Jack O' Lantern Strawberries

Who doesn't love chocolate dipped strawberries?

I got this recipe/idea from Sandra Lee. I think it's super cute and pretty easy. For some reason my white chocolate was weird and kinda clumpy so I looked up how to fix it and ended up adding 1 Tablespoon of crisco. Kinda gross huh, but it tasted fine and made it perfectly smooth. Coming up with different faces was alot of fun!

My First What's Cookin Post- Pineapple Sesame Chicken

I love food blogs and decided I should start contributing to this one! Thanks Emily for starting it! This is what we ate for dinner last night. I wish the picture was better. I'm not sure how to take pictures of food. It tasted amazing! Both Casey and I loved it! I got the recipe from my favorite food blog Picky Palate- check it out. She makes lots of yummy food and her pictures are great! Click here for the original recipe.

Pineapple Sesame Chicken

4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons ginger (grated)*
1 pound chicken (cut into bite sized pieces)*
1 teaspoon peanut oil
4 servings cooked rice
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
green onions to garnish

Directions:
1. Mix the soy sauce, pineapple juice, honey, sugar, ginger and chicken in a ziplock bag and marinate in the fridge for about an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a pan.
3. Add the chicken and marinade to the pan and saute until the chicken is cooked and the sauce begins to thicken.
4. Serve on cooked rice and garnish with the sesame seeds and green onions

* I used 1/4 teaspoon dried, ground ginger
* I used frozen chicken thawed then cut into bite sized pieces. It worked great.

Cheesy Pork Chops with Spicy Apples

I stumbled across this recipe awhile ago on allrecipes.com, and now it is one of my favorite meals to make. The flavor combination of this dish is so good. I especially love the flavor the balsamic vinegar adds.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, sliced
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 apple, cored and sliced
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices extra sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Prepare a grill for high heat.

2. While the grill heats, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until soft. Season with red pepper flakes then add the sliced apple. Stir in the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until apples are soft and golden.

3. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Spoon the onions and apples on top of the chops, and top with a slice of Cheddar cheese. Cover the grill, and cook for about 3 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbling.

New World Chili

This is my favorite chili recipe. I found it in Better Homes and Gardens. It is so easy to make. Just throw everything in the crock pot, and leave it for the day.


Ingredients
1 lb. turkey breast tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces, (I use 1 lb. of ground turkey)
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded fresh spinach
4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 cup)

Directions
1. In a 5-quart slow cooker combine turkey, undrained tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, squash, onion, the 1/2 cup chicken broth, corn, cranberries, jalapeño pepper, chili powder, and garlic.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours. If desired, stir in additional broth to reach desired consistency. Stir in spinach just before serving. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Pot Roast

PREP TIME: 10 minutes
Makes 8 servings
Recipe from McCormick

INGREDIENTS:
1 pkg of McCormick Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast
2 1/2 to 3 lbs boneless chuck or rump roast, well trimmed
5 cups cut up fresh vegetables, such as carrots, celery, onions and potatoes
1 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
1) Place roast and vegetables in crock pot.

2) Mix seasoning and water until blended. Pour over roast and vegetables. Cover. Do not remove cover during cooking.

3) Cook 8 hours on low OR 4 hours on high. Remove roast and vegetables to serving platter. Stir sauce before serving.

Magic Smores bar

I know, I know another dessert, but these looked good... I swear it's not all I eat.

magic s’mores bars

10 ounces (300g) graham crackers (18 whole crackers, or two cellophane wrapped stacks)
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 110g) unsalted butter, melted
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 14 ounce can (400g) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups (250g) semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups (I have no idea how much they weigh—just throw a couple of handfuls on!) mini marshmallows

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). In a large resealable bag (or in a food processor), smash graham crackers until finely ground. Stir in melted butter and salt. Press into a 13×9″ pan.
2. Drizzle can of condensed milk over graham crackers. Sprinkle on chocolate chips; follow with marshmallows.
3. Bake for 30-35 minutes until marshmallows a lightly browned.

(You can also replace the marshmallow with some coconut if you don't want it as sweet)

Pearson's Pizza

Ingredients for dough

2 to 2 1/4 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup margarine
2 to 3 packages of dry yeast dissolved in 3/4 cup warm water (we typically put in 3 because that's how many packets come together when you buy them, but the recipe actually calls for 2)

(we usually double that, if we want breadsticks)

Directions

Combine dry ingredients. Add water and yeast to the flour mixture and knead until smooth. Roll out or press out with finger tips to about 1/4 inch thick to fit cookie sheets or pans.
Add your favorite toppings

This is just your basic pizza recipe, if you guys have any others you'd like to share I'd like to try them.

Japanese Curry

This recipe has now become a family favorite . While on his mission, Joseph picked up this recipe from a missionary from Japan. Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts or equivalent beef
3 potatoes cubed
1/2 small bag of baby carrots
2 bell peppers julienned
1/2 onion diced
2 boxes of Golden Curry (we use medium hot)
You can find it on the International aisle at Maceys
4 cups water (about)
brown rice

Combine beef or chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, bell peppers, and really any other vegetable that you want in the crock pot. Pour enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Break apart the curry cubes and place them throughout the mixture.
Just like other crock pot dishes you can cook it according to your schedule: 4, 6, 8 hours. They all work well, but of course the meat is more tender if you cook it on low for a longer time.
When it has an hour left, use a fork to shred the chicken. This batch was a little more liquidy than we like, so we added some flour to thicken it.
You can eat it lots of ways, but we LOVE to eat it over brown rice. We ate some leftovers in tortillas and that was really good too with some cheese sprinkled over it.
Voila! A very tasty dinner that's easy and will give you at least 3 days worth!!! So it's great to make before a string of busy days.
Hopefully, you'll like it as much as we do and your plate will look like this! :) Let us know if you try it and any cool adjustments that you make.