Epic Pizza Cake! A great party food-Semi homemade

Hey friends! Looking for an amazing party food! Check this out! 

Share it if you love it please?

Loves

Emily 

Chocolate dipped strawberries

We made some traditional chocolate dipped strawberries this weekend. I love that they are a treat and are a little bit on the healthy side too and it is so much less expensive than $3 a piece if you buy them premade! Here's what we did...

1 bag of milk chocolate 

(you can use semi if you prefer)

2 TBS canola oil

1 lb of strawberries

Melt the chocolate and the oil a double boiler over low heat. Dip the strawberries in in the chocolate and place on parchment paper or wax paper and let rest until the chocolate is dry.

 NOTE: You can actually get more like 2 lbs of strawberries out of 1 bag of chips as you can see by the marshmallow brigade. LOL! 

Crock Pot Pork Chile Verde

Did you have a happy Thanksgiving weekend friends? Mine was excellent! Lots of family time and lots of good food! Emily hosted our huge family thanksgiving meal this year and it was lovely. Smoked turkey? Um yes please. I also may have eaten an entire pumpkin pecan pie by myself. No shame. By Sunday I was over eating thanksgiving food though. That is where this recipe comes in. So if you are sick of turkey and mashed potato left overs check it out.

Pork Chile Verde 

4 pound pork picnic shoulder roast

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4-8 serano chiles

1-2 bunches of cilantro

8-10 tomatillos

2 red tomatoes

Put roast, chopped onion and garlic in a 4 quart crock pot. Cook pork roast in a crock pot on low for about 8 hours or until it is easily shredded. Shred it all up and pour most of juices off. Steam tomatillos and serano chiles until slightly cooked. Blend tomatillos, serano chiles, cilantro and red tomatoes until liquified. Pour over shredded pork and enjoy!

We ate it on corn tortillas with some sour cream and queso fresco. The queso fresco is pretty salty so we don't add salt to our chile verde. Without a salty cheese the chile verde will probably need a little salt. We made this for 7 people and wanted leftovers so thats why we used so much meat. You can easily halve this. We were feeding people who don't enjoy spice so we only used 4 serano chiles. If we were making it just for us we would put at least 8 seranos in. Also I used 2 bunches of cilantro because we love it. This is one of my favorite crock pot recipes. It is delicious.

Smores Pie-Quick and Easy Last minute No bake pie Recipe

This Pie is awesome! Very easy, very tasty and simple and no bake is always a plus when you are using the oven for so many other things this time of year.  My sweet Gabby made this one up for us and another for a family friend and it was marvelous! Give it a try!

Yummy S'more Pie

1 package of instant pudding 3.9 oz size

1 can 12 oz of evaporated milk

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

3 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups frozen whipped topping (cool whip style) thawed

1/2 C chocolate chips

Whisk 1 1/4 C evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl until blended and pour into the graham crust. Microwave 2 Cups of the marshmallows and 1/4 Cup evaporated milk for 30-45 seconds until smooth. Let stand for 15 minutes. Gently fold the whipped topping. SPoon over the the chocolate layer and smooth. Add 1 cup of marshmallows and the chocolate chips to the top and then refrigerate for 2 hours.  Once set using a torch to brown marshmallows. Serve and enjoy!!

Mock Abalone-A family traditional Recipe

Do you know what Abalone is?? Let me tell you...:) it is the meat inside the shell that mother of pearl comes from. 

It looks like this...

after meat is removed

the meat 

the whole complete abalone

My husband Jason's grandparents (who lived near the ocean) would eat abalone occasionally but the price was and is still daunting! $70 to $105 a pound approx. A delicacy worth the price from what I understand although I have

 never had the privilege of eating it myself. 

(it may as well cost a million dollars at that price. I could afford it as easily LOL!)

Enter the invention of Mock Abalone...

Thank you Grandma Hill!

It is delish!

Do give it a try! 

