Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats

I found this fabulous idea floating around on Pinterest. These watermelon Rice Krispie Treats are great idea for summer time picnics, Labor Day, Memorial Day, July 4th ... or any time you need a cute Krispie treat.

 

   

There are many recipes and instructions on the internet to show how to make these. I'm positively sure they are all tasty and they all come out looking so cute! This is my version on how to make them. I made 4 batches for a July 4th picnic and had good results.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
• ½ cup butter, plus extra for greasing
• 8 cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies
• Red or Rose Food Coloring
• Green Food Coloring
• Raisins or chocolate chips for garnish

For the Green Layer:

1. Grease one 9” round cake pan and set aside.
2. Place four cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies in a large bowl.
3. Melt ¼ cup of butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Add green food coloring (a few drops at a time until desired color). Add regular marshmallows and stir till melted and well blended. Cook two minutes longer.
4. Add 4 cups Rice Krispies to marshmallow mixture and stir until well coated.
5. Using a butter spatula, press mixture around the outer rim of cake pan to desired to width (about two inches.)

For the Watermelon Layer:

1. Place four cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies in a large bowl.
2. Melt ¼ cup of butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Add red (or rose) Food coloring (a few drops at a time until desired color). Add regular marshmallows and stir until melted and well blended. Cook two minutes longer.
3. Add 4 cups Rice Krispies to marshmallow mixture and stir until well coated.
4. Using a butter spatula, press mixture into the remaining area of cake pan.
5. Add chocolate chips or raisins for garnish. 

Here are steps with photos and instructions on how to make the watermelon Rice Krispie (Sorry the photos aren't great but I was making this at night where the lighting is not great for photos)..

 

Add Rice Krispies to marshmallow mixture:

 

Add 4 cups Rice Krispies to marshmallow mixture and stir until well coated

 

Using a butter spatula, 

press mixture around the outer rim of cake pan to desired to width (about two inches):

Using a butter spatula, 

press red/rose Rice Krispie mixture into the remaining area of cake pan:

Add chocolate chips or raisins for garnish:

Cut in slices and Enjoy!!

Enchilada Stuffed Mushrooms

 

Mushrooms are a staple in my house. I can eat them fresh in a salad, sauted in butter as a side dish, thrown in pasta....but best of all, stuff them with yummy-ness and I'm all over them.

I found this Enchilada Stuffed Mushroom recipe from Lauren's Latest a few months ago and have made them at least 4x. So this a definite recipe worth mentioning. I have altered her wonderful recipe a bit due to me liking to use the entire mushroom and I don't always have green onions on hand. But by all means please check out her recipe because she gets full credit for making and sharing the recipe for these incredible mushrooms!

Ingredients:
20-24 fresh whole mushrooms (button, bella - whatever you like)
1 tbsp vegetable oil OR butter
1 sweet onion, minced fine  
6 oz. softened cream cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
salt & black pepper, to taste
1 cup red enchilada sauce 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease baking dish with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

Heat oil (or butter, I like to use butter) in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Saute until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn onion. Set aside to cool. 

When onion and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, 3/4 cup cheddar, Parmesan cheese, salt & black pepper, and taco seasoning. Mixture should be very thick. Using a small spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps in prepared baking dish. 

Pour enchilada sauce over top. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Bake 20-30 minutes until browned and bubbly. Serve hot (they taste great at room temperature too. Heck, the even taste great cold!)


Makes: 20-24 mushrooms:

 

Thank you Lauren for sharing this recipe!

Be sure to check our her other recipes. I am a huge fan of hers!

 

Enjoy! 

Fresh Tomato Salsa

 

There's nothing better than fresh tomatoes from the garden. 

I really am enjoying them from my garden and the local farmer's market this year.

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe Roma plum tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed, chopped
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 2 hot chile peppers, Serrano or Jalapeno, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine onions and garlic with chopped tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours to blend flavors. Makes approximately 2 cups.

This salsa is so good, I doubled the recipe. I just love the fresh crispness of all the fresh ingredients.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker / Crockpot Lasagna

It's National Lasagna Day! Lasagna is an all time favorite of mine. When I make my traditional lasagna it can be alot of work and takes some time. So I don't make it often. However I discovered you can make lasagna in a slow cooker! I'm telling you it's awesome! It's not quite the same as when I make a huge pan of it to be baked in the oven. But this is close, very close! And I make it quite often during the winter, normally not in August when it's 94 degrees like it is here today. But if you have central air conditioning, why not? Have a go at it and celebrate National Lasagna Day!

