by Kelly on March 28, 2010
in recipe
I was chosen as one of 10 blogger to be a Rice Krispies Ambassador by the Motherhood. I’m creating my own recipe for Rice Krispies. The winning recipe will be featured on www.RiceKrispies.com!
I will also help The Motherhood host an online Easter Scavenger Hunt starting tomorrow! Make sure to check out The Motherhood on March 29 for details on how you could win some fun prizes! I’ll post details about the scavenger hunt tomorrow.
I had such a tough time finding something to make, but I remembered a fun recipe we made a few Easters ago and I modified to fit with the Rice Krispies challenge.
Rice Krispies Chocolate Nests
Ingredients:
- 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips
- 10 ounce bag mini or regular marshmallows
- 1/4 cup butter
- 6 cups Rice Krispies
- malted eggs, jelly beans or peeps
In a large bowl add 1/4 cup butter, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. Heat on high in microwave for 2-3 minutes stirring halfway through.
On the stovetop over medium heat you can melt butter, add the chocolate chips and melt (make sure you don’t overheat them!), and add marshmallows a handful at a time. Stir until it’s a gooey, icky mess. 
Next add the Rice Krispies and stir until they are coated in chocolate and marshmallow. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then shape into nests. I used a small round bowl as a guide.
Let cool and fill with eggs, peeps, or jelly beans.
This is NOT a healthy treat, but it’s fun to indulge sometimes and for me Rice Krispies bring back fond memories of my childhood. The kids adored these! They would be adorable on an Easter brunch table.
Kelly
Disclosure: This is a part of a paid sponsorship from The Motherhood and Rice Krispies.
Whalen family pizza dough
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 tsps yeast or one packet: buy it in bulk for awesome savings
- drip of honey or pinch of sugar
- spices: I like Frontier’s pizza spice, but you can also use fresh herbs, I ADORE ground rosemary in this though. It’s a wonderful spice without the pokey “leaves”.
- 1-2 tsps sea salt
- 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 3- 3 1/2 cups flour: I use unbleached, unbromated white flour and mix in 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. You can also add pureed veggies, or finely grated veggies (depending on how picky your kids are).
Combine water and yeast in the bowl of your mixer. (Don’t have a mixer? This is a great recipe for building upper body strength!)
Add pinch of sweetner, salt, spices,and oil.
Using your dough hook (or a wooden spoon) stir in one cup at a time of flour at a time.
Once you have 3 cups in mix you can turn your dough hook up to 2, or if you are doing it by hand, turn it out onto a floured surface and start kneading.
You may need to add up to 1/2 cup more flour, just make sure to do it gradually, you want it to pull away from the sides of the bowl, or the surface you are kneading on.
Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough can be pulled between your fingers without breaking.
Form a ball, and put in a lightly oiled or floured bowl and cover with a towel. Put in a warm, draft-free spot.
After about 45 minutes-1 hour it should have doubled.
Turn out onto floured surface, cut in half to form 2 pizzas, or several pieces if you have mini pizza pans. Roll into circles. If you are an ex pizza pro like my hubby, you can toss them in the air.
Cover with your favorite sauce, pesto and or cheese and toppings.
We usually make these with homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella or white colby cheese, and pepperoni. I like to top mine with sundried tomatoes, olives, and roasted red peppers. Yum.
You can use this dough recipe for breakfast pizza, dessert pizza, and of course more traditional pizzas.
Enjoy!
Kelly
Yes, more soup recipes! It’s 40 degrees here and has been raining non-stop for days. I make this recipe with chicken broth and chicken, but it can be made vegan as well. I’ll include both recipes.
In the bowl pictured I added some greens (broccoli rabe) that I had.
Chicken Coconut Rice Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 can coconut milk
- 3 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
- 1/2 c. brown rice (optional)
- 1/4 tsp chili powder or 1/4 tsp. red chilies
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (or 1 tsp salt)
- 1 tsp coconut sugar, or other sweetner
- Juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes (limes are preferred)
- 1 tbsp fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 cup cooked chicken
- veggies
Cooking Instructions
Place all ingredients except chicken in a pot over high heat, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes if you use rice, and 30 minutes without rice. Add chicken 15 minutes before serving.
Vegetarian or Vegan Coconut Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 can coconut milk
- 3 cups veggie stock (I use homemade)
- 1/2 c. brown rice (optional)
- 1/4 tsp chili powder or 1/4 tsp. red chilies
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coconut sugar, or other sweetner
- Juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes (limes are preferred)
- 1 tbsp fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
- veggies
- firm tofu cubes (optional)
Cooking Instructions
Place all ingredients except tofu in a pot over high heat, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes if you use rice, and 30 minutes without rice. Add tofu 15 minutes before serving.
*recipe from my friend, Tammi via Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
Enjoy! This is my favorite soup lately.
