Super Easy "Carmel" Sauce

I needed a carmel sauce for our Milky Way Ice Cream and did not have much time to make it. I found this recipe and it is kind of a fake carmel, but it was easy, quick and did the job!

Ingredients

• 1 packed cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 Put the half & half, brown sugar and butter in a saucepan, warm it up over medium-low heat

stir regularly, until the butter is melted and combined and sauce thickens slightly, 5 to 7 minutes

Add vanilla and salt, cook for a few more minutes to thicken further

Take the sauce off the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Pour into a container and store in the 'fridge. The sauce is slightly gritty when cold- reheat in the microwave or on the stove top to remedy that!

*Recipe from Ree Drummond via Food Network  

Milky Way Ice Cream

There is this little family owned ice cream place near The Hubsters office that has the most amazing Milky Way ice cream.

I love it! So much so, that if they do not have it when we go, I go with out any ice cream. (and being that I joke that ice cream is my favorite food group- this is saying something!)

This place is about 45 miles from our house so we have to be in the area in order to score this delightful treat- Mike can't just bring it home one day!

It tastes just like a milky way bar, which is a tie for my favortie candy bar (the other contender is carmel Twix). With chocolate slivers and a gooey carmel swirl... it is divine!

But, this dream of an ice cream flavor is hard to come by! Be it by distance or selection- but Mike stumbled across a jem of a recipe, tucked near the back of the most recent Food Network Magizine... yep, a recipe for Milky Way ice cream!

Ingredients

• 4 ounces Milky Way candy bars, chopped
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup chocolate syrup (optional- we did not use it)

Directions

Melt the candy bars and condensed milk in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water

  

 stir, until smooth (do not let the bowl touch the water).

 

Remove the bowl from the saucepan and whisk in the milk, half-and-half (and chocolate syrup). Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

 

 Now, I could easily stop here, pour this in a glass and drink it!

Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker.

 

Reminds me of a Frosty!

At this point I added in chocolate shavings... and I went a little overboard! I liked it but Mike said he could have done with out them.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours- we left it in the freezer until the next night!

Top with carmel sauce for the full effect!

While this recipe isn't as thick and creamy as commercially prepared ice creams- it also does not contain all sorts of extra stuff you don't need floating around in your system. It was easy to prepare and I think using a more professional grade machine might have cut down on the slightly icy texture.

All in all, I would make it again! (But with less chocolate shavings!)

Try it, let me know what you think and feel free to let me know how you altered the recipe!

Beer Batter Bread

In my new quest to eliminate as much processed and prepackaged food from our house as possible, I realized that I have not really tackled bread. I mean, I own a bread machine! But I had only used commercially prepared mixes in it. 

Ohhhhhhhh no, no, no!

That does not fit in with myless processed, home made/from scratch mission that I am on! I had to find bread recipes that are as quick and easy as buying a mix or finished product at a store....

Welcome to the first installment in the wonderful world of homemade bread!

*Beer Batter Bread*

Have you ever been to one of those home-parties where you sample all kinds of tasty dips and then buy the mixes? One of their top sellers is this beer bread mix. Yes, mix.... we all know how I feel about that three letter word.

So I whipped this recipe up today and can honestly say that it's just as tasty as the simple M-I-X I have bought in the past!

(did you get the little hint/play on words there?! pretty good, huh!?)

  

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all purpose flour

4 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 bottle of beer (12 oz) at room temp

4 tablespoons melted butter

(I had every single item in my kitchen already- didn't have to buy a thing for this recipe!)

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease a bread/loaf pan

In a bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

Open the beer and add it all at once

(NO taste-testing! You need all12 oz for the bread!) 

 It will foam up, that is good! It means your baking powder is good and you will have a lighter bread!

Stir only until combined- about 20 strokes

(don't over do it or your bread will be extra dense! Not good!)

The batter will be lumpy- that is normal!

Pour batter into the pan you greased

 and pour the melted butter on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean

Let your bread rest in the pan for about 5 minutes and remove onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temp, with butter and/or jam!

Makes for a good breakfast, snack or side dish at dinner!

Zoe's Famous Treats

Zoe is my oldest daughters BFF.

She is a really sweet girl, they make a great pair!

 (A dance performance of The Ugly Duckling at a retirement community a few years back. They are the two swans on the left. It is my duty as her mother AND a blogger to share embarrassing things! *sorry girls*)

Her speciality are these little treats- Maddy made them with the younger Herdlings and it was the perfect activity for them to do together!

What you need:

Square pretzels, ROLOS and M&M's. That's it!

heat your oven to 250. Line your pretzels up on a baking pan and unwrap your candies.

Even the littlest dude got to help!

 ... and "helping" always means eating! Reminds me of when my grandma would send me out to pick blackberries!!

(One for me, one for the bucket. One for me, one for the bucket!)

Seriously though... how can you not think that is the cutest thing EVER?!

The boy loves chocolate.

I can't blame him!

Anyway- after you get your chocolates unwrapped, place one on each pretzel.

Make sure the little well on the top of the ROLO is facing up!

That is where the will M&M's go!

Put them in the warm oven.

And WAIT until they are soft. This is the hard part.

waiting.......  waiting....... waiting.......

Texting..... texting..... texting...... (probably with Zoe!)

Once they are nice a soft, take them out of the oven and put an M&M in each little well

And GENTLY press down, squish them a little bit.

This is something everyone in the Herd was able to participate in, with supervision of course!

Then all you have to do is wait (again- ugh!) for them to harden back up. Although, I think they are fantastic warm too!

Such a simple idea and so many people love it! They are salty, sweet, crunchy, gooey!

Every time Zoe makes these for Maddy it makes her feel SO special! (remember what I say folks, food is love!)

**This blog is dedicated to Zoe, and her parents, for being so awesome. We love you guys! Thank you for everything you do and being such greats friends to my baby girl!**

Fruity Breakfast Roll Ups

I will be honest, none of the Herdlings liked this concoction.

Not a single one.

I don't think The Hubster did either!

But I rather enjoyed them- and I would make them again (for myself)  

The are super easy to make, are a good use of that last sprinkling of fruit that isn't quite enough to eat as a side to a meal, nutritious, WHOLESOME and you can totally control what goes in them!

The wrap :

            

We love these things! We've used them for sandwich roll ups and pizzas too!

Filling:

Cream cheese, a little vanilla sugar

  

Toppings:

Whatever you have on hand! We used strawberries, blueberries, bananas and sliced almonds

I found that putting the fruit in rows rather than scattering made for easier rolling and you still got a little of each kind in every bite!

Roll:

 Cut and plate:

It would be REALLY easy to sneak in some wheat germ or flax seed to boost nutrition with out anyone knowing!