Rice Krispie Treats All Grown Up & New Pans!

The other day I was casually browsing through my Kohl's flyer when something caught my eye.  Kohl's has always featured Food Network cookware and bakeware but these were new products exclusive to Kohl's and man, did I ever want some.  These pans were gorgeous looking with their galvanized looking exterior, all rippled and such.  They reminded me of something you'd find in an old farmhouse somewhere.  I just loved them so off to Kohl's we went.  I was so shocked when I got there.  Not only were these commercial grade but my Lord, were they HEAVY!  I had to have some.  I was somewhat reluctant to purchase them because I'm somewhat of a mizer when it comes to buying new things.  I had plenty of cookie sheets at home!  But then my husband reminded me of my list of "Things I Want to Buy and/or Replace".  New bakeware was right on the top of that list.  I had that whole saying of "if you buy something cheaply, it will perform cheaply" running through my head as I stood there.  All my cookie sheets were super banged up, dark, stained and awfully sad looking.  But $29.99 for a cookie sheet, I bawked?!  He stared at me and went "Buy it."  So I did...and a loaf pan and a 9x13 pan which has a batch of the most wonderful Brown Butter & Sea Salt Rice Krispie Treats in them at the moment.  (recipe follows)  These are performing so wonderfully.  I'm glad now I listened to my husband and purchased them.  So if you're in the market for wonderful, sturdy, durable and nostalgic looking bakeware - get thee to a Kohl's.  These aren't even featured on their website yet! YAY!  Means nobody will be buying them out quick...so get on over there!

As you can see, in my cake pan there is a batch of rice krispie treats.  But don't be fooled.  These are not your everyday, after school snack rice krispie treat.  Oooh no.  No, no.  What lies inside is a delicious concoction of nutty browned butter and zippy sea salt.  My friend Siggy Spice passed on this recipe to me and I thanked her endlessly as I licked my spoons clean.  My, oh my!  Sweet meets salty meets velvety undertones of brown butter all lusciously packed in to a crispy, crunchy bar.  They are without a doubt the "adult" version of Rice Krispie Treats.  You won't WANT to share them with your kids.  Or your husband...or anyone else.  I might stash these in my closet all for myself.  (its a tempting, tempting thought)

In any event, make Siggy's sinful treat and be nice to yourself and buy some new pans!

Brown Butter & Sea Salt Rice Krispie Treats

• 1 stick butter
• 1 bag marshmallows (10.5 oz)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 6 slightly over flowing cups rice krispy cereal

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, gently toss together sea salt and rice krispy cereal. Set aside.

To brown butter, heat in a pot over medium-low heat. Continue stirring after butter is melted. It will eventually begin to foam, then turn a brown color and smell nutty. Stay with the butter and stir occasionally so it does not burn. The time it takes from browned butter to turn burned butter is under a minute, so watch it carefully. When butter has browned, remove from heat and add marshmallows. Stir quickly so that marshmallows melt into the butter. If need be, you can replace over low heat to assist the melting. Once smooth and thoroughly combined, add vanilla, and stir to incorporate.

Pour butter/marshmallow mixture over top of sea salt/rice krispy mixture. Working quickly, stir to coat and combine evenly. Press mixture into baking dish and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

Bow-Tie Lasagna Rave and Review

Her stylized, yummy picture!

Just like it says, I'm writing today to review the Bow-Tie Lasagna from Rozanie at Tasty Kitchen.  In fact, I'm absolutely going to RAVE about it because this dish was simply phenomenal.  So good in fact, my hubby and I gorged ourselves on the 6 portions.  We totally pigged out and its a rare recipe that makes us do that.  This was one of those gems that you can't quit eating.  We even had rolls with it and *still* ate all 6 servings.  Its just really, really good food, folks.

When I saw it, I thought "Wow, like a homemade Hamburger Helper!  Cool!"  I added it to my recipe file and it sat there for weeks.  Then one night, I didn't have much sitting around for dinner but I knew I had enough to make this.  So I tried it and let me tell you - Hamburger Helper would be selling completely out in stores everywhere if they could make theirs taste 1/10th the way hers does.  Its soo creamy, so rich tasting that you just cannot stop yourself from eating it.

