Fair food – make it at home!
August means lots of things – there is so much that happens in August. In many communities one thing that comes around every August is the fair. State fair or county fair, there is always something fun to see, do and eat. There are so many things that we eat at the fair that we might not eat year round. But there are also lots of favorites at the fair that people would eat year round if they just knew how to make it. Either way – fair food is usually good food. (Even if it isn’t always good for you!)
When you think about fair food you could eat at home what comes to mind? How about corn dogs, kettle corn or funnel cakes? These are three popular fair food favorites at almost every fair. There is no need to wait a whole year before enjoying these yummy treats again. These yummy fair food favorites are actually easy to make at home. Here are three yummy recipes so you can enjoy these yummy fair food treats at home. If you try one, let us know. We love to hear from you.
Corn Dogs
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
2 (16 ounce) packages
16 wooden skewers Add all ingredients to list
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder. Stir in eggs and milk.
- Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Insert wooden skewers into frankfurters. Roll frankfurters in batter until well coated.
- Fry 2 or 3 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Funnel Cakes
Ingredients:
1 egg 2/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
- Beat egg. Mix in milk. Sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder; beat into egg mixture until smooth.
- Pour oil into a heavy pan until it is 1 inch deep. Heat to 375 degrees.
- Pour batter through funnel into oil with a circular motion to form a spiral. 4. Fry until lightly brown; turn over to brown the other side. Cook to golden brown, and remove to drain on paper towels.
- Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar while still warm.
Kettle Corn
Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
Directions:
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the sugar and popcorn.
- Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning.
- Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped.
- Pour into a large bowl, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.
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Crock pot favorite recipes!
All week we’ve been talking about crock pots and about how football season started in my house and how that means little league times three for me. That means every weekday night we are at four different practices at four different places but the times all overlap. I decided that I need to find a good answer to making dinner even though I won’t be home. Otherwise we will end up eating lots of fast food, sandwiches, cereal and hot dogs! Yuck! The need for good healthy crock pot favorite dinners made me look into my recipes again. Because this is the last blog about crock pots for a bit, I just had to share a couple of my all time crock pot favorite recipes.
I went back through a lot of my old recipes and found these two favorites. These are super easy recipes with ingredients that are not hard or expensive to find. My kids love these recipes and ask to have it again which is always a big stamp of approval. Slow cooker recipes need to be fast and easy to prep, in my opinion, and these both fit those requirements. I’m not sure where I got the recipes from originally but they are really yummy ones! Both of them use chicken, which is a crock pot favorite for my family.
One reason I love chicken crock pot recipes, is the fact that I always have chicken in the freezer. I love getting chicken in bulk from Zaycon Foods and freezing it in portions that work in my recipes. (If you haven’t tried the chicken from Zaycon Foods, get ready. They have chicken ordering open now. It is a great way to get chicken breasts that are healthy and tasty. Don’t miss this great way to get chicken.)
If you try one of these crock pot favorite recipes, let me know how you and your family liked it. They both really are so yummy!
Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried onion
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS:
Put chicken into crock pot. Combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and return to crock pot – can leave chicken in and simmer on low or serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.
Peanut Butter Crock Pot Thai Chicken
INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds chicken breasts
1 48 ounce jar salsa
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
6 teaspoons ginger
6 tablespoons soy sauce
6 teaspoons lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
Put all ingredients in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Garnish with cilantro, scallions, and peanuts. Serve over rice.
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Crock Pot Buying Tips!
All week we’ve been talking about crock pots and about how football season started in my house and how that means little league times three for me. That’s because I have three boys playing little league football this year and a daughter who swims on a swim team. That means every weekday night we are at four different practices at four different places but the times all overlap. I decided that I need to find a good answer to making dinner even though I won’t be home. Otherwise we will end up eating lots of fast food, sandwiches, cereal and hot dogs! Yuck! The need for good healthy but quick dinners made me think I need to start using my crock pot, or slow cooker, again. As we’ve been talking about this I’ve been thinking that it might be time to replace one of my crock pots. It just doesn’t seem to be heating up and cooking food very well. Because I might be crock pot shopping soon, I decided I better start thinking about crock pot buying tips.
