Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Whoever first thought of combining salt and caramel is an evil genius. The two pair so well together it's crazy.

This bar comes together fairly easily and tastes like heaven.

Really.

If you could slice out a piece of heaven...I am about 99% sure this is what it would taste like.

I saw this first on Pinterest and just had to try it. I am so glad I did!! Thanks to Cookie and Cups for creating these and Pinning them.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

(Slightly Adapted from Cookie and Cups)

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

4 cups flour

Caramel Layer

1 14 oz bag caramels, unwrapped (About 40 - 50 individually wrapped)

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp coarse sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325. Line a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray.

Prepare crust - In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat until creamy. Add in vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in flour until a soft dough forms.

Press half of the dough into the prepared 9 X 13 pan. Refrigerate remaining half of dough.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven while you prepare the caramels.

Prepare caramel layer - Place the caramel in a microwave safe bowl. Add the cream and vanilla, and microwave for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.

Pour the caramel filling over the cooked crust (Do your best to pour it evenly over crust as it is very difficult to spread). Sprinkle salt over the top. Removing remaining dough from fridge and crumble it evenly over the caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until filling is bubbly and the topping is firm and golden brown. About 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

These sold very well at the bake sale Sue and I made them for. I think pretty much anything with the words "Salted Caramel" in them would sell well at a bake sale.

My tasting crew at work raved about them.

I may have eaten one or two...you know....just for quality control.

You could, of course, make your own caramel for the middle but you don't have to. As it is, it is AMAZING!

Probably one of the best squares/bars I have tasted.

Maple Garlic Wings

Ever have one of those days when you are craving something but you don’t know what it is that you want? For example – you really, REALLY want chocolate but NO, not that chocolate, and NO not a chocolate chip cookies, and NO not chocolate ice cream…and then you finally just have a hot chocolate because you are getting tired of walking around the kitchen looking for chocolate stuff and everyone around you is ready to kill you because you have been whining about wanting chocolate the whole day and the hot chocolate totally hits the spot.

That’s what I was going through last night.

Except, instead of wanting chocolate I wanted something made with chicken.

I was done work at 2:00 and started thinking about dinner and knew that I wanted chicken…..was craving chicken, actually, but didn’t know what to make with it. I started looking on the internet and flipping through random cookbooks in my bookshelf but nothing was jumping out at me. Then I started going through the cupboards looking for sauces or mixes that might work.

Nothing.

Then I realized it was getting close to 4:00 so if I wanted to put anything in the oven I had better get to it.

And thus this sauce was born.

Jo’s-Desperately-Craving-Chicken-But-Can’t-Find-A-Recipe recipe.

(Or, Maple Garlic Wings for short)

Ingredients

¼ cup real maple syrup

2 Tbsp Thai Sweet Chili sauce

1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ Tbsp prepared mustard

Splash of HP or Worchestershire sauce

Salt & pepper

6 chicken wings

 Directions

Pour sauce ingredients together in a Ziplock (or any plastic) bag. Squish together so it is mixed.

Place chicken wings into sauce and marinate in refrigerator for a few hours. (Or, if you are like me and short on time, don’t worry about marinating them. Just throw them in the sauce and make sure they are well covered.)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 X 8 pan with cooking spray. Place wings in pan. Reserve marinade sauce.

Bake in 350 oven for about 30 minutes (Until chicken is cooked). Flip chicken over once during cooking. After 30 minutes, brush chicken wings with marinade and return to oven. Turn on broiler and broil for 5 minutes. Flip chicken over, brush with remaining marinade, and broil 5 more minutes. (Watch that chicken doesn’t burn, it should be nice and brown and just starting to crisp up the skin.

 Turns out it was exactly what I needed to curb the craving. Plus, it is delicious so I will definitely be making it again. I only made 6 chicken wings but the sauce can easily by doubled or tripled for more wings. It was sweet, but not too sweet, garlic-y, but not too garlic-y, with just the right amount of crispy-chewy-stickiness.

I love it when you can satisfy those annoying don’t-know-what-I-want-but-I-know-it’s-not-that cravings with something you throw together at the last minute. It definitely needs to happen more often.

Stop by Carole's Chatter for tons of fabulous links!

5 Minute Apple Crisp

Best Apple Crisp Ever.

Pretty bold statement, I know. Especially since this one comes together in about 5 minutes and is cooked in the microwave.

The topping turned out sooooooo great on this.

I am calling it "healthy" but I am putting quotation marks around the word "healthy", and I do make air quotes when I tell people it is "healthy".

What? It's apple crisp.

Apples are fruit.

Fruits are healthy.

It contains butter.

Butter is a dairy product.

Dairy is healthy.

It contains oats.

Oats are a grain.

Grains are healthy.

Therefore, this is "healthy".

Drooling yet?

5 Minute Apple Crisp

Ingredient

1 small apple

1 heaping Tbsp butter, softened

splash vanilla

2 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

2 Tbsp oats

1 Tbsp pecans, chopped

1 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Peel and cube the apple into a microwave safe bowl or mug. Microwave for 2 minutes.

While apple is in microwave, in another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients until crumbly.

The topping is the best part :)

Take out apple, stir, and then sprinkle topping over apple.

Microwave for another 1 - 2 minutes, until apple can be easily pierced with a fork. Start checking at 1 minute.

Warning - when this comes out of the microwave it is EXTREMELY hot!

Let it sit for at least a minute or two before you try to eat it. This will be difficult, I know, but you do not want to burn the top of your mouth!

I didn't have any ice cream but imagine this would be heaven on a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting on top.
I can't wait to try this topping on peaches or apricots. I will update you when I do!

