It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!   I absolutely love this time of year, but I've been so busy this year that it has been hard for my family and I to enjoy it so far.  So I've decided to put an end to that!  For me Christmas is about family, then friends, and especially FOOD!!  So I'v invited over my favorite friends and family for a fun filled Christmas goodie feast!  All the things that scream Christmas to me, like candied nuts, cheeseballs and fun fun games!  I added a new recipe to my arsenal this year though!  I learned how to make tamales!  I love adding traditions to our already existing fantastic family traditions!!  Merry Christmas and happy eating!

Top O the Mournin' to ya!! And Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

St. Patrick's Day was so fun this year!!  My kids are old enough to enjoy the silly holidays like this one and I love to make a celebration of it!!  So each girl got a shirt that said "Lucky Girl" on it (covered in green of course!) and the babies of course had special outfits too with their own green accents!!  But, it wouldn't be a Complete celebration without a special meal created just for the occasion!!  So I made Guiness Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Cheese, Green beans, and Green jello salad.  YUMMM!!!  Then of course we invited over our friends and enjoyed a fabulous meal and wonderful company!!  I honestly don't even know why we celebrate St. Patrick's day and I'm really not that interested in finding out!  For me it's just another reason to create traditions and memories with my family and I love to see them smile!!!  So here's the recipe for the meal and really, the soup was FANTASTIC so make it any day of the year don't wait until next march!  (But be sure to use Irish Cheddar because its what makes the dish!!)

ONION SOUP WITH IRISH CHEDDAR CHEESE!!
Extra-virgin olive oil
5 cloves minced garlic
8 cups thinly sliced onions

Salt

1 tablespoon dried Thyme 

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

2 cups Guinness Beer 

6 cups beef stock

6 slices sour dough bread cut 1/2-inch thick, toasted

1/2 pound Irish Cheddar, sliced

Chili powder

Salt and Pepper

Coat the bottom of large skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high heat add minced garlic and breifly then add onions and salt and cook for 5 minutes then reduce heat and cook for 10-15 until onions are golden brown.  When onions are desired color add vinegar and beer and reduce in half (about 10 minutes).  Add beef stock and seasonings to taste and bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes.  Finally remove soup to oven safe serving dishes and cover with toasted bread and Irish Cheddar and broil until cheese is brown and bubbling!!  Serve hot and enjoy!!

Make up Eating and Low-fat Stroganoff!

After last nights splurge I woke up this morning with the sweet tooth blues, feeling guilty of course for every bite of sinful decadence I enjoyed!  So today I am going to make a recipe I recently learned about from my sister in law.  It is the most simple and enjoyable meal I've made in a long time and if made correctly can be a great compliment to a healthy diet!  And if you are a busy chef, it can even be done in the crock pot so that you just put it in and go, then when you return, viola a delicious dinner!

1 16.5 ounce container low-fat sour cream
1-2 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cans 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh as many as desired)
4 medium chix breasts
1 pkg. egg noodles

Put all ingredients but chicken into the crock pot and mix well.  Lay frozen chicken breasts on top of the sauce mixture and salt, pepper, and garlic breasts.  Cover and cook for 4-6 hours.  Cook one package of eggnoodles as directed on the package.  Remove from the water and mix in a small amount of olive oil to keep noodles from sticking.  Serve chicken stroganoff sauce over noodles with salad!

Blonde Brownies!!

Ok so I found a really great recipe for Blonde Brownies and I thought well, its been ages since I've blogged, so perhaps I should share!  I have felt so swamped lately with life's "little" responsibilities that I have neglected some of the things I enjoy most...such as...DESSERT!!!  One of the responsibilities that is most interfering with my love of decadent treats is the infamous and ever antagonistic DIET- Ughh.  So I've decided today to put the worry of a trim waistline behind me (perhaps literally as it may actually end up on my backside! LOL!!) and make a treat for my family to celebrate BYU playing SDSU in the Mountain West Conference Finals!  My sister has made these several times and they have become a family favorite, so I added some goodies just for fun and they have turned out FANTASTIC!!  Hope you enjoy a moment free of all worries especially those related to food.  Take a minute to enjoy this delectable treat with those you love and count your many blessings!

