St. Patrick's Day Snack

I love how growing up my mom would go all out celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the family. My dad's side of the family is Scott-Irish and my momma made celebrating that heritage really fun for us kids. Here's a fun and tasty snack everyone! You don't have to be a kid to eat these...you don't even need to be Irish! Just Enjoy!

POT 'O GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW

4 cups Rice Chex Cereal
4 cups Pretzels
 10.5-ounce bag of Fritos
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of green M&Ms (I used regular and pretzel M&M's)
bag of caramel corn (optional) I used Vic's or of course you could add regular popcorn
Shamrock Bites (optional)
 

Heat oven to 350°F.

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Melt the butter and let the mixture come to a boil. Continue to let it boil for 4 minutes and don’t stir it…to keep you from stirring it, combine the Chex, Fritos, and Pretzels in a large roasting pan.

Pour the caramel topping over chip mixture, stir to coat evenly. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir then bake for an additional 5 minutes. Pour onto parchment paper and allow cooling. Break into snack pieces. Now stir in the caramel corn and the M&M’s and these cute little Shamrock bites!

See…The Pot O Gold at the end of the Rainbow! Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Shamrock Bites

 These super fun shamrock bites are the perfect little snack for St. Patricks Day! You can eat them on their own or use them as a cupcake topper. In our home, we love that sweet and savory combination...perfect for snacking!

When I was growing up, my momma made St. Patrick's Day so fun! We all wore green and she made all the food for our meals and snacks green, she taught us about St. Patrick and Ireland...I love it! We ate everything from green mashed potatoes, green jello, green salad, we even had green pizza! Everything she could think of to turn green, she did! And we loved it! Sure it wasn't authentic but we had a blast and it stuck with us! Each of my bothers and I have a fond Proudness of our Irish heritage! Thanks mom!

SHAMROCK BITES

Pretzel twists
Candy melts (white or green)
Green M&M's

Heat oven to 250. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread pretzels on the cookie sheet. Set one candy melt disk on each pretzel. Set in the oven for 3 - 5 minutes. Place 3 M&M's on each pretzel, resembling the Shamrock!
 Allow to cool then snack away!
Erin Go Braugh!


Warmly,
Mary

Beef Enchiladas with Red Sauce

Hola Amigos! You all know how I love Mexican food. Well, I don't know how authentic these are, but they sure are yummy and they definitely quench my craving for a warm Mexican dish! My sweet sweet Superman is sending me away to one of my favorite states for a little R&R. Just me! I know, can you believe it? I can not wait! Anyway, when I'm down in the Southwest I promise to do my "research" for the most authentic Mexican food recipes! And by research I do mean EAT! Until then, try my Midwest version of Beef Enchiladas! And you know what? My Midwest versions of Mexican Food must not be too bad, because my Midwest Carnitas and Tamales get the most views on my blog! They are a hit! Enjoy my Friends!

By the way...don't miss at the end of this post...it's my favorite!

BEEF ENCHILADAS

10 - 12 depends on how full you stuff 'em!

1lb ground beef

½ cup onion, diced

Red sauce (recipe below) Or one large can of store bought
3 cups cheddar cheese shredded (set 1 cup of cheese aside for the topping at the end)

1 pkg flour tortillas (we use whole grain)

shredded lettuce, avocado, red onion, diced tomato, sour cream, jalapeños (optional toppings)

Heat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish nonstick spray.

In a large skillet brown the meat over medium heat. When the meat is about half way cooked add onion and continue to cook until the meat is done. Drain any grease if necessary. Add ½ cup of the red sauce to meat. Add another ½ cup to the bottom the baking dish.

Now lets put together the enchiladas! Place a tortilla on your work surface. Spoon a heaping spoonful (about ¼ cup) of meat in the center of the tortilla. Add a small handful (or a large pinch) of cheese on top of the meat. Roll the tortilla tightly and place it seam side down in the pan. Repeat until all the meat is gone. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the foil and add the cup of cheese that you set aside earlier. Bake for another 5 – 7 minutes. Until cheese is just melted!

Add your favorite toppings and ENJOY! 

For the Red Sauce

2 Tbl oil
2 Tbl flour
2 Tbl chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp onion salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 6oz can tomato paste

In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat for just a minute. Whisk in flour and all seasonings. Cook and whisk until lightly browned. Whisk in tomato paste. Now slowly whisk in chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir until smooth. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Or of course you can use the store bought stuff! 

 

 

Warmly, 

Mary

Almond Pound Cake with Strawberry Compote

Ah, what a gorgeous day outside today! Spring is just around the corner and I am enjoying every minute that I can outside! Today the Warrior and the Princess and I went on a wonderful bike ride and tons of playing in the sun! I even enjoyed a short 2 mile run! With all that exercise, I needed to find something to bake! It only makes sense, right? Well, in my mind it does. Especially since spring makes me think of going to the strawberry patch and the strawberry patch makes me think of strawberries (duh!) and strawberries make me think of almond pound cake with vanilla bean ice cream and strawberry compote! Mmmm...mmm...good! The strawberries have been so good lately we are on our 4th carton and I have 3 extras in the fridge because we are going through them so much!
Your going to love this not-too-sweet moist cake with gentle almond and vanilla flavors. We did!

ALMOND POUND CAKE

½ cup butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

2 tsp almond extract

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

½ cup sour cream

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

Heat oven to 325. Grease loaf pan. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl cream butter, sugar, almond extract and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping the bowl with rubber spatula between each add in. Mix in ½ the flour mixture and ½ the sour cream and combine on low speed. Add remaining flour and sour cream and mix until well combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 Cool cake in pan for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finishing cooling or serve warm!

We didn't have vanilla bean ice cream on hand this time, so we settled for cool whip. But I think that my customers were still happy!

STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and cut into quarters

2 Tbl sugar

Over medium-low heat, in a sauce pan combine the strawberries and sugar. Stir and let them simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until then begin to break down to the consistency that you like. 

I love to serve mine warm over ice cream! The family loves cool whip too!

Enjoy! 

Warmly, 

Mary