Nuts and Bolts Trail Mix

This is another of my crock-pot favorites. For those of you with the book, it is page 393. I have made this twice and loved it both times. I am putting the original recipe here, but I halved the sugar and still loved it. Experiment and choose your fancy.

2 1/2 c unsalted nuts ( I used cashews, pistachios, peanuts, and almonds(when Joe isn't eating it))
1 1/2 c pretzel sticks
1 cup dried cranberries (the second time I substituted half for unsweetened dried bananas)
2 T butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sugar

Use 6 quart slow cooker. Put nuts, pretzels, and fruit into the stoneware. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over the top of dry ingredients. Stir well to coat. Cover and cook on high 2 to 3 hours, ( I did 2), stirring every 30 minutes. When the nuts are toasty, spread out on parchment, tinfoil, whatever. Let cool and enjoy. My kids thought this was awesome.

Sorry it s blurry, but it is yummy.

Cream Puff Swans

Swan puffs are a beloved childhood treat of mine. I have fond memories of making them with my mother, and more importantly stuffing my face with the puffs and filling. These are in your recipe additions, but I thought I'd show you what the end result is like and calm your fears. These are not complicated!

You can make any cream puff recipe you like. Save a little batter, put it into a zip lock bag, cut off the tip, and squeeze several candy cane shapes on a cookie sheet. Don't cook these as long as the puffs. From my experience, keep your eye on them and take them out 15 minutes or so before the others are done. These will be the necks.

When you're cutting off the tops, scraping out the middle, and filling them with a wonderfully creamy mixture of pudding and whipped topping, cut the tops in half and stick them in the top for the wings! Yours will look better than mine. I pulled my puffs out too soon and they sank, which presented all sorts of problems, including the wings being rather pitiful.

Give it a try!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pot Pie

I had a fantastic discovery last night. It turned out much better than yesterday's Bacon Potato Chowder, which I won't post. The amazing discovery was using part of a ranch dressing packet to flavor the homemade white sauce. It was delicious. I really don't have any measurements for most of the things I added, but I'll do my best.

I used my super easy pie crust for this. It's in the new additions to the cook book, but here it is again:

Combine 2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white, 1 cup wheat) and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 1/3 cup milk and 2/3 cup vegetable oil. Stir until combined, divide in two (one slightly bigger, for the bottom). Roll out the bigger one between wax paper and transfer to pie tin. Roll out the smaller one and set aside.

I use it for every kind of pie that I do. I don't think I'll ever roll out a dry pastry pie crust again. I baked the bottom for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees until it was browned. I definitely recommend precooking the bottom, it made it nice and crunchy and sufficiently rigid to stay in-tact when served.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pot Pie

• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 2 small potatoes, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup onions, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, diced
• 3/4 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3/4 cup chicken, cooked and cubed
• 3/4 cup sausage, cooked (I added this because we had plenty on hand that needed to be used up)
• 1 large dollop of sour cream
• dash of salt
• dash of pepper

Use almost any amounts of these, until you have enough to fill up the pie dish. Precook the potatoes and carrots by boiling them in water to soften them. I also sautéed the onions and garlic together before adding them to the mix, but they probably don't need it. Combine veggies and meat in a bowl and set aside.

White sauce:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 to 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix

Melt butter in saucepan, whisk in flour to combine. Gradually add milk, whisking continually. When sauce thickens, remove from heat. DO NOT allow to boil. Add ranch dressing mix until it tastes right to you.

Stir white sauce into veggies and meat. Add the dollop of *sour cream and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill precooked pie shell. Cover with top crust and decorate however you'd like. I smooshed Vs on the outside and did a star in the middle. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Note: the sour cream was to make it more moist because it was looking dry. You can add more sour cream if it still looks dry after one dollop, or you can make more white sauce in the first place.

Easy Curry

I must admit something to you all. I'm scared to death of James' recipes that look complicated. When there's a long ingredient list chock-full of ingredients I'm not sure I've ever heard of, my stomach cramps up and I think to myself "oh gee, I'll never be able to make that...it looks lovely though..." So, for anyone else that's ever felt that, here's a curry you can handle.

