Peanut Butter Fudge

Here's another of my Mom's great recipes.  This is really simple and tastes so much better than anything you'll buy at a store.  You'll have about 2 lbs. of fudge and I usually get 36 pieces out of an 8X8 pan.  Do not double this recipe or the fudge will be runny.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. light corn syrup

1/2 c. milk

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. chopped peanuts (optional)

Instructions

Combine sugar, corn syrup, milk, and salt in medium saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stir constantly, until sugar dissolves.

Cover pan for 1 min. to allow steam to dissolve sugar on side of pan.

Uncover pan; cook without stirring to 236 degrees.

Remove from heat.  Add butter

Add vanilla, peanut butter, and nuts.

Beat until thickened and loses its high gloss.

Turn immediately into a buttered 8x8x2" pan.

When completely cool, cut into squares.

This can be stored for 2-3 weeks in a tightly covered container with wax paper between the layers,

 so the fudge won't stick together.

Buckeyes

You can't live in Ohio and not have a recipe for these tasty treats.  A recipe makes 125-150 buckeyes, depending on the size.

Buckeyes

Peanut Butter Balls:

1 lb. melted butter

2 lb. peanut butter

3 lb. powdered sugar

Directions:

Mix above ingredients and roll into balls the size of buckeyes (about 1 Tbsp.).  

Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Chocolate Coating:

24 oz. chocolate chips

1/3 bar paraffin

Directions:

Mix chocolate chips and paraffin in a double boiler until melted.  Don't add too much paraffin or the chocolate will be too runny to coat the peanut butter balls.

Dip the refrigerated balls into the chocolate mixture with a toothpick.

Place on wax paper and refrigerate.

Peppermint Fudge Cookies

I found this recipe a couple of years ago, though I can't remember where it is from.  These taste just like the thin mint cookies that the Girl Scouts sell.

Peppermint Fudge Cookie

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 pkg. Andes creme de menthe chocolate mint chips

1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla, and eggs with electric mixer on medium high until smooth.

Beat in melted chocolate. 

On low speed, beat in flour and baking soda until well-blended.

Reserve 1 c. of the mint chips.  Stir in remaining mints and the chocolate chips into dough.

On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.

Baking 10 minutes or until centers of cookies no longer look moist (do not overbake).  

Immediately sprinkle with reserved mint chips.

Cool one minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Makes about 6 dozen.

Melting Dreams

I've had several people on facebook ask for recipes that I'm using this Christmas, so I thought I would post them here for everyone.

These shortbread cookies are one of my favorites.  I think my mom found this recipe in the local newspaper several decades ago and it has become one of our Christmas food traditions.  They really do melt in your mouth, hence the name, "Melting Dreams".  One recipe only makes about 2 dozen cookies, so I always make at least a triple batch.

Melting Dreams (Shortbreads)

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. corn starch

1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. butter (you must use salted butter for the right taste)

Mix dry ingredients together.

Cut in butter w/ pastry blender and then use your hands (The warmth of your hands helps blend the butter thoroughly, though if the butter is soft enough, I've discovered that my kitchen aid mixer does just as well.)

Shape dough into a large ball.

Use 1 Tbsp. of dough and roll into a ball.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Make a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie with a fork.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.  Do not  let the tops brown, or the cookies will be too done.

Enjoy!

Potato Soup Recipe

My mom came up with this yummy recipe for potato soup. Several people have asked the it, so I'm sharing it now. If you want to make this a vegetarian dish (which I often do), leave out the bacon pieces and saute the veggies in a little olive oil and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. This is great on a cold, snowy day with apple slices and bread. Enjoy!

6 slices of bacon, cut in 1/2" pieces

1 med. onion, finely chopped

3/4 c. celery, finely chopped

1/2 c. grated carrot

2-10 1/2 oz. cans chicken broth

2 c. water

5 large potatoes, diced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1/2 tsp. dill weed

1/2 c. flour

3 c. milk

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Fry bacon pieces until crisp. Remove, drain on paper towel.

Add onion, celery, and carrot, saute in bacon drippings until tender.

Add broth, water, potatoes, salt, pepper, and dill weed.

Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Whisk flour into milk and add to soup while stirring.

Cover and continue cooking on simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir occasionally. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Before serving, add 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese.

Stir well until cheese melts.

Garnish with reserved bacon pieces.

Homemade Wheat Bread

As part of us eating healthier, we don't buy many prepared items. That means no muffin mixes, frozen waffles, refrigerated cookie dough. etc. I've gotten pretty good at making whole wheat waffles & pancakes, cookies, and muffins from scratch. I had yet to find a good bread recipe though until last week. This one came from Moneysaving Mom and is super-easy and delicious.

Homemade Wheat Bread

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F.)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast

Put all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Set on dough cycle. When dough cycle is finished, take dough out and shape into a loaf in a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20-45 minutes (until doubled). Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cinnamon Rolls

My friend, Michele, gave me this recipe and I had to pass it along. These cinnamon rolls are some of the best I've ever had! Best of all, after you bake them, you can freeze them so you have a yummy treat on hand whenever you want (just don't ice them if you plan to freeze them). Hope you like these as much as our family does!

