Peppermint Patty Brownies

I had this recipe on my previous blog... with no indication of where I got it from. This was a favourite, and I haven't made them in FOREVER! I was reminded about them tonight, when I saw peppermint patties at someone's house. I think I'm overdo in making this recipe again. There are a few people that want this recipe, so I'm posting now, and will make them this week (well, actually the first week of December) and take pictures to post here.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

1 1/2 cups margarine
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
24 small peppermint patties


Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs till well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Blend well.
Reserve 2 cups of batter, set aside. Grease 13x9x2 inch pan. Spread remaining batter in prepared pan. Arrange peppermint patties in a single layer over batter about 1/2 inch apart. Spread reserved 2 cups batter over patties. Bake 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-55 minutes till brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Enjoy!!!

Egg McMuffins

Here is a recipe I found on Pinterest, when looking for freezer meals. Egg McMuffins, but WAY healthier than the real thing.

Source: macheesmo.com via Tamara on Pinterest

First off, my husband is not big on breakfast... he rarely takes the time to eat it, except occasionally when we have company. We made about 18 of these the first time round, and he took them to work for the freezer there. They are a great mid morning breakfast for him, and I think all his coworkers are jealous (so much so he said he thinks I should make larger batches, and he'll collect a couple dollars from anyone who wants them at work).

Homemade Freezer Egg McMuffins
eggs
canadian bacon (or ham)
cheddar cheese
english muffins

Spray a muffin tin, and crack the eggs into the tin. Place in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Toast the english muffins (either in the toaster, or on a pan in the oven with the eggs), grate the cheese and lay everything out while the eggs are baking.

Then it's simply assembly... stack the egg, ham and a sprinkling of cheese on each english muffin, top and wrap in plastic wrap. I then place them in ziplock bags for the freezer.

When you want to make them to eat, put them in the oven (toaster oven) for 25 minutes at 350F.

IF you want to eat them right away, they only need to go in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

You can reheat in the microwave, but they get kinda soggy.

Here's some photos of our stack (have made them twice now, 18 the first time, and 24 the second time).





I'm trying to put items in my freezer as often as possible. With the newest addition to the family, I find often I'm scrambling to make dinner around 5 pm.

I thought this way of cooking eggs was BRILLIANT! If I ever have to make a big batch of eggs for company, etc, I will be doing this. We also used this method for making our eggs for eggs benedict one day too. Just make sure you spray the muffin tins, or they stick.

Caramel Rice Krispie Squares

This recipe I had for the first time at Easter, at a wedding. A friend made these for the dessert bar at the wedding, and somehow we ended up bringing an entire tray of them home after the wedding.

I almost didn't get a chance to photograph these, as they went that fast! First we sampled them, then sampled some more... then I cut most of them up to send to my husband's office (cause I know I wouldn't be able to resist them sitting in the kitchen). There was 2 left, and I ate one and this one was intended for my 3 year old... I only remembered to photograph hers before she ate it.

Caramel Rice Krispie Squares


Make 1 batch of rice krispie squares:

-bag of marshmallows
-1/4 cup butter

Melt in large pot
-1 tsp vanilla
-6 cups rice krispies (I use about 5.5 cups, makes them a little more gooey)

Press into large pan.

Centre:
2-3 bags of caramels
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter

Melt in small pot, pour over first layer of rice krispies.

Make a 2nd batch of the above rice krispies and press into pan on top of caramel. Let them set up.

So yummy, and gooey :)

Menu Plan - October 17-23

Last week I had a meal plan, and never posted. We didn't try anything new, or too terribly exciting. I did make a dozen egg mcmuffin sandwiches* for the freezer this evening, while my husband made eggs benedict for dinner. It was very good, but I think we're going to do just a few tweeks before we share that recipe.

This week we are having:

Monday: Chicken Shepherd's Pie
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Matzo Ball Soup*
Thursday: Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili*
Friday: Stirfry and rice
Saturday: Creamy Potato Soup*( (will make 3 batches, 2 to freeze)
Sunday: Muffins and fruit salad

I am also on snack for the preschool on Thursday. I'm thinking we might do muffins and celery stick with cheez whiz. Kinda at a loss at what to bring.

On the side this week... I plan to do some baking too. I have a zucchini just waiting to be used, as well as some pumpkin puree. I also have a big heap of apples to work with.

Goodies to make:
Chocolate Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins*
Pumpkin Apple Muffins*
Pumpkin Gingersnaps*
Caramel Rice Krispie Squares*
Apple Butter*

Also hoping to make a batch of buns.... or at least one loaf of bread in the bread machine.

I can only hope to stick to all these plans for the week... but here's hoping.


*will share recipes

Waffles

This is a favourite in our house. We often have waffles for dinner on a Sunday, and it's my go to breakfast when we have overnight company.



Waffles

3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I use less)
1/2 tsp of your favourite spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, I use Epicure's Gingerbread Spice)
2 beaten eggs
1.5 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients, beating until just smooth. Pour into waffle iron. Makes 3 - 9" waffles or 6 - 7" waffles.

I usually double this recipe, as you can freeze the waffles, or grab as a snack cool later. The spice is my own addition to the original recipe, as is splitting the flour between white and whole wheat. I've tried all whole wheat, but find it's tastier with a blend.

We almost always serve with berries and syrup over top.

Kitchen Tip

I saw this on one of the blogs in my feed, and thought to myself, "Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that".

Source: joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com via Tamara on Pinterest

When you are to cover a dish with tin foil, just place a cookie sheet upside down on top. Save wastage of aluminum foil, and its just faster to plop that overtop than digging in the drawer for foil, tearing it, wrapping it, etc.

Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

I stumbled on this blog post within days of buying a couple whole chickens on sale:

Source: eatathomecooks.com via Tamara on Pinterest

First, for those that know me, you know I pretty much only cook boneless, skinless meats.. usually from frozen... so it was a big step to buy the chickens in the first place, but this looked way too easy.

The blogpost above is just simple instructions... (here's a direct link to the post: http://eatathomecooks.com/2010/04/whole-chicken-in-the-slow-cooker.html) She also offers suggestions on seasonings and recipes for the left overs.

(Forgot to take picture til I had already started serving it up)



Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Place the cleaned chicken breast side up in the crockpot. Cook on high for 6-8 hours.

I added some Mrs Dash for seasoning and just a little bit of salt. I also added 2.5 cups of water so that I could make some broth at the same time for soup.

It was an easy way to cook a chicken.. I thought it was nice and moist and pretty good.

One issue I had with this was the meat just falls off the bone (which is good), making it impossible to get the chicken out of the crockpot for serving. I ended up just pulling chunks off while it remained in the crockpot.

This method is super easy, so very likely I'll do it again once in a while.