Holiday Punch!

Great when entertaining, and reminiscent of a Dominican Republic vacation beverage! This is sure to be an instant crowd pleaser - so good! :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of white sugar
2 and 1/2 cups of orange juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 jar (4oz) of maraschino cherries with juice
1 oz triple sec liqueur
1 (750 milliliter) bottle light rum
1 orange sliced into rounds
1 lemon sliced into rounds
1/2 cup of fresh pineapple chunks with 1/2 pineapple juice
1 litre of sprite
ice

Directions:

In a juice container, combine the sugar, orange juice and lemon juice - stir until sugar dissolves. Add the cherries/juice, triple sec, rum, fruit slices and pineapple chunks/juice. Refrigerate for 2 hours to allow flavours to blend.

Transfer to a punch bowl and add sprite, and ice just before serving.

Enjoy!

Snowman Cheese ball

Tis the season! :)

MS and I celebrated the upcoming holidays with some friends recently; and I saw the cutest snowman cheese ball idea on pinterest - that I just had to make! I combined two different recipes that I found and the result was absolutely delishness - I will definitely be making this again during the holidays, it was fantastic!

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of shredded Monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
dash of salt, couple dashes of pepper
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
carrot and peppercorns to garnish

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Divide the mixture into 3 different sized balls - shape and kneed into smooth balls and then coat with Parmesan cheese. Arrange on a serving tray to resemble a snowman; I used toothpicks to help the stability from ball to ball.

Add your carrot piece for the nose, and peppercorns for the eyes - and voila! :)

Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Dip

The name says it all, no?
The perfect thing about this recipe is that there are no eggs; it has the cookie dough goodness without the raw egg - or any egg at all for that matter. I had heard of this recipe previously, and have wanted to try it for quite some time; but without actually trying it myself I wasn't really sold on the fact that it could be that good. But then a few weeks ago, I attended my sister-in-law's stagette and had the opportunity to try it - and have been waiting ever since for an occasion to make it on my own, it was THAT good! :) My friends proved me right as well, everyone commented on how delicious it was and asked what it was made from - so, ladies, without further ado...

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
8 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup skor bits

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat - stirring as it dissolves. Remove this mixture from the heat and add the vanilla extract - set aside until cool.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and the confectioner's sugar for one minute.

Once the butter mixture is cooled - slowly add it to the cheese/sugar mixture and beat again until blended.

Add your chocolate chips and skor bits - mix well and then refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Serve with your favourite small cookie - honey flavoured teddy grahams and animal crackers work well!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is my standard stuffed mushroom recipe from Kraft. It is really easy and always delicious! :)

(photo credit: Kraft)

Ingredients:

20 fresh mushrooms
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 tbsp finely chopped red pepper
14 Ritz crackers finely crushed (1/2 cup)
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

Remove stems from the mushrooms, and finely chop 1/4 cup of stems and discard the rest. Melt the butter on medium heat, add chopped stems, onion and peppers; cook and stir until tender. Add cracker crumb, cheese and seasoning; spoon into mushroom caps.

Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 or until heated through.

Enjoy!

Chili Dogs

This is something different and yummy for your left over chili! Oven baked chili dogs (or sausages). This is so yummy and easy, there aren't even any measurements to worry about!
Ingredients:

• Hot Dogs or Pre-cooked Sausages
• Hot Dog Buns
• Mayonnaise
• Relish (I used sweet)
• Yellow Mustard
• Chili (I used homemade leftover chili but you could use a good canned chili)
• Grated Cheese
• Diced yellow onion

The How-To:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line your pan with tinfoil, it will make the clean up much easier.
3. Spread mayonnaise on both sides of the hot dog bun, then spread relish and mustard on the buns.
4. Add your hot dog to the bun (I used sausages so I halved each sausage and used one half per bun since they were pretty big!).
5. Top each bun with diced raw yellow onion.
6. Top each bun with chili.
7. Top each bun with grated cheese.
8. Cover your whole pan with tinfoil.
9. Bake for 40 minutes at 350, and then another 2-3 on broil. You will need to eat these babies with a fork and knife!

