Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mar22

Easy Green Beans from a fave BBQ joint!

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Easy Green Beans from a fave BBQ joint!

Last weekend, we made our first jaunt of the summer to the Lake of the Ozarks, and our first stop (well, second I guess – the first was checking out my boat at the marina) was lunch at Wobbly Boots BBQ in Osage Beach.

After you have a smoked prime rib french dip there, you’re basically ruined for all other dips!  They offer very few recipes on their website, but one that is SOO good (Easter is on the horizon) is their Green Beans.  Yeah, I know that sounds boring, but they’re super easy, and all you need is onion, garlic and white wine (and probably some crumbled bacon, but that’s not how they make ’em) and you’re in green bean heaven.

Their easy recipe is below, and thanks for following me, and stopping by!

~Connie Kaye

Easy Spring Green Beans

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Ingredients:

Green Beans – select Haricot Vert Beans used are best – they are longer and slimmer than green beans, but the regular garden variety work also

Snap ends from beans and use approximately 1.5 handfuls for a single serving

  • In saute pan, heat approximately 3-4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
  • Toss in beans, diced red onion and minced garlic, to your liking
  • Over medium heat, cook the beans for 2.5 to 3 minutes – just until the rich green color begins to fade to a deeper hue
  • Pour 2 to 3 TBSP of white wine over the green beans to intensify and brighten the flavors
  • Remove from heat and consume…delish!

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Jan16

Chicken, bacon, cheese…….

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oh yeah, and jalapenos, but not hot.  I promise.

chicken bacon

Since we had the day off yesterday,  we did a barbeque run to a new spot, and are recovering from some amazing Kansas City BBQ at Slaps in Kansas City, KS.  I highly recommend this joint to everyone.  RIBS.  The end.  We ended up with an entire meal that we brought home, so order lightly.  Oh yeah, and BRISKET.  The best word to go with BBQ is joint, and this place brings it home.  We will definitely be back.  We shopped and then gambled at Hollywood Casino on the way home, and although we didn’t come out on top, it was fun!

Thought I might brew up something a little lighter for dinner, and made these chicken bacon jalapeno wraps.  We had a wonderful Christmas with friends, family and even more friends from Australia, plus an upcoming Mexico vacay in which we might just possibly overindulge, so the hubs and I have been eating a lot of meat, veggies and fruit.

So, let’s bring on the yard bird.  The husband of the house is not a fan of “yard bird” as he and his friend Charlie call it, but this, is delish.  I remove all of the innards from the jalapeno so it’s not hot, and combine with cheese and bacon, and yummo.  It’s about -10 degrees outside so I didn’t grill, which is the best, and most delicious option, but baking works as well.

Happy New Year everyone, and here’s to a fantastic 2018!!

~Connie Kaye

Chicken Bacon Rollups

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Ingredients:

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
5 jalapeno peppers
20 strips bacon
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup cup grated colby jack or cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Favorite BBQ sauce

Slice chicken breasts in half width wise (each half makes 1 chicken rollup).  Place between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound to 1/4″ thickness.  Season each with salt & pepper.

Slice jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove seeds, ribs and the end with the stem.

In a small bowl, mix softened cream cheese with your grated colby jack or cheddar cheese.

Fill each jalapeno half with cheese mixture.  Place 1 jalapeno half at the end of each chicken piece, and roll up.  Doesn’t always close the way you think it might – no worries, the bacon brings everything together.  Wrap each piece of chicken with bacon, tucking in the ends of the strips.

Preheat grill and cook over indirect heat for 20-25 minutes, turning every 4-5 minutes.  Baste chicken with BBQ sauce every time you give it a flip.  Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees.  If you don’t have a meat thermometer, buy one.  🙂  Just kidding…you can pierce the chicken with a fork, and if juices run clear, you’re good to go.

Alternate method — if you choose to bake, set oven at 375 and bake uncovered for 30 minutes, basting as above.  You can broil at the end so bacon can crisp completely.

Nov16

A new jewelry option…..

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Nope, no food in this post.  Just sharing a very cool option in personalized jewelry.  Click here   to find out about a new collection, KEEP.  Super cute, personalized, inspirational jewelry that is customized to YOU!

Brandi Buzzard-Frobose has launched this and she (and I – she’s my daughter :)) hope that you’ll pop over and take a looksey.  Here’s her most recent piece:

jewelry

For Brandi, this bracelet has a tree is to remember her roots, the mom is to remind her to be a good role model for Oakley and the arrow is a reminder to follow her arrow/goals/dream.  

Rumor has it there’s an early Black Friday sale happening, so start your holiday shopping now!    Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

~Connie Kaye

Nov12

Introducing…Mr & Mrs Kyle Wood!

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Introducing…Mr & Mrs Kyle Wood!

