Popcorn Balls

One of my favorite childhood traditions was having carmel popcorn almost every Sunday. The only thing greater than that is the side order of homemade fudge that came with it and the games we played while eating. Silly me, I haven't taught my daughter to make a whole lot of meals but she can whip out carmel popcorn in no time.

1 cube butter
1 cup corn syrup*
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 quarts popped popcorn** (approx)

In a saucepan over medium heat bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Add the milk and bring to another boil. boil to softball stage (just barely softball if you like it to still be gooey after a few hours). Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over popcorn.

If forming into balls be sure not to press them tight together - this makes them hard to pull apart or eat. Our family likes to just get bowls of it or to eat it out of the mixing bowl. . . we're to impatient to make balls.

* I use 1/3 cup molasses and 2/3 cup corn syrup. I reminds me more of the popcorn we had growing up and gives it a little more carmel flavor

** We like to mix corn chex with the popcorn to give a little crunch to it

Chicken Scampi (Olive Garden copycat)

This is my favorite meal at Olive Garden so I searched it online and found this recipe posted by a lady that used to work at Olive Garden. I wanted to know what scampi means so searched it and found that it is: "a large shrimp sauteed in oil or butter and garlic". Hmmm .. no shrimp in the recipe but definetly alot of butter!

1 cube butter

1 1/2 tbsp garlic puree * see note

1 1/2 tbsp chicken base

2 Tbsp flour

5 ounces white wine * or white grape juice

5 ounces water

10 ounces heavy whipping cream

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tbsp fresh chpped parsley * or dried

Angel hair pasta

Melt butter over LOW heat; do not let it brown. Add garlic puree and let sweat for 2 minutes, quickly whisk in flour and chicken base then add wine/juice and water. When all smooth slowly add the whipping cream while whisking and then all of the spices. Let simmer for about 10 minutes and keep warm while cooking the noodles and chicken.

* You can buy bottled garlic puree or you can make your own. To make your own slice off the top of 2 heads of whole garlic until you see cloves. Spread cloves apart a little and pour approzimately 1 tbsp olive oil over each head. Put in oven at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until they smell sweet. After they cool, squeeze cloves out of the papery stuff and smash to a puree with the flat side of a knife.

Chicken and veggies for top of pasta: (this is a side recipe, Olive Garden orders pre-cooked chicken for this dish)

Marinade chicken for about 1 hour in:

1 cup Italian-style salad dressing

3 tsp honey

juice from 1 fresh lime.

Grill or sautee chicken with sliced green, red and orange peppers, and red onion.

Serve pasta with sauce, chicken and veggies over top.

Strawberry Romaine Salad

Romain Lettuce - washed and torn into pieces.

*Toss with dressing before adding other toppings. I like to just barely have a hint of dressing on it - others like a dripping salad so do it to your own preference.

Strawberries - sliced

Manadarin Oranges

Chopped Almonds

Craisins

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Dressing:

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1/2 chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp mustard

*Mix in blender until smooth. Then slowly add while blender is on:

1 cup oil (Olive or Vegetable)

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**For variations you can use spinach or a combination of spinach/lettuce. Instead of almonds use carmeled walnuts or pine nuts. You can also add sliced green onions for a more tart taste.

Hints - Frozen Fruit for Smoothies

Posted Earlier . . . A hint for always having fruit on hand for smoothies is to buy it at Sam's Club/Costco in bulk and freeze it. This is especially great for strawberries, pineapple and kiwi. Just peel the kiwi and pineapple and slice them in about 1/2 inch slices, place in large freezer bag and they will be great to toss in for smoothies. Even bananas can be frozen, just peel and stick in a bag.

Update . . . I have recently found that rather than have all of my fruit in seperate bags and needing to open a bunch of them and then seal them and then put the all bag in an organized way in the freezer . . (whew, it's extra work just to type it) . . . that I can put a variety of fruits in one freezer container and then pull out only one container to make smoothies. It is saving me alot of baggy mess in the freezer and is causing alot less frost on the fruit from all of the opening and closing of the bags and extra time with the freezer door open trying to organize.

As you can see from the picture, I need another container as I still have some fruit in bags but you can also see the organizational difference between the bags and container.

* Smoothie Recipes *

Veggie Tortilla Pizza

This is my 'disgusting, healthy" version of pizza. Thank you for your opinion kids!

Keep in mind that all of these toppings are optional, these are just the ones that I use. The day that I took this picture I didn't have any olives or pineapple opened so it may look a little plain, but the color and flavor of this pizza is one of my favorite ways to eat veggies.

Tortilla(s)

Pizza Sauce

Zucchini

Canadian Bacon (if I have it on hand)

Peppers (green and red are my favorite)

Onion

Pineapple

Olives

Cheese

Put tortilla(s) on a baking sheet and spread sauce on top. Layer your favorite combination of toppings, ending with cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until veggies are cooked to your preference.

The easiest way I have found to eat these is to fold them in half, use a knife and fork and eat away!

Hints - Zucchini

Cami called me because she had been given some zucchini and wanted to know what to do with it so here are a couple of hints that I gave her.

Zucchini freezes really well so don't feel like you have to use it all this week. For zucchini pancakes I cube the zucchini and put 2 cups of cubes in a freezer bag and freeze it. This way I can take the bag out of the freezer the night before and it is already measured and ready to go by morning. Also, you can freeze grated or chopped zucchini. I freeze that in 1 cup measurements.

I use the 1 cup measure/frozen/chopped zucchini to add to spaghetti and lasagna sauces. I don't change anything else in the recipe because the veggie carries enough water in it that it doesn't thicken it too much. If you already use green peppers in your sauces then the zucchini just blends in. I like to use 2 cups if I'm adding it to a meatless lasagna sauce because it gives a little texture of ground beef without the extra fat. Keep in mind that I add 1 cup/2 cups to a sauce large enough for a family of 7 to eat so you may want to add a little less.

Recipes:

Zucchini Pancakes

Veggie Tortilla Pizza

Broiled Zucchini

and of course Zucchini Bread which I am trying a new recipe for (zucchini-pineapple) so I may post that later . ..

Zucchini Pancakes

I was hesitant to try these because of the whole wheat flour. The recipe sounded heavy - and too healthy for my picky crew. I was very pleased when Levi came in after he ate and asked what kind they were because they were "dand good"'. I hesitated, then responded "zucchini and whole wheat". "Ah, mom, why'd you have to tell me, now I can't like them". Evidently, taste doesn't matter as much as whether they sound good.

The cinnamon and allspice make these pancakes great! The kids loved the apricot syrup on them and I also liked them with raspberry jam, no syrup, just eating them like bread. The leftovers were a little dry and unimpressive so eat them hot. This recipe makes 12-14.

1/3 cup milk

2 cups zucchini cut into 1" cubes

3 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

*Mix in blender until zucchini is chopped up and blended well. Then add:

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (you could use white)

2 tsp baking powder

*Blend just until flour is mixed in well

Cook on hot pan or griddle at 375