Pinterest Challenge: Oreo Marshmallow Cookie Bars

(Note: this should have been shared in October - but I forgot!)

Well, I know I found this idea through Pinterest, but... I can't seem to find the link today.

The basic idea is to make rice crispy treats - but with crushed Oreo cookies instead of the cereal.

The first time I attempted this I used 1 box of regular Oreo cookies, 1 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows, and half a stick of butter.

1) Crush the cookies - I used a food processor, though in theory you can put them in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin or something.
2) Melt the butter and marshmallows - I did it in the microwave (15-20 seconds then stir, repeatedly)
3) Mix the cookies into the gooey mess
4) When everything is combined, pour into a pan and let cool at least 10 minutes.

I was a little surprised when batch number one (regular Oreo cookies, 10 oz mini marshmallows) turned out to be less than a full pan's worth of cookie bar. It made about an 8x8 size bar that was a little on the thin side:

Yeah, not quite so appetizing to look at, right? But, they were pretty good. The sweetness of the marshmallow cut down the bitterness of the chocolate cookie pieces, and the other all taste was neither too sweet nor too bitter.

Since that batch turned out a little less than I'd hoped, and since we ate it all (eventually) without any other opinions, I wanted to try again. This last weekend I made a second batch - doubled. This time I went with two packages of a knock off brand, and a 20 oz bag of large marshmallows, with slightly less than a whole stick of butter. (And I still think the butter could be cut down a little more next time.) Same process, but completely different looking - and tasting - results:

I didn't have a large enough bowl for mixing, so I did end up with a less well blended cookie bar - but that made it better. Instead of every bite tasting exactly the same, there was some variation in how much cookie or marshmallow. And this 'double' size easily filled a 9x13 pan with a thick layer. I don't know if it was the change in marshmallow size or brand of cookie, or something else, but this second batch was much better all around.

Now I'm curious to see if I can make a peanut butter version. I'd like to try yet this week - but I think I need a little break from marshmallows... Don't get me wrong - these cookies are good and I could certainly eat more of them -- but I probably shouldn't eat part  most of three pans worth in two weeks!

Edit: I tried a peanut butter version. Every recipe I found said to use peanut butter and marshmallow. That didn't really work. After trying a bite, two of my taste testers said they'd never used both when making peanut butter rice crispy cookies, so now I'm wondering if I should try it again with only the peanut butter or if I call it a failure... Again, probably should let some time pass before I try again. 

Pancake

Although our evenings are less regular now that one of the guys has moved to a new job and a new city, we still have the crew over a couple times a month for movies and food. I usually choose to make something for dinner that night, which can sometimes be a challenge. Since I didn't feel like being too challenged by eating restrictions, I went with something easy: breakfast for dinner.

I really wanted to make pancakes - but we've yet to be successful making good tasting pancakes on our gas stove. So, I got a little creative - though as usual, I have to give credit to an idea I saw on Pinterest, namely Pancake Squares from Big Red Kitchen. Since I know the guys don't care for my wheat flour, I didn't want to follow the recipe and make it from scratch (yet). However, sitting next to my wheat flour is a massive bin of waffle/pancake mix.

Just 4 cups of pancake mix, 3 cups of water, and a lightly greased 9x13. Oh, and 20 minutes at 350.

It looks a little like very pale corn bread - and I thought it could have used a little more sugar added to the dry mix - but it tasted just like pancakes. And the guys must have agreed. Not only did we eat it all - but everyone said it was good. Trust me, when my brother says 'good' instead of shaking his hand back and forth in a so-so motion, it's a winner.

I suspect with the addition of that little bit of sugar, I might have a new favorite plan for my birthday.

For a house that's gone without pancakes for almost three years after our very first pancake making disaster - this pancake cake is a very welcome addition to the rotating recipes.

The Recipe

I come from a big, loud, close family. We're talking at least three family reunions a year, each a potluck picnic, and most of them with more than 50% overlap despite a different last name before "family reunion." Christmases and Thanksgivings were usually huge dinners - complete with about 50 guests each.

