Peanut Butter & Crispy Rice Treats

In my new family these have made an impression!  A BIG impression!!

They are, by far, the favorite and most requested dessert treat.  At least once a week I'm asked to make some 'rice crispies.'  Thank goodness they are easy, quick and take only a few ingredients!

And it's an old recipe... one I've made now and then since I was in High School and learned it in Home Ec class.  I was told not too long back that's not even an offered class any more.  Sometimes changing times are a sad thing but time does move on.

If you search the internet, you'll find a few variations of this recipe.  Some use less cereal to get them softer but I chose to use more peanut butter in mine.  To make my version of Chocolate Frosted Peanut Butter & Crispy Rice Treats just follow these few simple steps:

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, bring just to a boiling point and stir until completely mixed together:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

In the mean time, measure out 6 cups crispy rice cereal into a large bowl.  And lightly oil or spray a 9 x 13 or slightly smaller pan.  I go with the slightly smaller pan because I want the finished treats to be thicker and chewier.

When the sugar/syrup/peanut butter mixture is hot and well incorporated, pour over the cereal in the bowl and stir so that it's all covered.  Turn into the oiled pan and press lightly to get a relatively smooth top.  Melt 1 - 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave and spread over the top.  Cool until chocolate is set and then cut into squares. Store airtight.

One quick note about the chocolate... you can pick your personal favorite and use either dark or milk.  You can also mix them about half and half or with butterscotch or peanut butter chips.  I guess you could also use white chocolate... it sounds good but I've not tried it.  And since I'm the only white chocolate fan in the house now chances are I'll leave this to be one of life's great unsolved mysteries.

Happy munching!

Easier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Awhile back, I wrote about making some fantastic pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from scratch.

Looking at those pictures sure made me miss my old kitchen... and 'big-ass' Tupperware bowl and all that familiar stuff.  But that's all in the past and now I'm just biding my time waiting for things to fall into place so I can create a new and even better future!  Hard to be sad for long when there's so much good on the horizon!!

So, while I won't discard the old recipe, I tried something new and made a batch of muffins that taste quite similar but are even easier.  I'd venture a guess that they are also equals on the not-so-healthy food scale but so very delicious that it's worth it for the occasional treat!

Tonight's version uses 2 yellow cake mixes (I had Duncan Hines - 1 Classic Yellow Cake and 1 Golden Butter Cake in the pantry), 1 large can of pumpkin puree, 4 Tbl cinnamon (can also use pumpkin pie spice if you'd like) and about a bag and half of chocolate chips (I had some semi-sweet and some milk chocolate and used both).  That's it!  Mix it all together at the same time in a big bowl, spoon into muffin cups and bake at 375F.  I think it was right about 27 minutes for baking time.

Mmmm... the whole house smells divine!  And we have treats!!

Win-win.

How to Be a Good Human

Hidden away in a dark and often snarky corner toward the back of my brain, I keep a list.  Actually  I keep several of them there.  I’m going to tell you about one of them today… the one about human behaviors that just need to be ripped from the planet to make all of human-kind better.  My list comes from many places.  Some I’ve smirked about reading on Facebook and other blogs as people there complained about something unstellar someone had done in their presence.  Many I’ve witnessed myself.  Most, if you stop and think about it (which apparently a vast number of fellow inhabitants of the planet don’t) should be obvious rules for being a good human.

