Crack! (or you could call it Saltine Toffee)

 

I've heard it called many things, but Crack is my favorite!

I had to laugh when I was reading my friend, Trisha Yearwood’s, cookbook. She loves this recipe because her mother always wanted something sweet after dinner and then immediately needed something salty. That is totally my husband! He always needs something salty after his sweet snack, whereas I am happy as a hippo ending with a sweet snack. I’m going to look like a hippo if I don’t keep ending with a sweet snack too!

 

A friend of mine brought these to a party we had years ago too. She gave me the recipe, but I lost it. I’m pretty sure this is it though. Angie, if you are reading this, is this it?? I fell in love with them at the party and couldn’t believe how easy they were to make. I love toffee and I love easy so this was right up my alley! I wanted to make a special treat for friends this Christmas so I pulled out my cookbook and found this recipe again. You definitely need to try this one. It’s so easy and worth every minute of effort put in!

 

Ingredients:

35-45 saltines

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1 cup light brown sugar

8 (ish) ounces semi sweet chocolate chips*

*cooks note – I used one full bag (12 oz) of milk chocolate chips and it turned out great. I tried 8 oz first and it looked like I needed more to spread around so I added the whole bag.

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

 

Line 1 large or 2 small jelly-roll pans with aluminum foil, spray with nonstick spray and arrange the saltines salt-side down in a single layer. My jelly roll pan held 48 crackers and that was perfect.  

As you can see, I didn't listen to directions and place them salty side down. Uh oh!

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and boil until it turns a caramel color, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour over the crackers, covering them evenly.

 

Put the jelly-roll pan into the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just bubbly, watching carefully. 

can you see how bubbly and delicious it is looking right now?? Yum!

Remove from the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the crackers. When the chips melt a bit, spread them over the crackers with a knife.

 

and viola! Doesn't that look yummy already?

Transfer the pan to the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until completely cold. My chocolate was still wet to touch after 20 minutes so I left it in for about 30 minutes. 

This will form one big sheet. Break it up into random pieces, any size will do. Store in an airtight container. Package for friends for holiday treats or just enjoy! My husband loves these because it was the perfect combination of his sweet and salty snack. These are a keeper. I think I’ll be making these again to take to my parents for Christmas.

 

Crockpot Dulce de Leche Sauce

Okay so this is possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I was watching one of my favorite weekend shows, on the Food Network of course, and Katie Lee taught me how to make Dulce de Leche sauce in the crockpot. Yes, you heard me right. I said in the CROCKPOT! What?? Now I love my crockpot but who knew I could make a yummy, creamy caramel sauce in it? And did I mention that you just need one ingredient? This recipe still blows my mind! I made it today and will be trying it drizzled over some apple pie shortly. So far I’ve only tried it drizzled over my finger. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed licking it off my finger but I think it will be even better drizzled on ice cream, pie, or added to coffee. Let’s just get down to this easy recipe.  Here’s what you need:

 

Crockpot

mason jars – I used three 8 oz jars
condensed milk – I used two 14 oz cans
water

 

Easiest directions ever:

Equally pour the 2 cans of condensed milk in the three mason jars. Seal lid securely.

 

Place jars in crockpot and fill crockpot up to the lids, without covering.

 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours. I cooked mine 9 hours and it was the perfect caramel color. You can cook longer for a deeper caramel color. If you keep peeking at the color by removing the lid, like I did, then you probably need to cook a little longer.


Remove jars from crockpot with tongs. They will be very hot. Let cool for a bit on a dish towel. Remove lid, stir to combine, and then eat a big spoonful! Okay, maybe not a whole spoonful, but at least get a little sample to make sure it's delish.

 

Look how beautiful it turned out! I’m totally giving this to a couple of friends as Christmas gifts. Did I mention that I made this in the crockpot??? I'm still amazed!


This will keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Just remove lid and heat in microwave or you and just scoop some out and microwave a little at a time.

 

Paula Deen's Goulash - Delish!

