BBQ Sauce Review and GIVEAWAY!!

Winner Winner BBQ Dinner!!!

And the winner is...

Melissa Schnieder!  

Congrats and thanks for entering!

***UPDATE*** Contest extended!!!!!  

Meet my new friend Johnny Secreto.  

This is now my favorite barbecue sauce.  It is all natural, I recognize every single ingredient on the label!  And, it's local!  If you've been around for awhile, you know I like "real" food.  I like to do a lot of home made recipes because I want to know what's in my food, and I want it to be real.  No high fructose corn syrup is allowed in this house!  Or things that have a gazillion unrecognizable ingredients and preservatives in it.  Nope, not here.  So, I was delighted to find this sauce.  I'm all about making my own sauces... but, don't we all need a little convenience sometimes? With 4 kids, I say YES!  I may never make my own barbecue sauce again!  

Okay, so I was asked to review this sauce.  You may  have already caught on, that I LOVED it!!  

The flavor is great, you can actually taste layers of flavor, and it has a subtle kick in the after taste.  It has a great balance of sweet and smoky.  My whole family really enjoyed it.  The kids always give me a thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs sideways review at dinner.  This one got 2 thumbs up!  

Here's what I decided to put it on...

Yes, ribs!  Ribs just scream bbq!  

I was recently in Kansas City visiting my cousins (who are super awesome by the way), and we had us some real Kansas City Barbecue, mm hmm.  It was good, it was delicious actually, it was authentic KC BBQ.  But, Johnny Secreto might just take the cake on this one (sorry Kansas).  

I would not, and will not limit myself to ribs with this sauce.  It would be good on so many things!  

You can check out this baby back rib recipe here.  

Be sure to visit the Johnny Secreto website too.  And guess what!  They make Pasta Sauce too!  And marinades and spice blends.   

Johhny Secreto sauces can be found at many local farmers markets in Michigan.  You can also find it  on their website. Your local Meijer store carries the Pasta Sauce.

Did you see "Giveaway" in the title of this post?  Yes!  Johnny Secreto's is giving me a Craft Barbecue Sauce to give away to you my awesome readers!  Here's how to enter:

   

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SRC: Cherry Pop Tarts

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club post!  This month I had the most lovely blog... (insert drumroll here)  Mele Cotte!  Christina, or Chris, as she's often referred to grew up surrounded by a family of experienced Italian cooks (LUCKY!). She has also had some professional training.  Chris says "Utilizing baking as a stress reliever, my most pleasurable activities that stemmed from culinary adventures was Mele Cotte, my personal blog..."  You can read more about Chris HERE.  Plus, I bet you're wondering what Mele Cotte means, I was too, but you'll have to go visit her to see.  :-)

Christina's pictures are beautiful, and make you want to dive right in!  Her blog is easy to navigate and she has oh so many fabulous recipes!  Check out these Chewy Granola Bars, and this Baked Avocado Salsa, and the Three Bean and Sweet Potato Chili.  I told you she was fabulous!

Well, as you can see from the title of my post, I landed on the Cherry Pop Tarts.  I've always wanted to try making my own pop tarts.  As a kid, we ate these things all the time.  But, as an adult, ugh, they don't even sound good.  I've developed a taste for real, unprocessed food, so no offense to any pop tart lovers out there, but this beats the grocery store kind any day!

Christina made hers gluten free.  I did not.  Since I don't normally cook gluten free, I just don't have the ingredients on hand for that.  Here's the scoop:

For the Filling:
1 cup fresh pitted cherries (I had some still in my freezer from last summer, so I just thawed them out)
2 Tbsp. water
¼ cup turbinado (raw) sugar, fine ground
1 Tbsp. arrowroot (or cornstarch)--I used cornstarch

For the Pastry Dough:

2 ¼ cups brown rice flour--I used all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¾ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup turbinado (raw) sugar, fine ground
1 egg, lightly beaten
4-6 Tbsp. cold water

Place flour, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse several times until butter is incorporated. Add the egg and pulse to incorporate. Gradually add cold water and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball. Remove from bowl and press into a square. (If dough is too dry, sprinkle water on top and knead it into the mixture.) Wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.  (I only needed 4 Tbs. of water, and it was perfect--very easy to use!)

Preheat oven to 375 ° F. Lightly flour a clean surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Be sure to shift the dough occasionally to prevent sticking.

