Krispie Coconut Cookies

Around here we eat pretty healthy. But don't get me wrong. We enjoy foods, too. Food brings people together and sometimes that means whipping up what most consider "good" food. and everybody considers cookies good food! 

I love coconut and peanut butter in home-made granola bars. And these coconut cookies with rice krispies is one of my kids favorites...as well as the kids from the neighborhood who finds themselves in our yard this time of year. I can see why...

Butter.

 Home-made baking.

Gallops of peanut butter. 

Rice Krispies for the crunch effect!

Perfectly even baking on stoneware. (Ya'll should get a stone pan if you haven't yet!)

Perfection. Well, to this peanut butter, coconut, crunchy eating gal anyways.

Warm up the oven and throw these out today!

Krispie Coconut Cookies

1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. white sugar, granulated (I cut back to 1/2)
1 c. brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 tsp. salt (I hand tossed in, estimate here)
1 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
2 c. Rice Krispies
2 large eggs     
1 tsp. vanilla extract                                                                                                                
1/2 c. Peanut Butter                                                                                                                       
2 c. all-purpose flour                                                                                                                   
1 tsp. baking soda                                                                                                                           
2 c. oatmeal (I used old fashioned rolled oats here.)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Hand stir in flour, soda and salt. Fold in coconut, oatmeal and Rice Krispies, mixing just until you have a firm dough. Shape cookies into large balls (approximately 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and arrange on a stoneware or baking sheet. Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes. 

We especially love these warm out of the oven. One of my go-to cookies for after school snacks! And when doing that...serve with a smile and enjoy! :)

superfood granola

As a food junkie, crunchy food during the week is a must. Just something about a tasty, crunchy treat that makes my mouth happy! I have a really bad habit of throwing things in a pan and guessing how it will turn out. It makes a really good habit though of discovering new ways to indulge in some of the boring old basics. Home-made granola is not a new trick in the kitchen, but I had fun playing around with some good ole super-food granola. Crunch (plus) toasty oats (plus) good for you (equals) perfection! Well, perfection for this gal's taste buds... you can be the judge of your own :)

You'll need: 

1 Cup Rolled Oats

1/2 Cup Steel Cut oats

1/2 Cup uncooked Quinoa

3 Tbsp. Flax Seed

2 Tbsp. Chia Seed

1 Cup chopped Raw Almonds

1 Cup chopped Raw Cashews

1/2 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds

1 Tbsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 Tbsp. Raw Organic Honey

3 Tbsp. Virgin Coconut Oil (heated to liquify)

Easy Directions:

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.

Blend heated coconut oil with your honey and vanilla.

Drizzle your wet mix over your dry ingredients. Stir well.

Layer on a baking stone or baking sheet/pan.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt (I didn't measure, just sprinkled)

Bake at 250 for about 2 hours, stirring a few times as it bakes. 

And simply serve with a smile and enjoy!

friday night pizza dough

I blogged about this before. It's one of my most asked for recipes though, so here it is again! I love traditions and my kids love pizza. Someday Friday nights will be filled with too many things to have us all home at the same time for family pizza night. I know we will go through seasons when one or two or five of us will have commitments outside of home. But I am hoping that by building these early traditions of a simple home-made pizza and movie night, that Friday nights will eventually bring us all back together. Traditions don't have to be fancy or big or overly planned... they just have to mean something to you and yours. You can do anything! Just build traditions! Or eat pizza on Fridays. Both are fun.

Friday Night Pizza Dough 

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups flour (unbleached white and whole wheat is what I use)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Let sit 10 minutes. Stir in salt, oil, flour. Knead, form ball. Let dough rise to doubled its size. Roll out. Use favorite toppings, bake at 425, 15-20 minutes.

Caramel Corn

It has only taken me 11 months, 15 days, and 1 week to finally post this recipe for my most patient friend. Okay, I don't know the exact numbers, but I do know she asked for this recipe almost a year ago! I remember making this, capturing the photos, and laying the dirty spilled on recipe card...??? Well that's just it. I did not remember where I placed the recipe card at. For months. Until I opened my pie recipe book this fall and there nestled in nicely between freshly picked cherry pie and sweet potatoe filling was the surprise of my caramel corn recipe. Still stained and much more then book-mark worthy and bringing the thoughts of my patient friend all back to me while I saved it from the pie book and placed it safely back in it's "Sweet Things" recipe box spot. So here it is, friend...sorry it took so long!

Caramel Corn (worth waiting for :)

6 Quarts Popped Corn

1 Cup Butter

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Light or Dark Corn Syrup

1 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250. Coat large baking pans with cooking spray. Place your popped corn in the pans.

