Baked Firecracker Chicken

When it's snowing in October I will find any reason to turn on the oven. Sunday meal prep for lunches this week...baked firecracker chicken. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp oil

1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the hot sauce, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili pepper flakes in a small sauce pan until the sugar has melted into the sauce.

Heat the oil in a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Transfer to oven safe dish. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the chicken and bake until cooked, about 10-15 minutes, basting with the sauce every 5 minutes.

Enjoy with the remaining sauce!

5 minute caramel bugles with double chocolate drizzle

This snack is basically better than anything Bugles! They are sweet, salty, and extremely addicting. It's almost dangerous that they are so quick and easy to make!

Ingredients:

8 cups Bugles (1 regular size bag)

¾ cups brown sugar

6 T. butter

3 T. light corn syrup

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ c. white chocolate chips

¼ c. semisweet chocolate

Measure Bugles. Set aside. Line baking sheet with wax paper.

Add butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a large microwavable bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second intervals until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add baking soda and stir until combined.

Add Bugles to butter mixture. Microwave in one minute increments, stirring after each minute. Microwave for a total of three minutes.  Pour Bugle mixture onto wax paper.

Put semisweet chocolate chips in a snack size seal-able bag. Leave the bag unsealed and microwave for two minutes, at half power. Seal bag and kneed until chocolate chips are completely melted. Snip a small triangle off the corner or the bag and drizzle over Caramel Bugles.  Repeat with white chocolate chips. Cool completely and store in an air tight container.

** The snack size baggie chocolate drizzle didn’t work for me so I just went to a bowl and a fork.  

Monkey bread muffin cups

Ingredients:

2 cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits (cut each biscuit into six pieces)

½ c. sugar

1 tbsp. cinnamon (or to your liking)

½ c. butter

½ c. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and spray muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Put sugar and cinnamon in a baggie.  Toss the biscuit pieces until coated.  Fill the cups with biscuit pieces (about 10 pieces each). 

Melt butter and brown sugar together.  Drizzle over the top of each muffin.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

My aunt Becky made these for us at the lake last weekend.  They were great! I’m usually not a monkey bread fanatic but something about these muffin size creations hit the spot.  I felt like the “gooey goodness” is more evenly distributed in the muffin pans than a bundt pan.  Also, I’m a big fan of portion control.  

Asian BBQ pulled pork

Marinade Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. sriracha

1 Tbsp.  chili sauce

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp. chopped onion

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used sweet baby ray’s)

1 boneless pork ribeye roast (2-3 lbs)

Guy Fieri Asian BBQ and Wok sauce

Mix all ingredients (except for roast and Wok sauce) together in a bowl.  Set aside.

Place roast in crockpot with 2 cups of water.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Place minced garlic and onion on top of roast.  Pour half of the marinade mixture over the roast.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Add more water to the bottom of the crock if needed. 

Place roast in a bowl.  It will be tender and fall apart.  Shred with two forks.  Add the rest of the marinade and mix.  Add ¼ cup Guy Fieri Asian BBQ and Wok Sauce and stir until meat is coated. 

Serve warm plain or as a sandwich. I put my meat on a toasted garlic bun and added a bit more wok sauce.  Completely amazing!!!  Perfect blend of sweet and spicy Asian flavors. 

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients:

2 boxes Jiffy Blueberry Muffin mix

4 oz. cream cheese

1 stick butter

½ C. light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 ½ C. white chocolate chips

Cream together butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time until blended. Combine muffin mix with the butter mixture and mix well. Fold in white chocolate chips. Chill for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until just turning brown around the edges. Cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to wire rack until completely cooled.

If you like blueberry muffins, you must try these cookies! They came out a little flat even though I chilled them overnight but the taste is great.  

Monster Cookies

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy or chunky peanut butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup M&M's plain chocolate candies

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter with the sugars and butter. Use an electric mixer to mix until well combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the oats and baking soda. Then stir in the chips and M&M's.

Drop the cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. If you'd like your cookies to look pretty, dot a few extra M&M's and chocolate chips on each mound of dough before baking.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets until cookies are set. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Sweet heat meatballs

Ingredients:

2 lbs. frozen, pre­-cooked meatballs

½ cup molasses

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne

½ cup water

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Over medium high heat, bring the water to a boil.  Add molasses, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, chili powder, cayenne, crushed pineapple and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.  Add in meatballs and stir to coat evenly.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the sauce reduces, about 10 minutes.  Skewer with bamboo sticks and serve hot with or without sauce reduction.