Cinnamon Rolls

About 15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350°F/180°C

4-1/4 to 4-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
6 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 to 5 tsp milk

Combine 1-1/2 cups of the flour and yeast in large mixing bowl. Heat the 1-1/4 cups milk, vanilla, sugar, butter, salt, and cinnamon just until mixture is warm (120-130°F), stirring constantly. Add to flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.

Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can (dough will be soft). Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball; place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours).

The dough is ready for shaping when you can lightly press two fingers 1/2-inch into dough and an indentation remains. Punch down dough and divide in half. Place each half on lightly floured surface and smooth into a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

On lightly floured surface, roll half the dough into a 12 × 8-inch rectangle. Spread with 3 tbsp of the butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle half over rectangle. Roll up from short side. Seal edges (brushing with water makes rolls easier to seal). Repeat with remaining dough.

Slice one roll into 8 pieces and the other roll into 7 pieces. Arrange slices, evenly, cut-side up, in greased 13 × 9-inch baking dish. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled (about 30 minutes).

Bake for 25 to 40 minutes or until light brown. Invert at once onto wire rack, invert again. Cool slightly. Drizzle rolls with a glaze made by combining the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Serve rolls warm or store in an air-tight container.

Makes 15 servings.

Holiday Tortellini Soup

I made this really yummy soup last week and wanted to share the recipe. I made the full recipe with the intention of freezing some for later, but we all liked it so well that it was gone within two days. I guess I'll have to double it next time!


2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (49-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
8 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta. Cook until crisp. Add onion; cook 3-4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain. Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture. Stir in crushed tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook just until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

8 servings (2-1/2 quarts)
This soup also freezes well.

Monkey Muffins

Today the kids and I made Monkey Muffins. They were so yummy that I thought I'd share the recipe with you. I doubled the recipe (so that we'd have enough to freeze) and got 42 regular muffins from it.

Monkey Muffins
makes 12-16 muffins

4 bananas
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening (I substituted canola oil, or you can use applesauce)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. low-fat sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray generously with non-stick spray. Cut bananas into pieces and mash. In a small bowl, mix together whole-wheat flour and baking soda. In another bowl, mix together shortening and sugar. Beat until creamy. Add eggs, mashed bananas, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour mixture and sour cream. Mix well. Fill the muffin sups 1/2 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Ellie peels the bananas

Jacob mashes them

Ellie breaks the eggs
(Mommy Tip: If your kids are helping you break the eggs, always have them do it in a separate bowl. This makes it really easy if you have to pick out shell pieces.)

They thought it was funny that the eggs made a smiley face in the bowl

Jacob adds the sour cream

Waiting for it to finish mixing

Anticipation

Yummy!

Everyone thought they we so good that we each had two with dinner...even Emmaline!

Making Yogurt Pops

Jacob is really enjoying the new show on PBS called "Sid the Science Kid". Today, Sid made homemade popsicles and the kids wanted to make some too. It just so happened that I had a recipe I'd been wanting to try, so we had a fun morning in the kitchen.

Slicing bananas to put in the bottom of the cups. This helps hold the stick in place.

Emmy watched from the floor

Jacob adds the raspberry yogurt

Ellie adds the lemon juice

Ready for the freezer

Daddy and Jacob taste the finished product...YUM!

Yummy Cookies

I haven't baked any cookies since before Christmas, so today, Mom came over and helped the kids and I whip up some yummy treats. This was a new recipe, but I was really pleased with the results. Who wouldn't love something that combines chocolate, peanut butter, and potato chips?

Here is the link to "Chip and Dip Cookies" if you are interested. They really are delicious!

This was taken earlier in the day. Emmaline was so tired that I couldn't even get her up to her crib before she fell asleep!

Jacob crushes the potato chips

Gabrielle mans the mixer

Flattening cookies with Mimi

Dipping the cookies in chocolate/peanut butter sauce and then peanuts

Enjoying the cookies of her labor

Yummy!

Pizza Party

The kids got snow shovels for Christmas and were so excited to see snow on the ground today. They were not so thrilled, however, when I told them it was too cold to play outside. The temperature today was all of 12 degrees this afternoon with a wind chill of -2, so going outside was out of the question.

They love to help me in the kitchen, so to take their mind off their disappointment, we made tortilla pizzas with faces on them. It is super easy, healthy, and yummy too. We took a whole wheat tortilla and topped it with mozzarella cheese. Then we put another tortilla on top of that and spread it with sauce. The toppings were their favorite part because they got to use more mozzarella for hair, pepperoni for the mouth, and green olives for the eyes and nose. These baked in the oven at 350 until the cheese was melty (you could easily do this in the microwave too!). I love ideas of things to do on cold or rainy days, so I thought I would pass this along in case you want to try it when the weather turns ridiculously cold again (or when it rains, which should happen this weekend with the 50 degree weather we are supposed to get...gotta love Ohio!). Here are some pics. of my little chefs with their works in progress:

Chef Gabrielle

Chef Jacob