In all these reunions and holiday dinners, there is a single meal that stands out above the rest. This meal is a direct link to my ancestors, not only the ones I've met and eaten it with, but the ones who came long before my time.

Potatoes and Dumplings

Green beans; peas in cream; salad

Bread with butter and strawberry freezer jam

Wonderberry pie with homemade vanilla ice cream

I have eaten this growing up at nearly every family member's dinner table - my parents, my grandparents, my aunts. In college, my brother regularly made Potatoes and Dumplings on the weekends. And now, my husband and I eat it at our table too.

If I only pass on one recipe to somedaykid, this is it.

There's nothing measured about this recipe. I suppose that might be frustrating for someone trying to follow the recipe, but it makes me think about the families who passed this recipe down, adapting it to how ever many people were eating that night or throwing ingredients around as thirteen siblings raced in and out of the kitchen.

Potatoes and Dumplings
1 potato per person
1/2 cup flour per person
1 egg per person
Butter*
salt

Peel potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Put the potatoes in a large pot with salted water. The water should cover the potatoes by a couple inches. Cook at a slow boil.

Place the butter in a skillet and slowly brown. Keep an eye on this - it's easy to miss the moment and end up with burnt butter.

Combine flour, eggs and salt (go easy, it's always easy to add more to the finished plates) until you have a sticky dough.

Not a great picture, but something like this.

Test potato 'doneness.' My brother prefers his a little firm, able to maintain the shape. I like mine to cook a little longer so some of them will fall apart into a more mashed potato consistency.

When the potatoes are done to your preference, begin dropping small spoon fulls of dough on top of the boiling water. The dough will rise when it's cooked. This doesn't take long, and most of the dumplings will already be floating by the time you get the last ones dropped in. To be safe, give it a little more time for those last few - we're talking a minute or less.

Drain off the water. Place the potatoes and dumplings in your serving bowl. Pour the browned butter over the top. Stir to mix and coat everything in butter. Now's the perfect time to test a bite (some potato, some dumpling) to see if you were right on the salt or if it needs more. We usually end up adding more at this point, but I'd rather add more after the cooking than wish the dumplings weren't so salty!

Enjoy!

This is the meal that takes me back to my childhood, my family, my roots. This is what I crave when things are rough, or when I want to celebrate. This is my comfort food.

My husband, who grew up with salsa and sauces, used to look down his nose when I described a meal that's basically potatoes with salt and butter. Until he tried it. Now, he's the one requesting it.





*How much butter to use is up to you. My guidelines is 5 potatoes: 3/4 stick butter, 7 potatoes: 1 stick butter, etc. And despite the 1 potato per person rule, I've never made a batch smaller than 5 potatoes, even for two people...

Playing with Meatloaf

As I've said before, I'm not a huge fan of meat loaf. Actually, I'm not really a huge fan of meat. But ever since finding the recipe for meat loaf with Stove Top stuffing instead of bread crumbs, meatloaf has been a bit of a fixture around here.

The first several times we made it were fairly simple, more or less following the recipe that worked for our oven/altitude:

1 lb ground beef
1 box stuffing
2 eggs
1/4 cup water

Then I came across a pin for a gluten free Italian seasoned meatloaf with tomato sauce and cheese in it. Rather than messing with something I knew was working, I just added the concept to what we were already doing:

Provolone on top was not the best choice (it's what we had) but the addition of the parmesan to the meat was amazing. And I even survived the tomato sauce.

So, on nights we're feeling a bit more adventuresome, we add:
1/4-1/2 cup parmsesan cheese
the top it with some garlic/bold tomato sauce.

That worked so well, it got me wondering what else we could do with the meat loaf recipe. So, I came home with a jar of salsa and went to town. With the addition of about half the jar of salsa to the meat (and cutting out all the water), we wound up with the best version yet!

Topped with a little fresh salsa and guacamole - and I could eat it all day!

When we added barbeque sauce or the tomato sauce, we added the sauce about 5-10 minutes before the loaf was finished baking. I would not recommend doing that with the salsa version, just add it to the meat, then do a fresh topping when you're ready to eat.