I made these in the crockpot for a NYE party.  After coating the meatballs with the sauce evenly, I just dumped them in the crock and set it on low for a few hours, until the party started.  The taste was smooth and all of the meatballs were gone by midnight. 

Peanut Butter Puff Corn

Ingredients:

Two 3½ oz bags puffcorn

¾ cup butter

¼ cup peanut butter

1¼ cup brown sugar

⅔ cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pour puffcorn into a large, greased roasting pan. Put butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and light corn syrup in a large saucepan (mixture will bubble up so it has to be big). Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add baking soda and mixture will foam up. Pour mixture over puffcorn and stir to coat. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven, pour onto waxed paper and break into pieces.

Although it takes a little time to make this due to the stirring every 10 minutes, it is totally worth it! This is sweet and delicious with a bit of crunch.  

Tangy Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breast, sliced into tenders

½ cup bbq sauce (I used Jack Daniels Spicy)

1 tbsp. Franks Red Hot sauce

½ an onion, diced

¼ cup minced garlic

¼ cup brown sugar

A few dashes of Cajun seasoning and/or hickory smoke salt

Place all ingredients in a plastic bag and make sure all chicken pieces are coated.  Refrigerate for 2 hours so that flavors can meld together.  Grill over medium heat until chicken is done and juices run clear.  If it’s not grilling season, bake in oven for 25 minutes at 350. 

These are great as is but I love to make slider sandwiches with them! All you need to do is cover with a piece of pepper jack cheese and serve on a sweet Hawaiian roll.  Yum!

Oatmeal Cake

This is one of my favorite family recipes EVER. It reminds me of family reunions, loved ones and sunshine.  My mom makes this for me on special occasions.

Ingredients:

1 C. raw oatmeal                                                                             

2 eggs

1 1/2 C. boiling water                                                                     

1 1/2 C. flour

1 C. white sugar                                                                                               

1 tsp. baking soda

1 C. brown sugar                                                                             

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. shortening                                                                            

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the oatmeal and water.  Let stand 20 minutes.  Beat the two sugars and shortening together.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Sift flour, soda, salt and cinnamon together and add to sugar and egg mixture.  Add oatmeal mixture last.  Bake at 325 degrees in 9 x 13 pan for 35-40 minutes.  While cake is still warm, spread with the frosting below:

Frosting for oatmeal cake:

6 Tbsp. butter                                                                                   

1 C. coconut

1/4 C. half & half or cream                                                           

1/2 C. brown sugar                                                                         

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter, add other ingredients.  Spread on the cake and put under the broiler until brown.

For more of my family recipes, our cookbook is available on Amazon.  

Dragon Noodles (spicy noodles)

Do you love Asian food but don’t think you have the time or skills to make it?  Just made these dragon noodles and they were phenomenal! Super easy to make and taste amazing.  Had just enough spice to  make it nice but not painful or overbearing.  Total time was just under 10 minutes and I had all the ingredients on hand except for the lo mein noodles which I found at the local Asian mart.  This recipe will definitely be going in the rotation for wonderful, quick dinners! Next time I might try adding some chopped up chicken for protein.

Ingredients:

4 oz. lo mein noodles

2 Tbsp butter

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 large egg

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sriracha (rooster sauce)

1 handful fresh cilantro

1 sliced green onion

Begin to boil water for the noodles. Once the water reaches a full boil, add the noodles and cook according to the package directions (boil for 5-7 minutes).

While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha.  In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the red pepper to the butter as it melts. Whisk an egg in a bowl and then add to the melted butter. Stir gently and cook through. Once the egg is done cooking, turn off the heat.

When the noodles are tender, drain the water and then add them to the skillet with the cooked egg. Also add the prepared sauce. Turn the heat on low to evaporate excess moisture, and stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle the sliced green onions and cilantro leaves (whole) on top and serve. 

Honey garlic crockpot meatballs

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28oz) bag fully cooked, frozen meatballs

In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic.  Place frozen meatballs in a 3-4 quart crockpot and pour sauce over meatballs.  Stir so all meatballs are coated evenly. Cook on LOW for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

This was such an easy party appetizer.  The glaze was perfectly paired with the frozen meatballs for a warm, hearty appetizer that everyone enjoyed.  Super simple.  Super tasty.  

Saltine cracker toffee

Need a quick dessert in a matter of minutes? Look no further.

