Category: MISC

Save Room for Dessert…Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Today’s Save Room for Dessert post is an older post from my blog.  I’m somewhat kitchen-impaired at the moment, due to an issue of cat supremacy.  These cookie bars are always a big hit when I make them, as well as super easy, which is a definite plus! 
Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz bag peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9×9 square baking dish with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on opposite sides so that you can lift out the bars when they are done.
With a fork, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla, about 4 minutes.
Beat in the egg.
Stir in the dry ingredients, then the peanut butter chips.
Spread batter in prepared baking dish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until wooden pick comes out with a few crumbs attached.***
***When I’ve made these before, they baked in less than 30 minutes, but sometimes they take as long as 45 minutes; to be on the safe side, please check your bars at 25 minutes. 

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???

We’re HUGE football fans!  Football season seems like it just started! and yet this is the last week of the regular season (where does the time go?) and that means it’s time for tailgating again, serious football food and game day buffets.  
Bring over your best appetizers and your biggest appetite and oh don’t forget the Brewskis to go with it all.  

Tailgating Time will be posted every Sunday at noon and open all week for you to add your football favorites. We’ll play each and every week until Superbowl Sunday and then have a big party. I can’t wait to see what you’ll be bringing!  We’ll host a big Superbowl party here at OUR KrAzY kitchen.

It’s Tailgating Time!
HOSTED BY: 
Martha at Seaside Simplicity
Tamy at 3 sides of Crazy 
Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet 
Would you like to be a host of Tailgating Time too? 
Leave a comment here with your email, at OUR KrAzY kitchen or with Martha over at Seaside Simplicity so we can send you the code and add you to the host list – more exposure, more links, more football food and more fun!!

BROWN BOX CRACKER MINI MEATLOAVES with BROWN BEER GRAVY aka MEATLOAF with A SERIOUS KICK

I found these awesome crackers recently and then was pleasantly surprised to find that they were a local mom & pop operation.  Imagine my surprise then when I’m eating these same crackers at my uncle’s house on Christmas Day and found out that Brown Box Crackers was my own cousin’s company! I asked her if we could share this recipe with you and introduce you to her awesome products.

Mini Meat Loaves 
1 pound Lean Hamburger
1 Egg, large
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Salt (or more to taste)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cups Brown Box Cracker Crumbs
2 *Onions (Medium, Of Choice, Peeled)
1 *Jalapeno (or more to taste)
4 *Cloves Garlic (or more to taste)

  • Preheat oven to 350º.
  • Chop onion, jalapeno and garlic to fine or process in blender, food processor.
  • Adding just enough water to form a paste. 
  • We like the paste method as it seems to flavor the meat & we don’t like veggie chunks.
  • Combine all ingredients except for the BBC Crumbs by squeezing though fingers. 
  • Once the ingredients are mixed well add the crackers and mix them through.
  • Divide burger mixture into four (4) equal portions and form into loaves.
  • Place in a casserole or large, heavy oven-proofing frying pan.
  • The heavy frying pan is excellent for getting all the “good stuff” for the gravy.
  • Bake approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

Helpful Hint: Keep surgical gloves on hand just for this. You can purchase them at Walmart, 
Sam’s or local drug store. We prefer the powder-free. You will find MANY uses for these 
handy disposable gloves in the kitchen and in the home.

Brown Beer Gravy  
3 tablespoons Drippings or vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup White Flour
1 cup Dark Beer (Shiner Bock is excellent)
1 cup Beef Broth or water
Salt and Pepper to taste

  • Heat drippings/oil to bubbling.
  • Add flour and stir constantly to a bubbling caramel roux.
  • Add beer and liquid continuing to stir constantly. The roux will smooth and thicken. 
  • Add more liquid if necessary.

Serving Suggestion:  Slice mini meat loaves and top onto a mound of white or brown rice, 
cover in gravy with a side of fresh sliced tomato.
Helpful Hint: Use beef broth instead or in combination with water when preparing rice. 
You will be pleased!

2011 in MY Words & Pictures!

