Chex Check

This recipe is so much better than the store bought version- Chex Mix! My mom used to make this along with many many other goodies during Christmas time. So as I got older I helped with this easy task (probably since she knew I couldn't mess it up) Thanks, mom! :) It's a great recipe to make for when people are coming over or an afternoon snack for the kiddos, etc. And it's Hubby approved! He loves it!

Today I'm making rice krispie treats for Hubs to take on his men's trip this weekend. (Check out the link.) I won't be posting about the treats since all you have to do is look on the box.

Chex Mix:

Ingredients-

3 cups of corn chex

3 cups of rice chex (I add more of these since Hubs likes them the best)

3 cups of wheat chex

1 cup mixed nuts

1 cup garlic bagel bites (break up)

1 cup bite sized pretzels

6 tablespoons of butter or margarine

2-3 tablespoons of Worcestershire

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt (then give a few more shakes - I don't measure these, just guess)

3/4 garlic powder (then a few more)

1/2 onion powder (few more)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Melt 3 tbls butter in oven while mixing all ingredients in separate bowl EXCEPT the spices and Worcestershire. Melt the other 3 tbls of butter in the microwave. Cut the spice measurements into half and pour in the melted butter. Then stir in 1/2 of the chex mix mixture into the butter mixture. Then add the remaining chex mix mixture into the pan. Pour the remaining butter and spice mixture over the top and stir.

Place in oven for an hour but every 15 or 20 minutes give a little stir. Really easy!

Eggs Please

Here's to you sis! This is a really easy egg salad recipe. I've never been a big fan of egg salad but my sister always loved it. So I grew up having bites of hers but liking my chicken salad better. However, I could be changing my mind. Especially since this recipe is super super easy and quick. I don't really have exact measurements so here are the non-specifics... :)

Egg Salad:

Ingredients- (double these if you have kids, but we are only a 2 person household)

4 eggs

Mayo (I use the olive oil kind-heart healthy :)

Either honey dijon mustard or you can use spicy mustard per your preference - I love the honey dijon

sweet pickle relish

paprika

salt and pepper

Directions:

Boil the eggs around 10 minutes. Peel and mash up. Around 2 or so large spoonfuls of mayo. A couple of squirts of mustard and relish. A few shakes of paprika. Salt and pepper to taste. That's it!!! This should only take 15 minutes with the boiling of the eggs! So easy. Don't forget to refrigerate.

Warning- You might want to light a match, open a window or light a candle to diffuse the gross egg toot smell!

Finish product!

I'll be eating it this during my quick lunch break of making some new jewelry!!

Chocolate and Orzo

I've been asked about a couple of recipes and decided to begin the recipe week with these requested. They don't actually go together but I guess you can argue that chocolate can go with anything. Or at least I always argue that point. I'm not sure how many servings I have of chocolate in a day but it's way more than the suggested amount. Although, I will say that I do alter recipes to reduce the sugar intake (like the cake below) since diabetes run in the family. Hubby and I had a taste test with the cake full of fat/sugar and the reduced sugar/fat and neither one of us could tell the difference. It's so rich that it's impossible to tell the difference. I would challenge anyone to the yummy test.

Okay, so the 2 recipes are Easy Chocolate Chip Pound Cake and yesterday's Asparagus and Chicken Orzo. I 1st got the cake recipe from my mother-in-law and fell in love. You can also find it here. The Chicken orzo recipe is one that I took from a couple of different recipes and created the one from yesterday.

Asparagus Orzo:

Ingredients-

2 cups asparagus (cut in 1 inch lengths)

1 red pepper (or tomato per your liking - mom) diced

1 cup orzo pasta

1/2 cup green onions

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

shredded parmesan cheese to top of for taste

Prepare orzo as directed on box (normally 6-8 minutes) Drain. In pan saute onions, asparagus and pepper in the butter until tender. Combine the orzo, salt, pepper and cheese. Serve warm.

Chicken - Turn oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken in pan with chicken broth covering the bottom of the pan (Keeps the chicken from drying out) Bake for 1 hour or until it's not pink in the middle. (This is from my papa!)

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake:

Ingredients-

1 package of yellow cake mix (I use the reduced sugar pillsbury)

1 (3.9 ounce) package of instant chocolate pudding mix (also use the no sugar added)

8oz sour cream (yes, I use fat free)

3/4 cup of water

3/4 cup of veggie oil

3 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix cake mix and the next 5 ingredients for 2 minutes. Add vanilla. Add chocolate chips and stir. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until toothpick is clean. If you want to get fancy, sprinkle confectioner's sugar before serving.

Weekend Fun

How was every ones Valentine day/weekend? Ours was basically like any other weekend for the exception of actually going out to dinner! But not on Valentines but on Saturday night. One fun and out of the ordinary thing that happened was it snowed yet again beginning Friday night! We only got 2 inches this time, but it still covered everything which made it all so pretty.

I also did a lot of on-line shopping... Since I decided it was going to be a lazy weekend with the snow I resorted to the computer. I bought a (hopefully cute) bathing suit...we'll see in about 5 to 7 days if it actually is and if it fits. :) Then while waiting for our reservations on Saturday night we ran into JCrew and bought a large straw hat to go with the bathing suit. Obviously, I'm extremely excited for our trip to the DR! More on that in a later post. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Stay tuned this week because it's going to be a recipe week!

My mom sent me this yummy picture of our favorite - Krispy Kreme doughnuts! They're the best!

Tree outside our window...it was very bright!

Chicken, asparagus and orzo pasta

I did not plan for it to be heart-shaped...