Butterscotch Chip Bars

I'm always looking for a deal. I love shopping the clearance isle of the grocery stores. It is usually the first area I search. Sometimes they have really good prices on cleaning supplies, toilet paper, shampoo, among other things. One time I found Dial body wash on clearance for $2.00 a bottle, and I had coupons for $1.50 off! So $0.50 for Dial body wash in my world is a stock up price! 

Try to check the clearance area of stores, right after any holiday. They will always have great prices on things that have not sold during the holiday. I always get wrapping paper for next Christmas at 0.25-0.50 cents a roll!

I always find a deal on Pyrex bakeware in the clearance section. And especially when I can pair it with a coupon, I can't lose!

This week I found some butterscotch chips on clearance for $0.50 a bag and I just couldn't pass them up. So I thought I would whip up some butterscotch cookie bars with the rest of the ingredients I had in my pantry. I always have the basic baking essentials on hand, that way I can just add a few ingredients to my shopping list to make something new.

The baking essentials I always have on hand are:

All-purpose flour

Baking powder

Baking soda

Sugar

Brown sugar

Butter

Shortening 

Eggs

Milk

Nutmeg

Cinnamon 

Salt

So if I wanted to make something like chocolate chip cookies, I just need to add chocolate chips to my shopping list.

My kids love when I'm making a new batch of cookies. They are my favorite recipe testers! 

I found the recipe for these cookie bars in an old Betty Crocker cookie book that I bought at a garage sale! I just swapped chocolate chips for butterscotch chips to create something different.

I think I will be baking a lot of cookies from this book, so keep an eye out for future posts. But for now, here is this wonderful butterscotch bar recipe for you to try!

Ingredients: 

1-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter softened

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 inch baking pan, by greasing it well and dusting with flour. Set aside. Combine sugars, butter,and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add chopped walnuts and butterscotch chips, and combine. Spread the dough in pan, and bake until golden. 13-14 minutes. Let cool then cut into bars that are about 2 x 1- 1/2 inches. Makes about 36 bars. Serve and enjoy!

Guilt Free Kale Chips

With thanksgiving done and all the leftovers eaten, my guilt starts to set in. Not only because I did not really cook anything healthy or nutritious for our holiday meal, but for the fact that my skirts no longer fit :(

So a few days later I am cleaning out the fridge and I found an extra bag of Kale that I did not need for making the turkey pretty. So I decided that I should try to make some Kale chips to help take the guilt sting away.

I did not know that Kale chips were not only very easy to make, but that they taste really good!

My daughter first gave the eeww look when she took her first bite, but then it quickly changed to " Hey these are not that bad!" Then she kept coming back in the kitchen for more.

Then she says "These are really good but I won't order them again."  0_o

Then she comes back in the kitchen for more. And more.

I think they taste a bit like asparagus. My son said " Mom, how did you make these taste like broccoli?"

Even my husband who is always reluctant to try new foods, said that Kale chips are on his list of healthy snacks!

So from now on when we are in the mood for something crunchy, these will be our go to chips. No more guilt. Love it!

1 Bunch of kale

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

Dash of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Wash Kale under cold water and dry thoroughly by patting them dry with paper towels. Be sure to then remove the ribs of the Kale when slicing. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Place Kale pieces in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and toss with hands to get Kale evenly coated. Place Kale pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.