 tbsp orange extract
1 cup nuts
1 - 7 oz. jar marshmallow cream

Instructions:
In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips; stir until they are melted and mixture is smooth. Add marshmallow cream, nuts and orange flavoring; beat until blended. Pour into foil-lined 9 by 13 pan and chill till firm.

Toffee Bars

This is a great recipe for busy mom's at Christmas time. It is something that little children can help make and they are good(!) to eat as well. You may think the crackers are a weird ingredient, but when this done, it is similar to when you cover salty pretzels with chocolate, but this is better. This is simple to make, uses ingredients most of us have on hand and doesn't take long--kind of instant Christmas goodies....

Ingredients:
Whole Soda Crackers
1 cup butter (not margarine)
1 cup brown sugar
1 Large pkg chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, whatever you like or have on hand), if desired

Instructions:
Put whole soda crackers 1 layer thick all over a Pam sprayed 9 by 13 pan. Boil butter and sugar together for three minutes stiring always. Pour butter and sugar mixture over crackers. Bake at 400 degrees for three minutes. Cool for three minutes. Spread with 1 large package chocolate chips. These will melt on the hot mixture as you spread the chocolate around. Sprinkle on 1 cup chopped nuts of any kind or leave the nuts off. Cool. Cut into pieces.