You will love it and it tastes a lot like abalone with the price of good ol' chicken! YAY!

MOCK ABALONE

2 jars of clam juice

3lbs boneless skinless chicken (cut into strips or nuggets)

1 Cup masa herina

Oil for deep frying

Seasonings to your tastes and desires...We like to use seasoned salt, creole seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, old bay, black pepper, etc etc. Whatever suits your fancy.

Instructions

Soak the chicken pieces in the clam juice for as long as you can preferably over night. When you are ready to cook, put the masa herina and the seasonings in a gallon size zip lock bag. Drain the juice away from the chicken and add the chicken to the masa mix.  Shake to coat. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile heat your oil to 375. Place a few pieces in the oil and cook for about 3.5 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Placed the cooked chicken on a plate or tray lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat the cooking until all the chicken is cooked. 

Enjoy!

Loves 

Emily

Pantry Bag Meal-Round 2

 

So here is another idea for our pantry bag meals. If you don't remember, these are the meals for those who don't have a freezer or freezer space but still want some ready to go dinners set aside for times when time is tight. 

You can check out the first post here... 

Let me introduce you to 

Mexican chicken Soup. 

(I found it on pinterest of course)

It is SO good and guess what? It took ONLY 8 minutes to get it hot and ready to eat!! 

That is awesome!

 PLUS...only 160 cals per 1 cup measure serving!! 

Holy COW! 

Is this real life?? :)

Gather these ingredients in your bag for the pantry

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can garbonzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, drained

1 (12.5 oz) can chicken breast, drained

1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 oz) can mild enchilada sauce

1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning

Write or attach these instructions to your pantry bag

Instruction Open and pour all ingredients into a large soup pot. Heat through. Serve with tortilla chips and cheese if desired.  

ENJOY!

Emily

Quick Easy 25 min Homemade Chili

This is a go to recipe for our family! We love chili but just flat out don't have the time to do all that soaking the beans etc that a traditional chili would take. This recipe is adapted from a cooking genius friend of mine who taught me a lot of domestic things in my earlier years whom will forever be thankful for!! 

Quick and Easy 25 min Chili

3lbs ground meat 

(we used chicken we had ground ourselves but hamburger or turkey works great too!!)

1 onion diced

2 cloves diced garlic or to taste

4 cans of chili beans undrained

1 15oz can of tomato sauce

2 TBS cumin or to taste

1/2 TBS chili powder or to taste

2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp chipotole powder

6 drops Tabasco or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

grated cheese for garnish

Brown meat with onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink and onion is translucent. Drain if it is needed. Add chili beans and tomato sauce. Add all seasonings to taste. :) Serve with a little cheese on top. PS this makes a huge pot,  Feel free to adjust the amounts to fit your needs.

Pantry Bag Meals-A freezer Meal For those who don't have a freezer

I love a good freezer meal. I enjoy the peace of knowing that dinner is planned, prepared, and ready to go! What if one does not have a freezer or freezer space? No worries! There is a solution...

Pantry Bag Meals. 

This method only requires the space for the pre-cooked meat in the freezer and then when its time for dinner the rest of the ingredients are set a side ready to go. Just follow the simple instructions heat and eat. COOL!!  I have 12 recipes developed so far and 2 to share with you today. 

First is 

Taco Soup

Shopping list

1 lb hamburger or turkey burger

 1 onion, chopped

 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, 

 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans 

 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, 

 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

 1 29oz can peeled and diced tomatoes

 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers

 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

What to do

1. Precook the burger and onion drain and put in a freezer safe container and freeze.

2. Gather the canned goods and put in a bag or a different container of your choice

3. On the outside of the bag/container write or staple a printed sheet with these instructions....

Add 1 lb burger w onion from the freezer in a soup pot

Mix all the ingredients from the bag in with the burger, (do not drain the cans) add 2 cups of water. Heat through and eat!! 

