Snickers Caramel Corn

Holy Popcorn Batman!!! We have a winner!! You know what bugs me?  I went to the store to get some snickers bars the other day, and the 8 pack of fun size are now a 6 pack.  Ugh! Remember when it used to be a 10 pack for a dollar?  And on sale, you could really get a smokin deal. Now we are getting 4 less candy bars and paying more money.  Whats this world coming to!

I found this recipe on my dear friend's blog. I've been so excited to try it.  I tell you what... you want to host the party of the year?  Serve this popcorn!  Just beware that it will go fast, so make sure to keep it comin'.

Snickers Caramel Corn

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 cups air-popped popcorn

12 fun size Snickers

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Slice candy bars in half lengthwise, then into thirds.

In a pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add in sugar and corn syrup, whisking until dissolved, then let simmer (without mixing) until mixture begins to bubble – about 4 minutes. Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes more until caramel is amber in color, this time stirring every 30 seconds or so in order for the sugar to not burn.

Turn off heat and whisk in vanilla, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, add popcorn.  Drizzle sauce all over and stir well, to coat. Fold in candy bars, then spread popcorn on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping every few minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool completely, if you dare.  

You can also top with more snickers pieces.  It was a little too much for me. I just enjoyed the popcorn by itself.

Variation:  I mindlessly added white sugar instead of brown. So I just also added 1 tsp of molasses to the pot to cook with the other ingredients.  It tasted great!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Well its Super Bowl Week here at Mommy's Kitchen Creations! You are in for some serious fun this week.  Tonight we have Baked Jalapeno Poppers.  Much healthier than the deep fried ones, and they taste better too!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

15 Large Jalapenos

2 cups finely shredded Cheddar Cheese

2.5 oz package Cooked Chopped Bacon (1/2 cup)

2 (8 oz) bricks Cream Cheese (at room temp)

1 1/2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs

Slice Jalapenos lengthwise.  Make sure to remove all stems, seeds and ribs.  Is a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, bacon and cheese.  Mix well.  Scoop mixture into jalapeno halves and roll in bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for about 30 min, or until skin starts to bubble a little bit.



My Apologies

I have been trying to earn a little extra cash to help cover some of my food costs, by having some advertisements on here.  There have been some that have been very inappropriate and offensive.  I tried getting in contact with the company to get them to take them off.  The truth is, I gave them too long of a chance to get it taken care of, in hopes they would take the offensive ones off and leave the coupons.  I should have just dropped them the second I saw them on there... I apologize for not doing that!  I am so sorry for those that have been offended by them.  I have removed them.  I do have two ads still on there from google.  I have not yet seen those be offensive, but confess that I don't look at them often, as I am not allowed to click on them.  So if you see anything offensive or inappropriate, please let me know!

Again I am so sorry.  I'll just have to find another way to make different recipes on a budget.  Thanks everyone for your comments and for viewing my blog.  I really enjoy doing it.  I've tried replying to your comments, I hope I have caught them all. So if you ask a question or anything, make sure to check back at the comments for my reply. 

Love to all and hope you have a fabulous day!!!

Thrifty Week day 5- Thrush

For all of you nursing mothers out there that deal with chronic thrush, never fear... relief is here! Thrush is basically yeast overgrowth.  I don't claim to know how all of this yeast stuff works... but I do know that it has haunted me the last 3 babies and its no fun! 

It doesn't just effect nursing mothers.  It effects all kinds of people.  Nursing just seems to be when it's at its worse because you and the baby can pass it back and forth over and over and over.  So here is a few simple tips that I have found to work... the only problem is... you have to keep it up for about 2 weeks after the symptoms are gone.  I'm the kind that once I start feeling better... it drops to the bottom of the priority list! Hence the reason I haven't fully gotten rid of it after 3 children.

The first thing to remember is a healthy diet!  Stay away from the sugar!!!  I know its easier said than done.  I am a serious junk food junky!  Eat lots of spinach and other really green veggies.  Not sure why, but it helps! I know it has something to do with building back up your immune system.  Oh and garlic.. Eat lots of garlic.  It helps to build your immune system too.

You'll also want to take a good probiotic. Ask you Dr or pharmacist which one they recommend. 

Here's the great part though.  If you have ever tried nursing a baby when you have an advanced stage of thrush, you know it's one of the most painful things EVER!  I won't go into details but if you are cracked and bleeding or even scabbed over, you know that those wounds do not heal very easy. And it's not always thrush that causes that just fyi. Sometimes its the latch.  Either way, try these recipes. They are awesome!!!!

Salt Water Soak

(to heal cracked nipples and other wounds)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

rinse "troubled" areas with solution. I like to use those squirt bottles you get from the hospital for both of these. A lactation specialist told me you could soak up the water into two wods of paper towel and hold them on the breast or other infected areas for 10 minutes.  I like to just rinse them, its faster and doesn't waist paper towel.  I use the entire recipe each rinse. Pat dry with a clean towel.  Do this about 3 times a day. (if you can)

Vinegar Soak

(just for yeast)

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 cup hot water (as hot as you can stand)

rinse "troubled" areas with solution.  3 times daily (as impossible as that is for a mommy to do) You can also use the solution to rinse the babies diaper area with (ONLY USE LUKE WARM WATER FOR THIS) We don't want a burnt bottom for that little one!  Pat dry with a clean towel.  The hot water and the vinegar will kill the yeast.  Unfortunately it grows back rapidly, so that is why you have to do it frequently and do all of the other things above, so that you can get it out all the way. I use the entire recipe each rinse.