Mike and I spent the weekend in St. Louis with many of our wonderful friends, celebrating the marriage of two amazing people!  Meet Kyle and Erin, a.k.a Mr. & Mrs. Kyle Wood:

Mr & Mrs Kyle Wood

We have been lucky to gather a wide array of friends during our time at the Lake of the Ozarks, and Kyle’s dad, Woody is one of the best!  We all complain about the money we spend on boating, repairs, etc., but there’s nothing that can replace the friendships that we’ve developed as a result of our time at the lake.

I featured my friend Erin earlier on this blog, as she is an amazing cook.  So, I’m going to link to her  Delicious Cornbread Cake with Chicken

Yes, it could possibly be carb overload, but so delicious.  Warning, mine didn’t look near as good as Erin’s, but it certainly was consumed!

Congratulations Kyle & Erin, and your families!   Much love coming your way as you start your married life together!

~Connie Kaye (and Mike)

P.S.  If you would like to receive email updates along with 395 other people, including new ideas and recipes, please sign up with no risk of me sharing your personal information!

Nov5

An easy, delish crockpot meal….

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I love shrimp, and one of our very faves is Crockpot Shrimp Creole:

shrimp creole

It cooks in 3 hours, and the ingredients are probably items you have on hand already!  The simple instructions are below, and we’ll be having this for dinner tonight, after a CHIEFS win!!!

~Connie Kaye

Shrimp Creole

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Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (14-ounces) can tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
Green onions, for garnish
Preheat crock pot on high.
In fry pan, heat olive oil. Add peppers, onions and celery. Cook until softened. Add chili powder and saute until caramelized. Remove from heat and pour into crock pot. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire, white sugar, salt and pepper.
Cook for 3 hours. Add shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes. Serve over rice. Top with chopped green onions.

Oct22

Who doesn’t like Shrimp (and ceviche)??

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I’ve just realized that I’ve not posted some of my best go-to recipes.  So, I’m going to work on that.  However, preparing for an upcoming get together, I am making Shrimp Ceviche this weekend, and wanted to share this amazing recipe.  My wonderful, very long time friend Brenda gave me this recipe, so shout out to you my amazing friend.

Nope, I don’t have a pic at this point, but it’s delicious!  And E.A.S.Y. which is key in my life!  Note…I serve it in one of those huge martini glasses…makes it even cooler!

Shrimp Ceviche

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Ingredients:

1 pound ready to eat shrimp, peeled and deveined
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 2 oranges
1 cup diced seeded peeled cucumber (1/4-inch dice)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup diced seeded tomato
1 avocado, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon roughly chopped cilantro leaves, plus more leaves for garnish
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation
Chop the shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a medium nonreactive bowl. Add lemon, lime and orange juice. Stir in remaining ingredients, cover and chill for one hour before serving.  Enjoy!

 

Aug6

Thought we would try our hand at canning…..Peach Hot-Pepper Jam

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Thought we would try our hand at canning…..Peach Hot-Pepper Jam

Found this delicious recipe for Peach-Hot Pepper Jam in the Kraft Food & Family FREE magazine and it’s been a hit with many friends.  (I’ve actually had friends trade me stuff for it)  While the name implies that it’s hot, it’s not!!!  Just delicious.  We have used it on sandwiches, but the most popular way to consume it is to put it over softened cream cheese and dip with your favorite dipping instrument, such as Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps.    We use the original pretzel flavor with this yummy appetizer/snack, but we snarfed up a bag of the sea salt & black pepper yesterday which were delicious.   As rookies to the canning process, we learned on our first batch which wouldn’t set up – make sure the peaches aren’t too juicy, or add more pectin to adjust for the extra liquid.  While the peaches are plentiful, we plan to make more for gifts.  Hope you enjoy as we and our friends have!

~Connie Kaye

Peach Hot-Pepper Jam

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups finely chopped peeled peaches (about 1-1/2 lb.)
  • 1 cup finely chopped red peppers (about 1 large red pepper)
  • 1 cup finely chopped jalapeño peppers
  • 1 cup HEINZ Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 pkg. SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin
  • 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
    5 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
    Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water. Rinse well. Place jars, right sides up, on rack in bottom of boiling-water canner. Fill canner with enough warm water so it covers tops of jars by at least 1 inch. Bring water to boil; boil jars 10 min. Reduce heat to simmer. Leave jars in hot water until ready to be filled.
    Place new lids in medium saucepan filled with water; bring water to boil. Turn off heat. Let lids stand in water until ready to be used.

 

Place peaches and peppers in 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add vinegar. Stir in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

 

Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

 

Remove jars from water; drain well. Immediately ladle fruit mixture into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on rack, then lower into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover canner; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing centers of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Aug2

While the berries are fresh…..

