Homemade Funnel Cake

Making homemade funnel cakes is one of our favorite things to do--and it is SO easy! I used to buy the box of premade funnel cake mix at the store, until I found this recipe online. It works wonderfully well and it is so scrumptious. WARNING--this food is not good for dieters. Just looking at it will make you gain ten pounds!

Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

3-4 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar (for topping)
vegetable oil (for deep frying - heat to 375 degrees)


Directions

1. Beat the eggs, then add the sugar and milk. Sift 2 cups of flour, the salt, and the baking powder and add to the milk, sugar, and egg mixture.
2. Mix while adding more flour until the batter is smooth and not too thick. The funnel should have an opening of at least 1/2 inch and be able to hold around a cup of batter. Put your finger over the bottom and add about a cup of batter. Remove your finger and allow the batter to pour into the center of the oil. Be careful, the oil may splash!
3. Gradually swirl the batter outward in a circular motion, or criss-cross back and forth to make a cake about 7 or 8 inches round.
4. We used to draw our initials to personalize our cakes! Check it with a pair of tongs and turn it when the bottom becomes golden brown.
5. When both sides are done, remove with tongs and let it drip on a paper towel.
6. Take powdered sugar and sprinkle over the top after it has drained.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love homemade muffins. My favorite are blueberry, but my kids LOVE chocolate chip muffins. I used to buy the pouches of mix at the store until I found out just how easy it is to make them homemade and they taste even better!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted then cooled

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

 

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

 

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in melted butter, milk, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 cup full.

 

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Snow Cream

Photo courtesy of Wikepedia

As my family and I hunker down for what the weather calls "a bad winter storm", we anticipate the wonderful, creamy dessert that we will get to make once the snow hits!

This stuff is fabulous and it freezes well, so double the recipe and make a second batch for later on in the day or week.

Ingredients

• 1 gallon snow (16 cups)
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Gather snow and place in a large, clean bowl. Stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir injust enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once or freeze until later.

 I promise...you will LOVE this stuff!

Homemade Chips and Salsa

This is for my wonderful bloggy friend Bettie whom I have grown to admire! Thank you so much for your wonderful and encouraging emails you always send me!

My daughter and I can break the bank when it comes to chips and salsa! At the beginning of the month, you can be sure we will eat it about 5 times a week(yes...we are that crazy for chips and salsa!). A while back, when we were studying about Mexico, we got the bright idea to begin making our own chips and salsa. Okay...as Sandra Lee says...it's "semi" homemade.

Here is what we do:

Salsa:
1 can of Rotel Tomates w/ green Chiles(I use generic from Aldi's because the can is bigger )
2 green onions chopped (use the whole thing--green and white)
1 1/2 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons of minced garlic (I use what is in the jar. It is finer and gives it a really good flavor)
Salt for seasoning
Lemon juice for acidic taste

Open the can of tomatoes and drain. Pour them into a bowl. Add the green onions, garlic, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice. Mix together and taste (it is hot so be ready for the heat). Add more salt to your taste. Allow to set and blend flavors while chips are cooking.

Chips:
I have started using flour tortillas to make chips. They are really good--better than corn I think, but that is just me!

1 package of 8" tortilla shells or whatever you have on hand (you can use corn or flour, but I prefer flour)
1 1/2" of oil in the bottom of a frying pan
salt for flavoring

Take tortillas and cut them into pizza shapes. You should get about 8 wedges from one tortilla. I usually do the whole pack and it feeds my family of four. After you have cut them into wedges, fry a few at a time in the oil that is in the pan. After a few minutes, flip them and fry the other side. You will know when they are ready to come out (this usually takes about 3 minutes total). Season them with salt and eat with yummy salsa!

Hope you enjoy!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This was orginally posted in October.

On Wednesday, we decided to finally carve our pumpkins. The kids always love to get in there and carve and create.
After carving and creating our masterpiece, they love to play with the pulp. They say it is like doing brain surgery…go figure!
Our most favorite thing to do after carving them and setting our pumpkins on the porch,

is roasting the seeds!

It is really simple! Remove all the seeds from the pumpkin and wash them off. Allow them to dry for about 3 to 4 hours. Spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle salt on them. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and roast for about 10-15 minutes. When you are done, you will have a wonderful yummy goodness to munch on!

Ranch Style Oyster Crackers

One of my hubby’s favorite snack is Oyster Crackers that have been baked in Ranch Dressing.
These crackers are simple and easy to make. All you need is a package of Oyster Crackers, 1/3 cup of oil (you can use whatever kind of oil you have on hand—I used olive oil this time, but in the past I have used vegetable oil) and one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (it is a powder that you get on the dressing aisle).
To make, mix the powder and the oil together and pour on crackers. Mix well so that the oil mixture coats all the crackers. Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until slightly browned.
These are delicious AND addictive!

Ranch Style Oyster Crackers

One of my hubby’s favorite snack is Oyster Crackers that have been baked in Ranch Dressing.
These crackers are simple and easy to make. All you need is a package of Oyster Crackers, 1/3 cup of oil (you can use whatever kind of oil you have on hand—I used olive oil this time, but in the past I have used vegetable oil) and one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (it is a powder that you get on the dressing aisle).
To make, mix the powder and the oil together and pour on crackers. Mix well so that the oil mixture coats all the crackers. Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until slightly browned.
These are delicious AND addictive!

The Best Chocolate Shake Ever

Recipe is taken from The Hillbilly Housewife website.

I am all about making things more frugal. Last night when we were wanting some ice cream, I remembered a recipe that I had seen on the Hillbilly Housewife website for Magic Milkshakes. What caught my eye about this recipe was that it did not require the use of ice cream at all!

Ingredients for this milkshake included ice water, ice, unsweetened cocoa, powdered milk, sugar, vanilla, oil, and cooking spray. As she says on her website, do not try to leave the last two ingredients out. They help everything stay together and they do not taste bad at all!

Visit Hillbilly Housewife and get her recipe for:

Magic Milkshakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ice water

1 1/2 cups powdered milk

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 trays of ice cubes

2 tablespoons of corn oil

5 second spray of non-stick cooking spray for emulsification purposes

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Serves: 4

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday