Sinfully Delicous Chex Mix

One of my sweet girls that was in my young women group in Texas posted this delicious recipe the other day. I'm not a fan of the name because I think it's dumb. So I changed it...because I can. Because it's ridiculously rich with sweetness, I decided to call it sinfully delicious...because it is.  Of course, I had to change it up due to unavailability to the exact ingredients but it's all good, because that's the fun of baking/cooking.  You can make whatever you want, however you want.  Have fun, go crazy and remember this isn't diet friendly, it's sinful...I mentioned that before, remember?

This was teenager tested and approved, enjoy and don't think about the calories or you won't eat it and you'll be missing out and that will be sad. 

Sinfully Delicious Chex Mix
original recipe found here

8 cups Chocolate Chex® cereal (I used vanilla chex, because that's what the commissary had)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

1 cup MINIATURE marshmallows (I used some fun ice cream flavor marshmallows I found and chopped into smaller pieces)

1/2 cup caramel bits (found by the chocolate chips in the baking aisle -- or chop up regular caramels)

1 Tbsp heavy cream

1/2 cup milk chocolate baking chips 

1/2 cup white chocolate baking chips

1 tsp coarse sea salt

Directions

• Into large microwavable bowl, measure cereal; set aside. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil.
• In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour caramel mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on High 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on cookie sheet. Cool 10 minutes. Break into bite-sized pieces.
• Make sure Chex mixture is cool to the touch (so candy doesn't melt.) Evenly sprinkle  peanut butter cups candy and miniature marshmallows over Chex mixture.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave caramel baking bits and cream uncovered on High about 1 minute or until chips can be stirred smooth. Use a spoon or fork to drizzle over snack. Microwave the milk chocolate baking chips next (adding a teaspoon of oil will help it melt better and make it smoother), starting with 20-seconds and stirring, then at 20 second intervals until the mixture is completely smooth (microwave temps vary, so watch the chocolate and stir frequently until it's of drizzling consistency). Drizzle over the snack mixture. Then microwave the white baking chips in 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth, and drizzle that over the snack mixture. Quickly sprinkle coarse salt over all while candy drizzles are still wet.
• Refrigerate until set. Break apart and store in tightly covered container.

Copy Cat Zuppa Toscana

You may have heard that we live in place that some like to call "Lost in the Woods".  That name usually bothers me because I really love this place, however there are moments when I'm reminded that some of the creature comforts are a bit further away from us than we'd like.  Places like big name restaurants like Olive Garden.  I don't usually miss restaurants since the boys are perfectly content eating whatever Kevin or I come up with but every now and again we miss some of our favorites...like this soup.  Thankfully I found this recipe years ago on the internet and it's been a family favorite on cold days like today.  Like most recipes, we doubled it to feed our growing family of boys.

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb spicy Italian sausage - browned, drained & crumbled (I like to use a mix of hot and mild)
1/2 lb smoked bacon - cooked & chopped (bacon bits work well too!)
1 quart water
(2) 14.5 oz cans chicken broth 

 2 large russet potatoes - scrubbed clean and cut into small cubes with skin still on (I've used red potatoes and they were just fine)

 2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 med. onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale 

1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste

•  Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

•  Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.

•  Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.