Halloween Festivities

This weekend, we celebrated Halloween with the kids. They're all getting to the age where trick or treating is a memory of their past, or they'd rather be hanging out with friends. So we decided to squeeze in our holiday traditions a week early.

First, we visited a local pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect gourd. This is a very important step in the carving process because the shape, size and color of the pumpkin has to speak to the carver and give specific inspiration.

We took our orange heathens home and got started. My husband's favorite part of pumpkin carving is pumpkin seeds. Luckily with this many pumpkins, we get quite a few and usually have enough to share. He's received several compliments on his "secret recipe" - one person even said they were the BEST seeds they had ever had!

 

While everyone worked on bringing their pumpkins to life, I started working on the popcorn balls. This caramel recipe was given to me by my mom and I've never even tried another version. It's that good! I like the caramel to stay a bit gooey and sticky instead of hardening on the popcorn, so if you're a crunchy caramel kind of person, this might not be the recipe for you.

I added in a few festive bits of candy to add to the pizzaz, then inserted the wooden sticks before they were completely cool making them easier to eat later. Other ideas I considered:

• Drizzle chocolate over the tops
• Add food coloring to match a theme
• Throw in some nuts
• Add chocolate chips
• Try sunflower seeds for a fiber kick
• Tie a ribbon/bow around the stick for presentation points
• Wrap with cellophane and give as gifts or bring to a potluck
• Make a popcorn ball bar and have various bowls of yumminess for guests to choose from (first dip in chocolate, then add desired toppings)

Now that the balls were cooling down, it was time to get started on one of my favorite parts of fall: Caramel apples! When it comes to the apples, I tend to keep it simple. I like the caramel bits rather than the caramel candies because there is absolutely no unwrapping involved and usually the bags include popsicle sticks so you don't have to buy them separately. The instructions are also found on the back of the bag, so you can vary it if you'd like or just follow their simple steps.

Everyone has their favorite toppings for apples at our house, so once the dipping was done, everyone got a chance to add their fav's. I'm pretty boring and prefer the classic plain caramel. By the way, a trick I learned to help keep the apples from sticking to anything while they're cooling: Spray wax paper or a foil-lined cookie sheet with cooking spray. Stick them in the fridge or freezer for faster set up. If you're finding it hard to eat on the stick (or serving to younger children who will find it difficult to bite through to the apple), use a knife to cut the apple into bite size pieces and serve on a plate. We cut them before dipping them so they could be served in wedges and dipped individually.

Now that we were waiting on the caramel to set, it was finally dinner time. This is another recipe handed down to me by my mom. It has been a classic in our family for as long as I can remember, and the only thing I change is adding more clams - I love clams! I like to throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker/Crock Pot and let it simmer for a few hours. The fall season is what we call "soup season" at our house. The warm summer months have been replaced with cooler days and the breath of winter is just around the corner.

Nothing marries up with a good chowder quite like bread bowls. I admit, I took yet another short cut on this one and purchased the bowls ready-made at the store, but they do just fine and are beyond convenient for our large family.

Now that our bellies were full and the pumpkins were lit, it was time to settle down for our traditional Halloween movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas. My sister-in-law brought some warm cider to go with the popcorn balls and apples which was the perfect ending to a very festive fall day.

Homemade Caramels Recipe
2 c. Sugar
2 c. Heavy whipping cream
1/2 lb (2 cubes) butter
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
3/4 c. White Karo syrup

Bring all ingredients but 1/2 cream to a boil, then add remaining cream. Boil (simmer) to a soft ball stage. Pour into a wax paper-lined pan and let cool, then cut into squares and wrap individually. Can be stored in the refrigerator, but not required.
Yields approximately 60 caramels.

Clam Chowder Recipe
2 -3 Potatoes
1 c. diced onion
1 c. diced celery
2 cans clams, undrained
1 tsp. salt

Sauce:
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1 qt. half-n-half (or milk)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all vegetables and clams in large pot and cover with water. Cook until tender.
Sauce: Melt better and add flour. Add milk slowly until well combined. Add salt. Cook until thick. When mixture is thickened, add to vegetables and stir to mix well. Heat through and serve.

Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe

There are few things about fall that I don’t love. However, there are a select few things about fall that make it the absolute best time of year in my opinion. In this particular case, I’m talking about pumpkin season.

I absolutely love everything pumpkin. I love the yummy desserts, I love watching them grow on the vine, I love carving them for Halloween and I love all the different varieties and colors.

I think the reason I love pumpkin treats so much is all the delicious spices that come along with it: Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg…mmm my senses are tingling just thinking about them!

This morning as I was getting ready to come to work, I was wondering what I was going to have for breakfast. I usually like to eat a bowl of cereal, but since I was running late, I knew I didn’t have the time. One of my favorite quickie breakfasts is a banana smoothie, but alas: No bananas today.

So, I started thinking about what I had in the pantry. I immediately remembered the canned pumpkin and thought, well shoot! It’s pretty much fall already, and Sonic is already selling their pumpkin shakes, so why not have a pumpkin smoothie?

Omigosh, you guys. If I could take my favorite foods out on dates and try to impress them, I would take this pumpkin smoothie out to a 5 star restaurant and let it order whatever it wanted no matter the cost. It was SO GOOD! It kind of tasted like a frozen pumpkin pie. It’s no wonder, really, because the ingredients are pretty similar to pumpkin pie, sans crust of course.

If you are a die-hard pumpkin fan like me but you still want a little summer heat relief, I encourage you to try this pumpkin pie smoothie recipe. Feel free to make adjustments as your taste buds desire.

Pumpkin Smoothie

½ c. canned pumpkin

¼ c. vanilla cinnamon creamer (available in the dairy section with the coffee creamers)

1 c. ice

¼ - ½ c. milk (add less for a thicker consistency)

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Blend all ingredients in a blender (I like to use the personal size blender for convenience) and enjoy! For extra fluff and awesomeness, you can add some whipped topping to the top. Delicious!

Rainbow Jello

A couple of weeks ago, my step daughter celebrated her 10^th birthday. Although we kept pestering her for weeks about what she wanted for her birthday, she never had an answer with the exception of one thing: Rainbow Jello. She’s not a big cake fan, and even less so of frosting. What she really wanted was layers and layers of colored Jello.

I’ve always thought about doing this. I’ve seen others do it. It’s probably one of the simplest things I’ve ever made. But it takes FOREVER. I started preparing the layers on a Friday afternoon; one box at a time. I’d wait a couple hours, then add the next layer. I was able to get three of them done by Friday night.

Saturday morning, I was making Jello again while waiting for my crepes to cook. Crepes are her favorite breakfast item, along with turkey bacon.

Finally, by the afternoon, I’d finished all the layers. I added a layer of whipped topping (of course!) and we served up the first…um…”piece”. Rainbow Jello is pretty difficult to serve. You have to get all the flavors in there or what’s the point? But even though it came out a bit sloppy, it looked just as pretty in the bowl. And it was DELICIOUS. Whoever said they didn’t like Jello was lying. Or at least was thinking more about the fact that it’s made out of fat than the yummy taste it has when mixed with loads of sugar. Mmmmm.

So, when you have some free time or when you feel like making something really special – perhaps for that next potluck? – grab a few boxes of Jello and go to town!

Cake Pops Recipe

Last weekend, I was finally able to announce the genders of my soon-to-be-born twins. I have heard about gender reveal parties before but I’ve never been to one. I’ve heard of many people having the ultrasound tech write down genders for the parents in a sealed envelope, then taking the envelope to a local bakery and having them prepare a cake with the usual associated color inside topped with white frosting. The parent(s)-to-be will then cut the cake at the reveal party to announce the gender of their baby: Pink for girl, blue for boy – and a surprise for everyone.

Originally, I wanted to use this idea and have a two-tier cake prepared, one tier for each of the twins. But, my husband couldn’t stand the thought of having to wait another two weeks before we could find out, so we ended up finding out right at our appointment. I did, however, still want to incorporate the cake idea when we announced to our families what we were having.