(BTW we love to eat this soup with crushed tortilla chips and a little cheese sprinkled on the top)

The second is 

Hearty Bean Dip

(this recipe makes a great dip for chips or a filling for tortillas. Don't let the word Dip confuse you. It is hearty enough to make a meal. I promise.

Shopping list

1 lb burger

1 jar of your favorite salsa

1 large can of refried beans

1 lb cheese

Corn chips or tortillas or both :) 

PS the cheese, corn chips, and tortillas do not need to be purchased until you are ready to eat the recipe

1. Precook the burger, drain, and put in a freezer safe container and freeze.

2. Gather the canned goods and put in a bag or a different container of your choice

3. On the outside of the bag/container write or staple a printed sheet with these instructions....

Place 1 lb burger from the freezer in a pot, add salsa and beans and cheese from the fridge. Heat through. Serve with extra cheese sprinkled on top and corn chips or tortillas as a filling. 

These babies are going to waiting and ready for my family this coming holiday season! I've got 10 more recipes to get ready for my pantry and for you to see! Be watching!

ENJOY!

Loves,

Emily

Fancy Puff Pastry Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie-Great for Entertaining!!

This is really a cool concept! The first time I saw this idea was at the Lion House Pantry. Unfortunately I have no idea what their recipe is but I really love how mine turns out! This is just my recipe for chicken pot pie filling and a great puff pastry square! It is great for serving at a party too! So much less complicated! 

Fancy Puff Pastry Deconstructed 

Chicken Pot Pie

Makes enough for 12 squares

2 sheets of puff pastry thawed

2lbs of chicken breast cooked and diced

1 Cup of sliced carrots

1 C peas

1 C sliced celery

2 potatoes peeled and diced

1 onion diced

1/3 C butter

1/3 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

2 C chicken broth

1 C milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a pan with parchment paper. Cut your puff pastry sheets into 12 squares and place on the parchment. Place the carrots celery and potato in a sauce pan and cover just barely with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for approx 15 min or until the veggies are fork tender.Drain. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another sauce pan and onion and saute until the onion is translucent.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and thyme. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat. Mix milk mixture and veggies together.  Add the peas and the chicken. Allow to heat through. Place the puff pastry in the preheated oven and cook until the pastries are golden and puffed. 15-20 min approx. 

 Once the pastry squares have rested about 5 min. place one in an individual serving dish and ladle the chicken pot pie mix over the top with the desired amount of "gravy". Enjoy!! 

PS wouldn't it be cool if we cut the pastries out in fun shapes too!

Loves,

Emily

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Rice Crispy Treats are a staple goody in our home. We really love them and they are easy enough that almost all the kids are able to make them, Even Sarah our 7 year old is almost there.  If it weren't for my fear of her using the stove she would be. This is the recipe we use and how we have jazzed them up.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

1 stick of butter

16 oz mini marshmallows

7 cups rice crispies

1 C Peanut butter Chips

1 C Milk Chocolate chips

Grease a 9x13 pan. Melt the butter and marshmallows together. Mix the marshmallow mix and the rice crispies together.  Add chips. Mix in being careful not to mix so much that the chips melt entirely. Press into the pan with a the back of a buttered spoon. Wait for them to cool before cutting. ENJOY!!

Loves

Emily

Reuben Fries

We love French Fries! We love Reuben Sandwiches! Unfortunately we are avoiding gluten in our house. (well kinda) How can we possibly eat Reuben Sandwiches without bread? Over french fries of course!! 

Ingredients
1 32 Oz bag of frozen french fries
1 C thousand island dressing
1 C drained sauerkraut
1 lb of corned beef diced (more or less depending on taste and desire)
8 oz grated Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (or whatever your fries dictate)
Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick spray
Place the fries in the bottom of the pan
Cover the fries with the thousand island dressing
Cover the dressing with the kraut
Cover the kraut with the corned beef
cover the corned beef with the swiss cheese
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the fries are cooked through and the cheese is melted.

ENJOY!!

