Chewy Caramel Popcorn!

A winter friendly treat as you fire up the ovens and await the chewy goodness! I love to make this popcorn in the fall time or around the holidays. This recipe was given to me from a friend whose Mom can make anything amazing! I was not a huge caramel popcorn fan until I tried this chewy coated perfection! Best part is that it's easy for an all home made treat!

First you must air pop one cup of kernels. If you don't have an air popper you can feel a paper  lunch sack with 1/4 cup of kernels, fold the top over one inch and put two staples in it and microwave for 2 minutes. While you pop you can start the sauce!

The sauce requires you melting 2 sticks of butter. Then you add 2 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup of light Karo Syrup and one tsp of salt. Boil for one minute! Remember to stir frequently!

Once popcorn is popped remove kernels that did not pop and spread into two cookie sheets.

Once sauce has boiled for one minute you will add 1/2 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.

Your sauce will start to fluff up! Take off heat and keep stirring. Pre-heat oven to 225 degrees.

Take sauce and use a spoon to drizzle on the popcorn.

Once you have poured all the sauce on you will put the cookie sheets in the oven for one hour.Stirring every 15 minutes. 

The popcorn will darken a bit after each time you stir.

Finished product! Let cool before you eat or place in gift bags.

I made chewy caramel popcorn for neighbor gifts this Christmas. It was easy to wrap up in cellophane and tie with ribbon!

Caramel Popcorn (Courtesy of the Kinghorns)

1 cup unpopped popcorn



2 cups brown sugar


1 cup butter


½ cup light Karo syrup


1 tsp. salt


Boil one minute- after you boil ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp vanilla. Pour over popcorn that has been spread on cookie sheets. Bake 225 for one hour. Stirring every 15 minutes.

Tasty Taco Soup!

Hot and tangy taco soup is now one of my favorite winter meals! I think it's the secret ingredient of Ranch powder that gives it that extra something.  No matter what it is your tummy will be singing once this healthy, hot soup touches your belly! My co-worker shared this recipe with me and he used beef but I am a chicken girl so here is my spin on it.

Shred three cooked chicken breast and place in large pot. Add two cans of diced tomato's (juice and all) and one can of black beans drained and rinsed.

Then add one can of red kidney beans (or any bean of your choice i.e. pinto more black)

Then add a half bag of frozen corn or one can of whole corn and olives . Then add half a pkg. of taco seasoning and add about 2 cups of water. You can decide how soupy you want it. The beauty is you can always add more seasoning if you add too much water. Then add 1/2 tbsp of Hidden Valley Ranch Powder. This soup is based on your specific taste. Ranch is strong so you may want to cut back on it if your not a huge ranch fan but I love it! Boil for 5 minutes and simmer for 10. Top with shredded cheese and serve with cornbread or tortilla chips!

Taco Soup
 

3 chicken breast shredded or 1 lb. extra lean ground beef

2 cans diced tomatoes

1/2 package of frozen corn or ! can whole corn

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained

1 can of red kidney beans rinsed and drained

1 can of olives sliced

1/2 pkg. taco seasoning mix 

1/2 tbsp. of Hidden Valley Ranch Powder

About 2 cups of water ( Add more or less to thicken or thin soup)

Lemon-Orange Jello

The most amazing Jello you will ever taste! Welcome to another typical Utah dish but with a twist of lemon and orange  that makes this jello salad far from normal! Preparing this jello takes a bit of preparation but overall is very easy! I am always finding reasons to make this "side dish" which to me is really a dessert! It's a perfect cold treat on a hot summer day.

6 items and a dish is all you need!

Make Orange jello as directed

Then cook lemon pudding over the stove. This will require egg yolks and sugar.

Drain Mandarin oranges and pour them into the orange jello mixture.

Keep stirring lemon pudding till it thickens.

Once lemon pudding is cooked pour into orange jello/mandarin orange mixture and stir.

Pour mixture into a deep glass casserole dish 8x13. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight.

Topping: Prepare topping when your 5 minutes from eating your jello.  You will need a small box of instant lemon pudding, container of whip cream and milk.

Pour whip cream into mixing bowl.

Add the box of instant lemon pudding.

Stir in one cup of milk and keep stirring till the all ingredients are fully blended.

Topping should be creamy with a hint of yellow.

Use a flat spatula to spread topping on Jello then enjoy!

