For today's post, I am going to share with you my most raved about recipe from Christmas dinner.  For those of you who have never watched South Park, you may not find the name nearly as humorous as some of us.  They are not at all what he describes, though one of these days I'll have to try those, too...

When I was making the colored ones, I did not have enough white chips, so I used a small handful of butterscotch chips, too.  It was awesome. 

The video, by the way, is not at all appropriate for work.  Or little ears.  Or around people who might be insulted or disgusted by it.  But it's funny, because he's talking about food... but he's not...

Chocolate Salty Balls

1 1/2 C pretzels

1/2 C creamy peanut butter  (I used about a large, heaping, humongous tablespoon more...)

1 Tbsp butter, softened

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

For this round, I also used

white chocolate chips

red and green food colorings

and

various sprinkles

·         Crush pretzels into small bits.  I did this by putting them into a ziploc baggy and then pounding the crap out of them with a mallet.  I imagine a chopper would work, too...

·         In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt. Stir until all ingredients are completely blended and smooth.

·         Add pretzel bits to peanut butter mixture and mix thoroughly.  Add powdered sugar and mix again.

·         Prepare a chilling tray--a dinner plate covered with waxed paper works well.

·         Take about a teaspoon of the peanut butter pretzel mixture into your fingers and gently pat it into a ball with your fingertips.  If they start to stick to your fingers too much, run your hands under some cold water.  It helps.

·         Place the peanut butter balls onto the plate. When you have rolled all the balls, place the entire plate into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.

·         After the peanut butter balls have chilled, prepare your chocolate. Pour the chocolate chips into a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. If needed, microwave for another 10 seconds and stir again. Continue until the chips are completely melted, which means they stir easily into smooth, fluid chocolate with no lumps.  If wanting to do colored balls, do it the same way, but with the white chips.  Drop food coloring into it a little at a time until desired shade.   I did some of each.

·         Place one peanut butter ball into the melted chocolate and gently roll it around with a fork until completely coated. Remove from the bowl with the fork and place back on the waxed paper plate. Repeat for all other balls.

·         Once all the peanut butter balls are coated in chocolate, return the plate to the refrigerator and chill another 30 minutes.

  Tonight was one of those nights were I realized suddenly that nothing had been taken out for dinner, and I had a child coming home that needed to be fed before his karate class.  So, something quick and simple and light so as not to weigh him down too much before his class.  Chicken is always our standby for this.  Quickly defrosted and stir fried, it is all three of those qualities in one tasty package. 

  I decided to go with an orange teriyaki combination.  Actually, I let my son choose between that or honey-sesame and he chose the orange-teriyaki.  It was a bit much on the green beans, so next time I will either sans the sauce when cooking them, or cook them with less.  The chicken, however, was delicious.  So much so, that I decided to blog it, even though I have no picture to show it off to you. 

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved and diced
• 2 green onions, diced (both green and white parts)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, diced (or to taste.. I like a lot of garlic)
• about 2 cups green beans
• about 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
• about 1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together teriyaki sauce and orange juice.  Adjust quantities of each to your taste. 
2. Saute green beans and garlic over high heat (I used a wok- use what you have that will fit them) in a small amount of the sauce mix.  A little goes a long way in flavoring the beans. Saute until tender-crisp and warmed through.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Saute onion and green onion in sauce left in pan until onion is clear- a minute or two.  Add diced chicken and some more sauce.  Add sauce in small portions at a time.  The idea was a light coating- not a full on sauce.  This of course you can adjust to your liking.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is cooked through.  It took me about ten minutes. 
5. Serve warm with green beans.  I think rice or noodles would go wonderfully with this.  I just didn't make them.

This served 3 of us.  =) 

  A while back I had bought a package of gyoza wrappers.  They had been sitting in my freezer, and I happened upon them while going through looking for something-or-other.   I decided it was high time to use them, since I was currently in supply-o-plenty of cream cheese and spinach.  I already knew what I wanted to do with them- which, if you hadn't guessed- was fill them with cream cheese and spinach.  But, I wanted to bake them instead of fry them.  I hate frying stuff.  It's too greasy for my tummy.

  They turned out fabulous, by the way.  I had actually originally planned to serve them as appetizers during Christmas, but they were so good that my boyfriend and I scarfed them down as our breakfast instead.  A new tradition, maybe?  


Ingredients:

• an 8-oz block of cream cheese
• about 8-oz of spinach (mine was a 10-oz box of frozen, but I didn't use all of it)
• a couple of bunches of green onions, the whole thing chopped
• olive oil
• gyoza wrappers (I'm sure you could easily use wonton wrappers, as well)

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375*F.
2.   Coat a baking pan (like a cookie sheet) with a very thin layer of olive oil.
3.   Saute spinach over medium heat until just wilted and heated through. 
4.   Combine cream cheese, spinach and green onions in a medium bowl and beat until well-combined.
5.   Place about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in the center of gyoza wrapper.  Moisten edges and press together.  Place on oiled sheet.
6.   Once baking sheet is full of gyozas, brush them with another very thin coating of olive oil.   Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip them over and bake for about another 10 minutes.  They should be browned and slightly crisp.

 

I got about 20 or so gyozas from this.  They taste much better when they are still warm, though they are still good when cooled (but still warm.. I can't see them being as tasty cold) as well.  These are super easy to make, and I will definitely whip them up again (and again and again).   If you like to use dipping sauces, you can.  I don't prefer them, so I didn't make one to go with them, so use your best judgement as to what kind of sauce would work with them.  One site suggested rice vinegar and chili garlic sauce. 
 