My "Hurry Up, I'm Starving!" picture.

I've heard of people stirring in cream cheese to add some creaminess to their tomato sauce but this version uses sour cream.  The extra zip and tang really set off this dish and made it pop with flavor.  I read some of the reviews before I made it, and like alot of them, I stirred in some grated parm cheese with the last of the ingredients and let it melt in with the mozzerella cheese.  Then I added more before serving.  I've made this twice now, once using ground beef and the other using sweet Italian sausage and both were amazing.

Do yourself a favor and make this one night when you need a quicky dinner.  You won't be sorry...and you'll never reach for a box dinner again.  That's it folks...simple, fast and easy!  I used Ragu's traditional sauce because I was just too lazy to make my own and I had it sitting around.  She uses her own homemade sauce.  So preference is yours!  Mine looks a little 'soupy' because I don't think I had enough noodles left over in my box.  (just a note that yours will probably looks different depending on the sauce you use)

Bow-Tie Lasanga by Rozanie

• 1 pound Ground Chuck or Italian sausage
• 5 cups Bow Tie Noodles
• 3 cups Spaghetti Sauce (or Pizza Sauce, Whatever You Prefer)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or More, Make It To Your Taste)
• ½ cups Mozzarella Cheese
• ½ cups Sour Cream

Fry meat in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce.  Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

My Homemade Horseshoe/Murphy Burger

Call it what you will...horseshoe, Murphy burger, hamburger stack...they're all delicious!  I saw the horseshoe version on Diners, Drive In and Dives and knew I could come up with my own version simple enough.  Just figuring out the cheese sauce would be the key.  (yes, I know the Murphy burger was with a gravy sauce...same principle though.)  And then, the other day, Man vs Food visited ANOTHER place that had a similar secret sauce and he tasted it and asked if there was Worchestershire sauce in it.  She told him yes.  So I filed that in the back of my head for when I went to make my own.  The concept is fairly simple - a burger, fries, Texas toast all stacked up and smothered in a cheese sauce.

I struggled with what cheese to use.  I have made homemade cheddar sauces enough to know they can get funky chunky and clumpy if not done right so for this, I thought I'd use good old Velveeta.  But at the store, NEXT to the Velveeta was a blue box of Kraft's Deluxe Cheese, just like Velveeta.  I love their Deluxe macaroni so I figured I'd give this a try.  I'm not a fan per say of the Velveeta b/c it reminds me of stuff they serve to children at restaurants and my grown up palate likes real cheese versus processed stuff but for this recipe, the melting factor of Velveeta won out.  You just can't get cheddar to behave like Velveeta.

My results were really, really outstanding.  My hubby (who I think was skeptical of my idea to begin with) took one bite and went "Oh my, that's good." and continued to decimate his plate in about 5 minutes flat.  We're talking ALOT of food here people.  Yeah, he's an Army boy but he's a semi-skinny one who doesn't really plow through food that way.  In fact, my kids always joke about when we go to a restaurant that Jon is the pokiest eater alive...and here he was pounding through this huge plate of food like he hadn't eaten in a week.  And he downed an entire homemade chocolate shake too.  That says a TON about how good this meal was.

I would recommend doing your cheese sauce first since melting it slow is the key here and takes the longest.  I baked my fries and put then in about the same time as I started the sauce.  Feel free to use whatever fries you want, I'm just particular to the skinny fries b/c I can bake them and they get mega crispy without extra oil added in.  I did Texas toast but I think sourdough would be just as awesome.  The great thing about this is, its totally adjustable for how many people you're serving.  This version made enough cheese sauce for 4 servings.

