Jenny's Christmas Popcorn

My gift to you this Christmas season ...

my recipe for simple yet special teacher and neighbor gifts. :)

Jenny's Christmas Popcorn

Ingredients:

• Orville Redenbacher's white popcorn
• canola oil (for popping the corn)
• Aldi's Vanilla Almond Bark ($2.69 for 1.5 lbs)
• salt
• sprinkles
• treat bags (if gifting)

Here's the easy directions ... it's just three steps. 

1. Pop the popcorn.
2. Melt the chocolate.
3. Mix. 

However, every time I give that recipe, people ask for more details. So here they be ...
(And remember ... you didn't come here for my food photography skills!) ;)

1. Pop the popcorn. 

I use a Stir Crazy popcorn maker like this one. I use about 1/2 to 2/3 cup kernels per batch. 

2. Melt the chocolate. 

I use about 5-6 cubes for one batch of popcorn. Drop the cubes in a glass bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each round. It usually takes about two minutes for the chocolate to become smooth. 

3. Mix. 

I usually work with half the batch at a time. I lightly salt the popcorn at this point.

Then drizzle with melted chocolate and stir until evenly coated. Add a little more chocolate if necessary. :)

Spread the coated popcorn on wax paper and while the chocolate is still warm, add colored sprinkles. Just for fun. :)

Once the chocolate has cooled, gently break it apart and put it in pretty treat bags. I get about 5-6 bags from each batch of popcorn. Dollar Tree has a nice selection of treat bags--25 for $1.

And that's it! :) 

Enjoy. :)

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

 Be forewarned. They're addictive.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, this was so simple it really doesn't qualify as a recipe. It's not the least bit healthy. But it's really. really. yummy. :) And it'd make an excellent contribution to an office party or church potluck, and tied up in a baggy with a ribbon, it could even be a nice last-minute hostess gift.

 

Sorry to have only the one picture, though. Had I had any inkling they'd be as a good as they were and I'd want to share my "recipe," I would have taken pictures of each step. But I was just hoping to have something edible after trying unsuccessfully to "find" a recipe. :) I should have known you really can't go wrong with pretzels and chocolate.

 

Ingredients:

• Pretzel Rods, about 2-dozen (I had a bunch left over from Christmas that needed to be used up before they went completely stale.)
• White Chocolate Bark, about 3–4 2-oz. blocks
• Mix-ins of your choosing ... M&Ms, chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces, milk chocolate bark, etc.

Directions:

• Spread wax paper on a baking tray or pan that will fit in your fridge.
• Put your pretzel rods in a resealable bag and gently hammer them so that they are in approximately 1-inch pieces. You do NOT want powder or tiny bits. You're aiming for nice sized chunks. (Mini-pretzel rods or bows would be an option if you wanted to skip this step. I happen to have a son who really. likes. hammers. so I'll be sticking with the rods.)
• While you're doing this, melt your white chocolate bark on the stove or in the microwave. I used the microwave, and did it in 30-second increments, stirring after each time. It took about 2-3 minutes.
• Move your pretzel chunks to a large bowl. Remove them by hand from the bag, being careful to avoid getting the tiniest, powdery pieces.
• Pour your melted white chocolate over the pretzels and stir. I did this in about three increments. Your goal is to get your pretzel chunks evenly coated.

Now, here's where you can get as creative as you please. I wanted to add in chocolate chips. I had. no. chocolate. chips. And it never crossed my mind to use the M&Ms which I did have. Ah well. I'll remember for next time. (Yes, there will be a next time.) I'm mentioning it so that you can consider doing it the first time. I think Reese's Pieces would be really good as well. However, since I really wanted "chocolate" in addition to the white chocolate, I melted a block of the milk chocolate bark which I did have, and stirred that in over the white chocolate. It worked. It was really good. But the white chocolate alone with other mix-ins would be prettier. In my opinion. :)

• Spread the coated pretzels on your baking tray and put in the fridge for about 10 minutes (or till hardened.)
• Break apart your Chocolate Pretzel Bites and ENJOY! :) (And share. Your waistline will thank you for sharing.) ;)



This Moment #7 ~ Homemade Applesauce

Incredible flavor, incredibly easy.

