Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter, creamy

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup pretzels, crushed

Chocolate glaze

Instructions

mix the peanut butter and softened butter

add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and mix until it is the consistency of stiff dough

mix in the crushed pretzels

roll dough into 1" balls and freeze until firm

melt the chocolate and dip the balls one at a time

sprinkle each ball with sea salt

refrigerate until chocolate is set

serve or refrigerate in air tight container

Chocolate Reese Cupcake and how I like to package them.

Pssstt...I have a secret~ I made these cupcakes yesterday and they were REALLY good, so I wanted to share the secret. I followed the Chocolate Cake mix box according to directions but substituted coffee for the water (coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate) and added a box of chocolate pudding mix. Placed a mini Reese Cup in the center of the batter and baked according to the directions... they were yummy! If you want white cupcakes (vanilla) then you would replace the water with milk and add vanilla pudding. I "cheated" on the frosting...I used "canned" vanilla frosting and added a cup of peanut butter to each can of frosting and mixed well. Best PB frosting ever!  Give it a try and let me know what you think~i~

I buy goodie bags, spoons/forks, and 9 oz beverage cups at the $ store. I place the cupcake in the cup, frost the cupcake inside the cup and then place a spoon next to it and tie it up in the goodie bag. It makes for easy transport and keeps "things" from getting to the cupcake. Great for Bake Sales!

Salisbury Steak~slow cooker or dutch oven

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds lean ground beef 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (1 ounce) packet brown gravy mix 3/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, onion soup mix, bread crumbs, and milk using your hands. Shape into 8 oblong patties.
2.	Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the patties in flour just to coat, and quickly brown on both sides in the hot skillet. Place browned patties into the slow cooker stacking alternately like a pyramid. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup, gravy, and water. Pour over the meat. Cook on the Low setting for 4 or 5 hours, until ground beef is well done.

DIY Onion Soup Mix

• 2/3 cup of dried, minced onions
• 3 teaspoons of parsley
• 2 teaspoons of onion powder
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of celery salt
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and place in an air-tight container.

4 TBS equals 1 packet of Onion Soup Mix

Bouillon~ what is it and what do you do with it?

Food.com states, "Any broth made by cooking meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables in water. The liquid strained off after cooking is bouillon. A bouillon cube is a compressed, flavor-concentrated cube of dehyrated meat, poultry, fish, or vegetable stock. Bouillon granuales are the granular form of the dehydrated concentrate."

Many recipes call for "broth": chicken, beef, ham, vegetable, or fish. What do you do if you don't have any on hand? I always keep bouillon cubes and granules in my pantry. They store well and are super handy when you don't have any cans of broth in the cupboard. 

Creamy Potato Soup~ Slow Cooker Method

 Ingredients

30 oz bag of frozen shredded hash browns

42 oz chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken or potato soup

1/2 onion-chopped

1/4 TSP ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese (make sure not to use fat free, it won't melt)

Instructions Combine hash browns, chicken broth, cream of chicken or potato soup, chopped onion and pepper into your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Add 1 pkg. of cream cheese during the last hour and serve with shredded cheese and chives.

Money saving tip

Did you know that you can find most of your Kitchen staples at a discount store?
95% of my spices and liquid condiments that I purchase come from a dollar store or similar place. I paid $1 for Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, vinegars, buffalo wing sauce, as well as cinnamon, garlic salt, onion salt, etc. Save yourself some $$...stop in to see what they have, you'll be surprised!

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

You may substitute Blue Cheese dressing for the Ranch and use full FAT cream cheese. Just remember, when you cut the FAT in a recipe with "hot/spicy" ingredients, the recipe will tend to be more spicy/hot. FAT decreases the heat in spicy dishes.

Allow cream cheese to soften or place in the microwave to speed it up.

Cook chicken, any way you like. I just use a frying pan, quick and easy. You can also used canned chicken, 20 ozs.

Mix all ingredients together (saving 1 C of shredded cheese for the topping) in large bowl.

Pour into baking dish or microwave safe dish.

Sprinkle remaining cheese on top

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 mins or microwave for 6-10 mins. 

Serve with tortilla chips!

Venison Pot Roast~Oven Bag method

Place roast in oven/turkey bag

Chop Celery

Cut up potatoes

Cut up Sweet potatoes or yams

Add 2 tbs garlic~more or less.. you decide

Add 2 bullion cubes to 2 cups warm water

Allow them to dissolve

Stir to mix well

Place all veggies in bag on top of roast and pour bullion over top

Seal bag and bake in oven at 375 degrees for 3 hours or so.

Fat substitute

Did you know that you can replace the "fat" (oil) in most of your baking recipes with the same amount of mashed banana or applesauce or babyhood prunes? It reduces the fat content and makes it more moist.

Guacamole~made easy

Ingredients: Avocados and Salsa

Cut ripe avocados in half, discard seed

Use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the shell

Place in mixing bowl

Mash with a fork or potato masher

Pour in your favorite salsa, just enough to mix well

Well mixed avocado and salsa, refrigerate for about 30 minutes to meld the flavors

Finished product, serve with your favorite chips

Venison Roast or Beef~ whichever you prefer

Ingredients

 Place frozen roast in Dutch oven or Slow Cooker (this one is the Pampered Chef RockCrock)

Pour Root Beer over roast and add water so that entire roast is underwater. Add bullion cubes.

Cover and cook on Med/simmer for 4 -6 hours

Roast will literally "FALL" apart. Serve immediately or save for sandwiches or Stroganoff or Fajitas.
This will have a "sweet" taste due to the Root Beer.

Christmas Confections and Cookies

Christmas Cookie Baking Day 2013