Christmas Goodie Boxes

I love the holidays! I love everything about them but I REALLY love the baking and goodies! Every year I make holiday goody boxes for my friends and family. It takes a lot of time but I love it and I know they all love eating it! 

I thought this would be the perfect place to put all the recipes and links in case they want to make them or you want to!

 Salted Caramel Chocolate Crunch

You seriously haven't lived until you've eaten this! This is the mix cooling on the table as I break pieces off and eat them before bagging it all up! OMG! 

I can't lie - I'm saving this jar in my cupboard for myself! :) 

Nuts & Bolts

I've never made bits and bites before but this recipe was SO easy! I love using the slow cooker and this saved heating up the oven for hours :) 

Chocolate Caramel and Pecan Turtles

I opted out of making the caramel myself because I don't have a candy thermometer and was scared I'd burn something so I bought a bottle of caramel in the ice cream section. It was good but didn't set up as well as I think the homemade caramel would. 

Peanut Butter Balls 

No link for this one as it's my grandmother's recipe. She had this green rectangular Tupperware container and when that was in the fridge you knew there were peanut butter balls in it! My favourite treat from their house at Christmas time. 

4 cups peanut butter

3 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup margarine, soft

1 egg

Mix all ingredients with a mixer until well blended. Rub extra icing sugar on hands (these get sticky!) and roll into balls. I put the balls in the freezer for an hour or two before melting the chocolate for dipping. With the peanut butter semi frozen, it helps them not fall apart when put in the melted chocolate. Melt one package of chocolate chips with a bit of parafin wax to dip the balls into. You can also choose to use candy melts and not add wax :) 

This is one batch of peanut butter balls - half the recipe if you don't need this much! 

Cookies and Cream Oreo Fudge

Egg Nog Fudge

*Sorry no pictures of these two - I got two excited and put them in the boxes before I took any pictures*

Seafood Lasanga

I can't even begin to explain how freaking delicious this meal was! My boyfriends friend loves lasagna and I keep saying I would invite him over once we moved. He then mentioned Seafood lasagna and I just had to look up a recipe for it.
It turned out to be so darn good - I will def make this again, and probably again :)

So I found this recipe online (sorry I can't remember the original source). 

Seafood Lasagna

1 green onion, chopped

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 bottle (8oz) clam juice

1 pound scallops

1 pound uncooked, peeled shrimp

1 package (8oz) imitation crab meat, chopped

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 cup flour

1-1/2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

In a large skillet, saute onion in oil and 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Stir in broth and clam juice, bring to a boil. Add scallops, shrimp, crab and pepper, return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 4-5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and scallops become firm. Drain, reserving cooking liquid; set seafood mixture aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining butter; stir in flour until smooth. Combine milk and reserved cooking liquid; gradually add to the saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from heat, stir in cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Stir 3/4 cup white sauce into the seafood mixture. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce into a 9x13in greased pan. Top with three noodles; spread with half of the seafood mixture and 1-1/4 cups sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheese.

Bake, uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Yields 12 servings.

*I was unable to find clam juice on its own so I bought two cans of baby clams, used the juice from those and threw them in as well*

*I also did not crab meat, only scallops, baby clams and shrimp*

*I also used oven ready noodles and they worked just as great*

Crockpot Freezer Meals - UPDATE

I had to let you all know how some of the crockpot meals have turned out. We have tried the Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and they were delicious! I would highly recommend this one! We also tried the Beef and Mushroom and it was also delicious! The meat was extremely tender and melted in your mouth.

Sadly I won't get to try the Sweet Teriyaki Chicken for awhile as our deep freezer broke and we lost everything else that was in there :(

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops 

* I quickly added a can of corn and had a whole meal :)

Beef and Mushroom 

*I threw some rice and veggies together and served it on top :) 

I hope you are enjoying these freezer crockpot meals as much as I am! They sure make life easier! 

Crockpot Freezer Meals

Well it's been awhile since I have posted and a lot has been going on. My boyfriend accepted a new job so we have moved provinces and have been trying to get settled. I also started a new job (no teaching job - the list was full) so I am working each evening until 6pm which is a huge change for us. I decided there had to be a way for me to have supper ready when I got home, as I'm usually starving when I walk through the door at 6!