 

If this isn’t comfort food then I don’t know what is! Paula Deen can cook! People might want to make fun of her for her love of butter and saying y’all, but Y’ALL, that woman has some mighty fine recipes! And believe it or not, they don’t all contain a stick of butter. This one doesn’t and I made a little healthier version by using ground turkey instead of beef. You can use which ever floats your boat.  The name “goulash” doesn’t sound very appealing, but you can get passed that like I did. I ran across this recipe while I was looking for something else and the picture stopped me in my tracks. It looked so delicious….and boy was it ever! As I started reading the recipe I may have started drooling a little bit. I love every ingredient in this recipe, how could I not try it? Clearly that was going to be impossible. The day I found the recipe, I made it. My husband just keep saying, “this is so good”, “this is really good”, “this is so flavorful”.  Well he’s right. This recipe is so delicious and full of so much flavor. Now we are a bit of sissy’s on the hot sauce category so I backed ours down a bit. I read the reviews and a lot of people said it was too hot for them. You could start with 1 Tablespoon and add a little more after it cooks and you can taste it. Remember, you can add hot sauce as you go, but you can’t take it out. This makes such a huge recipe, I’d hate for you to ruin it all by making it too hot…..season with caution. Now let’s get started on this bad boy so you can make it tonight too!

 

Ingredients:

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         2 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey

·         1 large Vidalia onion, chopped

·         1 red bell pepper, chopped

·         4 cloves garlic, chopped

·         3 cups water

·         1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce

·         2 (14.5 oz) cans fire roasted tomatoes

·         2 teaspoons dried basil

·         2 teaspoons dried oregano

·         3 tablespoons Paula Deen Hot Sauce – I cut this back to 1 tablespoon

·         1 teaspoon garlic powder

·         2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

·         kosher salt, to taste

·         black pepper, to taste

·         parsely, to taste

 

Directions:

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the beef, and brown for 10 minutes, breaking up with the back of your wooden spoon as you stir. Add the onion and bell pepper and continue to cook, while stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes.

 

Add all the remaining ingredients, except the macaroni, and cover with a lid, and simmer for 20 minutes. At this point I started second guessing my pot choice. Not so sure 3 cups of water and pasta will fit in here. Hmmmm.....what to do???

 

Stir in the macaroni, cover with the lid, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Let's pretend you don't notice that I had to get my husband to help me pour everything into a larger pot.

 

Let mixture stand for 20 minutes before serving. Try to be patient. This is a good time to make some cheddar biscuits or garlic bread. You definitely need bread with this comfort meal. Garnish with parsley.

 

Come on, how delicious is this looking??

Enjoy one bowl, then go back for seconds…..like we did. I hope y’all enjoy this as much as we did. I think you will.
 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

This is going to be one of the simplest recipes you’ve ever made. This is great for a holiday party treat, or really just for any Thursday night. I’m pretty sure I’ve never made a recipe with just two ingredients other than this one. How about you? Can it really get any easier than two ingredients?? This is also one of my favorite cookies. How can it not be when it’s made with peanut butter cookie dough and a mini Reese’s cup?? Two of my favorite things.

 

Some people will make a homemade cookie for the cookie base, but I’m a fan of making this one quick and easy and using prepared cookie dough. If you want to make it a more difficult and time consuming recipe, then go ahead and whip up some homemade cookie dough. While you do that, I’m going to show you how to make it with two easy ingredients. Here’s what you need:

 

1 tube of prepared peanut butter cookie dough

12-24 (more or less) Mini  peanut butter cups

You can decide the quantity. If you just want to make a dozen to sit on the couch and devour with your husband, then you can......I cannot confirm or deny if that has ever happened. Or you can make 2 dozen or more for a party.

 

Directions:

 

Slice the cookie dough about 3/4 inch thick, then slice into fourths

 

Place each fourth in a mini muffin cup. Do not shape to fit pan, just lay the portion in each cup. Be sure you are using a mini muffin pan, not full size

 

Peel wrapping off your desired amount of peanut butter cups and get ready to use......but not yet

 

Place mini muffin tin in oven according to package and bake for 7-10 minutes. You don’t want them to get hard like a cookie. I usually stick around the 7 minute mark. The cookies are perfectly puffed up in the muffin tins. Still soft enough to press a peanut butter cup into.