• Don’t spit your gum (or tobacco chew or a loogie) where everyone walks.  Why should be self-explanatory to anyone who has 2 brain cells that still rub together. 
• If you find something that doesn’t belong to you, turn it in.  It isn’t a gift.  The owner is probably looking for it.  Do unto others... and all that.
• When you are walking along in a big crowd, don’t fart just because no one else will know it’s you.
• Pajamas are not appropriate even for a Walmart run.  Go out in public looking and acting your best and give others a reason to be impressed with what you’ve made of yourself.
•  Be slow to judge.  My best might be radically different than your best due to circumstances I can’t control.  A little understanding will do more than all the condemnation that can be mutually dished out.
• When your dog takes a crap, clean it up ASAP.  Stepping in someone else’s dog’s pile of doodoo is far from a happy moment and even farther from anything that might even slightly resemble a flattering thought about the dog's owner.
• When you knock stuff off store shelves bend yourself over, pick it up and put it back where it belongs.  Most 2-year-olds have mastered this life skill.  Surely you haven't forgotten how?
• When a grown person smiles at your baby, it doesn’t mean they are a pedophile.  People like babies and, generally, people are nice.  Maybe you can show that you’re nice, too, and assume the positive?
• Take an occasional sniff at your pits.  If you can smell them, you can bet your last dollar so can everyone else!  And a bath is what's called for... dabbing some perfume on it only makes it smell worse.
• People go to dance clubs to dance, not be felt up by strangers. Keep your hands where you know they are welcome and don’t assume every girl (or guy) there wants you to rub her (or his) backside. 
• If you receive a gift, say thank you.  No words inspire future kindnesses better.  Seriously... magic words!
• People who are old, injured or ill need the seat so move your able body and give it up to them.  It's not just respectful; sometimes it's a matter of matter of health and safety.
• Just because it feels anonymous, don’t think you’ll get away with being a jerk on the internet.  Electronic Karma is a bitch, too!
• It's really appreciated when your kids publicly show that you've taught them good manners.  When they run wild, bang into our legs, break toys, throw tantrums and call you vile names in the checkout line, it's a terribly shocking and uncomfortable situation for the rest of us even if you can bring yourself to overlook it.
• On the flip side, don't you ever hit or curse at or otherwise abuse your child.  If I see it, odds are my good manners will slip as my fist meets your face in an attempt to lay you out like a rotting carcass on the streets of some battle-torn third-world city.
• When a person you've disagreed with proves themselves to be ok and not the satanic spawn of your over-active imagination, swallow your pride and tell them.  Your day, and theirs, will be better!
• Littering is not cool!  Don't toss your cigarette butts and other random trash on the sidewalk or into nearby bushes for someone else to come behind you and clean up.
• And this shouldn't need to be said, but... don't be a P-I-G at the table.  Bodily noises need to be kept to yourself!  Burps, lips smacks, chewing like a loosely dentured goat, picking at your teeth and checking out what you just blew from your nose aren't habits that leave a favorable memory of your presence at dinner.  So don't.  Just don't.

Photo credit: http://pinterest.com/pin/263319909434768329/

I used to think we all knew that good manners are about more than just using the right fork at dinner.  It's about being sensitive to how the people around you feel and savvy about how those feelings affect their perception of you.

Good manners can take us places that neither money nor education can.  And lacking them can deny us that advantage!

Sometimes I wonder what's happened to this little gem of truth in our society.  Some days it seems that the most simple and basic manners are the exception not the rule any more.  Why have we forgotten how to be a good human?

Maybe you agree with my list and maybe you don't.  Maybe you find my sarcastic edge today humorous or maybe you think I'm a mannerless jerk for saying what's on my mind in this way.  Maybe you even have rules you'd like to add to the list?

What would America be like?

Photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=387149518047253
&set=a.208092022619671.45952.130368870391987&type=1&theater

In the last Presidential election my candidate lost even though, in my opinion, he's by far the better man.  I judge him better both for the job of President and as a human being that I'd care to know based on the actions I observed in both he and his more successful opponent.  And now, months past the election, some of those actions are in the news again.

Attached to this picture (which I think was from participating in another charitable act during the political campaign which, sadly, his opponent saw as cause for character assassination) was this blurb drawn from a story on politico.com.

Photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?
fbid=10151290961874094&set=a.128185264093
.106732.89173254093&type=1&theater

"Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign quietly donated nearly $90,000 to the Red Cross in late November, according to a report filed Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission.

The donation came on Nov. 30 – about one month after Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the East Coast, stretching thin the organization’s resources, and weeks after the GOP candidate lost to President Barack Obama.

Neither Romney nor his campaign publicized the donation…"

I really admire that it was done quietly and only came to public attention because of a report he was required to file with the FEC.  Kindness and compassion are best given both generously and quietly for it's the things that no one else knows about that show a man's true character.   To do charitable things for attention shows a lack of integrity.  America needs more men, and women, who have integrity and are kind and generous with their time, material goods and influence. We need them in government, industry and especially in more homes teaching their children how to live life with the same qualities.

Yes, I'm part of the America that is extremely disgruntled with where our current President seems to be leading us but that isn't what this blog post is about.  This is about envisioning a world where holding a political office is a civic duty not a career choice... where welfare is really a hand up to a better life not making mooching a lifestyle... where family, friends and neighbors actually know and speak to and take care of each other... where parents step up their game and are decent examples for their children to emulate... where charity comes from the heart and not by taxation... where the good you can do with your time, talent and money is more important than your time, talent and money.