I found so many great sites on pinterest that had some delicious sounding crockpot freezer meals.

www.sixsistersstuff.com

So yesterday I sat down and made a list of everything I needed to pick up and that was my Saturday chore. Early this morning I took about an hour to mix everything together and put into bags for the weeks ahead :) I'll share what I completed today and I will also let you know how they taste once we whip them up!

Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

Ingredients: 

3 lbs stew meat, cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cans mushrooms, with liquids

1/2 cup apple juice

1 packet dry onion soup mix

Combine all ingredients in a resealable gallon sized freezer bag. Zip closed. When ready to eat, remove from freeze and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 10 hours. 

* I found it easier to mix everything together in a bowl and then add in the stew meat. It made two bags as we're only 2 people so we don't eat that much in one serving :) 

Slow Cooker Sweet Teriyaki Chicken 

Ingredients: 

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 onion, chopped

1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts

Mix together soy sauce, sugar, garlic and chopped onions in a resealable gallon sized freezer bag. Place chicken breasts inside the bag and zip closed. When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on High for 3-4 hours or Low for 7-8 hours. Serve over rice. 

 * I again mixed everything in a bowl first. I also chopped the chicken breasts before putting them in the bag.

Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and Potatoes

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 lbs port chops, boneless (about 4-6, thick sliced)

6-8 medium potatoes, chopped into large pieces

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 packages of dry Ranch dressing mix

1 cup mix

In bowl, mix together the soups, milk and ranch dressing mixes and pour into a resealable gallon sized freezer bag. Combine all other ingredients together and zip closed. When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on High for 3-4 hours or Low 6-7 hours.

* I 

 * I found it easiest to mix the sauces in the bowl and then have the potatoes and pork chops in the bags and just mix them together at the end.

 *There are so many recipes I have came across that call for the Ranch mix, this is the closest thing I could find in New Brunswick (with the salad dressings).

I sure hope these great crockpot recipes save me some time in the coming weeks :) 

Happy New Year! 

Freezer Apple Crisp

I did an activity last week with a class and needed some pumpkins. I went to a local farm (Dempsey Corner) to pick up the pumpkins and they happen to be closing in a few days so she gave me a 50lb box of Honey Crisp for free! Now I love apples but we're only two people at my house so I gave my mom 1/2 the box and then I took some in for the kids to snack on but I still had a grocery bag full. 

I decided I'd make some freezer apple crisp - what a great dessert to pull out when I don't feel like cooking :) I picked up some small tin pans from the dollar store which worked great for storage! 

I started out by peeling and chopping the apples into thin slices. I filled the bowl (no real measurement here) then I added 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp nutmeg.I then sprayed the pans and put in the apples. I ended up making two batches of apples to fill all 6 containers. 

Then I made the topping. I used a pastry blender to mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup oatmeal and 1 cup cold butter, chopped into pieces. 

Once the topping was on I wrote the instructions on the covers and closed up the tin pans. Perfect size for the two of us and I definitely plan on sharing a few with friends :) 

More Pumpkin!

As you know I love pumpkin so when I saw this recipe for pumpkin dog cookies on pinterest I couldn't resist but to make a batch for my family's dog, Bella. 

You can find the link below for the recipe : 

Pumpkin Dog Treats Recipe

The dough looked a little wetter than other doughs I've made but sure smelled delicious.

 I made a double batch so I was able to fill three cookie sheets once they were rolled and cut. 

I decided to make large and small biscuits to test out each cookie cutter.

Don't they look delicious? The dogs sure thought so!  

Bella (who is being lazy and resting on my dad's foot) loved the cookies! As well as the neighbours dog who is super picky and ate two right away! 

Mason Jar Smoothies

So my boyfriend and I both like to take smoothies for breakfast during the work week but if I'm not subbing or home he usually doesn't make it on his own. I had a thought to bag up some fruit into freezer bags that are ready to throw in the blender in the morning. But then I had another thought, a better thought, just pre-make the smoothies and freeze them in mason jars :) This way he can grab and go in the morning with no hassle. 

