Crab Legs and Garlic Butter Sauce

For Valentines Day I made crab legs for Rebekah. They are surprisingly easy and just as delicious as at a restaurant at about half the price.

Ingredients:

• 2 Pounds Crab Legs (I used snow crabs)
• 1/2 Cup Salted Butter
• 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic (minced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place thawed crab legs on a cookie sheet and place in oven for 8-12 minutes (mine were still partially frozen so they took about 15-18 minutes). Almost all crab legs you buy at the grocery store are precooked so you are just getting them hot.
3. While crab legs are in oven put the garlic and about 1 Tablespoon of the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.
4. Cook the garlic for a few minutes, then begin adding slabs of butter and melting it all together. Once the butter is melted you can skim the white stuff off the top. 
5. Put your butter sauce and the crab legs in some serving dishes and enjoy!

A good rule of thumb is 1 pound of crab legs per person. The butter sauce is simple and just right to accent the delicious crab meat.

Hawaiian Hot Ham and Cheese

These are one of my favorite sandwiches that my wife makes me. I haven't made these for myself yet but I love to eat them!

Ingredients:

• 1 12 Count Package Kings Hawaiian Rolls
• 12 Slices Swiss Cheese
• 12 Slices of Ham

Directions:

1. Slice rolls in half and place ham and cheese on the bottom of the sliced roll. 
2. Cover with the top half of roll. Wrap in aluminum foil and place rolls on cookie sheet. 
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

It is really easy to reheat the left overs. They are also really good cold. I like to dip them in Woeber's Sweet and Spicy Mustard.

The recipe is from my wife's blog: Cooking With Love.

Cinnamon Sugar Desert Pizza

This is one of my favorite things. I have never actually made these, but Rebekah makes them for me for my birthday and stuff like that. I eat them for breakfast but they would be good anytime.

Ingredients:

• 1 Can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

   Crumble Topping

• 1/4 Cup Butter 
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• Pinch of Salt
• 1/2 Cup Flour

   Glaze

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. Softened Butter
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Cut in butter to sugars, cinnamon, and salt and flour to form crumbs. 
3. On an ungreased cookie sheet, separate crescent roll dough into 8 triangles. Sprinkle crumbs on top. 
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes. 
5. While pizza is in the oven, blend glaze ingredients together. 
6. Once pizza has baked and cooled, drizzle glaze on top. 

The recipe is originally from: www.thesweetestpear.blogspot.com

Best Coleslaw Ever

This is my favorite coleslaw recipe! I think it really is the best coleslaw I have ever had (sorry mom ;p).

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) Bag Coleslaw Mix
• 2 Tablespoons Diced Onion
• 2/3 Cup Creamy Salad Dressing (such as Miracle Whip™)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Poppy Seeds

Directions:

1. Combine the coleslaw mix and onion in a large bowl.
2. Whisk together the salad dressing, vegetable oil, sugar, vinegar, salt, and poppy seeds in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. Pour dressing mixture over coleslaw mix and toss to coat. Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Rebekah found the original recipe at www.allrecipes.com but I changed the ingredients slightly to make it extra amazing!

Apple Pie a la Mode Smoothie

Last fall after we went to the orchard and picked apples and bought some cider we came home and I came up with this smoothie. It is crazy. The whole time you are drinking it your brain is trying to tell you that you are eating apple pie with ice cream because that is exactly how it tastes. It is probably one of the best smoothies I have ever made.

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Apple
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Apple Cider
• 1 Cup Vanilla Ice Cream
• 2 Cups Ice

Directions:

1. Peel and core the apple, then chop it up.
2. Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Way easier than making an apple pie but pretty much just as good, maybe better.

Marshmallow Popcorn

This is an amazing recipe that my wife discovered and I make it all the time for a treat while I watch movies and stuff.

Ingredients:

• 1 (3.2 ounce) Bag of Microwave Popcorn (Once i get a real popper I will add those directions)
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Butter (You can use Margarine but I have made it both ways and butter is infinently better!)
• 10 Marshmallows

Directions:

1. Cook popcorn according to instructions on the bag. 
2. Put brown sugar and butter in a medium size microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir. 
3. Add marshmallows to brown sugar and butter mixture and heat in microwave for an additional 2 minutes (or until marshmallows are completely melted), stopping to stir every 30 seconds. 
4. Drizzle marshmallow sauce over popcorn. 
5. Toss popcorn in large bowl until completely coated in marshmallow sauce.

Shamefully, I must admit that I have eaten the entire bowl in one sitting on more then one occasion. Yes, it is really that good!

On a side note, I did try making the marshmallow sauce on the stove and it turned out way different so for best results stick to the microwave, at least for the sauce.

Grape Soda Float

One night I was reading Mercedes her bedtime stories and we were reading Grover's Bad Awful Day. At the end of the book Grover's mom takes him to get ice cream and he gets a Grape Soda Float. I thought that sounded delicious and I couldn't stop thinking about having one so the next day we went to the store and got the ice cream and the grape soda and had a grape float night.

Ingredients:

• Your Favorite Grape Soda (I used Grape Crush)
• Vanilla Ice Cream (Nothing beats Blue Bell)

Directions:

1. Fill a glass with the vanilla ice cream.
2. Pour the grape soda over the top and enjoy.

My favorite way to have a float is to drink the pop with a straw and then keep adding more soda till the ice cream is all gone. It make the pop extra creamy and delicious!

Sauteed Mushrooms and Bell Peppers

This is a quick and delicious way to fry up some mushrooms and bell peppers. They make a great side dish or a super yummy steak topper!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz of Fresh Mushrooms
• 3 Bell Peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange because they are sweeter and have a better flavor)
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the mushrooms and peppers into bite size chunks.
2. Put the peppers and the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and until they start to get soft.
3. While the peppers are frying put the mushrooms in a medium bowl and mix them with the lemon juice. Make sure they are all coated in the juice for good flavor and to preserve the color.
4. When the peppers are starting to get soft (about 10-15 minutes), add the mushrooms and then salt and pepper to taste. Add the Cayenne Pepper if you want to give it just a little kick.
5. Continue cooking until moisture has cooked away (about 10 more minutes). Then you are ready to eat! You can use the same bowl that you mixed the mushrooms in as your serving bowl!

Crock Pot Ribs

This is an easy way to make ribs that will fall of the bone and melt in your mouth!

Ingredients:

• 1 Rack of Baby Back Pork Ribs (or really as many as you want that will fit in your slow cooker)
• Salt and Pepper
• Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes.
3. Place in Crock Pot and pour BBQ sauce over ribs. Flip ribs to coat.
4. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender. Turn occasionally to keep ribs covered in sauce.

These ribs are super easy and very tasty. I am working on my own BBQ sauce and I will post that once I have it perfected.

Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a delicious stuffed mushroom recipe that I made for Rebekah as part of our Valentine's Day dinner. They are amazing! The prep time is about 25 minutes, then they cook for about 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 12 Whole Fresh Mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
• 1 (8 Ounce) Package of Cream Cheese
• 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, Softened
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic.
3. While garlic and mushroom mixture is cooking, in a medium bowl mix cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Once garlic mixture is ready, stir it into bowl with the other ingredients. Mixture should be very thick. 
4. Lightly coat the mushroom caps with olive oil. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

Takes about 45 minutes in all. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but I changed a few things to make it extra delicious.