Carmel Popcorn

To celebrate Sierra's special award today, we had this yummy Carmel Popcorn while we watched a movie tonight! This is our favorite Carmel recipe for popcorn.

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup dark Karo syrup

Boil 3 minutes. Add:

¼ lb butter (1 cube)
2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Bring to a boil and pour over popped popcorn (enough for approximately 2 cups unpopped popcorn).

Country Captain Chicken Curry

Dave's been asking that I try a curry recipe. I told him it had to be kid-friendly so I visited this site and tried this recipe:

1/2 cup flour
2 - 3 tablespoons curry powder (plus a sprinkle to season flour)
1 tablespoon thyme (plus a sprinkle to season flour)
Salt and pepper
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, sliced into thin circles and halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1/2 cup golden raisins (or 1/2 cup currants)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour in a shallow baking or plastic bag. Season flour with salt, pepper along with a sprinkle of curry and thyme. Dredge chicken to coat lightly.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on each side, about 10 minutes. Do this in batches to not over crowd the pan. Remove chicken to paper towel to drain and place in a casserole pan.

To the same skillet, add onions and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add curry powder, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir to blend. Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour the tomato and onion sauce over the chicken and bake uncovered for 20 - 30 minutes until chicken tender and cooked through. During the last 5 minutes of baking, remove casserole from the oven, stir in raisins (I just couldn't bring myself to add raisins, so we skipped out on those) and return to the oven to finish cooking.

Garnish with parsley and almonds (since I have a child that refuses to eat nuts I did without the almonds). Serve over rice.

Over all, a very tasty dish! I need to try my hand at a few more curry dishes before I declare this one the winner, though :) Let me know if you have a delicious curry recipe your family enjoys!

G-Force Cookies

Saturday we enjoyed the movie "G-Force." I had seen these cookies in the Family Fun Magazine so we tried them out today. Fun for the kids to do :)
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Peanut halves
Mini chocolate chips
1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then stir them into the wet mixture, just to blend. Cover and chill until firm, about 1 hour. (We didn't want to wait another hour, so we just went to the next step :))
2. Heat the oven to 350°. Form level tablespoons of dough into cylinders, pinching the ends a bit to make rough guinea pig body shapes. Use a knife to chop the peanut halves in half, then add peanut-piece ears and mini chocolate chip eyes to each cookie. Place the guinea pig cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until firm, about 8 minutes.

Malibu Chicken

While I was on vacation this summer, I kept seeing a commercial for Sizzler advertising their YUMMY Malibu Chicken. Of course, before I left, I had to go to Sizzler to eat :) I've been thinking about how it tasted for weeks now. So I went on a search to find the recipe. I found it at www.cdkitchen.com. I was so eager to taste it so I forgot to take a picture. It was tasty! I have one child who doesn't like cheese (except on pizza) so he's didn't have melted cheese on top...but everyone ate everything else! We'll definitely add this to the monthly menu!

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 TBL water
6 chicken breasts, skinned, boned, pounded thin (I actually used chicken tenderloins)
3/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs (used the usual...Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs)
2 TBL vegetable oil
2 TBL butter
6 slices cooked ham
6 slices Swiss cheese (used Mozzarella...that's what's in the freezer)

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Stir egg and water together with a fork. Coat each chicken piece with flour, dip into egg mixture, and then coat w/ crumbs. Press crumbs in firmly. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken 4-5 minutes on each side. Place browned chicken on oven-proof platter, (I just used a 9x13 baking dish) top each piece with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese melts.

Dipping sauce...mix 1 tsp prepared mustard with 1/4 cup mayonnaise.

Preschool Recipes

As I've attended the same preschool the past 5 years with my kiddos, I'm reminded of these FUN recipes for GUARANTEED fun with the kids by our AWESOME teacher. Just thought I would share :0

GLOOP
Water, White Glue, Borax, Food Coloring (optional)
Add 1 1/2 cups water to 2 cups white glue. Pour 1/3 cup warm water into 3 different cups. You may add 1-2 drops of food coloring into each cup. Stir 1 tsp of borax into each cup until dissolved. One at a time, pour the contents of each cup into the glue and water mixture. Mix until dissolved. Pour off any extra liquid and knead until smooth and no longer wet. Store in an airtight container.

PLAYDOUGH
3 cups flour
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups salt
3 TBL oil
6 tsp cream of tarter
Food coloring of choice
Optional: glitter, scents....use your imagination :)
Mix all ingredients in a large pan over medium heat until it forms a semi-sticky ball. Remove from heat and knead until smooth. Store in an airtight container.

BUBBLES
1 cup Dawn or other high quality dish sopa
1 TBL glycerine**
1 gallon water
Mix and let stand overnight or for several hours.
**Glycerine can be purchased at a pharmacy...for a less expensive alternative, try corn syrup.


PUD
Water, Cornstarch
Mix 1 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Let the children play with it on the grass. Mixture will be hard until put in hands and then it becomes liquid again.