Instead of having a cake prepared, I decided to make my first try at cake pops. If you’re not familiar with them, you can find where I discovered them here or just read on for the recipe I used. I had grand ideas of what I wanted to do. I could make them look like children’s blocks and cut out letters from fondant for the decoration. I could find little candies and make them look like baby cheeks sucking on binkies. I could make them look like little baby bottoms complete with crack and belly button and cover them with carefully cut Airhead candies shaped like little white diapers. So many clever ideas…but alas, so little time.

I ended up sticking with a basic design: saucer-shaped cake balls dipped in white chocolate and covered with multi-colored sprinkles. If you decided to do this, I recommend double dipping before using the sprinkles as the color of the cake did show through a bit (I had to go back over some of the more transparent spots later to cover up any traces of blue). Another tip: Freeze the balls before dipping. This will make them much easier to dip and they’ll hold their shape better. You can make these as cake bites instead of pops simply by omitting the stick. If you choose to use the sticks, dip them in chocolate and insert them into the cake ball, then freeze or refrigerate long enough for the chocolate to set. This will ensure the ball doesn’t come off the stick while dipping (another thing I learned the hard way).

Finally, I presented the cake pops on floral Styrofoam blocks I’d covered with colored tissue paper and ribbon (sorry, I didn’t get a pic of this part – I had hungry mouths to feed!). I kept the colors gender-neutral so no one would get any funny ideas. I then explained there were 12 pops colored for baby A and 12 colored for baby B. As they started to bite into them, they started yelling out, “blue!” until finally everyone realized…they were all blue! This saved some time in the kitchen, because I didn’t have to prepare two batches with different colors.

Another final tip: These treats are EXTREMELY sweet and rich, so I would recommend making them bite size so as not to send your guests into a sugar coma. If you’ve got other ideas for how to make the announcement or if you want to share what you did, please post in the comments. Have a great week!

Cake Pops

1 Box white cake mix (other flavors can be used but if you plan to color the cake, you’ll want to use white)

¾ Container cream cheese frosting

2 – 3 Bags chocolate candy, any color (available at most craft stores) or Bakers chocolate

2 – 3 tsp. Crisco shortening

Food coloring (optional)

24 – 30 sucker sticks, if desired

2 rectangular foam blocks

Instructions:

Prepare the cake as directed on the box. You can choose to add your food coloring now or wait until mixing with the frosting later.

Once the cake cools completely, crumble it in a large bowl and add the frosting. Mix thoroughly until you have a dough-like consistency. Refrigerate until the “dough” is hardened; usually about an hour. Tip: To reduce this time, refrigerate your cake before mixing with the frosting.

Use a spoon or cookie/ice cream scoop to get equal portions of dough for shaping. Shape the balls using your hands but be sure not to roll them for too long or the dough will become warm and soft. Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Melt ½ bag of chocolate candies and ½ tsp of Crisco shortening. Dip the sucker sticks into the melted chocolate, coating generously, then insert into the middle of the prepared cake balls. This will ensure the balls stay in place during dipping.

Freeze of refrigerate the balls for 30 minutes to allow ample time for the chocolate to set. About 10 minutes before removing from the fridge/freezer, begin melting the rest of the chocolate and Crisco shortening. Remember to stir constantly and melt on low heat to avoid scorching the candy.

Dip the balls in the chocolate one at a time, stirring the chocolate after each dip. Allow the excess chocolate to run off. You can lightly twirl the pop to help distribute the chocolate evenly, but be gentle. After the chocolate starts to harden, insert the stick into one of the Styrofoam blocks to continue cooling. For a quicker set, place the block in the refrigerator or freezer.

Once the chocolate has hardened, you can choose to give them a second coat. The Crisco gives the chocolate a thinner consistency making them easier to dip, but can also leave the first layer looking thin.

Decorate as desired and enjoy!