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While the berries are fresh…..

try this cheesecake on for size!  I made it to celebrate a colleague’s completion of her master’s degree, and it was a huge hit.  Turns out the toughest thing about it is not gobbling up the berries as you are making the cheesecake – they are sooo delicious now!

A pic of this delish final product:

cheesecake

As we were snarfing it up, she mentioned being able to now just read a magazine, surf the web, and watch TV, instead of homework.  Man, I remember how great that feeling was!  So Charmine, here’s to you – enjoy and congrats again!

~Connie Kaye

Red, White & Blue Cheesecake Bars

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Ingredients:

Ingredients:
2 pkg crisp, sweet cookies (such as Pepperidge Farm Boardeaux)
1/4 cup salted butter, melted

1 cup each fresh or frozen raspberries and blueberries
3/4 cup plus 2 tsp granulated sugar, divided
2 tbsp water, divided

3 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 sp salt
2 lg. egg whites
1 lg. egg
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Puttin’ the party together:

Preheat oven to 350.  Process cookies in a food processor until finely ground, then drizzle melted butter over cookie crumbs; pulse well a couple of times to mix.  Press crumb mixture into bottom of lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool completely, about 30 minutes.  Reduce oven temp to 325.

Meanwhile, combine raspberries and 2 tablespoon each of the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to mash raspberries, until thickened, about 6-8 minutes.  Place raspberry mixture in a fire wire-mesh strainer over a bowl; press mixture until there are about 3 tbsp. raspberry puree in bowl.  Discard solids in strainer.  Cool puree completely.  Repeat exact process with blueberries.

Beat softened cream cheese, salt, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add egg whites and egg, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add sour cream, flour, lemon juice, and vanilla, and beat at low speed until smooth.  Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth top.

Drop level teaspoons of raspberry and blueberry purees all over the top of batter; gently swirl with a knife.

Bake at 325 until cheesecake is almost set (center will still be a little jiggly when dish is touched), 25 to 28 minutes.  Run a knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen, and cool on wire rack 1 hour.  Cover and chill 4 hours or overnight.  Cut into bars and dive into deliciousness!

 

Jan15

Hyatt’s Quick and Easy Snack Mix

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Hyatt’s Quick and Easy Snack Mix

I am probably one of the few who have never made chex snack mix…not really sure why.  But I recently observed and subsequently ate our son-in-law’s version, and oh man, it was delicious.  It was strongly suggested today that I get the stuff so we can have some for the Chiefs game tonight, so I thought I would share here.  Really easy and in an hour, bam, you’re good to go!!!

img_1844

Your basic plastic bar cup

I’ve included a picture of what I used to measure the ingredients — your basic stolen plastic bar cup 🙂  For the amount below, this recipe was 2 plastic cups of each cereal and pretzels.  I think Hyatt includes rye crisps but I couldn’t find them today.  An hour in the oven, and you’re ready for the game.  Hope this classic snack helps us to a Chiefs victory!

~Connie Kaye

Hyatt's Famous Snack Chex Mix

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Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:

Use even amounts of rice, wheat, and corn chex, and pretzel sticks (and rye crisps if desired.) Stir together heaping tsp of onion and garlic powders, and two times as much salt.  Sprinkle over blended cereals and pretzels.  Stir well.  Mix together 3/4 stick melted butter and 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce.  Slowly drizzle over mix, stirring frequently, getting it coated, but not soaked.  I also sprinkled about 1/4 tsp cayenne over it as well, with the powders.  The amount of butter and seasonings really depend on how much you’re making, so adjust accordingly.

Bake at 300 on baking sheets for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  You can add worcestershire sauce and seasonings if needed when you stir.

 

Jan8

Buffalo Chicken Bites

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Buffalo Chicken Bites

I found this recipe on a Rotel ad, I believe.  Last night, thinking about watching some football playoff games – gotta track who my boys will be playing next Sunday!  Anyway, this was just the ticket.  Really good and super easy.

I had never bought these phyllo shells before, but found them in the freezer section, precooked.  After filling, 15 minutes in the oven and they were ready to consume.  I did make one change as the original recipe didn’t have blue cheese in it, so that’s optional.  However, I figured buffalo sauce + blue cheese = yum!

Hope you enjoy as we did!

~Connie Kaye

Buffalo Chicken Bites

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Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:
4 oz cream cheese
1 tbsp cayenne pepper sauce
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green chiles, drained well
Chopped cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
crumbled blue cheese, optional
2 boxes frozen mini shells

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Please cream cheese in microwave safe bowl with pepper sauce.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir until smooth.   Add drained tomatoes, chicken and shredded cheese.  Divide mixture between frozen shells, place in large shallow baking dish.  Bake 15 minutes or until cheese melts.