Category Archives: food

Jun21

Sea Salt Caramel Rice Krispie Treats

Posted on June 21, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

sea salt caramel bars

What can I say…OMG! The quote in the magazine was “the combination of caramel and sea salt gives this childhood treat grown-up flavor!” So true!! I am trying to clear out some clutter and ran across this on a page I had torn out of “Country Living” magazine. I have no idea how long I have had it but I thought I would give it a try. Some of Quilties were coming over to sew on Tues, so I whipped these up and they were a big hit. Rice Krispie treats on “crack”. (no I don’t do drugs but they did prove to be addicting.)

Salted Golden Caramel Bars

Vegetable oil, for greasing dishes (I used PAM)

8 cups puffed rice cereal (Rice Krispies)

3/4 cup corn syrup

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted (I used semi=sweet Toll House)

Rice Krispie treats

Oops! I forgot to put the white sugar in the picture!

caramel bars

1.Liberally oil a large mixing bowl and 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Place cereal in bowl and set it and dish aside. (I didn’t oil the bowl)

2. In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine corn syrup, condensed milk, sugars, butter and sea salt.

boil ingredients

place in saucepan

Allow mixture to come to a boil, while stirring continuously, until a light golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. (at this point I was trying to calculate how many calories I was burning while stirring that caramel)

light golden brown

3. Remove mixture from heat, stir in vanilla and immediately pour over cereal.

pour over cereal

Stir to completely mix and then evenly spread in prepared baking dish.

spread in pan

Smash the treats into the prepared pan. I used waxed paper to compress the treats.

release from pan

4. Set aside and let cool, about 45 minutes. Invert and release from pan. Drizzle with melted chocolate and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Cut into 15 bars.

Now this step is when I ran into a problem. As you can see from the picture my chocolate was just lumps.

melted chocolate

So I put the chocolate into a sandwich bag and snipped the end and squeezed the chocolate onto the treats.

salted caramel treats

protein 2 g. fat 5 g carbohydrate 45 g fiber 0g cholesterol 13mg calories 231

Jun7

Tortellini Marinara

Posted on June 7, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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Tortellini Marinara

I found a fast and simple recipe that my husband would actually try. It is from “Taste of Home, Quick Cooking” magazine dated Dec 2004. I decided it was time to try some of the recipes or get rid of the magazines. This is my first ( of I hope many) I will try this Summer.

Tortellini Marinara

prep time 25 mins

1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini (I just used the frozen)

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

1 package (15 oz) refrigerated marinara sauce (I used the jar)

1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian tomatoes, undrained

1/2 pound of sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions.

fresh mushrooms

I chopped my mushrooms and thought it looked like a lot, so I only used the amount on the right.

brown sausage

While the tortellini is cooking, brown your sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink: drain.

tortellini marinara

Stir in marinara sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat: cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Drain Tortellini: stir into skillet. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Remove from heat: cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield : 8 servings!

finished dinner

I had to transfer the everything to a big pot to mix it together. It was too much for my biggest skillet. Hope you enjoy! My husband even went back for seconds.

May25

Dreamsicle Trifle

Posted on May 25, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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Dreamsicle Trifle

My Summer is starting out fantastic. I returned from a trip to CO on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday was spent sewing with great friends. In the Spring and Fall we gather at a friend’s house and she hosts a week of great sewing and fun. I went with the intention of clearing some items from my UFO lists, but ending up adding two terrific projects. I will be posting the sewing projects soon, but I wanted to share the new dessert I tried. Each of us will take turns providing lunch or dinner for the crowd. When I shared with some of my other girlfriends my intentions, they said “You are trying out a new recipe on them without making it first?” My thought was what better way to try a new recipe, if they are true friends they will give me their honest opinion and they loved it!

I got this recipe off of Pinterest with a link here to the original blog. I would have to rename this “Jet Bar” Trifle, because when I was in Grade School (pre-Mrs. Obama) if you finished your school lunch you could purchase a Jet Bar. The Jet Bar was really the same thing as this Dreamsicle, but my memory screams Jet Bar. It was orange sherbet with vanilla ice cream in the middle. I didn’t get a chance to eat at school very often. Back in the day, we walked to school and walked home almost everyday for lunch. No, I am not going to tell you it was 10 miles in the snow, but it was maybe a half a mile each way and we would have logged about 2 miles per day. There were no school busses in the city and NO snow days. OK, enough of my healthy childhood…on to the good stuff!

Dreamsicle Trifle
2 large cans mandarin oranges
1 small pkg. orange gelatin powder
1 pint orange sherbet
1 cup whipping cream, whipped (no sugar or vanilla, just whipped.)
1 angel food cake, cubed
whipped topping

Drain 1 cup liquid from mandarin oranges. Bring to a boil in the microwave. Add gelatin, and stir to dissolve. Cool until just warm. Add orange sherbet, and mix until melted. Gently fold in whipped cream. It is okay if there are uneven streaks, just don’t smash those fluffy whipped cream bubbles. Put half the cake cubes in the trifle dish (or other dish that is not as fancy), cramming them together so they will stay in a tight layer. Pour half the orange mixture over the top, cover with a thin layer of whipped topping, and top with half the oranges. On top of the oranges, put the remaining of the cake cube in, pour over the remaining mixture, cover with the remaining oranges and cover with whipped topping. Refrigerate.