New York Style Cheesecake Recipe

You know what I hate about ordering cheesecake at a restaurant? They give you a tiny sliver of the stuff and then charge you about 8 bucks for it. I've made some cheesecakes in my day. Some turned out better than others. But I've also picked up a few tips along the way that have made cheesecake making a more enjoyable experience.

1. Cheesecake is a custard at heart. It's delicate, so you want to bake it slowly and evenly without browning the top.

The most effective way to do this is to bake it in a water bath. Since water evaporates at the boiling point, the water bath will never get hotter than 212 degrees F (100 degrees C), no matter what the oven temperature. This means that the outer edge of your cheesecake won't bake faster than the center, which can cause it to soufflé, sink, and crack.

2. It's common to overbake cheesecakes because, while they might look underdone, they are actually done when the center is still wobbly [this was a hard lesson for me to learn - and it took me more than once to learn it]. At this stage, residual heat will "carry over" and the center will continue to cook.

Remove cheesecake from the oven to cool on a rack, or simply leave the door of the oven closed, turn off the heat and let the cheesecake cool for at least an hour. This helps prevent the cheesecake from sinking in the center.

After chilling, the once-wiggly center should firm up just fine

3. The cream cheese should be at room temperature before you begin mixing, or you'll end up with lumps in your cheesecake. Using cold cream cheese also leads to overbeating--whipping too much air into the batter--which forms unattractive air bubbles on the surface of the cake.

Unless the recipe instructions specifically note otherwise, you should beat the cream cheese by itself until it's smooth and light, before adding any other ingredients.

If you end up with lumps in your batter, run the mixture through a sieve or give it a quick spin in the food processor and you'll have silky smooth results.

4. Whether you're making an Italian-style cheesecake with ricotta cheese or a classic New York cheesecake with cream cheese, don't skimp on the fat content. Reduced fat and nonfat cream cheeses contain fillers that might prevent the cheesecake from setting properly. Never substitute whipped cream cheese for the solid block

Here is a picture of the one I made for Father's Day last weekend:

Is that some sort of kooky strawberry flower?
Ah, it's better: Strawberry cheesecake.

And of course, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

New York Style Cheesecake
Recipe and Tips Contributed by AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

2.     In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.

3.     In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

4.     Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator

Edible Playdough Recipe

I was being a bit nostalgic today and remembered making this with my very best friend when we were young. Usually, I had this all gobbled up before I could actually make something with it, but if your child has more patience than I had, it might be fun to play with (then gobble up).

1 c. Powdered milk

1 c. Peanut butter

1/2 c. Honey

Raisins, nuts, pretzels etc for garnish as desired

Mix first three ingredients until combined. Store in air tight container or Ziplock bag. Refrigeration will make the mixture more moldable but is not required.

Watermelon Sorbet

While flipping through the pages of Internet, I found this website with so many yummy recipe ideas (and beautiful pictures!). She has a recipe for watermelon sorbet which is so so easy, I had to share. I made this last weekend with my sister-in-law, and it was delicious! One word of caution, though: It is VERY SWEET, so if you want less sugar, use less sugar.

Watermelon Sorbet

recipe adapted from the Culinary Philosopher

1¼ cup sugar
1¼ water
6-7 cups fresh seedless watermelon chunks (about half of the melon)
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice (approximately 3 1/2 medium-sized limes)

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved (do not stir). Place in a bowl to completely cool.

Put the watermelon chunks and the lime into a blender or food processor. Pulse about 20 times to chop the melon and then process until the watermelon is completely pureed. Press the watermelon through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds and any extra pulp. Combine with the cooled sugar syrup. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Pour the watermelon mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker (I recommend the Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker, as it’s what I use and it hasn’t failed me yet). Mix until the sorbet has thickened, approximately 25-35 minutes. The sorbet will have soft serve texture. You can enjoy right away or put the sorbet into an airtight container and place in the freezer until firm for about 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Super Healthy Tomato Sauce

Feeding your family is one of the most important jobs a mother has. Good nutrition in the first few years of life will help establish healthy life-long eating habits and condition their taste buds to enjoy food that is good for them. But if a child (or adult) won’t eat healthy foods, it doesn’t matter how nutritious they are.

