Sweet and Sour Chicken

This recipe happens to be a family favorite, so I decided to share it.

 There are a couple of changes I make...

I double the recipe (written in pencil)
I usually use a teaspoon of boulion and a cup of water rather than broth.

I don't use accent salt.

I don't even own accent salt.

I do it the lazy man's way and use 

Tyson Southern Style Breast Tenderloins.

We have become chicken nugget/strip snobs and these are our favorite.

Plus they only have to cook for a half an hour or so.

 My mom has been known to dip her chicken pieces in 

Shake and Bake rather than browning it in flour.

I think it's just as good like that.  

We like it with a side of steamed long grain rice

 (not Minute Rice... that stuff is nasty)

with extra sauce poured over top 

(thus the reason I double the recipe).

Nothing makes my picky kids day more than hearing we're having this for dinner.

Serious goodness right there, folks.  

(I think I may have to make Grandma Dial's baked chicken and rice next week)

Uncle Syds Caramel Corn

Seriously good.

Seriously easy.

You'll devour the whole bowl in one sitting and have to make more.

A family favorite indeed.
And yes, we may or may not have eaten several giant bowls of it lately.
(P.S. - I don't keep paper sacks around, I just use the great big Tupperware bowls)

(P.S.S. - this is not the gooey kind of popcorn, this is like "cracker jack" popcorn. Only better. I have another most excellent recipe for the gooey kind I'll have to share another day!)

Cupcakes!!!

So the other day, I made these cupcakes for family home evening.

The kids...

Well, the boy loved the frosting.
The girl will eat anything. Literally.
And the Ish? Well, she loathes any and all things pineapple and raisins.

But the husband? He loved them. A lot. And since he is all that matters, then that is all that matters. It does help that he loves all things pineapple and raisins.

I had to do some revamping to this recipe to fit our particular dietary needs, and those can be found at the bottom of this post, with the changes marked with some a deese.... **

Okey dokey?

Now go make these. Seriously. They are SO GOOD! And if your kids are like mine, then it means MORE FOR YOU. And if you are nice, you will take a couple to your mom and dad to get back in their good graces for you not visiting them as often as you should have. I almost made it back into the will this week. Woohoo!

Sweet potato mini cakes
2 cups flour
1 cup each sugar and packed brown sugar
1 tsp each salt, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups canola oil **
3 cups shredded sweet potatoes **
1 tsp rum extract **
1 can crushed pinapple, drained
1 cup each golden raisins and chopped walnuts **

Frosting
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1 cup butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp rum extract **
1 1/2 cups ground walnuts **

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, potatoes and extract; beat until combined. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Fill 12 greased or paper lined jumbo muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until he toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely.

For frosting, in a large bowl beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in the sugars and extracts until smooth. Frost sides of cakes; roll in walnuts. Place cakes upside down and frost tops with remaining frosting.

** I put about half as much oil in as it called for because it seemed like a lot of oil. They still turned out perfect.

** I didn't have any sweet potatoes and didn't want to buy any, so I used 3 cups of canned pumpkin. They still turned out perfect.

**I don't happen to keep rum around the house, so I used coconut extract instead. They still turned out perfect.

**I don't put nuts in anything since the husband is allergic to them. Poor guy. He will never know the deliciousness one can find in a pecan pie. I also didn't roll them in nuts, either, just frosted them like normal cupcakes. And guess what? They still turned out perfect!

The one about the blondie...

A few weeks ago, we were at Lowe's picking up another tile for the floor when I noticed this fantastic fall dessert recipes magazine on the rack. It was a bit out of my price range, but after thumbing through it and showing the super cute husband what it had to offer, he gladly bought it in the hopes that I would actually make him something out of it.

Since then, I've had fun trying out some of the tasty treats! Like these white chocolate cranberry blondies with a delicious white chocolate cream cheese frosting. Oh. My. Gosh. They were so heavenly.

White chocolate Cranberry Blondies

3/4 cup cubed butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped.

Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel (optional)
6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

In a microwave, melt butter, stir in brown sugar. Transfer to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in cranberries and chocolate.

Spread into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until your preferred method of poking (fork, toothpick, does it really matter?) comes out clean. Cool.

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, sugar and orange peel until blended. Gradually add half the melted chocolate until blended. Frost brownies, sprinkle with cranberries and drizzle with remaining chocolate. Store in the refrigerator.

(Okay... so I'm really not dumb or anything, I knew this had cream cheese and probably needed to go in the fridge, but it had been one of those days, and well, you know how it goes. Needless to say, we did not get to even come close to enjoying the entire pan of these sinfully delicious brownies because... I did not put them in the fridge.

No, they did not go bad or make anybody sick.

It turns out, however, that if you leave the "plastic wrapped" brownies on the island and then go and devour a turkey swiss croissant sandwich at the "Little Deli" with your super cute husband, you may just come home to find the kitten literally bouncing off the walls and most of the frosting gone from the brownies. I'm just sayin....)

Stay tuned for more yummy recipes from this magazine as well as news on my dishwasher, my wedding ring, the "luddle" code, and if we're really energetic, more tile.

Oh, and a giveaway... yep. The prize? She's cute and adorable and fluffy and black and loves pinecones, sticky tape, chewing on tin foil and sucking on the same bathroom faucet you brush your teeth in. Come on now, you know you want to win that one!

Sorry husband, I tried.

Oh, what I wouldn't do for a dull moment.

52 photowalks - Week 32

My photowalk this week took place up at the gardens at BYU-Idaho. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of anything other than my handsome family... oh, and the temple on the way home.
But this weeks photowalk includes a treat... BANANA BREAD! I love banana bread. Especially my awesome husbands grandma's banana bread. She was a wonderful cook and had all sorts of secret recipes she never shared with anyone (like her caramel frosting)... BUT...her banana bread recipe is published in the 1997 Stake relief society cookbook, page 29. I've tried all sorts of banana bread recipes. This is by far my favorite!!!

Just in case you don't have the recipe book, I shared the recipe on my recipe site (my sister was asking about it the other day anyway)... and I added some hersheys dark cocoa to the mix (only because I was out of chocolate chips). Um... it's quite delicious.

Go. Bake. Enjoy! Until next time...