It's Chicken Scaryaki time with a little murder.

Good Afternoon all,  We are back to the murder mystery cooking and how appropriate its Halloween related.  We are revisiting Krista Davis  book "The Domestic Diva Haunts the House".  Character is a person who helps others with their domestic issues.  In this book she's  helping to decorate a haunted house.  The inevitable murder happens and she helps solve the murder.  Excellent series filled with crafts and recipes.  For today's segment we are cooking Chicken Scaryaki.  It's really yummy and easy.  We have adapted it to fit my families taste.  You know how teenagers are these days.  So lets get down to it. Here's what you'll need. So enjoy and relax.

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup orange juice

1/2 soy sauce

2 teaspoons minced garlic

6 tablespoons apricot preserves

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 package chicken tenders (we used banquet chicken tenders)

almonds, sliced or halved (we did not do this boys don't like nuts in a sauce- they're used to simulate finger nails).

Whisk the cornstarch into the orange juice until blended and dissolved.  Add the other ingredients i.e. soy, garlic, preserves  and ginger.  Whisk together then place in sauce pot.  Heat until boiling stirring constantly let boil for one minute.  Set aside to cool for awhile. I let it sit for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes put 1 cup sauce in zippy bag, quart bag works good.  Add chicken to bag and shake to cover chicken with marinade and release excess air in bag.  Marinate in fridge for 1 hour. Refrigerate leftover sauce and warm up when chicken is in the oven.  Preheat oven to 375.  Put on foil covered cookie sheet for easy clean up. Put chicken tenders on sheet I used fork to put them on it.  Squeeze out excess sauce onto chicken.  Here's where I did not do the nuts put almond in fingernail position.  Place in oven for 15 fifteen minutes or until heated through--note recipe did not say to defrost chicken so mine were frozen.  Serve with sauce for dipping.  If you like this recipe their are other recipes in the book, also I have the Halloween ribs posted here.  http://lorrainesresources.blogspot.com/2013/07/halloween-ribs-for-4th-of-july-barbecue.html

  

Easy Family Holiday Craft

Good Morning all,  Halloween is almost over and it will be time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ever dread the annual push to get the holiday cards out for everyone you know.  How about making them more special for everyone and less of a chore for you. Get the kids together because here's what you need.

Thanksgiving and X-mas cards

colored pencils

crayons 

stickers

rubber stamps and colored ink

After you address some of the envelopes, the kids can put their mark on the open spaces i.e. drawing, ink stamp or stickers.  This helps get you motivated and a new family tradition and a keepsake for loved ones, now enjoy the holidays.

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Deals at CVS--only paid $.68

Good Morning all,  I finally made it to CVS yesterday.  I ended up doing two transactions to get some things for the house. So here's the breakdown on what I got.

1st transaction

all time greats candy for Halloween

2-2 liter coke 

2-pringles

before coupons and sales- $22.91   after O.O.P.  $16.17   and  I got back $5 in ECB'S

2nd transaction

2 cvs toilet paper

1 xtra laundry soap

1 cvs liquid dish soap

1 can friskies cat food

before coupons/sales/ecbs  $13.73  Total O.O.P  $.68 cents used $8 in ecbs 

Also note for you new couponers here's a tip, write down all the email address and phone numbers from products you have in your pantry and start contacting companies. I recently got a high value entennmans coupons just for emailing them my comments.

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Frankie-I don't smell nothin

                                              What I don't smell nothin

                                               It's all mine

                                                 What we're not going bye, bye

Hmmm! what can I get into today?

Okay people Halloween is next week please keep all your fur babies indoors their are some pretty sick people out there, so protect the pets and have a great week.

Note still having trouble with the follow buttons so here's the links http://www.facebook.com/lorraine2448 or http://www.twitter.com/lorraine2448 thanks for reading 

Halloween Black Cat Brownie Cake

Good Morning all,  Sorry this is so late this morning.  I waited for UPS to come yesterday apparently medication not shipped yet.  So I ran early this morning and got everything I needed for this yummy cake.  This is an old recipe I got years ago from taste of home.  I've adapted it for my families taste and my cooking skills.  Never done one like this before and had a little trepidation getting the tail, head and ears right. So here's what you'll need.

