Slow Cooker Chex Mix

Ahh Christmas season.  It is one of my favorite seasons.  I get to make so many of my favorite things in such a short time! Like this weekend, in which I made ALL of my Christmas goodies.  Nothing like getting it all done in one shot and then popping it into the freezer to store until it is needed!  Over the next few weeks I will be posting all my secrets.  Christmas is only in 32 days away you know!  I needed to get all of my baking done so I could focus on shopping... which I have not even thought about yet. Great.  Maybe I still have time to get everything online? Express shipping it is.

Since I don't want to stress anyone out with complicated recipes, I thought I would start out nice and easy with Chex Mix.  A salty little snack that keeps for weeks.  Chex cereal at Christmas is like a unicorn.  You will be lucky if you can find it at your first three grocery stores.  Luckily for me, I stopped at Superstore and got the last two boxes! Score!  Chex Mix is easy, and even easier with the slow cooker, it means you have the oven empty for other treats!

The first step is really hard.  Dump all your cereal in the slow cooker.  Recipes have measured out cups, but that is not the way I roll with this one.  The Chex and rice snacks are my favorite part so I add more of them, and then just whatever else fits!  Pour them in and then gently mix them all up.

Carby carb carbs!

The seasoning is also pretty easy, and does not have to follow a strict recipe.  Melt some butter or margarine, stir in the salt and seasonings, pour it over the top, and stir up well!

Butter and salt!

Pop the lid on, set it to low for 3 hours, and stir every hour and twice in the second hour to keep any from burning.  If your lid is not vented, place a tea towel on top to catch any condensation.  You don't want soggy Chex! 

Mmm, smells delicious!

Once your three hours is up you need to pour it all out in  a thin layer to cool completely.  Throw down some parchment paper and spread it thin!

Chex Mix as far as the eye can see!

Once it is completely cool, pop it in to bags and you are done! I promised it would be easy!

Now for the rules!

Ingredients

- 9 Cups of Chex cereal
- 2 Cups of rice snacks (Bulk Barn is where I get mine from)
- 1 Cups pretzels
- 1 Cups Cheerios
- 1 Cups Shreddies

Seasoning

- 1/3 Cup butter
- 1 Tbsp seasoning salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cayenne (optional for some kick)
- 1/4 Cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Add all the cereals to your slow cooker (you can use a roaster in the oven if you don't have a slow cooker).

Melt butter in the microwave.  Add the salt and seasonings and mix until salt is dissolved.  Add the Worcestershire and mix again.  Pour mixture over the cereals and mix gently.  Mix until the pieces are well coated.  I usually mix up a little extra seasoning if it looks too dry still.

Cook on low for 3 hours.  Stir after the first and second hour and then twice in the third hour.  If your slow cooker lid is not vented, place a tea towel under the lid to catch extra condensation.

Once done cooking, spread thin on parchment paper to completely cool.  Seal and it should keep for 3-4 weeks.

Enjoy!

Love,

Jen

Party Pizza Muffins

Muffins per serving: How many can you eat before they are all gone?

This recipe is one of everyone's favorite when they are invited to a Chris and Jen party.  Or even when we are invited to "feel free to bring something when you come over".  Let me tell you a secret.  These are probably the easiest thing to make.  They start with a tube of Pillsbury Grandes or Country Biscuits.  I don't usually like to cook with food that comes out of a tube, but they just turn out so fluffy and perfect, practically impossible to mess up.  Grab a tube or two of the biscuits, a small can of pizza sauce, pepperoni (I like pepperoni sticks, but Chris prefers the shredded kind), and shredded cheese.  Thats it! How easy? 

Chris wins this round.

Pillsbury is already pretty full of lard, but to be on the safe side I like to lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking oil.  Better safe than sticky!  Each tube of 10 will make you 10 Pizza Muffins so plan accordingly.  Take all of the pre formed biscuits out of the package.  How do they do that anyway?  Have all these pre cut and shaped biscuits jammed into a tube for however long.  I would probably rather not know.  It's a good thing they turn out delicious.  I digress.  Cut each biscuit in half.  Right down the middle.

Caution: Not pierogies.

This next step involves a little more work. You need to take 10 of your 20 halves and turn them in to little circles. One at a time, press them out flat (pulling the corners together) and press it in to the muffin tins. It should cover the bottom and come up the sides just a little bit. 

Time to play pizza dress up!

Now build little pizzas! I believe in you! A teaspoon of sauce onto each (hot sauce if you want a little kick), pepperoni next, and top with shredded cheese.  You can add something a little extra here, there isn't a ton of room but it's all up to you.  Just cheese is always good too.  If I ever have a little left over sauce I usually just add more on top.  Saucey Party Pizza Muffins are one of the best kinds!

Almost there!

Once you have little pizzas made in the bottom of the muffin tins you take your remaining 10 dough halves, turn them in to little flat circles as well and place them on top of your pizza toppings. I give them each a little tuck around the edges so they are mostly sealed up and then top with a little more shredded cheese. Perfect little packages of pizza goodness. Bake according to the dough's packaging instructions.  They should just pop out once baked.  Allow to cool a little bit and then get one before they are all gone!

