Chocolatey Rice Krispie Bars

Hershey's Drops. Have you tried them? I LOVE them. They are one of my favorite candies. 

We seem to always have a bag laying around.

Sometimes, it is the simplest recipes that are the best. What to do when you have extra candy laying around, just add it to Rice Krispie Bars! Remember my Overloaded Rice Krispie Bars? Well, these are super yummy too, but not so crazy sweet. With these Chocolatey Rice Krispie Bars, you CAN have two!  Really... It's ok... Go ahead and have another one!

Chocolatey Rice Krispie Bars
3 Tbsp butter
1 - 8 oz pkg Hershey's Drops
1 - 10 oz pkg marshmallows
6 c. Rice Krispies

Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan, and set aside.  Set aside 1 cup of the Hershey's Drops.  Take remaining chocolate candies and rough chop for topping.

In large saucepan melt butter and the reserved 1 cup of Hershey's Drops over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Remove from heat.  Add Rice Krispies, stirring until coated.  Pour into the prepared pan, and use buttered spatula or piece of wax paper, press evenly into pan.

Sprinkle with chopped candies.  Let set for 15 minutes.


Enjoy!!!

Printable Recipe

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Chocolate Edition of Foodie Friends Friday

Root Beer BBQ Baked Beans

Several of my friends lost a friend, very dear to them, this past December. I do not know how it is possible that I never had the privilege of meeting their friend, Mary, but our paths never crossed.

In June of 2011, Mary found out that she had Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She fought this Leukemia, and was in remission until late 2012 when she began having health concerns and found that it had returned. She passed away in December.

During a fund raiser that was being held for Mary, the family put together a cookbook of many family recipes. One of Mary's daughters is a baker, so the recipes for the cakes and other baked goods are said to be outstanding. My friend, Stacey, made sure that I got a copy of the cookbook! Stacey takes good care of her foodie friend!

I suppose you are wondering why I am sharing all of this. Well, in memory of Mary, Stacey is participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. She is riding with Team Minnesota in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe. This bike ride is 72 miles long! She has several different climbs in the ride, the most notable, are an 800 foot, and a 1,000 foot climb. These are all done at elevations not normal in Minnesota. Stacey is taking on quite a challenge in memory of her friend Mary, and I admire her so much for this! No matter how tough the training has been in preparation for this, she hasn't backed down. To help Stacey out with her fundraising, we are going to have an AMAZING EVENT going on here at the end of April, so make sure you are signed up for email and facebook to keep up to date! We will be having a bake sale and raffling off several prizes to raise money, to help my dear friend out with her cause.

In the mean time, I will be doing a series of posts this month out of Mary Swanson's Big Hearted Cookbook! There are so many recipes in here that I am excited to try!

Root Beer BBQ Baked Beans (Source: Mary Swanson's Big Hearted Cookbook)


5 Slices Bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 36 oz can baked beans, preferably Bush's ( I used 2 - 21 oz cans)
1 c. root beer (no diet allowed here!)
2 Tbsp dark molasses
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. lemon pepper
2-3 whole celery ribs

Cook the bacon with onions in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crisp, and the onions have become transparent and are just starting to brown.  Add remaining ingredients.

Over medium high heat, bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring often, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about twenty minutes.  Remove celery and serve.


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Tweet Tweet!

I've been wanting to get some new chicks, but knew that it wouldn't be as easy this spring since the weather isn't acting like spring yet.  I am not the only one who wasn't ready to bring them home yet, our local supplier is having a hard time getting them out of the store. But, last weekend we went to town and I saw these adorable little fluffy chicks. I brought 6 of them home.

First day home, somewhere around a week old.

This chicken is a few days older than the one above.

 One Week Later....  Look how fast they grow!

This little girl didn't want to play nice with the camera, but she enjoyed sitting on my shoulder!

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Spring Bean Salad

Who's ready for spring?? I am, and I am ready for some spring flavors. I love meatloaf and mashed potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs, but I am just ready for some lighter flavors, textures and so very ready for some in season produce!

It's a little to early for fresh local produce here, but it will soon arrive. In the meantime, I threw together a light, refreshing, tasty bean salad. You can really tweek this to whatever is in season, and how much time you have on hand. Have time to make your own beans, go for it! I typically don't have the patience. The recipe that inspired this salad called for watercress, but that is not yet in season here, so I used baby spinach. But go ahead, use whatever "green" sounds good to you!

Spring Bean Salad (Adapted from Happyolks)

3 15 oz can beans (kidney, garbanzo, butter, great northern - any combination)**
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 c. baby spinach, rinsed and drained
2 lemons
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. celery flake***
Salt
Pepper

Drain and rinse beans. Add to medium bowl. Add red onion and baby spinach to beans. Juice lemons; add juice and extra virgin olive oil to beans and veggies. Toss lightly.  Season to taste, with salt and pepper. Let rest in fridge overnight for best flavor. Toss lightly before serving. 