The Recipe

1. Load your crockpot with peeled, sliced apples. (I used Mutzu, Golden Delicious, and a couple Pink Ladies.)


2. Sprinkle cinnamon liberally over top.


3. Cook on low, 8–10 hours.


4. Blend with stick mixer.


5. Enjoy.

Cake Mix Cookies

Baking cookies with little ones can be lots of fun . . . but I have found that we have lots more fun when I keep it simple. Low Stress for Mommy = Fun for Kids (and Mommy)

Hence, we make Cake Mix Cookies quite regularly. These are great for a number of reasons:

1. They're very quick to make (i.e. suitable to the attention span of small children and the time constraints of busy mommies.)
2. They're about as mess-free as homemade cookies can get. You don't even have to pull out the mixer!
3. The recipe makes about 3-dozen. Enough to enjoy but not get tired of.

Are they as healthy as possible? No. I could make "healthier" cookies completely from scratch using whole wheat flour and a variety of other better-for-you ingredients. But guess what? I get the gumption to do that about twice a year. So that means we have Aldi "oreos" in our lunch boxes the other 50 weeks of the year. By using a cake mix as the base, we enjoy both the process and taste of "homemade" cookies much more regularly.

So, here's the recipe for those who would like to try it. I promise--it's about 20-25 minutes from start to clean up--even with little ones helping! :o)

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (trying olive oil next time . . . )
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 box cake mix
• 1 cup "mix-ins"

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients and roll into balls.
2. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. Let sit on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes after removing from oven before moving to cooling rack.

You can definitely get creative with these. Here's the combinations of cake mixes and mix-ins we've tried:

• "Double Chocolate Chip" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup chocolate chips
• "White Chocolate Craisin" - yellow cake mix, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup Craisins
• "Chocolate M&Ms" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup M&Ms (any flavor, but chop first if you use bigger ones like peanut or peanut butter)
• "Chocolate Peppermint" - chocolate cake mix, 1 cup peppermint baking chips

If your family likes peanuts, you could add those, and there's lots of flavors of baking chips available. Sometime I plan to buy peanut butter baking chips . . . or maybe Reese's! Mmmmm . . . :o) Also, I just use the chocolate/yellow cake mixes from Aldi. Nothing fancy. They were 69 cents a piece, although just this week I saw that the price is up. Anyway, just get whatever one is least expensive. It doesn't have to be name brand or anything.

We've been doing these weekly over the past month, and Peter's actually gotten really good at making cookie balls! A month ago, every cookie turned into a snake, so I had to discreetly reroll them. Now I can hardly tell the difference between his cookies and Hannah's!

Hope you enjoy! :o)

PS - The original recipe called for a stick of butter which can be rather expensive (and calorie-rich). Using a substitution guide on a package of Betty Crocker cookie mix, we successfully used the vegetable oil instead today. I actually like the results a little better. However, if you'd rather use butter, it's 1 stick of melted butter and just 2 TBS of water in place of the oil/water in the recipe above.

"Mommy Special"

In the absence of bread for sandwiches, we created a "Mommy Special" for lunch on Saturday. Mommy didn't really know what it was going to turn out to be as she gathered ingredients that seemed somewhat appealing, so she claimed "Mommy Special" to every question of "What's for lunch?" However, they are now known as "Chicken Pockets" and are quite yummy (and easy as well!)

Chicken Pockets

Ingredients:

• 1 tube of ready-bake biscuits (I had Pillsbury Honey-Wheat Biscuits in the fridge.)
• 1 can of shredded cooked chicken
• mayonnaisse
• shredded parmesan cheese
• chopped onion
• salt, pepper, dill weed to taste

Directions:

1. Flatten biscuits with a rolling pin.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients in desired quantities to obtain the basic consistency of chicken salad.
3. Divide chicken mixture evenly and spoon about 2-3 TBS on half of each flattened biscuit.
4. Fold biscuits over to make half-moons and press edges closed with a fork.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

This would also be yummy with tuna fish also, and cheddar or any other type of cheese could be used as well. Enjoy!

Rainy Day Recipes

The Lord has blessed us with an abundance of rain this week! This picture most definitely does not do justice to the swollen creeks and flooded parking lots and roads! But, nonetheless, it was a very wet day that I took it. So what do we do when it rains?

We wear warm dresses to school . . .

Play ball games inside . . .

Decorate the walls . . .

Browse the sale flyers . . .

And make yummy, yummy kid-friendly granola bars! :o) This recipe was definitely not "healthy," but it was very yummy and super easy!

Happy Baking!

Microwave Oatmeal Bars:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a bowl, combine oats and brown sugar. Stir in butter and corn syrup. Press in greased 9-inch square microwave-safe dish.

Microwave, uncovered, on high for 3 minutes. (Rotate half-way through if you don't have a turn-table.) Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Microwave at 30% power for 4-1/2 minutes or until chips are glossy; spread chocolate evenly over top.

Refrigerate 15-20 minutes before cutting.