Kelly
*updated to remove fish sauce from the veggie recipe!
Looking for a fast and frugal meal that packs complete protein, plenty of vitamins, and fills you up quick?
Look no further!
Quinoa Chili is one of my all time favorite recipes. I first got the recipe at a playdate, and immediately fell in love.
Quinoa is an amazing grain. It’s a complete protein, and full of vitamins and minerals. It’s a lot of nutritional bang, for very little money.
I’ve adapted a bit to suit my tastes, but that’s pretty easy to do, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
In the picture above, I added some sundried tomatoes I had on hand, which gave the recipe a whole new tang. I also went light on the beans/tomatoes in this bowl.
(I cooked them separately this time)
There are 2 ways to cook this, the 1st is quick and easy, and can be done in less than 30 minutes.
Quinoa Chili Recipe
Ingredients:
* 1 onion
* garlic (at least 3 cloves)
* 28 oz. can of organic tomatoes
* 3 cups cooked organic beans
(you can use 2 cans, or about 1 1/2 cups dried beans soaked and cooked)
* 1 28 oz. can Organic Tomato Puree or 1 carton of organic soup
* 1 tsp. chili powder
* 1 tsp. cumin
* 1-2 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste)
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 c. organic quinoa
rinsed (try and find pre-rinsed if you can it saves you so much time)
* bag of frozen corn (Trader Joe’s Organic Roasted Corn is divine in this recipe.)
* other veggies if you like (I like to add greens right at the end of cooking)
Cooking instructions (prep time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 30 minutes) Serves 6-8
Saute onion in butter or oil until translucent.
Add chopped garlic, and saute, stirring, for approx. 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beans, puree or soup, and spices.
Simmer for 15 minutes, then add quinoa.
Cook for 10 minutes then add corn and other vegetables.
Simmer for another 5 minutes.
Serve hot.
Good accompaniments are cheese, sour cream, tortillas or tortilla chips.
To make a larger batch:
Cook a double or triple batch of beans and tomatoes, tomato puree, and spices.
Let cool.
Freeze in family sized portions.
When you want to make chili, defrost in the fridge overnight (you could probably put it right into a pot, but I haven’t tried that).
Heat up and add quinoa and veggies.
Enjoy!
Do you have any favorite fall recipes?
Kelly
photo credit: Charles Haynes
NOTE: These are not a picture of our fries, they were gone before I could take a picture!
We have a deep love of french fries in our house. Everytime my 3 year old learns it’s a Friday, he asks if we can have fries. (such an adorable jokester)
I know they aren’t health food, but every once in awhile it hits the spot to have some perfect fries and a juicy hamburger (or veggie burger if you’re into that kind of thing).
I admit to being the lesser cook in the family. My husband can cook really good food. For the 4th, he decided to try to make french fries. Not those oven baked ones I make that turn into mush. No, actual fries, cooked in oil and the whole deal.
He did a bit of research and discovered a method of making fries that turned out the perfect french fry. Better than any restaurant we’ve had them in the recent past.
The 2 tricks to making a better fry are:
1) soaking the potatoes
2) frying the fries twice for less time
We found that russet potatoes are popular for fries since they cook well, and have a firmer texture. Try to buy organic if possible since potatoes are one of the dirty dozen.
Frugal Fries (cost per serving: approx. 75¢)
Ingredients
- 5 lbs. of organic russet potatoes peeled (optional), and cut (you decide how thick you want them)
- peanut oil (if you’re allergic to peanuts, try canola oil or palm oil, or for the really adventurous try beef tallow)
- sea salt
Recipe
After peeling (optional) and cutting the potatoes, cover and place in the fridge covered with water in a bowl for 1-8 hours.
When they have been soaked, drain the sliced potatoes WELL. Pat dry with towels. Separate into 2 batches.
Heat oil on medium high in a large pot (we used a stock pot). Add first batch and cook only until slightly firm. Take them out, and drain on paper towels while you put in the next batch. The fries should be slightly darker in color and firmer, but not done.
When both/all your batches are done add them back in a second time and cook until golden brown and crispy.
Place them in a paper towel covered bowl/dish and liberally add garlic salt or sea salt to the fries while they are still hot.
Repeat with 2nd batch.
Enjoy!
Cost for all the items was $10. The oil at $5, can be re-used. Just let it cool then bottle it back up. The potatoes were $5 for a 5 lb. bag. (we used half a bag and it was plenty for the hungry 6) Sea salt we had on hand but is readily available for $1-2 at most grocery stores.
Enjoy!
Kelly
I was chosen as one of 10 blogger to be a Rice Krispies Ambassador by the Motherhood. I’m creating my own recipe for Rice Krispies. The winning recipe will be featured on www.RiceKrispies.com!
In a large bowl add 1/4 cup butter, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. Heat on high in microwave for 2-3 minutes stirring halfway through.
