#16 Perfect Sweet Tea

My husband is a Georgia boy through and through, so when I saw this I had to make it immediately. I usually get praises for my sweet tea, but this time it was, "Just like home." How can I argue with that? The pinner called it the smoothest sweet tea, no bitterness. My husband heartily agrees.

Ingredients:5 - 8  Family size Tea Bags. (or 12 regular Tea Bags) 
        ( I prefer  #1 Luzianne or  #2 Liptons Brand Teas.)1 Quart  (4 Cups) - Boiling Water
3 Quarts (12 cups) - Cool Water
1 1/2 - 2 (one & a half) - Cups Sugar. 
1/4 teaspoon - Baking Soda (this IS the SECRET Ingredient!!)

Directions:
Boil water, add tea bags and let boil for 3-4 minutes, pour into pitcher, add sugar and baking soda, add cold water to make a gallon!

Thank you Craving Comfort!!!

(I'll let you in on one more secret...I don't like tea, in any form. I've tried them all, and they all just taste like I'm chewing on leaves. Had to take the husband's word on this one. Oh well.)

#15 Chocolate Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls

So, by now I should probably be buying stock in Pillsbury. Saw this one today and just happened to have it all in my cabinet. Who doesn't have peanut butter, chocolate chips and crescent rolls???

It's a delicious snack that the kids got a good kick out. Plus it just smells heavenly when it's cooking.

Ingredients:

Can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Peanut Butter

Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Separate the triangles of dough, slather on the peanut butter and then chocolate chips! Bake according to the directions.

So good right out of the oven!!! Perfect for when you've got a sweet tooth.

#14 tonights teaser

Going rogue tonight people...

I'm missing one ingredient for the pulled pork recipe, so I'm going to wing it!

#13 Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole (slow cooker!)

Let me tell you, I never said I'd cook healthy, just that I'd cook well. This was sooo good. Another new family favorite, that list is getting long! Needless to say I'm working out more to help offset all this yumminess.

Ingredients:
1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray, or use a liner bag.

Place half the tater tots in 

Place 1/3 of the bacon and cheese in

Put in the chicken, season with salt and pepper to taste

Put 1/3 of the bacon and cheese in

Place the remaining 1/2 of tater tots

Place remaining 1/3 of bacon and cheese on top

Pour milk over entire pot

Cook on low for 4-6 hours

So, super easy, as always. I did make a few adjustments. I have a small crock pot and this dish filled it up. I set it on low as the directions said, but an hour later when the tater tots and cheese on top were still cold I got nervous. I turned it to high for the remaining 3 hours. 

The tater tots were good but broke apart easily. I don't know if that's supposed to happen or not. Next time I'll put everything in earlier and try it like the recipe says. 

I also used real bacon. Nothing beats real bacon! Just fried up about 3 slices then diced them up. You can add more if you like.

 

You can find the recipe here! She also has directions for making this in the oven! 

Check out her other recipes, there's like a gazillion I want to try!

#12 Bacon and Pancakes, tips and tricks - fail...

I think one misstep is ok after all the wonderful dishes I've made. Right? 

I can whip up bacon and pancakes with the best of them, but last night I decided to try a couple of new tricks...

First, I had never seen bacon cooked in the over. I did as the pinner suggested, 350 for 20 min. It cooked fine, but it was rather chewy. And, I couldn't get all the bacon on one pan like they did. 

Then I'd seen a pin where they poured pancake batter over cooked bacon...seemed like a great idea. Not so much. There were no directions, so I winged it. Here's what I was dealing with during this whole process...

 

I have to admit it was pretty funny at the time. My husband didn't agree when he was the one cleaning up the mess on the counter.

Since I precooked the bacon there wasn't much grease, so I didn't have to worry about the pancakes tasting like it. The problem I was having was the pancakes were just falling apart as I tried to flip them. Oh well.

At least they were edible, but next time I'll just make it the old fashioned way. 

 

#11 Easy BBQ Ribs in the slow cooker!

I'm batting 1000 on these recipes. This one though...made me speechless. That's a hard feat I know, but true. So amazing. My husband actually called them, "Phenomenal!"

Ingredients:

1.5 tbsp sweet paprika (3tbsp) (Edited Feb '12 to say I've also used mild smoked paprika with fantastic results)

1 tbsp light brown sugar, lightly packed (2 tbsp)

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp)

S&P to taste (about 1 tsp each is what I used)

2 lbs pork (baby) back ribs (6 lbs) - leave the membrane on the ribs to help hold them together

1 cup barbecue sauce (3 cups)

Vegetable oil spray

 

So the creator halved her recipe to accommodate only 2 lbs of ribs. My rack was about 3 1/4 lbs, so I used the full seasoning, and about 2 cups of BBQ sauce. I used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. I've been a fan since the BBQ hamburgers I made. 

I do have to say that the best invention since sliced bread are crock pot liner bags! Makes clean up sooooo much easier!

I placed the ribs meat side out and down to the outside of the pot as instructed, after seasoning of course.

I found that 6 hours was perfect because the meat still held together somewhat making them easier to handle.

Now the critcal step you can not overlook because it takes them from "ordinary to extrodinary" is reducing the juice and broiling. I have never reduced anything in my life, or at least not intentionally.

 

Super easy though. When I took the ribs out, I laid them meat down on a foil lined broiler pan, then I took the juice from the pot and boiled it for about 10 minutes. That evaporates some of the water and thickens it. I then used that to baste the ribs a couple of times while I had them under the broiler. After a few minutes I took them out and flipped them over repeating the process on the meat side. This made them their glorious color, also giving them a little sauce action without making them drip all over everything!

They turned out absolutely perfect!!! My slab was a little longer than my serving dish, but they were so beautiful all laid out.

 Tip: When turning on the crock pot, make sure it is plugged in. Otherwise you could be eating at 8pm because you realize 2 hours into the cooking process that no cooking was actually being accomplished.


Recipe: Easy Barbeque Ribs

#10 Crock pot Mac N Cheese

My family loves mac n cheese, and my husband has been wanting me to find a recipe for homemade mac n cheese. Well...here it is!

You know my mantra is, "easy is great, and simple is best!" This is definitely a fix it and forget it kind of dish. (Don't forget to set the timer!)

Ingredients:

Cooking oil spray

2 cups skim milk

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups preshredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Definitely be liberal with the cooking spray as it will start to stick to the sides. I did have to do some soaking and scrubbing to get it off. 

They suggested 3-4 hours. I suggest no more than 3. The longer it goes the thicker it gets. I think I would also forgo the egg. I'm not really sure of it's purpose, and I'm not big on eggs myself.

This is a new family favorite!

 

#9 Breakfast Sandwich

This was a total hit at my house yesterday. The boys love having breakfast at all times of the day.

The original recipe called for more overeasy type eggs, and english muffins. I did change it up a bit using biscuits and substituting sausage for the cheese. Although the cheese could easily be added.

I'm not a fan of eggs any way other than scrambled, so I did them scrambled in the pan instead of overeasy.

I took 8 eggs, (there were 8 biscuits) scrambled them and put them in the cupcake pan.They did have to be spread out over the 12 cups, or you could just cut down on the number of eggs you use. Baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I was able to put the pillsbury biscuits in to cook at the same time, and while those were going I fried up the sausage patties. 

I love multitasking!

So this is what I ended up with...

 

I laughed so hard when I put this together I nearly cried. The patty was too small, and the egg too big. No worries though it'll squish down.

They tasted amazing, and my husband loved the egg because he said it reminded him of fried eggs, which he loves, only baked. 

Tip: Generously spray the pan with cooking spray because the eggs will stick. 

#8 Bottle Cap Keychains

I had seen these around and thought they were adorable, so when I saw a pin on how to make them I decided to give them a try! The pin on pinterest didn't lead me anywhere, so I started to do some searching on my own.

First I went to sites like Hobby Lobby and Micheal's. They had diy kits, but they were pricey and I didn't want the premade designs. Sooooo.....I went to ebay. 

I heart ebay!!!

I was able to buy a kit that had the keyring, jump ring, bottle cap and epoxy stickers all in one! All I had to do was find the images. I heart google.

The kit I bought already had the keychain constructed. All I had to do was print the images on photo paper, and yes it needs to be photo paper. You should have seen what it looked like on regular paper. Not pretty. 

I did have some tools from my scrapbooking days that worked great for cutting out a nice even 1" circle, and the adhesive to attach the image to the bottle cap.

These would make great small gifts or party favors. You could do a theme for a team, support group or book club even! You can buy premade design sheets off etsy as well with designs of just about anything.

Here is what I came up with! Not bad if I do say so myself.

#7 Better than fries potatoes

I'm not a fan of tossing some frozen from the bag fries into the over like my husband is. I loved these! (He liked them too.) The pinner called them, "better than fries!"

I never thought to use olive oil on my potatoes before they were baked. That couple with the salt and pepper before baking made them awesome straight out of the oven. The original recipe for hassleback potatoes called for garlic as well. I will definitely try that next time.

These were great because of the potion size, plus the kids had a blast taking them apart with their fingers!

Ingredients:

4-6 potatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper, garlic to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 40 minutes.

I tossed these in the last bit of time I had my buffalo chicken going.

Tip: I'm going to try cooking some pressed garlic in olive oil for just a couple of minutes, then brush that mixture over the potatoes.

So good, so simple!

#6 Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

If you love buffalo wings this is a recipe for you! All it takes is 3 ingredients and a crock pot!

Ingredients:

3 lbs raw boneless skinless chicken breasts

12 oz bottle of Buffalo wing sauce

1 oz packet of dry Ranch mix

Pour sauce and ranch packet into the crockpot and mix. Add chicken, cook on hi 4-5 hours or low 8-10.

Delicious, but a little spicy for my kids, so they fell back on old faithful, hotdogs. 3 chicken breasts makes for a lot of shredded meat. We'll be eating the leftovers for days! (And we are, this was actually last nights dinner.)

Recipe from: emilybites