Loaded Potato Slices

I never met a potato I didn't like and these were no exception.

Ingredients:

• Potato 
• Shredded cheese
• Bacon
• Green Onions
• Butter
• Olive oil

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Rub the outside of the potato with a little olive oil
• Slice potatoes (try and get them all the same thickness - about 1/4 inch thick.)
• Brush both sides with melted butter
• Bake in for 30-40 minutes - flipping once (I did 40 minutes, 20 on each side.)
• Take potatoes out of the oven and add the toppings.
• Throw back in the oven for another 3 minutes or until cheese is melted

This recipe was modified from keyingredient.

I like options, so I served them with both sour cream and ranch dressing. The ranch dressing was definitely my preference. I threw in a little broccoli for a side so it felt more healthy than it really was.

The only thing I'd do different next time is spray the cookie sheet w/cooking spray because when I went to go flip the taters, they kind of stuck.

I LOVED these. I asked K what she thought and her response was, "They're ok... they're... different." Different?! They were delicious. I'm not sure where here taste buds grew up, but this is coming from a person that doesn't really like bacon. Who doesn't like bacon!!! LOL

S'Mores Krispies

I made these a while ago and the were life changing! I didn't take pics the first time because I was in my blogging slump, so now that I am trying to get back into the groove, of course I had to make them again just so I could blog about them!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (10 oz) Mini Marshmallows
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips + 1 for topping
• 1 box (12 0z) Golden Grahams Cereal
• 6 Tbsp Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

In a 9x9 inch baking pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large non-stick pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add in marshmallows and stir together with butter until marshmallows have melted and become creamy. Stir in vanilla extract.

Fold in grahams cereal until all marshmallows and grahams are evenly mixed together. Mix in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Spread treats into sprayed baking pan. Press into pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top of the treats, lightly press into top of treats to make sure they stick.

Place into fridge for 10 minutes to cool.

Slice into bars and serve. Devour.

Seriously, you guys... I don't really care for real s'mores over the campfire, but I freaking loved these!!

Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I heart salty sweet combos. The other day, I grabbed a bag of chocolate chips at the store with the intention of making just chocolate chip cookies. Then I thought, I have pinned numerous versions of chocolate chip cookie recipes... Maybe I will try one of those instead. I came across this pretzel one and just so happened to have bought pretzels that day so thought I would give them a try. 

I got the original recipe from "Sugar Cooking". I modified my recipe a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup milk chocolate chips (or an entire bag)
• 1/2 cup pretzel pieces (I used butter pretzels and forgot to measure)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough - leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

I'm still not really sure how I feel about these cookies. They aren't amazing. I guess they're OK if you're looking to change up the standard chocolate chip cookie. And it's definitely better than putting nuts in your cookies. With that said, I'm not likely to make these again, but don't feel like I wasted my time giving them a try.

Oven Bacon

Oops! Apparently I let this blog post without actually posting anything. Ha! Well, here's the content:

I LOVE bacon. Grew up loving bacon. I don't think anyone made bacon as perfect and delicious as my Dad made bacon!

As an adult, I have often longed for bacon, but have been to uuuhhh scared to make it. I always remember my Dad swearing when the bacon would pop and hot grease would splash on him. Not only that, but the weird disposal process of the bacon grease afterwards is just gross. Therefore, those two hang ups always prevented me from attempting to make bacon.

And then there was Pinterest. Pinterest told me I could make bacon in the oven. No hot grease splashing me and an easy clean up? I'm in!!

I tried this version first. Pretty simple - line baking sheet with foil - put bacon in oven and turn oven on to 400 (do not preheat) - bake for 16-20 minutes.
I checked it at 16 minutes and didn't think it was crispy enough so I put it in for another two. This is what happened:

Uuuhh - that's a little more crispy than I like. Thankfully, I had only used half the package of bacon so I had another batch to try this with. I searched Pinterest for a different "recipe" and found one on "Dinner by Pinterest".

I knew right away I would like this one better because it told me to flip the bacon half way through cooking it. Don't ask me why that made me feel better, but it did.

Again, really easy: Preheat oven to 350 - Lay bacon of a foil lined baking sheet - Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes (turning half way through) until desired crispiness achieved.

Muuuuuch better!!! It wasn't as good as my Dad's bacon was, but it was good enough! As a result, I made my first ever BLT!

It was freaking delicious! Although, next time I would definitely add more bacon and not toast the bread. I love the toasted bread, but it always tears up the roof of my mouth. Someone told me to try putting both pieces of bread in the same toaster slot so it only toasts one side of the bread. Pretty clever. I might give that a try next time.

Jar of Love Candle Holder

Thanks to Pinterest... I have taken to saving most jars that come into our house - spaghetti sauce, pickle jars, jelly jars, etc. I have empty jars everywhere. And this was my first time finally using one for a project. 

A few weeks ago, we were in Laguna Beach doing some touristy shopping. Yes, I know we're considered locals, but we had family in town so we did the touristy thing. Anyway, in one of the little shops, I came across Trapp candles that I had found years ago in San Francisco and never found them again. I was like a kid in a candy store! Their scents are amazing! But the prices are not so amazing. 

The little candles are reasonably priced, but then the next size up are $20+. The only problem is the little candles don't come with a candle holder. That's when I decided all the jars I have at home just might come in handy.

This little guy was inspired by a couple different pins. This one and this one. (Both inspirational photos to the left.)

The end result didn't really turn out the way I had envisioned which is pretty normal for me, but I liked the end result enough. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• Tissue paper
• Heart punch
• Scissors
• Mod Podge
• Sponge paint brush
• Ribbon or twine or string of some sort. 

First, I punched the heart out of the tissue paper, which wasn't as easy as it sounds. The tissue paper is too thin for the punch and the punch just kind of wanted to chew it up instead of cutting it. I ended up folding the tissue paper to make it a little thicker and more sturdy... that worked better. I picked which heart turned out the best and did a little trimming to clean up the edges.

Then I cut several one inch squares from the white tissue paper. 

Then I Mod Podged my little heart out.
I placed the hearts first.
I laid the white tissue paper in a scattered pattern and just trimmed as needed to make it fit.
Once all the tissue paper was in place, I let it dry for about 20 minutes and did a couple more coats of Mod Podge to seal it off. (I let it dry for 20 minutes between each coat.)

I needed something for the top of the jar to sort of clean it up because the ragged tissue paper edge wasn't working for me. I went to my ribbon reserves and couldn't find one that matched my colors so I went with colored string. I just wrapped the string several times around the top and tied it off with a cute little bow and - VWUALA! I had me a candle holder for my scrumptious new candle!