I can't wait til spring to try it with fresh salsa.

But yes, now I'm still wondering what else I can do to this dish to make it a little more interesting... Any ideas?

Pinterest Challenge: Pickle Dip

I love pickles. I tease my husband that there won't be any telling when I'm pregnant since I already eat pickles and ice cream - not quite together, but often within minutes of each other. I'm also the one who gets called when Grandma winds up with a spicier than expected batch of homemade pickles. I try to share those jars with my husband, but he's got to be fast. I can - and will - eat an entire jar of Grandma's accidentally spicy pickles in a day.

So when I stumbled across a pin for something called Pickle Dip, I knew it was only a matter of time before I wound up making it. I started with this recipe from Homemade By Harper.

Woah, I didn't realize until just now that I basically took the same picture!  

So, here's what we do:

16 oz low fat sour cream
12 oz cream cheese
Most of a 42 oz jar of zesty garlic pickles (diced)
1/2 cup pickle brine
Garlic seasoning salt to taste


If you have one, this is a good time to break out the food processor. A couple of seconds of processing and the pickles are practically perfect - trust me, it's much better than attempting to dice them by hand.

I just throw everything in a big bowl and break out my electric hand mixer.

It's not bad immediately after mixing, but I found it was much better 12-24 hours later. I didn't have any issues with the liquid separating from the mixture, and the flavor only seemed to get better as the tip got older. Not that it had a chance to get too old! The first batch lasted three days, the second lasted less than 36 hours. (To be fair, it went to Thanksgiving dinner, so it wasn't all me.)

I should never have made this. It's way too dangerous. I can't tell you the last time I bought potato chips - now we've gone through more bags of them than I want to admit to. And I want to make more. Today.

I haven't warned my family, but I strongly suspect this will be making an appearance at Christmas dinner as well. After the reception it got at Thanksgiving, I'm thinking it's a pretty good option to bring - especially since I know there are some more pickle lovers on that side of the family.

Banana Muffins

Bananas get used in phases around here. If I buy only three, they get eaten immediately. But if I buy five or six, half of the bunch sits on the pantry until I finally decide to bake something with their brown remains.

This is my go-to baking with bananas recipe. It's slightly adapted from a recipe I found in my unofficial family cookbook. (Multiple people I know and/or are related to contributed recipes to the book, and I'm fairly certain every woman in my mom's family has this cookbook.)

Banana Muffins

3 peeled, mashed bananas
1 egg
2 cups Bisquick
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
Cinnamon to taste
Chocolate chips to taste

Stir together until just mixed. Drop into muffin papers or greased muffin pan.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until beginning to brown on top.

Makes about 12 muffins.

I like them best hot from the oven (just cool enough so the chocolate chips don't burn my mouth) but they're also good cold - especially if you used mini-chips. Most Half of this batch went into the freezer for breakfasts next month.

Note: the recipe originally calls for 1/4 cup sugar and no chocolate chips, so if you skip the chocolate, you might want to adjust the sugar.

Pinterest Challenge: Crescent Smores

I think we all knew this day was coming.

Crescent rolls + marshmallows + chocolate. 

And again, no surprise, a winner at my house.

In fact... I think I'll have s'more for breakfast.



While I have this pinned, my anti-virus programming thinks the pin goes to a suspicious looking site, so until I get that figured out, I won't be linking. 

Pinterest Challenge: Avocado Ranch Dip

It feels kind of circular to share this link for Avocado Ranch Dip - especially since it leads to someone else's Pinned and did kind of thing. But it's the link I've got - and it's what I did!

Two avocados roughly mashed, three heaping spoons of low-fat Greek yogurt, and some ranch powder.

Clearly, very exact measurements. I really just poured it into a bowl, mashed it up, and ate it. On sandwiches, as a vegetable tip, with flat bread. I wished I'd had some chips to try it with as well, but let's just say, I'm a fan.

Burritos are on the menu tonight, and I can't wait to see how the dip functions in place of sour cream and/or guacamole. I think it's going to be even better.