Easy bread machine rolls

Our family really loves hot homemade rolls! I love that my bread machine does the dirty work while I go about other things. Win Win!! This recipe is faster than letting those freezer rolls thaw and much less expensive too and seriously there is nothing like butter on a hot roll! Its a feel good food regardless of the time of year but it is especially awesome on the cold fall and winter nights.

Easy bread machine rolls

1 cup warm milk

1/2 C of butter softened

1/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

4 1/2 C of flour

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

extra butter for brushing on the top of the hot rolls before serving (optional)

Add ingredients in the order list to your bread machine. Run on dough cycle. When dough is done, divide into 20-24 portions and shape into balls.

Place on a greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. lightly brush with butter over the tops of the rolls (optional)


Yield: 20-24 rolls

Bean and cheese Burrito Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole! SO Easy!

This is one easy peasy casserole! It literally took me 11 minutes to get in the pan and cooking! Yes, I time myself. It took longer for the oven to preheat. Serious easiness here! It was actually requested by my now 17 year old son for his birthday dinner if that gives you any indication as to if it is as yummy as it sounds. Also for my gluten free friends and family I You can make it with corn chicken taquitos (please read the label to be sure if your brand is gluten free) and it is just as good if not better. I literally decided to try it while shopping for the ingredients for the bean burrito style and it was amazing! I think I like the taquito version better!!

Bean and Cheese Burrito Sour Cream enchilada Casserole

14 bean and cheese frozen burritos thawed (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)

1 family size cream of mushroom soup

16 oz sour cream

7oz green chilies

12.5 oz canned chicken un-drained(optional)

2 cups of cheese

Line the pan edge to edge with your burritos

Mix remaining ingredients except cheese together and pour over the burritos. Top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour in 350 degree oven. 

For the taquito version you will want to add a little sauce to the bottom of your pan first.

Homemade DIY breakfast chicken sausage. No nitrates or fillers and quick and easy!

My hubby isn't able to eat beef and will only eat pork once or twice a month and my son gets sick when he eats nitrates. Needless to say sausage could have very well have been a thing of the past. Which kinda sucked because I LOVE sausage!! Luckily I found a wonderful quick easy recipe to make my own chicken sausage (we even grind our own chicken) and it is rather tasty! You won't regret whipping up some of your own! Plus there are no fillers and we know exactly what is in our sausage, AND its much lower in fat AND No mystery meat here!!

HOMEMADE CHICKEN SAUSAGE

2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs(ground in a food processor)

2 tsp sage

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 TBS brown sugar

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Mix together and cook as desired as patties or crumbles etc

Pretty easy eh? :)

Loves

Emily

Healthy Hummus...No Oil Here baby! With cucumber slices for dipping!

I am sure you know that garbanzo beans are healthy...RIGHT? But do you know why? Did you know garbanzo beans are a great source of protein, fiber and healthy fats, they increase energy, help stabilize blood sugar, lowers LDL cholesterol and risk of heart attack and because of their high fiber and low GI they are excellent for weight loss!! Plus the reduce the risk of colon cancer! Yippey!! Here is on of our families favorite ways to eat garbanzo beans..

NO OIL HUMMUS W CUCUMBER DIPPING SLICES

1 can of garbanzo beans drained
1 TBS minced garlic
2 TBS lemon juice
chicken broth as needed
sliced cucumber (as many as you like) :) 

Blend garbanzo beans, garlic and lemon juice in a blender adding chicken broth slowly as needed until the hummus reaches your desired consistency. Dip sliced cucumbers as if they were a chip or cracker. 

ENJOY!!

Award winning homemade Crock Pot Pasta Sauce

This sauce is GOOD! We use is as our sauce for lasagna, baked ziti, cheese ravioli etc. It makes a lot so its likely you will have left overs to throw in the freezer which is always nice.