What would America be like if true statesmen held political office?  If elected officials saw themselves as common men not an elite class entitled to better than the rest of us?  If representing the best interests of the people who elected them was more important than raising funds for the next campaign?  What if all government transactions were transparent and not shrouded in secrecy and suspected deceit?  What if we didn't have all sorts of lobbyists and special interest groups pressing their agenda over the constituents' needs?

What would America be like if corporations cared as much about their employees as they do their executive and large stockholder's financial statements?  What if the loyalty they demand of the people who work there went both ways and the company was loyal to its people?  What if executives saw themselves as common men and not an elite class entitled to better than the rest of us?

What would America be like if every home had a father who was caring and kind and decent?  Where parents kept their promises to love and honor each other and be faithful and stuck together through good times and bad?  What if kids saw their parents work through difficult situations together and have both mom and dad stand solid in supporting those decisions?  What if families did charitable activities together?  What if parents took back the responsibility of teaching morals and values and respect for self and others instead of pawning it off on schools and peers?

What would America be like if everyone, child and grown up alike, were influenced by positive peer pressure?  Where we pushed each other to be better human beings...

Even More Cranberry Jelly

This is a continuation from yesterday's post:  What Can You Do With Leftover Cranberry Jelly?

• 'Lil Smokeys in a cranberry BBQ sauce with green onions.  Equal parts cranberry jelly and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce in a crockpot with the 'Lil Smokeys.  Chop the green onions for a garnish when it's hot.  Fun to spear with frilly toothpicks as a party food!
• Flavor tea... would be good either hot or cold.  With some cinnamon perhaps?
• Cut thin slices and lay on parchment over a cookie sheet in low oven until leathery.  Trade to draped upside down on the bottom of a muffin tin so they form shallow bowls.  Then use a small amount of jelly and some cocoa powder in coconut milk to make mousse which is piped inside the bowl for serving.  Decorate with a mint leaf and a single dried cranberry.
• Cut into 1-inch cubes and dry in the oven on parchment paper to make fruit snacks.
• Thin with simple syrup, karo or honey and use to baste fruit on the BBQ grill.  Fresh pineapple, peaches, and apples all grill well.
• Thin just to a pudding-like consistency and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
• Or thin to a pudding-like consistency and very gently fold into fresh raspberries for a pie.  Or... over a giant sugar cookie spread with lightly sweetened cream cheese.
• Mix in dried cranberries and any spices that sound good to you, stuff inside a cored apple then wrap the apple in pie crust and bake.  To serve, ladle hot vanilla pudding (the kind you cook) into the bottom of a shallow bowl.  Drizzle with just a bit of thinned out jelly and then place the baked apple in the center.
• Make your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, reserving a small amount for the topping.  Spread a thick layer of cranberry jelly over the top, then sprinkle generously with white chocolate chips and broken up bits of the reserved cookie dough.  Bake.  Cool until well set and then cut into bars.
• Mix with Catalina French salad dressing and dry onion soup mix in a large ziplock bag.  Add 4 chicken breasts and freeze at least overnight.  On cooking day, thaw completely (marinating time) and then place in a baking pan and place in the oven at 350F for 60-90 minutes or until the chicken is done.
• Chop 1 large stalk of celery, 1 medium apple, and 1 medium onion. Saute in 1 Tbsp of butter until tender. Add to 3 cups of bread cubes and 1 tsp of savory leaves.  In another dish, combine 1/2 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce with 2 Tbsp of brown sugar, 1 Tbsp of frozen orange juice concentrate and a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper. Heat in a small pan until sugar is dissolved. Add to bread mixture and mix well. Bake in a greased casserole dish at 375 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes uncovered.  Serve with pork roast or pork chops.  Or use to stuff pork chops.

Ok, I've run out of ideas.  Actually I googled the last 2 to bulk out this post...

All along I was thinking the cranberry jelly was something quite smooth, but as I said it's not a product I regularly buy so when some of the pictures on the google search showed whole berries I had a moment of uncertainty.  So I'm adding this disclaimer:  If it does contain whole berries, you might need to blend it before making some of these dishes.