Baby Back Ribs

If you're looking for a simple, out-of-this-world meal you've come to the right place.  I'm not a huge pork or beef fan, but given the choice between chicken and baby back ribs I'd definitely choose the ribs!  

Several years ago my uncle and cousin came to visit.  To thank us for everything my uncle decided to make us a "special dinner."  Baby back ribs with his homemade barbecue sauce.  What the heck are baby back ribs?!  I don't even like ribs...  That night was the easiest dinner clean up yet.  No leftovers!  Not a single drop of barbecue sauce or scrap of mean.  Nothing!  Just perfectly clean bones.  They were delicious!!  

Now every year my sister and I request them for our special birthday dinner.  Baby back ribs and Ice Cream Cake.  Talk about a perfect meal...  And now this is the only barbecue sauce we use.  We even started canning it!  No store bought brand comes close to this deliciousness!  

Baby Back Ribs

:Ingredients:

2 racks baby back pork ribs

1/2 cup strawberry or grape jam
2/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s original barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 quarter-sized squirts yellow mustard

:Directions:

Boil ribs in a large pot for 2 hours. 

Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. 

Cook on low until jam is melted, stirring frequently. Add more mustard if too sweet.

Preheat oven to 325º F.  

Place ribs in a glass dish and completely cover with barbecue sauce.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes uncovered.

Copyright © 2014, Grace George. Simple and Sweet Creations. All Rights Reserved.

Click for printable recipe.

Pumpkin Snicker Doodles

From September to November everything I make involved pumpkin.  EVERYTHING.  Pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin squares, pumpkin pumpkin and more pumpkin!

In the spring I came upon these White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles from Sally's Baking Addiction.  Of course I pinned it!  Pumpkin cookies....I couldn't pass them up! When she says they deserve a standing ovation she's not kidding.  

Since it was October, I decided to make them for my bake sale. Well of course (being a new recipe) I had to do a trial run...  BAD IDEA!!  I have this problem where I sample devour the dough. Before a single snicker doodle was baked over half the dough was gone.  WARNING: do not sample the dough! (unless you want to eat it all...)

When I finally got a batch baked, you guessed it!  Yep, I tried one a dozen of them too!  Let's just say by the time my family came in only a couple cookies were left.  Whoops!  

Pumpkin Snicker Doodles

by Simple and Sweet Creations

6071087

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups white sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup white sugar until no lumps remain. Whisk in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth.

Stir in flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Fold in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill 30 minutes (or up to 3 days). CHILLING IS MANDATORY

Preheat oven to 350* F. Roll dough into balls (about 1 1/2 tablespoons each).

In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Roll dough balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on baking sheet.

Slightly flatten balls and bake 10-12 minutes.

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Banana Nutella Muffins

WARNING: If you like bananas and Nutella then be prepared to become addicted to these muffins.

Long story short, my friend is obsessed with the hazlenut spread. Her and I started a board on Pinterest where we can pin all our Nutella recipes.  Dangerous and wonderful all at the same time! Occasionally we'll get together at one of our houses, each choose a Nutella recipe from our board, and have a "baking day".  I don't think we've made a bad thing yet!  

On our first "experiment day" I choose these Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins.  That was over a year ago. Guess how many times I've made them since?  Bigillions!  We ALWAYS have at least a dozen in the freezer...just incase something terrible would happen to bananas or Nutella.  Help us all if either one becomes scare...

Banana Nutella Muffins

by Simple and Sweet Creations

6071143

Ingredients (24 muffins)

• 4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease or line two regular muffin pans with liners.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in egg, vegetable oil and vanilla.

Slowly stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until no lumps remain.

Fill tins 3/4 full and top with about 1 teaspoon Nutella. Using a toothpick, swirl Nutella into batter.

Bake 15-17 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Cut Out Sugar Cookies

These are my aunt's favorite cookies!  When we make them for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner she swears she could eat them all.  Sometimes she even makes us hide them from her!  Yes, they're that delicious.

I made these for my bake sale last week (red, white, and blue stars for Veterans) and they were a hit.  An elementary teacher came over and bought (not lying) at least a dozen.  By Saturday night she said they were all gone.  So much for freezing them for the holidays...

I'm pretty picky when it comes to cookies.  Nothing too crunchy, too sweet, too dry, too soft.  Let's just say I'm pretty hard to please.  (You can blame my mother for that one!  I've been spoiled since day one with delicious homemade cooking!)

These may be the only sugar cookies I'll eat.  They're firm, but not too hard.  Soft, but not fall apart in your hand.  Sweet, but not that you can't finish the whole cookie.  (You could will easily eat more than one!)  

Oh...and don't forget to sample the dough!  You can always tell if a cookie is going to be good by tasting the dough. :)

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

by Simple and Sweet Creations

6071080

Ingredients

Cookie

• 1 cup margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tarter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

• 3 cups confectionery sugar
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer.

Cover and chill several hours before rolling.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Roll and cut out on a generously floured surface.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Allow to cool before frosting.

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Chicken Alfredo

Every weekend I try to plan out our dinners for the upcoming week and make a grocery list.  I've found we throw out less food, spend less at Walmart, and eat less of the same things.  I even made up a "master list" of all our favorite main dishes, side dishes, and vegetables.  It really helps when your trying to plan a week ahead!

This week we strayed a little from our plan.  Oh well...I write in pencil for a reason.  We were supposed to have Ham on Tuesday, Lasagna Rolls on Wednesday, leftovers Thursday, and Chicken Alfredo on Friday.  But lasagna got bumped up to Tuesday and we needed another quick meal tonight so Chicken Alfredo it was!

This whole dish can come together in 30 minutes if you know what you're doing. It's one of the main reasons we make it so often. Anything quick, easy, and delicious is a crowd-pleaser at my house! The recipe is written for a single batch, but it can easily be doubled. We like to double the sauce (soup, parmesan cheese, pepper, and milk) and the more broccoli the better!

Start by melting the butter in a pan.  Add the chicken and cook until no it's longer pink.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta and broccoli according to package directions.  You can use linguine, rotini, or just about any other type of pasta.

When the chicken is fully cooked, stir in condensed soup, milk, parmesan cheese, and pepper.  Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, broccoli, and chicken mixture.  That's it!

In under 30 minutes you can make a delicious meal and even have leftovers for lunch...

Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients

• 8 ounces linguine or other pasta
• 1 bag frozen broccoli florets
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Heat butter in skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, stirring often.

Cook pasta and broccoli according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

When chicken is fully cooked, add soup, milk, cheese and pepper and heat through.

Combine pasta, broccoli, and chicken mixture in a large bowl.

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