These directions are directly from the Time Travel Kitchen blog.

stir boiling juice in Jello

cram cake cubes in dish

add orange sherbet to Jello

Whip the whipping cream

Now here is where I ran into a problem. I am whipping cream challenged! I have always avoided the use of whipping cream and this was the first time I tried it and I failed! It looked more like cream cheese and I was told I over beat it! It still tasted fine. I really think you could just use a large Cool Whip and avoid the whipping cream all together. I will try that next time and I will also have to have my sister give me “whipping cream lessons”.

finished product

put in the layers

I you go to the original blog she will show you a fancy orange peel twist to put on top. I took the easy way out and put some oranges on top and added a sprig of peppermint! They loved it!

Apr30

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Posted on April 30, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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fruit salsa and cinnamon chips

Doesn’t this look sooooo good! My niece made it for Easter this year and I made it last weekend for my daughter to take to a brunch. She was in town for a wedding and the girls got together to catch up on “ole times” the day after the wedding. She said the salsa was a big hit with the kids since the pieces were cut really small. The children were all under the age of 4. I really think this would be great to take to a Summer picnic.

fruit salsa and cinnamon chips

You will need:

Fruit Salsa

2 kiwis, peeled and diced

2 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled and diced

8 oz of raspberries

1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries ( diced)

2 tbsp of white sugar

1 tbsp of brown sugar

3 tbsp fruit preserves, any flavor ( I used strawberry)

For Cinnamon chips:

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas

melted butter (or butter flavored cooking spray) I used butter!!

Cinnamon sugar:

it calls for (but I didn’t use near that much)

1 cup of white sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

diced fruit

In a large bowl add all the salsa ingredients. Kiwi, raspberries, apples, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves and mix well. Cover and chill. The longer this sits the more juice it produces. You should make it the day you are going to serve it, but I did eat the leftovers up to two days later. I just had to use a slotted spoon.

butter the tortillas

Melt the butter ( I used a half of stick). Brush it on one side of the tortilla.

sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

Sprinkle the buttered tortilla with cinnamon sugar. Cut the flour tortilla in 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a cookie sheet in a single layer and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. This step does take some time to complete. You could also use cinnamon graham crackers or cinnamon pita chips if you are in a hurry.

Serve with your fruit salsa.

We pinned this recipe and the original site was http://thethreadaffect.com

Mar31

Bunny Button Up – Happy Easter

Posted on March 31, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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Bunny Button Up

Happy Easter everyone! Although my children were not home for Easter, we did have a house full. It rained, so we had an indoor Easter Egg Hunt. 140 eggs were found in about 10 minutes by 4 little cuties. Everyone enjoyed the food and fun. The day ended with my sisters doing the dishes while Bentley taught Uncle D some of her dance moves. It was so cute. Notice my ipod on the table rocking out the tunes. Mr. B is busy on the Kindle playing Angry Birds.

ready, set …dance

My niece, Kathleen made a couple of recipes she found on Pinterest and they were both great. I don’t have the recipes, but I am sure you can search for them on Pinterest. Stay tuned this summer for some more great ideas from Kathleen. She can not wait to finish her first year of college and get creative on her Summer break.

White chocolate covered strawberries make to look like carrots

White chocolate covered strawberries to look like carrots

fruit salsa and cinnamon chips

The quilt was from the Button Up series by Joined at the Hip. You can search my blog under “quilts” to find other quilts I have made in the series.

Feb9

Hostess where are you?

Posted on February 9, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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? Hostess

If it looks like Hostess…

? Hostess

If it’s packaged like Hostess…

Little Debbie

Does it taste like Hostess?

I am sad to say NO! I was in Walmart getting a gift card for Mr. B who turned 6 this week, when I saw this package of Little Debbie cupcakes. I liked Hostess cupcakes, but didn’t really eat them THAT often, but as soon as you can not get something you really crave it. Of course I purchased the cupcakes and I am afraid to say that I tore into the package as soon as I got in the car.

Little Debbie did make a good try. They look like Hostess…are packaged like Hostess, but they do not taste like Hostess. The icing is pretty spot on, but the cake does not have the same almost fudge like taste of Hostess. The good part about this sad fact is I don’t think I will be buying them again and hence calories saved on my part.

Little Debbie may need to make a call into “Buddy” on TLC to see if he can help them out with the taste.

Feb4

Watergate Salad…a family favorite

Posted on February 4, 2013 by madisonzanecreations

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Watergate salad

If you would like a quick and light desert, you should try Watergate Salad. My mom used to make it in the late 70’s. She also made Watergate Cake. She worked in a factory and they had a lot of potlucks and traded recipes. I started wondering how it got its name and I was thinking that Jello pistachio pudding came out about then, so I “Binged” it:

” Kraft Foods developed the salad under the name of Pistachio
Pineapple Delight. The pistachio pudding was made in 1975, during the same time
as Watergate, thus the salad got the same name from a food editor.”

Imagine that…I was right! Well it is really fast to make, so here are the directions.

You will need:

1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice

1 (3.4 oz) Jello pistachio instant pudding

1 cup of miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup of chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups of Cool Whip (thawed)

Watergate salad

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl (yes, use the juice of the pineapple)

Watergate salad

Add the Cool Whip

Watergate salad

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

One of the good things about this salad is that if you have some marshmallow that are getting a little hard, the juice from the pineapple will soften them right up! The dark green on top is some green sugar I sprinkled on to give it some color. I was thinking that I should have posted this for St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe I’ll post the Watergate cake in March.

There you have it…a little history with your dinner…