I only have a version of the magic bullet so I was unable to make a huge batch at one time but I did make about 4 bullets full of smoothies and filled 8 mason jars. I made them with skim milk, mixed fruit and yogurt. 

8 jars ready to throw in the freeze and pull out when needed. I did do a little research about thawing them, different blogs have said take out the smoothie the night before, leave in the fridge and just shake up in the morning. Now I know my boyfriend will never remember to do this, so he takes one out in the morning and runs it until hot water once he gets to work then shakes and enjoys :) 

Breakfast and Pizza - Heck Yes!

Who doesn't love pizza? I sure do! And I love breakfast as well! Bacon, eggs, ham, omelettes- I love it all! 
I went to visit a friend for Thanksgiving and she made breakfast pizza for breakfast one morning and it was delicious! I have to share the recipe with you all (I'm sure she won't mind) as its too good not to share! 
First she started with a pizza dough (she used Philsbury) and she made sides as she pushed the dough into the pan. She baked it first for 10-15 minutes. Then she broke a few eggs in a bowl with milk and beat them up. She poured the eggs onto the dough and sprinkled on green pepper, ham, bacon, and cheese (you can put whatever you'd like) and put it back in the oven until the egg fluffed up and the cheese melted. Then we cut and enjoyed :) 

Who wouldn't want to take a bite out of that delicious looking masterpiece! 

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin!

Can you tell that I LOVE pumpkin! Another reason why I love fall - I get to eat pumpkin. I am obsessed with Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Lattes! (side note - I bought the take home package of the PSL and it's NOT the same, a huge let down). Pumpkin pie is one of my favourite treats at Thanksgiving. I attempted to make my own for the first time the other day and it actually turned out, I was so proud! But I had a half can of pumpkin left over and I decided to try pumpkin spice muffins that I keep seeing on pinterest. 

The recipe called for one box of Spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin (my can was huge for my pie so I saved half). I literally dumped the cake mix and the pumpkin in a bowl and mixed - talk about easy!! Then I baked the muffins according to the box and they turned out awesome! 

The batter was a little thicker than most muffin batter I've used but it still worked out great. 

I made cream cheese icing to go on top and that really brought the recipe together. ( I had a lot of icing left over so my lucky boyfriend - the non pumpkin lover - got a small carrot cake to use up the icing). 
I was subbing at my school from last year so I took these along as a treat - the staff said they were excellent and were very appreciative :) 

Thanksgiving is almost here!

Thanksgiving is almost here! Hard to believe September went by so quickly but fall is definitely in the air (I had to actually wear my jacket this evening). I LOVE fall but I do not love the season that follows. I am heading to two different Thanksgiving dinners this year so I decided to make a hostess gift to take along with me. 

I have spent Thanksgiving at my friend's house many times. Her family lived an hour away from where we went to university and my family was 5 hours away. Needless to say, they invited me many years to their house for special holidays. I usually took along a bouquet of flowers but I decided on something different :) 

I decided to make a steak rub for them to use throughout the year. I found a great recipe online and decided to put them in mason jars to deliver. 

The link for the recipe is below: 

Texas Steak Rub

 I had to add a tag, so I cut to a leaf on my cricut and wrote the directions.

 I used some brown and orange ribbon to tie the tags onto the jars. 

They are so darn cute! It's the perfect thing to give and so very simple to make! 

Muffins! I love muffins!

I love muffins! I make them all the time but I decided to try a new recipe since it's quickly becoming fall (although I want summer to stay forever). So I found a recipe on pinterest - which led me to the Bakerlady's blog. 

Here's the link if you wanna try the muffins too! 

Bran Apple Carrot Muffins Recipe

Here's the batter all ready to bake in the oven (I added raisins instead of cranberries as my boyfriend doesn't like cranberries). 

Look at those delicious muffins! They were done in just 15 minutes! 

Now doesn't that look yummy? I'll let you in on the secret - they were DELICIOUS! Now I have my breakfast made for the week and the other 6 in the freezer for next work week :)