Cut into twelve even rectangles. Place six on a parchment lined baking sheet. Carefully spoon 1 or 2 tablespoons of filling into the center of the rectangles (the amount of filling will depend on the size of your rectangles). Top with the remaining six dough rectangles. Smooth the dough over the filling and gently press the edges to seal.

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown. Let cool.

These were SO delicious!  The taste of the cherries just brought me back to summer!

It was a pleasure to bake something from Christina's blog.  Be sure to check out all her amazing recipes!

Blessings to you~

SRC: Homemade Vegetable Dip

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club post!!  Yea!  This month I was assigned Debbi Does Dinner Healthy & Low Calorie.  What a great site to be assigned right after the holidays!  Debbi's mission is to make healthy, low calorie meals without sacrificing taste, and she does it well!  I had alot of fun browsing through her site, and I'll definitely be back to try more of her recipes.  Thanks Debbi for all your inspiration!

So, where did I land?  The Home made vegetable dip.  I am so glad I chose this one.  We love to snack on raw vegetables, but my kids especially like something to dip it in.  I typically buy a yogurt based ranch dressing, it's an all natural sort of brand, and we love it.  Who doesn't love ranch?  But, this is real veggie dip, with all the flavors of one bought, but made at home.  It was easy peasy to make, and uses staple ingredients.  Total winner.

Ingredients:
1 6oz plain yogurt
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/3 cup light mayo
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt

Whisk it all together, and wa-lah!  I told you it was easy, or as my kids say... easy peasy lemon squeezy.  I bet this would be good with a squeeze of lemon, hmm.  Chill it for about an hour before serving to let all the flavors blend.

Don't you just want to munch on some fresh veggies right now?  :-)  Happy crunching.

Stay Tuned

Hi lovely readers!
I just wanted to let you all know that I am having some technical difficulties with my blog right now.  I'm working to resolve them.  You can still enjoy my existing posts, I just haven't been able to post anything new.  I'm really sorry, and really bummed!  I had another fabulous Christmas Eve Open House, and I really wanted to share those appetizer recipes!!  I know I can post them later, but it was just killing me knowing I wasn't able to share as I don't have this figured out yet!

Thank you so much for your patience.  Happy New Year!

Chellie

SRC: Nutty Granola

This month's Secret Recipe Club  reveal is from Eliot's Eats.  Debra's blog is filled with wholesome goodness!  I loved looking through her recipe's, as well as just browsing the other parts of her blog.  I also loved that she has a heart for real food and eating local.

If you're new around here, The Secret Recipe Club is a once a month event where I'm assigned another members blog to cook from and blog about.  Likewise, someone has my blog too.  It's a secret until the big reveal day.  Plus, for a foodie like me, I've been introduced to so many amazing food blogs through this experience.  Please go check out The Secret Recipe Club for tons of awesome blogs, recipe's and bloggers.  These people are a fantastic community.

One of the favorite foods in my household is granola, so I was thrilled to find Eliot's Eats Nutty Granola recipe.  It is quite different from my 'usual', so I was excited to try it.  Not that I don't love the other one, I just think a little variety is good.  I did make a couple changes due to not having some ingredients on hand, and they are noted in the ingredient list.


Nutty Granola

2 T. canola oil
1/4 c. local honey
1/4 c. light molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 c. brown sugar (light or dark—your choice)
1/2 t. Kosher salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
4 c. old-fashioned oats
1 c. pecan halves (I used walnuts)
1/4 c. raw pepitas
1/2 c. raw pistachios (I used cashews--although I would have loved the pistachios)
1/4 c. flax seeds (I omitted because I only had flaxseed meal)
1/4 c. chia seeds

I also roughly chopped my nuts, which Debra's recipe does not suggest.  I just have little ones eating it.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees . 

 Place canola oil, honey and molasses in a sauce pan.  I loved Debra's tip to measure the canola oil into a 1/4 c. measuring cup. Swirl it around to coat the measuring cup and then pour it in a small sauce pan. This will help the honey and molasses flow from the cup.  Add the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

Heat over low heat and stir with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly while the other ingredients are mixed.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together oats, walnuts, pepitas, cashews, and chia seeds. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and stir well so all ingredients are coated.


