Calico baked beans

I LOVE these beans... everywhere I take them, they get devoured.  Tasty, and they make the house smell good too... I use all different kinds of beans, but use what you have and love.  You can also make them when cooking the meat mixture instead of putting them on the stove to simmer, put them in a crockpot and simmer them say for a party or open house too. So good.  You want these thickened and delicious.  Even my 3 year old Jackson asks me "mommy make me beans"... LOL so they must be good :)

 Make these soon..enjoy


**NOTE* I use a little more brown sugar because I like my baked beans sweeter.  Start with 1/2 cup and just add extra if you like your beans on the sweeter side. I usually use 1 cup..
Also instead of cutting up raw bacon, you can also use a package of precooked bacon pieces or bits to save yourself some time *just remember to take out the" do not eat" packet.  Put those in with the beans.


Calico baked beans


3 strips bacon, sliced
1 onion, small diced
1/4 cup green (or yellow, red, orange sweet) pepper, small diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 lb. hamburger (I used ground chuck/sirloin)
 1 medium sized 28 oz. can Bush's baked beans
1 15.5 oz (regular size) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.5 oz (regular size)can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.5 oz (regular size) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
1  15.5 oz (regular size)can northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup white wine
1 to 1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 T mustard
1 T white wine vinegar
1 T worchester sauce
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar

seasonings of your choice ( I used onion & garlic powder, paprika, pinch of chili powder, red pepper flakes& cayenne, cumin,  black pepper and just a pinch of seasoned salt & kosher salt)

In large dutch oven place hamburger, bacon (if using raw), onion, & green pepper. Cook and break up meat until meat is done.  Add garlic clove and stir around cooking for a couple of minutes until garlic is no longer raw.  Add remaining ingredients (don't forget if using bacon pieces(bits) add now)  and stir well.  Bring to low boil, turn heat down & simmer for 30 minutes or until beans are thickened.  Taste and adjust seasonings or brown sugar as needed.  Enjoy

Grandma B's Egg pancakes

I so miss my Grandma B... she passed away in October 2012.. she was a wonderful woman loved by all.  and a really good cook :)  she used to spoil all of us rotten and make us bread, homemade jam, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, homemade noodles... and these delicious egg pancakes, which are kinda like crepes.  When we were little and would go up north (in northern Michigan) to our cabin in Gladwin, she would make all of us (which was a houseful :)  these every morning... we would fill them with butter & syrup, or with her homemade strawberry jam roll them up and devour them, until we possibly couldn't eat one more ever!!! good times and wonderful memories... here's thinking of ya grandma..love and miss ya....

We would just stand around waiting for these pancakes hot outta the skillet.  These are super quick to make, and have everything ready for serving cause they only take 1 to 2 minutes per pancake...and just a reminder to keep the kiddos away from the stove cause you are moving quick and the burner for these is really hot... want good memories not bad burned ones... :)


Grandma B's Egg pancakes



6 eggs
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup plus 1 T milk
vegetable oil (for cooking)

For serving:
butter,
syrup (or homemade jam)

In a big bowl, add eggs and salt.  Mix with electric mixer until the eggs are combined.  Add flour & mix until combined.  Add milk and mix until combined.  In 10 inch skillet heat pan until super hot.  Add a small amount of vegetable oil and swirl around pan (pan should be smoking hot).  Add 1 small ladleful of batter and swirl around pan like you would a crepe, covering the bottom of the pan, should take about 30 seconds to a minute and be slightly brown around the egdes, flip and cook for about 30 more seconds until other side is light golden brown.  Remove from pan.  Continue and repeat above steps until batter is gone.  When serving, spread pancake with butter and drizzle with syrup or jam, roll pancake into log, cut and eat.. Enjoy

Dr. Pepper cake

My family loves Dr. Pepper pop.. I hate it....not my thing... when I saw a recipe floating around online for Dr. Pepper cake, I though ah ha...then when I looked at several recipes that called for a cup of butter, I thought wait a sec. and then I did a little research of reviews and several did not get good reviews... so thought hmmm.. better come up with my own easy recipe that still tastes good.  I used the pop in both the cake and icing.  It was good, had just a hint of the pop flavor, but next time I am putting maraschino cherry juice in both the cake & icing (cause they wanted more cherry pop flavor).  this has a very slight pop flavor, even I could eat it and like it...tasted like chocolate cake with just a little something... make this for your family..enjoy

**NOTE.. I used Betty Crocker triple chocolate cake mix (which has little chocolate chunks in the cake mix, but use what you like.
Also:  for the icing, you might depending on how hot, humid or damp it is adjust the amount of powdered sugar you use.  I added more cause I made it on a hot humid day, then I added too much powdered sugar, then had to add a little more pop to thin it out... 