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus butter for pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup dark brownsugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons toffee chips
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 X 9 or 9X13 by 2-inch baking pan.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan; add sugar and whisk until combined and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Add the flour and whisk until just combined. Fold in the chips, and almonds and transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.  Bake for 24 to 27 minutes or until the top cracks slightly and is firm to the touch and a fork inserted into the center comes out with moist pieces clinging to it. Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely. Invert on wire rack and cut into squares!  YUM!!

Elmo!!!

The latest of the cake adventures!!  It was so fun to experiment with the scizzor technique that helped create the furry effect on Elmo's head!!  The client was very happy and I had such a great time making it!!!  This cake was the envy of every 3 year old in the neighborhood:)

Beautiful Bella's Birthday Bash!!

BBQ Pulled Pork:

I bought 10 lbs of Boneless Pork Sirloin at Costco and put it in a Roaster for 4 hours after 3 hours of cooking I put in our favorite BBQ sauce and began to pull the pork apart with forks until it was as shredded as we like it to be!

Broccoli Salad:

Got this recipe from my sister it originally called for raisins (ew!) but I like craisins so much better so that's what I use.

1 lb Bacon
1 cup Sun Flower Seeds
1 cup Craisins

1/2 med Red Onion
2 Bags Broccoli Pieces

Dressing:
1/2 cup Mayo
1/3 cup Sugar
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
*adjust dressing to size of salad

Cookie Truffles

I came upon these super easy and delicious treats this holiday season and they have since become a go to dessert/Treat for our family because they are made with ingredients we ALWAYS have at our house, they are so easy to make, and they look SOOO fancy!!  Try these Three Ingredient Truffles as soon as you can!!

1 pkg Oreos, Nutterbutters, Golden Oreos (or any other kind of cookie you like)
1 8oz block Cream Cheese
1 pkg White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate Chips

Place cookies in food processor until finely chopped, mix together in mixing bowl with room temperature Cream Cheese.  Roll into balls and place on parchment paper then dip in chocolate of your choice.  Refrigerate until hard and ready to serve.

Meet and Onion Cheeseball

A Christmas favorite for many generations in my family has been cheese balls but they are great for any party ANY time of year!  And the best part is the recipe is SUPER simple!

2.5 lbs. Shredded Mixed Cheddar and Jack Cheese
1 block Swiss Cheese shredded or finely chopped in food processor
16 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 Medium onion processed until mostly liquid
2 Tbs Worchestershire Sauce
Armor Dried Beef finely chopped (best when put in food processor)

Leave all cheese out until soft and room temperature.  Then beat Cream Cheese until fluffly add onion puree and Worcestershire sauce and mix well.  Add in the rest of the cheese and mix well.  Then form into balls (any size desired) and roll in Dried Chopped beef.  Serve room temperature with crackers.

Hauntolicious Halloween Goodies!!

My favorite part of the Fall Season are the Holidays that it holds and the Parties that you get to throw!!  Every year my family gets together with my sister-in-laws family and we throw a hum-dinger of a Halloween party!!  We love to do festive dishes and play family fun games that all of our children ages 11 months to 17 years will enjoy!!  So here are some of my most recent Halloween recipe finds that I thought I'd pass on because they are festive enough to make for a great party but not so gross you won't eat them!!

First and my newest favorite...Deviled Eyeballs!!
8 eggs
1/4 cup Mayo
1/12 Tbs Pepared Mustard
1 tsp pickle relish (sweet or dill)
(if you do not use relish use 1 tsp of vinegar)
Blue Food coloring
One can of sliced olives
One jar of pimentos or red peppers

Slice eggs through the middle long ways and put all yolks into a small mixing bowl.  Place egg whites on a serving dish and set aside.  Mix all other ingredients with the yolks including blue food coloring until mixture is a soft green color.  Put yolk mixture into a zip lock bag and squeeze into egg white yolk cavaties evenly.   Next put one sliced olive in the middle and place red pepper in the middle as the "pupil" then use red food coloring gel and a tooth pick to make veins!!  Creepy but soo fun!