Cool down... but just a little bit.

The Rules!

Ingredients

- One tube of Pillsbury Country Biscuits

- Can of pizza sauce

- Hot sauce (optional)

- Pepperoni

- Shredded cheese

Directions

Preheat oven according to Pillsbury instructions. Lightly grease a muffin tin. Open biscuits and cut each biscuit in half.  Take 10 of the halves and flatten in to little circles and place in the bottom of the greased muffin tin. Spread a teaspoon (roughly) of pizza sauce, top with pepperoni and shredded cheese. Flatten the other halves and set on top on the pizza toppings. Tuck the ends of the lid down the sides of the muffin tin and top with shredded cheese. Bake according to package instructions. 

Immediately remove from the muffin tin and allow to partially cool before serving. 

These are best served with friends and maybe a few beers!

I hope you all enjoy!

Love,

Jen

Sweet Sautéed Nectarines

I find that when I try to eat healthier - banana breakfast muffins, veggies and salad for lunch, lean meat and grilled vegetables for supper - I crave sweets in the evening. I really don't want to undo a whole day of eating well just so I can have a cookie or chocolate bar in the evening. My go to, other than dipping an apple in some whipped peanut butter, is sautéing fruit. This week I had a whole package of nectarines. Chris likes to tell me that I buy and waste too much fruit.  Not this week! I was determined to use up all the fruit while he was away on the farm!

This is probably the easiest non recipe to whip up when the sweet tooth hits. Warm up a frying pan and add a little bit of corn syrup to the bottom, just a drizzle. Cut up your fruit (I have done this with apples, pears, peaches, and now nectarines and usually use two of whatever I choose) add to the pan and sprinkle about a teaspoon of brown sugar on top. It does not take a long cooking time. You are just warming the fruit, you don't want a mushy mess. 

A little bubble and then throw them in a bowl and top with cool whip!

Serves one!

Paper Flower Wreath

I was a little late on the fall wreath making train, but this one turned out so pretty that I may use it all winter too!  It took a few hours to make and more than a few gluesticks, but I love the rustic chic outcome!

I started by buying a wreath form at Michaels.  Since I was so late I got it at a great price, $4.99!  I had a bunch of half cut up scrap book pages from previous crafts, failed or otherwise, so used up every bit of those.  I started by cutting circles out of all the scrapbook scraps, various sizes because I knew I wanted both big and small flowers.  From there I spiral cut all the circles.  Get good sharp scissors for this, it will make a difference.  Also doesn't hurt to get some movie theatre popcorn and sit on a friend's floor while they make their own wreath.  I would highly recommend it!

Circles and Spirals!

The spiralling part takes a little practice.  My last ones were were a little nicer than my first ones, and took less time to make as well.  You roll from the outside to the inside.  Start with a little hot glue and twist tightly.  I found that I needed to use a little bit of glue every couple of rolls just on the first few inches.  Otherwise you end up with a big whole in the centre of your flower.  Fine, but I found a little dot of glue worked best.  

Roll, glue, roll, glue, roll, glue.

After you have a few inches spiralled and glued, just roll the rest of the paper around it very tightly until you get to the end.  After you have the whole thing rolled up tight, release it and let it unwind until you are satisfied with the size.  Some I left quite tight, some I let completely unwind.  You will have the very centre of the spiral left over and that is what you will glue the rest of it to.  Fold the centre back and apply a generous helping of glue around the bottom of the spiralled paper.  Wrap the centre around the bottom and voila!

You're very own paper flower!

Now repeat the previous steps until you have a truckload of paper flowers.  Scientific unit of measure of course.  Make however many you see fit.  If you want to cover a whole wreath you will be making a lot more than I did.  I knew I wanted to just do a portion of my wreath so I made as many as the scraps of scrapbook paper would allow.  Turned out to be more than enough, but I just filled and filled.

Find where you want the top of wreath to be and place your "hanger" there.  I used burlap ribbon, folded it over on itself and glued the heck out of it.  I thought I had too much going on for a bow so just did a very basic ribbon.  Take creative authority here, folks!

Prepare to glue!

The next step is a little random.  Take all your paper flowers and start glueing them to your wreath!  Lots of glue and get them as close as you can to each other.  I started with the biggest flowers and then added all of the smaller ones after.  I bought some paper baby's breath from Michaels and I used that as a filler, just sort of placing throughout.  They had really long ends on them so instead of glueing, I threaded them through the wreath and glued them at the back of the wreath.  After it all looks the way you want it, get some clear sealant and spray the heck out of the whole thing!  Front, back, sides.  Give it a couple of coats, especially if it will live outside like mine does.  It has not starting snowing here yet, and my door is covered so no rain on it either.  I am not sure how it will hold up once the snow starts, but I can always respray it if need be! Check the details!

There is no right and wrong here.  I used mixed scrapbook paper, some flowers were perfect, others weren't, the general experience will be the same.  Beautiful.

Shopping List

- Scrapbook paper (various sizes and patterns is great!)
- Scissors
- Glue gun and glue sticks
- Wreath form
- Ribbon
- Filler (optional)
- Clear Rustoleum (or any sealant)

Have fun!

Love, Jen