   I think I've mentioned this before, but we eat a lot of chicken in our household.  My kids' favorite is just a basic poached chicken and rice or noodles.  However, you can only do that so many times before it starts to get boring.  I had forgotten to take anything out yesterday, so we knew it was going to be chicken and rice again, but I wanted something a bit different.  I didn't want to make the same 'ol same 'ol.   So I searched through some websites searching for something that was still quick and easy, but a bit different than normal.  I found this, and tried it.

  While making it, I didn't think it was going to turn out right.  It just didn't look appetizing.  I think that, since my chicken was still partly frozen, that it put too much moisture in the pan, so the cream sauce was much thinner than it should have been.   Also, I had covered it to cook, and I think I should have left the lid off at first.  However, despite all my mess-ups, it still turned out pretty good!  I can only imagine how tasty it will be when I do it right!   The kids both really liked it, and I now have another chicken-and-rice recipe to add to my repertoire. 

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 
• black pepper to taste (I used about a tablespoon)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes (mine were not crushed because I couldn't get them to crush)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of salt- to taste (optional)
• 1 can (4oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 3 tablespoons sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and chicken.  Season with bouillon, paprika, salt and pepper. 
2. When chicken is almost thoroughly cooked, add mushrooms. Cover and cook about 5 more minutes or until mushrooms are tender and chicken is cooked through.
3. Add sour cream and stir. 

Yesterday I got a baking bug and made another Caramel Apple Cheesecake and another Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie.   Our family is in nummy-love with those two desserts, I think.  And the kids just discovered how easy it is to make the homemade caramel.  I have a feeling I am going to have to stock up on sweetened condensed milk, butter, and brown sugar now!! 

The recipe for the gingersnap pumpkin pie calls for just one-half cup of canned pumpkin.  In my last stock-up of pumpkin, I had only bought the large 15-oz cans.  So, that left me with LOTS of pumpkin left-over.  I needed something to use up the rest of that.   Enter my daughter, who saw me baking and immediately wanted to bake, too.  I told her that we had all of this pumpkin left-over, so maybe we could find a pumpkin cookie recipe.  She eagerly agreed, so I hunted and found this one.

Well, my daughter wound up finding some unused clay while I was looking, so her baking bug left her for clay works.  I wound up making them myself.  But she thoroughly enjoyed them nonetheless- enough for me to go ahead and offer them up here!  They came out very cake-like, with a smooth pumpkin-pieish flavor to them. 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin (mine was missing 1/2 a cup, but it didn't affect it any)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I used about half that, since I don't like a lot of chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Lightly spray cookie sheet(s) with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips.  Beat on medium speed until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Cool for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. 

   It's not my own giveaway, but one I wanted to let you all know about anyway. Stephanie O'Dea is giving away 18 really neat looking books / dvds right before the holidays.  Many of them incorperate gluten-free, dairy-free, and / or sugar-free recipes.  Since I've been wanting to try some gluten free recipes, and am really thinking it's time to start cutting out refined sugars, this would be great.  Great gifts for the chefs in your circles, too! 

  So go check it out, and check out her blog, too! Slow cooker heaven!

 I decided to bring the desserts for Thanksgiving this year.  I was mostly inspired by some absolutely to-die-for sounding recipes that I wanted to try, and seemed perfect for the occasion.  This was one of them.

The list of ingredients and directions seems long and complicated.  It took me a bit to get to this one, because of that dauntingness.  However, once broken down into the steps, it really wasn't that big of a deal.  It might have helped that I had help (thank you, Boyfriend 'O Mine)!

Let me tell you, even with all of the work- it is so worth it!  Everyone raved over this.  It went so quick I barely was able to get a piece of my own.  Boyfriend O'Mine had to grab a piece and hide it away to ensure he got a slice.   And now he wants me to make another one, and I have to say I am completely okay with that!  It's delicious. 

Ingredients:

for the crust:
1&1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
5&1/3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2-3/4 cup caramel

for the apple filling:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5-6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

for the cheesecake:
8oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice

for the topping:
3/4 cup heavy cream
3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup caramel


Directions:

To make the crust:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350*F. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter.  Toss with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened and the ingredients are evenly mixed.
3. Transfer to a 9-inch round baking pan.  Press the crumbs in an even layer around the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
4. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until golden.  Let cool for about 10 minutes.
5. Pour a layer of caramel into the bottom and spread evenly.  Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

To make the apple filling:

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. 
2. Mix in the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Cook for about 1 minute, or until bubbling.
3. Mix in the apple slices and toss well to coat. 
4. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until tender and most of the liquid has been reduced- about 15 minutes.
5. Let cool for a few minutes, and then pour into the prepared pie pan.   Set aside.

To make the cheesecake layer:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. 
2. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth. 
3. Mix in the vanilla, egg and lemon juice and beat until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Spread evenly over the apple filling in the pie pan.
5. Bake about 30 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
6. Remove and let cool to room temperature.
7. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. I let mine refrigerate overnight and did the Thanksgiving morning.

To make the topping:

1. In an eclectic mixer with whisk attachment (or, with your hand holding a whisk...), beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.  
2. Spread gently over top the cheesecake layer.
3. Drop dollops of caramel on top and swirl in.  My caramel was a little too thin, so I just drizzled it over the top, and the effect was just as pretty.

Slice and serve!


We had some of the apple filling leftover afterwards, so Boyfriend 'O Mine used them as toppings for his waffles Thanksgiving morning.  How yummy is that?!