Campfire Cones

You just grab anything that you love and put it in a cone.
We used

• milk chocolate chips
• peanut butter chips
• golden grams
• waffle cones

Put everything in the cone and wrap it in tin foil. Put it on the fire and let it all melt together. They are super good, easy, and surprisingly not messy at all. We will be making these again :)

Mom's Caramel Popcorn

I am mostly posting this so that I don't have to call mom or email one of you every time I want to make Mom's popcorn, which is quite often. I love that stuff. It is so sugary and sticky and good. Perfect actually.

Here's the recipe (thanks, Amy for sending it to me and Mom for texting it to me from the recipe book in your brain!)


Ingredients:

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup light carol syrup
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cube margarine or butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• big bowl of popcorn

Directions

Bring sugar and syrup to hard ball, stir condensed milk in until it boils. Add butter till melted. Take from heat add vanilla pour over popcorn.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Curry...Straight from Thailand

I thought I would give Amy something yummy to use her basil for. Italian food is good and all, but basil is way better used in Thai food! It's a staple there! So here you go:

Ingredients

2 tbs thai red curry paste*

1 can coconut milk

1can water (less if you want it to be creamier)

2 chicken bouillon cubes

2 chicken breasts diced

2 medium zucchini

1tbs fish sauce or 1 tsp salt

Mushrooms

1 can pineapple chunks

fresh basil leaves

*Note: You can use more or less curry paste depending on how spicy you like it! sometimes I start with just 1 TBS and then later add another if I want it spicier or think that whoever I am making it for can handle it!)

Directions:

1. Heat a little oil in a pan and then put in the curry paste. Cook it until it is fragrant (won't take long and everyone in your house will be coughing).

2. Add the coconut milk, water, and bouillon cubes. When it is boiling, add the chicken and let it cook in the mixture.

3. When the chicken is cooked, add the zucchnini, pineapple (drained),  fish sauce or salt, and mushrooms. Let cook until boiling.

4. Test and see if it is tasty. If not, add a little more curry paste, fish sauce or salt, pineapple juice (or sugar).

5. When you get it to where you like it, remove from heat and add basil leaves to the top and cover for another few minutes.

6. Serve over rice...Jasmine is the best :)

Yum! Maybe I should make some.

This recipe can be easily adapted for other curries. If you want a green curry, follow all the steps, but omit the pineapple part. I'll try to get you another good basil recipe in the next week or so.

Basil Recipe #2

I thought I would put a picture of our garden in this post so you guys can see how well plants grown out here. With all the water and heat we get everything just goes crazy. I love it!

Here is another recipe I love the uses basil. This is SUPER easy to make. It is usually my go-to meal in the summers when I haven't planned anything and the kids are hungry. I don't have the exact recipe written down because I got it from a library cookbook last summer. Here is the basic recipe.

1 pkg linguine noodles (or spaghetti)
1 pkg frozen broccoli (or fresh if you have it)
1/2-1 cup pesto (make it ahead of time and freeze it)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan

Cook noodles. Add pesto, cooked broccoli, and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and Parmesan.

I Love Basil

I planted a TON of basil in my garden this year. I hope the kids and Nate don't get tired of basil any time soon. ;) I thought I would post a few of my favorite recipes using basil.

Angel Hair Pasta with Tomatoes

Ingredients:	8 oz dried angel hair (or other pasta. I use the multigrain kind) 1 T. plus 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil 3 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley 2 T. minced fresh garlic 2 T. minced shallots 1 1/2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, diced 1 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese (I use 1/2 cup of reduced-fat feta) 1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted 1/4 c. shaved Parmesan cheese Salt to taste
Directions:	Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta and cook al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the hot pasta in a large bowl with 1 T. olive oil to prevent sticking. Set the pasta and reserved cooking liquid aside. Heat the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil in a deep, large nonstick frying pan over high heat. Add the basil, parsley, garlic and shallots and stir just until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the tomatoes and saute just until they are heated through, about 45 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the salt, to taste ( go easy, remember cheeses have a lot of salt). Stir in the feta and the shredded Parm. Add the pasta and toss gently to combine, adding some of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten, if necessary. Mound the pasta on a large platter and sprinkle with pine nuts and shaved Parm, if desired, and serve immediately.

The Ultimate Granola

I am sure most of you are avoiding using your oven, but I wanted to post this yummy granola recipe before I forgot about it. My favorite thing about this recipe is that you don't have to stir the granola!! You just put it in the oven and 1 hour later you pull out your masterpiece.

2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins

Measure the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, coconut and walnuts onto rimmed cookie sheet. Mix well.

Combine the maple syrup and vanilla in a separate small bowl. Add the syrup mixture to the oat mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly on top of the mixture and blend well.

Spread the granola evenly on the baking sheet and bake at 225 F for 1 hour.

Remove and set aside to cool. Toss in the cranberries and raisins. (We have been adding fresh or frozen berries into our bowls instead of the dried fruit)