1 package fudge brownie mix

(13 inch x 9 inch pan size)

1 can (12 oz) chocolate frosting

color gumdrops or any candy for face (I used twizzlers and gumdrops)

licorice can be used for mouth and whiskers

Line 2 9inch pans with parchment paper (I used waxed paper)

coat with cooking spray and set aside

Make brownie mix according to package directions original recipe did not say this but put 2 eggs instead of one for cake like consistency.

pour into pans and bake at 350 or 20-25 minutes check with fork to make sure its done.

cool for ten minutes 

remove wax paper

put cats body on wax paper or board which ever you have available

take other cake and cut crescent slice and use for tail

make a vertical cut forming a small half circle cut in half to form ears

now take rest of cake forming the head and place cut side on top of body

put ears in place

now frost cake hiding any lines

Fill face with desired candy you can use candy corn for toes or gumdrops

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www.twitter.com/lorraine2448 thanks for reading.

Halloween Family Time

     Good Morning all,  I just wanted to talk about how Halloween has changed over time and share what some things people do with their kids.  When I was a kid we dressed up and went door to door no problems.  Now a days a lot of people don't feel save doing that with young kids.  Well alternatives do exist to help celebrate without any problems. Young children can still get the feel for Halloween by going to neighbors you know on your street.  A lot of churches have fall carnivals and trunk or treats where candy is given out at peoples cars.  Some even offer hayrides for added fun.  Stores in the malls give out candy, their version of going door to door.

     If you have teens who still want to have fun.   Here are some things they can do.  My sons youth group sponsors a party at the church.  They get to dress up, have all the party food they can eat.  When you have boys who look like NFL line backers this is a good thing somebody else is feeding them.  They have contests and games.  Last year they got to dismantle a car with a sledge hammer. They brought home a hubcap.  This year they are having jousting.  I asked Conor how are they having jousting?  He didn't know should be interesting.  Our local town has a thousand night of pumpkins where the business give out candy and they have a costume contest.  They have a big screen for showings of  "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".  It's a lovely outing for the family. 

     Last year I started planning out Halloween themed meals to make it more fun, when the boys were younger we would order pizza and watch a Halloween themed movie.  This year I'm watching World War Z and making Chicken Scaryaki and Ghost Potatoes.  This I will post next week on the blog.  What are you planning for Halloween would love to see your recipes.  How do you make your Halloween special?  For last years Dead Man Bones check out this link.    
                        

http://lorrainesresources.blogspot.com/2013/07/halloween-ribs-for-4th-of-july-barbecue.html

For those of you who don't have google+ I'm working on the fb link to the blog but in the meantime here's the link to my fb fan page thanks for reading http://www.facebook.com/lorraine2448

Frankies moments with his cactus buddy

                                              Here's another week of Frankies corner and is buddy

 

Check out frankies boards on pinterest   http://www.pinterest.com/robinlorrainew/boards/  and heres links to our other social media for your comments my email is theweissaffaire@yahoo.com and my fanpage is http://www.facebook.com/lorraine2448  thanks for stopping by.

Shopping Trip at CVS

Good Afternoon all, I did a trip to CVS early in the week been busy just now getting around to posting it.  I did two transactions for the week at CVS.

1st transaction 

3 cases Coke

4 boxes Fruity Pebbles

2 circus peanuts 

2 Laffy taffy candy bags

total before coupons/sales  $47.19    after using a $4/20, one crt for 1.50/1 and regular $1/1 candy and sales  O.O.P  came to $22.04                            Saved $25.15

2nd Transaction 

2 Garnier shampoos

1 Lysol multi purpose cleaner

Total before coupon/ecb/sales  $14.69          O.O.P.  $2.70       Saved $11.99

used 2  $1.50/1 coupon  and $4 in ecbs but had $3 in ecbs leftover

Easy German Chocolate Cookies

Good Morning all,  Here is the last Oktoberfest recipe for this year.  I hope you enjoy it. It's a very easy chocolate cookie recipe.  Because of the quick cooking oats in it, this makes it more healthy for you.  So here we go with what you'll need.  This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home to fit my families taste.

1 box German chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 quick cooking oats

2 eggs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

originally called for 1/2 cup raisins, I did not do this you can try with raisins if you like.

Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips.  When good and mixed fold in chocolate chips. Place heaping spoonfuls of batter 2 inches apart.  Cook at 350 for 9-11 minutes.  I used bakers joy spray on the tin foil to keep from sticking.  When done let cool for 2 minutes and place on plate or wire rack to cool.  Makes 2-3 dozen.  Happy chocolate frenzy.  Here's the pin for all you pinterest fans:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207468829997/

Wordless Wednesday

                                                          The lion by his watering hole

                                                         

Oktoberfest-World's Oldest Party plus recipes

Good Morning all,  I promised you a post about Oktoberfest.  So here we go again.  I was curious what is Oktoberfest all about?  It all started when a young prince was getting married.  He wanted to share the wedding with everyone, so he added a big horse race to the party.  They had such a good time and a lot of people came to the wedding. They decided to do it every year.  What a nice way to celebrate your wedding anniversary.  The anniversary is now celebrated world wide and the original place in Munich as visitors from all over the world.  If you can't make it to Germany.  Cincinnati holds one of the largest Oktoberfest in the U.S.   The party consist of all kinds of festivities including beer and food.  Still can't make the party.  You can make your own.  There are so many wonderful recipes to share in the party.  Conor found several that we cooked as a family.  I wanted to share the recipes with you. We adapted them to our families taste so here we go with the recipes.

                                                         Classic German Pork Roast

3-5 lb pork roast

1 large onion cut in slices

salt and pepper to taste

1 can beef broth

Originally the recipe called for browning on top of the stove I did not do that. I sprinkled salt and pepper on the roast.  I poured broth all over the roast in big roasting pan.  Then placed onions all over roast.  The roast takes 3.5-4 hours at 350 degrees and it turned out yummy.  Be sure and baste roast every 30 minutes. 

German Style Green Beans

1 1/2 lbs of green beans you will need to cut them into 1 inch pieces

Originally it called for 6 bacon strips cooked.  I used precooked bacon bits.

1 onion chopped or you can use the recipe ready diced onions which worked out well

Salt and pepper to taste

Put beans in a sauce pan until boiling then simmer 15-20 until tender.

Put onions in frying pan with a little oil and add some of the bacon bits.

Remove with slotted spoon.

Drain beans add bacon and onions, salt and pepper to taste.

Toss and heat through and sprinkle with more bacon.

Serve  and eat up

Enjoy I'm not a big fan of green beans, but I liked this recipe.  Will post German Cookie recipe on Wednesday.

Frankie's corner

Chillin with my boys

What did you say, no school?

I'm gonna eat yah.

Hooked on Hoisin Meatballs

Okay, I promised something different and very easy to do.  I made this years ago when I lived in Kentucky and everyone loved them.  Because I'm such a hoisin junkie I changed it a little. All you will need to make these for any party or different main dish are as follows:

1 bag Italian meatballs

1 bottle barbecue sauce  (I used sweet bay rays)

1 bottle hoisin sauce  original recipe called for sweet and sour sauce 

Put at least 24 meatballs or more depending how many people are coming to party or family size

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup hoisin

Mix sauce up in a bowl pour over meatballs in a microwaveable bowl.  Heat up stirring every couple of minutes and serve when done.  You can make this a meal by serving over rice.  It is very spicy you can lessen the amount of the hoisin if don't like it too spicy.  Enjoy and bon appetite.  Here's the pinterest pin for easy pinning http://www.pinterest.com/pin/362610207468793268/

Check out the foodie hop at
http://www.thecountrycook.net/2013/10/weekend-potluck-88.html

CVS Haul for 10/09

Good Morning all,  I did a small CVS run today.  I did two transactions to try and get the good deals.  So I will get right down to it.  Here's what I got in the first transactions.

3 cases of Pepsi

1 case pure life water

2 snickers fun size

2 circus peanuts

2 gold emblem cashews

2 post fruity pebbles

2 Folgers coffee

total before sales/coupons/ecbs  $68.06                       O.O.P  $35.54

I did not get the 20% off pass this week.  I used  the $3 off 1 coffee and 2 post cereals good coupon

I had a CRT for a $1/$5 when you buy gold emblem products

I had a $1/2 candy

I got $6 in ECB's

Second Transactions

2 Colgate total toothpaste

1 Reynolds aluminum foil

1 Ajax dish liquid

1 box tissue

total before sales/coupons/ecbs  $15.17            O.O.P  $1.14

used $5 in ecbs, $3.39 in CRT coupons and 1 manufacturer coupon.  After all that I got $2 in ecbs back.

                                                         What your going shopping again?

Thrifting Haul

Good Morning all, I went to the annual clearance sale at the local church thrift shop.  You can get a grocery bag of stuff for $7 not bad.  Here's what I got.

tall metal watering can

dog letter holder 

2 Halloween decoratives

2 Halloween picks for crafts

2 picture frames

3 shirts

1 scarf

4 books

1 wall plaque

Here's some pic's of items I purchased (not everything is shown).  Happy thrifting remember thrifting is a way of being be green.

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