 

Remove from oven and immediately press one peanut butter cup in the center of each muffin cup, pressing down until the top of the peanut butter cup is even with the top of the pan. The cookies start to hug the peanut butter cup....I can say that I really blame them. Move quickly to get them all pressed in before the melting starts to happen.

 

Now some people leave them on the counter to cool, letting the peanut butter cup melt, but I put mine in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes and let them set quickly. You might have learned that I’m a bit impatient.

 

Now, pop one of these babies in your mouth and enjoy a little taste of heaven. I’ve been making these for years. They are so easy, so delicious, and the perfect party dessert. Hope you’ll enjoy for years to come too!

The Best Ever Vegetable Beef Soup (or Turkey)

Okay, I know you hear me say all the time that something is the best I’ve ever tasted, but seriously! For reals This IS the best (okay, one of) soups I’ve ever tasted! It is full of so much yumminess. The combination of beef broth and tomato paste creates the best soup ever! This is my new favorite flavor combination. I’m going to seek out this flavor combination. Thank you to one of my dear friends, Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman) for showing me this recipe. I was browsing her site for another recipe and found this one. The picture caught my eye, and now I know why.....it’s the best soup EVER! I made some delicious cheesy biscuits to go along with it and that was the perfect combination. I recommend you made this soon. Let’s get down to it.

 

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 pounds Ground Chuck or Turkey (I used turkey)
• 1 whole Large Onion, Diced
• 2 stalks Celery, Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 large can (24 Ounce) Can Whole Tomatoes
• 4 cups Beef Stock Or Beef Broth, Plus More As Needed
• 1 whole Red or Yellow Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced small
• 4 whole Carrots, Peeled And diced
• 5 whole Red Potatoes, Cut Into Chunks
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper, (more To Taste)
• 2 teaspoons Dried Parsley Flakes
• 1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (more To Taste)

Directions:

First let's get all the veggies diced. Be sure they are all about the same size (except potatoes).

In a large pot over medium-high heat, brown the meat with the onion, celery, pepper, and garlic. Remove the pot from the heat and drain off as much fat as you can.

Return the pot to the heat and add the rest of the ingredients. When adding whole tomatoes, squish in your hand one at a time to to break up. This makes the pieces perfect for the soup. You don’t want whole tomatoes in your bowl.

Stir to combine, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, then cover the pot and simmer the soup for 20-30 more minutes, until potatoes are tender but not overly mushy. I probably cooked mine about 45 minutes to an hour. The carrots seemed to be stubborn and wouldn’t soften. The longer you cook, the better.

Soup should be somewhat thick, but if you'd like it to be more "soupy," add 1 to 2 cups more broth OR hot water and heat through. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt if needed.

Serve this soup up with some delicious bread and you’ll want to thank me later! You have to admit, that is some good looking soup! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Apple Crumb Cake

Yes, it's another apple recipe, but way better than anything I've told you about before.  Forget all of the other apple cobblers, pies, cakes you’ve seen online or baked. THIS is the one you want to make! OMG, this is the best apple dessert I’ve ever tasted. Seriously! It’s so easy, but sooooooo delicious! I mean how bad could it be when the crust is made out of butter and cake mix?? I think that’s a nice start to any recipe. The cake mix and butter blend beautifully to make the best crust ever. Make your grocery list now and add this to your Thanksgiving desserts.....or just make it on a random Saturday afternoon like I did.

 

Someone that I worked with at Delta in the late 90’s brought this dessert to work once and I begged him to ask his wife for the recipe. I have no idea where it has been, but I found it during our move back to Atlanta. I haven’t made this in about 20 years. I think God wanted me to find this recipe so I could make it today and be on a dessert high! David and I were both moaning with delight as we ate this for an afternoon treat. I’m not kidding you, it is so delicious! You need to make this now for a trial run and then again for Thanksgiving. Okay, let’s get down to the details:

 

Ingredients:

 

1 egg

1 package yellow cake mix

1 stick butter

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 apples, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup sour cream

 

Directions:

 

Peel and slice apples

 

Combine dry cake mix and butter, mix until crumbly. I like to grate the cold butter and then combine with dry ingredients with a pasty cutter. It gets evenly distributed that way.