I found this tomato sauce recipe by Jamie Oliver in the April 2011 issue of Parenting Early Years and made some adjustments to meet my family’s tastes. It features nine veggies, but your kids will never know it. To be honest, I didn’t think it looked or smelled very good when I first started cooking it, but when it was finished, it was very tasty. There is a little time involved in prepping the veggies, so this makes a big batch for you to freeze and have on hand to make a quick supper later.

Supermom’s Tomato Sauce

Yield: About 13 cups

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

1 large onion

1 small leek

2 stalks celery

2 red bell peppers

2 medium zucchinis

2 carrots

2-4 cloves garlic

1 T olive oil

2 T Italian seasoning

1 small butternut squash

2 – 28 oz cans whole tomatoes (best quality)

1 – 8 oz can tomato paste

2 c water

Salt and pepper to taste

Prep veggies (everything is going to go into a blender at the end, so no need to make everything look pretty and small): chop onion, slice leek lengthwise and cut into ½” slices then swish in a bowl with cold water and let sit, chop celery, de-seed and chop bell peppers, slice zucchinis lengthwise twice then slice, peel and chop carrots, smash garlic with the side of a chef’s knife.
Put oil in a large pot and add all the prepped vegetables except for leek. Spoon the leek out of the bowl with a slotted spoon. Do not pour off the water because it is full of all the dirt that settled. Discard water and add leeks to the pot. Cook over medium heat, covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, peel butternut squash, slice in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Grate squash on a large box grater and add to sauce along with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Put 2 cups of sauce in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into quart size freezer bag and remove as much air as possible when sealing. Continue until all sauce has been blended. Lay flat on a shelf in the freezer to keep until needed.

Serving suggestions:

• · Serve over pasta
• · Use in lasagna or manicotti
• · Pizza sauce
• · Add a little cream or milk and serve as a soup
• · Use anyway you would use jarred spaghetti sauce

Chia Snowballs Recipe

These remind of of a dessert we would eat with school lunch in elementary school. We called them peanut butter krispies. This recipe is a healthier version is great for after school snacks or a light dessert. Another pro: Fun and easy for kids to make.

Chia Snowballs
Contributed by http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/ via Cindy Chandler

Ingredients

1 Cup peanut butter (or you could use almond butter)

1/2 Cup honey

1/4 Cup brown rice syrup (you can get this at health food stores)
2 1/2 Cup brown rice cereal (you can also use Rice Crispies, but the brown rice is better nutritionally. Also available at health food stores)
1/2 Cup oats
1 - 2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Cup finely shredded coconut

Directions
Mix all but the coconut. Roll into balls, then roll in the coconut.

These can be eaten immediately or chilled in the refrigerator.

Salmon Cilantro Burgers Recipe

I love salmon! It is one of the few meals my husband and I can agree on. These burgers are quite delicious and have a fraction of the calories of a beef hamburger. The ingredients list looks daunting but these are actually quite simple. Feel free to change up the amount of onion and/or jalapeno for more flavor if you prefer. I've also tried adding canned green chilies which give a great flavor.

Salmon Cilantro Burgers
Contributed by Elisa Garn

Ingredients

1/4 c mayo (you can use reduced fat or fat free for less calories)

1 T chopped fresh cilantro

1 T fresh lime juice (you can reduce this if you want a thicker sauce)
1/8 t salt
1/8 t ground black pepper
1 lb salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 1" pieces (we like to use the frozen salmon fillets for convenience)
1/4 c dry breadcrumbs
2 T cilantro leaves
2 T chopped green onions
1 T chopped seeded jalapeno peppers
2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
Cooking spray
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
4 lettuce leaves

Directions
1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; cover and chill.
2. Place salmon in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped. Add breadcrumbs and next 6 ingredients (through pepper). Pulse 4 times or until well blended. Divide salmon mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 3/4 inch thick patty.
3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 2 minutes. Carefully turn patties over; cook 2 minutes or until done.
4. Spread about 1 T mayo mixture over bottom half of each bun. Top each serving with lettuce leaf.

Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe

Chicken Enchilada Soup
Contributed by Cooks.com

Ingredients

6 corn tortillas
1 sm. onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
2 tsp. oil
1 (14 oz.) can chopped green chiles (undrained)
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can beef broth (undiluted)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can chicken broth (undiluted)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup (undiluted)
1 (6 3/4 oz.) can chunk style chicken

1 can or small package frozen corn (optional)

1 can black beans (optional)
1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. steak sauce
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 c. (12 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
Paprika

Directions

Cut 6 tortillas into 1/2 inch strips (set aside). Saute onion and garlic in oil in a Dutch oven. Add next 11 ingredients marked A. Cover, heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add tortillas and cheese. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes 8 cups.

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

Whole Wheat Bread
makes 4 loaves
contributed by Stephenie Myers

Okay, so we love homemade bread at our house. What better smell is there than the smell of fresh baked bread? I dreaded learning to make whole wheat bread because of its heaviness and feeling like I just ate a brick. So, I have looked everywhere for recipes that I like and my family will eat, but is also good for sandwiches too. I have several good recipes now in my collection but here is one of our better ones.

7 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 Tbs yeast
5 cups water (120-130 degrees F)Mix the above ingredients together and let sit covered for at least 10 minutes. After letting it sit, add in the following ingredients.

2 Tbs salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey or 1 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs liquid lecithin

Mix for 1-2 minutes until combined. Add in as much flour to equal 5 cups as possible. Dough should be a soft dough that isn't dry. Mix for 10 minutes to help the gluten in the bread. After mixing, separate dough into 4 equal portions. Form into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Place pans in a warm oven to rise until bread is just to the top of the pan. Leaving bread in the oven, turn oven to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes or until bread is done and bottom of bread sounds hollow. Remove from pans to cool. This bread has a nice soft and chewy texture that is great for toast, sandwiches, or just plain eating. You will not believe you are eating whole wheat bread after trying this!

Sinfully Rich Chocolate Truffles Recipe

Sinfully Rich Chocolate Truffles
Contributed by Cindy Chandler

¼ C Heavy Whipping Cream

8 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips

6 T Unsalted Butter

1/3 C Unsweetened Cocoa

Directions

Bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate and butter.  Place in a double boiler and stir until the chocolate is melted. Pour into a shallow bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Take small amounts and roll into balls and roll into either powdered sugar or cocoa powder. These are very rich and decadent!

Best Ever Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe

Best-Ever Hot Cocoa Mix
Makes about 20 servings

Contributed by Cook's Country

3 cups nonfat dry milk

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine ingredients in large bowl. Working in two batches, pulse ingredients in food processor until chocolate is finely ground. Store in airtight container for up to 3 months. To make hot cocoa, stir 1/3 cup of this mix into 1 cup of hot milk. Top with whipped cream or mini marshmallows.

BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Contributed by Gina Garn


1 Rhodes white bread loaf (package comes with 3 loaves)

1/3 large red onion, chopped

3/4 green pepper, chopped
5 chicken tenders

Your favorite BBQ sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Crust: Let 1 roll of dough rise for about 9 hours. Wrap the dough in saran wrap to prevent it from getting a skin. Once dough is risen, roll it into a pizza shape using a rolling pin. Use flour if dough is sticky. Place on pizza pan. Roll sides of dough to form a crust. (If you want cheese stuffed crust, roll mozzarella string cheese sticks into crust.)

Chicken: Put chicken tenders in a frying pan and add hot water, just enough to cover chicken. Add a squirt of BBQ sauce and stir. Put stove on medium and let chicken simmer for about 8 - 10 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Chop chicken into small bite size pieces. In a small bowl, stir 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce with chicken.Heat oven to 425 degrees. Put BBQ sauce on pizza dough, too much is not good, but put enough on to cover evenly. Add cheese, again not too much but a good amount.. Add chicken, peppers, and onions. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Makes about 8 good sized slices.