Homemade Coffeemate Creamer

I didn't start drinking coffee until I was in my late 30s.  Diet coke sustained me in college and my early years of working.  Then, I laid off caffeine during my baby years.  Can't remember why I started drinking it in the morning, but now I'm hooked.  Please note, I am not a coffee purist.  I buy Trader Joes cheapest caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees, grind them at the store and mix them into my own half-caff at home.  I also enjoy my coffee sweet and creamy.  Yep, my 17 year old daughter drinks it black, and I need the sweet stuff.  Ha!  Here's an easy recipe for homemade Coffeemate that is super easy and really delicious!  Enjoy!

Homemade French Vanilla Coffeemate

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 cup milk, cream, soy milk, almond milk, etc
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix well and store in refrigerator.


Visit this site for lots of other flavor options!

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2013/03/homemade-coffee-creamer-over-20-flavor-varieties/

Sometimes you feel like a Nut, sometimes you don't - Mounds Bars

Mounds is one of my favorite candy bars!  Chocolate and coconut...nothing better!

Mounds Bars 
* 24 graham crackers, crushed
* ½ cup melted butter
* ¼ cup sugar.
Combine crumbs, butter and sugar. Press mixture into pan. Bake at 350F for 9 to 13 minutes.
* 1 can sweetened condensed milk
* 2 cups flaked coconut
* ½ pkg chocolate chips
* ½ pkg butterscotch chips
Spread coconut then milk over graham cracker crust. Melt chips together and pour over top. Chill. Cut into bars. Keep refrigerated.

Mom's Brownies

Mom didn't make brownies from a mix.  When I was a kid, I longed for Betty Crocker, but got made from scratch instead.  Little did I know how lucky I was!  Ha!  Here's Mom's recipe for you try!

Mom’s Brownies 
Grease jellyroll pan. Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together:
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup margarine or butter-flavored Crisco
Add 4 eggs, one at a time.
Add:
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup Hershey’s chocolate syrup
* Chopped nuts (optional)
Pour onto to jelly roll pan. Bake 30 minutes in 350 oven. Cool.

When cool, frost with combination of:
* 1 ½ cups sugar
* 6 Tbsp. margarine
* 6 Tbsp. milk
Boil above ingredients for ½ minute and then stir in:
* ½ package of chocolate chips

Sue's Wild Rice

Love me some wild rice.  It's the Minnesota in me, I guess.  You can find wild rice here in Nashville...with these ingredients, it tastes just as good as home!

Sue's Wild Rice 
* 1 cup wild rice
* Small onion, chopped
* Celery stalk with leaves, chopped
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup
Wash rice. Cover in pan with water (1/2” over rice). Simmer just until rice curls. Drain. Meanwhile sauté onion and celery in a little butter. Add rice and 1 can soup. Cook on low until soup is absorbed.

Use Your Leftovers to make Fried Rice!

Here's a tip for all you Costco shoppers: Always buy 2 rotisserie chickens.  Serve the first to your family that day you buy it (I keep mine in warming drawer) and use the second for a salad, casserole, soup.

This recipe for fried rice is a great way to use up extra cooked chicken, steak, bbq, you name it.   Hope you give it a try!

Fried Rice

3 cups cooked white rice (made from 1 cup dry according to package directions)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup frozen peas/carrots
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic (from a jar)
2 eggs
2 cups chopped chicken breast (or other meat)
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high.  Add peas/carrots, onion and garlic.  Saute until tender.  Add 2 eggs and scramble into vegetables.  When egg is cooked, add chicken, rice and soy sauce.  Stir constantly until chicken is heated through.

The only chicken salad recipe you need!

Love me some Miss Daisy's food.  She sells it at our own Grassland Market and also does catering.  Check out www. missdaisyking.com.  Her caramel cake is to die for.  The poppy seed chicken tastes like home.  And her chicken salad is the best around.  The recipe for her chicken salad was printed in an old Junior League of Nashville cookbook.  It's truly the best chicken salad recipe out there!  Enjoy!

Best Chicken Salad

1 large hen or 4 whole chicken breasts ( I prefer white meat)
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1 cup finely chopped pecans (toasted, optional)
1 to 1/2 cups Hellman's mayonnaise
salt and black pepper to taste

In a large pot, boil the chicken in salted water until the meat begins to fall off the bones.  Cool.  Remove the skin and bones. Cut the chicken with scissors into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the celery, pickle relish and pecans. Mix.  Add the desired amount of mayo and season to taste. For a variety you may add grapes, chopped apple, or fresh pineapple bits.  Finely chopped almonds may be used instead of pecans. 

Yield: 6-8 lunch servings for 24-36 canapes  

Spring Break Shrimp

Y'all know how much I love the beach.  Ahhh..... Shrimp at the beach are a special treat - they don't get much fresher!  Yum!  I call this recipe Spring Break Shrimp because you make it with a spring break staple:  Beer!  Make this shrimp boil the next time you're at the beach or at home when you're longing for the shore.

Spring Break Beer Boiled Shrimp

3 lbs fresh jumbo shrimp
2 (12 oz) cans of beer
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp celery seed
2 Tbsp snipped parsley
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon (1-2 Tbsp)
melted butter or cocktail sauce

Rinse shirmp; drain.  Split shrimp down back; remove veins and legs, not shells.  Combine beer and seasoning in large kettle; bring to a boil.  Add shrimp; return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until shrimp turns pink, 2-5 minutes.  Serve hot, peeling to eat, with melted butter or cocktail sauce.