Magic Shell

This recipe is courtesy of http://www.skiptomylou.org/.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup coconut oil (measured while solid)

Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave about 1 minutes. Allow to sit a few minutes to allow the heat of the oil to melt the chocolate chips and then stir until smooth. It will be runny.

Pour into a bottle. I used a 2-pint Mason jar. A glass bottle works well especially since it will be heated in the microwave. Store in the refrigerator. To serve, heat bottle in microwave (without lid) for 30 seconds until liquid. Slightly shake and continue heating at 15 second intervals if not liquid after the first 30 seconds. Pour over your favorite ice cream and in a few seconds you will see magic!

Notes:

• You can substitute butter for the coconut oil, however the coconut oil gives the more ‘real’ Magic Shell flavor.
• You can use milk chocolate chips, but everyone we served preferred the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Dishwashing Detergent

I just recently made this and have only used it a couple of times, but it seems to be doing the job. I decided to use up my store-bought detergent tablets first just so that I didn't have them hanging around taking up space in my pantry.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Borax

3 cups washing soda

1 cup LemiShine (for hard water issues)

Mix all ingredients together. Store in sealed container. Use 1 tablespoon per dishwasher load. (I just fill my little receptacle rather than measure it out.)

Laundry Detergent

I've been using this "recipe" for laundry detergent for about a year and haven't noticed a difference - other than it's much cheaper than buying it at the store!

INGREDIENTS

1/3 bar Fels Naptha (or Ivory)

½ cup washing soda

½ cup Borax powder

2 gallon size bucket

Sauce pan

Cheese grater

Containers in which to store

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the Borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an “egg noodle soup” look. I then store mine in 3 96oz. juice bottles. Use ½ cup per laundry load.

You can add ½ teaspoon essential oil if you like for fragrance or 1 cup of your favorite fabric softener or 1 cup of Oxi-Clean as a cleaning booster.

Fels Naptha, washing soda, Borax and Oxi-Clean can all be found in the laundry aisle at the grocery store.

Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken

Swiped from http://www.nutmegnanny.com/.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg boneless/skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Mix spices together and set aside. Mix honey and cider vinegar and set aside. Un-tuck chicken thighs and cover both sides in seasoning, set out flat on sheet pan. When all chicken as been seasoned, put under broiler* (I put mine on low just so I don’t worry about burning the chicken). Cook for 5-7 minutes on one side and flip. Cook for a 5-7 minutes on other side. Flip again and then baste the chicken with the honey/cider mixture. Be sure to slather the chicken really well. Add to oven again and let it cook under the broiler for a few more minutes until the honey starts to thicken up and glaze. It may smoke a little but this is completely normal. Take chicken out of oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Granola Bars

Because I was trying to make these as nutritional as possible, we'll probably have to sell our house to pay for them. They cost a small fortune, but are really, really good!

INGREDIENTS

2-1/2 cups crispy rice cereal*

2 cups old fashion oats

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 honey

1/2 cup peanut butter*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt*

1/4 cup packed coconut

1/4 cup mini chocolate morsels

1/4 cup peanuts (or other nut of your choice)

In a large bowl, combine the cereal and oats. Grease or line a 9x13" pan.* Mix brown sugar, honey and peanut butter in a small sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until just boiling. Add to cereal mixture along with vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, coconut, chocolate chips, and nuts. Press into the prepared pan using a spatula, spoon, or your hands. Set aside to cool, then cut into bars. 

Notes*: To make them more nutritional, I used organic cereal, organic peanut butter, and sea salt. The oats were from the LDS Church cannery, so I figured they're as pure and clean as they're going to get! I crushed up the chocolate and nuts to make them a little more fine. Line pan with Saran Wrap for easier clean up. Also, the organic peanut butter needs to be refrigerated, so if you use that, you'll want to keep the bars in the fridge also. As you can see, I put them in little snack bags rather than wrap them in Saran Wrap. They're kind of sticky, so you won't want to stack them together.

Parmesan Chicken - not to be confused with Chicken Parmesan

I got this recipe from the website http://itsdinnertime2.blogspot.com/ who happened to get it from  "The Essential Mormon Cookbook" (I believe in giving credit where credit is due!). We had it last week before my sister-in-law, Cindy, had the food blog epiphany, so there isn't a picture of mine. This is the one from the website, but it actually looked the same.

INGREDIENTS

2 C crushed Ritz crackers

3 T grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp garlic salt

8 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (or use tenders)

1 C plain yogurt

1/4 C butter, melted

Combine cracker crumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt.  Dip each piece of chicken in yogurt to coat and then in crumb mixture.  Arrange in greased 9x13-inch baking dish.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Serves 8.

Notes: In trying to make this a little better, I checked out the whole wheat Ritz crackers at the store. They were only 10% wheat, so I said, "Forget it!" I just used the regular and prayed that we would live to see another day. I also only used four chicken breasts, because that was all we needed, but would suggest doubling the coating ingredients if you're going to do all eight. It was starting to get kind of soggy and gummy towards the end of the four, or maybe doing half the chicken in a second batch of coating.