Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients

·         8 Cups Old Fashioned Oats

·         1 Cup Butter

·         1 Cup Brown Sugar

·         1 1/3 Cup Honey 

·         2 tsp Vanilla

·         8 Cup Rice Chex cereal

·         2 tsp Salt

·         2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Prepare large cookie sheet (with sides--not just flat) by lining it with parchment paper (or wax paper) and spraying with non-stick spray.

2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter, brown sugar, and honey together.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring it to a gentle simmer and let it bubble away for 1-2 minutes.  Add vanilla.  Remove it from heat to cool slightly.

3. Add Oats and Chex to large bowl.  Add Salt.  Mix well.  Pour the slightly cooled honey mixture over the oat mixture.  Stir until well coated.  Add chocolate chips and stir quickly to mix.  Chocolate will melt slightly, but that is fine.

4. Press mixture into prepared cookie sheet.  Press into pan firmly using another piece of parchment paper so they won't stick to your hands. 

5.  Chill for 2-3 hours in the fridge (can do less time, but the colder they are the easier they are to cut).  Cut and place each granola bar into a baggie or wrap in saran wrap.  Can freeze or store at room temperature.

Balsamic Glazed Beef Roast

Ingredients
Beef Roast; 4-5 lb.
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
Salt/pepper; to taste
1 shallot; minced
Sprigs for fresh thyme
3 cloves garlic; crushed
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
16 oz mushrooms; sliced
2 tbsp butter
Cooking oil
Instructions
1.      In a bowl, whisk together the broth, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy/tamari sauce, shallot, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and red pepper flakes.
2.      In a frying pan, quickly sear the roast on all sides and add to a slow cooker.
3.      Pour the whisked liquid over the roast, add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.
4.      Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
5.      When cooked, remove from liquid and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing
6.      Remove 2 cups of liquid and pass through a cheesecloth, several coffee filters (they will clog with rendered fat, making it necessary to change them frequently) or a fat separator. Set aside.
Mushrooms
7.      In a sauté pan, melt the butter and cook the mushrooms on medium for 10 minutes or until browned and softened. Season with salt and pepper.
8.      Plate the roast, serve with the liquid and top with sautéed mushrooms.

Slow Cooker Sweet Pork Barbacoa

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt Roast)
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, or more to taste for a sweeter pork if desired
• 2 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste

Directions

• Place pork roast in a slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk together light-brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add in chicken broth and tomato paste and whisk mixture until well blended. Pour chicken broth mixture over pork roast in slow cooker. Cover slow cooker with lid, cook on low heat 7 - 8 hours. Remove roast from slow cooker, remove fat from roast and shred (I don't shred the pieces very small because it will kind of have a "mushy" texture if you over-shred it). Ladle out some of the fat (the shiny orange layer of liquid) from the top of the broth in the slow cooker and discard. Return shredded roast to slow cooker and allow to rest on warm heat for 1 - 3 hours. Strain broth. Serve inside tacos, enchiladas or burritos or serve over nachos, salads or tostadas.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

http://www.cookingclassy.com/slow-cooker-sweet-pork-barbacoa/

Opa's Strawberry, Banana Freezer Punch

5 lg. bananas, pureed
2 (12 oz.) frozen strawberries or 4 c., pureed together
1 (46 oz.) pineapple juice
1/4 c. lemon juice
4 c. sugar
7 c. water

Mix together; freeze. When you take out of freezer, pour 1-2 liter 7-UP over frozen punch and stir together. Delicious! Serves 50.

Comments and adjustments:

1.  It really takes this much sugar. In addition to being a sweetener it keeps the frozen concoction soft. 

2.  Adjust the fruits up or down for your preference. I sometimes toss In a can of crushed pineapple to provide a little more substance to the drink. 

3.  I use a blender for everything. No reason to purree the fruit in advance. No sequence to mixing or assembly. I put some of the juice or water in the blender then one of the fruits. Dump that portion In a large bowl or pot, then put the next couple items in the blender with some liquid, etc. 

4. You can substitute frozen OJ for the lemon juice. 

5.  I typically store this in freezer ziplocks. 

6.  For beverage, Sprite 7 Up and ginger ale all taste good. 

easy colorful pasta salad

Yum! I love this stuff

Easy Colorful Pasta Salad

1 box or 16 oz. of pasta I used rotini
10  quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 onion
1 cup italian dressing
3/4 cup of pitted olives sliced or plain
1 cucumber sliced


cook pasta. meanwhile mix dressing, tomatoes, onion,cucumber, and olives. mixin pasta refrigerate for at least 2 hours. enjoy!

adapted from: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Easy-Cold-Pasta-Salad-Allrecipes

Tips:

1. slice the cucumber thinly 
2. add enough dressing that the past doesn't feel dry or sticky but don't have pasta floating in dressing either.
3. dice the tomatoes 

Variations

1. Add more or less pasta - I prefer more pasta than toppings
2. add more or less toppings 
3. add chicken 

Caroline 

www.stichesandstationary.blogspot.com

Chicken Pot Pie

2 pie crusts
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 TBSP butter
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup milk

Cook tenderloins in broth for 10 minutes.  Add potatoes and carrots and celery and cook for 5-7 min until softened.  Remove cooked chicken and vegetables from broth.

Melt butter.  Blend in flour, salt, pepper and onion.  Gradually stir in chicken broth.  Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. In a separate pan, sautee mushrooms in 3 TBSP butter.    Mix potatoes, chicken, carrots, celery and mushrooms to broth mixture.  Mix well.

Put bottom pie crust in pie plate and place in oven for about 3 min while preheating to 400 degrees.  Take it out of the oven and let cool then brush with egg whites.

Pour mixture into bottom pie crust.  Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough.  Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Laundry Soap

Copied from Little Birdie Secrets
*Box of Borax Natural Laundry Boost (this can be found in the laundry soap aisle)
*Box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (baking soda will NOT work as a substitute)
*1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap, a stain removing laundry soap (ANY bar of soap like Ivory, Dove, et. will work, but we like the extra stain-fighting in this one)
*Scented oil of your choice (optional)
*Five gallon bucket
*Empty laundry detergent bottles or milk jugs

Instructions for 5-gallons of liquid detergent:

1. Grate your bar of soap with a cheese grater. Careful, the Fels-Naptha soap really looks like cheddar cheese--kids will want to eat it!

2. Put the grated soap in a sauce pan with 6 cups water. Heat soap and water until the soap melts.

3. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup Borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Pour 1 gallon hot water into your 5-gallon bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir well. Add about 3 1/2 more gallons of hot water to the bucket and stir again. Add your scented oil now if you choose to. We used about 2 tsp. honeysuckle essential oil. Just add enough until it smells good to you.

5. Pour the liquid mixture into your empty bottles (you might want to try a funnel). Or, leave it in the 5-gallon bucket--it will just be a little more difficult to use. Let the mixture sit for about 24 hours. It will thicken almost to a gel.

6. Shake your bottle well before each use. Use 1/2 cup of detergent for large loads.

The Arm & Hammer Washing Soda was about $3 to $4, and the Borax about the same price. The Fels-Naptha bar ran us about $1.25. You will get about four 5-gallon buckets of laundry detergent from one box of each. With tax, we figure that works out to be about $2.50 for 5 gallons. Sweet! That could cover about 160 loads of wash! You can't get a better deal than that.