Easy Curry

• 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices, quartered
• 2 medium onions, cut into 1/4 inch wedges
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• strips of chicken (any amount, optional)
• 1 can coconut milk (the thick kind, if possible)
• curry powder
• sugar
• salt
• cornstarch and cold water

Place vegetables (and chicken) in large pot with barely enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and boil until vegetables are about 80% eatable softness. Drain a small amount of water (just enough to not completely cover the vegetables anymore). Add the coconut milk and sprinkle 3 parts curry powder, 2 parts sugar and 1 part salt (I usually prepare the proportions ahead of time in a small bowl) until it tastes as strong as you want it to. When it tastes right to you, thicken with cornstarch mixture. Serve over cooked rice.

Edamame!!!!

Today my piano lessons' Mom brought be an edamame salad to eat for lunch--I haven't had lunch yet, but I had to snitch the salad. It is incredible and I'm very much looking forward to lunch. Luckily, she also gave me the recipe, so I thought I would share it!

Black Bean and Edamame Salad

1 10-ounce package frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 15-ounce can low-sodium black beans*, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 cups thinly sliced celery (about 3 medium stalks)
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 cups of your favorite cabbage, chopped, or cole slaw mix
*Optional: low-sodium kidney beans, white beans, or blackeyed peas can be substituted for black beans [or even just added]

For the rice vinegar dressing:
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients, then add to the vegetable mixture. Chill until cold, about 1 hour. Serve

(Make this salad up to one day ahead, because the longer it marinates with the dressing, the better it gets!)

Per serving with dressing: 383 calories, 22g protein, 56 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 21 g fiber, 49 mg sodium.

Give it a try. I think you'll like it!

POPCORN on steroids

This post is about an experiment that I need y'all's cooking expertise to perfect!

Yummy Popcorn

• Popped popcorn
• Chocolate, melted
• Peanut butter, melted
• Peanuts, chopped
• salt

Pop popcorn using an air popper. Spread into jelly roll pans. Drizzle chocolate and peanut butter. Sprinkle peanuts. Sprinkle salt. Eat.

Commentary:

I melted an unsweetened baking chocolate cube and added butter, sugar and corn syrup. It would have worked better if I hadn't allowed it to come to a boil as many times as it did during the melting process. As it was, it hardened into a stiff gel upon pouring, and we were required to eat it from the pan, instead of putting it in a bowl.

I melted the peanut butter in the microwave. I had a bit of trouble with it: I wanted it runnier, so I put it in the microwave again which made it too hard, so I added water and it made it worse, so I added honey and it still didn't work out. So, I put it in a zip lock bag, cut off the tip and squeezed it on. I would recommend adding the honey, it was yummy, but I'd skip all of the hassle of trying to make it runny enough and put it in a zip lock bag right after the first microwaving.

I'd really like to figure out a way for the chocolate to stay looser, for the peanut butter to harden slightly, and for the nuts to stick better. If you have any advice on the matter, do say.

4th of July Treats

Red, White and Blue Strawberries

• desired number of strawberries, washed and dried (completely)
• melted white chocolate
• blue sprinkles

Dip strawberries two-thirds of the way into chocolate. Then dip the bottom one-third into the sprinkles. I found it helpful to dip and roll gently, in order to get clean lines.

Red, White and Blue Drinks

• cranberry juice
• blue gatorade
• diet 7-Up
• ice cubes

Put a few ice cubes into a see-through glass. Pour 1/3 glass cranberry juice. Pour the blue gatorade next, being careful to pour onto an ice cube, instead of into the juice. Next, pour the diet 7-up, again on top of an ice cube.

*Note: This works because of the varying amounts of sugar in each of the liquids, which creates varying densities. I mistakenly asked for regular Sprite, instead of diet 7-Up, and had to pour "white" as the middle layer. This worked, except it would have been slightly better if the densities were more diverse. Also, you can do this with ANY JUICES/SODAS you want. Check the sugar content, and pour the one with the greatest amount of sugar on the bottom.

Pretzel Jello

• 2 cups crushed pretzel rods
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 TB sugar

• 8oz cream cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (small) tub cool whip

• 1 large package of strawberry Jello
• 1 small package of frozen strawberries, chopped

Mix crushed pretzels, butter and sugar. Flatten into a baking dish and bake for 8 min at 400 degrees. Let cool. Mix Jello with water according to package directions, add strawberries. Set aside. Blend cream cheese and sugar, then add cool whip. Spread over crust, making sure to spread all the way to the edges on all sides, sealing in the crust. When the jello is completely cool and slightly set, pour over cool whip layer. Refrigerate until completely set.