Dr. Pepper cake


1 chocolate cake mix (**see note)
1 small box instant chocolate fudge pudding mix (I used sugar free cause it's what I had)
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups Dr. Pepper pop
1/8 cup maraschino cherry juice (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Spray either a 13x9 or a bundt pan with nonstick spray. In large bowl place all of the ingredients, mix with a electric mix for 2 minutes.  Pour into whatever pan you are using. Place in preheated oven, and bake according to package directions (I baked my 13x9 for around 30 minutes).  Insert a toothpick into the center to make sure it comes out clean) remove from oven.  Let cool completely.  If using bundt pan after 3 minutes invert cake onto platter to let cool.



Dr. Pepper chocolate buttercream icing


4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Dr. Pepper
2-3 T sour cream
1 stick butter, softened
1 t vanilla
1 T maraschino cherry juice (optional)
1/4 cup cocoa powder


In large bowl with electric mixer cream butter, add sour cream, cocoa powder, vanilla, cherry juice and Dr. Pepper mix well (be careful cause it will splash and be liquidy) Add powdered sugar 1 cupful at a time until icing comes together and is spreadable.  Depending on the humidity etc, you will have to adjust the powdered sugar until you have a soft spreadable icing.  Taste to make sure it taste okay.  Spread over cooled cake.  Enjoy

Baked Pita Chips

I went to buy some pita chips to go with hummus... nice and light for the summer... They were $3.99 a bag...Highway robbery I tell ya...I thought my gosh you can buy a package of pitas for about a $1.50 and I can make more than what would be in that bag... I lucked out and got a bag for .89 cents..which is even more of a bonus:)  I saved myself $3.10.. which is awesome in my book...

You can customize these anyway you like.  I don't put the spices in my oil but I sprinkle each chip lightly with the spices cause I like very seasoned stuff... you can use these with hummus, spinach dip, or just eat them.  They are so good... try them for your family today... you will love them...

Baked Pita chips

6 pitas
olive oil
seasonings of your choice ( I use, garlic & onion powder, cumin, chili powder & seasoned salt)

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  I cut the pitas like this, in half then each half into quarters, then each quarter in half making wedges.  Lay them in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Brush each piece with olive oil and sprinkle with the seasonings.  Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, checking after 10, until they are light golden brown and crispy.  Remove from oven, and repeat until all the pitas are used.  Let cool and enjoy with your favorite dip. 

Peach "tini's"

Can you say YUM!!! I am not much of a drinker, maybe 1 or 2 cocktails a year, but have been hearing about all of these martini's..chocolate, peach, vanilla, apple, smores..they all look yummy and sound yummy.  But since it's summer and I wanted something girly & fruity I thought peach..  Then I researched the recipes and holy cow martini's are almost always all alcohol.  I do not like the taste of straight alcohol or strong drinks whatsoever, so thought hmmm, how can I lighten these up but still make them taste amazing?  So this is my version of a peachtini.. You can obviously add as much alcohol as you want but I enjoy a lighter cocktail... Enjoy


Peachtini

1 can peach slices, drained
1 cup frozen peach slices (Plus 1 extra frozen slice per glass)
2  cups homestyle orange juice
1/4 cup peach scnapps
1/4 cup whipped cream vodka
4-5  ice cubes
7-up/Sprite

Place all ingredients EXCEPT 7UP/Sprite into blender and blend until smooth and combined. Place 1 slice frozen peach in cocktail glass, pour 3/4 of the glass full of cold mixture.  Top (drizzle)with a very small amount of 7UP/Sprite just to make the top bubbly.  Enjoy...