Calling All Caramel Lovers!

Since I'm not an ice cream lover, my kids have never really had the weekly family visit to the local ice cream parlor. I suppose it could be considered selfish, but unless someone else suggests a visit, I forget about ice cream until a birthday rolls around. However, within the last couple months our friends have introduced us to a fun and unique frozen yogurt experience. My main objection to an average ice cream (or frozen yogurt) parlor is that we're forced to choose a size of cup, and often even the child-size is way more than I want. I hate paying for a large portion of ice cream that I won't be able to eat.

My love of U-Swirl started when I realized that they charge by weight. Not by how heavy-handed the server is, but because it's a self-serve operation. The basic idea is for the customer to walk a buffet line of 20 frozen yogurt machines, filling their cup with any amount of all flavors they choose, then move on to a topping bar of around 50-60 toppings, ranging from Captain Crunch Cereal to fresh fruit. The last stop before weighing our masterpiece is the sauce bar, which is stocked with approximately 15 squeeze bottles of sauce; everything from fruit sauces to marshmallow cream. What's really great about having all these choices is getting a preschooler through this extensive line in less than 2 minutes. If I took either of my kids at this age to a standard ice cream parlor, it would take 10 minutes for them just to make an ice cream choice. By the time we got toppings on, we'd be fighting amongst ourselves, and Family Fun Night will have been officially called off. At the U-swirl register your treat is weighed and you pay for only what you've filled. My cups usually have a couple bites of a couple different flavors, maybe some waffle cone chips, and a drizzle of caramel. The kids' cups are always a disgusting looking mess, but their pride in creating such masterpieces is always worth the rolling of my stomach.

After a few visits to U-swirl, fully enjoying my caramel topping, I found a new recipe for Classic Caramel Sauce. Posted to Food.com by lululovesfood, this recipe is very simple to make, but does require some patience to melt the sugar without burning it. This caramel is so delicious that I wanted to put it over everything! As it turned out, my favorite use was for dipping green apple slices, but it also made a delicious copycat version of Shari's restaurant's Cinnamasation French Toast. I made a basic cinnamon French toast, then topped it with pecan pieces, maple syrup and a drizzle of caramel. Delicious! This caramel can easily be drizzled over popcorn, ice cream, pound cake or fruit. It's rich, but not too sweet, and with this recipe handy I'll never need to buy another jar of caramel sauce!

Classic Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Measure and gather all three ingredients at the stove. Set a small, heavy sauce pan over medium/high heat. Add the cup of sugar, and begin stirring constantly. Melting the sugar may take a while but hang in there. Once it begins to melt it happens very quickly. When melted, the sugar will turn amber or light brown in color. Continue stirring constantly, and add the 6 Tablespoons of butter. The sauce will begin to bubble and foam a bit with the addition of the butter. When the butter is melted, stir in the 1/2 cup of whipping cream. Continue stirring to incorporate the cream, but the sauce will start to come together. Once it is all combined, turn down the heat and serve. Leftovers can be stored in a sealed jar or plastic container in the refrigerator. It can be re-heated for drizzling by setting the container in a pan of hot water for several minutes, a few seconds in the microwave, or eaten straight out of the fridge for dipping apples.

Banana French Toast - A new way to use an old banana

I know I'm not the only one that has experienced this scenario: I buy beautiful (still slightly green) bananas one day, only to find that splotchy brown color that kids refuse to eat, starting only a few days later.

I've tried almost all the tricks for extending the life of fresh bananas. I've taken them apart, kept them together, put them in special bags, and I’ve hung them. I’ve even pampered my bananas in the palm tree banana hammock. None of these techniques worked for any noticeable time, but there are two other options that I haven't tried yet. Supposedly, wrapping the perfectly ripened bananas in brown paper bags and refrigerating them will allow the skin to darken slowly, but the fruit will maintain that perfectly ripened flavor.
There is also a gadget I stumbled on called the Banana Bunker. It's a sturdy plastic container, shaped like a banana, with a section of bellows like a bendy straw. Storing your single banana in the Banana Bunker will allow your family to carry around a healthy snack in purses, backpacks or briefcases. I don't carry around bananas, so this is one gadget I won’t be testing out, but I did find it interesting.

I keep a Ziplock bag in the freezer, and just toss the bananas in as soon as they hit the ugly stage. Some folks prefer to remove the peel and chop them into chunks before freezing, but I only bother if I’m making pre-measured fruit smoothie mixes. When the banana is frozen, the skin turns black right away, but the fruit will be perfect for mashing when you’re ready for it. When ready, remove the number of bananas needed, and let them thaw for a few minutes before removing the skin. The bananas at this point will be mushy, and half mashed already, but that just saves me from doing all the mashing myself!
Often my frozen bananas will be in there for months before I feel like making anything with them, and occasionally I would like something different than bread or cake. That's where this recipe comes in!

Last weekend I had two of those ugly bananas to use up, and didn't feel like banana bread. I found this interesting recipe called Easy Banana French Toast, posted to Food.com by TheDangerChef and had to try it. I've seen lots of recipes for banana stuffed French toast, but I'd never seen a recipe that adds the banana right to the egg mix and uses it as part of the batter. My 5 year old mashed the bananas and measured the spices. I made some adjustments, other than just doubling the banana, to the original recipe. It needed more egg and the addition of some milk to cover six slices of sandwich bread, so you’ll find my version below. I served it with peanut butter, butter and maple syrup. My family LOVED it!

Banana Battered French Toast
2 bananas
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 slices bread

In a shallow bowl, mash bananas with a fork until most of the lumps are gone. Whisk in the eggs, spices and vanilla extract. Preheat a griddle (350°) or a frying pan and wipe down with a thin layer of canola oil, or spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Dip slices of bread into the egg and banana mixture and transfer to griddle. Cook 2-3 minutes on both sides, or until lightly browned.

