(the accidental) Coconut Caramel Cookies

For my New Year's Eve party I thought it would be fun to make Samoa Bark, but instead of shortbread cookies I thought I'd use graham crackers.  Because I had them.  Well, probably a bad idea.  The coconut caramel mixture didn't want to stick to the graham crackers at all.  So, the CC topping came off and ended up being a "no bake coconut caramel cookie".  And they were a hit!  To get the real Samoa Bark recipe, click the link above.  For the flubbed up recipe keep reading...

Ingredients:
14 oz bag of caramels
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 tbsp water
2 oz semi-sweet chocolate for drizzling

Instructions:

1. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Set aside.
2. In a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat, toast your coconut, stirring occasionally. This will take about 10 minutes or so, but be watchful because once it starts to brown it happens quickly and you don't want to burn the coconut!  When the coconut is toasted, set aside.
3. Meanwhile, unwrap all your caramels and place them in a medium saucepan along with 2 tbsp water over medium-low heat.
4. Stirring continuously until the caramel has JUST melted.  You don't want to over heat the caramel, as it will make it hard.  Immediately fold in your toasted coconut.
5. Spread of plop caramel mixture onto foil.
6. Melt your 2 oz chocolate using whatever melting process you prefer and drizzle over the top of the caramel/coconut.
7. Put in freezer for 5 minutes to set the chocolate.
8. Cut, or remove from foil, and enjoy!

Coffee Chocolate Cupcake with Irish Cream Frosting

 I made these cupcakes for Christmas this year, and they were a huge success!  And easy too!

Cupcakes:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 heaping tbsp cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup coffee
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in room-temperature buttermilk.  In a saucepan, melt butter and cocoa together at a low temperature.  When smooth, add coffee.  In a separate bowl, sift together sugar, flour, and salt.  Add cocoa mixture and egg and mix at low speed.  Add buttermilk mixture and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
1 stick butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup irish cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp coffee

Beat ingredients together until smooth.  Spread on cupcakes.

And what do you do with the bowl when you're done...?

Lick it of course!

Source: Ming Makes Cupcakes, #24

Corn Dog Muffins

Fast easy finger food!  And yes, the corn dog muffin does taste like a normal corn dog, less the fried calories.

Ingredients:
2 (8.5 oz) packages corn bread mix
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c milk
9 whole hot dogs, diced
1 c grated cheddar cheese
condiments

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Lightly grease mini muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cornbread mix and brown sugar.  In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk, and then stir into dry mixture until moistened.  Mix in hot dogs and cheese.
3. Spoon a good tablespoonful into muffin tins, making sure you get some hot dog in each spoonful.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool for about 10-15 minutes in the pan before removing.  For easy removal, cut around outsides of the muffins, then tip upside down onto a large cutting board and urge the muffins out using a knife to tap the bottoms of the muffin tins.  The should slide right out.
5. Serve warm with desired condiments.

Tips:

• Alternately, you can use your favorite cornbread mix, follow the instructions on the box, add in 1 cup of cheddar cheese and mix in chopped hot dogs too.  If your favorite cornbread mix doesn't have a sweet element to it, add in 2 tbsp brown sugar.  (This is good if your cornbread mix only calls for water = less calories!)
• You can use paper liners if you'd like.
• I used turkey dogs.  Yum!
• I also added a can of diced green chiles to one of the 2 batches!
• Can also freeze muffins for later use.  Takes only a minute or 2 to thaw in microwave.

Recipe from www.recipegirl.com

Zucchini Bread

It's that time of the year when zucchini is everywhere and it's super inexpensive.  And well, I love zucchini.  So why not try to make a few different zucchini bread recipes?


I made 2 recipes.  This one and this healthier one.  They were both very yummy!  And I've got more zucchini to use up.

What's YOUR favorite zucchini recipe?

Zippy's Chili

Saturday was a day of spontaneity for me.  Spontaneously in the morning it was decided that the next day, Sunday, I would have a yard sale at my house with a friend (my house because no permits required).  Then in the evening as we were taking about going to Hawaii in October it was spontaneously decided that we were going to make chili, Zippy's Chili.  Zippy's is a Hawaiian fast food place (or something like that) and they have some famous chili or something.  Kevin has had it before when someone he knew had it flown in and delivered to him.  So he found a recipe, we went to the store, and away we went.  Oh, and it was insisted that we make a double batch.  Cra-zy!  But we had fun! :)

WANDA'S COPYCAT CHILI

4 teaspoons vegetable oil 

1 pound lean ground beef (71 percent beef or more) 

1 onion, very finely chopped 

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce 

1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, pureed, with liquid 

1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, with liquid 

2 teaspoons chili powder 

1 tablespoon beef base (Minor's, Better Than Bouillon) or 2 bouillon cubes 

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

1 teaspoon garlic salt 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

In a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and brown beef; break up beef into its smallest components. Pour into bowl and reserve. Heat remaining vegetable oil and fry onion over medium heat, until limp and golden. Transfer beef to pot along with pureed tomato sauce, pinto beans, red kidney beans, chili powder, beef base, brown sugar and garlic salt. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium or medium-low and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise and heat through. Taste and correct seasonings.
Serves 4-6.
Per serving: 480 calories, 28 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, greater than 1300 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 7 g sugar, 28 g protein

recipe from Honolulu Advertiser

So here's my verdict...

• It's not bad.
• The fact that it has mayo in it throws me off big time.  I.do.not.like.mayonnaise (unless it's in egg salad sandwiches)
• It's not thick like chili that I'm used to.

Here's what I would do differently (aka healthify it)...

• Less oil, 4 tsps was not needed.
• Ground turkey.  Why not?
• Maybe a little tomato paste would help thicken it...?
• 2 cans of kidney beans for more fiber and to bulk it up.
• Substitute for mayo...?  Ummm... maybe a little bit of reduced fat cream cheese...?

So what's your favorite chili recipe?