Recipes

Chex Mix!
....like you've never had before:) A friend gave me a recipe for just pretzels, naturally I added crap stuff goodness and then some!
For the Mix
-1 box corn chex (I can't believe I forgot them in this batch!)dumb dumb
-1 bag Pretzels (sticks, mini's, thins, twists...whatever floats your boat)
-1 box cheez-it's
-1 bag plain bugles
-1 small tin peanuts

For the Sauce
-1 Cup Olive Oil (maybe a tad more)
-1 pkg. ranch dressing
-1 Tblsp lemon pepper (you gotta)
-1 tsp dill (you gotta)
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp. red pepper
-1 tsp garlic (I like garlic so I put more and one time I added minced garlic)
-I added a tad jalepeno juice because I like it spicy.

*Mix sauce in separate bowl then add to dry mix, stir well, spread thin layer on cookie sheets, bake 350 in 5-7 minute increments (stirring inbetween) for 30min? Well, IDK how long exactly...it needs to be dried.

*pour yourself a diet coke with a lemon wedge (coconut rum) and enjoy!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars
Ever have a Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks? I am obsessed with these things.

Well, I made it into a bar! You're Welcome:)

I saw it on Pinterest, but changed a few things....
You'll need
Crust
-1 lb. butter, softened (that's right, ONE POUND! So, I mention this to the fam and Curtis yells, "Don't make em!" and Blake pipes in, "Why are you making those mom!"...WHO are these people?
-1 C sugar
-1 1/2 C powdered sugar
-2 Tbs Almond (or vanilla) extract
-4 C flour

Filling
-1 bag caramel candies (OK, really, get a jar of caramel...way easier)
-1/3 cup cream or milk (but only if you are using the caramel candies)
-1 Tbs coarse sea salt (a must!)
-1 cup of chocolate chips.

Mix all the crust ingredients (sift flour in a little at a time) with a mixer.
Spray 9X13 pan with non stick cooking spray
Press about 1/3 (maybe a little more) of the crust on the bottom of the pan. Bake at 325 until it's slightly golden on top (it's about 20 min). Place rest of crust in fridge

If you got the caramels from the bag...unwrap and place in microwave along with the cream for 1 min. Stir and keep on heating at 30 sec. intervals, mixing inbetween.
Either way, when the crust is done...allow it to cool a bit. Place the caramel on the crust. Sprinke the sea salt and then add the chocolate chips.
Use the rest of the crust and crumble it over the top.
Bake at 325 for 25-30 min.

Pumpkin cookies with caramel frosting
Tis the season for pumpkin recipes!

Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
*So, crazy thing, I didn't have enough brown surgar for this AND the frosting so I mixed white sugar with molasses. How good at improvising am I?

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars and stir in egg, vanilla, then pumpkin. In another bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Frosting
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat while stirring occasionally until mixture just begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool then stir in powdered sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cookies.