Homemade Horseshoe Hamburger Stack

1 pound of hamburger
8 pieces of Texas toast (or your favorite bread)
1 bag of frozen french fries (Fast Fries ruled here)
1/2 lb. box of Velveeta or similar melting cheese
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground mustard powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Steak seasoning (I use McCormick's)

Shape your hamburgers into 4 quarter pound burgers.  Sprinkle both sides liberally with steak seasoning and set aside.  Chunk up the Velveeta cheese into smaller pieces so they'll melt faster.  Set aside.  Begin pre-heating your oven for your fries.

In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  When melted, add flour and mix well and allow roux to cook for two minutes.  Whisk in the milk gradually till smooth and thick, stirring constantly.  Add the cheese and allow to melt, stirring consistently so as to not burn.  Once melted and smooth, add the Worchestershire sauce, mustard powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.  Stir well to combine.  If the sauce is TOO thick, add a splash of milk until desired consistence.  You want something thin enough to drizzle or pour..not thick like macaroni sauce.  Reduce temperature to low, stirring often.

Fry your burgers till desired wellness while you cook your fries according to package directions and sprinkle with salt when they come out.  Toast your bread.  Stack up by 2 pieces of toast on the bottom, burger on the toast, fries on the burger and drizzle sauce over it all.

(btw - a smaller version with ONE piece of toast and smaller portion of fries is called a pony shoe. lol)  Hope you like it...we sure did!

'Nana Muffins

My hubby is bonafide bananas about bananas. Every single time we walk into the store, we're greeted by a bright, shiny produce section and he without a doubt will say dreamily "I should buy some more bananas. I like bananas." After 8 years, I know this already and I roll my eyes as he stands there for 20 minutes picking out the perfect bunch. (in the meantime I have hit the deli, the fish counter and am halfway through the canned aisle when he catches up finally)

Being a late night gamer girl AND an Army wife don't necessarily make me the best homemaker at 5 am when his alarm goes off and he's getting ready for morning formation. I would love to get up to make him a stack of pancakes and bacon and send my soldier off with a full belly. But...playing World of Warcraft till 2 am kinda puts a damper onto the whole thing. So I decided to be pro-active and find some kind of happy middle where my conscious felt better.

I made muffins. Banana muffins to be exact for him to eat ALL week long. And can I tell you, the man was thrilled. You'd thought he'd won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes. "For meeee?! Really?! Wooooooow!" He's easily excitable, what can I say?

The muffins I made are an adaptation from the Farmhouse Banana Muffins posted by Emily on Tasty Kitchen. You can see that recipe by clicking here if you'd like.  When I saw the simplicity of her recipe, I was happy but I knew immediately that it needed some help for our palates.  There was no spice.  Sure, banana flavor is great but can also be kinda bland.  So I added vanilla, a healthy dose of cinnamon and some nutmeg.  I also used butter flavored Crisco to add another flavor to the mix.  I think it was a great choice. I'm sure you could add in a few nuts if you wanted to for die hard banana bread fans but these certainly do not need it.  They smelled so delicious baking and I'm not a banana bread fan in the least but I was totally wanting to try one!  These are small, moist, springy little pops of buttery, banana joy.  The problem is stopping at just a few.  LOL

My hubby...all I can say is, if he has some past day 2, I'll be shocked.  He's gobbling them like the Cookie Monster.  Thanks Emily and I hope you all enjoy the additions I made.

Click to enlarge.

Farmhouse Banana Muffins

• ½ cups milk
• 3 Tablespoons vinegar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cups Butter Flavored Crisco (or shortening)
• 2  large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 Ripe bananas, mashed (I actually left mine in chunks for more bite)

Note: For the serving size, this recipe makes 5 dozen mini muffins or 2 loaves of banana bread.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by measuring out the milk and adding the vinegar to it so it sours; set aside.


In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, using your mixer, combine the sugar and shortening. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until just combined.  Add vanilla.  Mix in the soured milk and gradually add the floured mixture.  Stir in the bananas by hand.  (small chunks, diced, sliced, mashed...however you want it your muffin texture)


For mini muffins: Spray mini muffin pans with cooking spray and fill each mold nearly to the top. Bake 12-14 minutes.  For loaves: Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Divide the batter evenly into each pan. Bake 45 minutes to an hour.  Transfer muffins or loaves to cooling racks and cool completely. Store covered.