When you set out to buy a crock pot there are so many things to consider – basic crock pot buying tips are good to keep in mind. If you ignore these tips, crazy things happen. You may end up owning the cutest purple crock pot that looks fun and adorable. But that fun and adorable purple crock pot won’t cook your food well and you’ll be sad and disappointed. (Reason I need to buy a new crock pot in paragraph #1.) I learned the hard way that all crock pots are not created equal. Here are a few of the crock pot buying tips to keep in mind when you go shopping for your next crock pot.
Manual vs Programmable
This seems like a pretty basic option – but sometimes it can be tricky! If I had listened to this important one of the crock pot buying tips I wouldn’t have my purple crock pot disaster. Manual is pretty easy to figure out – the crock pot has a few basic settings and you have to adjust it and turn it off or on when you want. Programmable is much more complicated. Pay attention to how many different setting it has. Look for features like timers and keep warm settings. Some programmable crock pots will come with probes to help get foods to the correct temperatures. Just because it says it is programmable does not mean there are all of the settings and features you want.
Removable Crock
This one would be a deal breaker for me but I see crock pots with non-removable liners all of the time. I need to be able to wash the crock and really scrub it. If you can’t put the whole thing in the sink, there is no way it will work for me.
Where’s the Lid?
When it comes to crock pots, all lids are not created equal. Once again, if I had listened to this important one of the crock pot buying tips I wouldn’t have my purple crock pot disaster. Lids are either attached or unattached. Attached lids may be held in place with a strap or lock. Some lids are actually permanently attached or attached so strangely that they are too hard to remove. Check the lid before you buy your crockpot.
Size and Shape Matter
Crock pots come in lots of shapes and sizes. Pay attention to the size – a too small or too big crockpot will cause problems with uneven cooking and incorrect cooking times. If you want to fit roasts, hams or chickens or other odd shaped foods into the crock pot, get the appropriate shape. Ovals might work better for some larger items.
Do you have crock pot buying tips that aren’t listed here? Let us know – we love to hear from you!
Family favorite crock pot recipes!
For the last couple of days we have talked about how football season started in my house and how that means little league times three for me. That’s because I have three boys playing little league football this year and a daughter who swims on a swim team. That means every weekday night we are at four different practices at four different places but the times all overlap. I decided that I need to find a good answer to making dinner even though I won’t be home. Otherwise we will end up eating lots of fast food, sandwiches, cereal and hot dogs! Yuck! The need for good healthy but quick dinners made me think I need to start using my crock pot, or slow cooker, again. I’ve gathered a couple of family favorite crock pot recipes that make crock pot cooking easy and yummy.
Sometimes the most simple crock pot recipes are the ones that end up being family favorites. That’s what these recipes are – simple family favorite crock pot recipes. My whole family loves them all. Do you have some simple family favorite crock pot recipes? If you do, share them with us! We’ll feature a few in an upcoming blog.
Crock Pot Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
1 (15.5 ounce) can corn, undrained
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1 (15 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup tomato juice
Directions:
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir beef until crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink.
- Drain and discard any excess grease.
- Transfer beef to a slow cooker and sprinkle with the taco seasoning mix and ranch dressing mix.
- Add the diced tomatoes and green chilies, corn, and black beans, all with their liquid, to the slow cooker.
- Stir the black olives, onion, bell pepper, and tomato juice into the ground beef mixture.
- Cook on low until the vegetables are completely tender, about 5 hours.
Crock Pot Pulled Pork
Ingredients:
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted
Directions:
- Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat.
- Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. The actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker.
- Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce.
- Serve over hamburger buns.
Crock Pot White Chili
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
1 (15.5 ounce) can white beans, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (15.25 ounce) can white corn, drained
1 (7 ounce) can green salsa
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
Directions:
- Stir chicken, white beans, chicken broth, white corn, green salsa, green chilies, tomato, cilantro, green onion, lemon juice, and lime juice together in the crock of a slow cooker.
- Cook on low until hot, about 1 hour.
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