UPDATE! I made this with a peach instead of an apple.
It may be my new favorite. It was delicious.... check out the pic below!

 

I would gladly just eat a bowl of the topping with some ice cream but then I would lose the apple which is the biggest selling point on the whole "healthy" thing. .

*Sigh*

The things I put up with for the sake of my physical well being.

5 Minute Banana Bread

Yep. It's another 5 minute recipe.

I can't help it.

Now that I have discovered how delicious they are I am all about discovering different treats. This one is a cross between a banana cake and a banana bread. It tastes like banana bread but the consistency is more like a cake than a quick bread.

It is also probably the teeniest 5 minute recipe I have made yet. Most of the other recipes make a large single serving, almost enough for two.

Well, let's be honest, it IS enough for two but I eat the whole thing. My reasoning? It fits in one bowl so it's one serving. Shhh...let me have this one.

Anyway, this is probably closer to what a single serving actually should be.  

Feel free to double it.

5 Minute Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 heaping Tbsp mashed, ripe banana

1 Tbsp melted butter

1 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp brown sugar

splash vanilla

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions



Mix together banana, butter, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

Before the cooking begins. Mmm...banana-y!



Microwave for approx 1 minute. Start checking for doneness at 50 seconds.
I put a small square of parchment paper in the bottom of the dish so I was able to flip it out to serve it.

I topped it with a little whipped cream and some caramel sauce.
Yes. It was amazingly tasty. Thank you for asking.

Salad in a Jar

If you have been on Pinterest then you already know all about the "in a jar" food craze. You can put just about anything in a jar and bake it or freeze it or, just use it as a unique way to serve it.

If you haven't seen these creative recipes and ideas then you should check out Big Red Kitchen . They have dozens of things to bake or serve in jars.

Anyway, I saw a few pins on Pinterest about putting salad in jars and I thought that was genius.

I made the above pictured quinoa salads for a bake sale and they sold really quickly. I included the dressing in those one pictured above because I was preparing them to be eaten right away.

All you need is a fork!

The ones I have pictured below do not have the dressing in the jar with them as I made them to put in the fridge for me to eat over a period of a few days.  

The two pictured above are green salads with a few of my favorite vegetables chopped up in them. In one I put some coleslaw on the bottom as well as the vegetables just for something a little different.

What I love about these is that when you are hungry, you can just dump them into a bowl, add your favorite dressing, and you are ready to eat.

My niece (Sue's daughter, Kenzie) wanted to make some Southwest salads with black beans, onions, corn, and salsa. Not exactly my favorite, but I did steal some of her black beans and corn and layered it with mixed greens, mushrooms, onions, and a bit of couscous. The smaller jars are more quinoa salads (The quinoa is hiding under the ring) but I didn't put the dressing in them as they would be sitting for a few days in the fridge.

We also made some Israeli couscous and some gluten free, whole wheat pasta to round out our salad collection.

For me these are very helpful with the whole trying-to-eat-more-veggies thing.

I hate making salad. I also strongly dislike eating salad BUT I am trying to change that.

Having a variety of different salads with different veggies and fillers already made, in the fridge, ready to eat is working pretty good. I made enough that I have 1 big, mixed green salad and 1, smaller either pasta, couscous, or quinoa salad each day. I made up enough for 5 days. (So - with excellent math skills - that is 5 big ones, and 5 small ones. Impressed?)

Today is day 3 and the salads are still fresh and crisp. I think they will make it to the 5 day mark with no problems.

In about one hour Sue and I and Kenzie made about 20 different salads. We did all the chopping, washing, cooking (pasta, quinoa, etc...), and layering in the jars in that time. I made a bit of a mess but overall it was worth it. Now I have a lunch and dinner salad all week and won't have to chop any more vegetables.

Works for me :)

P.S. - If you want more tips and tricks on how to layer your salads and things like that then please check out Big Red Kitchen . They have in depth how to's and great information. 

Breton Beans

I was going through my photos and discovered these of the Breton Beans that I made a while ago.

*Gasp*

It would have been a real catastrophe if I had forgotten about them and never got to share this recipe with you. They were delicious. Especially eaten with some Roasted Beet Garlic Bread .

They do require a bit of prep work and advanced planning but are SO worth it.

They do make quite a bit too so be prepared to share with family and friends or be eating them for a while. I'm pretty sure you could freeze them for later as well.

Breton Beans

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen
.

Ingredients

1 bag (16 oz) dry beans, soaked overnight

1 whole onion, diced

1 Tbsp bacon fat

1/4 lb bacon, diced

1/4 lb ham, diced

1 whole ring of Kielbasa, precooked, diced

salt & pepper

1 can ( 156 ml) tomato paste
.
Directions

Rinse beans. Place beans in a soup pot and add 3 times more water than beans. Heat until it comes to a boil then remove from heat, cover and let stand overnight.

When ready to start, replace the bean water with fresh water until a few inches above beans. Then, boil and cook until soft (2-4 hours). Replacing the cooking water at this step helps with digestive and gas issues some people have when eating beans.

While cooking the beans, in a frying pan, caramelize the onion in the bacon fat along with the bacon on medium low heat. Cook until onions are caramelized and softened.

Add the onions and bacon to the beans, along with the ham, diced kielbasa, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors.

Add the tomato paste and stir, which will thicken the soup. Allow to cook for another few minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Note - Typically, baby or giant Lima beans are used, although cannelli, navy or other beans are often used as well.

I am glad I came across the photos of this recipe and got to share it!
It is a real comfort food that is especially good on a cold day.