**The firmer the bean, the better it will hold up. The great northern beans, somewhat melted into the salad.

***If you like celery, slice up a stalk or two and use in place of the celery flake. I am not a celery girl, so always use "celery flake" as a substitution.

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Onion Bacon Jam

As much as I love bacon, I really don't share much bacon with you on the blog. Guess I am a little selfish that way! I want to share a new food with you today. Onion Bacon Jam. It is delicious above, and beyond, what I have words for at this moment.  When I took this to work, to share it's awesomeness, I was getting a little scared they were going to eat it all up, and I wouldn't have any for our burgers that night. See, I am selfish with my bacon!

Besides sharing a new recipe with you, I want to share a new blog with you. Kristine has been getting settled into her new home at Real Food Girl: Unmodified. She's pretty cool, kinda quirky, and really smart! She's showing us ways to make recipe's a little bit healthier. Not by cutting out the foods you like, but by making 'em with better ingredients. And, to top it all off, she is a trained chef!

I love to bake and cook, but I have lots of room to improve on the quality of my ingredients . . . . .  LOTS o' room, I know this. But, this gal has you think about things you didn't before. I shop at my co-op regularly, but I have never bought these ingredients. My big reason for shopping at the co-op has been that I love to shop local. I would rather have the food that was grown/made in my own state instead of in Timbuktu. In respect of this recipe, I bought the ingredients her way . . . . . . . Let me tell you that the bacon I bought there was the best I have ever eaten . . . .  And the onions were amazing. I bought some extra onions while I was there, and the they sat on my shelf for a while before I got back to them, and you know what? They weren't spoiled like the ones you get at the big stores, that sit on your shelf for a week and then go bad. Score! That's some money saved right there!

Please go check out this amazing blogger. Something else about this crazy lady who I share a name with, we went to high school 2 miles away from each other! I am sure our paths have crossed before, but didn't meet each other until blogging.

Recipe found here:  Onion Bacon "Jam"

I could have put the recipe here for you, but I think it's better for you to go to the original so you can learn how to make your onions up all GBD. ( You have to go to her site to see what "GBD" means.  :) )

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Spring Please!!!

Today is a photo update for you of what is going on outside of the kitchen!

The ladies are anxiously awaiting spring, however they have finally learned to tolerate the snow. 

Some fresh green grass would make them so happy, but until then produce from the grocery store will do.

This snow pile is a reminder to save until July when I am tempted to complain about the heat!

 

 To help break up the winter blahs, we went on a road trip yesterday. We normally stay pretty local, and a road trip means crossing the border and going into Minnesota. This time we went to Wisconsin Dells and Madison. Question from Truckin' Man: Does everyone else share dorky pictures?

We shopped at Tanger Outlet Mall where I found these adorable rooster measuring spoons!

 One of the awesome things about Wisconsin is cheese stores! Coming home, I found a Carr Valley store, was in one of the towns we were traveling through. Yeay!!!

Have a great week everyone! I'll be back with a new recipe soon!

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Mexican Meatball Soup

I have been craving Mexican - Tex Mex - Southwest flavors so much the last couple of weeks.  I am sure it has something to do with the never ending winter, and tasting flavors from warmer places are a form of therapy.  What is better than enjoying these flavors?  Enjoying them in a soup!  I had pinned this Mexican soup a while ago.  Soup, plus the therapy of my favorite flavors.  Win, win!

It was a bit challenging getting a few of the ingredients in my local town, so I had to finish up my shopping when we went to the "big" town over the weekend.  Who knew it was so hard to find ground turkey in the middle of farm country. And, Queso Fresco, not an option either. 

This was a lovely soup with amazing flavor.  Truckin' Man was not able to enjoy this one with me, a little to much heat for him.  So, I took some into work to share, and my love of spice and flavor was appreciated!  These meatballs may make another appearance in other dishes, they were just so packed with flavor, and perfect texture.

Mexican Meatball Soup  (Slightly adapted from:  Bev Cooks)

1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/3 c. finely crushed tortilla chips
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 chipotle peppers, in adobo sauce (adjust for less heat if needed!)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups salsa  (fresh is best!)
32 ounces chicken stock
 
Optional For Garnish:
Avocado
Queso Fresco or Pepper Jack 
Cilantro


In medium bowl combine turkey, scallions, cumin, chili powder, tortilla chips, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until combined, but do not over work the mixture.  Roll mixture into balls, about 1 inch diameter (I made 2 dozen).  Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs to skillet and brown all over.  Set aside.

In blender, combine the salsa and the chipotle peppers. Pulse until liquified.

Heat large pot over medium heat.  Add the tomato paste, and stir for one minute.  Add salsa and chicken stock to pot. Bring to a boil, add the meatballs, lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.  

Garnish as desired and enjoy :)

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