Coming soon:  old fashioned creamed chicken recipe, my take on a Murphy burger/Horseshoe hamburger stack and a Tasty Kitchen bowtie skillet lasagna recipe review.

Chocolate Cakey Waffles ~

"You want regular or chocolate waffles?"  Jon's eyes gleamed with glee and he stared at me blankly, as if staring right through me, thinking dreamily about a mini-stack of chocolate cake waffles on his plate drenched in sweet butter and maple syrup.  His lip quivered a bit as the word "chocolate!" came out.  I shouldn't have even given him a choice because like a woman cracked out on a PMS binge, he will choose chocolate undoubtedly every single time. So we set about this morning making chocolate waffles and thought I'd share.

I would love to claim fame to these and say I came up with this culinary choco-treat but alas, I believe it's Alton Brown's.  I've had it so long and tweaked and played with it so many times, I can't really remember it's origins.  It started out as a Christmas brunch dessert item one year, served with vanilla ice cream and a fruit compote topping but its really just as great slathered with peanut butter and jam for breakfast.  Butter and syrup work too!

Chocolate chips, butter and syrup!  Hello!

These waffles have never been "super crispy" but are rather more cake consistency on the inside as you can see if you blow up the picture.  The edges do crisp up nice though and are a great contrast to the cakey interior.  The chocolate chips in the batter just give you a nice melty pop of gooey factor too.  They are a real treat on a lazy weekend.  I certainly can't imagine giving my kids this on a regular basis or they'd be bouncing off the walls!  But on occasion, this is a nice change up from the norm. 

Dress them up for dessert or just plain old butter and syrup - either way, they are out of this world good.

Chocolate Cake Waffles

1½ c all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
½ c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional, but delicious)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 whole eggs, beaten
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
¾ c chocolate chips (mini's are best but I used regular in the picture)
vegetable spray, for waffle iron

Preheat waffle iron.  (I do mine on max setting, if yours is adjustable like mine.)

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon (if using), salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, melted butter and vanilla then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry.  Stir in chocolate chips until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle a heaping 1/3 cup of  the batter into the center of the iron and cook till crispy on both sides. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.

Makes around 8-10 waffles depending on your iron size.

Note - if halving this recipe, use 1 whole egg and the whites only of another.



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Nom Nom - It's Labor Day!

This Labor Day, being in a new house, in a new state, I decided to try something, well, new to our plates as well.  At most holidays, we make a Coca-Cola Ham, deviled eggs, cheesy hash brown casserole and a cake.  This year I wanted to mix it up a bit.  And it's so dang hot still in the south, I wanted a break from being over an oven all day long.  (people keep trying to re-assure us that its actually 'cool' down here right now but I'm not biting)

Pineapple Whip drink

Today's menu started with a refreshing pineapple whip drink.  Its so easy to make, you'll wonder why you never thought of one on your own beforehand.  I'm so addicted to the Blue Bell ice cream that's found down south here anyways so it was just perfect for this drink.  Pineapple juice, ice cream and frozen pineapple.  Zip in your blender and boom!  Its just that easy.  Of course, it was supposed to have a garnish but um...I eated it.  Creamy, frothy and cooling - it was the perfect drink for my meal.  I think next time though instead of pineapple juice, I will add a different layer of flavor and use orange juice or maybe go half and half pineapple and orange.  In any case, its delicious and so easy to do.  I think these would make great frozen popcicles too!  Or maybe add a splash of rum for an adult treat.  Lots of possibilities! 

New-Dorf salad and Marilyn Monroe sammies

Next on my plate was a New-Dorf Salad from my wonderful friend Siggy Spice.  Crunchy, cool, crisp and sweet - this was definately a hit with my husband who went back for seconds then thirds.  Celery, grapes, Craisins, apple and vanilla yogurt.  (its supposed to have a crunchy almond topping but I'm allergic so I left them out)   You could use regular raisins but I went the route Siggy did and used pomegranate flavored Craisins.  It just added another layer of goodness in the flavor rainbow there.  I loved it.  I think next time I might grate a little lemon zest over top or some mint just to add another bit of zing to it.  Not that it isn't outstandingly fabulous on its own..I'm just a food tweaker. <3 me some Siggy Spice.