Enjoy!

No Bake Peanut Butter Squares

These are delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x9 pan.

In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 60 seconds until melted until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Yummy!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

This is one of the only recipes that will get my six year old to eat potatoes...not only does she eat them but she asks for seconds!

The Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium sized russet potatoes, sliced
• 1 can of Campbells Cream of Cheddar condensed soup
• 1 1/4 cups of milk
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced onion (dry)
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

The How-To:

1. Slice the potatoes and layer in a 9x13 casserole dish.
2. Mix all of the other ingredients, except the grated cheddar cheese, and pour over the potatoes.
3. Top with grated cheddar cheese.
4. Bake for 60-70 minutes at 350, broil for the last few minutes.

Notes:
Next time I make these I think I might go as far as to add some crumbled bacon and green onion to the mix! They were absolutely delicious as is but I think these additions would be amazing!

Monster Cookies

These are a newly discovered favourite! MS had them when he was a child, and I wish I had! :). If you love peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip - these are amazing- and easy to make!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup Peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini choco chips
1/2 cup smarties

Directions:

First, mix the margarine and brown sugar. Then, blend in the egg and peanut butter until smooth (don't mix for very long).
Add the flour, oatmeal and baking powder and mix until blended.
Then add your chocolate chips!
I scoop the mixture with an ice cream scoop, it makes the perfect sized monster cookie; and then top your scoop with four smarties.
Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

source: Google Images

This is more of a tip than a recipe. I love eating hard boiled eggs as a high protein breakfast or snack and enjoy adding them to salads etc. but have never had any luck with peeling them! They always tear and end up being a mess, this is a particularly annoying problem when trying to make deviled eggs. I have no idea where I found this method but it works every time ... like magic!Put desired number of eggs into a pot of water, use enough water to cover the eggs, add a bit of salt to the water, do not cover.

1. When the water begins to boil, shut heat off, cover the pot and set a time for 17 minutes.
2. When timer rings, empty water from pot and refill with very cold water, throw in a handful of ice - the colder the better.
3. Set timer for 17 minutes.
4. When timer rings, empty all but an inch of water from the put, put the cover on the pot and shake the pot vigorously for a minute.
5. Shells will either have fallen off the egg or will be very easy to slide off, no torn eggs, just perfect hard boiled eggs every single time!

Crunchy Chicken Stir-fry

This is a fantastic and easy stir-fry recipe; best of all, the sauce has a little kick!
Ingredients:
2 whole Egg Whites
⅓ cups Cornstarch Or Flour
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Broccoli Florets
Red Pepper, Thinly Sliced
Sugar Snap Peas
Onion Slices/Chunks
Carrot Slices
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 ClovesGarlic, Minced
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
¼ cups Honey
Chilli Flakes
Salt And Pepper

Directions:
In 2 separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and in the other, the cornstarch. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Dip your chicken pieces into the egg white, then the cornstarch - fry in the oil until cooked.
Remove the chicken from the pan and add the veggies, salt and pepper, soy sauce and garlic - cook for 4 mins.
Combine the chicken with the veggies; add the honey and chili flakes; and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce if needed and Serve with rice.
So good!

Seafood Chowder

You know that Winter has arrived when temperatures dip to -25! With that comes the desire for wholesome warm meals. This chowder recipe is excellent - absolutely delish!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound sliced bacon
2 medium onions chopped
6 cups diced and peeled potatoes
4 cups of water
1 pound of each seafood you want to use cut into 1 inch pieces - we used lobster and halibut
1/2 cup of butter
4 teaspoons of salt
4 teaspoons of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
4 cups of milk
1 can of evaporated milk

Directions:

In a large stockpot, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove and place on paper towel; reserve the drippings. Sauté the onions in the drippings until tender- add the potatoes and water; bring to a boil for 10 mins.

Add your seafood and cook for another 10 mins. Add the butter, salt, oregano, and curry powder. Stir in the milk and evaporated milk and heat through. You can garnish with the bacon or mix in and serve!

Perfect for a cold day - Enjoy!

LLW