Crock Pot Pasta Sauce

 1 pound sweet Italian sausage

 1 pound lean ground beef (we use ground turkey)

 1/2 cup minced onion

 2 cloves garlic, crushed

 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

 1 12oz can tomato paste

 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

 1/2 cup water

 2 tablespoons white sugar

 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

 1 tablespoon salt

 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned and place in your crock pot.

 Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning,salt, and pepper.

 Simmer in crock pot, for approx 3-4 hours on high, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!!

Salted Marshmallow Fudge cookies-An easy semi-homemade idea!!

Looking for a quick easy party food? Need something fast to take to a friend in need? Bridal or baby shower coming up? Bake sale? Why not Salted Marshmallow Fudge Cookies? 

 This is a super quick way to fancify your fudge marshmallow cookies and it super duper easy!!  You will need a package of the marshmallow fudge cookies (ya know....like the ones that rhyme with twinwheels?? OR Great Value makes a great (haha get it?? GREAT) version too and they are less than half the price and neither is free from the cracks on the surface of the fudge so go for the cheap I say) You will also need a torch and a sprinkle of kosher salt

BTW this little torch was found at Harbor Freight for $9 full of fuel AND he is refillable.

 Pretty great deal!! (if you are in the market for a torch) :) 

All you do is wave the torch over the top of the cookie until the chocolate gets shiny and sprinkle a little bit of kosher salt over it. Let it set (re-harden) and serve. YUMMY!!

 NOTE-keep in mind that the end of the torch stays hot for a while after the flame is off so be careful with it until you know it is cool.

 ENJOY MY FRIENDS!!

Italian Sodas-Yummy!

Have you had an Italian Soda? They are yummy!I have had them in fancy Italian restaurants before but when my Gabby came home from a manners dinner with her young woman's class and was raving  about the Italian Sodas they served she had to find the recipe and of course thanks to pinterest she was successful. Here is the one we found...my only change would be choosing to just use the half and half the recipe calls for instead of the fat free version I purchased. That being said even with the fat free half and half it was still So SO good!! 

Italian Sodas

You will need:

Torani flavors of your choice 

Half and half

club soda

and ice cubes

Add 3 ice cubes to your glass

Then add 1/2 C of club soda

followed by 3 TBS of flavorings and

1 TBS of half and half. 

Top with whipped cream (optional)

Stir and 

ENJOY!!

I think this would be so fun at a party! Make your own style!!

My water proof picnic blanket -A tutorial (sorta)

I am sure you remember our post on Free Movies in the park but if you don't you can check it out here... Well, we have been attending, and have been enjoying the fun, but have run into two little problems. 1) the blankets are getting a little moist as we sit on them in the grass and 2) we are having a hard time getting them to stay put. (read between wiggly kids and people walking through our party the blankets were a bunched up mess) SO....they say necessity is a mother and it must be true because I came up with a solution to both little troubles; my version of a water proof picnic blanket. How you ask?? I sewed a cheap blanket to a tarp.  HAHA!! 

Pretty simple but very effective and I'll show you how. 

 What you'll need:

a tarp (we used a heavy duty 8x10 tarp)

a blanket (we used a cheap $5 twin size blanket from Wallys)

thread

the usual sewing notions

tent stakes

OPTIONAL: a tent stake mallet

First we laid out the tarp and 

then centered the blanket on top of it. 

Next we pinned and pinned and pinned. 

(you will want a lot of pins) :)

Then once it was pinned we simply sewed around it to 

attach the blanket to the tarp.

 NOTE: it is big and kinda heavy...you may want assistance just holding the bulk of the materials and to help maneuver it while you sew.

Now we can use the grommets in the tarp to stake down our blanket and never worry about whatever is on the grass seeping up to get us.  YAY!! AND it will stay right where we put it. HOORAY!!

Gabby is so helpful staking down the blanket and all....

Don't they look so happy to be nice and dry?! 

I plan on storing the mallet, stakes, and blanket in a cute reusable shopping bag and keeping it in our van for ready to go capabilities.