Lemon-Orange Jello

1 large box of Orange Jello
1 large box of cooked lemon pudding- egg yolks and sugar.
1 small box of instant lemon pudding
2 large cans of Mandarin oranges drained
1 cup of milk

Lake Powell Potatoes

Deliciously seasoned red potatoes cooked to a  perfection! Add some cheese at the end to make these potatoes magical!  I came upon this simple recipe at Lake Powell where my Uncle had perfected the art to making delicious cheesy potatoes in the middle of the desert over a fire! Well I wanted a taste of Lake Powell right at home so that is when I decided to make this recipe over the grill and it was easy, fun and so yummy!

Wash red potatoes and cut them into fourths. You will do about 3 potatoes per person. Then place them on a sheet of tinfoil big enough to be able to fold the sides in at the end.

 

Generously season potatoes with Season All.  You want it to look like it was almost too much! Then take about a half stick of butter and slice it into pieces and drop evenly over potatoes. You may also add a sliced onion for extra flavor.

Fold the tin foil sides in.

Take another piece of tin foil and wrap again so that its sealed.

Place on grill at 400 degrees. Since all grills cook differently to find the right heat seating for your potatoes check on them after 10 minutes and if  you hear them sizzling than its a perfect temperature. If there boiling way loud you need to turn the heat down a bit! Cook 20 minutes and then flip and cook another 20 minutes! After 40 minutes your potatoes will be done! If your paranoid like me you can take a fork and stick it in to the potatoes to make sure there done! Ours were perfect!

Sprinkles cheese on the potatoes immediately for a delicious summer side that won't heat up your house to make! Enjoy!

Lake Powell Potatoes- Serves four people

12 red potatoes washed and cut into fourths
1/2 stick of butter
Season All
Onion (optional)
Shredded cheese
Tin foil

Chocolate Cupakes with Creamy Mint Frosting!

Easy chocolate cupcakes with delicious mint frosting! There are two flavor collisions that I just die for one being chocolate and peanut butter and the other chocolate and mint! I can never get enough of it! This is the first time I have attempted to make home made mint frosting so I whipped it up the easy way! The cupcakes were moist and I could not stop eating the frosting!

To start you will need to make a chocolate cake out of the box (chocolate or devils food). My secret is to add a box of chocolate pudding into the mix to make them moist!

 

While you mixing add 1/4 teaspoon of pure mint extract to add the hint of mint in the cupcake!

I bought these super cute cupcake liners the other day!

Place cupcake liners in pan

Use ice cream scoop to evenly fill each cup. Batter will be thick because of the pudding.

Bake as directed. Look how yummy they look! Remember to leave them in pan for 10 minutes than move to rack for cooling. While you wait you can start making the frosting. Soften 4 tbsp. of butter and mix with a cup of powder sugar. Add 2 tbsp. of milk and 1 more cup of powder sugar. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract and a couple drops of green dye for light mint green coloring.

Frost cupcakes! I think I would  use less green dye next time unless I am celebrating St. Patricks Day! These are chocolately and minty delicious! Enjoy.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1/4 teaspoon of Mint extract

1 box of instant chocolate pudding


Mint Frosting:

2 cups powder sugar

4 tbsp. soften butter

2 tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. Mint extract

Couple drops of green dye

Colorful Cupcakes- Fun and Flirty!

These cupcakes were so girly and cute! The best part is how easy they were to make! I have seen this technique done before on several websites so I was excited to try them on my own! The best part is that every cupcake is unique! You never know what type of pattern you will see when you bite into them! I baked these for a Mother's Day gift but I could see these being a great dessert for a baby shower or a little girls birthday party! All that is missing is some sprinkles!

For this recipe you will first need a white cake mix in a box.

Make as directed

Separate batter equally into three containers. If you want the cupcakes to be more of one color than put more batter in one container.

Pick two colors to dye the batter. I love Betty Crocker Neon gel colors because there bright and easy to work with! You may also separate the batter into more containers if you want to do more colors!

Place cupcake liners in pan

Mix in colors. I kept one container plain because I wanted white in my mix!

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners in a pattern or you can layer randomly. I love the colors swirled together here!

Bake as directed on the box. Look at the colorful cupcakes rising! While they bake you can start the frosting. I used the same cream cheese frosting for my Lemon Cupcakes but instead of lemon juice I used vanilla extract. Then I dyed it beautiful purple! Remember to wait for the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting!

Take a bite and enjoy the art! Each cupcake is unique!

24 fun and flirty cupcakes ready to be devoured!

I liked to leave a little room around the cupcake so you could see the swirl of colors.

They are so pretty and the best to come is when you take a bite! Enjoy!

Colorful Cupcakes

1 box of white cake mix

Food coloring

Cupcake liners

Frosting:

2 tbsp. Butter

1/2 package powder sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

half package of cream cheese

Mix until you reach desired consistency