Caramel Chocolate Drizzle Chex Mix

Made this for Nate to take to work and share. I saw the recipe here. Caramel reminds me of fall so I thought it would work well this time of year. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
1/2 bag (14-oz size) caramels (about 25)
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips, they're Nate's favorite)

Preparation:
In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals.
In medium microwavable bowl, microwave caramels, butter and milk uncovered on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring after each minute, until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth. Pour over cereals; gently stir until evenly coated.
Microwave on High 3 to 4 minutes, stirring after each minute, until just beginning to brown. Spread on waxed paper to cool.
In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High about 1 minute or until chocolate can be stirred smooth. Drizzle over snack. Refrigerate until set. Store in airtight container.

Chocolate Caramel Potato Chips

Nate has been craving caramel. Everyday he tells me, "something with caramel sounds so good!" Don't worry, I got the hint! While he was at work on Monday I sent him ton of links to caramel treats/desserts that I could make for him. I sent him these potato chips as a joke, but he was really excited about them. So I went to the store and made him these crazy chips. I made a big batch so he could take some with him to work, but he told me they were too good to share! So I'd say they were definitely a success! I found them over at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. Her desserts are amazing, be sure and check out her site.

Ingredients:
12 oz. milk chocolate
12 oz. bag rippled potato chips
14 oz. bag of caramels, unwrapped
3 Tbsp. half and half
Bag of Heath Bar Bits ‘O Brickle (we left this out)

Preparation:
Line baking sheets with wax or parchment paper and set aside. Put caramels and half and half in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until melted and creamy.
Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the melted caramel halfway down both sides of the potato chips. Be sure to brush only a light coat, or the chips will get too soggy. Place on lined baking sheets to set for about 30 minutes.
Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and dip the caramel coated chips about a third of the way, allowing the excess to drip off. Sprinkle the Heath Bar bits on the melted chocolate and place back on the wax paper to set for about 2 hours.

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

We haven't had a snack recipe posted in a while! Becca made these granola bars and told me that they were really easy and tasted great. The idea and photo are from Lauren's Latest. Her site is full of gorgeous photos and yummy ideas.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Preparation:
In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan {about 12x8x1} and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. {If your pan isn’t small enough, pack the mixture into one side. You really want to press them down so they stick together.} Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a countertop to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Recipe Notes: If your granola bars don’t seem to be staying together when you cut them, you may have made them too thin or you didn’t pack them in tight enough. Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together. {Be sure not to keep them in there too long or else they’ll become super hard!} The next time you make them, try reducing the butter to 3 tablespoons and really packing them down.

Pico de Gallo

I love this stuff! I had it once at Costa Vida and loved it. When I decided I was making shredded pork carnitas tonight, I knew I wanted to have pico with it. When I found out how simple it was to make I was surprised, and best of all it tasted exactly like the kind Costa Vida serves. Perfect! I got the recipe from Taste Every Season and adapted it to fit my preferences.

Ingredients:
2 firm Roma tomatoes
1/2 of a medium onion
1 jalapeno
1 small bunch of cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt

*Basically you want to have equal parts tomato and onion and jalapeno(if you like heat). I am not a fan of heat so I only used one jalapeno and took out the seeds and the ribs and the pico was nice and mild.


Preparation:
Dice tomatoes and onions. You want them in nice little same-sized pieces. For a mild pico take out the seeds and ribs of the jalapeno and dice. If you like it spicy, leave the seeds. Again, you want nice little pieces. Gently mix together tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno. Tear steams off of cilantro. I am not a huge fan of cilantro so I didn't add all that much. Just do what looks good to you. Give the cilantro a rough chop, then add to the bowl. Squeeze juice of 1/2 a lime over the mixture and salt to taste.

Serves 2-4.

Serve with tortilla chips or in any Mexican dish. Enjoy!

Mother Goose Popcorn

This recipe comes from my grandma. When I first got married she sent me a cookbook filled with recipes for cooking for just two people. She also sent me a bunch of her personal recipes all typed up on this fluorescent yellow paper that I keep still. I've got them all filed away in plastic sleeves in my recipe binder. I love them. This particular recipe is one that I can remember eating even as a little girl. My siblings and I used to argue over who got to pick the color. My grandma would make batches so large we would have to mix them in an old baby bathtub she had. I hope you enjoy this treat!

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup granulated sugar
food coloring

Directions:
Cook to softball (1 minute after boiling). Pour over popped corn. Mix until evenly coated.