Ingredients:

50 saltine crackers (approx.)

2 sticks butter

1 cup soft brown sugar

Pre-heat oven to 325.  Line 9x13 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Spray foil with cooking spray and then line pan with saltine crackers.

Place butter and sugar in a medium sized pot over low medium/low heat. Stir until butter is melted. Once butter is melted, bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it thickens. Stir constantly.

After 3 minutes, remove pan from heat and pour evenly over saltine crackers. Spread mixture with a knife... however it doesn't have to be perfect.  Place pan in oven and bake for 6-8 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. The mixture will spread evenly over the crackers as it bakes.

Remove pan from oven and then take foil off of the pan. Allow the toffee to cool and then break pieces off of foil.

According to the author at iheartnaptime you can also place 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top right when it comes out of the oven. Allow the chocolate to melt and then spread it out with a spatula. Sometimes she adds slivered almonds as well.

This was easy to make.  I’m not a huge toffee fan, when it’s hard and brittle.  But this is really tasty! They chocolate didn’t spread “pretty” because I was in a hurry and running out the door but dang, it tastes good.  Will be taking this to turkey day gathering at my brothers.  Gobble gobble.  

Bacon wrapped little wieners

Review by Lyndee:

This appetizer is sure to be a hit at your next party!

Ingredients:

1 package little wieners (Lil’ Smokies)

1 pound bacon

1 cup brown sugar

Cayenne pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut the bacon into three chunks so that each piece is now three pieces.  Roll a wiener in a 1/3 a piece of bacon.  Secure with a toothpick.  Dip into a zip lock bag of brown sugar.  Place on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet.  Repeat.  Once the cookie sheet is full, sprinkle with cayenne.  Bake for 30 minutes until sugar is caramelized and bacon is beginning to crisp. 

Crockpot little smokies

Review by Lyndee:

I needed to come up with something to take to a housewarming BBQ this weekend.  I needed it to be easy, no hassle and on the cheap.  So I went with the old standby little smokies.  Generally I just use a BBQ sauce but I decided to get a little adventurous and try this recipe instead. 

Ingredients:

2 packages Little Smokies (I used turkey ones)

1 cup ketchup

1 cup barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp Worcestershire

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss in the smokies and stir until they are coated.  Dumb in the crockpot and cook on low for four hours. 

These turned out pretty good.  The flavor was decent.  Next time I might add a few dashes of hot sauce to or a bold barbeque sauce to kick up the heat a ittle bit.  

Brown sugar chicken (in the crockpot)

Review by Jami:

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless breast halves or 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup lemon-lime soda

2/3 cup vinegar (I used white wine, but think regular white would be fine)

3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are GF)

1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

The Plan: I wanted to make a rockin’ chicken dish without a lot of work. Crockpot! I skimmed some online options until I found one that sounded good and only required ingredients I had on hand. No grocery shopping for me, brown sugar chicken was the perfect solution.

The Changes: I actually followed the recipe for once but I used a wild rice mixture rather then white for more nutrition and plate appeal. Some homemade bread and snow peas rounded out the meal for us, but sides are up to you.

The Procedure: Dump everything in the slow cooker as directed. Come back several hours later and feast. Couldn’t be easier.

The Result: This dish was a hit with the family, though I found it a little too sweet. It would be great for kids though and a nice disguise for boring protein.

Recommendations: I used only 3 boneless, skinless breasts and they didn’t need to cook as long since I wasn’t making a large batch. I say start small and test the recipe first. I didn’t love it personally, but everyone else enjoyed it so maybe it’s just me. I give it an “ehh” and probably will experiment with other dishes before coming back to this one.

Overnight apple oatmeal

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

2 sliced apples

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

2 cups of oatmeal

2 cups of milk

2 cups water

Place apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in the bottom of the crockpot.  Do not stir.  Pour in oatmeal, milk and water.  Again, do not stir.  Cook overnight for 8 - 9 hours on low.

This was cheap, easy to make and smelled great in the morning. I eagerly got a bowl and dug in.  The first bite was delicious. And then I got a bite with apple. And the texture of the skin was nasty! I checked numerous recipes and none said whether or not to peel your apples.  Apparently, it’s a personal preference left open for the reader.  I would highly recommend peeling the apples though! You have a soft, mushy oatmeal and then you get this weird texture from the apple skin. I will try this again without the skins and I think it will be perfect.