Thrifty Week day 4- All Purpose Cleaner

I have got some seriously awesome all purpose cleaner recipes for you today!!!  I found a site called

Organized Home. They are awesome with information.  Check it out!All but the first recipe comes from their site. They also have some amazing things to do with baking soda and ammonia.

I absolutely love working with vinegar.  For those of you that are nursing mothers dealing with thrush, or if you have chronic yeast issues, stay tuned to tomorrow post!!!!  Vinegar is awesome for cleaning.  It's a strong smell at first, but as it evaporates, the smell goes away.  Along with the other smells in the room. Its a natural deodorizer along with about a million other things. 

Vinegar

Homemade Mopping Solution for Floors:

Mix a solution of 1 to 1 vinegar and water to mop your floors.  It works awesome.  I often just dump some vinegar into a sink full of water. It doesn't have to be that exact ratio if you don't want to.

Homemade Spray Cleaner Recipe

Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

In the kitchen, use vinegar-and-water spray to clean counter tops, lightly soiled range surfaces and back splash areas.

In the bathroom, use vinegar spray cleaner to clean counter tops, floors, and exterior surfaces of the toilet.

For really tough bathroom surfaces such as shower walls, pump up the cleaning power by removing the sprayer element and heating the solution in the microwave until barely hot.

Spray shower walls with the warmed solution generously, allow to stand for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrub and rinse. The heat helps soften stubborn soap scum and loosens hard water deposits.

Undiluted white vinegar--straight from the jug--makes quick work of tougher cleaning problems involving hard water deposits or soap scum.
Uses: 

to scrub the inside of the toilet bowl-  Before you begin, dump a bucket of water into the toilet to force water out of the bowl and allow access to the sides. Pour undiluted white vinegar around the bowl and scrub with a toilet brush to remove stains and odor. Use a pumice stone to remove any remaining hard water rings.

shower heads that have been clogged with mineral deposits- Place 1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar in a plastic food storage bag, and secure the bag to the shower head with a rubber band. Let stand for 2 hours to overnight, then rinse and buff the fixture to a shiny finish.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

As a little disclaimer:  I haven't tried this recipe yet.  I got too lazy a couple of weeks ago and just bought a Costco sized detergent.  In an effort not to spend more money than I needed to this week, I decided just to share it and see how you like it.  I have used these ingredients before in cleaning, so I'm pretty confident that it's a good one.

We are stepping out of the laundry room and into the kitchen today.  Tomorrow, I'll share an all purpose cleaner recipe for the kitchen/bathrooms etc.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Lemishine or citric acid (double for hard water)

1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

Fill rinse agent compartment with white vinegar or lemon juice.

Each batch yields 24 ounces. Make sure to store in a disposable container.   You can double, or triple etc. the batch as desired. 

Fill container with ingredients. Seal with a lid. Shake really well.  Label your container and store.

Each load will only need 1 tbsp of the mixture.

Notes:  I found Lemishine at Fry's. I'm sure Wal Mart carries it as well.  Citric acid is a little harder to find.  If you decide to use citric acid, it will make the detergent clumpy.  Just leave it out and stir it several times for the first day or two.

For savings and other tips visit DIY Natural.

Thrifty Week day 2- Fabric Softener

We have been potty training this week.  The absolute worst part about potty training for me, is the clean up.  The laundry that never seems to get that smell out, no matter how many times you wash them.  I put my daughter down for a nap today and she left me a present.  Nope not a wet present.  Yeah, you know what I'm talking about!  Those smells never seem to come out, with my old washer and dryer! The sheets and clothes always seem to smell stale or something after I wash them. 

Or don't you love those weeks where the laundry piles up and is the last thing on your list?  Then you remember that you have wet towels in the pile from mopping the floor, or bath time. Then all of the clothes wreak. Well Never Fear, relief is on the way.

Vinegar has got to be the greatest cleaner known to man!  I'll be sharing many vinegar tips the next few days.  I use it for canning, cleaning, and even yeast overgrowth. This stuff is amazing!

My mom told me about using vinegar in my rinse cycle of the washing machine.  It works as a fabric softener. It helps keep the washing machine and the hoses clean. My favorite part is that it takes out odors. Who would have thought that nasty smelling vinegar, takes out odors.  I challenge anyone who doesn't believe me, to come take a whiff of the sheets I just washed.  You'll never know what was on them. :) 

1 Cup vinegar

Add to your rinse cycle to reduce odors, and soften fabrics. 
You can also do this and run an empty cycle, for a good washing machine clean.  (same with the dishwasher)

The Duggar family also suggests this as another fabric softener suggestion, to stretch the budget.

1  Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener
4  Inexpensive sponges, cut in half

Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet. 

picture taken from Here