Next was the most glorious sammie named Marilyn Monroes.  I have no idea why they're called that but man, they sure were the star of our plates.  I used thick sliced EverRoast chicken from the deli, pepperoni's and mozzerella cheese.  The thing that puts this over the top though is a secret ingredient you'd never imagine.  GARLIC POWDER!  You butter your bread slices then sprinkle them with garlic powder and let me tell you what, you'll wonder why you're not doing this to every grilled sammie you make.  This sammie was like pizza meets garlic bread, meets chicken.  Then to top it all off, you dip it in pizza sauce.  *shebang!*  It was gooey, cheesy, garlicky goodness all between two pieces of sourdough bread.  Its so good, we're having it for dinner too.  LOL

Fudgy Brownie Cookies

And finally, dessert was about as pain-free as you can get. Brownie cookies using a box mix.  Once all put together, this mix needed to set for two hours to chill so I made this first while I made lunch and watched a movie.  Then we baked these little bites of chocolatey goodness.  So yum!  Well, you can see for yourself!  Slightly crisp on the outside, soft, chewy like a brownie on the inside and the chocolate chunks just put it WAAAAY over the top.  Too, too good and don't forget the BIG glass of milk with this.  So rich and decadent, you can't have just one.  Well, maybe one PLATE!  lol

Well that was my holiday menu - easy to do, let me enjoy my day and veg on my couch watching television with Jon.  I wasn't slaving in my kitchen over a hot stove...well, save for the cookies!  But they were worth it to sink my teeth into some warm brownie cookies!  All of these recipes can be found at Tasty Kitchen by clicking on the the links above.  

Brandie's pic from Tasty Kitchen

Ooh and let me clue you into the WORLD'S BEST PORK CHOPS evvvvvvvvvver!  I found them over at Tasty Kitchen too from a lovely woman named Brandie.  I am oh so serious when I say this.  The best ever.  Period.  You may *think* your grandma made the best.  No.  Wrong.  These are.  As in, I will never attempt to make another pork chop fried, baked or otherwise.  Life changing.  (and make her chicken philly too - its equally as amazing and I was awe-struck to realize two of my favorite recipes came from the same person)  Make these.  Do not pass go.  Do not question.  Just make and enjoy.  I served mine over egg noodles and they were *DIVINE*. 


Pork Chops and Gravy - by Brandie (thecountrycook)

• 4 whole Bone-in Pork Chops
• 1 envelope Onion Soup Mix (1 Oz. Packet)
• 1-½ cup Chicken Broth
• 1 can (10.5 Oz) Cream Of Chicken Soup (low Sodium)
• 1 envelope Dry Pork Gravy Mix (1 Oz. Packet)

Place pork chops in slow cooker. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients and pour over chops. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes to take advantage of all the yummy gravy.

Cook’s Note: You may want to also use a low sodium chicken broth if you are sensitive to salt. You can always add salt in later if you feel it necessary. Also, try other cream soups, like cream of mushroom with this dish.

Anyways...I hope you had a great Labor Day.  Mine was uber nice sitting with my slew of moving boxes still trying to unpack.  I have no room.  I need a bigger kitchen.  Until next time!

We've Arrived!

So we have officially made it to Georgia now and are in our new house.  It was a long 17 hour drive over 1,000 miles.  I knew I was officially in the south when I saw this picture of a gigantic peach water tower!  I told my friend when I saw that, my immediate thought was "man, that would make a ton of pies."  I'm such a foodie nerd, I know.

Anyways, I have little time here.  Just wanted to let you know we've arrived, we're safe and aside from swimming in boxes upon boxes and packing materials, we're good.  New recipes soon!  I promise!  <3