Project 365 – A photo a day for a year!
To use Martha’s words, literally, I feel a little crazy taking the plunge into a year long commitment to this photography project with everything I have going on lately, but 2011 promises to be a very enlightening and promising year with many changes.

I may not post each individual day, especially in the beginning due to some health issues, but I will take at least one photo each day and backdate the blog posts to the day each photo was taken when necessary. And like Martha some days I may add commentary, some days just a little blurb, but many days will be wordless where I let the photos speak their “thousand words.”
For me this isn’t at all about photography, but about documenting what my life is really like with my enlightened eyes.
Fair warning – it might not always be pretty, but it will be honest.  I am going to catch candid shots of the people, places and things in my life.  It will be an interesting and healthy journey.

NEW YEAR FULL OF POSSIBILITY REPLACES HARD YEAR FOR MANY

I receive a Dear Abby email each day. Many days I flat out ignore it, but often there are these gems that bear repeating.  This is one of them:

“Today is the day we discard destructive old habits for healthy new ones, and with that in mind, I will share Dear Abby’s often requested list of New Year’s Resolutions — which were adapted by my mother, Pauline Phillips, from the original credo of Al-Anon:

JUST FOR TODAY: I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once.

I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I’ll not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will refrain from improving anybody but myself.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will do something positive to improve my health. If I’m a smoker, I’ll quit. If I am overweight, I will eat healthfully — if only just for today. And not only that, I will get off the couch and take a brisk walk, even if it’s only around the block.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will gather the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my own actions.

And now, Dear Readers, I would like to share an item that was sent to me by I.J. Bhatia, a reader who lives in New Delhi, India:

DEAR ABBY: This year, no resolutions, only some guidelines. The Holy Vedas say, “Man has subjected himself to thousands of self-inflicted bondages. Wisdom comes to a man who lives according to the true eternal laws of nature.”

The prayer of St. Francis (of which there are several versions) contains a powerful message:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
“where there is hatred, let me sow love,
“where there is injury, pardon;
“where there is doubt, faith;
“where there is despair, hope;
“where there is darkness, light;
“and where there is sadness, joy.
“O Divine Master,
“grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
“to be understood, as to understand;
“to be loved, as to love;
“for it is in giving that we receive,
“it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
“and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.”

And so, Dear Readers, may this new year bring with it good health, peace and joy to all of you. Love, ABBY”

WEEKLY MENU

Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie

 DATE BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
Monday 1/3

 CEREAL SANDWICHES PORK CHOPS & AU GRATIN POTATOES
Tuesday 1/4

 TOAST LEFTOVERS SPAGHETTI BOLEGNESE & GREEN SALAD
Wednesday 1/5

 YOGURT SOUP FRIED CHICKEN & PARMESAN MASHED POTATOES with PEPPERED GRAVY
Thursday 1/6

 FRUIT CHEESE FRUIT STUFFED SHELLS & GREEN SALAD
Friday 1/7

 OATMEAL C.O.R.N. PAN ROASTED CHICKEN with APRICOT RUM GLAZE
Saturday 1/8

 OUT leftovers CHILI & CHILE CORNBREAD
Sunday 12/12 SCRAMBLED EGGS & BACON TAILGATING FOOD POT ROAST

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST & WILTED SPINACH with PARMESAN PASTA

PAN SEARED CHICKEN BREAST & WILTED SPINACH with PARMESAN PASTA
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced*
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 ounces white wine
1 lemon, juiced
4 ounces bacon, diced
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
3 cups fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
spaghetti, cooked and well drained
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 large tomato, diced
*While I prefer fresh garlic, I have found that the roasted jar garlic is a great substitute, especially in the winter.
  • Brown bacon until crisp.
  • Add onion slices and garlic, sauteing until tender.
  • Move bacon and onions to the sides and add butter.
  • When butter is melted, add chicken and brown well on both sides.
  • In the meantime, prepare the pasta per package directions.
  • Remove chicken, keeping warm.
  • Add spinach and saute’ until spinach wilts.
  • Move spinach to outer sides.
  • Toss pasta with wine and lemon juice.
  • Mound pasta in center of pan.
  • Top with Parmesan cheese.
  • Layer chicken pieces over top.
  • Serve immediately.