Mar 6, 2014

Raspberry Coconut Bars


We lived in Ohio for 5 1/2 years. We have been gone for 2 1/2. CRAZY.

I had an awesome group of friends in the great OH. There were lots of girls nights out and girls nights in. There was frequent dinner trips to PF Changs. There were Just Dance dance parties. There was hanging out "just cause we need a break". Our kids played together. Oldest is still betrothed to one of my favorite friend's oldest lovely lady.

We will make that happen.

Why all the nostalgia? Hey I am prone to be all reflective and sappy. Actually, it happens quite frequently. I think it is due to my increasing in years. Haha!

These lovely Raspberry Coconut Bars make me think of Ohio. I first had it at a recipe exchange I had in Ohio. In fact, I think it might have been my very first social thing I ever did in Ohio. These recipe exchanges happened for about a year. We would come and bring a yummy dish and have the recipe available to hand out. Sometimes we had themes. Some of my favorite recipes have come from these recipe exchanges.

My friend brought this dessert. I remember really liking it. I grabbed a copy of her recipe and I tucked it away with all my other recipes.

I never made it. Until now that is.


I do that ALL the time. This recipe made it through my twice a year weeding out process. I just kept skipping over it. I partly blame Pinterest. Since the recipe was on paper and not online, I never saw it.

Finally I am done passing it over. The Raspberry Coconut Bars have been made. The Raspberry Coconut Bars have been eaten. The Raspberry Coconut Bars have been enjoyed!!

Yes, they have.

                     

Raspberry Coconut Bars

2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2 2/3 cups flaked coconut
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup milk chocolate chip
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the graham cracker crumb, sugar, and melted butter for the crust. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Spread the crust mixture evenly into the parchment-lined pan. Press the crumbs into the pan until it is compact.

Sprinkle the coconut over the crust. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the coconut.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Cool slightly. Spread the jam over the bars. Chill for 3-4 hours.

Melt the chocolate in small Ziploc bags. This will take just over a minute. Cut a hole in the tip of each bag. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the chilled bars. Drizzle milk chocolate first in one direction and then white chocolate second in the other direction.

Let the chocolate set up a bit. Remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into bars.

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Mar 5, 2014

LUCKY To Have Teachers Like You {printable}



First, if you are looking for the winner of the Staples Space Heater,
visit the Just Another Day in Paradise Facebook page to see if it might be you.

With St. Patrick's Day quickly approaching, I decided it would be the perfect time to complete a fun and easy St. Patrick's Day Teacher Appreciation gift.

As I have mentioned probably more times than you want to read, this year my PTO responsibility (Doesn't that sound legit? I try.) is Teacher Appreciation. I love our teachers and I kind of geek out over making them feel special.

For St. Patrick's Day I made up a fun printable using PicMonkey. I used some rainbow chip cookies and gold-wrapped Rolo candies as the treat. Get it, gold at the end of the rainbow. Probably didn't have to explain that did I? Haha!

I popped everything in a cellophane treat bag and then tied it closed and attached the tag with extra green and extra cute trims and fabrics.

Could you die over that pom pom trim? I love pom pom trim. LOVE.


These are super easy to whip out.

All you need is:

rainbow chip cookies
gold-wrapped candies
cellophane treat bags
trim and fabric cut in strips
St. Patrick's Day Teacher Appreciation Tags printable

Download HERE 


Then all you have to do is assemble and drop off to your much-appreciated teachers.

How easy was that? Super duper easy.



Let your teachers know how lucky you feel to have them. Teachers could always hear it more I am sure.

Thanks for reading!

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Mar 1, 2014

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Beef {Slow Cooker Saturday}


So today might be one of those posts, where not much is written in the actual post has to do with the recipe itself. Don't get me wrong the Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Beef is super yummy. A little bowl of goodness. Sweet and savory, with just the right amount of spice. The beef and the peanut butter are kind of crazy together. Like long lost high school sweethearts who find each other after 20 years, and after finally reuniting run hand in hand through a field of daisies.

Yeah, something like that.

Speaking of fields of daisy. I have the hand holding sweetheart thing taken care of. Alas, I do not have the field of daisies. Winter has been long. I am really excited to see some daisies. Heck, I would love to see a green blade of grass.