 

Reserve 2/3 cup of cake mixture for topping. To the 2/3 cup of topping, add brown sugar and cinnamon and combine.

 

Press remaining cake mixture on the bottom of an ungreased 13x9” pan. This will be the most delicious crust you've ever tasted!

 

Spread apples over crust

 

Blend sour cream and egg and spread over apples.

 

Sprinkle reserved topping mixture over apples evenly.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes

 

Serve it up and enjoy after it’s cooled for a few minutes. Enjoy with some ice cream or whipped cream as well. I’ll take mine straight out of the oven please. You can thank me for this one later!

 

One Bowl Apple Cake

The picture doesn't do it justice. I'm a bad photographer!

It’s that time of year and I love it!  Welcome Fall! It’s time to go apple picking, eating apple cider donuts along the way and possibly stumbling upon the best apple fritter you’ve ever tasted. Luckily we actually experienced all of those things a couple of weeks ago and brought home a lot of a few too many apples. I love it though because then I get to make lots of yummy apple treats. I saw this recipe somewhere on Facebook and it reminded me of the Tastefully Simple recipe for Nana’s Apple Cake. That cake is da bomb! I love a quick and easy cake recipe. I especially love it when my husband peels the apples for me. That really makes it worth while! Don’t get jealous, it doesn’t happen all the time but I sure do love it when it does. This is a one bowl cake, the title might have given that away though.

 

Let’s get started on this super simple and moist apple cake! Did I mention you just dump everything in one bowl???

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
6 medium Gala or Fuji or Honey Crisp apples (I used a mixture of several apples I had on hand from our picking trip)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. Peel and slice the apples thinly and add to mixture in bowl (coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.)
 

Mix together the baking soda and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl. Mix well until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. 

Pour mixture into a greased one 9x13. I used my trusty large, round Pampered Chef stone dish.


Bake for approximately 55 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash

Trying to eat a little healthier? Well, aren’t we all. I like to eat healthier, but I don’t like to really know I’m eating healthy. Surprise me! I want the food to still taste delicious and feel like I haven’t missed a thing. That’s probably what we all want. Well look no further, this little hidden gem, spaghetti squash is just the trick. We’ve been using it for years instead of pasta. It’s great as your main dish covered with a meat sauce, or great as a side tossed with some olive oil, parmesan cheese or even pesto. So many great things you can do with spaghetti squash. Since I was very excited when I discovered this little treasure, I hope you will be too. I’m just going to help you cook it correctly, and then you can get crazy with your toppings. All you need is a spaghetti squash to get started. Below is a picture of one in case you have no idea what to look for in the grocery store.

 

Can you tell how I knew this was a spaghetti squash???

Now the easy method for cooking spaghetti squash is to steam it, which is my preferred method. You can also bake it for about 45 minutes, but I prefer to microwave it for about 7 minutes. Take your spaghetti squash and cut it down the middle. They are thick, so get a big knife and be careful!

 

 

Now that you have it cut open, let’s clean the seeds out. The easies way is to just get a spoon and scoop out all the seeds and guts that are in the center. If you have a grapefruit spoon, that’s the perfect tool for this.

 

Voila!

 

Okay, it’s all clean and we are ready to steam it. My microwave steamer isn’t large enough to accommodate a squash this size so I just used a corning ware dish and covered with the glass lid. You don’t need an actual steamer to get this done. So many easy work arounds. Now, put about 1/2 inch of water in the pot you are using as a steamer, place the squash cut side down, cover and microwave for about 7 minutes. A squash this size is about 7 minutes, adjust the cook time for one larger or smaller. When you take the squash out, flip it over and test with a fork to see if it is soft. If it still feels hard, put it back in for another minute.

 

Once you are certain it’s done, let’s start making spaghetti! It’s magical! You just need a fork and your best scraping skills. The squash will be hot so you might want to use a hot pad to hold it. Grip the squash and start scraping with the fork. Little strands will come loose and you’ll be making spaghetti. Wasn’t the fun and easy?

 

I served mine with a little marinara sauce topped with basil. Like I said, there are so many ways to serve this. Next time, I’m serving with a little pesto. Let me know your creative ways of serving spaghetti squash.  Enjoy!