Divide mixture and spread evenly on the two baking sheets. Place in oven and and set timer for 10 minutes. After timer goes off, rotate baking sheets and stir. Add timer for another 10 minutes. Repeat. Total cooking time is 35-40 minutes.

This does tend to burn easily so watch carefully.

Some of our favorite ways to eat granola:  As a cereal,

Topping off Yogurt,

Or spreading some Almond butter on apple slices and sprinkling the granola over it.

This granola just might be a new favorite!  Thanks Eliot's Eats!

Maple Apple Crisp

I've been meaning to post this recipe since October when I made it for my hubby's birthday.  I loved the addition of maple syrup and dried cranberries to this delicious Apple Crisp.

For those of you who don't know, we are foster parents.  In August, 2 lovely little girls came to live with us.  We added a 3 yr. old and a 1 yr. old to our 6 yr. old and 8 yr. old.  We are really enjoying them.  I know people have 4 plus kids, and do great, but it did take a little adjusting.  Going from 2-4 overnight, yeah, it was pretty chaotic.  Let's be honest, there's a little chaos every day.  :D  But, I wouldn't change it.  If we come to mind, please pray these girls lives would be touched in a positive way through being with our family for this time.  Okay, that was my explanation (excuse?) for not writing more often.  But, now on to the recipe:

This was adapted from Cuisine at Home.

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt, divided
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced
3/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
3/4 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. apple cider, boiling
4 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into slices (about 9 apples)
3/4 c. pure maple syrup (gotta use the real stuff here)
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbs all purpose flour
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

For the streusel, whisk together the flour, sugars, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl.  Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Mix oats and walnuts into flour mixture with your hands until thoroughly combined; cover and refrigerate.

I could just eat this with a spoon.

For the filling, soak cranberries in apple cider, covered, until plumped.

Toss together apples, cranberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, 2 tbs flour, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt in a large bowl.  Transfer apple mixture to a 9x13 inch baking dish, (or 2 pie dishes work too).  cover apples with streusel and bake until apples are tender, about 50 minutes.  Let apple crisp rest on a cooling rack 30 minutes before serving.

We like to top ours with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!!

SRC: Artichoke Tomato Chicken

Hi!  It's time for another Secret Recipe Club post!  This month I had the honor of making something from Lynne's blog 365 days of baking.  I felt an instant connection to Lynne when I read that her dream job was to me a mother.  She and her family reside in the warmer area of the States, AZ.  Lynne, can I come for a visit to get away from cold Michigan this winter?  :-)  Lynne has many talents and I am incredibly impressed that she would take on the challenge of baking something for 365 days in a row!  That is amazing!  I love to bake, but I think I would feel stressed!  Kudo's to you Lynne!  There is not a lack of choices on her blog.  Some of the incredible things I considered were Home made cheese crackers (I've always wanted to try that for my kids), Banana Bread French Toast, Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts, and look at these babies, Fluffernutter Nutella Crescents!  YUM!  But after looking at all her beautiful recipes, I landed on this one.  Artichoke Tomato Chicken.  I loved the simplicity of this one, but it's so flavorful!  It's healthy, which is good, I could serve it for dinner.  The Fluffernutter Nutella Cresents, well, I'm afraid I would eat them all myself.  But I will try those sometime when I have a crowd, or, maybe I will make them just for me.  :-)


Artichoke Tomato Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
4 medium size artichoke hearts (from a can/jar) sliced into thirds
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (I used dried)
6 slices provolone cheese
1 cup chicken broth

*I dipped the chicken in egg first, which is different from the original recipe*

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Prepare a 9 X 13" baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.

Place 1 egg, slightly beaten into 1 dish and the bread crumbs into another shallow dish.

I added a little milk to my egg just to stretch it a little bit.

Using one breast at a time, dip the chicken in the beaten egg, and then the bread crumbs and place in prepared baking dish.

Place tomatoes and then artichokes on each piece of chicken.

Sprinkle with oregano.

Slice provolone cheese and half and place  over each chicken breast.  Depending on the size of your chicken breast, you may need 2 or 3 slices on each breast.

Gently pour chicken broth into dish.

Bake for 20 minutes.

So, the verdict?  Really, really good!  Everyone loved it.  Thanks Lynn for such a simple, easy and super flavorful recipe!

Make sure you stop by 365 days of baking and The Secret Recipe Club for more awesome recipes!

Thanks for stopping by!