That seems romantic, running hand in hand through blades of grass. Not really, so I take it back. I just want the daisies.

I am grateful for the sun. Luckily we do see it on a regular basis. So I'll try not to have a wah-fest about the still bitter temps. Glass half full.

Or should it be bowl half full. Half full of Thai Peanut Beef, because you already scarfed down half of your serving.

See how I did that. Thai Peanut Beef to daisies back to Thai Peanut Beef. Yeah, I am good like that.

I am good like a big old bowl of Thai Peanut Beef.

Haha! Guess I ended up talking more about this recipe then I thought I would.

Couldn't be helped, it was just that good.

Almost as good as running hand in hand with The Hubs through a field of daisies. I probably should point out that I can't actually see The Hubs running through a field of daisies. Mayhaps a stroll on the beach would have been a better and a little more manly.

Basically, nothing is as good as running hand in hand anywhere with The Hubs. Ahhhhh. Yes, yes, very sweet. Sweet but true.

But this Thai Peanut Beef is pretty darn good

Give the recipe a whirl. Then go running through a field of daisies. Okay I am all done with the daisies.


Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Beef

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of thinly sliced flank steak, or stir fry meat
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce
1 Tablespoon canola oil
crushed peanuts
sliced green onions

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Sear the meat until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Drain the meat and put the meat in the slow cooker.

Combine the beef broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. Whisk everything together. Pour over the beef in the slow cooker.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. The sauce will be a little thicker and there will be some caramelized portions. Stir once more.

Serve over steamed rice and top with crushed peanuts and sliced green onions.


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Feb 28, 2014

Zaycon Foods: How Smart Families Buy Big and Save Big



Do you guys Zaycon? If you don't, oh how you must! I know I have had a couple of sponsored posts recently, but I promise this is a post you really want to read through. I have been a customer of Zaycon Foods for a long time and I believe in it as a mom, wife, cooker, and eater of good food. I highly encourage you to read the whole post (aka not just skim...we all do it) so that you can learn more about this AWESOME company, see first hand how I use some of the products I have ordered, and to get information for the most current food events.

Just trust me. If you like food, you will want to read the whole post.

For those of you who haven't heard of Zaycon Foods, or maybe have, but don't really know much about it, well let me fill you in.

First let me say that gushing about this company is second nature to me. I have talked about Zaycon with friends, family, and at church functions...yes I am that lady. I gush because I believe in the company and the product they provide. I have ordered a lot of their products and I have never been unhappy. They provide fresh and high quality meats and fruit. Fresh from the farm to your table.

Zaycon works directly with local farms who provide high quality product. This allows you to buy quality product in bulk for much less than buying that quality of merchandise at a store. AND let me just tell you, I personally don't feel that the quality I can get a grocery store even comes close to comparing with the product I get from Zaycon.

They have many "events", the fancy way of saying what they are currently selling. I kind of like participating in anything that is an "event", don't you? Not every product is available all the time. They cycle through events. That is the BIG reason why you need to sign up with Zaycon (click on that link right there). When you sign up, they send you information about when events are happening. This allows you to stay in the know about when each event is.

The chicken is their trademark event. The chicken that Zaycon sells is amazing. Amazing I tell you. This is the most popular purchase in our house. When the chicken event comes up, it is kind of like a holiday. Here at our house when the chicken event rolls around, we buy it up real quick. I have canned it. I store it easily in freezer bags. I cook with it all the time. I am gonna be honest with you guys, I can't handle other chicken now. This chicken is so good. On top of the quality, the price is the same if not better than the grocery store. The last chicken event was for $1.89 a pound. CRAZY!


The chicken comes straight from the processor and is never frozen. The chicken breasts are huge and 100% naturally that way. No hormones or additives. Sometimes a chicken breast is large enough that I only store one per freezer bag. Each order is for a 40 pound box. We have been known to order two. Yes that is 80 pounds of chicken. I canned half and stored the other half. It was glorious.

I can't say enough good things about this chicken. I will say it again, it has ruined me for grocery store chicken. Best. Chicken. Ever. 

They did just end a chicken event in some areas. I suggest that you head on over to Zaycon and sign up. I have given you a link that has you sign up and just lets them know that you heard about it from me (hence the referral bit). 

Once you sign up you can see what events are currently running and then you are signed up so they can alert you when other events start.

We have ordered their chicken the most. However, like I said earlier, we have ordered many of their products.

We love their peaches and pears. LOVE. Last year we ordered pears and peaches and then we canned them. Well, we canned the ones we didn't scarf down. The peaches were juice dripping from your chin fantastic. The pears were just the perfect ripeness. Not under ripe like ordering in bulk can be sometimes and not over ripe like they had been sitting around.


We also ordered bacon from them. This bacon was amazing. I am pretty confidant in saying this bacon ruined me for grocery store bacon too. The order of bacon is rather larger and so we actually split it with some friends.  We froze what I didn't cook and eat right away. I kind of wanted to cry when we used our last package.


Another product we have ordered is the 93/7 ground hamburger. I love this hamburger because it is lean, but still full of flavor. I actually prefer lean hamburger to ground turkey, so when I can get a high quality 93/7 ground hamburger at a decent price I jump all over it. The order is 40 pounds. We divided it up and stored it in freezer bags. It was perfect.

The 93/7 ground hamburger event is actually going on now!  I know I am sounding like a broken record, but seriously go sign up  and order this awesome hamburger.


We have also ordered the hot Gold Medal Beef Franks, the Pork Sausage Links, the Breaded Chicken Tenderloins, and the Natural Non-Homogenized Whole Milk.

I think my next order might have to include the Carvemaster Ham, which is a current event right now! At $3.49 a pound I am not sure I can pass it up.

I haven't listed everything they sell, just what I have ordered. Go and check out all of their products

Zaycon Foods really is an amazing company. I really believe they have made it easier and more affordable for me to feed my family higher quality products. They provide a quality product that also tastes way better than anything you will find at a grocery store. I know they can do the same for you and your household.

Whew! I really hope you hung with me during this entire post. Two "raise-the-roof"'s if ya did. Thanks for taking the time to learn about a company I am pretty stoked about. 

Just a refresher-
Current food events are:
93/7 ground hamburger
Carvemaster Ham

I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are mine. 
I have used this company for years, and believe in
the quality product and service they provide. 


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Feb 27, 2014

Cherry Chocolate Chip No Bake Cheesecakes


So it isn't a secret that I LOVE mason jars. I make an excuse to use them for everything. One of the best things to do with mason jars? That would of course be putting dessert in the jar.

Mini jars...aka jelly jars...are the best because the whole serving is just for you.

A whole dessert just for me? Yes, please.

A few weeks ago for Valentine's Day I made these itty bitty no-bake cheesecakes for the boys' teachers. They were so easy to put together AND they were really yummy.

That is a win-win in my book.

I honestly can't decided what my favorite part of this dessert was. Well, of course, besides the jar. I can't eat the jar, so that doesn't count. I love cherry pie filling. I love cheesecake. I love chocolate chips. I love graham cracker crusts.

You can see where my dilemma lies.


Basically it was all my favorite part. The Hubs especially liked the mini chocolate chips with the cherry pie filling. I may or may not have also gotten a request for this recipe from Oldest's teacher. That is how you know it is yummy right?

Well Mrs. Youknowwhoyouare (that may not be her name...just sayin'), here is the recipe for Cherry Chocolate Chip No Bake Cheesecakes just for you and for all my closest bloggy, Pinterest, Facebook friends.



Cherry Chocolate Chip No Bake Cheesecakes
makes 8-10 mini jelly jar pies

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Cheesecake:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz  container of cool whip, thawed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

cherry pie filling

Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until completely mixed. Press 2-3 TBS worth into the bottom of each mason jar. Press down firmly in each jar.

To make the filling, whip the cream cheese and sugar together with a hand mixer. Beat until smooth. Next, mix in the cool whip. Fold in the mini chocolate chips with a spatula.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the mixture over the crusts in each jar. You want to make sure to leave enough room in the top of the jar to still hold the cherry filling.

Top each cheesecake with a heaping spoonful of cherry pie filling.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Serve from the refrigerator.

Enjoy, friends!!

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