Avocado Salad

Winter seems to be hanging on just a little too long this year. We've had a couple nice, 60° days that let us put the top down on the car and enjoy the fresh air. Of course both times we awoke to snow the following day! Crazy, crazy weather. In my quest for springtime and sunshine I have made a few recipes lately that remind me of warmer weather.

Today's Avocado Salad is full of fresh flavors and vivid colors. It's got a little bite to it, but the fresh tomatoes, and lime juice mellow and compliment the spiciness just perfectly. It's really very easy to make with just a little veggie prep. But, even easy things can get complicated when making three recipes at a time, entertaining two 5 year old girls (letting them juice and zest about 8 lemons and limes), and visiting with friends. I accidentally forgot to add the can of black beans that was staring me in the face all night, to the salad. When I realized it the next morning, I added an appropriate amount of beans to the leftovers, and tasted it. Aside from the avocado being a little less pretty than the evening before, the flavor was even better, as the dressing ingredients had married well overnight. With or without the beans, this was a refreshing and delicious salad that would make a nice barbecue side or even a hot weather main dish. If I decide to take this recipe to a picnic or barbecue this summer, I plan to make the dressing ahead of time, or even the day before, to allow the flavors to meld. I'll transport the veggies in the serving bowl and the prepared avocado in a separate container.
This recipe is one I made for the Food.com Pick-A-Chef event. I've "adopted" a chef nicknamed X in Bayside, NY, and all three recipes I chose to make from her remind me of summertime. Feel free to adjust the amount of jalapeno and cayenne to suit your family's taste, and enjoy!

Avocado Salad (with beans)

New Recipe Contest! You Can Try and Rate My Submission!

Simply Potatoes has teamed up with Food.com to use the Ready, Set, Cook! (RSC) contest format to promote recipe creations using their brand of refrigerated potato products.

I'm normally not one to push myself on others and I avoid the activities that require getting pledges to participate, but this time I'm doing something I love to do and have the chance to win $2000. Since this is the first time the contest recipes are not being posted anonymously, we are allowed to promote our creations and hopefully encourage enough friends and family to try and rate our recipes.

I've just posted my first submission and if you'd like to try it out and share your rating during the contest, please make and review it on Food.com by March 21st.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Skillet Breakfast

Of course, I wouldn't feel good about myself if I didn't let you know that anyone can submit a recipe creation. Just like the annual Food.com RSC contest, there is an official list of ingredients. We must use 5 of them in our recipe creation, and in this case there are 3 Simply Potatoes products to choose from and then an additional 4 from the required list. You may use more than 5 from the list and any other ingredient from your pantry, fridge or freezer to complete your recipe.

So, if you've got a favorite way to use mashed, shredded or diced potatoes, check out the Ready, Set, Cook: Special Edition Rules and Required Ingredient List and go for it!

Everything Chicken Tenders

I have a new favorite, go-to, busy weeknight chicken recipe! Seriously, you can never have too many of those, right? This one is for the everything bagel lovers. I found Everything Chicken Tenders posted on Food.com by MommyDiva, with it's origin credited to Rachael Ray and her friend, Andrew Kaplan.


The best thing about this recipe is that you can make up the dry ingredients and store in a bag or spice jar until needed. The only other ingredient you need, and probably always have on hand, is a little extra virgin olive oil. The dipping sauce is wonderfully addictive, but the chicken has plenty of flavor on it's own, so if I didn't have the ingredients one night for the sauce, we could still have a satisfying dinner on the table in 25 minutes.

This is also a great recipe for kids to hone their cooking skills. Last night I let my 5 year old and her BFF do everything but the oven. They measured each ingredient, and then oiled and coated the chicken tenders. They wore such proud little faces at having made this chicken all by themselves, and over the years I've discovered that the more involved in the cooking a child is, the more likely they are to eat or at least try the food. For the kids' version we skipped the skewers and just placed the chicken in a baking dish.
*Note to self and sage advice for the rest of you: Next time reduce the mess of seeds everywhere by covering the table with some aluminum foil.

I served the chicken with Mixed Green Salad with Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans, also found on Food.com, but credited to a 1998 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

I love mixed greens with cranberries and pecans, but I don't usually use fresh oranges. The cranberries plumped nicely after simmering in the orange juice, and the balance of bitter greens, sweet cranberries and tangy oranges was very refreshing. I'll definitely remember this recipe when the holidays roll around again, but I also think it would be an excellent summer weather salad.

Facebook statuses I didn’t post - Parenting.com

Facebook statuses I didn’t post - Parenting.com

For all parents, internet generation or not, this blog post is worth the read. We can all relate to it!

Rapunzel Doll Giveaway at the Cookie & Claire Blog!

Anyone with a little girl in your life needs to run visit the Cookie & Claire Blog to enter to win a Rapunzel Doll!
It's a wonderful blog I found through Pinterest and she had a great tip posted for combing the Rapunzel doll's hair. The post became so popular that the Tollytots company contacted her to sponsor a giveaway for her readers.

I love her story of getting the email from Tollytots, because I can so relate! I just went through a similar range of emotions when I got published in the Taste of Home book back in... October or November. I can't remember, but scroll back through my blog if you missed that post. I thought the package was going to cost me money and/or time to return it, but instead found out they'd published one of my original recipes!

Anyway, with the length of Sophie's hair and how much she loves it and the movie Tangled, I know we'd have a lot of fun with the Rapunzel doll.



So now, go check out her blog and enter yourself in the Rapunzel giveaway also!