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef 

1 onion, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, smashed 

1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

12 ounces ricotta cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

1 egg

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup asiago cheese 

12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked *

16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

*You  may use no-boil lasagna noodles or uncooked lasagna noodles. Just be sure to cover the noodles well with sauce. In this recipe I used uncooked lasagna sheets that were parboiled for 2-3 minutes. Note: fully cooked noodles will become mushy. So I recommend not to use fully cooked noodles in this recipe.


Directions:

Mix ricotta, cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons Parmesan, egg and parsley. Set aside.

Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and oregano. Cook long enough to get it warm.

Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker:

 Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with cheeses:

Spoon a layer of ricotta mixture:

 Spoon more meat sauce to cover the ricotta:

Add another layer of noodles:

 Sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese:

 Spoon another layer of meat sauce over the mozzarella cheese:

Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up. Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and remaining parmesan.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours:

Spoon up and serve with a nice garden salad and fresh bread. Enjoy!

Whipped Dreamsicle Drink

This will be quick, sweet and to the point ... 

I've recently discovered Pinnacle Whipped Vodka. It's delightful, it's yummy, it's refreshing, it makes me happy .. Here's my favorite way to drink it on a hot summer day:

1 shot Pinnacle Whiped Vodka

6 oz. Orange Juice

Ice

Blend or Shake

Serve with fresh fruit ,such as, blueberries and strawberries

Enjoy!

P.S. It tastes great by itself over lots of ice

Happy Father's Day & Cornell Chicken {Recipe}

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day to all the great Dad's out there. I hope you all had an enjoyable day. Unfortunately, my dad is no longer with us but he is always in my thoughts. Especially today. I loved him so very much and he was the best Dad a girl could ask for. I wish he were here to know my kids, he would have made the perfect grandfather and I think he would think my kids, as well as my brother's kids were the "coolest kids".  

My kids are just as lucky as me .. my husband has kept up the tradition and is an AWESOME father!! He does so much for our kids, they are his everything, he loves them tons and will do anything for them. And I know my kids love him dearly (even when they are cranky and/or having a foot stomping teen moment).

We had a beautiful sunny, breezy day here in upstate New York. We went out for breakfast at local diner, my husband mowed the lawn, and started to stain our deck, and I went to a local garden center to buy MORE flowers (heck, it was buy one get one free! I had to go). Oh Yeah, the hubs even cooked up some awesome BBQ Chicken. So basically it was kind of like Mother's Day. It always seems to work that way. :)

Here's the deal on the chicken ... 

 

One of our favorite local places to eat is Phil's Chicken House in upstate New York. It's not a fancy place by any means but it has the BEST BBQ chicken.  At least I think it's one of the best...probably because I grew up eating at many gatherings such as picnics, parties, graduations, work functions, etc. From what I gather their chicken is a "your basic Cornell Chicken". Cornell Chicken is a New York state specialty created by a professor at Cornell University.

Here is the Cornell Chicken recipe that we use:

Ingredients:

• 2 whole dressed chickens (2 1/2 - 3 pounds each), cut in half
• For the basting sauce:
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

Preparation:

Combine the basting sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until emulsified. Place the chicken halves in a large zip-top plastic bag and pour in 1/2 cup of the sauce. Seal the bag and shake gently to coat the chicken evenly. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, and wipe off excess sauce from the surface. Grill over charcoal, turning and liberally basting with the sauce every 10 minutes, for about an hour, or until cooked through.

Note: Dr. Baker's original recipe used a barbecue pit with the chicken cooked on racks, several feet away from the coals, so that the chicken cooked relatively slowly, but this recipe still works fine if you use a deep, kettle-style grill.

This recipe makes enough basting sauce for 4-5 whole chicken, and any extra can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Grillin' ... 

Remember my husband is in the middle of staining our deck so we moved the grill to the side our house and into my side garden. Here is grillin' and chillin'

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day!!

My kids are the luckiest kids to have the Best Dad!

It's National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!

So I've heard today, June 12th 2012, is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day! I hear these things but never really know if it's true. So I did little searching and according the the American Holidays today is the National Peanut Butter Cookie Day listed under the American Food Holidays (no, I didn't know there was such a list). 

Today is also my son's last day of his first year in high school - a celebration indeed. So off to the store I went and picked up the ingredients I didn't have on hand (such as Peanut Butter - yep, usually I find something to make and I don't have the main ingredient). 

Not much to say except my all time favorite cookie is a traditional peanut butter cookie made with Jif® Peanut Butter. 

 

Here is my favorite Peanut Butter Cookie recipe...

Recipe adapted from Jif.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup JIF® Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Butter Flavor CRISCO® Stick
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies.
2. Combine brown sugar, JIF® peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.
3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.
5. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 7-8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Do not over-bake. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cool completely. 

Enjoy with a big glass of ice cold milk!!