Ooey Gooey Popcorn: Halloween Edition

Beware! Warning! Caution! Look out, mate! DO NOT MAKE THIS POPCORN IF YOU HAVE NO ONE TO SHARE IT WITH. You will eat the whole bowl. You might not even feel bad about it. It's really that good. Its also a great way to be creative with some of that leftover Halloween candy.


True story: I was sitting on the couch a few days ago watching a movie with Delilah. I had a sudden desperate need for this popcorn. A you-don't-even-understand-how-much-I-need-this-popcorn-right-now kind of craving. I made the popcorn. I ate almost the whole thing by myself.. but I saved a little bowl for Josie. I am a good mom after-all. Did I mention I made a batch a few days before it and we annihilated it? James loves it too.

 ...I said it was a true story not a good story.

Are you convinced yet? Make this popcorn!

Ooey Gooey Popcorn: Halloween Edition

{Adapted from Sweet Treats and More: Gooey Vanilla Bean Popcorn}

Ingredients:
1 Bag of Microwavable Popcorn (I used movie theater butter but you can use whatever floats your boat.)
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/2 Stick of Butter
2TBSP Light Corn Syrup
1TSP Vanilla Extract
Your Choice of Halloween Candy (I used 1/4 cup candy corn and 10 Butterfinger covered pretzels, roughly chopped)




Directions:
Pop popcorn according to instructions. Pour into bowl carefully avoiding the unpopped kernels.
Stir in your choice of candy.
In small saucepan heat sugar, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla, over medium heat, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Stir constantly.
Pour sugar mixture over popcorn slowly and stir together. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to be sure all candy gets mixed thoroughly.
Let cool slightly & enjoy :)

I have also kept this in a tupperware on the counter and it was still awesome the next day. It's never lasted longer than that.

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies & Yaki Mandu

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies

I found this recipe over
at Sweet Pea's Kitchen and thought they looked pretty yummy. I'm not really a cakey cookie kinda gal but I had all the ingredients so I thought.. why not? I am SO glad I tried these. A huge hit for my whole family. Even the ones that don't love sweets.  Click on over and try them yourself!

Yaki Mandu

"Yucky Mountain Dew???" "No, Yaki Mandu!" "Oh, uhh.. bring me a couple more please."

I am generally pretty intimidated by Asian food. I grew up with a lot of spaghetti and my moms almost famous lasagna.  Anything of the Asian variety was delivered from our favorite restaurants. However, I saw these and immediately thought "Hey, I bet I could make those!" and make them I did! They were easy, fantastically yummy, and fun too. We served them with rice and that Spicy Thai Mango sauce. Head over to Seaweed & Sassafras2 and try them yourself!

Chimichangas

 Tonight I tried my hand at Chimichangas. They turned out really good! I need to work on my frying - they got a little dark. Everything else about them was really perfect though. I highly recommend trying them. You could add whatever you want to the inside. I'm not going to tell you exactly how much of everything to put in because it's really up to you. Just make sure you don't overfill them or all your stuffing will fall out!

First take warm tortillas (I made four) and fill them with whatever you'd like. I used refried beans, cheddar cheese, and the meat from these Chile Colorado Burritos. I would love to make one with shredded chicken and pepper jack cheeses too. Maybe with some fresh sliced jalapenos. Yum!

Roll your now filled tortilla shells into cute little burritos. Make sure you tuck those ends in. Place them seam side down in a frying pan with hot vegetable oil. Please do me a favor and don't burn yourself. Make sure your oil isn't too hot. Please do me a favor and learn from my mistakes. When they're golden and beautiful, (don't forget the ends like I did.) take them out and set them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. 

You can stop there, but I decided to put some of the sauce leftover from my beef and some more shredded cheese over the top and then put them under the broiler until the cheese melted. Yum.
I served them beside black bean and garlic flavored chips with big dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Did I mention, yum?

Try these! They were so good.

 

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken and Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

 I am a huge fan of Buffalo Chicken anything. I've been making this chicken for awhile and putting it on sandwiches or nachos or throwing some into ramen noodles. The possibilities are really endless. (I cant find the blog where I found this recipe so if it's yours let me know and i'll be sure to link you up!)
The other day I made these Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Mashies to go with them and it was a match made in heaven!


*Buffalo Chicken*  
Ingredients:
-4-6 bonless skinless chicken breasts
-1 bottle Franks Buffalo Sauce
-1 packet ranch dressing mix
Directions:
-Place the chicken in the crock pot & top with the sauce & mix.
-Cook on low for 7 hours, shred, and then cook for 1 more hour.
-Put in/on/beside everything you eat for the next few days.

easy squeezy, right?

*Caramelized Onion & Blue Cheese Mashies*
Ingredients:
5-6 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4TBSP butter, divided
 1 cup blue cheese
1/2-3/4 cup half & half
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
-Boil potatoes until fork tender, drain
-Meanwhile, cook diced onion in 1TBSP butter over medium heat until beautiful and brown (be patient or you'll burn them)
-Melt the remaining 3TBSP butter in with the onions
-Pour onions, butter, blue cheese, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup half and half in with potatoes and mash to your liking. Add more half and half if they're too dry.

Serve by your buffalo chicken and some steamed veggies and enjoy tremendously.