2. In a stove top pan slowly melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt.

3. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

4. Boil without stirring for 5 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.

6. Pour over your popcorn and mix well together.

7. Bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.

 Do not use margarine or some light thing... only the real good stuff.

 Get your kids involved for this one!

 Especially since the science experiment with the baking soda looks so cool...

 Mix well so every kernel gets some lov'in

 And use a plenty big enough pan for stirring it around...

And as always, serve it with a smile and enjoy!

Frozen Fruit Cups

I know, right... it's been awhile! That's why the return of my posting to this food blog is such a fun yummy one for a summer day such as this! I have been making these frozen fruit cups for years and my kids, my hubs, and whoever else is here when we get them out of the freezer love them. My favorite is the frozen banana pieces, my firstborn is all about the strawberries, and my second boy loves the slightly melted juice that shows up as it gets munched on. Whichever it is, you are sure to love every melting moment of this treat!

Frozen Fruit Cups

1 can frozen pineapple juice, 12 oz, thawed

1 can frozen orange juice, 6-12oz, thawed

1 Cup water or apple juice

1/2 Cup Sugar (optional)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

3-4 Medium firm bananas, sliced

1 Quart Fresh strawberries, sliced

1 can Mandarin Oranges, drained

1 can Crushed Pineapple

18 Clear plastic cups (or I use about 12 9oz cups and 10 small clear plastic dixie cups for kid sized servings)

Directions

In a large bowl prepare all your above ingredients.  Stir well together. Spoon 3/4 full cups with the fruit mixture. Simply freeze in the freezer (setting them on a pan is helpful to avoid tipping). Ready to serve frozen fruit cups in a few hours! As always, serve with a smile and enjoy!!

A yummy, fruity filled frozen option on summer days!

I love having a freezer full of these!

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola

In our house, we eat a lot of yogurt. There are so many tasty yogurt options and most the time we love to pile ours with fresh berries, raw honey, and granola! I came across this granola recipe from my Southern Cooking recipe book, made only a couple small changes, and it is so good...especially warm out of the oven! (And might I add, anything Southern style is usually delish! But this one you actually don't feel too guilty eating!!) I doubled this recipe for our family of 5 and it is already time to bake some more.

Homemade Granola

3 Cups uncooked regular oats

1/2 Cup flaked coconut

1/2 Cup natural sliced almonds

1/4 Cup regular wheat germ

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp. Raw Honey

1/4 Cup Vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. Brown sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. Salt

(Optional- 3/4 Cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Combine your honey and next four ingredients. Pour over your oat mixture and stir well. Spread granola mixture onto a lightly greased 15 by 10-inch jelly-roll pan (or large stoneware which is what I used).

3. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Not dark brown. Stir every 5 minutes or so and stir raisins or dried fruit of choice in once done cooking.

4. Eat right away or store in an airtight container. (Also so tasty served warm with a little milk poured over it in a bowl...just like cereal :) And as always...serve with a smile and enjoy!

Blueberry Donuts

My first memories with my husband are waking up at the crack of dawn to walk over to Dunkin Donuts in downtown Chicago and get freshly baked donuts. We were on a mission trip and somehow started almost every morning treating ourselves to one of his favorite sweets. So it comes as no surprise that our middle son has a love for donuts similar to his dad's and my house of boys has been known to drive 45 minutes one way to pick up an order of their favorite baked fresh donuts from the closest Donutland. When I realized there was such a thing as a donut pan and you could bake them, not fry them, I added this to my list of wants and our roomie gifted us with a set she found on clearance for Christmas! Yeah, we all benefit! I've tried a few recipes and tweaked it a bit...so far this is our fave. Though my boys will tell you they prefer chocolate chips in theirs over the blueberries....but this ole' mama likes to sneak in their fruit wherever I can!

 

Donuts

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 -1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or chocolate chips)

 

Preheat oven to 325. Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl together. Add yogurt, eggs, vanilla, melted butter, and oil. Fold in your blueberries. Spray your donut pan with cooking spray. Fill each donut space 3/4 full (donuts will rise above). Bake 10 minutes or until donuts seem firm and pop out of your pan easily. Cool on wire rack or wax paper.

 

 

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

3-4 tablespoons milk

 

Once donuts are cooled I like to drizzle this frosting topping over the top.

 

 Donut pan! Best invention in the donut world!

Your cooling donuts...also pretty tasty warm!

 

Call the kids, it's time to eat! Serve with a smile and...enjoy!!