Maple Bars

Maple Bars

1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup shortening (I used butter flavored Crisco)
4 Tablespoons  granulated Sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 cup lukewarm water

2  (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast
2 large eggs, beaten

4 3/4 cups flour

Maple Icing

1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons mapleine (found by the flavor extracts and seasonings)

For the dough:
In a medium saucepan scald milk; add shortening, 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir to combine and set aside to cool to lukewarm.

In a large mixer bowl, add the lukewarm water and the yeast (remember the water should be just lukewarm, too hot and it will kill the yeast) Add the remaining 1 Tablespoon of sugar to the yeast and water and whisk to combine. Let sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to bubble and become foamy.

After the yeast is foamy and the milk mixture is luke warm. Add the eggs to the yeast and stir to combine, then add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture , and gradually add the flour in. You may need to add more ( I added another 1/2 a cup) Knead for 3 to 5 minutes. I let my kitchen aid do the kneading for about 5 minutes.
Spray another large bowl with non-stick spray, place dough in the bowl and let raise for an hour or until double in size.

Punch down and roll out into a large rectangle about 1 inch thick.

Cut into rectangles, I cut the rectangle in half, and then each half into 6 pieces to make 12 bars, then place on a greased baking sheet. Let raise for about 20 minutes.

While bars are raising,  preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Bake the bars for 7 to 8 minutes or until light golden brown, Watch carefully. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before icing.

Make the icing while the bars are raising:

In a small saucepan mix butter, brown sugar and milk. Bring to boil for medium heat and simmer 3 minutes.l Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Add the mapleine and powdered sugar and blend well with a hand mixer. Add a little more powdered sugar if needed (I added about 1/4 cup more)

Spread on maple bars and enjoy)

Sweet Pulled Pork

This recipe is for about 10 lbs of pork, give or take.  It's not exact how much of the ingredients you put in.


1. Put pork in crockpot with couple cups of dr. pepper or coke (not diet) for 6-8 hours or until you can shred pork.
2. Shred pork and drain all juice.  
3. Put pork back into crockpot, add about 1 cup brown sugar (more or less to taste-depending on how sweet you like)
4. Add 1-2 can green chiles
5. Add 1 jar green salsa (I use Salsa Verde - Herdez brand - can get at walmart)
6. Add another cup of dr. pepper or coke


Mix all together and let cook on low for another couple of hours.


Courtesy Yuki Gross

Pizza Soup

Success once again. Naming a food after pizza magically makes it more desireable.

2 cans (10 oz.) Condensed Tomato Soup
3 cups water
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 cup short dry pasta (shells, ditalini, etc.)
1/3 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. marjoram
4 extra large rolls
Mozzarella cheese

1. Mix soup, water, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Be careful not to boil over.
2. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add pasta, pepperoni,  italian seasoning, and marjoram.
3. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until pasta is almost done.
4. While soup is cooking, carefully remove the middle from the rolls to form bowls. Try to keep the extra bread in one piece. It will be served on the side.
5. Once soup is done, ladle it into the bread bowls. Top with mozzarella as desired and broil until lightly brown. Toast the extra bread on the same pan as a side.
6. Serve right out of the oven.

Lemon-Poppyseed Muffin Scones

I adapted this from the Betty Crocker website.

1 box Betty Crocker® Lemmon-Poppyseed Muffin Mix
1/2 C. milk
1 egg white

1. Heat oven to 350°. Spray cookie sheet or line with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, stir the milk and egg white until blended. Stir in muffin mix. Dough will be sticky.
3. With floured fingers, shape the dough into an 8-inch round. Cut into 8 pieces before baking.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Let cool slightly before drizzling with lemon glaze (from muffin mix).
6. Serve warm.

Pizza Pasta Salad

Gabriel is ten times more likely to eat something if it is somehow related to pizza. Thus, I came up with this recipe in order to try to get him to eat something somewhat healthy.

1 pkg. tri-color rotini
4 cheese sticks (2 mozzarella, 2 cheddar)
1/4 C. shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 C. ranch dressing
1/2 C. italian dressing
Pepperoni
Sliced olives

1. Boil the noodles based on package instructions. Rinse in cold water.
2. Cut the cheese sticks into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. In a large bowl, mix ranch and italian dressings.
4. Add rotini and cheeses to dressings and toss to coat.
5. Add pepperoni and sliced olives.
6. Refrigerate for approximately 1 hour before serving.

Oriental Sauce

This is a simple teriyaki sauce that's fast and easy to make. It works well for stir-fry or on top of burgers.

3 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP sugar
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 TBSP cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water

Mix all ingredients together in a small saucepan; cook and stir until thickened.

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

***Makes 2 loaves***

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted- I used almonds instead since Aaron's allergic to pecans and it turned out great!
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanillla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8x4 inch loafpans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan, shielding with aluminum foil last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary. (I found that after one hour, my banana bread wasn't completely cooked through. I ended up baking it for an extra 10-15 minutes.) Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.

Here's the link to original post I found the recipe on:

http://sugarandspice-celeste.blogspot.com/2010/10/cream-cheese-banana-nut-bread-southern.html

Peanut Butter Brownie Buckeye Cupcakes

This recipe is from the same website as the slow cooker chicken. They're so good! I didn't really think the ganache was that great and probably won't use it next time.

Batter:
12-16 miniature peanut butter cups
1 box Duncan Hines® Milk Chocolate Premium Brownie Mix
3 large eggs
1/4 c water
1/2 c oil

Icing:
1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1/4 c butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Topping:
12-14 miniature peanut butter cups

Ganache (from MyBakingAddiction):
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp vanilla

-Preheat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cups in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups. Remove foil and cups from candy pieces. Set aside.
-Prepare brownie mix as described on box to make cakey brownies using the eggs, water and oil. Fill each up about 2/3 full with batter. Place 1 unwrapped candy piece, upside down, on top of batter in each cup. Lightly tap piece down into batter.
-Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cup comes out almost clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Place on wire rack; cool completely.

-Make icing by placing peanut butter and butter into medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy; scrape bowl. Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Beat on low speed 1 minute; scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Spread about 2 tablespoons of icing on each cupcake leaving the edge un-iced.

-Prepare ganache: in a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until very hot, but not boiling. Place chocolate pieces in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined. -Whisk in the honey, corn syrup, and vanilla. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Do not let the glaze sit for too long or it will harden up before you spoon it over the frosting. Spoon the glaze on the tops of the frosted cupcakes, allowing it to drip down the sides a little bit. Don’t add too much glaze or it will drip all over your liners.
-Top each cupcake with a peanut butter cup. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator. Remove them to room temperature one hour before serving.

Slow Cooker Bajio Chicken

A friend of ours gave us the link to this recipe. We used Mt. Dew instead Sprite and used a little more than it says to use and really liked it.

5 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 cup brown sugar (more to taste)
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
6 oz. Sprite (1/2 can)
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to crock pot and cook 1 more hour. Thicken the juices with a little cornstarch mixed in water.
Serve with flour tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans and any other taco fixings.
If you want it spicier rather than sweeter add a hotter salsa and more green chilies.

This would be easy to use as a freezer meal! Once it is all cooked and shredded, pour into a freezer gallon-sized ziploc bag. Freeze flat. When you are ready to use it, quickly reheat it (either in a crock pot or even a microwave!). (It works best if you let it thaw in your fridge for about 24 hours before reheating it)